Summer to Fall

Tonight our apartment smells like what I think autumn might smell like in Heaven. The bedroom and bathroom smell clean and cozy like laundry and the living room and kitchen smell like homemade applesauce! I love the transition from summer to fall in the Midwest. As soon as the temperature drops below 70 degrees, I’m ready to go with my hot tea and knitting. Staying cozy in the kitchen with the summer harvest has been a treat too! Where did summer go though?! For us, the last half of it was crazy busy and SO much fun!

Mid-August, we moved to a new apartment, not far from our old one. It’s a huge upgrade for us! We have a beautiful view, balconies, and great natural light now! We have more room too! Last weekend, the Pastor who married us, along with his new Worship Coordinator stayed at our apartment while they were in town for a conference and they both fit in our apartment very nicely! There was room for one to sleep on the pullout couch, and the other to sleep on a very nice bed of blankets on the floor. Serious upgrade! You know what this means… Come visit!!

The weekend before we moved, we took a road trip up to Wisconsin to celebrate the long-awaited marriage of Ryan’s sister to her high school sweetheart, and the most blessed marriage of my very good friend to the love of her life. We stopped in Beloit to see my dear Destanie and share a cup of coffee too!

The beautiful bride and me, pre-ceremony! Photo courtesy of the lovely Katie Strommen

Tying the knot!

What a joyful day with our family!

The next weekend (just after we moved) we hopped on a plane and jetted to Seattle for another wedding! Ryan’s childhood friend married his Dreamboat Annie (he’s in the Navy, she’s in the Coast Guard!) and 8 of their other long-time friends made the trip to celebrate too. We all rented a house together and had such a blast. We went sightseeing every day and we partied every night.  Here’s a quick recap in photos:

The beautiful Pike Place Market is known for its fresh fish, gorgeous flowers, and the first Starbucks

Beach Party!!

Hubs and I took the ferry to Bainbridge Island to visit Churchmouse, one of the best yarn shops in the country!!

We went out for ice cream for my birthday!!

Space Needle!!

The view from the top was so beautiful - city skyline, mountains, water - what more could you want?!

Of course we had to visit the Boeing Museum of Flight!

We got to sit in the cockpit of a SR71 Blackbird, the fastest jet aircraft ever built, used by the US Air Force!

The wedding was on a boat in the Puget Sound, with the Seattle skyline set as the backdrop!

The crew :)

What a magical setting for  a wedding!

After all of the excitement of August, we have been finding our normal pace this month. Hubs started school the day after we got back from Seattle! Talk about an abrupt end to summer! He’s also getting ready for the Chicago Marathon next weekend!! We’re so excited for his first marathon race.  I LOVE watching him race but I always want to give him a big hug at the end of it! NOT a good idea to squeeze someone who is out of breath and on the verge of throwing up!  If you think of us, cheer him on Sunday morning!!

Today is my first anniversary at Target! I’m so blessed to be able to say that I’m really starting to get the hang of things at work. This has allowed me to relax so much more when I get home, and I’ve been taking the opportunity to get creative!

On the textile front, I’ve been making silly little projects that aren’t really good for anything other than being a creative outlet, in addition to working on a giant blanket for our living room, and a sweater for hubby!! He has wanted a sweater for a while, but he most definitely had to be a husband before he could receive such an investment. In fact, making a sweater for a boyfriend is known to be a sure way to get rid of him! Among knitters anyway, this is quite common knowledge. Anyway, photos of those projects will be coming shortly.

I’ve been having lots of fun in the kitchen lately too! There is a Farmer’s Market just a block away that happens to occur every week on my day off! What luck! I’m so thankful to have access to the summer harvest, even if it is not by the sweat of my own brow :)

I found this beautiful kale and thought I should jump on the kale chip bandwagon.

As long as I was there, I thought I’d make some beet chips too! Aren’t they beautiful?

Last week, I made tomato soup and potato leek soup! Tonight I made possibly the best applesauce I’ve ever had! I added a few cardamom pods to the simmering apples and they added such a deep earthy, spicy flavor to it. It really feels like fall now!

We have been so incredibly blessed! While we certainly face our share of challenges, our life is undoubtedly one of joy and blessings. Thank you for sharing in our joy!   

One

One very blessed year has passed since this perfect day

... for years and years to come

Ravinia

This past weekend was a perfect summer weekend. On Saturday evening, we took the train north of the city to Ravinia Park, an outdoor music venue, to see the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. The concert was incredible! Two of the three pieces they played were by Antonin Dvořak, quite possibly my favorite composer. He is a fellow Bohemian (Czech) and he grew up near my favorite place in the world (Prague!!), so I might be a bit biased, but I truly love his music!

