I Went to a Kid Party At Chucky Cheese and Lived to Tell About It

Our little friend Caely turned 4 this week, and we partook of the festivities at Chucky Cheese. I admit I was scared to go, but Cadence would never have forgiven me if she knew I kept her home from an opportunity to eat CAKE.

When we first got to the party, Cadence was scared of the giant robotic animals on stage, and she begged to go back home. Once those robotic furry creatures started dancing and performing, however, she decided they were harmless, and before the night was over she got pretty chummy with Chucky himself.

There were a lot of kids there that we didn't know, but Cadence's friends Rudden and Baby Jack and Zane were there, as were my friends, their moms, so it was fun to hang out amidst the chaos of singing robotic stuffed animals, video arcades, rides and a vast array of little toys and prizes.

My favorite activity, though, had to be the Sketch Booth. It was kinda like a photobooth, except that Chucky Cheese (a computerized version, and just his hand at that) himself would sketch a picture of you from a snapshot taken in the booth. Amy and I had a hard time getting the kids' heads in the camera frame, which resulted in this funny series. I think that's Zane's hand in the middle photo.

The kids are all growing up so fast...Baby Jack was just about to be conceived when Ted and Cadence and I started attending Berry Church where we met these families. Now he's toddling around everywhere. Cadence wasn't even walking at the time...I'm just glad she's got some friends who really feel like family to her, and I look forward to many more birthday parties to come. Even ones at Chucky Cheese.

The Tree Saga Continues

As some of you may know, I did not grow up in a family that decorated Christmas trees. So it should come as no surprise to you that I had no idea what to do once we got our tree home. Ted, who DID grow up in a family that did Christmas trees, was somewhat of a help, but as this was his very first tree as the DAD, it wasn't entirely obvious to him either as to how to proceed. We managed to get the lights on, as you saw in the previous post, but we weren't sure what to do about a garland. So for the first couple days, the tree just sat there, as you can see in the sad photo above. But not for long!

As you can see, we managed to decorate the tree just fine. We settled on a ribbon garland, and although it took a couple tries, I think Ted did a good job. We had just enough ornaments, mostly ones from Ted's Grandma Yia Yia, who helps out with a Christmas Bazaar every year. I absolutly love the kitschy stuff! Here are some of my favorites:

Here's that lonely covered wagon ornament from the top photo. As you can see, it's got some company now.

The Foam Snowman. A total classic, especially with the tiny crocheted hat and scarves and sequins for buttons.

The Stuffed Granny Boot. We have this in red too. Ted's favorite, and one of mine too.

The Gingerbread House. Looks yummy enough to eat.

And then there's the friendly ghost with the not-quite-James-Dean coiffure. Or is it a cloud? Or a marshmallow? Does it matter? Probably not.

Then there's the adorable rollerskate. Love those little tiny button wheels! This is so much cuter than the rollerskates I had as a kid.

Check out the three-headed Santa. Funny thing is my high school friend Ed saw this in my Flickr stream and informed me that his parents got this same ornament from their church bazaar. Weird!

By the date on this one, I'd say it's older than some of you reading this post.

Here's a trio of ornaments. The heart one on the right is actually something I picked up at the Seeds of Change marketplace. A woman (I think her name is Erin?) made these out of scraps from clothes she didn't want any more. That got me thinking about making some of my own...I haven't had any success, yet, I can tell you that.

And here is my favorite, y'alls. Is that robot rad or WHAT?! I can't believe Yia Yia's been holding onto this all these years!

There are many more ornaments, and I have to say they look awesome on our tree. Not Martha Stewart awesome (*GAG!*), but my kind of awesome.

Our next step is to make a popcorn garland. I think maybe with cranberries. So the saga continues...

It's 4 Days After Thanksgiving...And I'm Still Full

That's probably because I just ate me a big old turkey sandwich with--what else?--leftover turkey. I normally post my Best Shots Monday on Mondays, but I'm not in any mental condition to pick out what I consider my best shots. In other words, I'm feeling mighty lazy. Besides, "best" is such a heavy word. Nevertheless, I don't want to neglect posting SOMETHING today, so how about a smattering of various photos from last week? That way, no pressure on me to post anything earth-shattering.

