Category: everyday life

Memorial Day Weekend

I am in the final stretch of the conference prep, and there is not a 30-minute stretch when I wouldn’t need to do something conference-related, mostly answering never-ending emails and telegram messages. Boris arrived Friday evening and immediately jumped in to help me, for which I am immensely thankful. We spent Saturday on preparing the room host kits, ordering what else was left to order, and so on. In addition, I am not yet ready with my own presentation slides for the conference, and I realized I didn’t send the Prairie Postgres flyers to FedEx for printing.

Boris said that FedEx’s cutting of the badges (I printed a sample) was not good enough, and volunteered to print and cut them all. I believe it’s way more work, but I didn’t object.

The two non-conference related activities on Saturday included a med-length bike ride, and finally assembling the new coat rack:

Our plans for Sunday and Monday were the following: we had three tickets for Hillary Hahn matinee recital at the CSO (for Nadia, Anna and myself) and then we were all going to go to Milwaukee to visit (Boris haven’t been to Anna’s new house yet).

Nadia studies violin by Hilary Hahn’s books, and we tried to attend a recital last year, and it was cancelled; we finally made it this time.

(I forgot to get the third ticket until the last minute, so I ended up in the back)

This day was not without calamities: it was raining all morning, and I slipped on the Jarvis station steps. Twice. First time was OK, but the second time I 1) ripped my pants (I know it’s fashionable, but I do not like it!), 2) broke four nails, and 3) broke the iPhone screen, which I thought was unbreakable.

I called Boris from the train and asked him to put an extra pair of pants into my backpack, which he was going to bring to me after the concert, and I had to live with all the rest. (I went to do my nails yesterday, and I still need to find time to repair the screen!)

The concert was awesome, and dinner at Ryo Sushi was great as always, and we also went to Amorino, which probably was a mistake because the wait time ended up being 35 minutes.

Then we went to Union Station, boarded on time, but the departure was delayed due to technical issues, and we arrived in Milwaukee with a 1-hour-and-15-minute delay!

Still, the next day was great! Boris and I had chosen the bikes (Anna collected bikes from several friends so that we could choose the ones we were most comfortable with), and we set off for a 30-mile ride! My only regret is that I couldn’t take pictures along the way, and I hope to take them on my future visits.

All bikes in a row
Custard stop
Caramel apples stop

I hope we will do it again!

Flying Back And What’s Next

I took a red-eye flight from Vancouver on Thursday night. It was not because I wanted to save one hotel night for my company, but because it was the only way to get home before Boris’ arrival on Friday afternoon.tio It’s not fun to depart at midnight, but even more so when I realized that there was no One World Lounge in that part of the airport. Same as in Montreal, they have domestic departures. international departures and US departures, which are none of the above :).

On top of that, the flight was delayed for over an hour, so by the time we finally departed, it was already 3 AM in Chicago, and we landed at about 7 AM local time, so I spent the whole day sleep walking, and still had to do some work at work, because I was out for four days

When I went to see my mom in the middle of the day, she didn’t have any pity for me, and just said “well sometimes, I can’t sleep at night”🤷🏻‍♀️. Somehow, I managed to do some work, ordered some food, went to Jewel Osco to buy the rest. unpacked, and even did a workout (because sitting in the airport for five hours doesn’t help the motion deprivation), and I also baked a creamcheese-rhubarb pie, and as always these days, sent a whole bunch of cconference- related ommunications, and all of this before Boris arrived.

And what’s next? Next is a final pre-conference stretch, which I will hopefully survive!

Another Long Morning Bike Ride

And first balcony breakfast 🙂

Not An Unnamed Company

While explaining my choice of vendor for our conference merch, I was telling everyone that I would rather order from a local vendor than from “an unnamed Chinese company.” Alas, when it came to ordering lanyards, I gave up because I could not find a local company that would be open to the design I had in mind, and even non-local, but at least US-based companies I came across didn’t allow me to build the design I wanted. On top of that, we had a lanyard sponsor, so I was under pressure to make it perfect without overspending :).

That’s how I ended up with a Chinese company on Amazon, and I instantly liked the way they allowed me to change each part of the design to adjust the color, fonts, and all other pieces. They even sent me the proof. Since I still wanted to see the real product before ordering 200+, I started by ordering 50 lanyards and paid for expedited delivery (it was still within the budget). When the package arrived, I realized that the sponsor’s logo was not as visible as I thought it would be (it was a difficult choice of the lanyard color, and actually, the sponsor themselves approved). I know that blue is a difficult color, and it often doesn’t look the same in reality as it does on the screen. However, this time I couldn’t even say it looked different: it was just a subtle difference in shade that made the logo less visible than I would have liked. I reached out to the sponsor, and they came up with a white logo that would work.

