Feast

...as in, the restaurant!  Yes, have a feast at Feast, the classy, nouveau riche restaurant on Damen, just north of Milwaulkee in Chicago's Wicker Park.  It's cute outdoor cafe is perfect for the summers and late spring / early fall weather, and the indoor decor is extremely inviting. 


And the food?  AMAZING!!  It was girls night last weekend, and a few friends and I met up for wine, good friends, and some really great food.  The drink menu is well rounded, from standard good wine to girly ___tinis and mixed fares, and all are average priced for the city.  The food is phenomenal, and we tried lots of things.  We're girls.  We dabble in each others' entrees.  


For starters, we had their guacamole and standard bread rolls (the bread rolls were free and had a delicious red pepper/butter spread with them!)  The guac came with homemade chips and they were, hands down, some of the best tortilla chips I've ever hand.  In the same vein, though, I love fresh, deep fried dough, so this was heaven on a plate.  We were initially a little worried by the size of the guacamole bowl, but the dip was dense and the bowl much deeper than it appeared.  It was plenty of food for a starter for 3 people.


Main courses included a black bean burger and sweet potato fries for one girl and a breaded chicken dish for the other.  Trust me, they don't skimp on the portions.  There were lots of leftovers and loads of sharing.  My dinner was a compilation of a side salad and appetizer.  The apple, pecan, and manchego cheese salad was awesome.  The textures and flavors were light and just fruity/ nutty enough to work together, and it was the perfect lead-in to my main dish:  chorizo stuffed, bacon-wrapped dates.  W-O-W!  


I fell in love with bacon-wrapped dates at a friend's dinner party a few months back.  I'd never had a date, on its own, before, let alone one wrapped in bacon.  Well, because bacon makes everything better and the bacon is countered by the sweetness of the date, it was a combination made in Ratatouille heaven.  Remy would have loved it!  And so did I, so when I saw this restaurant had them AND that they were stuffed, it was a no brainer.  I received four, plump, overstuffed, wonderful dates on the plate and savored every one of them.  They were magnificent, a "must" for all people who also love bacon.  


In short, a great find and wonderful twist on regular gastro fun.  

Book Recognition!

Yay!  Living with B: A College Girl's Struggle with Bulimia and Everyday Life has been recommended on another blog.  Click Here to See It!  It's about midway down on the right hand side!  Thanks so much to my wonderful readers!  May you remember your worth the best of everything!

Your Future Home

Well known to most of us, the world is changing.  Expectations are changing, paradigms are shifting, and reality is throwing many of those "norms" for a loop.  One such "norm" is the standard house.  Maybe you love your house, maybe it's more than you happen to be able to afford anymore, or maybe you're longing to move out of your current home situation into a place of your very own.  Regardless of your standing, there is projected truth to what your future home will look like.  And I'm not talking 2056.  I'm talking as early as 2015.


Yes, that's right.  In a mere three years that lovely place you call home will shift.  Okay, so it's a bit of a lie; your current house is not going anywhere.  However, should you look to new construction, expect to see some varying standards.  Certain things will increase while others slowly vanish.  Who needs a "mud room" anymore?  Let's just make the laundry room bigger!  And living rooms?  Do you really use yours?  (honestly, do you?)  People are looking to "great rooms", where multiple areas are connected to things like the kitchen.  And, ladies, expect more walk in closets (yay!), and the probably still standard 2-car garage.


Overall, however, expect home sizes to be shrinking and to enjoy more things like ceiling fans.  People are starting to look at going green and saving money.  Small houses and less square footage allow for such savings.  Why pay to heat a room you don't use?  And in the same vein, why pay for an obnoxious AC bill when turning on the fans might do just the trick?  See, these things are catching wind in the architecture and real estate worlds.  Those things that are a concern might just be the catalyst for those changes we are so likely to see.


So, I ask, what does your future "dream home" look like?

A Touch of Southern Breakfast

There's nothing quite like brunch out with family.  This morning we made our way to a new venue.  Well, it's only "new" by time slot I guess.  The Southern is one of our favorite places for dinner when we're in the mood for good 'ole Southern cooking.  What we hadn't yet tried was their Sunday brunch menu. 


