rest of Chicago week

So our weekend in Chicago was over, and it was Monday and off to the airport. Lauren and Ryanne were getting on flights, David was driving back to Michigan, and I was taking the train to the city to Mikey’s place. We dropped Lauren off first, then Ryanne and I got out and wished David a safe drive, and – rather anticlimactically – Ryanne and I told each other “see you on Saturday!”

After settling into Mikey’s new apartment, I met up with Nicole and her friend – and now mine – Therese. We did happy hour at Harry Caray’s and then Murkel’s. Mikey met up with us for dinner and drinks at Wilde, named for the author and delicious. One of Oscar’s wonderful quotes was painted on a wall: “After a good dinner one can forgive anybody, even one’s own relatives.” True story. The night after that is a bit of a blur, a pub crawl involving Sidetrack, Minibar, Scarlet, Hydrate, Roscoe’s.

Tuesday, we were supposed to go to breakfast but we ended up just lounging around his apartment for hours before he treated me to lunch at The Zodiac Room above Neiman Marcus. So good. So good. We went to the Signature Lounge on top of the Hancock Building for cocktails, but it was so cloudy we couldn’t see anything. So we went to Duffy’s to split a bottle of wine and then went to get more drinks at a bar I can’t recall the name of with his friend Nikki, Nicole, Gisela, and Sarah (from Italy, aka Madonna-Original) and one of her friends. ‘Sela, Nicole, Mikey, and I grabbed dinner at his favorite Japanese restaurant. The ladies called it a night, and Mike and I spent the night drinking PITCHERS – courtesy of a generous friend of his – of vodka sodas at Cocktail, the bar across his apartment.

Wednesday, Mikey went to work and I met up with another Lauren (aka Rosie of PCBaywatch fame). She suggested Ada’s, a “great Jewish deli.” How very Tulane of us. It was awesome. We went to Argo to grab some tea, the mate latte made me think of Juan and Italy. She had to go back to suburbia after, but Nicole, Jack, and I went for some cocktails. Signature Room, redux. On a clear day, you can see FOUR STATES from the view. Amazing. We met up with Mike and ‘Sela for a diner dinner at Clark’s. Jack and I, in our quest for waffles, had been discussing a meal there for four months, so it was nice to finally fulfill that dream. We picked up a few bottles of DOCG Chianti and went to a hookah bar and smoked the rest of the night away. A perfect chill way to end a great, eventful visit.

back to the big easy

Thursday I was off to New Orleans. I literally grabbed one of my two bags from Italy and brought it with me. Adrian picked me up and we went to lunch at Oki Nago, which was maybe the best idea he ever had. We just chilled at his house for the afternoon and then went to Buddha Belly with Rachel to play pool. I almost forgot to tip the bartender (by way of reverse culture shock!) but remembered to for the second round. Rachel and I picked up Tara, and I took her to dinner at Stella! (The exclamation mark is part of the name.) She treated me to a delicious lunch at Commander’s Palace when I left New Orleans, so I made her promise me she’d let me take her to dinner when I returned. After that, she and I went to the quarter to meet up with Ben for drinks.

Friday, I woke up pretty early. (Combination of multiple jet lags and adrenaline. I hadn’t really slept since the week before leaving Florence. But all the fun was worth it.) Second best idea Adrian ever had: Breakfast at Camellia Grill. Between that and lunch at Bluebird Café with Ben and Katie, I had a nice long phone call with Mikey and got to catch up with him finally. That afternoon, I went with a bunch of my friends to Columns happy hour. Stephanie, Sylvia, Jack, Josh, Nicole, Jody, Taylor, Tara. The names go on and on. It was so great to see everyone and some surprises I realized hadn’t left town yet. Stephanie, Tara, and I went to dinner with Girl-Kory and some of her friends at Five Happiness. After that, I met up with Ben, Katy, Mike, and some of their friends downtown in the quarter. After a little barhopping and a little separation (MiKat and I hurricane-ing at Pat O’Brien’s) we had a little episode outside of Gold Mine:

Ben and Katy had bought lucky dogs, so we couldn’t enter until they finished. Some sketchy looking white-trash-hick guy walked up wearing both a do-rag and a baseball cap. I had no voice by this point, so Ben tried to dismiss him as usual by speaking German and pretending not to speak English. I’m pretty sure our new friend misunderstood the word “Deutsch” (German for “German”) as “Douche.” He decked Ben in the face and then ran off with his two friends. Ben was prone on the ground, so as Mike and I helped him up and made sure he was okay, I just heard Katy screaming “WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?” and throwing her hot dog at him. Ben didn’t have a concussion but was pretty shook up… and was looking for his hot dog. Of course, the cops never showed up and we never called an ambulance. But ah, sweet New Orleans. The bouncers from Gold Mine brought over a bag of ice and a bunch of local complete strangers (even to each other) went chasing after the hooligans. For us, despite multiple text messages telling us otherwise, the night was over. Ben and I took a cab back to his place and Adrian’s.

Saturday morning, Emerald and I were supposed to meet for coffee and tea but ended up getting iced versions because of the heat. Adrian and I went to Jazmine Leaf for lunch with our cousins from Baton Rouge and spent the day hanging out with them. Coc, Ryan, Antonia, and we did a grand driving and walking tour of New Orleans: Uptown Cool for Blue Bell ice cream, the levee/fly, Community Coffee, Magazine, Decatur, Frenchman, Royal. We had dinner at Café Amelie and then dessert at Café du Monde. Josh and I met up and took the streetcar to meet up with Jody, Taylor, Lizzie, and The Choy Sisters for wine before heading to Madigan’s for a round of beer.

Sunday, Jody and I met up at the Tulane chapel for mass. We had some coffee and fresh bread at The Catholic Center with Miss Molly and some of the other faithful. Then we grabbed brunch at Saucy’s Café Freret. The afternoon was spent on Magazine doing some shopping and gelato-snacking with Sylvia… for old time’s sake. She took me back to her new apartment for a tour and introduction to her dog Stella. She, Jack, and I took the once-poodle to the dog park to drink iced tea, chat with their friends, and watch her frolic with other dogs. After grabbing a bite to eat at Louisiana Pizza Kitchen, we went to Bacchanal to meet up with Rachel and Tara for a few bottles of wine. They all went home after, but I hit up DBA with Stephen and Blue Nile for a bit to meet up with my friend Jenn. (I ran into another familiar face, Chad’s friend Alex, on Frenchman. Small world.)

Monday, my surrogate big brother Steven took me to lunch at Copeland’s Cheesecake Bistro. We caught up with each other’s lives and, as per tradition, ate way too much. I love that guy. He drove the hour in from Baton Rouge to hang out with me for an hour before driving the hour back to go back to work. That afternoon I spent with Sylvia, Jack, and their med school friends I’d met at the dog park. They had a Memorial Day barbeque. Lots of good food but my definite favorite was what Jack prepared: Cream cheese and jalapenos wrapped in venison tenderloin wrapped in bacon. Basically deliciousness wrapped in amazing-ness. That was my last night in NOLA, so I spent it at Madigan’s so people could come and go as they pleased. Sylvia, Maureen, Stephanie AND FAMILY, Ben, Josh, Curry, and Jake all stopped by. I love NOLA, I love the people there, even the ones who aren't my friends. I can't wait to go back again.

Chi-Town got it goin' on

It's time for some reunions in the windy city.

Friday, May 30 - Monday, June 2

Monday, June 2 - Thursday, June 5

That is all. This is going to rule so hard.

long weekend!

So due to some unfortunate last-minute circumstances, Mikey was unable to come visit me. Nonetheless, I'd already assured all my friends I would spend my last "free" weekend in DC being fun. The show must go on.

So my parents and I tried to catch the tail end of DC Restaurant Week, but our reservation (made in the afternoon) yielded a 10PM table. So we went to Gallery Place to watch a movie to kill time and the only movie that fit into our schedule was Alvin and the Chipmunks. Yeah, it was funny. The re-recorded classic songs, namely "The Christmas Song" and "Witch Doctor," brought me back to childhood.

Dinner at Ten Penh was great.

