The perfect Peppermint Chocolate Martini! |
Considering that my last post was about my fella’s
mom being in the hospital (and she still is although no longer in the ICU and
slowly recovering), it seems a bit insensitive to write about my girls’ weekend even though it's been planned with a close
colleague-friend for a quite a while now. My fella and his mom thought I was being
silly for even considering canceling the trip because, after all, I can’t
actually do anything since I’m not that kind of doctor :p That which I felt I should have done, I was encouraged not to do!
Off to Chicago we went for a little bit of work and
some much needed rejuvenation. The rejuvenation included the I-Must-Find-A-Peppermint-Chocolate-Martini-If-I-Must-Snow. It actually started to make me get excited about the holidays.
Of course, we’re academics so we planned to head to some museums to *get our culture on*. The weather (snow-rain? rain-snow? wet-snow?)
wasn’t pleasant. I didn’t think I needed an umbrella for snow. At home, we
brush it off. Shoot! When I lived in Boston we brushed it off. Chicago has some
sort of freaking snow that is so wet that it soaks one’s clothing. We have to
go buy new hats and gloves because they were dripping wet. We actually looked
for coats too but in the end while we were shopping our coats somewhat dried.
Chicago, hat tip to you; your weather is rough! (This is where my Northern USA
and other snowy continent peeps will make fun of me but oy! Snow is for
postcards!) It was worth it though. Chicago was decked out for the holidays. The store windows were amazing. I thought they only did this in New York City! It helped me finally let go of the Halloween season (although I did have pumpkin spice pancakes at brunch this morning).
My off-to-the-museum outfit |
We made it to the Art Institute of Chicago and it
was completely worth it. I’ve been to the museum two other times and I pretty
much look at the same stuff because while I like the book, The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945) is one of my favorite movies. My
fella favors Hurd Hatfield and there isn’t a thing wrong with that *swoon*. And
hello, young Angela Lansbury! The first
time I saw Ivan
Albright’s painting that was done for the portrait, I was amazed. There I
was so close to an artifact that was in a film that I loved. If I think about
it, it becomes a bit too meta so let me move on.
I actually hadn’t seen Ivan Albright’s
before so as soon as I saw his piece That
Which I Should Have Done I Did Not Do (The Door), described as “a powerful
mediation on a life unlived”, I couldn’t stop looking at it. I may have taken a
blurry picture back then but I did buy a postcard which I’ve framed and it
still hangs in my house. Albright spent a decade painting this piece and it is
so intricate, the details so meticulous. I wish it could hang in my house so I
could look at it every day. There is something so beautiful about it. While I’m
drawn to the wreath, I’m intrigued by the hand. I could go on and on but I’m
not an Art Historian so I won’t bore you with my unskilled explanations. I will
note that Albright was a somewhat amateur poet and often used long titles to
describe his work. The title of That
Which I Should Have Done I Did Not Do (The Door) only adds more to the
piece in my opinion.
There are some pieces that really struck me but I’ll
share them in future posts.There was even a Christmas surprise for us which I will share later as well.
It was a terribly fun weekend but I’m glad to be
home. Hoping my mother-in-law will be able to come home tomorrow, and I’m
looking forward to Thanksgiving although it may be a bit up in the air in light
of everything that’s been going on around here.
Glad you had a good trip and I'm really sorry to hear about your Fella's Mom and I'm glad recovering.
ReplyDeleteI do have to point out that your cardigan is AMAZING!!!!!! =D
Thanks! Hopefully she's coming home today but we don't want to rush andything and she has good health insurance so there aren't any worries there.
DeleteMy sweater was one of the best finds in Macy's from last year. It reminded me of an ankh tshirt I had when I was 16. I love it!
That's very cool - I wouldn't mind that one on my wall either. I can't seem to find a poster of it at the moment, but I'm gonna keep hunting! I'm always grateful for very long titles that explain exactly what the picture is all about ... I suck at interpretation. ;)
ReplyDeleteHope your mother-in-law gets out of hospital soon. <3
Maybe a museum shop? Hmm. It would be great as a poster on a door ;P
DeleteWell, without the title of this piece I'm not sure many would be able to interpret it in the way that Albright intended :) But I like the title too
Thank you!
Amazing store windows!
ReplyDeleteMy friend's stepson (who is 23) fussed at us because he said we looked like tourist. Our response, "we are!"
DeleteI'm really happy to hear that you had such a good trip ... and even MORE happy about your MIL's improvement.
ReplyDeleteThanks Connie.
DeleteThat martini looks good!
ReplyDeleteUgh, wet snow! I
Oh my boyfriend and I saw that version of Dorian Gray a long time ago, we loved that portrait!
I tried to sing Goodbye Little Yellow Bird to my bird once but she was not impressed, not sure if it was because of the scratchy youtube recording, or she was offended at the sentiments against cage living. She loves her cage and bites you to protect it!
Wow, those windows are CRAZY!!! Like whole little worlds!
Love the Eye of Horus jumper!