I quickly put together a new order, but when I was ready to submit, I saw that it didn’t offer express delivery, and a regular delivery could be late. I became a little bit desperate because I didn’t have time for one more experiment with another company. Then I realized I had a human email address because a real person had sent me the first design proof, and I emailed him. The next morning, he replied: apologies, the person who is in charge of express shipping was on vacation, but now he is back, and you should be able to choose it when placing the order.

I thanked him and placed the order, and noted that I needed a design proof. When the proof arrived the next day, I saw that it was using the previous design, which I already knew would not work. Since I already received a shipping label notification, I immediately replied: “That’s a wrong design! The logo should be all white! Please make sure this big order has the correct design!” They replied: so sorry, my mistake! I will start working on the new design immediately!

The next morning, I received the correct design and approved it, and a week later, the package arrived. I didn’t have to acknowledge its arrival. After all, the sale was conducted through Amazon, but I felt we had already built some connection, so I emailed them back: “The lanyards arrived, and they look great!” They replied:

That’s really great. Thank you for your sincere feedback. Wish your event all the best.❤️

At that moment, I realized that’s not an abstract Chinese company anymore 🙂

A Warm Day! Finally!

Finally, I could bike without the warm gloves!

And I bought more flowers, and found my dream hanging basket.

And I went to the beach! For real!

Things I am Losing And Forgetting

I know that I am balancing on the edge when I start forgetting important things or losing object which are in plain sight. Just two minutes ago, I realized that I didn’t hit “post” on my repost, and didn’t repost here about yesterday’s meetup. And you what – yesterday was amazing! I felt good, like I hadn’t for a very long time! Moving to a new location was all I wanted, plus more!

However, the past week was marked by multiple micro-tragedies. On Saturday, Anna, Kira, and I stopped at the Art Institute before going to the concert, with the background idea of leaving their backpacks at the coat check for the duration of the concert. The idea was great, but closer to the end of the concert, I realized that I couldn’t find the tag, although I was sure I had put it into my backpack pocket. I ended up asking Anna to go to retrieve her luggage, and I found the tag in that very pocket on Sunday evening!

Second. I was cleaning the milk wand on my cappuccino maker, and then… I could tell where I put it! I am absolutely sure I accidentally threw it into the garbage, but I know how small, relatively heavy objects slide to the bottom of the bag almost instantaneously, so I didn’t have high expectations! Since I already had a thought about replacing this machine (I bought it because it cost $35, and I decided I could throw away that much for experimenting). The machine was not perfect, and I was leisurely thinking about the alternatives.

I checked on the manufacturer’s website and found that they do not have spare parts and that they are about to discontinue this particular model. Then, I went to check what’s on sale on Amazon, selected the device I liked, and it was shipped to me the day after. However, I was unable to make it work, and trust me, I am not a complete idiot. Something was definitely broken. I spent 30 min on AWS tech support, and they agreed to send me a replacement (I still had to sign up on the manufacturer’s website to initiate a replacement, but still!). Waiting for it to be over!

And finally, today, when I was at the ODS making Chicken Alfredo, I heated the pan too much before putting the chicken breasts on it, and hot olive oil made a little explosion straight into my right palm! I am still in pain, but not super severe.

What’s wrong with me?!

Mother’s Day Weekend

When I stopped at my mom’s place on Monday, I knew she was going to tell me everything that was wrong the day before, and I braced myself for a half-hour torture. Fortunately, it turned out not to be “everything bad,” but just the resentment that we didn’t talk solemnly about both Anna and me (and I’d say, she is probably the major reason why we didn’t talk about us :)). Nothing is new; unfortunately, the (formal) words mean to her more than anything else, so I expected that reaction.

As for me, it was probably the best Mother’s Day I’ve had! We started Saturday with the CSO Family matinee,

Then we went to the Buckingham fountain to “Switch on Summer.” For several years, I wanted the girls to have this experience, and finally, Kira had a chance to be there (Nadia was busy with her extracurriculars, and she and John arrived later on Saturday).

Kira was really helpful all the time, not just “I want to help!” but actually helping to set up the table, clean up, and just “keeping me company” when I was doing things in the kitchen. The latter one seriously felt great. I always lament that this apartment isn’t designed for cooking as a family activity: the kitchen is separated from the rest of the apartment, and when I am cooking, I am cutting off all personal interactions. It’s nice when someone keeps you company!

