chirish

when i picked a weekend to see book of mormon in chicago (because i couldn't get tickets in madison), i picked the weekend that the show was playing in madison for no good reason (well, if avoiding feelings of jealousy at madison ticket holders is a not a good reason, then it was for no good reason...). but had i known--or even spent a minute thinking about--what was happening in chicago that same weekend, i might have been better prepared for what we found.

this past weekend, downtown chicago had a green river, a huge parade, and 400,000 young adults drinking and wandering the side walks in green sparkling outifts, looking ridiculous and not even remotely irish. but there they were, celebrating st patrick's day in full american style. i had heard about chicago st patrick's day before, including the green river, but this time we got to experience it up close. wow. once was enough.

also: the big ten boys basketball tournament was this weekend in chicago. you might have heard: wisconsin won and earned a #1 seed in the ncaa tournament for the FIRST TIME EVER. kind of a big deal.

happy wisconsin fans,  strolling along a green river.


and there it is: the green river. they say it's environmentally safe vegetable based dye, and let's be honest: is it any more toxic than what already flows from that city into that river every day? but still, kinda seems like a bad idea.


city by night


a little pre-show bubbly


and a post-show drink. mine had a leaf in it. thanks, mixology cult, for putting detritus and debris in my overpriced whiskey. awesome.


and a highlight of the weekend? a seven mile run in the sun with my husband, all along the lakeshore. i guess if you have to train for a half marathon, you should do it in style. i always incorporate a little frank gehry into my training.


and, just in case you were interested, here is the opening number from the musical, performed at the 2012 tony awards. (the real stage production is done without judith light, matthew broderick, ricky martin, and the other opening sequence glitterati. just hang in there for a minute...).   

while we were strolling around chicago, laughing our brains out at the raunchiest broadway show i've ever seen, and taking a nice sunny warm long run along the lakeshore, the kids were playing and playing and playing with their big cousins. it seems like they had a great time, despite the fever, sore throat, and general illness that ramona had all weekend long. poor baby. (THANK YOU mcfarlands. we owe you BIG TIME).

high fives on the tennis court with the family pro, 

tennis playing in jammies (OF COURSE).

happy cousins. look at those smiles!