Providential

Last Wednesday morning, Tomkin flew into Chicago. I picked him up at Midway, and that afternoon we took Scout and Chloe for a long walk in the rain. We brought the dogs over to Bill and Laura's and chatted with them for a while (they hadn't met Tomkin before). Then Tomkin and I headed to the Hopleaf (yay!), where we met up with Adolfo, Heidi, Lisa, Carrie D., and Carrie M. It was such a fun evening! We hung out in the bar area until the waiter (through Tomkin's strategic "pre-tipping") managed to get us a table. We chowed down on mussels and frites, drank some delicious beer, and had lively, interesting conversations. On Thursday, Tomkin and I flew out to Providence, Rhode Island (first time there for both of us). He was the officiant at the wedding of his friends Liz and Steve. I hadn't met them before, and we got to hang out with them (and Liz's sisters, Farin and Jaemi) on Thursday night. Tomkin had been raving about Liz and Steve, and they were just as cool as he'd said they were. We all walked up to the Brown University campus, which is where the wedding was held. Friday we headed to the Little Italy neighborhood for lunch, and then we went to the rehearsal. It was fun to see Tomkin in action. I sure wouldn't want his job, but he loves it! After the rehearsal, we went to a nearby restaurant for the rehearsal dinner. I got to meet more of Tomkin's friends, which was fun, and we had a fabulous meal. On Saturday we walked around with Tomkin's friend Mark and his girlfriend, Sissy, until we had to get ready for the wedding. First we had the "preception" (aka "cocktail hour") at the Faculty Club. The wedding itself was at the nearby Manning Chapel. Everything went smoothly, and the bride and groom were beaming. We headed back to the Faculty Club for dinner, dancing, and cake. It was a lovely celebration. Sunday morning we went to a buffet in our hotel, and then we had some time to kill before our plane left. We were staying at the gorgeous historic Biltmore Hotel, and there's a park across the street. Tomkin suggested we spend some time there. So we sat under a tree, people-watched, talked, and Tomkin read to me. It was one of the best parts of the whole weekend. We flew back to O'Hare, arriving about 7:00, came home, and took the dogs for a walk (one of Tomkin's favorite things to do--lucky for them!). This morning, he headed back to St. Paul. It was quite a wonderful weekend!