Rock 'n' Roll. 'nuff said.

And more Rock 'n' Roll paraphernalia. If you want to see what Cadence looked like in this shirt 3 years ago, click here.

And here's something a little more classical. Although she looks like she's playing some boogie-woogie.

And what would Thanksgiving be without hugs from Uncle Jay?

Or Uncle Dave?

Or Grandpa? Of course, we were missing Auntie Lauren and Uncle Doug in Sweden and Uncle Charles and Auntie Ali in Seattle and Auntie Becki in Bali (kinda jealous about that last one).

This would be the most crowded photo of the week.

This would be my sweetest photo of the week. Cadence totally looks up to her 6-year-old cousin Mackenzie. Hmm...maybe she can talk to her about the potty. You know, all casual-like...

And this would be my saddest photo of the week. Sad because it's THAT cold, not so much because the poor cig got stuck.

Now if someone can point me to an organic nursery that sells potted christmas trees, I'll be all set.

Best Shot(s) Monday--Muted Autumn Colors

You know what I love about autumn? I really, really adore all the leaves floating down one, two, three at a time, creating piles and piles on the sidewalks and next to the parked cars in the streets. I know that's like a duh given, but I just don't ever get over the leaves. I love how they crunch under my feet as I walk to catch my morning train. I love how they mute all the colors around them to browns and golds and oranges with the occasional blazing crimson.

I love autumn because it is the season that gave me my Cadence, and I love that SHE loves watching the leaves fall from the sky, kicking them up into the air with her feet, pointing out that once all the leaves have fallen from the branches (she actually likes using the word 'branches' these days), that it will finally snow. Only a kid, or a kid at heart, or someone from a tropical climate, could get excited at the prospect of snow.

And while autumn means that death and hibernation are just around the corner, and that I will soon need to wear longjohns on my walks to the train--every now and then, you encounter a vestige of life from the summer past, and it is even more strikingly beautiful because it has now become so scarce. I've always enjoyed a little splash of pink next to the browns in my life, because there probably is no better color combination than pink and brown.

Go visit other folks' Best Shots for the week at Tracey's Picture This.

Best Shot(s) Monday--On the Mend

Slowly but surely, Cadence seems to be recovering from her cold. We went through an entire family sized box of Kleenex, and I think we'll be able to get through this week on maybe just half of one.

I tried to get a really snotty photo of her for posterity, but for some reason, it's really hard to get one of her where she looks all that bad.

Unfortunately, we spent the weekend pretty much indoors except to go out and buy more tissue and homeopathic stuff. Ted caught the bug Saturday, so we were a pretty miserable bunch for most of the weekend. I was a bit more lucky and got to go do a photoshoot of my cousins' daughter Eden Sunday afternoon. It was a really nice day, although it was a bummer to see the sun go down so much earlier with the time change. Oh, and it was a bummer I didn't get to give Eden any hugs from fear of making her sick too.

On my way home from the photoshoot, I stopped in at the rose garden near downtown Evanston. I was quite surprised to see so many roses in bloom in November.

I guess it's been a pretty warm fall so far. Still, it's pretty amazing to see such lovely and huge blossoms thriving in the middle of autumn, especially since we had some nights in the 30s last week.

There's something extremely nostalgic to me about this time of year. Spring and summer are such hopeful, exciting seasons--so much new life popping up all around, and countless hours spent in the warm sun outdoors. Autumn, on the other hand, is when time slows down, and I start savoring the memories, recent and from long ago.

Alright, let me cut this short before I get all sappy on y'all. Go see other folks' best shots at Tracey's Picture This.

BusyBusyBusy

Woah, is it really Wednesday already?! Holy schmoles. I've been super busy for several reasons. First of all, Ted and I spent every free moment (e.g., while Cadence was napping/sleeping) this weekend watching episodes from the 1st Season of Heroes. 2nd of all, Cadence seems to be fighting a bug. She's had a fever since the middle of Monday night, and I think some cold/ear infection symptoms are manifesting today. 3rd, I'm super super busy at work. That's why I skipped my usual Best Shot(s) Monday post. I'll try to make it up today, but I have to admit my brain is a bit preoccupied by homeopathic remedies for all the possible things that may be ailing Cadence. She seldom gets sick (go breastmilk!), so when she DOES feel a bit under the weather, all that mommy anxiety and stress I've been saving up come out in full force.