The Orchestra played in a huge shell and many people had tickets to watch them from there. Outside of the shell, there were people everywhere with picnics set out on the lawn. Everywhere I looked, if there wasn’t a building or a path, people were sitting on a blanket or lawn chair. We got there about an hour early and found a little lawn space under a tree very close to the shell.

My view from my honey's lap :)

We had such a great time relaxing to the sound of cicadas and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

On Sunday, my good friend Claire came to visit! After church and brunch, we spent the rest of the afternoon swimming and sunbathing at the beach while hubby played golf with his friends. Could there be a better way to spend a Sunday afternoon in the summer? I didn’t realize just how much I enjoy the beach until Sunday. I am certainly going to make a point of spending more time there, especially now that the water is so warm.

Summer always meant gardening, canning, and restoration work with my Mom. I love doing all of those things but a summer spent at beaches, at outdoor concerts, and traveling, all with my hubby, is something I can definitely get used to. 

Summer!!

Today may very well be the first day of the summer that I have no plans. I have off today and, although I have plenty I would like to do, there is nothing I really need to do or even have planned to do! What an incredible feeling! I am so blessed to have this day to tend to our home, to myself, and to spend some time in the kitchen. The day started with coffee and cereal with hubby, strumming a bit on the guitar, and putting my feet up to write. Lovely.

I am very thankful not to have had more days like this though! Our summer has been jam-packed with fun – traveling, visiting with friends, and exploring the city - and I wouldn't dream of trading it! I would have loved to write about every fun day we had, but there was simply no time!

This past weekend started out bittersweet. After work we helped my friend Sarah pack up to move back to Wisconsin. It really didn’t strike me that I might not see her again for months until we closed her door and started walking down her stairs. I spent a few minutes sitting outside her apartment crying in hubby’s arms until I could see clearly again. We are certainly looking forward to a life spent traveling and making our home in many parts of the world, but I’m afraid I’ll never be okay with having to say goodbye to friends so often. I have been blessed with truly, inexplicably wonderful friends over the past few years, and I can’t bare the thought of letting any of them slip away from me. On the bright side, we’ll never be without an excuse to travel! Sarah, please call, write, and visit often! Any time you want to spend an entire day knitting in a coffee shop, you know whom to call!

Sunday was a very fun, very long day. Church in the morning, then to work, then a quick dinner and a concert! Hubby got tickets to see Mates of State, a husband-wife band that we just love! They have a very keyboard-heavy sound and great harmonies and pieced-together melodies. Jason (the husband) is always watching his beautiful wife Kori while they play. Very sweet! I had listened to them occasionally before and I liked them, but after seeing them live we have a whole new love for them! Saturday morning I was up by 3:30am and Sunday night we were up until 2am – Monday morning I suppose – and then to work again by 9am! It’s been that kind of summer :) 

I’ll try to recap at least some of our summer in photos, starting at the beginning.

Lelu came to visit after courageously finishing a year of teaching in the Mississippi Delta region. Margerita spent a day with us downtown too!

The perfect lunch on a summer day in Chicago

Margerita gave lessons on how to prepare the perfect Chicago-style hot dog

Aren't they beautiful?!

In June, we escaped to Northern Wisconsin to celebrate Father's Day and our niece's birthday! Heartwood is a family tradition for Christmas, but we were blessed with the opportunity to stay there in the summer! We shared a cozy cabin with my parents-in-law, complete with fireplace, outdoor grill, pier, and rowboat! After quite the fiasco trying to find transportation to get there, the peaceful change of pace was more than welcome. 

I look a lot more relaxed than I was. Fish were nibbling at my hinder!! Eek!

Are we in Venice? Si per favore! 

A yummy birthday cake with homemade pink cherry frosting! Happy Birthday Sweetheart!

Even Theseus enjoyed the peace and quiet!

More snippets of the summer...

Chicago style pizza!! It's no joke. 

A visit to the Field Museum

The installation "Agora" near the Field Museum with Margerita

Beautiful downtown gardens

Adventures with a squirrel and a cookie

Hungry squirrel...

...found Margerita's cookie...

...and Margerita found a friend :)

Buckingham Fountain

A quiet moment in the city

Hubby and I went to see the Grant Park Music Festival, an ongoing concert series in Millennium Park at Pritzker Pavilion

The Spread

The View 

And of course, we went to see fireworks on a beach downtown for Independence Day. The buses were running late so we ended up seeing fireworks from the bus, but the beach was beautiful even after the fireworks.

We have more friends visiting this weekend and we have a trip planned to Ravinia Park to see the Chicago Symphony Orchestra! I have every intention of having pictures and a recap of that, but it all depends on how much fun we have! Have a great weekend my dear friends and family!

XO Natalie