Sometimes blog friends ask questions -- and I try to respond personally if I have an email for them, but otherwise, they sometimes end up in the ether! And lately, I've been negligent in responding to anyone (that will only get worse in October when I'll be on blog break!)
So, I thought I'd answer a few of them!
On December 20, 2007, I published my first post here on The Marmelade Gypsy. I'd just learned how to blog in an afternoon workshop that my then-boss held for those who were interested in blogging. Having already followed a few art blogs, I thought I might like to join in. This image was my first header, my Marmelade Gypsy.
Who could have imagined that 15 years later I would have overshared so much of my world! That deserves a little celebration and yes, a little drawing for some sort of thank you gift. More on that below.
I don't know if I'd ever thought of an orgy in these terms, but when you look at it that way, it was precisely what my Chicago weekend was. And, it was very sweet indeed!
I met up with two friends, friends I'd known for several years and "punctuated my routine!"
The comments our families had before we met ranged from "How do you know these people?" to "Mom, it's going to be a 40-year-old man with bodies in the basement."
I was meeting with Diana (aka Oh) of The Writing Life (and for old timers as Oh, Books! Oh Paper! Oh, Life!) and with Kerry (aka Qugrainne and now Kerrylee.org). (And that's the order of us above, with me in the middle!)
What better place to connect, then, than in a city midway that is filled with art, life, beauty and music! (And bustling city streets with traffic! This enthusiastic woman danced on the street, almost as though choreographed!)
We met on Friday and while we'd never set eyes on one another until that day, we felt as though we'd been friends for a very long time. As we walked the city that first day (and we walked a lot!), we talked about writing and books, our families, our career plans, our travels, our lives.
We'd mention fellow bloggers in conversation as though they were neighbors -- "You know, Ruth, don't you?" "Oh, I love her!" "Anno's sure had a lot going on!" "Linda has a good system -- one long post a week." "You read Bella, right?" And when someone said "Do you know Carl?" I knew I was going to come home and check it out.
To kick up your heels and meet up with friends you've never met was interesting -- I've traveled with people I know far better and with whom there have been more travel challenges: "I want to go here" or "I want to go there." Our group all had some similar interests -- we knew the art museum was a must -- and we were all game for anything.
No one was conceding to be polite. We were simply up for it. And if anyone had said, "Gee, I don't think so," we all would have agreed, knowing there were plenty of alternatives.
All of us have a passion for photography so no one was impatient when one stopped for photos -- usually, we'd all pull out our cameras and shoot! (And I confess, I'm excited to see everyone's photos to see how shooting the same images differ!)
In moving along in an unscheduled, unplanned way, we discovered beauty when we least expected it (like this stained glass exhibit at Navy Pier.)
We spent the day doing what we liked with people we liked, whether it was at the museum...
Navy Pier...
The Blues Fest...
Walking the city (with a little shopping and photography thrown in!)
Or simply doing what we did best -- talk, compare notes, share stories, talk about things that made us angry or sad or concerned.
If we wore on each other's nerves, I couldn't tell it. I know no one was on mine, and the only disappointment was saying farewell.
There's more to say, to share and show about this wonderful city -- but I've rattled on long enough. Except to say this...
I think you can tell from reading a blog if a person is a bit of a kindred spirit. We share how we live, our passions, our lives, our talents. We may or may not agree on every topic, yet we can tell when one is being authentic.
To connect face-to-face merely adds a third dimension to the person we see in a rectangular format on a screen. Sometimes the warmth leaps off that screen, we might even see a movie so we know what the voice is like. But that third dimension is icing on the cake -- and we all know, frosting is the best part!
Everything is gray, black or white. The charcoal-gray stretch of pavement beneath my car is anchored by expanses of white snow. Rising from the snow are stark black trunks of trees, with branches spreading like tangled spider webs. The sky is only a half-shade darker than the snow, the overpasses somewhat darker.
Even the cars are all silver, white, gray, black, pewter. The only colors present are occasional green mileage signs and the goldenrod signs that say "Watch for Ice on Bridge." A lone bright blue sports car whizzes by, a welcome relief.
But my mood is as sunny as the other bit of color in this scene -- two bunches of yellow daffodils, resting on the car seat. These are for my luncheon companions.
