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!

Tonight was also a Super Blue Moon! Beautiful to watch it rise over the lake casting amazing reflections in the still crashing waves. So bright. So beautiful. But what is a “Super Blue Moon” anyway???

From TIME magazine…
“The ”Super Blue Moon” label requires a little unpacking. For starters there is nothing remotely blue about the way the moon will look tonight. Instead, the label–whose provenance is unsettled—refers to the second full moon in any single month. The last one to fill the skies was August 1, so tonight’s full moon comes in just under the wire to qualify for the blue distinction. Blue moons are not common. Only 3% of full moons are blue moons, according to NASA, so tonight’s moon would be noteworthy no matter what.”

Tonight was a fun night along the lakefront… as it was the FULL MOON FIRE JAM at Foster Street Beach. A fun fire celebration held throughout the summer for every full moon. It’s a collection of fire twirlers, fire jugglers, fire breathers & pretty much anyone else who plays with fire! It has been going on for years… and it just keeps getting bigger & bigger! Didn’t hurt any that tonight as a Super Blue Moon also!

So while I’ve had a sore ankle for about a week now, I’m also just a “little bit” stubborn… so… today was the CHICAGO TRIATHLON, and I was not going to miss it!

But when we got downtown, we found put that the Swim portion had been canceled due to the high crashing waves. They quickly turned it into a run-bike-run DUATHLON instead (just like we did in 2019). My ankle was not happy, but I was happier to NOT be swimming! So we ran the distance of the Swim, then did the Bike course, followed by the Run distance. The weather was otherwise perfect, and the Triathlon… err, Duathlon… was great fun once again! As it always is playing with my Tri-Buddies Chris & Nancy!!!

And on a good note… my ankle doesn’t feel any worse for the wear! If anything, if feels better. We’ll see how it feels tomorrow morning?!

After my normal morning sunrise bike ride, it was time for a quick dip in the lake with the FRIDAY MORNING SWIM CLUB. It started during the Covid shut-down as a “safe” way for a few friends to get outside to see each other while staying safe. It has since grown to be a huge “swim party” thanks to word-of-mouth & social media. This is now the third “season”… sadly, I didn’t find out about it until season two! So much fun with about 2,000 people all jumping in the lake at Montrose Harbor for no real reason except for some FUN!!! A bit of splashing around… then home… and then back to Lillstreet for the end of another week of Summer Camp!!!