When I was a little girl, my dad would tell me stories about Chicago

Something happened to my dad when he was 19.
I'm not sure the details, I just know that he was a boy before it happened, and the general premise is that he collided with the Almighty and decided to lose his life to get it back. He left Atlanta and went to Chicago for bible school.
His stories were bigger than anything real.
Swaying skyscrapers, high high piles of dirty snow scraped from the wide streets, wind that bit your face, rivers running through the middle of town, and food so tasty it made you sick. Before I learned geography, I thought Chicago was a state. It had to be, to fit all that in.
I finally got to see it. When I stepped off the train, I understood what he was talking about for the first time. Ogilvie station is the size of a cathedral. The braided steel beams that hold it up leave little squares of glass where you can look up and see how very tiny your reflection is compared to the vast ceiling.  Union station is even bigger. Michigan avenue is America's Champs Elysees. And there is no cold like Chicago-cold.

I had to call him from the financial district, just to tell him I understood now. Tim and I were on a bridge with a wooden plank sidewalk. My fingers were so stiff from cold that I had to really focus on punching the right buttons on my phone. Yes, I still have a phone with buttons--get off me. Water rushed beneath me, buildings taller than redwoods eased back and forth in the wind above me.
I have a crush on this city.

Most of these photographs were taken by Tim Tabailloux, boyfriend extraordinaire.

Chicago.

I think I heard you say you wanted some baby pictures

Jim and Bethany are my neighbors, and they have wanted Zia for a long time now. They are such good people. Zia has no idea that she hit the parental lottery.

This little girl is also already cooler than all the other 2-week-olds of the world because she was born at home, in water, on Christmas night. What a baby.

We've got a rock-star family happening right here:

(pink rocket onesie printed especially for Zia by her daddy)

I am so happy for this family.

And the winner is...

would you like a treat?

I would like to give you a treat.

Well, the folks over at this modern dining room furniture site would like for me to give you a treat.
Do this for me: have a look at some cute and functional stuff over here, then comment on this post and tell me what you would get if you had a $25 gift certificate to get something snazzy for your life. I'll pick someone's name out of a hat this Saturday at noon, so leave me an email address so I can let you know if you win.
If I were you, I would pick this:

or this:

or maybe this?

You tell me, my friendlies.

Someone's gettin' $25. Check back Saturday.

I wish I weren't born yet, so I could be friends with their kids

So far, the best news of 2011 is that Blakely and Tom are engaged! 

I have been friends with these two for a very long time and I just can't really describe how remarkable they both are, separately and now together.

This family is going to be really special.