Author: Hettie D.

My name is Henrietta (Hettie) Dombrovskaya. I was born in Saint-Petersburg, Russian (actually, back then – Leningrad, USSR) in 1963, and immigrated to the United States in 1996. I love Saint Petersburg, the city I was born and raised in, and I think it’s one of the most beautiful places in the world. Similarly (but differently) I love Chicago, and can’t imagine myself moving somewhere else in the observable future. I have three children, Igor, Vlad and Anna, all adults living on their own, and one (so far) granddaughter Nadia. I also believe that my children are the best thing that happened in my life. As for my professional life, I am working in the field of Information Technologies. When I was twenty, I’ve declared that the databases are the coolest thing invented and that I want to do them for the rest of my life. Thirty plus years later, I still believe it’s true, and still, believe that the databases are the best. These two statements together imply that I think a person can have it all, and indeed, I think so! Keep reading my journals to find out how I did it.

Another Chicago Weekend – 2

Sunday was equally amazing. As it became our tradition, when Lena comes in summer, we do Loop activities on Saturday and Rogers Park activities on Sunday. And once again, it’s great that she enjoys the same activities as me.

We started the day with a bike ride. In the past, Lena was way slower than me, and she said she didn’t do much biking this season either, but somehow, this time she kept pace with me without any issues. If I only knew, I would suggest her to wake up earlier, and we could bike all the way to the Field Museum. But even a relatively short (15 miles) ride was great!

A spectacular sunrise!
Continue reading “Another Chicago Weekend – 2” →

Another Chicago Weekend

I love having Lena in Chicago because she likes the same things that I like, so her favorite weekend is also my favorite. If she had a mini-vacation (which I hope she did), I also had it!

She arrived on Friday, and we even had some time to talk, but I was too tired to stay up late (on Thursday evening, my Amazon Fresh order was delayed, and I had to wait until 11:30PM!). But the next two days, we had a blast!

I made salmon and broccoli quiche for breakfast. My balcony is in the middle of repair, but they allowed us to but the furniture back during the non-working hours
Millenium Park had only two entrances open because of the 20-years celebration, and some parts were permanently closed, so we had to go through security multiple times
We were the first to enter the Art Institute on Saturday, and it was my third time to see the Georgia O’Keeffe exhibit.
We also saw the Christina Ramber retrospective, but I didn’t like it as much as I thought I would.
Then we went to the Member’s Lounge Bar
… and took tons of pictures of ourselves. BTW, Lena talked me into wearing a dress that day, saying that her only opportunity to wear a dress was when she visited me in Chicago.
Continue reading “Another Chicago Weekend” →

Lena In Chicago

Lena arrived an hour after my friends from Helsinki left for the airport (and I am happy to report that despite the World-Wide-IT Crisis, they safely made it home). I barely finished washing the sheets and towels.

Lena brought lots of cherry-flavored goodies, some fresh pickles from her garden, and lots of enthusiasm for doing touristy things in Chicago. And if you ask me – I am always in!

Georgis O’keefee for the third time 🙂

The World IT Crisis And Departure

Of course, it had to be on my friend’s departure day! On Thursday evening, their return flight was canceled, and new tickets were issued. We wondered why, and then, in the morning, I heard the news! Only then we realized how lucky they were to get an alternative flight!

Other than that, it was a perfect last vacation day for them. The weather was ideal; they went to the beach in the morning while I worked my half-day, then I went on a bike ride with Roma, and then we all went for ice cream across the street at Charmer’s.

And at the last moment, I remembered to make some hot chocolate for them to sample before departure!

This Week

I barely saw my friends this week! On Tuesday, I hosted a Chicago PUG meetup, which meant a thirteen-hour workday. On Wednesday, we went to the Grant Park concert, but it was with only two of them and today, I have a Howard/Evanston Community Board meeting (and I had to stop to see my mom between my work and this meeting!). Everything is important, and I knew that week was going to be like that, but still…

My friends are leaving tomorrow, and I have a feeling that we didn’t have time to do at least a half of the things I wanted to do with them!

Not related – today’s breakfast at work:

Other Things To Do In Chicago

This week, I didn’t take any time off, and moreover, I had something after work almost every day, so my guests were mostly on their own. I am glad that they finally realized that biking is a way to get around, that they were at the beach pretty much every day, and that they could explore the city on their own.

Today, the interested parties went to the Grant Park Music Festival concert. The highlight of today’s show was Rachmaninov’s “Rapsody on a Theme of Paganini,” with Clayton Stephenson as a piano soloist. That was an outstanding performance, and the audience was ecstatic. I bet my friends never heard Rachmaninov that way! Clayton Stephenson said that he thinks of this piece as American music (and he has good reasons for that if you ask me). And the way this piece was performed today – OMG, it was something! And definitely American 🙂

Before the concert, I took my friend to the Riverwalk, and then they finally had a chance to taste Chicago Hot Dog, so two more boxes were checked!

After The Storm

We had severe weather for two days in a row, or I should say, for two nights in a row, because the most spectacular part happened at night both times. I made videos during both nights; here is the second one:

And that’s what I saw yesterday’s morning when biking:

Is It Just Me?

I couldn’t stop laughing!

Elpha Spotlight: 24 hours a day

I wrote one more blog post for Elpha community, and I believe that’s the first time ever I blogged about my timesaving strategies in English :). Honestly, I was shocked to see how long it ended up being!

We’ll see whether there will be any reactions!

Link to post

Morning Biking

Saturday Early Morning – it’s foggy!