Was Saturday as beautiful in your neck of the woods as it was in ours? I hope so. Totally perfect autumn weather. Crisp, clear and sunny. Too warm for a coat but warm enough to get by with a sweater. We took advantage of the day and visited Garfield Park Conservatory w/ my cousin Kris. My other cousin Ben and his wife Rachel and daughter Eden and their friend Seth joined us later.

It was the last weekend of Niki in the Garden, a special exhibit of Niki de Saint Phalle's oversized and colorful sculptures. It's the perfect exhibit for families, as many of the sculptures are interactive and even climbable.

Cadence made the most of the afternoon sun and even found a little hill to run up and down. She loved that the grass was covered with small golden leaves.

It eventually got chilly as the sun got lower and lower on the horizon. I had left Cadence's jacket in the car, so I put my hoodie on her. I have to say, she looks like the cutest grim reaper I've ever seen.

Okay, I'm really starting to bore myself with this post, so just enjoy the photos. I SO totally need a nap...

This is what I call signature Cadence Cheese. Snapped right before we got kicked out, as the park was closing.

At church Sunday. A totally BFF moment.

And by Sunday afternoon, it was cold enough to dig out the winter coat and hat. Here we are on our way to Metropolis for some really yummy hot chocolates.

It was so cold that the park was abandoned, and we could do goofy things with abandon.

Like kicking our feet up and using the slide as a sofa.

Or taking ridiculously sentimental and cheesy timer self-portraits.

Alright. Enough with the cheesiness. Hopefully, all that homeopathic stuff will work and Cadence will be feeling better soon. Still, I'm sure we won't be going anywhere on Halloween night this year. Good thing I already took photos of her in her costume:

Happy Halloween, y'all!

Because TWO Photo Posts in One Week Ain't Enough

My bro-in-law Dave left a comment on this photo on Flickr wanting to know who authorized a haircut for Cadence, "especially in such a style." Ha ha! Truth is, it's a fake haircut. Her hair got stuck inside her turtleneck when I was getting her dressed, and I noticed it looked like she got a haircut, so I snapped a few shots. As IF. It's taken me FOREVER (okay, 3 years, not really forever) to get her hair long enough for pigtails and barrettes, so there's no way I'm letting a pair of scissors come near her head.

Yesterday was a truly blustery day. I had a migraine almost the whole day. Luckily, it was my day to telecommute, but still. Working with a migraine, even from the comfort of my sofa, kinda sucks bigtime. I was feeling well enough by around 5pm, so I took Cadence outside to play. Holy schmoles! I was NOT expecting it to be THAT cold. The sad thing is, it probably wasn't all that cold. Maybe in the high 40's with the wind chill, but compared to what we normally get in winter round these parts, not that cold in the grand scheme of things. I'm just not ready to let go of summer just yet...

So, I realize I take a lot of photos of Cadence (that would be the understatement of the year). And yet, I have to admit that sometimes I get these shots that just take my breath away. Like this one above here.

Or this one. She can be so cheesy sometimes, but it's really her serious, deep looks that pierce me in that maternal place in my heart.

So while we're on the topic of photos, it looks like a few of you have discovered that I'm working on a new photo gallery. I didn't mean it to get out there in public, as I'm still futzing around with it, but I've discovered a great little tool called Pictobrowser that lets you create a snazzy looking slideshow gallery of your Flickr photos based on a specific tag, group or set. I'm still playing around with it, but if you like, you can go take a looksy at my new photo gallery page over here.

Or just look at the example below:


What I like about Pictobrowser is its sleek design and no nonsense font and the fact that you can see the title of the photo if you hover over a thumbnail with your mouse, as well as give you a link to the actual Flickr page where the photo resides. The downside is that I can't figure out how to get more than 21 pages of photos to show up. Of course, it's kinda crazy to have 21 pages of photos of any category, but I take a lot of photos, ya know. Oh well. I guess I have to be more critical of the photos I put in these here galleries. Currently, I just have the one of some of my favorite photos taken after I switched to dSLR. I'm working on one for all of Cadence. And the one posted in this blog is of my nature shots. I'll probably do one of Chicago, or street photography, or something. I dunno...The possibilities are endless with Pictobrowser.

