Boring Post Alert!
I had a pretty hectic week and am really going to take advantage of my duty-free Saturday. I took the cat to the vet for his chin-bumps where he promptly caught a cold, so he's been sneezing the last few days. I'm training two new baristas, one of whom doesn't have much barista experience, and have worked a bunch of shifts and many little extra Uni tasks. Monday was Hyde Park book club! We read Confederacy of Dunces, which was really well written, though you hate the main character and can only take him in doses. The UofC-ers were perfect book club folk because unlike the times I tried this in Seattle, if people didn't read the book they still had no problem talking about it (in my opinion one of the gifts of graduate training). So while one of us actually read the entire book, the rest still showed up and had their say. Next month we're reading Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. I'm not super excited about these, but it will be neat to read them as an adult. Most of the suggested books I've read before, which means I need to comb my shelves and make some suggestions of my own. Maybe The Corrections? Or Changing Places? Well, we'll see.
Tuesday night was Pub Quiz at Nevin's and Team Unicorn made it's debut with the not-so-savory team name Syphallis Jr. We had a lot of fun, even if we didn't do particularly well (c'mon! it's our first time!) But next week we will give it another go and hopefully with another name.
Thursday I went to Walsh Elementary and read with some kindergarteners and Friday I went to Treehouse and played with some cats. Throw in about fifty hours of work, two finished books, about 4 hours of Battlestar Galactica and that's my week! Tonight? Roast a chicken, roast some squash, visit the last farmers market of the year, and put off going to the gym. Oh, and read this book.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Disappointment
In 9th grade I learned my lesson about assumptions. After an excellent season of girl's softball in the 8th grade I went out and bought a pricey softball bat that was mine and mine alone, 34 inches rather than the measly 30-32 that were the norms for those normal-sized eighth graders out there. I had my heart set on some fancy schmancy Nike cleats, too (this was the year the Nike store opened in downtown Seattle and boy did I want to hop my sporty ass on board) but my dad said to wait until I'm actually on the team. I didn't see how I wouldn't be-- I was the strongest batter and could play all of the positions really well, especially third base and left field (read:I can throw really far). But the time came for try outs and my assumptions that under no circumstances would I not make the team must have gotten under the coach's skin because when we checked the list posted on her office door, my name was missing-- and that's what I thought; that she must have forgotten to add me! Everyone urged me to go speak with her, since it must obviously be a mistake, but she told me pretty straight that the reason I wasn't picked was because I didn't take the trial seriously enough and I spent too much time gawking at my 9th grade crush on the next field (damn you, Chris Kelly!) It's not like did poorly, it's not like balls were flying past me and I just let them roll on by while I drooled in the direction of the baseball field-- I must have just said something that got on the coach's nerves and then paid the price. I like to think that I had my little revenge when the team needed to forfeit their first few games because several players were on academic suspension, but I was still left with this ridiculous bat and a very wounded ego. The bat hung around for a few years-- It got little use in high school, since I stopped playing after that 8th grade season and I took it with me when I moved to Seattle where it was propped by my bed to ward off the burglers and rapists that never came. But my wounded ego is still alive and kicking and I play it very safe when it comes to assuming that I make the cut.
I heard back from Teach for America yesterday with the bad news that I was not selected to be a part of the corps. It is really disappointing! I knew the program was really selective (last year they only let in 17% of applicants) but I started to really get my hopes up, especially after my day-long interview that I thought went incredibly well. I guess I just wasn't what they were looking for, but unlike 9th grade where I smirked at the team's bad luck at the beginning of the season, I'm not going to be laughing at the 8th grade class that could have had me as a teacher. Because I would be GOOD and they will be missing out! oh well. I'll just have to do this the old fashioned way, I suppose; get a teaching certificate and apply for jobs like the majority, though a personal downside is that I will now have to pay for all of this myself. To be researched tomorrow!
On the (not really, but I'm an optimist so here you go) bright side, I tried really really hard not to make any assumptions that I would make it into TFA, especially assumptions that led to purchases like my bat. I almost bought some teacher-y clothes at Target, but held back. I seriously considered buying a huge stack of kids books at the Evanston Public Library book sale but limited myself to the first two volumes of the His Dark Materials trilogy that would have gone into a classroom library whatever grade I had but would also eventually have found their way to my personal bookshelves. Then I almost bought Howard Zinn's Young People's History off Amazon, but this time my logic was not so much anti-assumption rather than "I don't know yet what grade I'll be teaching."
