Plus our next move

We go out to eat A LOT when we are in Chicago. We’ve already mentioned that there are tons of delicious restaurants, but it’s also pretty much the only place where we have a consistent social life. And since it’s summer, there are concerts to attend.

I guess it’s been some time since we wrote (told you we were busy), because we went to see Lyle Lovett and His Large Band at Ravinia on June 30! His band is always amazing so even if his voice is aging as we all are, it’s still a great show. Of course, we had a picnic, so no cooking there.

The only day we planned to stay home and cook was July 4, when we hosted family for the traditional grilling of meat (Yum!), but we really didn’t need the kitchen for that either (unless you count cutting veggies for salad or microwaving corn).

We thought maybe we’d have a chill weekend after that, but as it turned out, we didn’t. Friday we took a shortish walk to the lake, just because we could. Then, Saturday took a semi-death march (only about 7 miles round trip) to North Street Beach where we sat with our friend Ellen at Castaways and watched very pale Chicagoans pink up as they played beach volleyball. Ya gotta reapply the sunscreen people! A little preview of my Olympic plans. It was a perfect weather day and you have to take advantage of those.

Monday, for a change, we had friends over and got Indian takeout. Hi Mary Jo and Kevin!

The following week was full of lunches and dinners with friends and family, too. Saturday was the birthday dinner for my little brother David. I love him so much that I went to a steak restaurant. The salad and Brussels sprouts were delicious.

Sunday morning was my niece’s graduation party. Yay, Jilly! We spent the day hanging out with family and then capped off the weekend with another Ravinia concert — this time Norah Jones. It’s been a strange summer in that severe thunderstorms seem to pop up every night and this was no exception. We left a bit early since we saw lightning and didn’t want to get soaked walking back to our car, but we still had a great time. Luckily, we haven’t lost power or been caught out in it.

Sticking with the weather (and eating) theme, we were out with friends at Noon-O-Kabob staring at the enormous quantities of Persian food we could not finish (but will be delicious for lunch), when every phone in the place went off. Tornado warning! We decided to hightail it home (I know, we were supposed to shelter in place, but we didn’t want to drive through the downpour that was coming). With the sirens going and the wind blowing, it was a bit eerie, but we made it home safely just as the rain kicked up.

What’s Next? you ask

We’ve gotten as far as March in our life planning. After Maryland, where we will stay through Thanksgiving, our next stop is Buenos Aires, where it will be summer. Feel free to get out of the cold. Our plan for the last week of February-first week of March is to meet David and his wife, Stacey, in Costa Rica, and finally meet our long-suffering Spanish tutor, Marcela.

After that, who knows? As you can tell by the large hint on the left, it is likely (or as likely as we are willing to guess at) that we will do so more vagabonding around South America. Colombia, Peru, maybe Guyana and Ecuador. All suggestions welcome.