Thank you, Dad

Dear Dad,

Thank you for teaching me the importance of organization and planning. Every family vacation, every party, every tailgate, every shopping trip, Christmas card list, gift list, every errand ever run, has all been planned out and documented in your meticulous, tiny handwriting on a Dad Pad (TM me) somewhere. There were ones in the car, on the edge of the counter, in your pocket; we will be finding Dad Pads around the house for decades. But they worked; you never forgot to have handy anything we needed, and with three very different daughters and a (*cough* slightly disorganized) wife, that is an accomplishment indeed.  Now that I have a (*cough* slightly disorganized) spouse of my own, I have my own running lists scattered throughout the house, and even more at the office. I would be lost without them!



Thank you, Dad, for teaching me the value of networking. You would never call it that -- the concept is too cold and calculating, and that's not how you practice the art. Instead it's, "Hey, Kris, I know a guy..." and "A buddy of mine helped me out..." and "Do you remember Andy from Eastern Bag? Really great guy, known him for years. Anyway, he..."  Over the years, you built a vast web of work associates, tradespeople in town, people you met at conferences and golf tournaments and in bars, and you stay in touch and stay loyal to them, and in turn they stay loyal to you. It's a remarkable thing to watch and try to emulate; I wasn't very good at it when I was in my 20s and 30s, but I'm getting better at it now, especially at work.  The really remarkable thing about it though, Dad, is for you it is effortless; it's just the way you engage with people, helping them out and having them help you out, building relationships of trust and reciprocity everywhere you go. I'm still learning my way with that, but I have a great role model.

Thank you, Dad, for pushing me in school, and making sure I went to, literally, the best schools in the country. I knew and you knew that when I got an A- on my report card and you teased me about not getting an A that you weren't actually teasing; you showed me your report cards from when you were my age to show me what to strive for. You wanted me to succeed the way you had, to work hard and learn everything I could  -- and then best of all, when I proved I was smart enough and I worked hard enough to get into schools we couldn't afford, you and Mom made sure I could afford to go to them. We weren't rich, but I sure as hell got a rich education, and it has made a huge difference in my life.

(P.S. The only Bs I ever got in school were for penmanship and geography. I still have my report cards too. Why couldn't I have inherited your handwriting?!)





Thank you, Dad, for loving Mom the way you do. In photo after photo of the two of you over the last 40-plus years, you have the most dumb-struck look on your face, saying to all the world, "Can you believe what a catch I got?" I waited until I found a man who looked at me just like that, and I married him. Best thing I ever did.

Thank you, Dad, for being so smart, and passing that trait on to me. I'm smart the way you are -- we know how to solve puzzles, how to take ideas and processes apart and make them more efficient and organized. We can walk into a situation and immediately know how to break it down and re-build it better. We can't do it to engines or electronic equipment, and we're not really interested in philosophy or literature or art, but there isn't a method of doing something we don't itch to improve. I've seen you do it with packing the car for trips (I am also an ace at that one), in countless board games (but you still beat me, dammit!), in building and decorating your house and your gardens, in the way you broke down the boat every winter, in the way you organized all those parties and tailgates, in everything. It's the trait I am most known for at work, and I owe that completely to you.

Thank you, Dad, for speaking frankly to me about money. We didn't talk about it much when I was younger, but I watched you create a routine for paying the bills, and I had a fair idea of where we ranked on the economic scale. As an adult, though, you've taken the time to talk to me about retirement and savings, not only explaining how you manage it for you and Mom, but given me advice on what I should be doing for me and my spouse. As I am the financial planner in my marriage -- like you are in yours -- this has helped me in so many ways. Please keep doing this.



Thank you, Dad, for being the only white-collar management professional I knew growing up. Our neighborhood and family had so many examples of hard-working people, of teachers and real estate agents and coaches and nurses and telephone lineman and small-business accountants and firemen and machinists and bank tellers. You were the only one I knew who wore a suit every day, and had an office and a secretary and employees. I thought you had the coolest job in the world; you got to be The Boss. Does it really surprise you I wanted to follow in your footsteps? I may not be a boss now, but I do have a desk and a suit, and I love what I do. Thank you for showing me that was a career path.



(You still look good in a suit, too!)