Oh me.
Another plus side? I don't have to move to Mississippi or the South Side, I don't have to quit my job, and it's a beautiful day outside. Since I anxiously awaited the email from TFA indoors all day yesterday, then was smacked with disappointment-lethargy, I haven't left the house for about 35 hours. And by house I mean one bedroom apartment. I'll now go enjoy some late Fall sunshine and maybe go to Treehouse to put some volunteer hours in, since I won't be able to go on Friday. I'll be spending quite a chunk of my time with this little cat, who I found out last week is Poldy's sister and who lived with him since kitten-hood until we adopted him in July. You see where this is going, yes?
I heard back from Teach for America yesterday with the bad news that I was not selected to be a part of the corps. It is really disappointing! I knew the program was really selective (last year they only let in 17% of applicants) but I started to really get my hopes up, especially after my day-long interview that I thought went incredibly well. I guess I just wasn't what they were looking for, but unlike 9th grade where I smirked at the team's bad luck at the beginning of the season, I'm not going to be laughing at the 8th grade class that could have had me as a teacher. Because I would be GOOD and they will be missing out! oh well. I'll just have to do this the old fashioned way, I suppose; get a teaching certificate and apply for jobs like the majority, though a personal downside is that I will now have to pay for all of this myself. To be researched tomorrow!
On the (not really, but I'm an optimist so here you go) bright side, I tried really really hard not to make any assumptions that I would make it into TFA, especially assumptions that led to purchases like my bat. I almost bought some teacher-y clothes at Target, but held back. I seriously considered buying a huge stack of kids books at the Evanston Public Library book sale but limited myself to the first two volumes of the His Dark Materials trilogy that would have gone into a classroom library whatever grade I had but would also eventually have found their way to my personal bookshelves. Then I almost bought Howard Zinn's Young People's History off Amazon, but this time my logic was not so much anti-assumption rather than "I don't know yet what grade I'll be teaching."
Oh me.
Another plus side? I don't have to move to Mississippi or the South Side, I don't have to quit my job, and it's a beautiful day outside. Since I anxiously awaited the email from TFA indoors all day yesterday, then was smacked with disappointment-lethargy, I haven't left the house for about 35 hours. And by house I mean one bedroom apartment. I'll now go enjoy some late Fall sunshine and maybe go to Treehouse to put some volunteer hours in, since I won't be able to go on Friday. I'll be spending quite a chunk of my time with this little cat, who I found out last week is Poldy's sister and who lived with him since kitten-hood until we adopted him in July. You see where this is going, yes?
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Today was my first day off in ages. The last couple weeks were some of my most stressful at the Unicorn and this one kicking off tomorrow looks like it is going to be in the same boat. We lost a barista, had to hire someone, I'm now in the process of training her, everyone is out of town so I have to work a ton of shifts, I have to make soup which is a five-hour ordeal and usually piggybacks on a shift as well, etc etc. In the past week I have had at least two 11 hour days and one not so pleasant Monday that started at 7:30am and stretched until midnight. So you see why a Sunday sans Unicorn seems like bliss.
Today the clocks also went back to normal, which means I technically woke up at 6:18 this morning and was out the door by 7:30. It was a beautiful morning and I decided to take what may be my last long walk of the year down to the Irish-American Heritage Center for a book fair that was much less exciting than the walk itself (which actually wasn't that exciting, it just felt really nice to be out before everyone else and taking in the brisk fall air for 8 miles or so).
Because I did put about 9 miles under my belt before noon, I felt like I had a right to eat some really ridiculous comfort food and made an insane "fridge pie" that fit the bill nicely. Butter crust in a springform pan loaded with spinach, ricotta, onions, potatoes, turnips, leftover chicken (I roasted my first last week!), and a few slices of bacon (and a bunch of other random stuff that just happened to be around -- hence the "fridge" in fridge pie) and my lunch/dinner needs were, to say the least, exceeded.
Remember how I said I am reading several books? Well, it's gotten to the point where I look at my currently reading pile and have a hard time deciding which to pick up when. I need to have a constant and the other things, exciting as they may be, should just be deviations off that one book. That way when I feel a bit flighty and can't really muster up the gumption to make what really is a very basic choice, I can just say, "Ah yes! I suppose I should just read a few chapters of X for a few chapters." I also need a novel in my life.
