Chicago trip - post 4: the Museum of Contemporary Art and the day Daniel tried to take my camera away

 The exhibits at the Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art were SO. SO. AMAZING.

 After SUUUCH a wonderful night's sleep, Daniel ordered a surprise room service breakfast 

of White Chocolate French Toast and it was sooooooooooooooooooooooooo good!!!

 Another GORGEOUS day! We hit the streets and walked to the Museum of Contemporary Art!

 This spinning "MOTHERS" sign was the first thing we saw and I know it was made just for ME!

Okay..... it is the MCA Plaza Project by Martin Creed, and will remain there through May 2013

(thanks to Tay for shooting these pics for me! xo)

Me probably saying something dorky to make Daniel laugh, and Davy looking so chic in his pea coat.

The main exhibit featured the works of brothers Rowan and Erwan Bouroullec -

IT WAS STUNNING!

huge, textural, colorful, touchable, integrative, creative, expansive, simple, brilliant....... I could go on!

Truly a visual treat of all their work, their creative process, their inspiration, their applications.

(I actually recognized some of their later pieces!)

The semi-sheer "screen" above is made from thousands of plastic clamps used as a room divider.

The tiny model..... the chair.

 The tiny model atop their simply textured ceramic floor tile.

Another example of their creative room dividers - decorative on both sides

 This tightly woven chair is strikingly simple - 

it reminded me of one of my all time favorite chairs: the Womb chair by Aero Saarinan

 More pieces of their integrative works, with concept drawings covering the wall in behind.

 Anything can be an inspiration :)

Concepts turned into reality - the small green, stackable container table is still produced.

The back side of the room divider seen above 

Another room divider with a different type of connector, this time "tabs" are used -

I really like how one color becomes two, then on down the line flows into several more colors. 

Yet another room of the Bouroullec exhibit, taken through their quirky white, transparent divider 

 A "honeycomb" type divider that was so immense, it reached beyond the second floor!

 Some people I know and know and love looking out the expansive 2ond story window :)

 And now through another of their screens, this time black

 The "MOTHERS" sign is down there spinning around

 Look at these awesome buildings! I love how old is against new. 

If I wasn't so annoyed with the word 'juxtaposition' I would use it here.....

 Right about now is when Daniel had finally had enough and asked to "see" my camera. 

I've been around the block enough to know what he was trying. I created him. 

So I kept taking pics :)

Of course there were MANY more amazing exhibits we thoroughly enjoyed!

I particularly liked Color Bind: the MCA Collection in Black and White

 I encourage you to check it out in person or online!

~

Next up: we shopped AND we dropped!

Chicago trip - post 3

 So what started out as a well-planned trip to Chicago by bus/train/rail turned out to be 

hours of waiting in a crowded and stinky Amtrak station (this pic was before it got packed!)

 When we heard the train had derailed, we decided to rethink our plan and take Daniel's truck!

 Most of the scenery along the way was really lovely! Lots & lots of farmland :)

 These two crammed in the back didn't see much scenery :D

 I was not used to seeing a rail running down the middle of the freeway! (& train tracks crossing over!)

 First view of the city and the traffic was nearly stopped. Are we back in L.A.???

 Yep - approaching the big city :)

 Finally here! Thank you Daniel!

We stayed at the Hyatt right on the Magnificent Mile and it was wonderful!

 We could see all kinds of buildings from our window - this is the view straight down

 Our first walk downtown - ARCHITECTURE! :D

 MORE ARCHITECTURE! :D

 Of course we went down under the street into the belly of streets below too, hehe -

this pic was for John (it's a Saturday Night Live thing)

 YUM! Eating deep dish pizza at Lou Malnati's - we were sooo hungry! It was awesome!

After dinner we walked to one of Daniel's fave jazz clubs - Andy's Chicago Jazz

We had amazing dessert and listened to an AMAZING jazz trio - what a great first night!

~

Next post: the Modern Art Museum!

Chicago trip - post 2

 Suffice it to say, that Urbana is one adorable mid-west town!

The University of Illinois packs a walloping 75,000 students, but Urbana still feels quaint :)

The weather was cold but gorgeous, and very Christmassy!

 I'll never forget walking into the train station and seeing my precious Davy's smiling face :) 

I've missed him sooooooo much - I never wanted to stop hugging him. 

And it was very sweet to see these two together again :)

Davy took us to their apt. where Daniel was waiting, and it was AWESOME to be with both my boys!

Davy took us around the town so we could go into neat little shops and I could take pics :)

We found the COOLEST independent book store (3 stories!) and loved poking around!

They had all kinds of old, first editions and quirky things - it was awesome!

This is where I hid while looking for books on Irene Sendler in Holocaust section

 I *love* REO Speedwagon!

I wish our post offices looked this ornate!

Be still my heart..... we found the BEST BAKERY! I'm still dreaming of their French macaroons!

Even the sun going down looks spectacular :)

YAYYY!!!

Davy's favorite independent movie theater - he even owns a share :)

~

Next post: the 4 of us hit Chicago!

Chicago trip - post 1

 Dawn broke as Taylor & I were riding the "L" train from the airport :)

 Walking from the "L" to Union Station in the early morning - my first dose of architecture :)

 just around the corner and.......

 YES!

 I could have taken pics of Union Station for hours!

 ....... and I thought the OUTSIDE was amazing - the inside blew me away!

 Finally on the train to Urbana - my first view of Chicago from the train :)

It was 2 hours south to Urbana and I loved every minute!

Next post: Urbana!

12/12/12

Some of my 12 Days of Christmas ornaments in honor of today: 12/12/12!!!

~

Hi friends :) So from what I hear, today is the very last time - in our lifetime - 

that we will see a date such as this! Which I know is kind of quirky, but it's also pretty cool too.

YES! Am I aware - oh, sooooo aware! - that I owe you all a truckload of Chicago photos! 

AND! I'm in the middle of house renovations because I have genius ideas right before the holidays :/  

SO! I needed a gentle reminder from Gaylen (thank you!) to get back on here and be MERRY!

TRUE! The holidays and Christmas time is my absolute favorite time of the year and I need to post!

So here are some of my favorite photos from the past - some you've seen, some you haven't.

Please ENJOY them until I can git my tired and sore caboose in gear and post NEW ONES!

my Luna makes every day Christmas :)