Tags: Pictobrowser, Photography

Wordless Wednesday--For G.

Best Shot(s) and Other Shots Monday--Smorgasbord

It's been a busy week photo-wise, so I'm going to have to incorporate my Best Shot(s) into a blog post to get caught up. Some of the photos below I would consider part of my best shots for the week, and others just part of the story. You can see other folks' best shots for the week at Tracey's Picture This.

My friends Yvonne and Justin and I get together on a regular basis to talk photos and take photos. We call ourselves the Photopeeps. Last Wednesday, we did a little photoshoot at our place with Yvonne's dog Barko and Cadence dressed up in costumes. Cadence barely fit into her catsuit, as this would be the 3rd year of her wearing it, but she was really into pretending to be a kitty. More like a little lion, perhaps...

I have to say, though, she makes a pretty cute kitty.

She's starting to look like such a KID. I mean, just look at that hair. She actually has enough for it to be blowing in the wind. She was such a bald baby for so long, I didn't think this day would come.

Saturday evening, Ted, Dave, Cadence and I headed to University Village for a Half Acre Beer tasting at Lush Wine and Spirits.

[For those of you who haven't heard, Ted is now a resident small batch brewer for Half Acre, which is a new Chicago beer company that just put out a lager over the summer. It's available in a bunch of places in Chicago right now—some liquor stores, a few Jewels, a couple 7-Elevens, some Whole Foods and other specialty grocers, especially in the Bucktown/Wicker Park area. If you like interesting lagers, you should check them out. Andrew Huff, the editor of Gapers Block has given it his seal of approval. Go to Half Acre's website, and you'll see a plug for Ted's brew blog in the right hand column.]

Dave's best friend (and Ted's former roommate) Keom met up with us at Lush. We went to Pompei for dinner, which is an old favorite haunt of Ted's from back when he lived at 800 South (the apartment where he and ALL his brothers lived at one point or another, as well as some close friends).

Keom's one of my favorite people. For one thing, we share a love of some of the same bands and we always talk music together. He's also fun to banter with on just about anything.

After dinner, we stopped in at Keom's new apartment in Pilsen. Cadence was delighted to find that a kitty lived there too, although I don't think the kitty was too happy about Cadence. Poor kitty…

Speaking of poor kitty, we (including Dave) went to Ted's parents' house in the burbs on Sunday, partly to deliver some framed photos of Sniper, the family cat, who died two weeks ago today. Sniper lived a long (16 years?) and happy life, free to roam and hunt in the woods on the property. Cadence was quite fond of Sniper, and I'm not sure she understands what's happened. She knows that he's not at Grandma and Grandpa's any more, but she did ask for him when we visited.

Another reason for our visit yesterday was to attend a bike race in Carpentersville that our friend Dave Norton was competing in. Since it was unseasonably warm out yesterday, Dad and (Uncle) Dave took a ride to the race in his Cobra. Dad took the long winding scenic route, and it was just lovely. I happened to catch this shot of Dave with his arms in the air. With the pretty fall foliage all around, it was quite a pretty drive indeed.

The race was just about to start when we got to the park, and all the riders were bunched together just waiting for the signal to start. This race is part of the 2007 Chicago Cyclocross Cup which will culminate in the final race in December at Montrose Harbor in Chicago.

We located our friend Dave amongst the crowd of cyclists. He looked pretty calm to me while waiting for the race to begin.

Cyclocross racing looks really challenging, as it requires not just cycling, but a variety of terrain AND dismounting and carrying your bike over obstacles at certain points. I think doing this for one lap would be more than enough for me. I don't know how these folks do it lap after lap.

We cheered for Dave whenever he passed us. Unfortunately, we were too far from the finish line at the end of the race so we didn't actually see him finish. In fact, HE didn't even know the race was over and thought he had another lap.

