Why I Oughta...

The downfall of large department store shopping along Chicago's State Street is well documented.  Marshall Field's becoming Macy's occurred during my lifetime - in 2006 .  That's long enough to kind of forget what Marshall Field's was like, but recent enough to still feel the outrage.   But that outrage really only returns during the Christmas season.  And...that is likely *why* all the changes have been made.  Not enough shoppers have been visiting department stores and not enough are shopping on State Street. Before I talk about what is going on right now, during Christmas 2024, I suppose I should say that we all *should* be grateful that Macy's on State Street still exists at all.  I've covered Marshall Field's (and now Macy's) on State Street in Chicago over the years.    Here's a whole collection of posts .    More on that below the photos.   Macy's calls their State Street Christmas setup 'Santaland ' and it includes...

Two years ago today, I posted the initial photo of our windows being installed and our house being 'closed up' during the construction process.  One year ago today , I marked the occasion with a post that looked back at that day too.  Today, I'm posting a photo of a post that has a photo of the original post.  Maybe next year, I'll remember to do a post about today's post, which featured last year's post that re-posted the original post. It is turtles window installation posts all the way down, I guess. 

One year ago today, I posted that photo above here on the blog to mark the milestone in building our #NewOldFarmhouse when we had our windows installed into the framed house.  Hard to believe that was a year ago as it feels like yesterday that we were making the regular visits to Downers Grove to check on the status of the construction job.  Welp...Nat was there EVERYDAY because she was a trooper who took our one of our kids all the way to Downers Grove for school everyday from Elmhurst.  Then made the return trip back to pick her up.  We're one year removed from the installation of the windows, but still in the thick of things in terms of getting the house situated.  I've posted quite a bit about the needs in the yard/garden, but there's also so much still to get set-up inside.  Like window treatments, furniture, wall-hangings and what-have-yous.  Nat has done a really great job of introducing elements a little at a time and we're this/close to ...

That photo you see above is from the Polite Pig down at Disney Springs .  It is basically a window'd box that has inside a butcher's counter, supplies, and at least one big smoker where they smoke many of their fine meats.  And....let me tell you...they have very fine meats. I had the brisket sandwich that was served with pimento cheese spread and crispy onions.   Anyway, the windows.  Yeah...they've put this window setup right in the queue where patrons line up to order their food.  It is kind of a show kitchen of sorts.  At the time we were there, there wasn't anyone working in there, but I can imagine a cast member/chef cutting up brisket or pulling pork or what-have-you in there.   For a long time, I've been fascinated with these windows into workspaces.  You see them a lot in restaurants, but you also see them on cooking shows or science shows.  Where they have a 'lab' next to/adjacent to the stage that sort of se...

The window you see above is on the Randolph Street side.  The one below is on the State Street side.  Both of them are currently dark with the message:  Pardon our appearance.  Something magical is in store.  And...being good Chicagoans, we all know what that is:  the big reveal of the Marshall Field's Christmas windows.  The one below shows the 'Santa' theme that they've used in year's past and...unfortunately, doesn't include Uncle Mistletoe.  I posted photos of the windows being prepped last year - just in early November 2016.  Here's the photos .  And here's a photo from the morning of November 9th, 2015 - the very day they opened for public viewing .  Here's photos of the 'coming soon' windows in 2014 .  Let's all hope they don't make the mistake they made back in 2015 when we got NYC's 'sloppy seconds' where they re-used Macy's NYC window display .  Shame .  What else is a shame?  That they don't...

Back in early January, I posted about the three windows we bought salvage that included a big transom and a pair of more square-ish windows .  The transom is destined for our entryway/vestibule and the pair will go in the library/living room.   We wanted to do the windows right, so we found the folks at Drehobl Art Glass in Chicago and after talking with them, decided to undertake the restoration process on all three.   That meant taking the glass out of the sashes and work on the leading in between each one.  That also gave us an opportunity to work with our painter to have him restore the sash/frame.  Here's what one of them looked like in the back of Nat's van.  You can see that they're in pretty rough shape.  Peeling paint, weather damage.  They'll get stripped, sanded and then glued to make them just about new. And here's a look at the pair of leaded glass windows out of their sashes.  They will undergo a bit more work...

In a major development on the construction site, we now have windows installed!  Windows!  Yeah, I know.  You're questioning the exclamation points.  But, listen....we've been at this a loooooooooong time.  And this is a real mark of progress towards having a home completed, so it is worth celebrating for our family. They're not all in - nor are the doors - so the house isn't quite 'buttoned up', but it is close.  And that marks an exciting time.  If you look closely on the right side of this photo you'll see some metal conduit that the electrician has put in.  That means that some of the mechanical work has been started, so once that's done and the insulation is installed, I think we get the drywall hung.  Then we'll *really* get a sense for how the place is turning out and what the true space is for each room. But for now, we're celebrating windows.

Right at the turn of 2017, I posted a photo of a couple of salvaged windows we're going to use in our new old house and mentioned that we also bought a transom window that came from the same place. Here, above, is a look at the transom window right next to one of the square windows that are destined for our library room.  The transom is 74" wide by 18" tall (that's the glass part) and the frame adds a few inches each way.  We really love it and it was in our budget to buy this one.  There was another one that just was priced a bit too high, but was pretty awesome. We're going to use this transom in the 'interior' side of the vestibule that we're building right by our front door and I'm hoping we can work to incorporate the design in other places - maybe another transom?  We can't get too nuts, though...right?

About a week ago, we went to a salvage and antique shop with Nat's parents and her sister on the northside to pick out some windows for our new place.  We ended up buying this matching pair of beveled glass windows that will go on the southside exterior wall in the library up front of the house.  We also bought a really sweet transom that I'll post a photo of at some point. With the new year here, our attention turns to the construction of our new house.  And despite it being a long, long, long process, I think both Nat and I are excited to see it come to life... like...really come to life in terms of being built!  These windows are the first thing we've *bought* for the new place, so this brought an extra level of reality to the situation. We put in some vintage windows in our first place on Indiana Street and I always liked how they transformed the house a bit with an 'new old house' feel.  It was one of the best decisions we made.  I'm hoping we'l...

Walking down State Street this week, you'll see that they've gone 'dark' with their windows in preparation for the release of their annual windows featuring Christmas scenes. I covered the same 'coming soon' situation back in 2014 and the day they opened last year here on the blog .  We still take our kids down to the Walnut Room every year just as I did when I was a kid with my mom and sister(s).  (I actually only remember going with Vic, but I'm guessing that Sharon and Linda were there, too??  I dunno.)  Thus, I have a really soft spot in my heart for Marshall Field's at Christmastime and specifically for peering into these windows. Let's hope that the fine folks at Macy's have learned their lesson and won't give us New York City's "hand me downs" like they did last year .  Shame on them for that one.

If you wonder by Marshall Field's errrr  Macy's on State Street today, you'll see some pretty cool windows being displayed that celebrate the Macy's Flower Show that takes place on the 9th floor.  Gotta be honest...if the windows are any indication, the show must be spectacular.   The window above is on the Randolph Street side (right around the corner from State) and focuses on the American Southwest.  Pardon the glare, but if you look closely, you'll see a bunch of cacti and succulents in a wide array of shapes/sizes.  It made me stop in my tracks to peek at. And below is the northern-most window on State Street that highlights 'The City' and features a little rooftop balcony scene with pots and a bunch of tropicals. They've created these 'cards' on their site that show the 8 different areas.  Here are three of them to show you how well they're done.  The Pacific Northwest Wonderland.  The Vast Southwest.  And the Shining Northeast...