And we were absolutely missing out on something spectacular.  Open at 11, Sunday brunch is everything you would imagine, and all with a delicious and aromatic Southern twist.  The menu is anything from "normal", at least, "normal" according to midwestern "bacon and eggs" standard.  Oh, they have them, but general, "bacon, eggs, and a side of biscuits" is all a "pick a side" compilation dish.  Most menu options are more intricate, more flavorful, and way more Southern.  One of our party goers had Shrimp and Cheese grits which was superbly yummy and with just a kick of heat and red pepper topping.  My boyfriend had the "messy" breakfast, or french fries, egg, cheese, bacon, and gravy all in one big bowl.  I chose the "all sides" option of scrambled eggs and fruit and the last person in our party also did an "all sides" meal of bacon, eggs, cheese grits and homemade biscuits.  Wow.  


But even more than that, their donuts are incredible, dipped in sugar and surrounded by a coffee glaze dipping sauce.  The banana's foster french toast is humongous and thick, and the bloody mary's put other drinks to shame.  Everything was perfect, and everything screamed "Southern, homecooked goodness."  Now, who's up for next Sunday?

THEE

Tonight's dinner delight?  Asian fare.  We tried this new Asian restaurant behind my boyfriend's place in the city.  It's on North Avenue just a block or so east of Milwaukee in Wicker Park.  Previously a different restaurant, this new restaurant just opened, boasting 15% off.  Discounted food?  DONE!


What a great choice!  I love Asian food because it's healthy, spiced really well, fresh, and has some of my favorite flavors.  I knew, however, that I wanted something a little out of the ordinary.  I usually just go for Tom Yum soup, Thai Basil fried rice, and Pad Thai.  This time, however, I twisted my norms just a little.  I ordered Seaweed Salad (which was, hands down, one of my favorite seaweed salads EVER!!!) and Eel and Shrimp fried rice.  To my pleasure, the fried rice was topped with roe, but the eel was a little "squishier" than I would have liked.  I was hoping it would be crispier, but it was at least still yummy.  


My boyfriend ordered Crab Rangoons and Scallops in fried rice.  YUM!  I hate cream cheese, but I loved the fried dough part of the rangoons, and he said that they were beyond perfection:  hot and steamy on the outside and cold cream cheese on the inside.  The rice dish was great and just spicy enough without being super hot.  Again 100% perfection.


The decor and feel of the place is also wonderful.  It's light and calming, the sage and black decor adds to the experience and it's very spacious inside, from ceiling to floor at least.  I really hope it does well because I would absolutely return.  It's also BYOB so you can bring whatever tickles your fancy, but that also helps keep the cost of the food to a reasonable amount.  I absolutely and completely recommend it.  I'd love to see them stay in business!

Chicago Nights Out

This past weekend, we decided to be adventurous.  Okay, not exactly, but we did finally decide to get out of the house for the majority of the weekend.  


Friday night's pleasure?  Dinner and a movie with family, except we refused to make it "ordinary".  We hit up a new restaurant/bar just one block south of Wabash and Roosevelt.  It's called The Scout and the general manager lives next door to us so we had been trying to go for weeks.  It just opened and there is a lot about which to brag.  The general idea?  Think Champps but more designer.  Covering the walls are huge flat screen TVs and the atmosphere is noisy and upbeat, but the food is anything but what you're expecting.  Classic American fare has been given a makeover. Now, you're not just buying a grilled cheese sandwich, you're buying a foot-long grilled cheese with a side of tomato basil soup for your dipping pleasure.  And, oh, was that bacon and jalepeños you wanted in there?  No problem!  I'm sorry, you wanted sweet potato fries instead?  You got it!  What about black bean burgers or flat bread pizzas?  So wonderful!  An absolute MUST for Chicagoans.


After dinner, what movie did we see?  The Lion King, of course!  It's only out for a few weeks and since it's, hands down, one of the best Disney movies, we absolutely made sure to see it.  And in 3-D at that!  Does it get any better than seeing a big Mufasa and giant elephants cross the screen?  Oh, it does.  The opening scene makes the entire movie, and we almost thought we'd miss it!  We literally ran to the theater to make it in time.  Forget previews, we wanted to see the "Nants ingonyama bagithi Baba!" part, we the sun rises and Simba's about to be held up to the parting clouds.  HELLLLOOOOOOO!!!!!! Best part EVER!  And, yes, we made it literally as the sun was coming up.  We sat down.  Sun rose.  It was perfect.  And what we even cooler, now that we're adults, we actually understood all the adult jokes and subtle hints / cultural references.