Saturday we went to a memorial service for my great-uncle, Sedfrey Ordonez. Usually respect falls into three categories. First, there is the respect you have for your older, wiser family members. Second is the respect you have for good people. Third is the respect you have for people who have changed the world for the better. "Lolo Sed" fits all three categories. Not many people do. He will be very missed.

The reception, of course, had more than enough delicious food. Love of good food runs in our family. There was a sort of second, more intimate, reception at my aunt's house for everyone who stuck around long enough and wanted to catch up.

I eventually left to meet my friend Jewelyn for dinner. Again with restaurant week, we went to Harry's Tap Room, which was very tasty. She brought it to my attention that we haven't seen each other for almost two years, which is insane. Hopefully that won't happen again.

"don't stop believing"

After dinner, we ended up at Carpool, which she said was "the closest to a Tulane bar you'd find in the city," and she was probably right. Her friend Greg and my friend Patrick from grade/high school both met up with us for a few drinks and some catching up. Jewelyn and I kept watching the NCAA scores looking for Tulane amidst the ridiculous number of Louisiana colleges being displayed. Perhaps it wasn't wise, but we celebrated each Tulane appearance by finishing our drinks at the time.

The next day I met the same Patrick and my friend Tony, another recent Tulane alum, at Open City for a late lunch. Good conversation, good times. It was so cold that day that we didn't really feel inspired to do anything else, so we parted ways. I was on the metro about to call Janet and tell her I couldn't meet her and Mere in time for coffee in Bethesda. But sweet serendipity, I turn around and there is Mere, delayed at the same metro station I was. So we met up for Starbucks like good twentysomethings. I followed Janet's suggestion of a "cinnamon dolce latte," which was perfect for the weather and waking me up. We talked for a while, discussing plans, aging, marriage, babies, dreams, nightmares, free will, and serendipity.

Janet and I had previously set a lunch date for Monday, and on Sunday we decided it best to invite as many people as possible. And to our surprise, almost everyone said yes. When we got to Kramers and asked the hostess for a table for eight, she basically laughed at us. (I had left it to Janet and her delightful accent to make a reservation, but they didn't fall for her charms and told us to just walk in.) We thought we might have to go elsewhere, but they opened up the mezzanine level for us, so our little brunch party sat up there alone. Very VIP.

After lunch, the St. Mary's mini-clique (Ona, Kathleen, and myself) went to go walk around The Shops at Georgetown. There are two pieces of evidence that old habits die hard. Janet, Katie, and Susan all were yanked back to their real lives by, respectively, a return to New York, grading papers, and nursing school homework. Claire and Ryanne went off to delay reality with a viewing of 27 Dresses. The three of us, unsurprisingly uninterested, just caught up on our old friends and the little twists and turns of our own private lives. Always a pleasure.

I probably won't be doing much this week except packing. It is entirely possible my next post will be coming from Florence, Italy!!!

happy Easter!

Just want to say a quick HAPPY EASTER to everyone. I had a chill Saturday. Around midnight, I met up with Mike at Harrah's. We got a few drinks at Masquerade there. No serious gambling; Chad Michael wasn't there. But we thought of him as soon as we walked in. My parents called around 3:30 in the morning, scaring the hell out of me. (Whenever someone calls too late for it to be a drunk-dial and too early for it to be a wake-up call - e.g. ADRIAN - I automatically assume someone is dead or something is very wrong.) Anyway, apparently a drunk or disoriented driver wrapped their car around a tree in a neighbor's yard and woke them up. No fatalities luckily. On the bright side, it's Easter... seems like it'll be busy in a good way!

off to a good start

Easter Break, that is. So far it's been pretty chill. Last night was just LOST and Monster's Ball since everyone was stressed/tired/gone. I really think Halle Berry poured out all her creative energy into that one movie, and all we get now is the nothing that's left. Mike called. He'll be in town this weekend, so I'm pumped for that. That'll definitely add some craziness to the next few nights.

My only Thursday class was cancelled, and lunch with Tara was cancelled (by her). So I had today completely free. I slept in, read a little, conference call with Dad and Adrian, conference call with Mom and Bella, and then went for a jog. During this, I got hungry, so I ran to Hana. Japanese is the cuisine I feel most comfortable at dining alone because you just sit at the sushi bar and chat with the chef.

