Colgate Reunion 2009

Nate the Great and I had an epic weekend back at Colgate, for my 5 year reunion.  It's hard to believe it's been 5 years, but I won't dwell on that . . . 

Lots of drinking and talking in the tents down on good old Whitnall field, and Friday Night was marked with Torchlight - a true Colgate tradition where all of the alums (or, at graduation, all of the graduates) walk down the hill each carrying a torch.  It is a really beautiful tradition.

This year was not only my reunion year, but also the Swinging Gates reunion - the 35th anniversary of the group's founding.  My a cappella group was well represented by singing ladies from all different eras.  We had singing in the tents all weekend, as well as a big concert on Saturday night. 

I was reunited with all of the Alto 2's (my voice part) from my year - we had 4 in our class which was a lot - and it was so good to see each of them.  They are all as silly and beautiful as I remember them (the picture, left, is from our senior concert 5 years ago - and we had to get it recreated, below, after the concert this year).  

Our group went on first at the concert, but Nate the Great stuck around until the bitter end, and he was glad that he did.  The most senior of the Gates really put on a great show.  I love those old songs, and I hope that as the group's alumnae become more connected, as they made plans to do at reunion, I might get to learn to sing "Red Sails in the Sunset" and "A Pitchpipe, A Song, and A Smile"  (to name a few).  I got to sing "White Flag" which was my senior song, and it really meant a lot to me to have the younger girls, including the current Swinging Gates, singing it with me.

I was also glad to spend SOME time with my class and hear how well everyone is doing and see how great everyone looks.  Walking up that hill again really brought it all back, but then again I never have felt that far away from Colgate, even though I've been out here in Chicago for longer than I was at my beloved Alma Mater.  

I'm glad that Nate the Great is an '05 - I can't wait to go back next year!

Colgate Day/ St. Patty's Day double header

What is the most romantic day of the year?  If you said Valentine's Day, you would be wrong, apparently!  My friends and I celebrated Colgate Day by congratulating our friends Mike and Emily on their engagement, which we all managed to keep as a secret from Emily, even though it was pretty much all we could talk about for the whole week.  We staked out a spot at one of our favorite bars, Sheffields, to have a few drinks and dinner in honor of Colgate Day, and once Mike and Emily had finished with their celebratory dinner, they and their families joined us at Sheffield's for lots of hugs and oohing and ahhing over the ring. (The picture to above is the happy couple, at my Christmas Party last year.)  But we couldn't stay out very late on Friday . . .

We were up early Saturday morning (some of us earlier than others - Jenny got up to make a yummy green cake) to head downtown to our friends Jon and Karla's apartment to celebrate Chicago St. Patty's day under the pretense of being able to see the river getting dyed green from their apartment, though none of us bothered to go out on the balcony to look.  We were too busy consuming bloody marys, Irish coffees, and lots of bagels and enjoying each other's company.  

Nate and I made sure to pace ourselves, though, because we had a long day ahead of us.  We headed over to Navy Pier in the afternoon to see Watchmen at the IMAX theater, then walked down the Lake Shore Path toward the Symphony, stopping along the way for me to take some touristy pictures of my favorite city.  We enjoyed dinner at the Millenium Park Grille and the day was capped off with a wonderful concert of Beethoven's fifth piano concerto and fifth symphony.  

We have a much more relaxed Sunday planned, although I do need to go do some fabric shopping with Jenny . . . 

Friday the 13th - take 2

Colgate Day strikes again (tomorrow), and as a reminder for this Colgate Day double header, the administration (or whoever) sent out an email wishing everyone a happy 2nd Colgate Day.  The pictures I posted after last month's celebration clearly got into the right person's hands; the picture of me, Nate and our friend Katie sporting our Colgate sweaters was the top image in the email!  Looks like Red Raiders all over the country get to enjoy this one.  For your viewing pleasure, here is the photo one more time:

Happy Colgate Day, everyone!  I'll be sure to let you know what we do to celebrate this time - we've got some good stuff planned . . . 

Friday the 13th . . .

is also known as Colgate Day, for all Colgate Alumni to wear Colgate gear and get together (probably drinking, let's face it).  

Since my friends and I have taken over the Colgate Alumni Club of Chicago, this event was exciting because it was the first one we've really run.  Super props to Dan, who I'm sure does not read this, for doing a great job in planning this event.  We probably had 40-50 people there, which is a huge improvement over the turnouts at alumni nights when I first moved to Chicago.

In college, I was in the Swinging Gates, an all-girls a cappella group.  Some of my best friends here in Chicago are other Swinging Gates who I have gotten to know so much better in our new city.  Last night, for the first time in a loooong time, we had all 4 voice parts at the party.  So with a little planning, we put together a short, 3 song set, and serenaded the rest of the crowd with some oldies but goodies.  It was so great to be singing again with these beautiful ladies, and I can't wait to go back for my 5-year college reunion at the end of May to sing with the whole group again!

Colgate Day was also the perfect opportunity to wear the vintage-looking Colgate sweater that Nate the Great got me for Christmas.  As it turns out, we were not the only people wearing new Colgate sweaters.   Some people asked if I had knit it.  No, I hadn't, but maybe I will be able to someday!

Crafty Weekends

Last weekend, I got off of my bum and made a big step forward in a project I've been working on for a while now.  Using all my t-shirts from college, I'm putting together a patchwork quilt, with a Colgate "sweatshirt blanket" as the backing.  A few years ago I did the same with my high school tshirts and was quite happy with the results.

This weekend I did a few smaller projects.  Saturday was my friend Katy's birthday, and in preparation for a new Colgate Alumni book club we are starting up, I made her a bookcover that is an appropriate size for all of those best seller books.  I was pretty happy with the design, but right away, of course, I thought of improvements - I do plan to make another one soon.  

On Sunday, Nate and I went for a lovely 4 hour brunch at our friends' Bob and Magda's apartment.  Magda has just bought them a large dining table and chair set which I think is probably from the late '60's, early '70's era.  Magda is thinking about recovering the dining chair seat cushions (or perhaps I talked her into it . . .) so we got to have a nice long talk about where are good places in the city and online to purchase neat fabric.  When we got home, still chilly from this Chicago winter, I was inspired to make some draft dodgers for the windows in our family room.  The chair where I sit most of the time when we're watching TV is right next to a window and I feel like the cold air is constantly blowing onto me.  I got out some fabric I bought a while ago at Ikea and got to work.  I filled them not quite full with pinto beans - making them not quite full I found helps them to be "moldable" to the contours of the window you're trying to insulate - and voila!  It was a pretty successful weekend, craft-wise, and I am especially proud because the book cover and the draft dodgers were both made from fabric that I bought with no specific project in mind, and now I've finally made use of it!