A Rainy Atlanta Weekend

We were the recipients of some lovely weather this weekend so we made it a mental health weekend and did some relaxing and cleaning.  Aside the rain and hail storm on Saturday, there were a few key highlights:

The iPad 2 arrived. Hardly has it left Aimee’s side.  I have to say though, I’m really impressed by this thing.  It’s zippy and is a good addition to our technology arsenal (which admittedly isn’t that imposing).  Here’s a picture of a happy Aimee unboxing it:

As we progress through Lent, we celebrated Liturgy for the 3rd Sunday of Lent at IHM tonight.  We have introduced Crowley to the season of Lent as well.  Since a) we cannot presume to understand how dogs might perceive the concept of “prayer” and b) Crowley has no alms to give, it was determined that she will be fasting until Easter.  As such we have changed her food from Orijen Regional Red (all red meat) to their 6 fish variety.  Strangely, I don’t think she appreciates the sacrifice much.

Most notable this weekend was the “We Will Follow the Cross” concert at IHM.  This was an evening of Lenten music featuring the music of Michael Mullink and Michael Vrazel.  Together they have written numerous inspired pieces of music which draw on their experiences in work, daily life, and major church events.  They graciously asked Aimee and I to be an important part of the evening.  Aimee participated in the schola group and sang a solo (“My Thoughts Are Not Your Thoughts”); I accompanied the group on piano and also played a piece I wrote for the occasion based on “What Wondrous Love” and “Were You There”.  I’ll post a recording when I get my hands on it.  Until then, here are some pictures:

Trip to Chicago, Part III

More of a third installment I suppose.  Aimee and I took the St. Patrick’s Day weekend as an opportunity to visit our home away from Atlanta to see some friends, family, and participate in a few things that remind us of living in Chicago.

The annual Siamsa nGael concert was on Wednesday at Symphony Center.  I sat proudly in the Gallery with other young adults (see vantage point shot below). The music selection was a refreshing blend of new and familiar and showcased immensely talented soloists from Old St. Pat’s.  Martin Sheen was the guest narrator, guiding us, his captive audience, through the stories and beautiful imagery of inciting music, brash courage, and proud history of the Irish people.  Many media outlets were not welcome at the event because of an expressed desire to ask Martin about his son.  NBC was present on condition that they respect the man and his purpose.  They published some pictures on their site:  pictures link 

With a shortage of Irish pubs here in Atlanta, I was on the hunt for a good corned beef and cabbage.  Unfortunately I had completely forgotten this quest when picking Red Light for dinner.  Their zesty Chinese offerings and refreshing drinks did not disappoint though!  Neither did my stay at Hotel Neary.  Thank you to them for opening their doors to me!

On Friday I had the opportunity to visit with Kristen most of the day at the United Center as we cheered the Notre Dame basketball team to victory against Akron.  Mental note though, to stay away from the United Center on Friday’s in Lent.  I can only hope that their undesirable Connie’s Pizza does not become the Chicago-style pizza archetype for visitors. 

We met at Mark’s place that night for Brinner, featuring eggs, waffles, and donuts.  Special thanks to Mark for his hospitality and willingness to cook for us while we visited with Sara, Adam, Kristen, and Scott – and especially for letting us stay with him over the weekend. 

Webster’s Wine Bar was up next. They state they are Chicago’s “Oldest and Finest Wine Bar”, yet established in 1994.  Did we really not have wine bars before then? Anyway, Aimee was hoping to connect with her soon-to-be colleagues and this place was perfect:  a large couch and wine list that reads like a book.  She counts herself more than fortunate to work with such smart practitioners.

Megan generously came in early (air quotes?) to give us massages on Saturday morning which was followed by lunch with Fr. Tom, my parents, and Frank and Darlene at Ina’s in the West Loop.  I’m saddened to find out that there was a delicious breakfast place in the West Loop that I did not know about.  We got to meet Ina herself (a.k.a. Breakfast Queen, evidently a title that has been taken away from Aimee). 

David and Maryjoy had a couple hours to visit with us that afternoon so we finally got to meet little Theo and catch up with them.  We miss our trips to the Chicago Shakespeare Theatre and anticipate those resuming soon.

We really enjoyed the chance to visit with my parents who drove in from Michigan to be with us.  Dinner on Saturday took us to Little Italy to Francesca’s on Taylor Street.  We were joined by Megan, Jim, Ginny, the Mullooly’s, along with my parents and Frank and Darlene.

Sunday started, as so frequently it does, with brunch among friends.  Leaning on the early brunch mandate from MB, we decided it was a good time to experience a smaller crowd at Meli.  It was delicious.  Hopefully Irena liked it because she’s now blacklisted from this location.  We joined the choir for mass at OSP (which also included a welcomed and surprise guest appearance from Mark).  I felt good and comfortable behind the keys of the Steinway Model D – but who wouldn’t.

Perhaps it was an omen, or perhaps just yet another sign of constrained labor operations in the airlines, but our United crew did not show up for the flight and once we had some semblance of one, the pilots had timed out and couldn’t fly.  What followed was some frustrated, yet ambitious playing of the doctor card by Aimee, a short night in a hotel, and a newly issued ticket on Delta that got us home the next morning. 

