Fun trip
I had a great time in Chicago. It was fun to spend time with my friend Jess and help her straighten up her apartment a bit. Mostly, though, we just hung out. We watched movies, went out to eat, got our nails done, and simply caught up. We went swimming a couple of times at her gym (which was gorgeous, by the way) and I was reminded of how great of a workout swimming is. Perhaps I should take more advantage of the fact that I live on a lake…
One of the fun things we did was watch the Air Show right over Lake Michigan on Saturday afternoon. It was a gorgeous day and there were thousands of people there to enjoy it all. And, it was FREE. Awesome! We got to see the Blue Angels do their thing, along with other planes. 
In addition to Jess, I had the chance to see my friend Jon who took me by Obama’s house in Hyde Park (it is pretty nice, ps), and my friend Sonya who took me out for some outstanding gelato in an Italian part of town. 
Kemps just doesn’t hold a candle. 
Here we are at her apartment. All in all, a fabulous trip!
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good eats
Hello from Oak Park, IL! I am having a great time visiting with my friend Jess. The best part?!?!? We’ve indulged in plenty of ethnic food (something Duluth is severely lacking in). I’ve been here for a little over 24 hours and we’ve already had Thai, Mexican and Middle Eastern cuisine. Definitely no complaints here!!!
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Berries and Bargains
Two of my favorite things about summer in Minnesota: 1. Wild raspberries and 2. Rummage sales. Fortunately, there are copious amounts of both in these parts. Just the other day, I was returning home from my walk (where I had been stealing handfuls of berries from neighbor’s yards) and discovered about a dozen raspberry bushes at the end of our driveway. 
Now, you may be wondering how I could have missed them before. The things is, our driveway is roughly 700 feet long and there are lots of bushes. After awhile, they all tend to blend together into one big green mass. Needless to say, I was delighted to discover the raspberry bushes amidst the ferns and whatever else is in there.
As it pertains to rummage sales, isn’t it great when you can find the things that you were hoping to find? For example, my mom and I stumbled upon a sale yesterday where I got both a great crock pot and a Swiffer for a few dollars apiece, two things that I have been hoping to get and would have paid full price for. So, fun to be able to get some more use out of items that someone else no longer needs as well as save some money. And, now my bathroom floor will remain a bit cleaner and I can promise pot roast at future dinner parties.
I am heading down to the cities for a couple of days and will be visiting my friend Jessica in Chicago later this week (wed-sun), so I hope to have some fun photos and stories to share when I return!
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A fun little reunion
I had the chance to spend time with my friends Sarah and Anna today. It was great! They were in town just for a couple of hours on their drive toward Michigan. I haven’t seen Anna since April and the last time I saw Sarah was in Addis near the end of January. She, her sister Maren, and two other friends, Bethany and Josh, were in Addis for almost a year working with a faith-based organization/school. I had initially met Sarah through Anna (who I had met a 1.5 years ago when she volunteered at the shelter I worked at in St. Paul). The two of them were roommates before Sarah left for Addis last August. I got to know Sarah and the rest of her group pretty well while in Addis and so it was awesome to see her again today. She has only been back in the states for a week and is doing remarkably well, in my opinion. The three of us enjoyed a nice outdoor lunch at a Mexican restaurant here in town and then skipped rocks along the lake with the other tourists in town. Fun times! 
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celebration
Today is my parent’s 35th wedding anniversary. In this day and age when many people don’t even stay together for 35 months, I am realizing the accomplishment this is. Bravo and Godspeed, Mom and Dad!
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Best Mail Day Ever!!!
One of my favorite things about being in Addis was when I would get mail. And, it seems as though the packages I received always seemed to come on the same day. I would go to the post office with an empty backpack and fill it up with all of the fun American things that my friends and/or family had sent. (You may remember all of the crazy pictures I took of me with bags of candy, chips, etc…believe me, it was exciting). Well, today was kind of a fun day like that, only in reverse. I got home yesterday from being away for a few days and found a package notice waiting for me on my bed. Apparently there was a package waiting for me from Ethiopia down at the post office. I had to suffer in curious anticipation for almost 24 hours wondering what the package could be and who it could be from. Mom was pretty sure it was a package she had sent me for Valentine’s Day which never quite made it. When I got to the post office today though, I was pleasantly surprised to see that it was a package from Amanda, my kiwi friend, who has been in Addis for the past few years working with an NGO she started. She was so sweet and sent me a purse, made by women in her organization, and a pair of Ethiopian cross earrings that she knew I liked. She had initially put the package together in May but just sent it off a couple of weeks ago. THEN, I get back home a little later this afternoon and saw a small package on my bed. It was from another friend of mine from Addis, Elisabeth. In it I found a cool silver necklace similar to one that she had worn that I had always complimented her on. She said that she had had this for me for months and finally remembered to send it. So fun and so thoughtful! It was awesome that I received both of these fun packages on the same day! Just a few more little things to help me remember the place that was home a few months ago. And, just for old time’s sake, here are some photos of me with my new fun things so you can see them.
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Star Sighting
So, I may be one of the only people who finds this cool, but I saw the lead singer of the band LIVE today. My mom, sister and I were driving from an area of town called Canal Park and he was walking across the street toward that part of town. Pretty sweet. The band was in Duluth this evening performing a concert in an outdoor venue down by the shore of Lake Superior. I was a big LIVE fan in high school/early college and actually had the chance to see them perform twice. They really are awesome performers. It would have been fun to see them in concert again, but, I couldn’t really justify the price…so, I just convinced myself that there would have been mosquitoes. I guess I’ll just settle with seeing him walk down the street. And, since he is a really cute bald guy, I suppose that made up for not being able to make it to the concert.
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Strawberry Fields Forever
My Aunt Sue invited me to go strawberry picking yesterday. Fresh strawberries…sign me up. It was an incredible day to go picking: a little overcast with a soft breeze. I think the fields just opened up for picking last week and so there are still plenty of berries to go around. I decided just to pick one 4 quart bucket full, which believe me, is plenty. I have a strawberry rhubarb pie in the oven right now and I have eaten many a strawberry over the past two days. Totally delicious. Here are some photos of our picking. Can’t you just taste the yumminess?! 
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Birthdays and babies
It is my My Aunt Noreen’s 65th birthday today. She, who is my mom’s sister, has been staying with my parents and I for the past week and a half. She is here in Duluth searching for a home to purchase as she plans to retire here in a few months. Yes, you read that correctly, she plans to retire to DULUTH. We believe she is in fact the first person in history to choose to retire to Northern MN instead of someplace with more enticingly warm weather like Phoenix or Naples, FL! But, that little bucking of tradition suits my aunt perfectly. She marches to her own drummer most of the time and though we often shake our heads puzzled, we love her for it. So, Happy Birthday No No! Yesterday I had the chance to spend the afternoon with one of my oldest friends (one of the friends I have known the longest…not a friend who is old). My friend Emily, the only one of our high school group unable to attend our friend’s wedding last month, has been in town for a few days and so I had the opportunity to visit with her family, which included her little niece and nephew. It was fun to get to meet the cute kiddos, as well as with spend time my friend who I’ve known for 22 years of my life! We grew up a little over a block from each other and so we walked through our old neighborhood to reminisce. It is just always so wonderful to be able to spend time with people who know you really well. Here is a photo of Em with her niece, Norah, as well as one of her and I. 
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