Wednesday
-mental soundtrack --> High Castle
-good thing I gave myself those extra 20 minutes that came in handy when I put my car keys through Carol and Dan's mail slot without actually first getting my bags out of my locked trunk...sorry for waking you up at 4 in the morning, friends!
-running into John Benson on my flight
-the Tuscan Room at the Wicker Park Inn
-white port cocktail with fresh berries + cheddar biscuits with sea salt and honey butter + cheddar melt on pumpernickel with honey syrup + warm Colombian chocolate ganache and muscavado sugar meringue tart stuffed with chocolate soufflé accompanied by salted caramel ice cream and housemade pretzels at Hot Chocolate
-a Newcastle and laughing so hard I almost choked at Second City during their searing collection of mostly-political sketches America: All Better!
-noise, glorious noise from Mincemeat or Tenspeed and others at the Mopery, an awesome warehouse space hidden behind one very nondescript door
Thursday
-mental soundtrack --> Marissa Nadler
-scale-model uber-geekitude at the Architecture Foundation with their Chicago Model City exhibition
-oh my hell, the new Modern Wing at the Art Institute: Renzo Piano-designed, an entire room full of Gerhard Richter as if they knew I was coming, another brilliantly juxtaposing Eva Hesse and Richard Serra, a beautiful short film about Uganda by Zarina Bhimji in the media gallery...and then elsewhere in the museum: rooms full of Cy Twombly, all scribbles and splashes of color, and of Japanese screens, all peacefulness and beauty
-roasted woodland mushrooms sandwich with watercress, radicchio, pecorino, truffle aioli on filone at the Gage
-Claes Oldenburg's typically quirky Batcolumn, literally a giant baseball bat constructed of steel latticework stood on end like a skyscraper
-Melanie Schiff's compelling photographs of modern graffiti-strewn landscapes at Kavi Gupta
-Robyn O'Neil's amazingly detailed graphite drawings of waves and stormy skies at Tony Wight
-Philip von Zweck's clever little paintings at ThreeWalls
-Luis Gispert's wonderfully over-the-top manipulated photos at Rhona Hoffman
-Thomas Schmidt's skin-like surfaces of sculpted porcelain and printed acetates at Dubhe Carreño
-honey-drizzled sweets and mint tea at Sultan's Market
-oh Wicker Park Buffalo Exchange how I love thee
-cheese, black bean, sweet plantain empanadas + Costa Rican veggie sandwich + oatmeal shake at Irazu
-the secret lives and dreams of Welshmen have never been so poetically rendered as in Dylan Thomas's Under Milk Wood, especially as performed by Caffeine Theatre
Friday
-mental soundtrack --> Woods
-a day in Holland, Michigan, to celebrate my Grandma's 95th birthday
-yes, my brother Brent and I really drove all the way there and back in a yellow Pontiac sports car complete with spoiler and Tennessee plates
-a lovely luncheon with the family... and feeling grateful for the two vegetarian dishes on the menu
-quick jaunt to Ottawa Beach to see Lake Michigan and walk out on the jetty
-more family time (and more food) at Aunt Tedda's
-back to Chicago just as the sun had set
-chai plum and nigori sake cocktail + raw vegetable maki + seared tofu bulgogi + mushroom and brown rice sliders + grilled asparagus with spicy miso mustard + Brussels sprouts in fermented black bean sauce at Mana
-a Żywiec and an Elephant 6 collective bliss-out courtesy of Circulatory System at the Chopin Theatre
Saturday
-mental soundtrack --> Panda Bear
-turn-of-the-century architectural treasures on Astor Street, including the Charnley-Persky House partially designed by a very young Frank Lloyd Wright
-Margherita flatbread pizza with a view of the Museum of Contemporary Art sculpture garden at Puck's at the MCA
-elsewhere at the MCA: paintings by Gerhard Richter and Martin Kippenberger and Clare Rojas and Chris Johanson, sculptures by Alexander Calder (including one very cool cat), photographs by Melanie Schiff and Adam Ekberg and Hiroshi Sugimoto
-gin and lavender honey cocktail + watermelon lemonade amuse-bouche + watermelon and tomato gazpacho + housemade noodles with cremini mushrooms, preserved lemon, and goat cheese + warm bread salad with artichoke hearts and carrots in tomato sauce with paprika + honey-apple tart with cinnamon twist and creme fraiche ice cream at Green Zebra
-had I known headliner Ida Maria had canceled due to illness I might not have headed all the way over to the Metro just to see Ladyhawke do her '80s synth-pop thing, but she was still freakin' adorable
Sunday
-mental soundtrack --> Jens Lekman
-peach buttermilk-granola pancakes at Milk & Honey
-one last ride on the El, one last glimpse of the lake
-beers back on my own couch
-mental soundtrack --> High Castle
-good thing I gave myself those extra 20 minutes that came in handy when I put my car keys through Carol and Dan's mail slot without actually first getting my bags out of my locked trunk...sorry for waking you up at 4 in the morning, friends!