Today the clocks also went back to normal, which means I technically woke up at 6:18 this morning and was out the door by 7:30. It was a beautiful morning and I decided to take what may be my last long walk of the year down to the Irish-American Heritage Center for a book fair that was much less exciting than the walk itself (which actually wasn't that exciting, it just felt really nice to be out before everyone else and taking in the brisk fall air for 8 miles or so).
Because I did put about 9 miles under my belt before noon, I felt like I had a right to eat some really ridiculous comfort food and made an insane "fridge pie" that fit the bill nicely. Butter crust in a springform pan loaded with spinach, ricotta, onions, potatoes, turnips, leftover chicken (I roasted my first last week!), and a few slices of bacon (and a bunch of other random stuff that just happened to be around -- hence the "fridge" in fridge pie) and my lunch/dinner needs were, to say the least, exceeded.
Remember how I said I am reading several books? Well, it's gotten to the point where I look at my currently reading pile and have a hard time deciding which to pick up when. I need to have a constant and the other things, exciting as they may be, should just be deviations off that one book. That way when I feel a bit flighty and can't really muster up the gumption to make what really is a very basic choice, I can just say, "Ah yes! I suppose I should just read a few chapters of X for a few chapters." I also need a novel in my life.
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Finally Sun
Finally! A golden morning in Evanston. The last couple weeks it has been raining madly, often with 20 mph winds to boot. I know you love a good weather-post (sarcasm), but seriously: it feels like it's been in control of my life! Again I have to wonder how the pacific northwest didn't depress the hell out of me. Maybe it was the trees... And Egads! I looked out the window yesterday and those suckers here are almost bald! I shake my fist at the crazy winds that blew all the leaves away early (at least two-trees' worth onto the floor of the cafe the last few days), but I suppose it was only a very short matter of time before the color would be gone anyway. And you know what a customer told me when I mentioned what a shame it is that there are no evergreens here and I'll be seeing tree-skeletons for the next 7 months? "Well, they looks so beautiful with so much snow frosted on them."
Straight faced.
Waaaaaah!
Alright, I'll spare you my weather woes. I don't want this to be a nailbiting countdown until real winter but suffice it to say a fair portion of my days are spent looking up, grumbling about the weather, and comparing everything to Seattle. "It's 32 right now! Do you REALIZE this is the coldest it would be in Seattle all winter? And it's the beginning of October!" There. A snippet from my life. Actually, I just finished reading a memoir written by an American couple who emigrated to the stormy west of Ireland from Manhatten to become artist/farmers and whose livlihood, both artistically and farm-wise, was dictated by the weather. So no, I don't have it so bad. But still, nice to see a sunny day.
Straight faced.
Waaaaaah!
Alright, I'll spare you my weather woes. I don't want this to be a nailbiting countdown until real winter but suffice it to say a fair portion of my days are spent looking up, grumbling about the weather, and comparing everything to Seattle. "It's 32 right now! Do you REALIZE this is the coldest it would be in Seattle all winter? And it's the beginning of October!" There. A snippet from my life. Actually, I just finished reading a memoir written by an American couple who emigrated to the stormy west of Ireland from Manhatten to become artist/farmers and whose livlihood, both artistically and farm-wise, was dictated by the weather. So no, I don't have it so bad. But still, nice to see a sunny day.
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Books, Life
I forgot how to blog. Or rather, I forgot how to get into my blog account now that I am using a different google account. Then one thing led to another and here I am, 7 months later, writing a blog entry that I want to be about the ridiculous amount of books I'm reading at the present time (at least 8... I can't even think of them all right now) but instead I have a feeling this will be me playing blog catch-up.