Thank you, Dad, for your sense of humor. You are never afraid to be self-deprecating, and you find amusement in ordinary things, like I do. Your chuckle when I tell you a funny story is one of my favorite sounds. Also, you are a giant goof.




When I was a kid, I wanted to be just like you. Turns out, I pretty much am. Thank you for that.

I love you,
Kristen

P.S. Happy Father's Day.

No foolin'

We are outside again! Finally warming up enough to shoot in natural light, hurray. So, you know, enjoy the shots of our electric meter. :)



The jacket was a Gwynnie Bee surprise; I have over 40 items in my virtual closet so I never know what they are going to send me. This python print faux-suede number was a great transition piece for spring, light and fun and fitted. I added a dark green LOFT tee, a multi-metallic circle necklace, and my usual Gap modern bootcuts.

The snow was nearly melted on the patio, which made my husband's latest folly that much more visible. He had purchased a new kind of birdseed for the feeder (flamingos aren't the only birds who hang out on our patio) and discovered, to his dismay, that the birds did not like it. Specifically, they did not like the black seeds that comprised 70% of the mix.

The birds hated the black seed so much they actually spit it out and separated it from the rest of the seed that they did eat. They left PILES of it underneath the feeder.

I am not exaggerating.





So now he has to figure out how to clean it all up when the last of the snow is gone. In the meantime, even the flamingos are staying away from the feeder. Hee!



ANYWAY.

This was my favorite outfit of last week. So much so, I wore it twice. :)



First off, it has my new Longchamp nylon purse, which I am LOVING. The size, weight, durability, and style are exactly what I was looking for in a spring purse, and best of all the sensible look of it is fitting well in my revamped-and-returned "Yalie" look, as Jessie called it.

The real appeal of this outfit, to me, is the simplicity. I was meeting Shopping Friend for wedding-shoe shopping, and I could not find an outfit that was working; I kept trying all these color combinations, and either the shirt showed off too much muffin top, or the sweater was too heavy, or I just looked awful. Then I looked at the combinations I was struggling with, and it occurred to me that I was making  it too hard; my perfect tee, in black, would work just fine. As soon as I put it on and saw how it made the striped sweater pop all on its own, it occurred to me that I had never worn this sweater with a neutral top before. Never. I have no idea what I was waiting for!

The black top gave all the other other elements of the outfit a chance to really shine, in every way.

My hair looked blonder against it.



The cozy ribbed texture of the sweater stood out more.



My beloved embellished animal print Sam Edelman flats got a chance to roar.



My pretty circle pendant from LOFT Outlet shone the most against the neutral background.



Sadly, this was the last wearing of this necklace; it wasn't well-made (no surprise since it was an outlet piece), and the clasp linking the circles to the chain finally gave up the ghost the next day. So it's been "edited" (i.e. thrown away), but it will be fondly remembered!

No jokes or pranks here, but I hope you guys have a good April Fools Day. I always dread this day because it turns out I am super-gullible. Maybe this year I should keep count how many pranks I fall for...

Thank you, Easter Bunny. Bawk bawk!

Happy Easter, everyone!

When we were kids, the Easter Bunny didn't hide our baskets in the traditional way. Instead, she left notes for each of us, with corny little poems giving us clues to the hiding place. Naturally, that hiding place only had another note, sending us on a treasure hunt of three or four spots until we found our baskets.

The best part was that we each had our own trail of clues, including my dad. My sisters and I would run around the house, yelling and trying to figure out what the heck that stupid clue meant; sometimes, when the clue turned out to be a little too vague, my mom would discreetly step in and say, "Hmmm, gee, I wonder if the Easter Bunny meant to suggest...the dryer?" Hee.

And my dad would pretend he was too cool to engage, but he found his basket all the same. Nothing would keep my dad from his chocolate, but he had to tease us all too. So he would read the clue, then the newspaper while he sipped his coffee. Eventually -- stretching it out just enough to torture us -- he would get up and go get his next clue, then sit back down with his coffee to torture us some more.

It was a really great tradition, one that has stayed in my memories all my life.

Thank you, Mom.

I mean, thank you, Easter Bunny. :)

October musings

October is my favorite month. Fall is always truly here; the last vestiges of Indian summer that dog September have faded, and that unmistakable nip in the air feels refreshing after long months of sweltering heat. The bitter cold of winter is fast approaching, but it's easy to push it away in the brilliant sunshine.



