Sunday Snapshot - new friends

{Ferris Wheel - Navy Pier, Chicago}

 

Last Fall I was asked by Stefanie (the lovely Stefanie who hosts Sunday Snapshot),
if I'd consider being a photo editor for An Orphans Wish.
It sure didn't take me long to say yes!
Last week I got to meet two people who I work with as a volunteer for this incredible organization.
We previously had 'talked' only in emails and on the phone (me with Heidi).


They were going to be in Chicago at a workshop and I made the trip to my favorite city to meet.

(Heidi on the left and Lee Ann on the right).

By the time I'd gotten there they had already gotten familiar with North Michigan Ave.
so we took a little walk around Navy Pier.
These were a few images that I captured.
I loved the color and lines of both
the Ferris Wheel and the Swing Ride.
By the way, we didn't go on either...
we were too busy laughing and getting acquainted.
Between the three of us we have 16 children, 8 of them
adopted from China!

I'm hoping this will be a yearly get together thing.  :)

The Ferris Wheel image was taken with my Nikon d700

35 mm 1.4 lens
F - 4.5
1/5000 sec.
ISO - 200

Post processed with Florabella's Classic Workflow action,
Classic Film.
Composed in camera, my focus was on the center of the ferris wheel.

Sunday Snapshot - Chicago

'But when I go to Chicago, I know I'm home.'

~ Hank Sauer

(The Chicago Theater, historic Michigan Ave. walking north and inside Macy's on State, formerly Marshall Fields and Co.)

'I miss everything about Chicago, except January and February.'

~ Gary Cole

(The Cloud Gate - Millennium Park, Chicago)

The Cloud Gate also has a nickname of The Bean because of it's bean like shape (it's curved underneath like a bean).
I guess the sculpture was inspired by liquid mercury.
It's very cool how it reflects and distorts Chicago's skyline and as you can imagine it's a
popular place to take pictures.

My two favorite cities in the U.S. are Chicago and San Francisco.
So when my friend Grace wanted to make a little trip to Chicago,
I jumped at the chance for a weekend away to show her some of my favorite places
in this beautiful city.

(At the Art Institute of Chicago, one of it's iconic lions is in the top pic, 
a Degas ballerina and one of many Buddhas in the Chinese collections).

Grace and I spent almost 5 hours in the Art Institute, something I haven't done in years.
It's hard to find words to describe this treasure trove of priceless collections
from around the world.

(Grace standing on the main staircase in the Art Institute).

My personal favorites were the collections of art by Monet, the Degas ballerinas,
anything by Toulouse- Lautrec, and pretty much everything
in the Chinese collections.
It was a thrill for me to see a few antique pottery bowls from my daughter's
birth city in China.

Last weekend Chicago showed us it's friendly people and it's beautiful Fall weather.

We did a lot of walking, a bit of shopping, some people watching,
took many pics (these are only  a fraction of them), there was lots of laughing
 and mostly catching up
with what was going on in our busy lives.
This little visit and time away were truly a treat for me...thank you so much Grace!
Please, let's do this again soon my friend.

(Michigan Ave. looking South)