Easter, City Side Up

Husband was on-call for work this past weekend, and I worked Friday and Saturday too, so we had a Windy City Easter.

Is it silly to say that it felt like taking another step in the world of grown-ups by staying in our own home and buying the groceries, cooking the ham, and inviting the guests?

We dearly love our families and ever since college, really haven't stopped road-tripping to our families' homes on holidays.

And don't worry Mother, the plans certainly haven't changed.

But as Grandma Lu emailed me via a bird-chirping e-card, "sometimes work does have to come first." 

Of course, holidays and my family will always and forever be inextricably linked.

I was on the phone with my sister planning the menu and scribbling down her recipes, and on the phone with my momma the night before double-checking the ham instructions, all the while hearing Dad's sagacious ham commentary in the background.

As husband and I prepped and planned and cooked together, I felt my movements all being shaped, puppeteered almost, by the scene in the kitchen I watched for 20 years as a girl.

Make it special, stay up late, and by all means, have a hot roll with butter right out of the oven before wrapping them up for the next day and calling it a night.

As it turned out, Sunday was sunny and spilling over with dear friends around our little kitchen table. 

Community in your community is a basic construct that we find sweeter and sweeter with each passing year in this city.

How about you?

Have you hosted a holiday away from your family?

Here's a simple peek of Easter, city side up.

The Good: The Instagram app is now available for Android, hooray!
The Bad: Easter dinner was my first time to use Instagram and I completely failed at the concept of uploading.
The Ugly: I lost all the photos but these four.