Life in Chicago

Getting Closer

I don't think there's much point in trying to keep the date of the wedding a secret. (Greg was concerned about me announcing when we'd be out of town -- ever since the break-in it's seemed like a good idea to exercise a bit more caution around here -- but it turns out that a couple of good friends of our will be staying in our house while we're getting married that weekend so I'm not too worried about revealing the date anymore.)

I'm going to marry Greg Boose on July 19th.

That's less than two weeks away. And there's still a lot to do. Most everything is done -- our families have been wonderful about just taking over and making decisions and coming up with ideas and that's just fine with us. We still need a spot for the rehearsal dinner but I think I have it pretty well narrowed down. And Greg and I are still on a hunt for the perfect little hotel where we can stay together the night of our wedding -- we'd love to take the ferry out to Martha's Vineyard after the reception and stay overnight there. Oh, and we need wedding bands. And I need a rehearsal dinner dress. And shoes.

But the most important thing to do yet is work on the ceremony itself. Although my uncle is a minister and has performed plenty of weddings, I still want to plan out the majority of the ceremony. What we say and do in those moments are very important to me. I have a lot of ideas and have been making a lot of notes and combing over in my head all the meaningful wedding ceremonies I've attended. (If anyone wants to share any ideas for ways to make a ceremony meaningful or personal or even just suggest readings or poems or candle rituals, I'd love to hear about it.)

Last Friday we had the most wonderful yoga party on the deck with about 20 people in attendance. (Check out our write-up all about it on She Wrote, He Wrote.) And on Saturday I took Greg to see my favorite hospice patient -- a 95 year old retired revered that I've been visiting every week for 6 months now. He's been the most wonderful father-figure in my life these last months and every week our time together never ceases to calm and restore me. On Saturday he gave us a blessing for our marriage and told Greg several times what a lucky man he is and they just don't make 'em like me anymore.

On Saturday night we hosted an 8 person dinner party out on the deck. My dear friend George Ducker was in town from LA and he came over in the late afternoon and we drank mimosas and ate brie and crackers and the three of us caught up on all our favorite topics. Later some of Greg's friends who were also in town joined us and I made grilled pork tenderloin skewered with country bread and bacon, potatoes gratin and grilled asparagus and we ate out under the stars with the trees whispering above us and ever so often I took a deep breath and reminded myself to take these moments in, to be present, to be here, to love appreciate and be grateful for all that my life is right now.

Watching fireworks by the lake on the 4th of July:

That Time of Year

So, I'm getting pretty excited about the holidays. I usually do but I'm on it a little earlier than usual this year.

On Friday night Greg surprised me (or tried to) by taking me to see A Christmas Carol at the Goodman Theatre downtown—something I'd told him I really wanted to see. I really love the holidays, okay?

And I know it's a little early for this sort of thing but it was so good and it totally put us in the holiday spirit. After five years of 75 degree Southern California Christmases, it was utterly charming to walk out of the theater into the cold, November night, pulling scarves tighter and hurrying for the train station.

Chicago itself is already decked out for the holidays—twinkling lights on all the trees downtown and big trumpets over the festive window displays at the Macy's on Michigan Ave.

On Saturday, a gloomy, rainy sort of day, we went on an excursion to Chinatown, which neither of us had ever visited here. We ate potstickers and I bought a couple of pairs of Chinese house slippers - the velvet kind with little sequins like I used to wear in the winters in New York - and we meandered through aisles of dried shark fin and bins of mushrooms and jellied lychee candies. Past the old Mandarin-style gates at the entrance to Chinatown you could see downtown Chicago misty and ethereal in the afternoon drizzle.

I spent most of yesterday cleaning my little house, dusting and rearranging, putting away sweaters and washing laundry. I also went down to the Apple store to have my computer looked at. The diagnosis is that it's possibly something with the fans but it requires me dropping off the computer for at least four days, something I'm not ready to do just  yet, so I went home again and am back to propping it up with a fan blowing on it.

I went to Trader Joes in the late afternoon and it was absolutely packed with people shopping for Thanksgiving week. I can get pretty irritated by a crowded TJs but yesterday I didn't mind it at all. I picked up groceries for the house and for a little dinner I was cooking last night.

My friend Cat was in town this weekend and I wanted her to meet Greg and his roommate Tarek so in the evening they all came for dinner. Cat and I actually met over the summer on a 4th of July flight to Boston. She's wonderful - incredibly vibrant and outgoing. She's a yoga instructor and spends half of her year teaching yoga in exotic locales. She was on her way back from Hawaii when I met her and now she's on her way to Bali and Australia.

I worked on the house all day and by the time everyone showed up it couldn't have been cozier. Candles were lit in every room and I'd put out cheese and crackers (a nice white Stilton with cranberries and a Cotswold Cheddar). On the TV in the corner I was playing a fireplace DVD that my friend Channah sent me one year. It's just a DVD of a cozy fire, replete with crackling and popping and optional holiday music. It might sound cheesy but we all agreed that it  made the house feel ridiculously cheery and warm.

And we just had the loveliest dinner. I made panko/parmesan encrusted chicken breasts topped with a tomato-basil coulis alongside roasted garlic new potatoes and green beans almondine and I also made a plate of chocolate-dipped strawberries for dessert. After dinner we all sat around "the fire" and  laughed and drank too much wine and then, amidst much laughter and cajoling,  the boys hung a coat rack for me in the hallway.

After everyone left and I was alone in the house again, Chet Baker playing softly on the stereo, I sat at the kitchen table finishing the last sips of my glass of wine. I looked around at the candles and the pots and pans in the sink and, perhaps for the first time since I moved here, I felt truly at home.