I ordered omakase (Japanese for "chef's choice" and what I always like to do when eating sushi). After the requisite noodle salad with chopped I-don't-know-what on top, he made me two huge "tako wasabi" rolls, which were octopus but very tender, almost the consistency of chewy raw oysters. Awesome. And then a plate of California rolls and several nigiri: Eel, salmon both fresh and smoked, snapper, shrimp, squid, tuna, and a marinated white tuna.

One of the Samsung HDTVs was tuned to CNN, where the closed captioning told me they were reporting on the rising rate of college students binge drinking. Then they started listing how various states are changing laws and policies to stop this. New York is pushing this, Massachusetts is banning that, California's suggesting whatever, etc. They showed a map and highlighted states when they talked about them. Guess what Louisiana's doing? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.

Speaking of binge drinking, I forgot to mention a discussion we had in my last screenwriting class. The professor pointed out that, in one of my colleague's scripts, "half the scenes" take place in bars. I gently corrected her that only two scenes took place in bars, but they were the ones with the most dialogue. She offered the idea that a movie in which "every character is drunk the entire time might get boring." Everyone's jaws fell. I also pointed out that in every screenplay we've read that's set in New Orleans (Is there a trend here?) a majority of the characters spend a majority of their time drunk. Is this a bad thing? I don't think so. She then observed that she's taught in several campuses around the country and that "you Tulane students definitely do a tad more drinking than average college students." Go us!

my week so far

MONDAY

My parents were still in town, so between classes, Adrian and I went to lunch with them at Hana. I ordered a Hana Special Roll to share and the combo lunch (tempura, katsu, and shumai) for myself. I had my long calc midterm and after that we went (Adrian-less) to The Columns for happy hour again before hitting up Saltwater Grill for the aforementioned (in the Friday part) 25¢ oysters and red beans and rice with grilled andouille. We hung out at the hotel for a while before grabbing a very late dinner at K-Paul's.

Mom and I both started off with a cup of champagne cream of shiitake soup with sundried tomatoes. We all split a plate of fried green tomatoes with shrimp remoulade. My entree was a plate of duck tenders and shrimp in creole pork sauce over basmati rice. So good. K-Paul's makes their creme brulee with buried sugar pecans. Nice crunch and texture.

Then I took my parents to Harrah's since neither of them had been there yet. Mom doubled her money - at Money To Burn, Chad! - and we called it a night.

TUESDAY

No terrorism, no lunch with Tara, no screenwriting, no dinner with ben. (Canceled by Dad, canceled by her, canceled by professor, canceled by him.)

My father asked me to skip class in favor of family lunch at Felix's Uptown. Fried alligator. Sampler of red beans, jambalaya, and crawfish ettouffee.

Ben un-canceled dinner because he stopped caring about his midterm (at least for an hour), so we had dinner and caught up on each other's weekends before saying "have a good break." Just in case we don't meet up again before he leaves for Spain on Thursday.

WEDNESDAY

Adolescent Psych. Debate. No paper due, luckily. I actually took up Dining Services on their "Take-A-Professor-To-Lunch" program. So after lunch Cunningham and I went to Bruff, for free. It was fried chicken day. Awesome.

Calc. Music. Blah. Phone Calls. Fun. Nap. Great.

Lauren, David, and I went to get cannolis at Spumone in Mid-City. It was probably her best idea ever. We got cannolis, half chocolate, dusted with powdered sugar and crushed pistachios. I also sampled two flavors of gelato. (Both were so good, I couldn't pick just one.) "St. Joseph's Chocolate Almond," which was the daily special and tastes exactly like it sounds (minus the holiness), and Baci (which some of you know is Italian for "kiss"), which must be made of pure Nutella. They probably changed the name so they wouldn't get sued.

Lauren and I had dessert and then dinner. Kind of backwards. While on this Italian kick, we asked Whitney to pick us up a foot-long when she went to Subway. She was sooo nice about it, even checking exactly what we wanted. Parmesan-oregano bread, provolone or mozzarella bread. She asked if we wanted vegetables, and I replied "Are you kidding? It's LAUREN. No vegetables."