Oh, and did you guess a white 32 GB Wi-fi iPad 2?  And did it arrive on Monday?  You bet.

Lent in Atlanta

Well it’s Lent here in Catholicland (actually in much of Christendom).  I enjoyed the perspective offered at mass tonight that “40 days and 40 nights” need not be interpreted literally.  Rather, that we think of it as a collective, indicative of a period of time marked by longing, sacrifice, atonement, and preparation – not unlike the time period associated with Noah’s Ark and Moses on Mt. Sinai.  Also not unlike the trials of Josh Hartnett in his 2002 movie of the same name.  Anyway, are we really to believe that some of the most impactful, transformational, and transcendental events in our Christian history were constrained to 2.857 fortnights? Or for that matter, that “Sundays don’t count in Lent” (i.e. a literal count of days) is sound awareness of Lent’s purpose?  Perhaps we are.  To be sure though, it’s purpose is not to excitedly judge other’s understanding or realization of the season.  To that end, we’ll focus on prayer (for our Church, our relationships, the people of Japan), fasting (from baked goods, red meat, and sleep), and almsgiving, as we prepare for Easter Sunday.

With Lent comes a few things of note:

1.  Ash Wednesday – we celebrated at IHM in a packed bilingual service that was beautifully done.  I was shocked at the number of parishioners that showed up.  It was honor to be part of such a vibrant and meaningful liturgy.

2. St. Patrick’s Day – Seeing video footage of the river turning green, the parade, and pictures from the OSP celebrations sure made us miss St. Patrick’s Day in Chicago.  We’ll be there this weekend, just in time for us both feeling a bit homesick.  This past weekend however, Aimee tried her hand at an Irish Soda Bread recipe giving raison d'être to our new cast iron skillet (next will be cornbread).  We combined it with a few Guinness for a nice little celebration.

3.  Brunch – this one is appropriate for all church seasons.  We went to Murphy’s with our friends Katherine and Beto from IHM this morning.   They are such delightful people and we’re glad we got to spend some time hanging out with them.  I was also reminded of how much I enjoy the biscuits at Murphy’s.  Actually, so far, I find them the best in Atlanta.  There’s more to come on this topic.  Just a little something for y’all to get excited about, but we plan on documenting some of our “Best Of…” food items in Atlanta. 

3.  Purple – this one’s a bit of a stretch but it does give me an excuse to post this video we took of Crowley today. It’s not that exciting but I thought it was cute.  We took her to the pet store today for their Adoption Day (um.. to look, not to provide additional “inventory” – however, we did find that Crowley had nibbled on Aimee’s new Ecco dress shoes so, she better watch out!). 

Crowley video

Another thing we did this weekend that was decidedly not Lent-like involved a trip to the Best Buy.  We bought a $100 gift card.  And they wrote Aimee’s name and phone number on a long list of people.  I’ll give you 3 guesses for what we’re hoping to have our hands on in a few days!

To those in Chicago we are looking forward to see you soon.  Happy Lent!

I’ll take you to the donut shop

Lots to catch up on!  As Aimee and I become more and more enamored of spring’s arrival here in Atlanta, we decided it was time to book another trip to Chicago.  And what better time to be in Chicago than around St. Patrick’s Day!  I will be there for the annual Siamsa na nGael concert:  song, dance, and stories in celebration of Celtics arts.  Held at the Symphony Center, it features the Metropolis Symphony Orchestra, the Old St. Patrick’s choir, guest soloists, and Martin Sheen narrating the evening. Aimee will join me for the weekend to catch up with our dear friends in Chicago.  My parents and Frank and Darlene will also be with us for part of the weekend.  We are very excited to visit with everyone and be part of 5pm mass.

Surely you’re wondering if any more progress has been made against “the list”.  On Saturday we went to the High Museum of Art. Overall, it was a fairly impressive experience.  It was different from the Art Institute -- In some respects it was a little more accessible and had more educational components to it.  One of the best things is that we were able to take advantage of Free Fulton County Days so admission was completely free.  Their permanent collections were good but we especially enjoyed the Henri Cartier-Bresson photography exhibit (we even bought a print!).

  

La Taverna Scozzafava was in full effect that night as Aimee made homemade spanakopita and avogolemono soup.  It was like a visit to Greektown – and she did a phenomenal job with it, especially the “finicky” fillo dough.

 

After dinner we went to [finally] see The King’s Speech and it was just fantastic.  It’s great to be in a theatre for a movie that, scene for scene, it very well done and appreciated by the audience. 

Time for the donuts!  We got a new shipment of coffee for our Keurig Coffee machine.  It includes some Chai Green Tea for me and Donut Shop coffee for Aimee – her favorite.

And today being the week of Ash Wednesday, we set out to find Pączki options in Atlanta.  Turns out, the Polish population here is not quite what it is in Chicago.  There was no taking anyone to the donut shop as we had to settle for the Publix Bakery.  Actually, there were pretty good!

Some pictures from the High Museum are below: