Mugs Up

(Summer porch pictures! Also, on the left is my favorite mug and the right is a mug I am giving for Christmas!)

One of the best things to have in Chicago is a porch to sit on with friends. Chicagoian's go to great lengths to create a place for outdoor sitting. We turn the tops of our buildings into a beautiful oasis, we use our balconies as backyards, with plants, grills, tables and chairs. 

Our old Wrigglyville apartment may have been above a noisy bar (with the El running past our living room windows) but the one thing that made up for every downfall was our absolutely amazing back porch. Some of my all time favorite memories are connected to that porch. 

We spent as much time as possible grilling out and drinking wine. But the memories that has the warmest place in my heart, are those times Caeli and I would take our espresso or tea and magazine's out on that porch in my special mugs. We would just be.

 Sometimes we would sit in silence, sometimes we would comment on style's we liked or disliked in the magazines, but most of the time we would just talk...what about? who knows! We would spend as much time as we possibly could with those mugs, talking about anything we felt like. At times, we would disagree, and other times we would cry, but most times we would laugh. 

Caeli now lives in Italy, but every morning when I pour my coffee out of the press, into our favorite mugs, I think of her and send my loving energy her way.

 I now collect mugs and I think they make the greatest of gifts. They hold the liquids that warm our souls, and I always have one next to me throughout the day. I wish my mugs could talk. For they have been next to me during some of the most interesting conversations in my life.

 Give a beautiful mug to someone, and maybe you will be invited over for a drink and a conversation.