And for those of you were are sitting there going, "Please, like I would go see that movie as an adult" (in which case, I'm close to certain you are the minority.  It's amazing), the entire theater, save a few kids, was all adults.  Yup.  Old school Disney movies are like our drug.  Who wouldn't want to be reminded of all the things they loved as a child, or laugh at all the jokes they missed, and see the parts again that sparked the creation of one of the coolest Super Nintendo games they played as a kid.  I certainly enjoyed it!  


So yes, two "must do"s for this weekend, especially because, after this weekend, one of them will no longer be available. 

K1043

Chicago has revised its radio stations.  It's killed Q101 and has changed 104.3 multiple times, the latest was Jack FM before it became K1043, which is what it is now.  I always listened to it here and there, but it was never a super favorite of my pre-sets.


Well, things have changed.  Eddie and Jobo (anyone remember them from the old B96?) host the morning show and they can be fun.  They have the senseless phone call where they call up some random business and spout of random stupidities until the person hangs up.  It's things like "If a smoke detector detects heat, wouldn't putting popcorn on the ceiling do the same thing?"


However, the best part?  The music!  I'm suddenly obsessed with the music selection they have.  They've played "kyrie" by Mister Mister, "The Motown Song" by Rod Stewart, which, by the way, I'm OBSESSED WITH!  I roll the windows down and crank that puppy like an obnoxious high school kid!  Love it!  And, listening to it in the morning seriously puts me in the best of moods.


So, although Chicago has notoriously messed up multiple "staple" radio stations and has others that just play the same thing over and over, this station has been a wonderful breath of fresh air.  I just wonder what song I'll be jamming to tomorrow.  

A Quick Catch-Up

My goodness.  I have been MIA for quite sometime now.  So sorry and that's totally unfair to all of you.  I won't make excuses, but I have been busy and there is lots on which to catch you up!  Let's get started.


1)  MUST SEE Apparently there is new fashion in town, and Starbucks is heading the way.  Unfortunately, I think it may be for the worse.  I guess they're trying to make coffee stains fashionable.  Now, I may not be a fashionista, although I do love me some BCBG, J Crew, and Arden B, but even I know this is a step in the very wrong direction.  It's almost as bad as their introduction of the "treinta" sized coffee cup.


2) True Blood.  O.M.G.  This show is amazing and I'm admittedly hooked.  Granted, if it weren't for the fact that I have them on DVD and can breeze through all the seasons I probably would have given up.  It took until episode 7 to become addicted, and if I had to deal with commercials and waiting a week between episodes, they would have lost me.  However, I happily admit I am a Sookie and Bill addict, obsessed with Eric, and completely terrified by the concept or idea of watching them alone at night.  Still, on to season three!


3)  Band of Brothers.  Yes, I am WAY behind on the band wagon on this one.  Just started watching the DVDs and they really are everything the hype suggested.  They are not only moving and emotional, but they are historically wonderful and completely educational.  What a great thing for a history class.  It certainly would have peaked my interest.


4)  FALL IS HERE!!!! Love love LOOOOOVE this season.  It makes me want to snuggle up with someone by the fire, play in the leaves and drink Pumpkin Spice Lattes.  Yum.  Plus squash is in season again and I am just one overly happy camper...except, absolutely and without the camping equipment.


*Phew*  We made it.  A quick upkeep, a little housecleaning, and I sincerely hope that everyone is outside enjoying this amazingly beautiful weather we are having.  We may have had one rainy and overly hot spring and summer, but mother nature is definitely taking a break and providing us with a wonderful fall. I couldn't ask for a better September.

Cubbies!!!

About a week ago, I managed to make my way over to a major league baseball game – yes, that means in person! – and it is something I have not done for quite some time.  To be honest, the last one I remember attending was four years ago.  What does that tell you?


I'm not a "sider", aka Northsider or Southsider, although my dad would kill me for saying that as he is a die hard Sox fan.  This time, however, it was a Cubs game that won over my Tuesday night.  


