Yeah, that's right: I'm still talking about Inauguration Day

President Obama's already shaking stuff up in the Oval Office. This reminds me -- Did you love that he told reporters how happy he is that he will now "work from home"? This makes me wonder if there is some kind of official emblem-stamped silver tea set packed up with my wedding china and fourteen crystal cake plates that I should be taking my midday coffee on before I meet up with some prime minister of the interwebs or dignitary of high heels or some such.

Regardless of what kind of business he conducts at his desk and I conduct at mine, there are two things I know for sure:

1) I rarely can find the charger to my BlackBerry amidst the piles of extremely official paperwork (also known as the sweetest little clippings ever than my grandmother sends me as blog inspiration, fourteen Gymboree coupons, a pile of cards I collected at BlogHer '07 and blank CDs I swear I am going to burn with kickass playlists and photo montages...next week),

and B) this is not true for President Obama.

Oh, and also, 3) George W. Bush did not leave me any kind of message last week. There was a slurry text message at 2 a.m. about seven months that possibly could have crossed secure lines, but I will never know for sure.

While I am intensely watching Obama's intention to lift the "global gag rule" (I wrote about it here, and if you'd like to add your opinion in among the Bible quothers, please do), stem cell research funding, Guantanamo Bay closure and all kinds of other swift progress, I am also still riding high on how I spent Inauguration Day.

I was delighted to watch and cheer and eat oatmeal (yes, Quaker...of course) with some of my favorite Chicago mama bloggers -- the very talented and wise-cracking Jeanne from HouseInProgress, Danielle from  Foodmomiac, MJ from Chicagonista among them. These women have laughed and ranted and written about so many political issues that it just seemed ideal to sit among them in front of CNN, our laptops, coffee and maybe even a brunch-time cocktail or two. Here are a few postcards from the day in photos generously shared by Foodmomiac (because I can't handle a coffee cup, champagne and a camera all at once):

I must say that I have poured over HouseinProgress since I first met Jeanne, paying attention to all the details she attends to while wielding power tools and keeping contractors in line. The place is great and so Chicago in its bunaglow-ness, it makes me proud to be a Chicagoan who grew up in a bungalow. Next, I must say that if you've never eaten oatmeal with raspberry butter or cinammon apples, it's a damn shame. The food and drink was the American dream, kittens.

That's me with the striped hair and my new BFF, Melissa from I Love the Kitchen. She's a blogger and a personal chef. Hello! Now you know why she's my new favorite grrrlfriend. She's the reason we greeted a new presidential era with such full bellies.

Cheers for the new president! See? We did put down the mimosas for a moment or two.

Because this is Chicago and because it is in fact a small and synchronous city, I ran into Jane at this party. I met Jane before I began blogging, while I was teaching art to preschoolers in the store she owned that was full of her beautiful hand-crafted jewelry and other treasures that make a crafty grrrl feel like she's stepped into a little corner of heaven. Jane and I had a few connecting conversations and one day, after a drawn-out few hours of painting with 3-year olds that resulted in me spending an unpaid hour scrubbing red paint off of the lovely sage walls and hardwood floors, Jane whipped up a little "take care of yourself, mama" basket for me. She threw in samples of soaps and lotions and bath salts that I parceled out to my weary self over the months that followed.

The store is gone, the art classes are long over, but spending a bit of time getting reacquainted with Jane reminded me what a very cool woman she is. She's the mother of two now and blogs about raising a child with some very intense special needs at Ramona Mae. Give her your own "take care of yourself, mama" offering by sending your good thoughts and supportive comments her way.

If you're craving more details, including the full list of fabulous attendees, spoon 'em up here.

Comments

[Melissa]

Bless your heart for that sweet shout-out. There's always a plate (bowl, big huge wine glass) with your name on it at my table!