Cadence wore her cycle shirt for the occasion. Maybe watching the race will inspire her to be a cyclist someday. Her name would fit right into the sport, as 'cadence' is a cycling terminology.

Cadence fell asleep soon after we drove away from the bike race, and since Dundee has two microbreweries around the corner from each other, Ted and Dave decided to stop for a pint, while I stayed by the car so Cadence could keep napping. We parked facing the Fox River, and I took some photos of the seagulls soaring over my head. The sky was so blue, and the white birds literally glowed in the late afternoon sunlight as they would catch the wind in their wings and soar higher and higher [yikes, that sentence sounded way too much like a Bette Midler song!]. Watching them, I had to conclude that flying probably never gets old, even for a bird.

We went back to Ted's parents' house to have a little afternoon tea and cake (or limeade for Cadence) before we hit the road back into the city.

Cadence of course wanted to see the neighbor's horses, so we had to stop on our way out by the little pasture. Unfortunately, the horses were in the stable, and we could only see the baby horse's hindquarters.

Oh, the photo above? Cadence's finger was in her nose just moments before it was taken. For Grandma's sake, though, I waited until she took her finger out before I pressed the shutter.

Best Shots Monday--Playing with Color and Perspective

I recently got myself Marina's Underground Set List for Adobe Lightroom. These are basically different settings (presets) that can be applied to my RAW (uncompressed)images in Lightroom to achieve specific looks. They are a lot of fun to play with. You can apply the setting and then adjust the exposure, color, etc to make the photo look the way you want it to. The setting I used for this one is called Mello MaiTai3.

It kind of gives the photos an aged, yet dreamy feel to 'em, which I really like. For those of you who have cameras that can shoot in RAW format, I highly recommend it. You have much more options when you edit photos for correcting exposure and color and whatnot. I've been shooting exclusively in RAW since Lauren's wedding.

Something else that I continue to play with is getting a different angle or perspective on my photos by "shooting from the hip." Basically, that means shooting without looking through the viewfinder. I often put the camera all the way to the ground to get a bug's eye view, so to speak. My aim kinda sucks, so I never know what I'm gonna get.

Like this shot here...That's not what I was going for at all. I meant to get Cadence in the shot, but of course I was too close and my aim too poor. Still, I really like the result, which I think is more interesting than what I would've gotten had I actually gotten all of Cadence in the shot.

Go see more folks' Best Shots for the week on Tracey's Picture This!

Girl Time!

Sunday was girl-fest for Cadence and me. While Ted and our neighbor Chad were sweating away brewing a batch of Nut Brown Ale, we girls spent the afternoon with my cousin Kris. We had lunch at Charmer's Cafe on Jarvis and hung out afterwards at our place. When Ted finished brewing, we all hung out on the porch sipping our beverages and just enjoying being lazy. Of course, Cadence was napping during this part, or there was no way we would have been allowed to be LAZY.

In the evening, we met up with Miss Mia and some of the girls from Team Do!Boo! at a newish Korean restaurant called Su Ra in Wicker Park. Ted brought some homebrews, which was much appreciated, especially by Melissa and her husband Andrew who are thinking of homebrewing. Ted was totally happy to have folks to talk to about beer, I was happy to see the girls and have some Korean food, and Cadence wasn't too bad off either with all the emoh's (aunties) there to dote on her.

Team Do!Boo! is a group that Miss Mia formed a few years ago with some of the Korean American girls she was hanging out with. We formed a collective of creative types, kind of like a Korean American all-girl art gang. We've gotten together to learn how to cook Korean food or study the Korean language. Some of the girls have done spoken word performances together. I haven't hung out too much with Team Do!Boo!, considering I got pregnant right about the time we formed as a group, but I still like keeping in touch and spending time with them.

I promised Mia I would post this photo of nose-picking Cadence and the girls. Actually, I have to consider Cadence a member of Team Do!Boo! because she's been to almost all the events with me, either in my uterus or as a baby and toddler. Like how many kids could say they've been in a Korean American all-girl art gang from the time they were in utero? Not too many, I would think.