So in one not-so-fluid paragraph my life in the last 7 months:
It was summer, and that is always nice, especially in a place where there is sun sun sun. The beaches of Evanston charge a fee to enter, which means that even though I wanted to go swim in the lake on an almost daily basis, I didn't even go once. Went to Seattle; not that great. Decided not to go to grad school, had minor life-crisis about this, then decided it was for the best, at least for the present. Josh and I stayed in our lovely apartment, though now we pay $25 more dollars a month. WE HAVE A CAT! Something that brings me so much joy. See my flickr for full and furry details. My computer died which means any picture I've taken since late July are still holed up on my camera and hey, that is another pretty strong reason why I stopped blogging (eh? eh?). I'm still at the Unicorn and in spite of all the health care squabbling Blue Cross Blue Shield decided to lower my health insurance about $180 each month, which makes it seem like I got a big fat raise. Applied for Teach for America and am now in the final waiting-phase to hear if I made it into the corps. The news breaks on November 10th so keep your fingers crossed! I started volunteering at the shelter where Josh and I got Poldy (the cat) and at an elementary school in Pilsen where I read books to kindergarteners. I'm cooking a lot and really, really enjoying it. It's Fall and rainy. Yes I said yes I will Yes.
moving on.
I said that I have been reading a lot lately, and this is certainly true and certainly wonderful. Without the omggradschoolisgoingtostartandihaventreadallofdascapitalandibetterboneuponfoucault worries out of the way, I feel pretty liberated when it comes to what I can read. English literary mysteries and scholarly who dun-its have been reintroduced into my life and I have started reading a lot of Irish history and literature after reading an awesome book called Whoredom in Kimmage by Rosemary Mahoney. I don't know why exactly this book was so great, but I ended up buying every book that she wrote, though I'm only two out of six down. They are all memoirs and written splendidly. Give them a go, please. I am also reading a ridiculous number of cookbooks-- yes, READING them, front to back, and learning a ton. Today I made some bougie little tuna cakes called "Bouchon au Thon" that took about two minutes to whip up, 25 minutes in the oven, and 10 minutes for Josh to finish them all. I found this recipe in Molly Wizenberg's incredible A Homemade Life, which made me cry in one place, by the way. It's a sweet and funny memoir but with recipes that follow up each little vignette. Molly is the creator of the blog Orangette and she and her husband opened a restaurant in Seattle THE DAY after I flew back to Chicago this summer. I'm sure I'll get a chance to check it out one of these (cold, rainy) days.
Are you sick of me yet? I promise I won't go on too much longer; it's not like I need to fill 7 months worth of space here, do I?
Today was the Evanston library's book sale, which is not even close to being as great as the Seattle one nor anywhere close to being as cheap. But I still managed to schlepp home 15 new books and spent the last hour trying to decide whether or not I wanted to start one or maybe I should just finish this book. Or this book, or THIS book... But hey, that little confusion led me back to the blog!
So in one not-so-fluid paragraph my life in the last 7 months:
It was summer, and that is always nice, especially in a place where there is sun sun sun. The beaches of Evanston charge a fee to enter, which means that even though I wanted to go swim in the lake on an almost daily basis, I didn't even go once. Went to Seattle; not that great. Decided not to go to grad school, had minor life-crisis about this, then decided it was for the best, at least for the present. Josh and I stayed in our lovely apartment, though now we pay $25 more dollars a month. WE HAVE A CAT! Something that brings me so much joy. See my flickr for full and furry details. My computer died which means any picture I've taken since late July are still holed up on my camera and hey, that is another pretty strong reason why I stopped blogging (eh? eh?). I'm still at the Unicorn and in spite of all the health care squabbling Blue Cross Blue Shield decided to lower my health insurance about $180 each month, which makes it seem like I got a big fat raise. Applied for Teach for America and am now in the final waiting-phase to hear if I made it into the corps. The news breaks on November 10th so keep your fingers crossed! I started volunteering at the shelter where Josh and I got Poldy (the cat) and at an elementary school in Pilsen where I read books to kindergarteners. I'm cooking a lot and really, really enjoying it. It's Fall and rainy. Yes I said yes I will Yes.
moving on.
I said that I have been reading a lot lately, and this is certainly true and certainly wonderful. Without the omggradschoolisgoingtostartandihaventreadallofdascapitalandibetterboneuponfoucault worries out of the way, I feel pretty liberated when it comes to what I can read. English literary mysteries and scholarly who dun-its have been reintroduced into my life and I have started reading a lot of Irish history and literature after reading an awesome book called Whoredom in Kimmage by Rosemary Mahoney. I don't know why exactly this book was so great, but I ended up buying every book that she wrote, though I'm only two out of six down. They are all memoirs and written splendidly. Give them a go, please. I am also reading a ridiculous number of cookbooks-- yes, READING them, front to back, and learning a ton. Today I made some bougie little tuna cakes called "Bouchon au Thon" that took about two minutes to whip up, 25 minutes in the oven, and 10 minutes for Josh to finish them all. I found this recipe in Molly Wizenberg's incredible A Homemade Life, which made me cry in one place, by the way. It's a sweet and funny memoir but with recipes that follow up each little vignette. Molly is the creator of the blog Orangette and she and her husband opened a restaurant in Seattle THE DAY after I flew back to Chicago this summer. I'm sure I'll get a chance to check it out one of these (cold, rainy) days.