Considering the crazy Chicago weather, as of late, I was happy to find the weather for the first Tuesday of September was encouraging for a baseball game: cool and no clouds.  It was great, albeit a little chilly near the end when we decided to head home after the 7th inning, but still, good weather.  I did find it amusing, though, that while so much of life around us has changed so quickly in the last decade, life of the baseball game has not.  Everyone was still buying their beer and hotdogs, massive fountain drinks and bags of peanuts.  Most people intently watched the game and even brought blankets and "pillows" to sit on instead of the uncomfortable bleacher seats or stadium chairs.  If you're not a super big baseball fan it's still a fairly long night, and the Cub's scoreboard is still changed by hand.  Aaaah, the olden days.


And, despite the fact that I'm a bit of a health nut, I found myself salivating at the idea of a deep dish pizza or chicken fingers or full bag of peanuts.  The reality of their insanely high costs kept me from overindulging, but it was so funny to watch myself revert so quickly to my childhood comforts.  It was as though the smell of food in the air and the atmosphere of people lounging to watch something made me want to eat.  ... I think that's an American thing.  I had to remind myself that I was only there for two hours, and that for a mere two hours I would be okay without food or gorging myself.  In Europe, at soccer games, you don't buy mountains of food.  You can bring your own if you want or you just wait out the few hours that the teams play and then head to a pub afterwards for drinks and grub.  But, alas, that's not American culture, and it was nostalgic almost, watching myself get re-sucked up into everything I remembered about baseball games as a kid.  I may have changed in the course of ten years, but stadiums and their offerings have remained quite on par.

T-Shirts Your Way

So many things today are made-to-order.  Even recently on Yahoo!news (are you seeing a pattern?  This is where I get my news) there was an article about how traditional family-style, casual-dining restaurants are struggling.  The reason?  My generation is boycotting.  We want things the way we want them.  That is why fast-food places like Five Guys Burgers, Chipotle, Panera Bread, etc are doing so well.  They offer up quick food made-to-order.  We would rather go there than Applebees, Friday's, or Ruby Tuesdays.  We go for the more "boutiquey" restaurants.

So, then it would make sense that I saw a new form of "deli" yesterday while walking around Wicker Park, Chicago.  It's called the T-Shirt Deli, and it's just like what it sounds: customizable t-shirts, made-to-order, just like ordering a deli sandwich.  It's very cool, but you walk in and have to do a double-take because your body instinctively knows you're in a deli, but your brain is confused because instead of meats and cheeses you see t-shirts and decals.  

And, all of it is made-to-order.  Pick your t-shirt style, color, and size, decide if you want letters, a decal, or your own decide, order up, and voilá:  your own personal t-shirt!  So, for your next walk-a-thon, party, promotional event, or just personal desire to have a noticeable t-shirt, make your way Chicago-side. Then maybe head over to the Chipotle a few feet further south for a customized lunch.

When Movies Echo Your Life

I love movies.  You probably have already realized that, but I do.  I've also been known to interject movie lines seamlessly into conversation, but that only works well when the person on the receiving end has seen the movie and picks up on the joke or reference.


Now that school is back in session and we just went through the explosion of Office Max and Target / Kohl's commercials, I couldn't help but think of the movie, "You've Got Mail".  Remember that movie?  It was the dot-com version of Sleepless in Seattle.  Between Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, I was in love.  Plus, I'm a hopeless romantic, so of course I was bound to like it.


However, the reason it popped into my head was because with all the back to school advertisements, I couldn't help but think of the line Tom Hanks writes to Meg:  "Don't you love New York in the fall? It makes me wanna buy school supplies. I would send you a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address."  Aaaaah, fall romance.  Personally, real roses are fine with me, but I just love that that line still pops into my head, like clockwork.  Additionally, I love it when someone understand the reference I have just made when I use it in conversation.  That's the even more enjoyable part.


So, cheers to movie quotes and changing seasons.  They should always go hand in hand.

Girl Meets Computer

I love my Mac.  I love my Mac.  I don't truly know how I would survive without it.  It's wonderful.  However, it also recently started running more slowly.  That is not cool.  I freaked out a little because I couldn't get it back to it's original pace.  I tried putting things on an external hard drive hoping that if I opened up some space on my actual hard drive it would speed up.  