I've decided my favorite new show is "The Search For The Next Pussycat Doll." It's like America's Next Top Model but with singing, dancing, and non-clothing. I guess they want a seventh girl so that Nicole can stand in the middle.

At least it was what I watched while waiting for LOST with Whitney.

Closer to midnight, Lauren and I decided to go out. We didn't want to have to drive, so we walked to - unbelievable - TJ Quills for swiller night. We were the oldest people there. All freshmen. We saw one junior (Teddy) and one sophomore (Shivani)we knew. We played a great game of "I Never..." which is really hard when you play with someone you know well, and I managed to screw it up.

We decided to go somewhere more appropriate and wound up at Uptown Cajun. We enjoyed the Flogging Molly playlist and pitcher special for Abita. We decided to call Ted (H) since we missed him. Speaking of whom, here's my new favorite music video for anyone who hasn't seen it yet, the "group project" from last Wednesday.

"Loyola" Family Weekend 2007

I put the quotations because "Loyola," both school and student, made fewer appearances than "Tulane." Pictures coming soon.

FRIDAY

Adolescent psych. Debates. Skipped calc in favor of lunch at Franky & Johnny's with my just-arrived family and Gatto. Mom finally got boiled crawfish since she's never been here when they're in season.

We went to Columns happy hour with David and Simon in tow and when he and Adrian left, the rest of us went on a quest for my father's oysters-on-the-half-shell. Saltwater Grill apparently only serves them on Monday now (for 25¢ each!) so had to look elsewhere. We wound up at Felix's Uptown. Oysters... on-the-half-shell, Rockefeller, and chargrilled. I showed Mom my plaque at Creole Creamery next door, but we were too full of crawfish/booze/oyster and anticipating dinner, so we didn't get any ice cream.

My parents had dinner at Jacques-Imo's for the first time. We brought along David and Simon again and Whitney, who was totally hit on by Justin Long, who's better-looking in person. Or at least that's what we're going to say happened. More drinks. We split coconut shrimp, Eggplant Jacques-Imo, a few slices of shrimp and alligator sausage cheesecake for appetizers. Then we got the usual cornbread, salads, sides, and our entrees. Jacques himself came over at one point and what might be the greatest picture ever with the non-smokers and our waitress. Then, since they were impressed by the magnificence of our food consumption, she brought us ALL the desserts they were offering: a huge creme brulee, raspberry-almond cake, chocolate truffle something, and, everyone's favorite, the amazing lemon meringue cheesecake. And she gave them to us for a free as a gift from her and Jacques.

We were supposed to meet a few people for Trombone Shorty's concert at Maple Leaf Bar next door, but the wedding party there ran late and postponed the concert. Parents were tired and went back to their hotel, and we (meaning Whit, David, and I) didn't want to wait. So we went to St. Joe's (since she'd never been) for blueberry mojitos courtesy of my parents.

After that we made a wise decision and coming hom while someone could still drive. (Thanks, David.) We hung out with Claire and Ryanne at her apartment. Then I went over to Becca's to watch her blow-out all 22 of her candles (and one for good luck?). I was amazed by how beautiful the cake Amelia decorated was.


SATURDAY

Dad picked Adrian and I up and we took him to Perlis to pick up a shirt for him as a belated birthday present. We met Mom at the hotel and went to Desire: An Oyster Bar for lunch. Mom and Adrian tried boudin for the first time. I had crawfish ettoufee since the waitress said the jambalaya was too red.

We walked around The Quarter for a little bit. I showed them what Pat O'Brien's looks like in the daytime. Adrian went back to campus, and I hung out with my parents. Eventually the Benedicto Family, who live in Baton Rouge, arrived: My mom's cousin Coco, her husband Ryan, and my beautiful 10-month-old cousin Antonia.