October is pumpkins: soups and breads, and huge displays of fat orange gourds everywhere. Sweaters and coats getting worn again. Soups and oatmeal replacing salads and cereal. Leaves turning brilliant shades of yellow, orange and red, crunching under our feet.



Even though I don't follow the sport much, every Saturday in October feels like football weather.



October is also my wedding anniversary; this Friday will be our sixteenth. 16!! That doesn't seem possible.



October starts the whole holiday season; we start to nail down our plans for Thanksgiving and Christmas, deciding whose family we are visiting for each. Discussing how many vacation days we need, booking flights and hotel rooms. Lately I have been hosting Thanksgiving at home for my in-laws, so October is the month when I get to menu-plan. One of my favorite chores. :)



October, of course, is Halloween. I still remember as a kid, bundling up in long underwear under my hobo costume, or trying to figure out how to wear a coat and gloves and still look like a scary witch.  I loved walking through our neighborhood with my sisters and my dad, trick or treating from house to house. (Mom stayed home to pass out candy. This was always Dad's holiday.) As I grew up, Halloween celebrations turned into adult parties with drinking and sometimes skimpy costumes, then giving up costumes (and parties) entirely, then just eating way too much candy at work. Now with Babyfriend around, trick-or-treating is coming full circle back to my Octobers, and it feels right.



The only thing I don't like about October is that it goes by much too fast.

Labor Day weekend recap

My parents came for a visit over Labor Day weekend. They're from Connecticut, which actually more rural than you would think. There are roadside stands all over selling locally grown vegetables and fruit, and my dad has a pretty impressive garden of his own in his backyard. He grows his beloved tomatoes, Brussels sprouts, cucumbers, potatoes, beets, squash and zucchini, and I think peas and beans. And probably other things that he will remind me of shortly. :)

My mom has actually been canning a lot of it these last couple of years; she brought a couple of different kinds of pickles, hot pepper jelly, and honeybell orange marmalade as gifts this trip.

But they had never seen a farmer's market before, so we took them a couple of our favorites.


Heirloom tomatoes at the Glenview market



I wish I liked green beans more. Loved how they still were in the shape of the bushel basket!


My mom bought us a lovely bouquet of flowers, and the green glass vase from a vendor at the market too!

Cherry tomatoes from my dad's garden. They weren't quite ripe for our meals, so I ended up drying these for use in recipes this winter. (We ate the corn, though!)





Of course, then we had to cook the feast we bought. This was sweet potato squash, carrots, and onions, folded into a foil packet and grilled. It was AMAZING.




The first night we had Dad's summer squash, zucchini from the market, the packet above, and everyone's favorite turkey bacon-wrapped chicken thighs.




Hubby cooked, Dad oversaw the operation. :)



We hit another market on Sunday, as well as a couple of ethnic groceries. I am my parent's daughter: we all love food! :)

Monday we went downtown to play tourist. They had never seen the Bean before.







It was pretty hot that weekend, so the water display at Crown Fountain was in heavy use.





Mom and I left the boys to entertain themselves while we walked over to the Art Institute to see the Roy Lichtenstein exhibit.





It was the last day of the exhibit, so it was very crowded.



But I will leave the pictures of art for tomorrow's post. :)

Vacation Postcard: New Buffalo August 2012

I don't want this to be over.






Not where we stayed.


A puppy and a little toddler. You try to resist.






The first day we tried to go to the beach.


Inside the Sawyer Garden Center.


Ditto.


Finally, the garden part!


A minifig Pirate. Perfect.


God, I wish this had come out better.


Deer!


The deer wisely chose not to come closer.


Ambling down the street.


Also not where we stayed.



Aptly named! (If you like liverwurst, which I do.)


When it was finally hot enough and sunny enough to go to the beach.


Everyone's favorite salad of the trip. The cherry tomatoes were so sweet and flavorful all they needed was some salt and olive oil to be finished.


The last supper at home.


The last dessert


In St. Joseph, another town we will be visiting again soon. So lovely and fun!




Hahahaha.


Jessie's first (and last) Big Boy!


We especially liked the bird's nest in the sign.


My first dune. Impressive!






Playing in the water pad in St. Joseph.


Hubby decides to get in on the action, LOL.




LOL



Where we stayed. I will miss this gorgeous house so much!













It was a great vacation. Do I really have to go home? Do I?