Are you sick of me yet? I promise I won't go on too much longer; it's not like I need to fill 7 months worth of space here, do I?
Today was the Evanston library's book sale, which is not even close to being as great as the Seattle one nor anywhere close to being as cheap. But I still managed to schlepp home 15 new books and spent the last hour trying to decide whether or not I wanted to start one or maybe I should just finish this book. Or this book, or THIS book... But hey, that little confusion led me back to the blog!
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Saturdays in Chicago: Hyde Park and Wicker Park II
Who would have thought that within one week I had journeyed into Chicago THREE TIMES! I know; it is a crazy world out there. After Wicker Park wanderfest 1, I traveled down to Hyde Park for a lecture on German churches after WWII. In reality the journey was more about reveling in my U Chicago acceptance, and I had a grand time riding the rails, checking out some bookstores and cafes and meeting up with my friend Torsten from UW. I tried to experiment a non-redline route down to Hyde Park, a trek that takes just under two hours from Evanston and involves transferring from the el to a bus in a really sketchy part of town. I managed to do a half and half which cut off maybe 20 miinutes-- I took the redline downtown and then took the metra directly into Hyde Park/ U Chicago proper. It cost me two extra dollars, but I think it would be worth it if I was coming back after dark.
Within a block from the metra tracks is the original Powells Books, which took me back to the days of my youth where I would gladly make the 3 hour roadtrip to Portland for the best bookstore ever. While it's not as breathtaking as the Portland store, being perhaps 1/5 the size, it was still pretty awesome. I bought Roddy Doyle's Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha for $5, since I had accidently grabbed a book of Josh's when I left the house and needed something to read on the long train ride home. I then went and found a hidden little coffee shop called Backstory, which was pretty delightful and where I'll definitely go again. The coffee is from Metropolis and every cup is brewed in a melita, just for you. Impressivly, they had a selection of my favorite Metropolis roasts, making it a pretty hard decision and really tempting me to stay for another cup (I ended up choosing Schweick's Ottomon Adventure. ausgezeichnet!) Had dinner with Torsten at Medicis, which apparently is one of Obama's favorite restaurants (though I think a lot of places in Hyde Park make that claim) and we both were celebrating: me getting into U Chicago and he finishing his second year research paper (the hour before we met up!) All in all it was a lovely day.
Wicker Park still did not present its charm to me, or it did and I find it distinctly blech. Josh, Brian, and I went there last night and saw what Saturday night in Wicker Park means: drunks from the suburbs and clubs clubs clubs. I'm not really the club-going type and that surely wasn't on our agenda, but it was amazing to see the long lines waiting to get past the velvet rope at numerous clubs we passed. I don't think I've ever seen that, except maybe in Honolulu where it was most likely put in place to charm the tourists (I've certainly never seen anything like that in Seattle!) We went to Myopic Books and had a cup of coffee around 10pm amid the stacks. I bought a collection of Oscar Wilde and am one act down in "The Importance of Being Ernest;" I completely forgot how funny that play is.
Ok, I am off to the Unicorn for some grunt work-- we had our floors redone last night and it's time to play cafe brownie and move everything back to place. Sorry no pictures this time, though I have plenty on the flickr and more just marinating on my camera. Ciao!
Within a block from the metra tracks is the original Powells Books, which took me back to the days of my youth where I would gladly make the 3 hour roadtrip to Portland for the best bookstore ever. While it's not as breathtaking as the Portland store, being perhaps 1/5 the size, it was still pretty awesome. I bought Roddy Doyle's Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha for $5, since I had accidently grabbed a book of Josh's when I left the house and needed something to read on the long train ride home. I then went and found a hidden little coffee shop called Backstory, which was pretty delightful and where I'll definitely go again. The coffee is from Metropolis and every cup is brewed in a melita, just for you. Impressivly, they had a selection of my favorite Metropolis roasts, making it a pretty hard decision and really tempting me to stay for another cup (I ended up choosing Schweick's Ottomon Adventure. ausgezeichnet!) Had dinner with Torsten at Medicis, which apparently is one of Obama's favorite restaurants (though I think a lot of places in Hyde Park make that claim) and we both were celebrating: me getting into U Chicago and he finishing his second year research paper (the hour before we met up!) All in all it was a lovely day.
