Not only did I provide bone dry bowls for my SURFACE DECORATION class while I was gone… but I also left them a package of Birthday OREOs for two of my students. Happy Birthdays Maryanna & Sara!!!

It was quite a weekend at the ST. CROIX VALLEY POTTERY TOUR. Such beautiful weather to be outside enjoying the Tour, driving from pottery studio to studio. Chatting with the potters, admiring their work & making the tough choices of which pieces might come home with you as souvenirs!!! It was great to run into a few friends & Followers along the way… including catching up with my favorite pottery teacher at Lillstreet so many years ago!!! Not to be a name-dropper… but it was Steve Lee!!!

If you’ve never gone to this pottery tour, you really must add it to your bucket list. It’s hard to fathom how huge this is… with so many tents, so many talented potters… and an endless array of fantastic pottery!!! These photos just show a tiny bit of it… but hopefully you get the idea!

For more information – www.minnesotapotters.com

Time to mark your calendars for the NORTHERN ILLINOIS POTTERY TOUR. I will once again be one of the Guest Artists at the Sandwich location… home of My Talented Friend Cory McCrory. Last week was the Sandwich stop’s “Feature Week” on Instagram… and here are my feature photos! It’s going to be a great weekend with pottery at several stops along The Tour. Check the dates Saturday, June 7th & Sunday, June 8th… not that far away!!!

For more information… www.northernilpotterytour.com

With the recent passing of The Pope, there has been a lot of news about the pomp & circumstance of what follows. On a pre-scheduled flight to Rome, my friend Trish had an opportunity to travel to The Vatican for the official viewing ceremonies. Surprisingly enough, Trish & her fellow flight attendant friend got caught-up with the News Crew to share their thoughts & impressions of it all!!!

FYI… Trish is on the left!

Last night was another night of BINGO-fun at IKEA! Holiday lights, kitschy outfits & festive prizes. But for me, and my table of friends… it was Bingo-Bubkis!!! Came close a couple times… but no BINGO’s for me!!!

Another fun night of bingo at IKEA!!! I had lots of numbers & lots of dots… but none that ever got me a BINGO! Luckily, my friend Tiffany scored with a BINGO & won an owl “basket” filled with goodies… and a cool IKEA bucket hat!! She kept the hat… but ended up trading her prize with an other bingo winner! Followed with some fun IKEA shopping… I mean, we were already there… how could we not?!!!

After we crossed the Finish Line, got our medals, played at Buckingham Fountain & crossed Lake Shore Drive on our way back to the Transition Area to retrieve our bikes & gear… we came across another triathlon going on! For the first time, SUPERTRI was in Chicago… just one of the stops of the worldwide tour… Boston, Chicago, London, Toulouse in France & Neom in Saudi Arabia!!!

Okay, so it was very cool… but a little confusing. I wish there was a poster or something to explain it all to us. We got there in time for the women’s race. Which seems like they do their “triathlon” like three times?! And it’s a shorter “road race” style with one-mile loops. They swim out to the yellow “cube” buoys you can see in the pictures… then ride their bikes along the lakefront from Queen’s Landing (across from Buckingham Fountain) almost to the Shedd Aquarium and back… doing like three laps?! And then they get off and run the same one mile “road race” course for three laps. And then they do all of that for three full rotations, I think?

And, oh wait there’s more… they also have a “short chute” that somehow some “selected” racers get to use to shave a couple seconds off their team’s time??? And we also loved the red Elimination Flag! With every lap of the course, if any racer falls past 90-seconds of the leader, they’re eliminated from the race!!! It was cool… it was fast… and it was VERY HOT in the blazing sun.

We stayed to watch the end of the women’s race… but didn’t wait for the men’s race. We were hot, sweaty & sun-scorched already. I will say… the “lady in red” making the corner in the first photo was the eventual winner of the women’s race! Very exciting… albeit a little confusing… I hope it comes back next year so we can see it again!!! Even better… I’d love to see this added to the next Summer Olympics!!!

While it’s still freezing in Chicago, it’s never to soon to start planning a fun pottery adventure for the warmer Spring days! So excited to see the newest poster arrive in my mailbox for the St. Croix Valley Pottery Tour up in Minnesota! So much fun to travel around to see pottery studios, potters & beautiful pottery everywhere! I’ll be up there touring & shopping… and you should too! Mark your calendars now…

Time to start making your lists.. .and checking them twice! Hard to believe that next weekend is already my HOLIDAY HOME SHOW!!! With pottery in every room of my condo all decked-out for Christmas, food & drink in the kitchen… and the ever-popular “Tired Of Schlepping Sale” on the back porch! So mark your calendars… while I’m busy in the studio & at home getting everything ready for another BIG Holiday Home Show!!! And bring your festive friends…

Gone, but not forgotten. So the viral sensation of the FRIDAY MORNING SWIM CLUB may have come to a skidding halt… as it has taken a bad turn in the press & legalities are in process. But it’s hard to stop a popular sensation like this. So while there was no “official” swim this morning, I was still intrigued & wanted to see how many people would show up for the swim. As I pedaled over to Montrose Harbor, you were instantly “greeted” with police cars, news trucks & the police boat patrolling the water. While the crowd was wildly diminished from the usual “thousands” of people… there were still a lot of die-hards who were not going to let the weekly swim die so easily. Even with the choppy waters… there were still a lot of Swim Clubbers in the water!