The weekend, succinctly

I've decided to try a new approach to blogging about my much-treasured weekends. Rather than writing about each individual activity, I am going to attempt to provide brief snippets, capturing just the essence of my weekend. It will be a continuous series cleverly titled "The Weekend, Succinctly". (There will still be photos, people. And if an activity merits its own post, then so be it!) So, here goes my attempt to be less verbose...

Such a busy start to the weekend and then it faded into incredible quietness.

There was a rowdy Prom* (of sorts).

The morning after, we had one last brunch in the city with our friends before they drove out for good. It was a sad, rainy day in Chicago. It felt like the city was crying, too.

{ Grilled Chicken Baguette with Bacon and Watercress at Lokal, a new European-inspired spot in Wicker Park }

{ Really fabulous string pendant lamp at Lokal. L says these are easy to make, something involving paper-mache glue, string, and balloon. }

{ FurFur, sad, lonely, and bored, after her houseguests, L & A, packed up their stuff and drove off into the rain. }

Visited the 'burbs to meet up with an old college friend, Tat, who was in town for a wedding weekend. She couldn't drive out to the city because it's the Jewish Sabbath, so I dutifully went out to Skokie. I hope it's the first and only time I'll ever have to leave the city. God, I sound like such an urbanite. I do have to admit that I felt a little flutter of excitement when I saw familiar past loves all within a few miles radius – a REAL MALL (it has a Bloomie's!), Linen's & Things, DSW Shoe Warehouse, Crate & Barrel, Panera...!

{ Tat's new son, chilling in the hotel lobby with The Fella }

Restocked our fridge with an abundance of fresh veggies and fruits from Stanley's, my favorite local produce shop, around since the 1960s!

I spent some time admiring how the soft light poured in through our tall windows, even though it was an intermittently gray, rainy day. It feels so quiet in our home now that L & A have left.

Enjoyed a light lunch of crusty baguette, cheese, mortadella, and summer-sweet blueberries from my Stanley's trip.

Curled up on the couch to indulge in a movie of the Chick Flick genre, Julie & Julia. I am currently obsessed with blogging, and I've always loved to cook, so what better movie to spend a dreary Sunday with than this?

Made an impromptu homemade basil-dill-cashew pesto for dinner tonight.


{ Not pictured - FurFur pouncing around Prit, our former neighbor and friend, who dropped in for a surprise visit from the 'burbs. }

*Prom: Northwestern Medical Senior Resident Dinner