Best Shot(s) Monday--Cadence: A Symphony in Multiple Movements

I am sad to say that I lost ¾ of Saturday to a god-awful migraine. I finally got desperate and called my mother to send me real migraine drugs via my brother. I haven't taken any of the more potent migraine pills since prior to getting pregnant w/ Cadence, but I just couldn't take it any more. Thankfully, my brother Jim brought drugs and food, so I was sufficiently revived by 6pm to take Cadence out for the last hour of daylight to play at our favorite park on the lakefront.

Here she is conducting an imaginary orchestra of trees, grass, leaves and pebbles while munching on an apple at the park.

And here she is commanding the lake and the rocks to give her more crescendo. Or maybe she's playing a fiddle? Who knows. She's quite dramatic with the hand gestures as of late.

She did actually get some swinging in, although she seems bored with most of the playground equipment nowadays.

Although she got into some good old-fashioned pole-swinging. I used to do that for hours on my grammar school playground.

And, of course, there was running involved. She sure took a long time eating that apple, too, I might add.

Finally, we're back home taking a breather. Oh, ignore the crumbs on the carpet, please. I didn't feel like taking out the vacuum cleaner just to take a few shots.

And that's it for my best shots for this week. Go see more at Tracey's Picture This!

Birthday Outing--Recap in Photos

Here's a recap of Cadence's actual birthday (Monday the 24th) told in photos, because I am too drained from being sick all week to write a meaningful blog post.

Breakfast at Pauline's, cuz who WOULDN'T want to start off their 4th year of life with French toast and strawberries smothered in real whipped cream?

It's her birthday, and she can make funny faces if she wants to.

She fell asleep on the car ride over to the planeterium, but perked up when we told her we were gonna see the moon and planets and stars. BTW, a really good, cheap place to park downtown is right on that little strip of meters by the Field Museum, Shedd Aquarium and the Adler Planeterium. They have TEN (no, not two, TEN) hour parking meters for just a quarter a half-hour. Plus, there's a free trolley stop right in front of the Planeterium.

Oh, and did I mention the Planetarium was free on Monday? It's also free the whole week of October 8th-12th, plus on Mondays and Tuesdays in October and November. Now that I've given you the tip on cheap parking, you've got no excuse not to go.

Looks like Ted and Cadence will be going to the moon. Just like Wallace and Gromit. We ARE a cheese-loving family, so it only makes sense.

After the Planetarium, we headed over to Navy Pier. Ted found street parking on just the other side of Lake Shore Drive, so we didn't have to pay $20 to park for our hour of fun on the Pier. I didn't even know there was a carousel there, so that was a special bonus for Cadence, who absolutely ADORES carousels and anything horse-related.

The main reason for going to Navy Pier was to ride on the Ferris Wheel. I know folks who've gotten engaged on that thing, but after all these years living in Chicago, I had never ridden in it myself. Cadence has admired the Wheel from a distance while driving past it on Lake Shore Drive, so she was excited when Ted told her we'd be going up for a ride in it.

I wasn't sure if she'd get scared being up so high in a flimsy little carriage, but that thing moves so slow, so she was just fine. And her big strong Dada held her close the whole time, so of course she felt safe.

We didn't get home until past 5:30, but we were able to squeeze in a ride on Cadence's new trike before the sun went down.

She still hasn't figured out the pedaling part yet. And yes, sparkly ballet flats are probably not the ideal shoes for riding a tricycle, but then again, why the heck not?! I paid full price for those shoes in a last-minute fit of desperation before the wedding last month, so I want her to get as much use out of them as possible!

And that's about it, folks. I've been sleeping on the couch (when I'm lucky to be able to sleep at all) the past couple nights due to my hacking cough, so I'm pretty exhausted. I stayed home from work Thursday but still had to work all day to be able to finish a project that was due that day. Plus, I had to watch Cadence most of the day, since she decided she'd rather nap than go out w/ Ted on his 3-hour errand.

Tonight, though, I'm getting me some much needed girl time w/ my friend Amy (Cadence's best bud Rudden's mom) PLUS some high culture courtesy of the Strawdog Theater Company, which my friend John (Ada's dad) is a part of. They are performing four radio scripts (one of which John wrote) PLUS it's a free show! My kind of evening, all the way.

Best Shots Monday--Many Happy Returns of Cadence's Birthday!

Today