Not me. And yesterday was Earth Day after all. Spring is starting to get really pretty in these Andersonville, and my walk home has improved 1000% since a few months ago. This calls for DPH walk-home-foliage-shots. I plan on linking to this post mid-January of next year to remind myself that things do get better. I am so giddy to see all of this after I get off the train and before I enter my front door:
I can't believe these are going to be real leaves in a minute!
Leaves and Sun FTW.
Posted in Chicago, Daily Picture
Tagged Chicago, Daily Picture, earth day, foliage, magnolia, photography, signs of spring, sun, tulips, walk home, warmer weather
Friday’s weather was just as nice as the forecast predicted. This means lunch outside of course. I actually get irritated if someone stays inside the office, with it’s false light and false air; it has been months since we’ve had a day as nice as Friday. Well, maybe we have had a day or two in February, but we knew it was a tease. This is possibly REAL spring.
We went over to Caffè RoM, where we used to pick up Napoli Sandwiches and gelato on a more than frequent basis. I love RoM, and I wish it had it’s own little storefront with a patio. But it is so close to the park that I suppose it doesn’t really matter.
I am not supposed to take photos in here, but I got a few snapped before being snapped at. Please note the light blue wall color. Of course I like this place.
The spot. Ryan is missing 
I know I am not supposed to buy and re-use plastic bottles, but this one is so pretty. It is living in my purse until Alex or Dan find out. Oops.
Napoli Sandwich from RoM. Mozzarella, Tomato, Basil, and Balsamic on a crusty baguette. Perfect.
Most of Chicago's street planters have been planted. I love that they added a variety of leafy cabbages into the planters. This is not a great photo, but the color of the purple ones makes me want a dress inspired by...cabbage. I love the matte and dusty stormy purple, and the hot pink surprise in the center.
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Caffe Rom, chicago planters, Daily Picture, food, lunch, millenium park, napoli sandwich, spring, warmer weather
Well done, everyone. If you are reading this, it means you lived through one of the worst winters we have had in years. Spring is—OH WAIT…my husband just informed me that this is a silly post to be writing in mid-March. He says that I will get hate mail. Yeah it was 76 today…but please refer to Thursday’s forecast to see why he is making a good case:
Yeah, that “low of 26″ is lame. BUT…I am going to continue to write this against Justin’s wishes. He can get his own sad-blog. Maybe not sad as much as “cautiously optimistic.” Instead of Megagood, it would be titled “PossiblyGood”or “KindaGood.”
Since I am an all-or-nothing person I don’t cautiously optimize anything. It is spring dammit. And when I decide something like that, I will convince myself—and sometimes others—into thinking it is the unquestionable truth. I’m a pretty good salesperson if I really believe in something. (Could a copywriter/editor let me know how to use en dashes vs. em dashes vs. commas??)
Trying to capture a sequence of breeze in the curtains. I guess this was better in real-life...
The plants are out! We eat dinner where Porpus is standing.
Spring things are guarding our toilet paper.
I didn't wear green on St. Patricks Day, but I appreciated all the green things trying to grow. These live inside a flower shop, but they are very mossy and green and happy. You can almost smell the green freshy-freshness in this picture.
Posted in Chicago, Daily Picture
Tagged Chicago, Daily Picture, green, open windows, park lunch, photography, porch, signs of spring, warmer weather
I felt like I woke up on the wrong side of the bed yesterday. The whole day was kind of an off-day. When I woke up this morning I got out of bed to turn the alarm off and then walked directly into the wall. So my hopes of waking up on the right side of the bed were quickly dashed. The weather is promising to be sunny and near 70 today, so I am willing to give today a chance. Lunch outside on the grassy knoll by the Chicago River with a sandwich from Pastoral is in order.
When I got home yesterday, a HUGE box from the Specialty Bottle company was waiting for me. My 20lbs of spice jars finally arrived. They brought with them some unwanted guests.
:(
I hate packing peanuts. I don’t like reaching into them and having them stick to me. They are all over the floor, they are styrofoam—which is quite hateful all on it’s own—and they make terrible squeaky noises when they rub against each other. The sound makes my back teeth hurt. Their only redeeming quality is by association. They mean that a package came in the mail and they are protecting the goodies beneath.
I think I may have gone overboard. My spices should be set for life though.
The Dyson will eating little green styro-bits as snacks for no less than three weeks. But I guess none of the jars were harmed on their journey across the US, so I shouldn’t complain.
While uploading a picture of empty spice jars, I started to giggle maniacally as I thought of my Blog Stats hit-counter graph plummeting with this post.
The obsession with tiny spring animals has also gotten grossly out of hand. Jane is the newest addition to the tiny zoo.
Posted in Daily Picture
Tagged bunny, Chicago, Daily Picture, packing peanuts, spice jar, spring, warmer weather
Sunday nights get me down. The weekend is over and it is dark outside and I am kind of sad about it. How can I remedy this? Two things seem to help:
I haven’t posted since last Thursday, so here is Friday:
Cauliflower obsession continues. This was my lunch from Tuscany. Delicious. I urge Jo to give Cauli a chance.
Alex hosted another happy hour in the corner office. Fizzgig came, and brought pretzels to pass. He is clearly excited.
Drea is enjoying a Snakebite, courtesy of Alex. I was inspired to add a gradient to this photo after watching the video posted below.
Happy hour continued with more coworkers off-site. Blonde curls were in abundance.
Black and white heels were also in abundance. This photo is also of two separate people.
