And finally... Graduation! (6/16/07)

My Mom got into town on Friday and we went straight to Wrigley to watch the Cubs actually win a game (vs. the Padres)! That night we met up with the GLMA-ers and their parents, ate a yummy Mexican meal and then went to bed nice and early to be ready for the big day. Graduation was on Saturday - it was 90° and the ceremony was held indoors without air conditioning. Lovely. Thank god my Mom actually loves me enough to come from New York and sit through hellish conditions to watch the ceremony. Holy sh*t it was stifling! Lucky for the rest of the graduates with the last name beginning with the letter "H", I came prepared with The Wiz and balloons for entertainment purposes. I thought about pulling yet another stunt when I received my diploma, but figured for once I could have a serious moment. Cherish it, Mom!

After the ceremony, we went to Quince in Evanston for a fine meal including: 1) seared foie gras with roasted shallots, bleu crostini & blackberry 2) red wine braised short ribs with roquefort risotto & sweet and sour carrots and 3) mahi-mahi with forbidden black rice, hearts of palm & basil cream. We topped the feast off with a trip to Cold Stone Creamery. I had hopes of getting to The Keg for one last night out in Evanston, but after that meal there was nothing to do but crawl into bed. We woke up bright and early Sunday and made our way downtown for a lake and river cruise before heading over to Millennium Park. My mom made her way home to NY via O'Hare, I went home and napped and prepared for yet another Sunday night out on the town. Off to the Aragon Ballroom with a few friends from school for Manu Chao, a French-Spanish language singer from Northern Spain. The Aragon was rockin! And people were shedding pounds in the extreme heat. KJ and I bolted a bit early in favor of cooling down before our respective nightcaps (-;