Depp be nimble Depp be quick ...

... Because I sure as heck did not see him, although was told that he had been sighted a few times on my street. I did however see Christian Bale from a distance. I also got this neat shot of me with Michael Mann's director's chair (right before they snatched it out from under me and whisked it away to where the "cool" people were hanging out).

It was a great weekend because my two best buddies in the whole world (Krissy and Meag) were in town with their boyfriends. We did a whole bunch of stuff, and got quite tuckered out, actually. Here are some highlights from the weekend:

• Being part of the madness of the shooting of Public Enemies (complete with being asked repeatedly to "please step back inside your house, ma'am." My first instinct was to yell back "who you calling ma'am??? Huh? Do I look like a ma'am to you? I prefer 'miss', thank you!" But I refrained and instead pretended to go back into the building, but really did a sneaky back-against-the-wall maneuver to escape from the security guard's gaze and weasel my way back to where the scene was being shot.)
  

• Walking along Lake Shore Drive with La, Bro and friends. And then having lunch at La's favorite: The Soup Box

• Having exorbitantly-priced cocktails at the Signature Room on the 95th floor of the Hancock Building, where I shot this stunning photo of the city (did I mention that this was taken during "earth hour?")

And this photo:

• Slightly intoxicated Mark (Meag's BF) coming home from the bars at 5 am Saturday morning and running into Christian Bale (literally, he wasn't watching where he was going and shoulder-swiped him). Mark, don't ever wash your shoulder again.
  

• And finally, Bro thinking aunt M's legs were an oversized hot dog bun.
  

Filming Update

My street now has a faux brick overlay on it. Neat-o.



We stood outside for a little while last night. Apparently, Christian Bale got into an SUV that was parked about 4 feet from me, and I had my back turned! Tonight they're supposed to be filming a fight scene in the street. So, hopefully Monday I'll have some better photos to post!

Here's the building they were filming in last night. The circled area is the apartment they were using.



Here's the alley across the street from my condo where they are supposed to be shooting tonight. Notice the vintage car parked there ... I've heard there will be a bunch of these lining the streets later today.

Depp Alert

Huge semis lining the street, preparing for today's shoot. I smell Depp in the air.

Behold, the outfits of La

I see a future of clothing design for this little fashionista. She took but only 12 minutes to throw this ensemble together this morning. The green socks really top it off nicely. Simply smashing, La. 

Here are some of her other glamorous outfit choices over the last few weeks:

Egg-cellent Easter

This weekend, while dying Easter eggs, I discovered something about La. I’ll get to that in a minute. First, take a gander at this sweet little princess:



Mind you, she has looked forward to dying eggs FOR A FULL YEAR. Every holiday that approaches; 4th of July, Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Yom Kippur … comes with this question: “Do we get to dye Easter eggs? Can we? Can we? Please! Please! PLEASE!” and is followed up with tears when I say, “No, sweetheart – it’s not Easter yet.” Talk about desperation.

So, the holiday finally rolled around, and La and I bought some Easter egg dye (2 packages). I promptly boiled eggs at her command and we dropped the dye tablets from the first package into the vinegar and watched them fizz.

Now for the discovery: As we sat down to perform the art of coloring eggs, I began to notice a change in the demeanor of my sweet, lovable La. She went from angelic, happy, so excited to dye eggs … in a flash … to crazy Nazi egg-lady with the rigid nature of the Gestapo, determined to have the dying done the RIGHT WAY or not at all. Talk about a control freak.

When I tried to make a two-toned Easter egg, I got the evil eye and the “You can’t do it like that!” speech from miss La. A friend was over, and unfortunately was not spared the lecture from the Egg Master Herself. Got a firm talking-to over an attempted double-dunk. Double-dunking is a no-no in La’s book, unless she’s the one performing the act.

That was Saturday.

Sunday, my parents were in town for Easter. Oh happy day. Until it was time to dye Easter eggs again. Aunt M was happily dunking her single egg (all that she was allotted by the Egg Queen), when she decided that a two-toned egg would be quite nice. I didn’t warn her of the consequences. Rather, I just sat and watched the drama unfold. As M dangled her egg halfway into another color, a deep roar came out of my child’s belly, a holler I’ve never heard before. Which lead to a full minute-long stare-down between the two of them. It all ended with La coming to her senses and saying, “M, you can put it in this one if you want” while pointing her finger sternly at a color M did not intend to use. M obediently dropped the egg in La’s chosen color. Defeated. By a 4-year old. Wearing a tu-tu.