We went with them to my father's belated (by choice) brthday dinner was at Emeril's. For our amuse-bouche, they served wonton-wrapped crawfish remoulade. I tried out their four-course tasting menu for the evening: Gulf wahoo ceviche with avocado and crispy yucca; basil-rubbed yellowtail snapper over creamy polenta with rapini, roasted garlic cloves and tomato confit; grilled North Atlantic sturgeon with red-wine-whipped potatoes and shallot bacon veal sauce; and, raspberry rice pudding with half a honey-roasted peach.

I met up with my friends for Becca's birthday at Pat O'Brien's. And I took my mom out too! Partly because I wanted to show her Pat O's and the fire fountain at night but mostly because a lot of my friends have been dying to meet her for years. We ran into Ben and his Frenchies first and then the birthday fest, hidden behind yet another wedding party. I'm not sure whether she impressed or scared my friends by knowing some of their names (from my pictures and stories). A lot of people thought she was my friend or sister. Luckily no one thought she was my date (like that woman at her office whom I punched in the face, or at least wanted to). She was worried they'd think she was some crazy "old lady," but I assured her everyone told me they were jealous what a cool mom I had. We gave Becca the requisite birthday kisses and then I got us hurricanes and gave my mommy the souvenir glasses.

The incomparable moment of the night was the present Becca got. The groom was about to give Becca a lap dance when his wife stepped in and was like "no fucking way" and told him to have his best man do it. So the best man gave Becca a pretty elaborate lab dance. Not that his wife was all too please with it after the firwt minute.

Walking down Bourbon St with my mother reminded me of the first time I walked down it, which was also with her when I visited Tulane as a skeptical prospective around this time in senior year of high school. Except back then I was sober. And so was she. She took pictures of balconies (to compare to the ones of them she took of them empty and somber in daylight), and we did the booty call with about twenty people in the street at one point. After I walked her back to the hotel, I went back to Harrah's with everyone before going to Boot O'Clock to close out the night. Claire had her first Boot pizza, another Tulane visit necessity, and then I hugged her bye since I wouldn't see her before her noon flight.


SUNDAY

We went to Commander's Palace for Jazz Brunch, which was better than I remember. The parents invited the Benedicto Family, Adrian invited Simon, and I invited Ben. The Jazz was good. The frontman had unbelievable energy, an incredibly wide smile, and what Ben noted was "a very Louisiana accent." Thicker than gumbo. All the courses were delicious, but everyone agreed the Bread Pudding Soufflé with Bourbon Sauce was the most amazing thing served and more than worth the wait.

Then the Benedictos left for BR. Everyone else intensely wanted afternoon naps/hibernations from weekend antics and overeating, so we went our separate ways. I ended up missing 6 o'clock mass with my family because I forgot to spring my alarm clock forward. By the way, I HATE SPRING FORWARD. We should just fall back until everything is even again. We were a little hungry (not that much considering brunch) so went and grabbed some oysters and other finger-foods at Felix's. This time we definitely got a few scoops at Creole Creamery, Mom and I split some chocolate amaretto cheesecake and the pink peppermint pie Rachel recommended.

We went back to the hotel suite and eventually I met up with Mike, visiting from Chicago, for a late dinner at Red Fish Grill. We had a few cocktails and shared some 1-1-1 soup (samples of crawfish bisque, turtle soup, and gumbo) and southwest salad. He had the blackened redfish and I the crawfish crusted black drum. And naturally after dinner we had a few more drinks...

Having that comfy queen size hotel bed all to myself at the end of the night was amazing.

Valentine's (VVednes)day

Happy VD, everyone.

A cell phone went off during adolescent psych today spawned this:

"Oh, someone's drug dealer is calling. Or someone's calling to wish you Happy Thanksgiving. or Valentine's Day. See what I associate today with? Eating." - Professor Cunningham

That is exactly why I'm inviting him to the "Take a Professor to Lunch" program even though Lizzie and I have had a long-standing arrangement to take Norbert to it.

Classes. "Breakfast"/Lunch. Review session. UC. Mail.

Mail Room Worker Frustrated By 50 Package-Delay:
"I need some Tylenol and at least two shots of everclear."

As I walked home, I saw United Parcel Service and Federal Express trucks going head-to-head for the spot in the mail room driveway.

