It was the weirdest thing to wake up this morning because for the first time in ages, we did it on our own.
Not from the call of our little guy, not with the sound coming from the end of the hallway of a door being flung open and the silent run but rattle of somebody's "Ah" giving away her location, but on our own.
And it was different. Good for a few days, but different. You forget how quickly children become such a key part of everything you do and an all-encompassing role in your life that it's the absence of things that are noticed over time sometimes more than their continual presence.
It was a very restful night's sleep after a great afternoon and evening downtown. The noticeable thing when you're absent little ones is the ability to linger. Get lost in somewhere in a store or shop or restaurant? No big deal. Nobody gets squirrley. Well, I'm notoriously impatient and squirrley, but rather like being able to linger and hang out with Kelly without any sort of pressure to get moving. And that's the part I've enjoyed.
Dinner last night was at Tavern on the Park and they had the most amazing appetizer and quite a deal for it as well. It was a pulled chicken and roasted garlic fondue that was served with apples, naan bread and crostini for $12. That was *it*. We were happy with that and split a chicken entree and it worked for us deliciously. Walked all the way down to the Garrett's popcorn shop kitty-corner to DePaul, stopping in various merchants along State Street on the way down and back. We worked our way up Michigan Ave. a bit, enjoying the tourists and overheard bits of conversation. ("It's too crazy-ass cold here in the winter. There's no way I'd put up with it. Are you kidding me?")
We finished the evening at Fox & Obel, one of my favorite little places down here. We bought a bottle of Riesling that came with a wine education from the woman who worked in the department that was unparalleled (will share the "check the sweetness of your Riesling" shortcut later) and had a Key Lime tart and a carrot cake cupcake. As neither one of those seemed to get it done, we then closed with a pizza.
Having finally hit the food wall, we wandered back here and turned in respectably early compared to what we do at home, but nonetheless feeling remarkably late after the day of home life, work life and city life.
Today's the main event; we've got tickets for Billy Elliot and are very much looking forward to it. But first, breakfast beckons at a neighborhood place called Yolk that looks delicious. Of course since so much of my life revolves around food...I'll share a review later.
It's chilly out there today (only mid to high 60's). Considering it was 90 plus degrees earlier in the week, it's quite the shock. It's got that nip in the air that makes you think of cider...and football. Season opener today for Fitz's kids; Go Cats!
Pictures later...there aren't many Blog apps for the iOS and this one appears to not want to let me post a picture right now.
1 comment:
Love it!
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