Chicago and Columbus Thanksgiving

Steven and I went to Chicago to spend a wonderful Thanksgiving with Laura, Clarkson, Sam, Nick, Emmie, Sue and Joe Hine, Julia Hine, Mom, and Chad. The dinner was amazing--Laura and Emmie out-did themselves. Located on the Gold Coast, their new home is amazing. Great views, great location. It is not far from the Navy Pier, Michigan Avenue, and tons of restaurants.  Thanksgiving night, we went to Second City...hilarious. We then had a brief stop-over in Columbus. We gorged ourselves on porterhouse steak at the Hickory House. Julia joined us at the hotel--a too-short visit--and then we dropped her off in the morning in time for the pre-game festivities. It was nice to see Matt and meet Sarah! Congratulations, OSU football, on the awesome win, 30-27!

Rochester and Columbus Thanksgiving--YAY, Buckeyes!

Julia went to Rochester to see the Andreasen/Boheen family. Ironically, she had a brief layover at DCA. Her time with the family was lively--lots of discussion around politics and Arie. The sweetest pictures were of their newest edition, Isabella. Congrats, Cheryl, she is gorgeous. We picked her up from the Columbus airport on Friday. We went out for porterhouse steaks--so yummy--at the Hickory House, and then we watched The Ref (we sacked out, but Julia watched most of it). Then we dropped her off in time to connect with her friends before the big game. It was incredible--OSU, after two overtimes, pulled it out with a victory 30-27 over that "school up north." Apparently, it is not proper to even mention their name. It was so great to see her and spend some time with her (and meet Sarah!). Her apartment is incredibly neat and cutely decorated for the holidays; I should have taken pictures. Kudos on their cooking efforts; they made bolgogi!


 

Ice Skating, Sustainability Committee, and Birthday Party

Julia enjoyed a concert, "Moonlight," ice skating, Diaspora sushi, and a special dinner with the Sustainability Committee for USG. Most entertaining Snapchat from Julia (with the all-Julia group faces coming in a close 2nd) was the dinner of pea toast. Keep on cooking, sweetie. No judging here.

In DC, the highlight was celebrating Kathryn's 12th birthday!! Lisa and Tony hosted a delicious and fun party. It was good to see and reconnect with everyone. We're all so busy!

Pumpkins, Hand Brace, Arouse Party, and Voting

Steven could not convince me to join in the festivities of handing out poison to the young ones--he went through almost four mega-jumbo-bags of candy--however, Julia was available via Facetime to join in the celebration and experience the vibe in the hood (lights, costumes, and our neighbor's band cranking out the tunes)! OSU partied over the weekend, so actual Halloween night was quiet. How cute are their apartment decorations and jack-o-lanterns!

Jules and Caitlyn attended an Arouse party. Matt and Julia went to Stack City Burger Bar for their large, 9-ounce burger; she said it was delicious! Also yummy visits to Blaze Pizza and Jack and Benny's. She went to an OSU dance competition that a friend was in. The videos were cool. And, news on the medical front--Julia has carpal tunnel syndrome in her right wrist. The doc recommended a brace to start with...cortisone shots or surgery as additional options. I'm going to set her up with a specialist here in DC over winter break. Oh, that brace is attractive.

It was nice to listen to Alt Expose with Ruth and Rose (Sundays, 3-4pm). Julia shared a bit about her middle school experience at Holy Trinity School--too funny! Where did the time go?

And, now on to the hot topic of today--voting! SO proud of Julia (and Sarah) for getting up and out there to vote this morning at 6:30 a.m. Skip the free donuts, Ohio!

Thank you, Jules, for telling me about Susan B. Anthony's grave in Rochester, N.Y. Very cool that people were going to Mount Hope Cemetery to pay their respects to her--flowers, notes, and voting stickers on the grave. One of her great quotes: "Men, their rights, and nothing more; women, their rights, and nothing less."