Saturday brought the sun. Porp laid in it of course. Schween was no more than a foot to her right.
I don't really want to talk about this.
Weird bush that now lives in the front yard instead of the backyard. Transplanted during construciton of the roofdeck garage I assume.
One of the happiest things I have seen in months.
Winnemac Park. This will be lush in a couple months. I didn't know it existed until today because I had never crossed the train tracks. Dumb.
Prairie things.
More dead prairie stuff. I took pictures until our table was ready at Over Easy on Damen.
Very popular. Not a lot of seating, so the wait was long. We didn't mind hanging out in the park across the street though.
Officially the best taters I have had for breakfast.
I don't remember what he had, but I remember tasting it and being envious. And beans were involved. <3
Who doesn't love egg-bead curtains, tin ceilings, brick walls and crown molding?
If anyone understands this, please comment to tell me the significance of "NINE."
After breakfast I decided to take a nap in the sun on the porch with the cats. Face-down. Woke up with nap face and the need for wine and flowers. Picked up some dried mango slices as well.
Meet Lidia. She is new. She eats jelly beans and wards off evil winter spirits.
Now I am going to sleep in my freshly-cleaned sheets. Goodnight.
Posted in Chicago, Daily Picture
Tagged blondes, breakfast, buds, cats, Chicago, chicks, Daily Picture, dining out, fizzgig, flowers, happy hour, lunch, mango, napping, Neocube, Over Easy Cafe, park, photography, school of seven bells, signs of spring, sun, sunday blues, warmer weather, wine
Not boots!
Do not adjust your screen. My legs are seriously that color. That sparkly stuff on the sidewalk is rock salt and chemicals. Besides the streets and sidewalks, this salt can also be found all over my windows, on every square inch of the bus, and likely in my lungs. If the weather is dry, I can stand at a busy dusty intersection and TASTE the salt dust on my lips. This is pretty nasty, unless you are doing tequila shots on the corner, which I do not make a habit of and is frowned upon by the CPD.
Every year in March, I break out a ridiculously springish outfit way ahead of season. It has to be on one of the glorious fake-spring days like we had in Chicago yesterday. Upon my entrance to the office, people had the proper spring reaction to the cuteness of said outfit and my mood is as bright as the color of my shirt. Yesterday, I even broke out the purse that was originally going to be reserved for the opening of the farmer’s market.
For the market!
While I was doing a little spin in the office to show off my outfit, I STUBBED MY TOE SO HARD. There was blood and other injuries that I can’t even look at without being nauseous. Now I am walking funny and I can’t wear sandals. Meh.
The day was just too nice to go home right after work. So we celebrated. With champagne. A lot of it.
Pops for Champagne. One of my favorite storefronts in Chicago.
Pops for Champagne is a beautiful bar that offers over 100 different bottles of champagne. You can also order a beer or cocktail if the thought of champagne gives you a headache. It was part miracle, part copious water consumption that kept me from getting a headache. Our bartender, Lamar, was fantastic. He put together a plate of cheeses for us that was beyond perfect.
Listed from left to right: Yes. Yum. MINE. Mmmmm.
Due to the cuteness of certain coworkers, we were also allowed to taste a complimentary Bellini, which is possibly my new favorite dessert. Pop’s version of the Bellini is sparkling wine topped with a cappuccino-style peach foam and a raspberry floating within the heavenly mixture. All my photos of the Bellini were blurry, due to giddy excitement. You will just have to go and order one from Lamar yourself.
The last thing I have to applaud Pops for is the clever lighting and decor. Every part of the space takes the champagne theme into consideration, but it isn’t blatant or over-the-top in any way. A themed restaurant can easily become tacky, but Pops has managed to avoid this common pitfall. Not only does a warm amber glow emanate from the bar, but above each table, several pendant bulbs hang in a cluster that resembles rising bubbles from a glass of bubbly. I just love them. If you knew me during my days of art class in high school, they may look familiar to you.
As far as living creatures go, I usually post more photos of cats than people. I have a hard time capturing anything of the human variety for some reason. Candid shots are my preference, but it’s really hard to catch people when they aren’t blurry or double-chinned. Hence, I like to stick to the still life. I will try harder. Although it pains me to post a posed photo, I can’t resist these ladies. So here you go:
I just noticed a bizarre trend. I've always had gorgeous female coworkers. I promise this is not something I consider in my job interviews. Seriously.
Geez.
Posted in Chicago, Daily Picture, dining
Tagged bellini, champagne, Chicago, coworkers, Daily Picture, lamar the bartender, march, photography, pops for champagne, salt, spring, spring bag, stubbed toe, warmer weather
Chicago locals woke up this morning and put shorts on. They ran along the Lakeshore path. They walked dogs without doggy booties. I am sure people were considering laying out in the park. It got into the 50′s and was sunny, and the world around us melted.
As couples took walks with their winter babies who have never seen weather above the freezing mark, I took a walk with my baby Canon. To the train. To go to the office on the warmest, sunniest day we have had in the last 4 months. I figured the foulness of my mood would result in intense focus on the piles of cigs, trash, and dog feces that line the streets. The rubbish that floats in the wake of thousands of pounds of snow melting simultaneously is nothing less than vomit inducing. But I couldn’t help but be excited by the weather, even if it was just a 15 minute walk before I was locked in a creepy empty office for the duration of the day.
Sidewalk lake.
Creep factor rated 1-10? 15.
Posted in Chicago, Daily Picture
Tagged Chicago, creepy office, melting, snow, warmer weather, working on the weekend
