Always fun when your “friends worlds” collide!!! Like my friend Pam who has been using my friend Cory McCrory’s textured mug in her car… ‘cuz it’s cool… and ‘cuz it fits so well in the cup holder of Pam’s new car!!

A little early morning sunrise along the lake…
makes you think it just “might” be warmer than it really is outside!
Brrrr…

Looks like these bananas might be one-step away from becoming banana bread?! I wonder if you could bake it in a stamped pie dish instead of a bread pan??? I mean, they’re already in there, right?

Okay, so I might not have been a whiz in college when I took my “Thinking Logically” class. However… stick with me here. So when I got my first vaccine, I followed it with a trip to Lickity Split across the street for some yummy frozen custard… and felt no pain & no after-effects. So after my second shot… I did the same, with the same results. No pain, no nothing. So it only goes to “reason” that after my BOOSTER shot tonight I had to go back to Lickity Split purely for “medicinal purposes.” Hoping that maybe frozen custard is a preventative “cure” for any vaccination pain or after-effects. Fingers crossed, right?!

Doesn’t hurt any either that they still have my monthly flavor favorite… frozen egg nog custard, caramel sauce & ginger snaps all blended together! Yum… for “medicinal purposes”, right?!!!

One of the perks of working at Navy Pier so often is getting to play once & awhile… like a couple loops around the huge Centennial Ferris Wheel. Great views of the Pier… and the City from high above!

Spending some time with a few of my Holiday Elves!

Might have been cold & blustery outside today… but warm & tropical inside. Just enjoying a little more time inside The Crystal Gardens at Chicago’s landmark Navy Pier.

Very excited to see the basement “greenhouse” in full swing last week when I visited my friends in Bartonville. Last year, their “pandemic project” was to grow colorful coleus plants in the basement and then sell them in the Spring. We had a great “Plants & Pottery Pop-Up” last May on their driveway. So much fun. So pretty. So colorful!!!

Well, since Covid is still going, Rosene has hunkered down for another Winter with her coleus garden in the basement… and we’re already planning another “Plants & Pottery Sale” for this Spring. She already has HUNDREDS of coleus plants… can’t imagine how many she’ll have come May for the pop-up sale!

Think you might need a little help finding some of the fortune cookies at Illinois Beach State Park? Well, here are a few visual clues… one for each of the fortune cookies! Located in both the north & south areas of the park, my textured fortune cookie rattles are waiting to be found to bring “good fortune” to those who can spot them!

Happy New Year 2022… celebrating with 22 fortune cookies!

Part of yesterday’s adventure was celebrating the New Year… while spreading some “good fortune” along the way. Again this year, my second time, I took several of my own textured fortune cookie rattles and hid them all throughout the state park for random people to find in the days to come! Twenty-two to be exact… celebrating 2022!!! Get it? So the next time you happen upon Illinois Beach State Park… keep your eyes open while you enjoy your hike!

Yesterday my adventure took me out to Illinois Beach State Park… about an hour north of Chicago, just a smidge south of the Wisconsin border. I enjoyed the fresh snow, the blue skies & just playing out in nature. It was so weird to practically have the entire state park to myself?! I think I saw less than a dozen people all day long!

So I had free run of the place to enjoy the magic & majesty of it all… no random people in my photos! And along with the freezing temperatures came some amazing ice sculptures… windblown & gravity-defying. So much fun to experience these magical moments all around. Such a great day. Such a wonderful adventure.