Later, Anna helped me to fasten all loose screws in my flower baskets, and we installed them on the balcony railing, and then she went to visit my mom, for which I can’t thank her enough.

I was hoping that we would be able to squeeze in some biking, and it turned out that Anna had similar ideas, and even more, she was ready to go early in the morning, so that we could see sunrise over the lake. And she actually woke up at five, and we went together and had an amazing time. We went further away than we originally planned, and I started to worry that the girls would resume their previous day’s fighting while we were away, but fortunately, only Kira was up, so she didn’t have anybody to fight with 🙂

Anna ordered food from the Honeybear Cafe, picked it up, then picked up my mom, and we all sat for our late breakfast/brunch; Igor joined us a little bit later.

I also put out the Mother’s Day pastry boxes from Vanille.

I was glad that Igor, Anna, and I had a rare opportunity to sit together and talk about things we were all interested in without major interruptions :).

And finally, we all went to the Windy City Garden Center to pick up flowers for my balcony. That’s one of the few things I can’t manage with Uber, so picking up flowers was a great Mother’s Day present. I thought that after they leave, I would start planting, and I was wondering how long it would take, but the girls offered to help, and they were seriously helpful; to my surprise, we were done in less than an hour!

I will definitely need to buy some extra plants, because it’s difficult to estimate precisely how many will be needed, but the bulk of the work is done!

A final Mother’s Day touch at the courtyard!
Continue reading “Mother’s Day Weekend” →

CSO Concerts

Last week, I attended two CSO concerts again:). On Thursday, I went with my neighbor to the concert featuring mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato, who is currently the CSO artist-in -residence. I like mezzo-sopranos more than I like sopranos, and I really enjoyed her voice!

After her performance of Neruda songs, the orchestra played Walton’s 1st symphony. My neighbor, who watched a thousand times more movies than I and is very well versed in the history of American filmmaking, had heard many of his works before, and I didn’t even know his name! I think I will be forever discovering authors, artists and musician that “everyone knows,” but I am totally fine with it :).

I am a little bit embarrased to say that I paid attention to Joyce DiDonato’s appearance, especially because I was just ranting about my mom’s obsession of how the performers look, but I am still going to mention it. I figured she should be about my age, and I later checked that she was 57. She does not make attempts to hide her age, and she puts on the reading glasses when she performs, but she also wore an absolutely stanning black dress with giant golden leaves on the front, with opened back and closed neck. I do not know why I find it important to share my feelings; it was somehow empowering and reassureing: yes, wareing extravagant dresses at this age is OK; and not going for a plastic surgery or botox is OK as well.

Saturday was the day of a Family matinee at the CSO. Both Nadia and Kira were spposed to go, but Nadia had a soccer practice and a swimming lesson, so it was Anna, Kira and I. It was Mother Goose and a Cabinet of Wonders show starring Natalie Merchant. She was dancing in the asles, and the kids were taking off their seats and following her along:). It was almost a mess, but a very exciting one! Probably the best family matinee so far!

Little Soldiers: A Book Review

I picked up this book on a friend’s recommendation. If I were to come across this book just browsing titles, I would most likely think that I have an opinion about the Chinese educational system, and nothing could possibly change it. Based on my friend’s review, the situation seemed more complex, so I decided to give this book a try.

Many aspects of the Chinese educational system remind me of the Soviet schools, and some scenes from the book sounded painfully familiar. Still, there are many differences, stemming from cultural differences and the role of education and formal exams in society, dating back hundreds of years.

To be completely honest, I think that, at least at the time of writing this book, Leonora Chu could not fully foresee the long-term effects of the Chinese educational system on a person’s development, even though she spoke in depth with high schoolers from different backgrounds, with different life goals and aptitudes.

For me, there is no question that fostering the desire to learn, encouraging curiosity, and independent thinking are the most important educational goals, and I feel like the Chinese educational system does the opposite. I do not think that the quality of education is defined by the complexity of math classes (I held this belief for the first couple of years of my children being in American schools, but fortunately realized my mistake early enough).

A side note: I do not understand why, in the twenty-first century, people still consider a “well-behaved child” to be the most desired educational outcome. And by “well-behaved,” I mean a three-year-old who can sit still for the whole duration of the class. Why it is so admirable, is beyond me 🙂

Five Years Later!

Five years ago, on May 9, 2021, I moved to my new home in Rogers Park, and lived happily ever after! I am not saying my life was infinitely happy since them but my home continues to be my source of happiness 🙂

The Sunroom