It’s okay, M … We’ve all been there.

What's a few more inches?

This photo was taken while La and I were out shopping THE DAY BEFORE EASTER. Does anything look strange to you? could it be the FOOT of snow chillin' on the should-be-budding branches?

La's Favorite Hangout

At least once a week, La and I dine at the famous Soup Box. It really is delicious, and has been voted "Chicago's Best Soup" for a number of years. La loves [lives for] their Select Cream of Potato and Leek soup, and she orders it every time we go. I'm not looking forward to the day they run out of that soup or remove it from the menu. Here she is at the window bar, waiting for her soup.

Public Enemy or BFF?

A few weeks ago, a note was posted to the gate of my building, announcing that Universal Studios would be filming on my street. I thought it was pretty cool, but also thought it a bit strange since there is NOTHING even remotely "neat" about my street. Tuesday night La was running around the house, chasing Bro, when she slipped on the bathroom rug and did a face plant into the porcelain tub. I had to stay home with her on Wednesday to care for her puffy face ... Which allowed us to walk the dog [10 times] and get the whole scoop from the Universal Studios guy hanging out across the street.

Apparently, the new film, Public Enemies, directed by Michael Mann and starring the ever-so-mysterious and completely wonderful Johnny Depp will be filmed DIRECTLY ACROSS THE STREET FROM ME next week. There's a 1920's apartment building there, and they'll be shooting inside one of the apartments. Thursday night, they're shooting a scene in the alley across the street from me involving gunfire and all sorts of neat stuff. Hopefully, I will be writing soon about how I caught the infamous JD's attention by strolling past him with my adorable pup and child, and befriended him for life. Stay tuned.

Words of Wisdom

Last night, while La and I were having our quiet dinner for two, I asked her, "La, why do you eat your pizza with a fork [spearing the entire slice in the middle with fork while gnawing at pizza in circular fashion] and your broccoli with your hands?" She replied with "That's just what I do." 

Silly me. 

Happy Birthday to La!

What a weekend! It all started with our cousins riding the train in from Milwaukee with their daughters who are ages 2 and 3. La, Aunt M and I rode the bus down to Union Station to pick them up. It was a happy reunion.

Saturday, we shopped Michigan Avenue and observed the very green river and all the emerald-clad drunken fools that showed up with the parade. Yep, it's confirmed: the river really does turn green on St. Patty's Day.

The three little ones wore their matching pajamas from Grandma Lois, and we had a sleep-over. It was an eventful night, involving a game of "musical beds" at 3:00 a.m., complete with La falling out of the bed she was in, and me (awoken from the dead, apparently) rushing into the room not knowing what in the heck had happened for a good ten minutes, while La laid AT MY FEET wailing. I guess I'm a heavy sleeper.

After a restful night's sleep, we had a smashing birthday party for La (thanks to my college buddies - their idea)! Aunt M brought over a delightful cake from Sweet Mandy B's ... I've never had such a delicious cake! La received many wonderful gifts, including 18 new Barbies to go with the 12 she already had. Still trying to figure out where to put all the new stuff. 

 

Then it was back to the train station. It was sad to see the cousins go, but I'm sure there will be other fun weekends with them in the future!

Cleveland {Grandpa} Rocks

We went back to Cleveland for a little visit last weekend. Two minutes after we walked in the door, La was nestled on Grandpa's lap and Bro was chillin by his feet. So sweet. 

Curiosity Killed the ...

Sure is tempting, isn't it Bro?

La's Many Colors

La likes to pick out her clothing every morning. Sometimes her selection is a success. Sometimes not. I thought this one from the other morning was a hit. The girl sure knows how to coordinate her animal prints! The ruby slippers were a nice touch, don't you think?

After I took that picture of her, she of course had to take one of me. I like the artistic way she cropped my forehead out of the shot.