Music, music, music

Beverage: Rosemount Estates (Aus.) Shiraz (Thanks, Leora!! Very tasty)

Mission accomplished! I solved my curtain rod holder issue by swapping the short holders with the longer ones I already put up for the windows without blinds that stick out. What a pain though! These walls are real plaster. I think I'm getting screwdriver elbow.

Eric and I wandered downtown for the afternoon. This weekend Chicago is offering both The World Music Festival and The Celtic Festival. Wandering between the two was occassionally confusing, but in general the Celtic side had a lot more beer and hornpipes.

This was my first sight of Millenium Park - the stage looks amazing, but no idea how it sounds yet. No one was playing when we went through. There is another area that will become an Olympic-sized skating rink later in the Fall. It's very reminiscent of the rink at the DC sculpture garden with surrounding eateries and gits shops. There is also a large fountain made of two large rectangular towers with water pouring over the sides and onto the plaza. A gigantic video of a face appears on each of them. It eventually puckers up and spits out water - kids were loving this. Should have had the camera.

One of the things I remember loving about Chicago is the abundance of summer festivals, neighborhood street fairs, and the like. For example, just in our own neighborhood something has been going on ever since we got here. Last weekend was Around the Coyote, a showcase of local art galleries, artists, and studios with a few dance, poetry and theater events thrown in the mix. Oh, and the bike show at the bar around the corner. There must have been several hundred motercycles-old, new, purist, designer, you name it- lined along the street. This weekend is a craft fair which we may check out tomorrow. I fear, however, that most of this may be over soon since the summer is waning. Guess we'll have lots to look forward to next summer.