members night at the field museum 2017!

last friday, leff and i went to the 66th annual members' night at the field museum! i swear, this is one of my most favorite things we've ever done. 

many of the departments within the museum were represented so items on display ranged from armadillo figures

to ceramic repairs across cultures and time

to, well, look. basically, if it had to do with the study of natural history and/or anthropology, it was there! plus as an added bonus, we were allowed a peek at offices like "groups of local deities"

and storage for "the red binders". heee.

lots of scientists were also there talking about their subjects. the mycologists were a lot of fun!

and they had extra cool displays!

imaging was also a big draw for both me and leff, both to see how botanical specimen were mounted

and also to see the gear. they use lightroom! (not pictured-- the awwwweeesooome camera rig. oof, it was so nice.)

i didn't have time to talk to the woman who made mounts for all the shows at the field

but i really would have like to. i overheard her explaining how her background in sculpture helped her in her job. i mean, she and her crew build everything for the shows *including* the book mounts in house at the field! i am incredibly impressed by this!

and also by how well organized everything is!

we didn't really get around to seeing the mammal storage, sadly, but there was a great section about birds from madagascar.

and the storage cabinets! THE STORAGE CABINETS!!!!

another huge plus to members' night, the permanent exhibits were practically empty! (this was a welcome break because, contrary to what my pictures are showing, it was SO CROWDED! members' night is very popular.)

after almost three hours we made it to the basements. (seriously, guys, the field is HUGE!)

here are bats!! so many cute fruit bats! the male ones have white epaulettes on their shoulders.

i can relate to this dude.

honestly, members' night is exhausting even if you plan ahead. by the time we made it to the third floor

we were done for the night. i cannot wait to go back again next year! (we'll start in the basements at the next open house.)

won't have any mold-a-rama to collect though. we're all caught up on the ones at the field. heh.