Habitat for Humanity All Women Built House

So the women of Peoria, Illinois are building an all women built house for Habitat for Humanity.  It is pouring rain so Lowe’s was nice enough to let us build the entire frame inside their store.  The men you see in the following pictures are Dr. Chris Michaels from 104.9 the Wolf radio in Peoria and from Murphy’s Salon & Day Spa in Peoria who volunteered to give free massages to all the women during the build.  Next Saturday we will be ON-SITE and every Saturday after that until done!

The Dana Hotel

So I want to give a little review of the Dana Hotel and Spa.  I was born and raised in Chicago and even though my mother lives there I decided I should spoil her and give her a day at this hotel/spa.  The staff is friendly and it is 1/2 a block from Holy Name Cathedral so we could walk to Mass Sunday morning and then we had breakfast at the hotel.  The food is great by the way.  

You can see the Cathedral spire from our hotel room window.  Our room was nice and the shower was huge with spa quality soap and shampoo.

Besides the coffee there is also a wine bar in each room.  May I say they chose really good quality wine and the cost is very reasonable.

Then of course there is the most fabulous feature.  The rooftop bar.  You can get snacks and drinks up here.  This is open year around.

So I think both my mother and I give this place a thumbs up!

Museums in Chicago

So there are a lot of little unknown but interesting museums in Chicago.  I was born and raised in Chicago and I just found one that I have not been in yet.  The Driehaus Museum.  Masterpiece Theater was one of the organizers for this exhibit.

They change the exhibits but it is Dressing Downton until May 29th of this year. You can arrange have tea in this lovely room decorated just for Downton Abbey.

And of course those who serve the tea are dressed as the servers on Downton Abbey.

The gift shop is all about whatever is on display and you can purchase things like the Downton hats, jewelry, or dishes.

Then there is just the great architecture of this place.

This is a link to the exhibit: Dressing Downton

This is a link to the museum: Driehaus Museum

Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago

So I went to Mass at Holy name cathedral in Chicago.  It is big but I guess I have seen much more beautiful Cathedrals in the United States and other countries. There are some very nice features however.  The ceiling is fabulous.  I was born and raised in Chicago so of course I love it there.  All this Church needs is a great designer to make it magnificent.

On the outside it could use a little spruce up cleaning but it truly amazes me that as big as it is, it looks tiny compared to the building around it.