Wicker Park still did not present its charm to me, or it did and I find it distinctly blech. Josh, Brian, and I went there last night and saw what Saturday night in Wicker Park means: drunks from the suburbs and clubs clubs clubs. I'm not really the club-going type and that surely wasn't on our agenda, but it was amazing to see the long lines waiting to get past the velvet rope at numerous clubs we passed. I don't think I've ever seen that, except maybe in Honolulu where it was most likely put in place to charm the tourists (I've certainly never seen anything like that in Seattle!) We went to Myopic Books and had a cup of coffee around 10pm amid the stacks. I bought a collection of Oscar Wilde and am one act down in "The Importance of Being Ernest;" I completely forgot how funny that play is.
Ok, I am off to the Unicorn for some grunt work-- we had our floors redone last night and it's time to play cafe brownie and move everything back to place. Sorry no pictures this time, though I have plenty on the flickr and more just marinating on my camera. Ciao!
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Saturdays in Chicago: Wicker Park
A new installment on the Val-o-sphere: "Saturdays in Chicago", where I take advantage of my weekends by exploring some neighborhood in Chicago, which, even after living here almost six months, still seems pretty foreign to me. Now that I am free of grad school application stress and the weather is starting to permit ambling walks, I'm definitely in more of a position to get out of the house and just mosey around. I also will be using this time to learn how to take proper photos, something that I listed as a new year's resolution but which has only been taken seriously (and only halfway seriously at that) after looking at some incredible photo blogs recently.
Speaking of blogs, I can't believe how addictive food blogs can be! I have been astoundingly good about cooking for myself in the last month or two and feel that part of the credit has to go to Bread and Honey and Tastespotting for piquing my interest in neat, eclectic cookery. Josh and I have gotten pretty fast at whipping up dinner and once I discovered Vegetable Mecca (also known as Stanley's Produce, in the region of Wicker Park), our fridge has been stocked with veggies and fruits that form the basis of most our meals. That, plus a weekly Whole Foods' Tuesday Rotisserie Chicken deal, keeps us eating deliciously cheap in these oh so horrible economic times (blah blah). But enough of this idle chit-chat about the boring state of my eating habits (oh by the way, I've been baking WAY more bread, which is also cheap, delicious, and strangely cathartic, but again. so, so boring for you, yes?) I suppose I should give you my little spiel about Wicker Park, which was my first Saturday in Chicago destination (albeit on Friday... meh.)
Ok, so I only took two photos the whole time, and both of practically the same thing. I wandered by a bookshop that was closed, but two joyful little whippets came to greet me on the other side of the glass door-- should have taken a picture of them. Saw a really neat bakery with some awesome and creative cakes in the window, but didn't spare it a pause. I sort of need to get over my camera-phobia, something that I think became ingrained in me during my time in Hawai'i. Do you know during the almost six months I lived in Germany, I only took 300-odd photos? I went to Munich for one weekend with my friend Janelle and she took that many within three days! So in theory all that will change, though it will take some getting used to and I still don't want to turn into one of those camera happy people that are too busy recording what's happening to properly enjoy it (or, to be more honest, too camera-happy that it is just embarrassing to be around.)
So back to Wicker Park. Rumors reached me in quaint little Evanston that this is the "hip" part of Chicago and I was also recommended a coffee shop/bakery there by one of the mathmeticians who I consider on the hipper end of the mathy spectrum. So I set off, taking the Redline to North &Clybourn and walking the mile or so up to what I think (I think?) was Wicker Park proper. To start, wandering in Chicago is a bit different than wandering in Seattle, because there you can always find a coffee shop or two and a used bookstore no matter what neighborhood you stumble across and I realize these are my perferred places for Wandertag rest stops. The ratio is not so good in Chicago, even the hip part, and while I managed to find a coffee shop after a couple hours of aimless moseying, my latte was complete crap and I ended up just throwing it away. I never found the Bakery, though googlemaps told me upon my return home that I had passed it without noticing (while looking at a really strange Catholic Church with a giant virgin icon/alter on the side. Naturally, I did not take a picture.) So what is there in Wicker Park? Well, lots of neat little shops with some very cute handmade things that are too expensive for me to buy, but which I appreciate all the same. There seemed to be a few restaurants, though nothing like the shopfront after shopfront array in Capital Hill or U District. There is a real lack of cheap restaurants here and some days I feel like I could kill for some Pho or Thai Tom. I did, however, eat pretty cheaply by visiting a taqueria and spending less than my crappy latte on two delicious taco-truck style tacos. Hee-Haw! Myopic Books is also there, which seems a pretty nice place, though I didn't visit it on this journey.
