Back on my staycation I took in The Happy Show by Stefan Sagmeister and LOVED it! I am only sad that I caught it on it's last week, so most of the interactive things were gone. That aside, I just love Stefan's take on the everyday and his handwritten display felt conversational, collaborative and personal - like he was standing right there talking to me. I don't typically feel this way about art - and I've seen a lot of art - so it was refreshing and I am really happy (ha) that I made it in before the installation left town. It's still traveling the country - maybe The Happy Show will soon be in your neck of the woods. 
shift
Ran across a rather interesting light installation at the Chicago Cultural Center. It's called SHIFT - A New Media exhibit by Luftwerk. "Luftwerk’s interest in the basic relationship between color and light and how light and darkness determine how our eyes perceive color served as the driving force behind the creation of “Shift.”
I could stand and look at the stripes forever!
millennium park
I started my staycation with a walk through the Lurie Garden in Millennium Park - had never actually walked through the garden before. It's simply lovely and in the height of summer, when everything is in bloom, I bet it's a real stunner! It's so interesting to be surrounded by these prairie grasses, wildflowers and tall trees and then just over the top of them are these huge skyscrapers. Wonderful balance! 
magdaline
I have always loved the Magdaline sculpture along Congress Pkwy and Michigan Ave. During my staycation I walked down to finally snap a few photographs of her. I was about 20 min late or she would have been bathed by the sun, but I am still pretty happy with how these came out. Next stop is to see her sister sculptures on Northernly Island.
Sculptor: Dessa Kirk
staycation : six
stay : six podiatrist history @ the chicago history museum 95 floors above the city @ the john hancock observatory
Let me just start by saying... when I woke up this morning it was POURING rain. Buckets of rain. That is not at all what you want when you're on vacation. Anyway, I had to get out and about and my first stop was the podiatrist. (kind of goes with the anti-vacation thing to do) A quick analysis, a few x-rays and some ace bandages and I was out the door. Apparently I have plantar fasciitis, boo. This is how I walked out of the office ... it's a good look, huh?
A quick stop at home for a shoe change and it was back downtown with me. First stop was the Chicago History Museum. This is the one museum in the city that I have never been to before, so it was fabulous to finally pay a visit! I didn't learn all that much more than what I have learned in my 18 years here, but they do have a very nice display of the "white city" and "chicago fire." They had two really great exhibits - one of Ebony Magazine and the history of their Fashion Fair - and the other, the real reason for me being there, Vivian Maier's Chicago. It was a small, but well done exhibit. I really enjoy her work - she had a great eye for finding interesting subjects from very simple moments. I even broke down and bought the book of her work! Maybe someday someone will make a book of my photos - wouldn't that be something!?!
Enough about me... (ha!).. when I emerged from the museum, the sun had come out so I decided to run into the John Hancock Observatory for a few shots from above the city. I prefer the view from the JH to that of the Wills because you really get the lakefront. And on a day like today - with a little haze in the sky - it was perfect! Just look at that skyline would ya? 
staycation : five
stay : fiveiOS7 beer tasting @ prairie moon for new local brewery heat lightning
Well, um... Let's just say the staycation was interrupted by a little Apple update called iOS7. I thought it would go live around 11 local time, but turns out it didn't go till 12. Then it took me two hours to get the iPhone and iPad updated. Then I had to play with my new toys for a little bit - discovering all the fun bells and whistles. Most of the changes I really like, but I have found a few little things that bug - that whole thing that comes up from the bottom ... messes with my VSCOCam photo editing. I am hoping they will redesign a little bit to take care of the overlap of gestures. I won't get all nerd on ya, but I certainly had my tech side all fired up today!!
I did manage to make it out of the house to dine with some friends and take in a little beer flight for a new local brewery. 'Twas the busiest that bar has ever been!!
