Tag: halloween

Night of 1,000 Jack-o’-Lanterns at Botanic Garden

TIt was the first time I attended this event at Chicago Botanic Garden. I thought I should take more advantage of my membership, and also I thought that’s something my mom would enjoy (and she did). There are only fifteen nights when the Jack-o’-Lanterns walk is open; each time from 6:30 to 10:30 PM.

Honestly it was hard to believe that each of the pumkins was actually carved; that they were not some plastic models! But the artists were at work, so you could actually see the artworks in making!

I am not sure whether there were indeed 1000 of pumpkins, but there were a lot, so I collapsed some of them into collages. Enjoy!

Halloween For Myself

That was one of the few days for a very long time when I didn’t have any obligations after work: no volunteering, no visits to my mom, and nothing urgent to write about. And I had plans just for myself. The plan was:

  • Finally, visit the newly reopened Pret on Monroe

I should mention that Halloween was the coldest day of this fall so far. It was freeing and it was snowing for the good part of the day:

From the office window

However, by the end of the workday, the snow stopped and the sun came out:

  • After Pret, I walked towards the Starbucks Reserve Roastery on North Michigan Avenue. I rarely walk in this direction these days, and I enjoyed every minute of that walk.
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Jarvis Family Full Moon Fest

We had a family activities day at Jarvis Square on Saturday. It was the first time we had such a family-style celebration (the adult part followed after 8 PM). There was free face painting, and free s’mores, and trick-or-treating, and drumming, and Taro fortune telling. Most importantly, there were kids in costumes who had enormous fun! I walked there with my mom, and we walked around and made our s’mores over the fire, and then I got the butternut latte in the Charmer’s Cafe for myself and caramel cider for mom, and we sat there and watched the kids running around with the buckets, sitting for the face painting and drumming.

Mom was saying that it’s too bad we can’t take pictures, and then she added that it’s impossible to tell others how good it was because no words and no pictures can reflect the feeling and the atmosphere. That was one of the rare moments when she felt the way I hoped she would feel after moving here.

We saw Channel 5, and one kid yelled: Mom, we are on the news! The reported was interviewing one of the organizers, and I heard that she said that “it feels very safe,” which I couldn’t agree more.

My Halloween Costume

I didn’t get a prize for it, but I still like it, especially because the top is the real thing from Western Ukraine (I have had it for at least seven years, if not more). And I had to order the headdress, ensuring they won’t send a Frida Kahlo one!