Continuing on my catching up of last week…
Midway airport is undergoing modernization… that’s code for being ripped up and more difficult than usual to get around. I’m sure it will be worth it in the end!
Nevertheless I did find Jenny OK, her luggage arrived safely and we set off for the city. We were fine navigating until we weren’t. Nothing a u-turn at Navy Pier couldn’t fix 🙂
We were in Chicago for our first visit as ambassadors to BERNINA University (BU for the in-crowd). It’s an annual event for dealers full of new product, education and networking opportunities and this year the Ambassadors were invited too.
It didn’t start until Thursday morning so, after checking in, we went for a walk. It was a beautiful day and the buildings were looking their finest.
I love the reflections!
We had a partial view of the lake from our hotel window at the Hyatt.
Thursday started with a two hour opening session with all 1000 attendees present for BERNINA history, new products and introductions to the senior members of the BERNINA family. Gold wrapped chocolates for all!!
We went to classes in the afternoon. I taught one! Just a half hour of Walking Foot, making the most of the built in features of our machines. Yes, I took some pictures before I began…
I was too busy on Friday to take a lot of pictures! We spent the morning learning about the fantastic features of the 500 series. That’s where today’s featured image comes from. The afternoon was spent catching up with our duties as ambassadors and more about our machines. I did learn lots. Now we have to see what I do with all that learning…
We were checked out of our room but we decided to enjoy one last meal before the drive back to Naperville. Jenny mustered the troops for dinner! Left to right are Jenny Lyon, me, Kelly Ashton, Kathy Delaney, Barb Vlack and Erika Mulvenna
After a packed two days it was time for a change of pace.
Jenny was in town until Monday. On Saturday we left Steve working and headed first to Elmhurst Art Museum to see what was there. We enjoyed the summer members show, an exhibit connected to the reopening of the Mies’s McCormick House and Skycube from David Wallace Hopkins.
This is Jenny’s picture of the Skycube. My camera was in the car.
Really, you just need to go and see it for yourself!
What to do next?
The MCCormick House and exhibit had whet our appetite for some more minimalist Modern Architecture and we decided to drive to Plano!
We listened to advice and called ahead and booked tickets for a tour of the Farnsworth House, designed and constructed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, finished in 1951.
Here it is as we saw it on Saturday!
You need a permit to take pictures inside and we were too cheap to buy one so this is a picture looking inside from the porch.
We did go inside and enjoyed an hour and a half tour. Our docent was amazing, knowledgeable and friendly, with lots of stories and interesting details. I’d go back again. Fall would be an excellent time of year to visit for the foliage. Pictures of the house in the snow look good too!
On Sunday afternoon we were attempting to try some of the techniques we had learnt at BU when we decided to make a phone call and our friend Valli came over to play with us. Valli is a ruler whizz and she shared her knowledge with us. I finally got my ruler foot out of its package. (I’ve only had it at least 15 months…)
Time for a selfie?
Jenny went home Monday evening. Time to return to work?
There you have it. Last week was busy! I didn’t get that wool butterfly done by July 1st BUT it is done now. I’ll post pictures tomorrow.
