reconnecting

In the last two months or so, I've been connecting with a lot of old friends and it's been really nice. A couple of reconnects happened when I started this blog. Another happened by complete chance as I ran into a friend while crossing the street. Then a couple of weeks ago, I received a letter from a high school friend who I hadn't spoken to in probably two years.

Through my various run-ins, I 've decided to make a new effort to email friends more often, I made a few brunch and lunch dates, and I wrote a letter and a long email to the high school friend...she's even visiting with her boyfriend in July, so we're going to try to have dinner together.

A couple of my rendezvouses happened this weekend, but I'll start from Friday night. After work I went to the gym and then went to the gallery night at the River East Art Center. My workout made me feel a little better about the wine and cheese I was consuming. The art was okay, but I wasn't super impressed by anything. Oh, and the prices were ridiculous. I saw a less than spectacular photograph of a cowboy, who I swear had to be a model, and it was priced at $18,000. It had a very nice frame, but I don't think I would consider that even if I did have that much cash to burn. In another gallery, I saw these paintings that were exactly like squiggles I and many others used to make on paper in elementary school...you know, where you color in the different shapes? And guess how much those were going for. Around $16,000!

The art viewing continued Saturday morning. Jared had an appointment to see a painting at RJ Gallery. He had been taken with one of James Monroe's paintings at a gallery in Pilsen three months ago and wanted to see it again. We took the bus to Wicker Park and climbed the steps to studio 325. Roughly twenty minutes later, we walked out with the painting and tried to shelter it from the rain while hailing a cab. Then there was fun of hanging it. The muscle of Miguel, the maintenance guy, was invaluable in getting through the metal stud. "Piece of cake," he said. "No problem."

On Saturday night, I had dinner at Nikki's house and got to catch up with her plus a couple of people who I hadn't seen in a few months. The appetizers, dinner, wine and conversation were enjoyable. On Sunday, I shared more yummy food and conversation with my former boss, Barb, at Hashbrowns in University Village. It was so good! I had whole wheat pancakes with banana on top and a side of the house hash browns, which are made with sweet potatoes. Ingenious! And spending time with Barb is always such a wonderful treat.

Thanks, friends, for sharing your hearts, stories, smiles, laughs, meals and more.