Run! Ruuunnn! Ruuuunnnnnnn!!!!! (for your life) Part 2

Okay, so here are some more adventures of mini-ing ladies who wine and dine.  :)

Wednesday, October 3rd:  Our original plan for this day was to go into the city, but the weather man said, "Hey, that might not be such a good idea.  Cold and rainy.  Not so hot for your semi-ill friend."  Only, you know, he didn't REALLY say that... but he did say that they weather would be way sucky, so we had a home day on Wednesday.  What did we do, you may ask....  What do you think two mini crazy girls did while stuck in the house?!?!  Uh, der.

Brae, of course worked on the Heritage.  Shingling away and griping about crappy glue.  Isn't that something we all do?  :D  Apparently E6000 and shingles do NOT get along.  I spent way too much time just watching her, and not really getting a whole lot done myself.  I did do SOMETHING though. Something more than drool on her table like an admiring drunk dog even.  :D  We had been talking weeks earlier about me wanting to get candlesticks for the  __________ that I am working on.  (How much does it bug you that you still don't know what it is?  hehehe)  Anyway, I planned on buying the candlestick trio from HBS, when she told me she had some and obviously, I could just have hers.  Yea friends!!  And you know, I am kind of glad that I didn't buy them.  They didn't look nearly as awesome in person as they did in the catalog.  Pooo.

I am referring to this set of course:

Picture from miniatures.com

They aren't.... bad, just not what I was expecting I guess.  In the picture, the finish looks pretty good, but when you get them, they are an obvious not-awesome black plastic.  And they LOOK black plastic.  Add the paint job splotchiness from the candles and that fact that they have nipples instead of wicks, and I was not impressed.  Brae  handed me her fantabulous little saw set and I went to hacking.  First, chopped off the candlesticks and then spent some time sanding the top smooth.  

After they were cut and sanded, we talked a bit about what to paint them... I opted for Bittersweet Chocolate by Americana (is there really any doubt that that would be my color choice?).  After they dried, to add a little bit of dimension, I gave them a wash of Testers Bronze... Brae, let me know if that is wrong.  :)

The one on the right has the wash on it.

They looked much better then.  :)  I also took some time to sand down the parts and dry fit my HOM chest on chest kit.  You will see that piece later on, most likely in the Garfield (Victorian with modern twist).  And that is where I pooped out.  Stupid sickness.  The rest of the day was spent off and on napping and watching some rather fabulous movies.  :)  During my stay there, I saw Plunkett and Macleane, The Young Victoria, Victoria, Everafter, and A Walk in the Clouds.  All very nice.  I had to watch most of them in parts since I kept dosing off randomly.  I passed out on poor Brae several times.  We had grande plans of working late and having drinks and merriness.... until my body decided to crap out on us.  But I had a great time regardless.  :D

That night we went to dinner with her mom and swung by Michaels... for glue and clay. And some other things, since it is nearly impossible to just go into a craft store and get what you NEED.  Especially when you have coupons. 

Thursday, October 4th:  THE CITY!!!!!

Thursday was our city day.  And come hell, high water, flying monkeys, fever or nuclear attack, I WAS GOING.  I felt pretty decent for the first part of the morning.  We caught the train into the city (my first EVA) and then caught a cab (also my first EVA) to the Art Institute of Chicago.  This was one of the "MUST SEE" thing on my list and I am so glad that we got to go.  I have loved art my entire life and really love to look at pieces that I would consider out of my reach.  I don't sculpt, so I generally think sculptures are cool.  I don't always understand them, but I do think they are cool.  I also love impressionism.  I'm a blender when I paint, so the chunky layers of chunky blobs of paint really enthrall me.  Monet is my favorite, and let me tell you, the time that I spent in the room that was full of just Monet's work is probably one of the coolest moments of my life. 

Unfortunately, it wasn't enjoyed nearly as much as I wanted it to be since I was coughing up a lung the entire time.  :/  I felt like I was disturbing everyone in the building. Brae and I had discussed over lunch, that this was something that just wouldn't go away while I was there.  I have spent the last decade in the Southeast USA.... where the humidity is ALWAYS high and you are constantly breathing in wet air... like breathing through a wet towel.  Then, BAM, you're in the midwest and it's dry.  My body was starved for moisture.  I was constantly thirsty, always had dry mouth and felt like I should just attach a horse feed bucket to my face.  Ick.  

Anyway, while we were at the AIC, I saw some really great stuff,  I don't have a lot of pictures of it since coughing all the time means I was not steady.  Not steady means crappy pictures.  You can "Boooooo" if you want.  I certainly did.

Here are some of the things we DID see though:

Tools used to make paperweights.

For my teacher friends.  :)

And it should obviously be mentioned that the first thing we did go look at were the Thorne Miniature Rooms.  Of course.  And they. Are. Spec. Tacular.  I mean, really, out of this world insanely awesome.

Seriously, how could you NOT be in awe of this?!

That picture above is me with a giant old clock.  Clearly.  This should be a caption, but Blogger is having a fit for some reason.  :/  After the museum, we went out for fresh air and a walk to Millennium Park.  I was in such awe of all the tall buildings, the fast paced traffic-foot and vehicle alike, and just all the stuff there was to look at.  I love that Chicago has so many water features and I loved the tall fountains that had pictures projected onto them in the park.

The Lion at the Michigan (Ave?) entrance.

Me with the line.  Yes.  It was necessary.

The first real stop we made in MP was at the Cloud Gate (big metal bean) and I was pretty stoked.  That thing is phenomenal.  Huge!  And swarming with people. Too cool.

Then there was more walking.  :)  Around the park, over the promenade, through the top of the AIC and then several blocks down to the Buckingham Fountain.  Giant fountain.  So much water.  And way cool to see.  It really is beautiful and every 20 minutes, there is a water show put on and the center fountain shoots 150ft into the air. 

 

 Here is a video for your enjoyment:

And now you understand the title.  :)  Ahahahah.  It was fabulous.

After that adventure, we started our walk back to a cab friendly area, and that turned into just walking all the way back to the train station.  It was far.  I complained.  But I saw a lot and I am still certain that it was better for my health than sitting in the back of a crazy cab!  

Caught the train back to the station we left from and then I promptly complained some more about the fact that it was cold, windy and raining... and Brae had parked 29857287 miles away.  Okay.  It wasn't THAT far, but it was a hike and my thin blood was frozen.  Thank goodness for butt warmers in the Bug.  :)

I will finish the rest of the tale soon!