Happy Mother's Day...

Each of the last two years, I've written about how amazing my mom is, and how lucky I am to have her in my life. She's always been there for me, given me her guidance and support, and indelibly shaped the person who I am today. I can only hope that when I have kids someday, they'll be able to say that about me. This year though, I don't think there's much else I can add to the subject of how great and worthy of celebrating my mom is, so instead, I'm going to tell you about what we actually did to celebrate her.

First off, I got her this pitch-perfect card from Etsy:


I've gotten really disillusioned lately with Hallmark and the other mass-produced greeting card companies. Flowers, sappy cursive writing, and glitter really aren't my style, and the cards that are supposed to be funny almost never come close to capturing my sense of humor. In the quirky, creative world of Etsy there seem to be far more people who share my aesthetic, and I've recently become a little obsessed with purchasing greeting cards there. I've developed a little hoard of cards that would be perfect for various occasions, and I was excited to give Mom this card I found for her, because I feel like it perfectly captures her personality. She is selfless in her dedication to others, and you'll rarely hear her complain about the sacrifices she makes on their behalves. Like I've said in the past, she's an inspiration.

Then, we went out for Mother's Day Brunch at the Park Grill in Millennium Park, along with Angela, the wife of Dad's friend Joe, who was the best man at my parents' wedding. She was in town for business, so we invited her to go out with us because Mom and I had never had the chance to meet her. The four of us had a lovely meal, and had a nice time getting acquainted. It was pretty clear that Joe is very lucky to have her in his life.

After brunch, we took Angela on walk through Millennium Park, where we admired a new sculpture installation by Mexican artist Yvonne Domenge. I liked their intricate geometric forms, and generally preferred them to the previous showcase of contemporary Chinese works that graced the same location last year. Here's a Mother's Day photo of me and Mom in front of one of the pieces:

Did I mention it was a beautiful day?

Justin, who saw the works last week, thinks they look like giant balls of yarn, and I can kind of see where he's coming from.

I particularly liked that the sculptures were interesting from every angle, and enjoyed the interactive nature of how the negatives space changed constantly as you moved around them.

It was also Mom and Dad's 29th wedding anniversary today, so it was a special day on two fronts. Not only am I lucky to have such a caring, generous woman as a mother, I'm lucky that she found my Dad and married him so I could be born. If not for their anniversary, there would be no Mother's Day for either of us! So, Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad, and Happy Mother's Day to you, Mom!