Chicago festival season

Summer in Chicago means it's time to start drinking at Castaways, BBQing with friends, running with B along the lake, and hitting up at least a few of the many Chicago street festivals. I definitely don't go to as many festivals as I did at 22 or 23...but a couple of weekends ago, I did make sure to get over to the Old Town Art Fair. This is an especially fun festival for me because Lindsay lives right on Wells St., smack dab in the middle of everything. For the past 2 years, she's been gracious enough to have all of us up to her place whenever we want a break from the crowd down below!

This year, we added 2 new guests to the party. Kim and Adam (Natalie's sister-in-law and brother) just moved here from California and we are all very happy to have them here :)

The Hour I First Believed by Wally Lamb

Go book club! Our last 2 picks, this one and The Help, have both been fantastic. Although I'm not sure I enjoyed this novel as much as Wally Lamb's first 2 (She's Come Undone and I Know This Much is True), it's still an amazing book and a worthwhile read. A TON of stuff happens, so it is difficult to summarize, but the events are triggered by the 1999 shooting spree at Columbine High School. Lamb stays true to the details of the crime, and while it's disturbing, I like that he stuck to the facts instead of creating his own fictional version. From there on, the book deals with a man's journey to overcome his post-traumatic stress, save his marriage, and find out who he really is and what he truly believes. You will probably cry at the end of this book. I'm just sayin'!

Run, Blago, run!

A few weeks after the Blagojevich scandal went down, people started noticing some new graffiti around town. Images of our sleazy ex-governor in his famous tracksuit have been popping up in alleys and on building walls all over Chicago. Ha! There's nothing I love more than a Blago graffiti sighting. Here's a link to a slideshow from the Tribune:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-090430-blagojevich-art-pg,0,3598948.photogallery

The mysterious graffiti artist has been especially creative in the Bucktown area. Jason snapped this pic of Rod running with (or being chased by) a dog by the Violet Hour on Damen.

I think this next photo has to be the best though. In a departure from the classic jogging stencil, this image features what appears to be a homeless Blago lighting a campfire. Jason spotted this one on Webster, east of Damen, near that emissions testing center.

Fun in Florida with my NEW CAMERA!!

Jason and I went to Palm Coast last week to hang with my parents and the Overbey side of the family. It was so nice to get a break from the crappy Chicago weather and to see relatives I hadn't seen since my wedding! We also drove halfway to Ft Lauderdale and had lunch with the Pudvin side of the family. It was a very productive vacation. We didn't get a whole lot of sun, but we got in a ton of family bonding.

AND, I got to celebrate my birthday all over again. Mom presented me with a new camera--a purple Nikon Coolpix--and I absolutely love it. I'm still kind of figuring out the settings, so this first batch of photos didn't turn out too well...but they're better than the ones taken with my phone!

Jason, me, Grandma, and Grandpa

Sus, B, Jas, and Uncle Rog

Me, Dad, Mom, Aunt Sue, Scott, and Brian

Me and Jas

Sus and Sean

The whole fam (minus Jason)--this one ended up a little blurry!

Thanks for the camera, Mom!!! I love it :)

Finally French!

At last, Roger Federer has won the French Open!! And now he is tied with Sampras at 14 total Grand Slam victories. Impressive. Methinks he just might be the GOAT :)

Now on to Wimbledon! Hopefully Nadal will recover from his knee injury and the two can face off in the finals. I'd love to see Roger take Rafa to 5 sets and win this time.