A sad discovery about Safari Cup

I'm home with Simon today and is my custom we headed off first thing to Safari Cup to have breakfast with Sharon and Dave.

Imagine my shock when I walked up to the storefront and it was EMPTY. Nothing there at all. No sign, no window dressings, no furniture at all - the entire space was simply empty.

I honestly looked around to see if I took a wrong turn somewhere since we had just driven by on Sunday and saw Dave and Sharon (owners) getting out of the car and walking in. But it was the right place, they had just disappeared.

Looking into it we found out that Sunday was their last day in business. I so wish we had gone but there were no signs or notice. Starbucks had purchased the three (yes, 3) stores next to them and started construction this spring to merge them into one very large location. I guess they just didn't think they could complete.

Safari Cup has been our favorite local hang outs for years. We have more pictures than I can count of Simon and almost every person who has visited us on those black couches with the elephant pillows. It was the first place I walked to after I had Simon and he spent so many hours sleeping on me in the wrap while I read and drank iced herbal tea. I will so miss it.

S-s-s-studio

We'll miss you, tiny studio!  And you too, broken microfridge! And you, uncomfortable murphy bed!  But hundreds of cockroaches, we'll miss you most of all!

We had a wonderful view of the rowdy neighbors' rooftop party area, the CTA Brown Line platform ("this is Paulina"), and the Eiffel tower.  The doorway on the right leads to the dresser/closet/trashcan/changing table area and the bathroom

More Baby Facts

One of my favorite things about being pregnant is all the amazing things that are happening to my body and to the baby in such a short period of time. It just is astounding that there is a whole little person living inside me right now! He's about five pounds and is developed enough that he could be on the outside kicking his dad instead of on the inside kicking my bladder. It's better for him to stay tucked in my belly for the next 5 and a half weeks, but he's just putting the finishing touches on right now.

The Chicago Museum of Science has an interactive online exhibit where you can watch a video called Make Room for Baby that shows how the organs move and adjust in a mother's body for the baby. Definitely take a look - it's crazy how small the liver gets!

After the jump some cool facts about babies.

Well-deserved

It's not always as tough as this weekend has been.  This is a picture from earlier this month of Emily (and baby) enjoying some sunshine and quiet time, both of which have been far too rare lately.

Here comes the rain again

The night that a huge thunderstorm rolled through was a really bad time to not have a roof on the back of the house... more details (and pictures) tomorrow after we dry off and clean up a bit.

UPDATE: I had hoped to post more about the storm this morning but haven't had a chance yet and I'll be away from my desk for a few more hours.  I should be able to have a new post up by around 3pm Chicago time though.

Pinhole Kitchen

With the wall full of holes covered by plastic sheeting in the temp kitchen, Emily and I noticed something pretty cool that happens on sunny days.  The size of the holes and the distance to the house next door make the perfect conditions for a sort of pinhole camera effect, where an image of the window from the house next door is projected onto the plastic inside our house in front of each of the holes in the wall.