Fresh flowers and live music for Chicago weekend fun

Memorial Day weekend marks the launch (or at least soft launch in chilly Chicago) of the summer season.

• Here are some ways to spend the long weekend.

🌺 Fleurs de Villes

• This exhibit is about more than flowers. It's fashion, creativity and mastery of the craft. Plus, cocktail and tea parties!
• Thursday-Monday at 900 North Michigan Shops, with a couple of installations at The Ritz-Carlton and the Four Seasons.

💭 Carrie's thought bubble: I was a judge for the show and was blown away by what these artists can do with fresh flowers and plants. There were dresses I would love to wear ... I'd just make sure my husband watered me throughout the night.

🦖 Dinos! at Brookfield Zoo

• Jurassic Park in the burbs! Visitors (young and old, let's be honest, dinosaurs aren't just for kids) can walk through a dinosaur ribcage tunnel, dig for fossils and get up close with a T. Rex.
• Opens Friday and runs through Oct. 25.

✍🏽 Black Writers Weekend

• Meet other writers to share ideas and watch the film "Dear Black Writers."
• 2-7pm Saturday at Da Book Joint in South Shore.

🍻 Mayfestiversary

• Grab a cold beer from Bergyl or Dovetail, jam to live bands and sample the food trucks at the street fest.

• 11am-10pm Saturday and 11am-9pm Sunday between Begyle Brewing and Dovetail Brewery in the Ravenswood Corridor.

🎵 Rockin' in the Park

• Does anything say summer in Chicago more than a Styx cover band and fireworks? Exactly.
• 7-10pm Sunday at Parkway Bank Park's great lawn in Rosemont.

🏞️ Secret River Shows

• Take out a kayak or post up under the bridge for a live concert.
• Noon on Monday at Wild Mile at 905 W. Eastman St.