-running into John Benson on my flight
-the Tuscan Room at the Wicker Park Inn
-white port cocktail with fresh berries + cheddar biscuits with sea salt and honey butter + cheddar melt on pumpernickel with honey syrup + warm Colombian chocolate ganache and muscavado sugar meringue tart stuffed with chocolate soufflé accompanied by salted caramel ice cream and housemade pretzels at Hot Chocolate
-a Newcastle and laughing so hard I almost choked at Second City during their searing collection of mostly-political sketches America: All Better!
-noise, glorious noise from Mincemeat or Tenspeed and others at the Mopery, an awesome warehouse space hidden behind one very nondescript door
Thursday
-mental soundtrack --> Marissa Nadler
-scale-model uber-geekitude at the Architecture Foundation with their Chicago Model City exhibition
-oh my hell, the new Modern Wing at the Art Institute: Renzo Piano-designed, an entire room full of Gerhard Richter as if they knew I was coming, another brilliantly juxtaposing Eva Hesse and Richard Serra, a beautiful short film about Uganda by Zarina Bhimji in the media gallery...and then elsewhere in the museum: rooms full of Cy Twombly, all scribbles and splashes of color, and of Japanese screens, all peacefulness and beauty
-roasted woodland mushrooms sandwich with watercress, radicchio, pecorino, truffle aioli on filone at the Gage
-Claes Oldenburg's typically quirky Batcolumn, literally a giant baseball bat constructed of steel latticework stood on end like a skyscraper
-Melanie Schiff's compelling photographs of modern graffiti-strewn landscapes at Kavi Gupta
-Robyn O'Neil's amazingly detailed graphite drawings of waves and stormy skies at Tony Wight
-Philip von Zweck's clever little paintings at ThreeWalls
-Luis Gispert's wonderfully over-the-top manipulated photos at Rhona Hoffman
-Thomas Schmidt's skin-like surfaces of sculpted porcelain and printed acetates at Dubhe Carreño
-honey-drizzled sweets and mint tea at Sultan's Market
-oh Wicker Park Buffalo Exchange how I love thee
-cheese, black bean, sweet plantain empanadas + Costa Rican veggie sandwich + oatmeal shake at Irazu
-the secret lives and dreams of Welshmen have never been so poetically rendered as in Dylan Thomas's Under Milk Wood, especially as performed by Caffeine Theatre
Friday
-mental soundtrack --> Woods
-a day in Holland, Michigan, to celebrate my Grandma's 95th birthday
-yes, my brother Brent and I really drove all the way there and back in a yellow Pontiac sports car complete with spoiler and Tennessee plates
-a lovely luncheon with the family... and feeling grateful for the two vegetarian dishes on the menu
-quick jaunt to Ottawa Beach to see Lake Michigan and walk out on the jetty
-more family time (and more food) at Aunt Tedda's
-back to Chicago just as the sun had set
-chai plum and nigori sake cocktail + raw vegetable maki + seared tofu bulgogi + mushroom and brown rice sliders + grilled asparagus with spicy miso mustard + Brussels sprouts in fermented black bean sauce at Mana
-a Żywiec and an Elephant 6 collective bliss-out courtesy of Circulatory System at the Chopin Theatre
Saturday
-mental soundtrack --> Panda Bear
-turn-of-the-century architectural treasures on Astor Street, including the Charnley-Persky House partially designed by a very young Frank Lloyd Wright
-Margherita flatbread pizza with a view of the Museum of Contemporary Art sculpture garden at Puck's at the MCA
-elsewhere at the MCA: paintings by Gerhard Richter and Martin Kippenberger and Clare Rojas and Chris Johanson, sculptures by Alexander Calder (including one very cool cat), photographs by Melanie Schiff and Adam Ekberg and Hiroshi Sugimoto
-gin and lavender honey cocktail + watermelon lemonade amuse-bouche + watermelon and tomato gazpacho + housemade noodles with cremini mushrooms, preserved lemon, and goat cheese + warm bread salad with artichoke hearts and carrots in tomato sauce with paprika + honey-apple tart with cinnamon twist and creme fraiche ice cream at Green Zebra
-had I known headliner Ida Maria had canceled due to illness I might not have headed all the way over to the Metro just to see Ladyhawke do her '80s synth-pop thing, but she was still freakin' adorable
Sunday
-mental soundtrack --> Jens Lekman
-peach buttermilk-granola pancakes at Milk & Honey
-one last ride on the El, one last glimpse of the lake
-beers back on my own couch
