Hangin' Out in Geneva, Part II

Spent another day in Geneva. First we strolled through the Concours d'Elegance classic car show, then had breakfast at Nosh after a failed attempt at getting into Egg Harbor Café (too busy). Also visited Cocoon and the French Market. In the afternoon we went to Peck Farm Park to climb the silo—which is painted at every level to depict a certain era of the region—and see the butterfly garden. It was a very hot day, and a search for lemonade ended at Houlahan's in the Geneva Commons. At my house we watched Blazing Saddles:

Hangin' Out in Geneva, Part I

Took a walk over the Geneva bridge today. The Fox River was high due to all the rain we've been having, and Island Park was very flooded; the water had even reached the Mill Race Inn. The river was wild; the water rushing by so quickly that it would've been impossible for anyone to cross. On our way back to my place we decided to stop at Flagstone Pub for a drink. There was, very unexpectedly, a heavy metal band playing there – head-banging, "roaring" vocals and all. I was a little embarrassed to stay, but Kelly assured me that the music didn't really bother her, and that it was entertaining. I love her open-mindedness!

A Perfect Purple Birthday Weekend

Kelly turned 28 today. I've only known her for about 8 months, but damn, she gets better looking every year! Anyway, after our ritual hug and kiss upon my arrival to her apartment, I presented her with a single rose, a card, and a Chai latte from Caribou. We spent the remainder of the rainy morning looking at apartments, since her lease at International Village is up on October 31 and they raised the rent by $125. HELLL NO!

The first appointment was at the Berkshires of Glen Ellyn. These apartments weren't bad, we agreed, but they just didn't have that special something which says "You're home." Next up was Avalon Lakeside in Wheaton. Although these apartments are just a couple of blocks from the Berkshires, we, for some reason, and unknowingly, drove in a long-distance circle to get there. It was quite funny actually!

The Avalon Apartments were very nice, and stocked with trees. Danielle, the woman showing us the property, seemed like a straight shooter. Across the street from these apartments is a soil conservation area. A sign? Hmm, it must have been, because after seeing the crappy motelesque Glen Ellyn Apartments with the scary loiterer (HELLL NO!), Kelly decided on Avalon Lakeside as her new place of residence. "First Time" by Lifehouse and "Fast As You Can" by Fiona Apple both played in the leasing office when she signed.

On our lunch break at Jimmy Johns—where Kelly had made her decision about Avalon—a guy dropped a $20 bill, and I, being the honest dude that I am, gave it back to him. Another cool thing was our visit to my former employer, Willowbrook Wildlife Center, to take a look around. We made our way through the inside then went outside where even more caged animals are; the ones no longer suited for life in the wild.

Later that evening we went downtown and saw "The Color Purple" at the Cadillac Palace Theatre. Although we spent a ridiculous $13 to park in a lot, we almost paid $28 at the parking garage right next to it. HELLL NO. Before the show we had a lovely dinner at 312 Chicago, where we split Gnocchi and where my Caesar salad had a smelly fish corpse in it. The waiter said that the salads come that way. I must have scowled. Fish in a Caesar salad? HELLL NO x 2!

The show was extremely good though, with wonderful performances from the entire cast.

The next morning I went with Kelly to Christ the King church. We went out for breakfast afterwards at Simon's Restaurant (1 star for Kelly's banana pancakes, being that they were merely pancakes with cut bananas dropped on top). Then we went our separate ways for a few hours.

Later that night Kelly came over to my place and we made the Northwest Chicken Salad from our Cooking For Two cookbook. We also watched Before Sunrise and Mystic Pizza. After that, sleepy time.

The next day we watched the sequel to Before Sunrise, aptly titled Before Sunset. We ate muffins for breakfast, Tropical Turkey salad sandwiches for lunch, and stuffed pizza from Papa Savario's for dinner. During the pizza we watched The Notebook. After that we read poetry, talked politics, then went to bed.

It was a wonderful three-day weekend!

Perseids Meteor Shower

Jason and I have the worst luck with celestial events. Does this make us star-crossed lovers? Once, on one of our very first dates, we met to watch the sunrise. Only, it turned out to be completely cloudy, and besides that, we were so nervous to be out with each other that we were watching for the sun to come up on the western horizon. Then, there was the time we were driving and we kept thinking the moon looked weird but didn't think anything much of it, turns out it was a lunar eclipse and we'd totally missed appreciating it. And now, on this night, we met up to watch the meteoric event of the year, the Perseids meteor shower. A couple nights before we'd been at Ravinia and we'd seen a few awesome fireballs streak the sky, but never in that romantic way where you both get to see one at the same time, exclaim in unison, then look at each other knowingly with stardust in your eyes. Well, we set out at 10:30, just a little before the peak, and we were quite excited because earlier that evening when we went to Graham's for Italian sodas the sky had been clear. But alas, in a few hours, the sky had pulled down the shades. A few stars and planets tantalized us, clouds shifted about showing stars in one area, then another, but while we lay out on the roadside on a blanket for half an hour, we saw not one meteorite.

Alas, it looks like it'll be cloudy again the next night. No shooting stars for us. But at least I have the stars in Jason's eyes.

Ravinia Part Deux - Nickel Creek featuring Fiona Apple

We went to Ravinia again! This time with Jason's mom and her date, Dell. Kelly got to cook, this was the menu:

Ravina Nickle Creek Menu

Thai noodle salad with chicken and mandarin oranges (spicy)
Pasta salad with olive oil, tomato, basil, garlic, feta
Cubed cheese, Sliced summer sausage, triscuits
Watermelon
Chocolate chip cookies

Apricot Wine, Leine and corona beer

We spread out a blanket under the shooting stars. Jason and Kelly got to see Fiona on stage dance like a rag doll to the music. The set was ruffly fabric that changed colors.

Harry Potter in 3D

After faithfully watching all of the past 4 Harry Potter movies, the last one we finished the day before, we met up with Susie and Tony to see the latest Harry Potter movie (Order of the Phoenix). Loved it. We'd already observed, watching the previous 4 practically back-to-back, that they were getting better each time. We really liked 3. Now it's a tie between 3 and 5 being the best. We saw the show at the IMAX where the last 15 minutes (the big battle scene and wizard duel) were in 3D. Rock on. And Kelly had just finished the last Harry Potter book, so she was in a Harry Potter tizzy.

We met up for beforehand dinner at an Italian place in Woodridge called Clara's where we split a delicious slice of lasagna. Definitely recommend this place, was Tony and Susie's suggestion.