The other day, I stopped by the Art Institute to see the Paperweights and The Thorne Rooms. I used to collect glass paperweights many moons ago and this collection is stunning. Simply stunning.
Always a collector: I started contemplating the potential expansion of my collection.
I’m going to share some of the Thorne Rooms with you. The level of detail is astounding. Everything is made by hand.
Each room not only has the main room box, but there are always scenes outside windows and through doorways. Extraordinary.
Love this Art Deco room.
See what I mean about rooms through doorways?
I could go on and on. If you’ve never seen them and you find yourself in Chicago, please do yourself a favor and visit the Art Institute.
I also made a quick trip to see this, one of my favorite paintings.
Nighthawks by Edward Hopper. I don’t know of another painting that is, to me, so evocative, so mesmerizing.
Frustrated by the lack of WiFi, I wrote to one of the managers and he said I could use the communal WiFi in the ‘lounge’ upstairs.
Lucky me, because I can write this post and schedule it for Monday, and I got to see this view from the 28th floor:
Not too shabby.
Don and the cast of Escape to Margaritaville performed yesterday in the Magnificent Mile Lights Festival parade. What actually happened was that they waited for a bus to pick them up between shows and the bus was late because there were traffic jams everywhere. When they finally got on the bus, they went to the site, accompanied by a police escort. They rehearsed for about five minutes instead of the fifteen that had been planned and then they pre-taped their segment just in the nick of time. It was cold out there!
Next Monday, they record the cast album! That, my friends, is very, very exciting.
And my niece, Elizabeth and her husband Steve, along with two of their three children, (the eldest is away at school; my old stomping grounds, Boston University) went to see the show yesterday and they had the best time! I was so touched that they came. I ran over there at the end of the show and took them backstage so they could see Don before he was whisked away on that bus.
My cousin and her husband are coming all the way from Michigan to see the show on the 29th!
Yay for the Hill family! I love them all so much.
I’m going to grab this chance to respond to your comments and schedule Tuesday’s post – just in case this problem continues.
Funny, how dependent I’ve become on a WiFi signal!
Happy Monday.
Oh, the Thorns Rooms! How breathtaking! The hours of pure love that went into making just the simplest of decoration. I would have stayed all day!
I found the clip of the parade! They must have been freezing! But, the fun they must have!
That view is glorious! Although, when I saw it was the 28th floor, well, my banana sort of flipped in my stomach! Heights are something I don’t like!
Hope you and Don have a glorious day!
Before I miss it, have a spectacular birthday!
They were freezing! I’m afraid of heights as well but I felt no fear inside that room.
hooray for time with family, a wi-fi solution, that pretty view …
my sister and i drove over about six hours, saw the show on friday night and had such fun! great voices singing happy songs, a very creative set, the decorations in the lobby, the surprise … enjoyed it all!
don’t know how much a performer can literally hear while on stage and especially while focusing on their work, but i hope don could hear all the laughs he got. he did a great job with all that singing and acting and we say bravo and thank you!
also don’t know if tickets are still available or not, but i’d encourage people to go to that show. think it would be enjoyable whether someone is a fan of jimmy buffett or has never heard his music. and you can buy a parking spot at the interpark ramp .. in advance .. and it’s only two blocks away from that beautiful old theater (and lots of shops, restaurants, a used book store, etc).
plus we saw that mural of muddy, too. awesome art all over that city!
hope you enjoy the rest of your time there!
kathy in iowa
I’m so happy you had a good time, Kathy! I knew you’d love it. I agree with you, I don’t think you need to be a Jimmy Buffett fan to enjoy the show. My niece and her family weren’t into him but they absolutely loved the show!
A paperweight collection…and those rooms….exquisite! I’m a collector of paperweights, so I’ll definitely have to visit. That’s quite a view from the 28th floor…almost worth the WiFi problems? Happy to hear you are able to see so many family members. Enjoy your day! ;)
The view was worth the WiFi problems as I would never have been up there otherwise.
My son doesn’t know it yet, but we will be making a trip to Chicago. I would go alone, but my family we object. I don’t care if I see nothing else we WILL be spending time at the Art Institute.
A paperweight collection. You’ve just given me an idea for a new collection.
Thanks!
Good for you! You need to come to Chicago, Trudy!
I have a tiny paperweight collection, so small in quantity I don’t know if one can call it a collection. My dream set of miniature rooms is the apartment of David Suchet’s Poirot or Nero Wolfe’s brownstone. They’d be so fun to create, as I’m such a big fan of both series. Nighthawks is one of my favorite paintings too. In the top ten. Glad Chicago has been such a hub of family reunion for you on this trip, Claudia.
It has been lovely, for sure. Family, best friend (I’m having lunch with her tomorrow) and my husband. Can’t beat it!
That paperweight is breathtaking! Maybe you could do a rotation of a collection or two of yours through the year….yeah, probably a lot of work and storing involved. But they are beautiful!!
Sounds like you have had a wonderful opportunity to catch up with various family members during your stay. What fun! Hope you had a great day to spend with Don today. We had sun yesterday and today, hoping you did, too. Enjoy your remaining stay!!
No place to store things!
We had sun yesterday – it was a lovely day. Today? Gray and rainy!
That paperweight! I’ve never seen anything like it. I’ve never been to Chicago but hope to go when I retire. I’ll check back to this post when planning my itinerary 🙂. Nighthawks is also one of my very favorite paintings. Enjoy every last minute of your trip.
I am having a lovely time and it’s suddenly only a few days until I leave for home! Time just flew by.
The room is amazing. Thank you for sharing.
Marilyn
You’re most welcome, Marilyn!
“Not too shabby” is absolutely right. “Just a tad breathtaking” would be pretty accurate too. If I’d been up there on the 28th floor, I think I’d just have been staring out the window most of the time. Not a lot of wifi-ing would have gotten done, I fear. So glad you got back to the Art Institute. And Happy Birthday, Claudia! It’s tomorrow, right? Same as my paternal grandmother’s which makes it easy to remember. At least I THINK it’s tomorrow. Apologies if I’m not. Get yourself & Don a couple of Magnolia cupcakes to celebrate. At the very least. Peace. 🎂
#Resist
It is! Thank you, Janet. We had celebratory donuts – the biggest I’ve ever seen. I’ll show them on the blog tomorrow.
I can just imagine myself as being small enough to wander through those beautiful tiny rooms…I am also intrigued by “Nighthawks”…there are questions I would like to ask these people!…lol…I do believe I could sit a while and observe that view on the 28th floor…gorgeous!
That’s the best sort of reaction to a painting – wanting to know more about the subjects. It does have that effect!