UPS and Fed-Ex

This evening I just studied, made dinner, and watched LOST with Dalia. All the other regular cast members couldn't make it apparently.

Desmond David Hume and Penny Ellen Pompeo

Mardi Gras Update: Due to weather conditions (Chicago's not New Orleans') 'Sela and Mikey both aren't coming down, but the former will be here for graduation and the latter for another upcoming weekend. But Carty just called, and he's about to get on the road to drive down!

mundane Monday

I've taken tons of pictures in the past week. I'll post them soon.

Not too much excitement today: Classes, my second exam of the semester, reading, writing, planning this week and weekend, resting up physically and financially for it.

The most exciting part of today was my first international conversation with Chad, who's now in Australia.

Me: My friend Gisela and Mike are driving down together.
Chad: Gisela, that's an awesome name!
Me: She's Latina. You'd like her.
Me: She's one of my mejores amigas.
Chad: Ah, I'm so jealous! Tell her I said "hola."

Because I guess his harem of a dozen or so Latinas isn't enough?

con Chadito and a mere fraction of his "Latinas perras" last year

a few Chicago pics

CHICAGO FOOD CRAWL

Coming at you live from Mikey’s iBook in his Lincoln Park apartment, it’s an update! I know... I’m surprised too.

So I get to National Airport and the flight to Pittsburgh is delayed. The ground attendant is pretty dumb and unhelpful the entire time and then proceeds to pull me and the other four people with connections off the plane right before it takes off because she says we won’t make our connections. Turns out she’s wrong but we’re off the plane when it taxis and takes off. Luckily another, competent, helpful guy shows up and rebooks me, telling me he’s booked a direct flight to Chicago that arrives there even earlier than I was supposed.

When I got here, Mike was still at his internship, so I just walked around the shops in the neighborhood, particularly Broadway. (I think it’s funny that he lives next to another street called Broadway, which has little resemblance to Tulane’s frat row.) I went to New Kyoto for lunch and got their “signature hamachi roll.” It’s hamachi (aka yellowtail tuna), eel, shrimp tempura, and spicy mustard. What makes it their signature, I suppose, is that they wrap it all in scallops and then torch it (think crème brulee) but only a little so the scallops seem lightly grilled rare. Delicious.

After that I went to Bobtail Soda Fountain because Gisela recommended it, and one of “the nicest (soda) jerks in town” told me Thursday is Root Beer Float Day, so I got one of those. It was awesome to see so many people of all ages coming to get ice cream despite the cold.

After that I went to Argo Tea Café (a tea shop, as opposed to a coffee shop) to do some reading and got a “teapuccino,” Earl Grey and frothed milk.

Mike finished work, so we went to his apartment to freshen up and stuff and then went barhopping with Gisela! Lots of fun times. I don’t remember the names of the places we went, but both Mikey and ‘Sela said it would be a chill night because they had work in the morning. After several cocktails and shots, we ended up staying out until two in the morning. Mike and I then decided it would be a great time for my first Chicaco Dog so we went to Clark St Hot Dog.

This morning we got up at 6AM to go to Clarke’s, spelled like Ryanne not like the hot dog, for omelettes. You know there’s few meals I love more than breakfast at a diner. Then while Mike went to work I continued to sleep.

I got up and showered and made a presentable second impression (as opposed to the drunken first one) on Mike’s roommate Preet and his girlfriend Erica, who both seem really nice and chill.

Then I went off with David and Viralyne on a tour of the city! Luckily David has his priorities straight, so we went to Giordano’s for their “special” (sausages, onions, mushrooms, and peppers) deep-dish pizza. And then we saw (in David-speak) “the bean thing,” “[his] fountain,” the art institute, “the face things,” the Chicago Tribune building with the cool rocks from different historic landmarks around the world (e.g. Taj Mahal), “Hale Someone, I don’t know who he is but he looks important because he has this thing named after him,” the river, and Magnificent Mile (the shopping street). We got some Garrett’s caramel crisp popcorn to munch on along the way.

I just got back from printing out my tickets for tomorrow, and now I’m off to the gym to work out with Mike so we can eat more tonight.

I'll post pictures when I get home.