After a long day at the art fair Saturday, I met my sister Jen & niece Taylor for dinner… and then we went to see HAMILTON!! Our friend Tracy has started hosting “Movie Night” in her backyard every Saturday night. Sure, I was kind of exhausted after a long art fair day… but who can pass up a good dinner with family, a great movie musical and time with King George & The Schuyler Sisters?!!! Not me… I’m in!!!

We celebrated the Fourth of July on the sofa watching HAMILTON on the TV with my niece Taylor & family. With all of the craziness going on in the world, it just seemed “safer” and oddly “appropriate” to be watching HAMILTON to learn a bit of history on The Fourth… and not dealing with the crowds celebrating everywhere without masks or social distancing!!!

And for the record… it was my first time seeing HAMILTON. I know, how did that happen?!… or NOT happen in this case?!

But THIS time… I WAS in the room where it happened!!!

And to make the evening even more “fun”… I decided to bring a little childhood flashback memory to the party. Mostly because it made me giggle every time I thought about it… and the fact that it was now referred to as SPAMILTON.

Yes, we had Spam Loaf for dinner!!!
Basically slices of SPAM alternated with slices of mozzerella cheese, and then topped with tomato sauce and baked. It was better in my memory of when Mom made it for us… but Taylor made it this time and it was good for the joke! And that was about it. Not too tasty… a little slimy… and still very SPAMmy!!!

Yesterday, my niece Taylor & sister Jen tackled a plain gray wall in their basement… with some painter’s tape and paint… and made this amazing mural on the wall of their new “office & art area.” Who knew that that chalk drawing was just the beginning! I love it… as these desperate times call for creative measures!

About a week or so ago… it’s all blurring together, right... my niece Taylor and her mom Jen (my sister) made a beautiful geometric chalk drawing on their driveway. Oh, how this quarantine time is making us all get a little more creative!

And the big questions was “how long will this last with rain coming tonight?”… and then we found out the next morning.

Answer is… better than expected!!!

I couldn’t narrow down my photos to only ten in the “Family” category in my Instagram Photo Challenge… so here’s another batch featuring my adorable niece Taylor!

And Taylor working her new fancy camera for her Instagram Photo Challenge!!!

A great day downtown… where we even ran into our friend longtime Tracy
who had just finished climbing the stairs at Sears Tower!!

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So much fun playing downtown with my Dad & niece Taylor for their first ever 5K race yesterday!!! And a fun Instagram Photo Challenge along the way during the HOT CHOCOLATE RUN!

It was a personal best for my Dad… who logged over 20,000 steps on his FitBit.
Of course I made him walk off the last 50 steps in the parking garage just to make the goal!

Yesterday was the HOT CHOCOLATE RUN through downtown Chicago!
So much fun spending the day with my Dad & niece Taylor who both completed their first ever 5K Race… okay, so we walked… but still, a 5K!!! Gotta start somewhere!!!

A wonderfully impromptu evening at Marriott Lincolnshire last night with my niece Taylor and her parents to see “SOMETHING ROTTEN.” A wonderfully wacky, witty, pun-filled show… packed with references of Shakespeare & Broadway shows! Very fun night… nothing rotten here… especially with the yummy cheesecake that followed!

Click here to see a quick scene from “SOMETHING ROTTEN.”

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Special thanks to my Dad & niece Taylor who helped out all weekend in my art fair booth. So much easier, and so much more fun, having people there to help with chatting, restocking, selling, wrapping… and for eating all of the chocolate chip cookies… and for taking cool pictures like this one by Taylor!