My kind of town

We went to Chicago for the weekend to see Jordan Scott’s art exhibit and to go to the mother-ship (also known as The Land of Nod). Jordan was kind enough to dog sit for us so we could stay in the city. Before we said goodbye to Tristan, we took him to the (frozen) lake and let him run around which hopefully got him good and tired. Jordan and Tristan seemed quite happy to see each other and it was difficult to say who was having more fun.

We went to the art gallery (sans Tristan) and saw Jordan’s work which is really cool. I wanted to buy something (of course) but it was all a wee bit out of our price range! We said goodbye to Jordan for the day and went to check out what we hoped would be an Ethiopian neighborhood but turned out to be only a couple of restaurants, in between a lot of car repair shops. Next, we headed to the Magnificent Mile to check into the hotel and do some shopping. I pulled this rabbit out of a crib at Galt Baby and couldn’t imagine putting him back down. Fortunately for me, Chris agreed that we couldn’t resist such a very adorable rabbit. Here he is lounging in the hotel room while we went out to dinner:

And writing a letter:

I was super excited to see a Filene’s Basement which I haven’t been to since I lived in New Hampshire. I got a fantastic deal on a pair of Sofft lace-up shoes – 85% off the original price! So what if they’re a smidge too small for me. I figure they’ll stretch out a bit.

At Borders (which I’m a bit embarrassed to admit we made three visits to) we picked up this book – autographed by Chicago author Michael Tyler – which celebrates skin of all colors and really ought to be on every child’s bookshelf:

Sunday morning, we finally arrived at The Land of Nod:

I’ve been dog-earring their catalogue and spreading out fabric swatches of just about every bedding and furniture item they have for nearly two years now. We waited outside, along with a few other families, for them to open the doors at 11am. I didn’t know where to start once I was inside! I made a quick run-through of the store and then looked at a few things that I’d had my eye on in the catalogue. At one point, a saleswoman approached me and said “You were here earlier and you came back.” To which I replied, “I never left!”

Although it’s a lovely and visually appealing store, I was a bit disappointed. There wasn’t anything that I had to have (i.e. loved). And my shopping philosophy is if I don’t love it, I don’t buy it (well, usually). But, it was very useful to see the store. I had narrowed the crib down to two selections, one being a Land of Nod crib. Seeing the crib in person solidified the choice for the other crib.

We looked at the upholstered glider and rocker. Personally, I like the look of a rocker a lot better but Chris commented that it looked like a death trap for a baby and I have to agree. So, I’ll keep looking.

I left with two small things and Jordan drove Tristan up to the store for us. We all said goodbye and headed home. I looked at the catalogue several times during the ride, just in case I missed something in the store!