On my ride home I was enjoying the lightening show and decided to pay a stop along the lakefront to test the new "burst" shooting on my phone to capture some of the light show. Well, if I had better patience I probably could have gotten some great stuff. Well, that, and if the iPhone didn't try to focus for each shot even in burst mode. 
stacation : four
stay : fourcrepes @ the market on the MCA plaza modern art @ the museum of contemporary art shopping @ topshop, west elm and the amazing jayson home and garden
Started the day at the MCA (it's free on Tuesday's for IL residents!) and stumbled on a little farmers market out front. So I picked up a crepe and took in the scene before heading in to see some modern art. Still find most modern art confusing - meaning I do not always understand the statement the artist is making. Even the photography is a stretch sometimes. That said, they had two full rooms devoted to comic strips - that was fun - and a few works by Paul Sietsma that I enjoyed. 
Then I popped into Topshop for the first time - I see outfits online and TV that often reference Topshop, so I wanted to see if they had anything that would appeal to me. I'm not very "trendy" with my style - more sport classic, more Ralph Lauren ... know what I mean. But, I did find a couple of pieces of interest (still in shades of black and white). Then to West Elm where I picked up a couple of kitchen goods - I could really buy everything in that store! 
And Jayson Home ... it's a must for any interior design fan! It's wicked expensive, but beautifully curated and they have even started bringing in Flea market finds. Today's funny flea - life preservers. Now... I want to see where those things end up! 
staycation : three
Stay : threewalk thru millenium park and the laurie garden lunch @ sweetwater sweets @ sugar bliss happy exhibit @ the chicago cultural center impressionists @ the art institute walk @ the nature boardwalk near the lincoln park zoo
I was skeptical when I woke up this morning and is had rained overnight and the sky will filled with clouds. But, as the morning went on, the clouds rolling in over the lake began to give way to the blue sky above and it turned out to be a really, really nice day! iPhone photos only for now - I will do a little more on each item in upcoming posts. Just too many photos to process tonight and each of these things deserves a little elaboration.
I got downtown a little early to walk through the park and Lurie Garden - had not been in the gardens before. Given that it's Fall, most everything is on it's way out, but it was still a beautiful green space in the middle of the concrete jungle!
I squeaked in a visit to The Happy Show by Stefan Sagmeister at the Cultural Center (it leaves next week) and I am so happy that I did! I love his humor and keen grasp of the obvious. This exhibit is fun and interactive and says much of what we think, but never admit or say out loud. 
From there I walked over to the Art Institute of Chicago to take in the Impressionists (another exhibit at the end of it's run). There were a lot of amazing works - didn't really love that they were spread out so much - somehow never found the AI's famous Seurat. Guess it's a good thing I have had the pleasure of seeing it before, but if I were an out-of-towner, I'd be pretty upset it wasn't front and center. 
Last stop of the day was over to the Nature Boardwalk near the Lincoln Park Zoo. I have seen a good number of photos of this structure that sits along the nature walk and have wanted to get there myself to take a go at it! No idea why it's taken me so long, but man, was I missing something fabulous! I might have gotten a little carried away photographing this thing...
staycation : days one two
The last couple of years have been very busy at work and I squeaked in a little vacay here and there, but didn't come close to taking all of my vacation days. So ... this year I said I was going to take as many of my vacation days as I could! Why let them go unused, right?!? This week will be my first ever "staycation!" It's odd for me to take time off from work and not be going somewhere. Kind of funny to hear everyone's response. "Where are you going again?" I finally started answering "Chicago" and then they kind of got it. I feel like I do a pretty good job of getting out and about around town, but Chicago has so many amazing things to offer - why not be a tourist in my own city?
So let the stacay begin!
stay : one
brunch @ Farmhouse Evanston
shop local - ventured into a few shops that I had never been in before and found a couple of great items
end of summer party on rooftop in Bucktown with a pretty spectacular view - my pitiful iPhone photo just does not do it justice
stay : two
brunch @ Little Market Brasserie
Kind of got rained out today, so we spent a huge chunk of the day sitting and chatting over some fabulous food and drink. I topped it off with a black bottom sundae that had the most delicious homemade salted caramel - I literally ate it by the spoonful - oy!
And they had live music - every Sunday for brunch! I have never seen this before and think it's a fabulous idea! The lead singer was dishing up acoustic versions of his band's music (Mighty Fox) mixed in with covers. He had a great voice too! We thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience. [soundcloud url="http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/78936477" params="" width=" 100%" height="166" iframe="true" /]