Coldplay, Dancing, and Knitting

I think I pack my summers even more full than my school year.  I should probably work on that... :)

BF and I went to Chicago last weekend to see Coldplay for possibly one of the coolest concerts I've ever seen.  

We did the cheesy walking around Chicago and walking around Millennium Park (the bean picture didn't turn out) and the day after the concert, we walked around the Lincoln Park Zoo for a few hours in 90 degree hot.  Super fun as long as there's a lot of water. :)

The concert itself was mildly epic.  

When we got to soldier field, it was like the heavens had opened up and the angels were crying upon the earth.  There was thunder and lightening and it almost seemed as though we weren't going to see the concert.  The jumbo-tron kept showing the radar with Chicago under a big blob of red.  There was a spot of clear, and then there was an even bigger spot of red and yellow after it.  

A little over an hour after the concert was supposed to begin, it finally started to clear up a little.  The rain stopped and the sky stilled, as if we were in the eye of the hurricane.  In a way, we kind of were.
A big announcement came over the loudspeaker:
"Please move to your assigned seat as soon as possible; Coldplay will be taking the stage."
They skipped the two opening acts and were going to try to fit Coldplay in between the storms!

I wouldn't say that I'm the biggest Coldplay fan in the world, but I knew 3/4 of the songs they played over the next two hours, and in a sold-out stadium with 60,000 people was an incredible experience.
Even more incredible was that as they started to wrap it up, it started drizzling and lightly raining again.  The main singer finished the song, then said to the crowd,
"We've been told we have to evacuate the stadium due to inclement weather approaching.  But how about one more song?"
The crowd roared their approval, and as the band played the skies opened up again and started pouring.  The jumbo-tron showed rain pouring down as the band kept rocking on, and the entire stadium rocked with people dancing and singing in the rain.
Again, probably the coolest band experience ever. :)
After coming back from Chicago, I finally had a handful of days at home for the first time since I moved in to my new apartment.  My kittens were incredibly happy to see me, and I spent the time unpacking the last of my boxes, working on the upcoming school semester (I can't believe it's less than a month away), and organizing my apartment and figuring out where stuff is.
I taught my last dance classes for the summer, and went down to the lakewalk to watch an incredible group of ladies perform for the tourists!

I was lucky enough to be invited up with them to do a little sham-sham-shimmy.  Who can turn down an experience like that?

One of my best friends, Juliet, came and visited me for an evening as well, where we walked along Duluth's boardwalk, stopping in at a couple places to grab a drink, and enjoyed each other's company before she ran off to the BWCAW.

Last night, my friend Alex and I went to probably one of the last midnight Harry Potter openings for the new play.  We played games, got points for our houses playing trivia, and picked up the newest book.  I finished it this morning, and I really enjoyed it! :)
I'm finally making some headway on knitting now that I'm moved in and have a little more time.

I'm almost to the thumb on a pair of flamingo mittens that I'm making for my Sister-in-Law, Kendra (boy it feels cool to type that title!).
My traveling knit is going quite a bit faster due to all the car time I've had lately, and it's the knit I'm going to bring when I go to Colorado on Tuesday with the BF for a climbing trip!  I'm finally making myself the Stockholm Cowl after making it as gifts twice before.  I've wanted to make it for some time, and this seemed like the perfect opportunity.

Even better- I'm using an ombre-gradient from Wonderland Yarns!  It's knitting up like a dream, and I can't wait to finish.  It's going to be reeeeally big...
Hopefully I'll be able to post an almost-finished cowl after my next trip. :)
Time to go pack...