It didn't.


Then I turned to my boyfriend.  Some girls are tech-y.  I am admittedly not.  I actually freak out when boxes and warnings show up on my screen, even if they're nothing.  I also freak out if I get taken to a new screen I've never been to before or didn't expect to be taken to, so the idea of trying to fix the problem on my own was completely out of the question.  Hence, I leaned on someone more knowledgeable.  


He asked questions about when I had last updated and when we determined I still had an older operating system, he suggested updating the operating system.  Do you know what that is?  I did not.  That was the wrong answer.  Because he rolled his eyes at my answer, we had to go into "computer class" and he sat me down to learn about computers and systems and everything.  I learned about Hertz and Gigahertz, memory and RAM, screen size and flash memory versus a dual core.  It was crazy and overwhelming.  Some people's minds just don't work that way, and although we already had a class to introduce me to computers, I'm certain there will be many more to come in the future.


And, as an aside....dear Steve Jobs...please don't be gone long!

A Taco Affair

I'm really not one for tacos.  Actually, and more honestly, I'm really never one for Mexican food.  Or Chinese food, for that matter.  They don't sit with me well.  However, last night, apparently I really wanted some tacos.  It came out of nowhere, but the taco craving was there.


Luckily, Chicago has some amazing and quaint mexican restaurants.  We headed over to a restaurant called Big Star, on Damen Ave.  It has a great outdoor seating area, both for "dine in" and "take out".  Be weary, thought, like many place in the city, the take out is Cash Only!  The food, however, amazing!  Even the chips and guac are killer...also killer for your wallet, running $8, but the tacos average $3 for one.  Note:  they are small, so you'll probably need at least 2.  


We ordered Pescado and Panza tacos:  battered tilapia and pork belly.  WOW.  Plus they gave you lime for the fish and green and red chili'd salsa.  And yes, the green chili salsa is spicy, and the pork belly taco is messy!  Worth it???  ABSOLUTELY!!!


So next time you want tacos, make your way over to Big Star.  Grab a margarita or a beer and sit outside if you can, otherwise make sure you have some green and grab some take-out.  You won't be disappointed.

New Hair Stylist shows Feather

Hair Fads are changing, but then again, when aren't they!  The new thing? Feathers.

And the fun thing is you can straighten them, curl them, wash them, blow dry them, and even take them out and reuse them later!  They're made from rooster feathers and a dyed and colored to offer a variety of styles.  Loving them!  And they can be stripped or solid colored.

There's a salon in Westmont, IL offering them right now.  The salon is Marco Tanbour Salon @ 218 N Cass ave.  Carla, the stylist, is doing wonderful things with them!  

Also, as an aside, she's also offering $20 blowdry/style specials and $30 mani/pedi specials.  What an amazing time to treat yourself to a pamper pack!

** A thanks to hairgallery4u.com and featherhairextensionsinfo.com for the photos

Go Greek

Sorting through my boyfriend's mail the other day while he fixed a few things around the apartment, I found the July issue of GQ magazine.  Now, I like myself a good magazine every now and again, and it looked pleasing and and interesting insight into the life of men's mags, so I found myself a comfy place on the couch and started reading.


Okay, truth be told, I didn't read.  I looked.  I tried to get my boyfriend to take the one quiz in the entire magazine (a serious cut from the number of magazines in women's magazines) and he thought I was ridiculous.  So, succumbing to my new fate of not being the quiz giver, I continued to flip through pages.  


At the end of the magazine were photos, the new fashion pages that are found in every good magazine.  I started looking through them and by page three I stopped and noticed the white houses.  I thought, "I know those!! I was just there!"  And surely, when I hurried back to the intro spread it noted that all the photos were taken in Santorini, a famous island in Greece.  AWESOME!  I suddenly felt very worldly and that made me giddy, which made my boyfriend roll his eyes when I pointed happily to the magazine photo and said "Hey!  I was there! Look!"  


Still, if you've been to Greece, you'd appreciate it.  Suddenly Greece is just popping up everywhere!  It's kind of like when you really want a Louis Vuitton purse and you suddenly start seeing them everywhere you look.  It's like that, but slightly more worldly.