Had enough? I think that sometime in the future there will be "Wicker Park, Part-II" because I know this can't be all there is to it. For now, it's a beautiful Sunday and I'm going to walk to the lake and follow that up with some coffee at Brothers K. Adios!
Speaking of blogs, I can't believe how addictive food blogs can be! I have been astoundingly good about cooking for myself in the last month or two and feel that part of the credit has to go to Bread and Honey and Tastespotting for piquing my interest in neat, eclectic cookery. Josh and I have gotten pretty fast at whipping up dinner and once I discovered Vegetable Mecca (also known as Stanley's Produce, in the region of Wicker Park), our fridge has been stocked with veggies and fruits that form the basis of most our meals. That, plus a weekly Whole Foods' Tuesday Rotisserie Chicken deal, keeps us eating deliciously cheap in these oh so horrible economic times (blah blah). But enough of this idle chit-chat about the boring state of my eating habits (oh by the way, I've been baking WAY more bread, which is also cheap, delicious, and strangely cathartic, but again. so, so boring for you, yes?) I suppose I should give you my little spiel about Wicker Park, which was my first Saturday in Chicago destination (albeit on Friday... meh.)
Ok, so I only took two photos the whole time, and both of practically the same thing. I wandered by a bookshop that was closed, but two joyful little whippets came to greet me on the other side of the glass door-- should have taken a picture of them. Saw a really neat bakery with some awesome and creative cakes in the window, but didn't spare it a pause. I sort of need to get over my camera-phobia, something that I think became ingrained in me during my time in Hawai'i. Do you know during the almost six months I lived in Germany, I only took 300-odd photos? I went to Munich for one weekend with my friend Janelle and she took that many within three days! So in theory all that will change, though it will take some getting used to and I still don't want to turn into one of those camera happy people that are too busy recording what's happening to properly enjoy it (or, to be more honest, too camera-happy that it is just embarrassing to be around.)
So back to Wicker Park. Rumors reached me in quaint little Evanston that this is the "hip" part of Chicago and I was also recommended a coffee shop/bakery there by one of the mathmeticians who I consider on the hipper end of the mathy spectrum. So I set off, taking the Redline to North &Clybourn and walking the mile or so up to what I think (I think?) was Wicker Park proper. To start, wandering in Chicago is a bit different than wandering in Seattle, because there you can always find a coffee shop or two and a used bookstore no matter what neighborhood you stumble across and I realize these are my perferred places for Wandertag rest stops. The ratio is not so good in Chicago, even the hip part, and while I managed to find a coffee shop after a couple hours of aimless moseying, my latte was complete crap and I ended up just throwing it away. I never found the Bakery, though googlemaps told me upon my return home that I had passed it without noticing (while looking at a really strange Catholic Church with a giant virgin icon/alter on the side. Naturally, I did not take a picture.) So what is there in Wicker Park? Well, lots of neat little shops with some very cute handmade things that are too expensive for me to buy, but which I appreciate all the same. There seemed to be a few restaurants, though nothing like the shopfront after shopfront array in Capital Hill or U District. There is a real lack of cheap restaurants here and some days I feel like I could kill for some Pho or Thai Tom. I did, however, eat pretty cheaply by visiting a taqueria and spending less than my crappy latte on two delicious taco-truck style tacos. Hee-Haw! Myopic Books is also there, which seems a pretty nice place, though I didn't visit it on this journey.
Had enough? I think that sometime in the future there will be "Wicker Park, Part-II" because I know this can't be all there is to it. For now, it's a beautiful Sunday and I'm going to walk to the lake and follow that up with some coffee at Brothers K. Adios!
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