At this time of year, most of the vendors carry things like artisan bread...
Pretzels...
Some craft items, like these hand-made rugs, kissed by the snow...
And even ice cream -- no cooler required.
I leave with a few treasures myself -- more on those at the end of the post.
Then I reach my destination -- Amadeus. I've written about this restaurant before, when I met blogger Anno in the past. And today we will meet again, along with blogger Becca, whom neither of us have met before.
Ah, but don't think that means we don't know one another well. In some ways, I know both these women better than people I see every day.
As we sat at this table right in that left window, wonderful light spills onto the table, warming us against the winter chill. We laugh, we smile, we eat!
Between bites of the Amadeus pancake, dill pickle soup, tasty rolls and lots of tea and coffee, we talk about family, blogging, writing, and so much more.
I feel very fortunate to have a lot of wonderful friends -- both locally and out of town. they are people in whom I can confide, laugh, enjoy a great night out. Some are extraordinarily special and have provided a wealth of support during the most challenging times of my life. They are sounding boards on the phone, at tea, on a road trip -- and I do the same for them.
We may not spill our guts in full on our blogs (well, sometimes we do, but that's because we feel safe), but we share our dreams. We share our work and our creativity, our art and our poetry and photography. For some of us, the blog is the first, gentle foray into sharing our work with a wider audience.
And we share our hearts as well.
But the Napoleon above, elegant, beautiful, sweet, delicate, beautifully textured is a fine representation of our time together.
I think we could have talked for hours, but we parted and I went off to Trader Joe's (where I proceeded to leave a bag of groceries on the bottom of the cart -- and had a terrific experience with their customer service when I called them from home) and here...
Yes, one of the closing Borders bookstores. I wondered, as I stood in line for 45 minutes to buy books I could probably get for less on Amazon, how our world will be with fewer bookstores. For me, there's nothing like feeling the page under my fingertips.
I told you I'd show you my Treasure Mart finds -- a small pink Depression glass for my bathroom; a silver-toned (not real) jug, also for the bathroom and this apple pitcher.
A story about this apple pattern -- my mother had this dish pattern; it was sold when my dad moved from our house. Years later I regretted I didn't keep it -- or a piece (preferably the teapot!) Marilyn at Delights of the Heart suggested I might someday find a teacup, and I liked that idea -- it was the memory that mattered, not eight place settings. So when I saw this -- perfect for flours or juice, and only $6 -- well, I was happy!
A final word -- this is my 700th post. Not a milestone, I suppose. It seems 750 or 1,000 will be more so. But things with two zeros seem important -- so it seems fitting I should share this post with you, speaking about the bonds of blogging. It has meant a great deal to me knowing you -- and I so look forward to much more posting in days to come!
So, the winner of the book is Annie!
The other two winners, who will receive something I'll choose from my creative stash this weekend are Jill and Nancy (aka Blissed Out Grandma).
I'll try to get things to you before Rick and I leave for his trade show next week! And I want to thank everyone for commenting! This drawing thing is so much fun, I may have to do it again!
Today Ruth is celebrating "How I Named My Blog" day over at syn-chro-ni-ci-ty.
So, it seems obvious. But the first name for the blog was "Le Chat Orange" (The Orange Cat). It was a play on the French series of cat work by Steichen called "Le Chat Noir" (black). I thought I nabbed that name for Blogger --but who knows? I could never find it or whatever address I had at that time to synch up! All I know is that when I went to "claim it for real," Blogger said it was taken. And I've never found another with it.
Ah, but the "Marmelade" part. It seemed like as good a name as any -- I often called him my "Marmy Boy." In fact, lots of you think that's really his name and now it has become one of them!)
I don't know why I never noted that spell-check kept questioning my spelling. Or why, when I googled myself, it would say "Do you mean 'marmalade'?"
Basically, I'm a pretty good speller -- but not that day. And naturally, I picked probably the most visible platform on which I could ever choose to write. And while it's not so bad a typo as "pubic television" (and yes, it has happened, but not by me), it's still a little embarrassing. I suppose I could change it, but maybe now I think of it in the way people who say "Kool Kats" or take a perfectly easy to spell "Sara" or "Sarah" and turn it into Sarhrahe (the "e" is silent).
(And to learn how I named "Chopsticks and String" head over there!) 
