Spring Flings and a PSA

The last 6 weeks have been a whirlwind. Two quick trips, huge work projects, a move, and a week of illness meant that there wasn't a lot of room for writing, despite the renewed sense of purpose in my last post. I had hoped to send some actual Wish You Were Here postcards during my travels, but both sojourns were brief, and I was woefully unprepared.

DC/Baltimore:

 

One of my oldest and dearest friends, Katja 7, got married in April. I flew into DC and spent a few days there, but the wedding was held at the American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore. It was an exquisite location for a wedding, especially for two creative people who wanted to ensure a magical environment for their less-than-traditional nuptials (about an hour into the initial reception, the bartender asked me "So...what exactly is the theme here?", eliciting a poor description of steampunk from me - there was no actual theme, but there were lots of wings, tutus, and the groom wore full on steampunk regalia). That egg, with its mosaic of mirrors, was a real hit. 

I did write this postcard while back in DC, but I didn't bring any stamps, so I handed it to Tilly when I returned. Postcard fail.

Chicago:

Willis Tower Skyledge

Two weeks ago I was in Chicago for a weekend. I spent one day being super touristy: Grant Park, Millenium Park, riverwalk, Navy Pier, water taxi, Sears Willis* Tower, riding the Loop, architectural boat tour. It was a great day, and totally exhausting. Normally I wouldn't bother with any tourist trap that involves huge crowds or long lines, but it was a cloudy day, so I was able to get up to the top of  Sears Tower relatively quickly. The more tedious line was waiting to step into one of these little boxes that let you go 4 feet outside the building, 103 floors up. Watching the reactions of those who went before me was better than doing it myself, to be honest. The people in the postcard are NOT drawn to scale, by the way. A person kneeling like the fake photographer in the left would take up most of her side of the box.

I brought stamps this time, but not my address book, so even though I bought several postcards in Chicago, I could only mail one to my mom, because I know her address by heart. Postcard semi-fail.

* Apparently, all of Chicago resents the renaming of this building and still calls it Sears Tower, so I do too.

Public Service Announcement:

Effective June 1 (tomorrow!), postage rates are going up. First class letter stamps are staying at $0.49, but extra ounces will cost you another penny, and so will postcards ($0.35 - still a bargain!). It bugs me to no end that there are no forever stamps available for postcards. I tried to get some of the new rate stamps at the post office last week, but was told they wouldn't be available until the price changed. How irritating. Especially because they last raised the rates right after I'd bought a roll of 100 postcard stamps, so I've been adding a 1-cent stamp for two years now.

I did manage to get one final postcard out the door yesterday under the old rate:

Sent to a friend I haven't seen since college who spent Day Two of my Chicago adventure with me in Wicker Park.