a quiet birthday celebration and fun with cousins

(me, NC cousin, local cousin, sister)

A low-key and lovely birthday last week for moi...

The perfect new shoes for this Crazy Cat Lady - Bobs by Skechers and Pad Kee Mao at my favorite Thai restaurant. That was followed by a weekend of family togetherness...

Family from North Carolina were in town for a few days and we had a get-together at my sister's house. Is there anything cuter than a little girl (my second cousin) in a summer dress and cowboy boots playing cornhole? 

The next morning, I headed to downtown Chicago with my sister, our cousin who lives locally, and our cousin from NC. I hadn't seen my NC cousin in almost 19 years! The four of us sat at a table by the beach and talked and laughed for two hours. NC cousin couldn't get over the fact that buildings were right there at the beach. We had a perfect view of the John Hancock building from our table. After lunch and drinks and people watching (side note: thongs on middle aged women are not pretty), we walked around and made our way to Water Tower Place, which is basically a seven-story shopping mall. We eventually wound up on the seventh floor and found Garrett Popcorn - a Chicago must that I've never had! My sister warned me that it was very rich. I got the cheese-caramel mix and she wasn't kidding. A couple of handfuls and I was done. More walking around where we spotted Fourth Presbyterian Church of Chicago and were awed by its outside beauty amongst the highrises. We crossed the street to take a look and lucky us, the doors were open so we were able to go inside. Of course, my phone camera couldn't do the interior any justice, but wow. I was immediately struck by its reverence and beauty. 

I wish I could bottle up these long days and brilliant sunshine and family memories.