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Wednesday
-Mental soundtrack ---> Rites of Spring
-Unusually high number of comments on my Pan Am bag. I blame that new Christina Ricci thing.
-Suddenly remembering exactly where I left my camera battery charger on top of the toaster oven at home.
-Spending the flight plotting travel for 2012.
-Midwestern friendliness.
-Dinner at The Publican: tomato panzanella with cucumber, arugula, white anchovies + octopus with cranberry beans + fried smelt with squash, radishes, arugula, olives + Italian plum and almond tart with salted caramel gelato.
-Drinks at The Aviary: Bee's Knees (honey, lemon, gin) + Ginger (shiso, Peychaud's, vodka) + Cold Chocolate (Ecuadorian chocolate, Fernet, bourbon). The teeny tiny bites of potato and crab were pretty amazing too.
Thursday
-Mental soundtrack ---> Big Boi
-Morning art at the Museum of Contemporary Art: Eiko & Koma, Mark Bradford, Jean Tinguely, Dan Gunn, Joseph Cornell.
-Brand new shoes from the brand new Topshop.
-Very nice socks from Jack Spade.
-Lunch at Hot Doug's: the veggie Joe Strummer dog with everything + a Dr. Brown's ginger ale.
-Strolling and shopping in Wicker Park with the requisite stops at Reckless Records and Quimby's (on their 20th birthday!).
-Dinner at Big Star Taqueria: chips and guac + 1 fish taco + 1 corn smut taco + 1 potent margarita.
-Evening art at the Art Institute: Piet Zwart, Otto Dix, Soviet TASS propaganda posters, Ralph Eugene Meatyard, Ana Mendieta.
-Millennium Park by night.
-Coconut custard bao from Wow Bao for the walk home.
Friday
-Mental soundtrack ---> The War on Drugs
-Up before dawn to drive to Holland, MI.
-Lunch at Oak Crest with Uncle Dave and Grandma, including her 97th birthday cake for dessert.
-Quality hang time with Aunt Tedda and cousins Kristy, Tim, Sean.
-Back to Chicago in time for sunset.
-Dinner at Gino's East: cheese and spinach deep dish + a pitcher of Sam Adams Oktoberfest.
Saturday
-Mental soundtrack ---> The Streets
-Morning stop at Intelligentsia.
-First-ever game at Wrigley Field with 39,000+ enthusiastic Cubs fans, who on this day actually got to see their team win. Against the Astros, but still. There was much rejoicing.
-The rummage-sale-on-crack environs of Architectural Artifacts. I wanted the set of carousel lions very very badly.
-Music, books, great local art and jewelry at Transistor.
-A ginger gimlet at The Matchbox.
-Dinner at The Purple Pig: roasted corn, mushrooms, fried rosemary + olive-oil-poached tuna with Greek lima beans + fried eggplant parmesan balls + tomato, garlic, sea salt smear + scallop spiedini with chickpea aioli + a ricotta and chocolate chip filled brioche + a glass of Jumilla.
Sunday
-Mental soundtrack ---> Mount Kimbie
-A morning boat cruise filled with many beautiful buildings courtesy of the Chicago Architecture Foundation.
-Brunch at Lula Cafe: steelhead salmon cakes with heirloom tomato and green bean salad, summer corn vinaigrette, lovage, a 60 minute egg, hollandaise + a killer Bloody Mary complete with oyster.
-Dodging raindrops to get back to the airport.
-So desperate to ignore the alternately mushy and bickering newly-engaged couple seated next to me on my flight I buried myself in Joyce Carol Oates's Sourland for the duration. For the record I hate Joyce Carol Oates.
-Arriving home to 70-degree weather. In Oakland. At night.