Best of Chicago

As of today I have been an official Chicago resident for one year. It’s amazing, I move 5 miles and the city opened up to me. In Evanston I was bound by the silly Purple line and going into the city almost seemed like a chore. Now we explore. The city buses no longer intimidate me. I feel a connection to my neighborhood. We go on missions to seek out the best sandwich, the best pizza in the city.

So to commemorate my city living, I present you my 2009 best of Chicago.

Best Coffee Shop

Metropolis @ 1039 W. Granville Avenue, Edgewater

This little coffee shop roasts their own beans, has rotating local art on the walls and is less than a mile's walk from our apartment. Metropolis will also go down in our history books as the location where Mike wrote most of his doctoral thesis.

Best Restaurant

Lula Cafe @ 2537 N. Kedzie Boulevard, Logan Square

I love Lula. It has fresh, local food put together with ease. Their menu has a good mix of higher end and more affordable food. The best food in Chicago without any pretension along with it.

Favorite Shop or Boutique

Andersonville Galleria @ 5247 N Clark St, Andersonville

With four floors and 90 merchants, the Galleria is like a mini Chicago Etsy shoved into a sun-filled old warehouse. If I had more money I'd shop here all the time, get handmade clothes, jewelery, make-up, art.

Favorite Chicago Tourist Attraction

Millennium Park @ N. Michigan Avenue & the Lake, Downtown

The architecture, the concerts, the people watching, a marvelous view of the skyline and now a bridge to the new modern wing of the Art Institute; Millennium Park has it all.

Hidden Treasure

Chicago Cultural Center @ 78 E Washington St, Downtown

Now home to the Chicago Cultural Center, the old public library is beyond beautiful. If all libraries were this magical cartoons would be unnecessary and every kid would be an avid reader.

Favorite Sports Team

The Chicago Blackhawks

Although Wrigley Field is pretty awesome, I still like the Blackhawks better than the Cubs.

More to come.....

Chicago on Film

So Mike is out of town. He is on a road trip of sorts driving to California with his old roommate. So long story short, I’m home alone. What does a girl do when her boyfriend is out of town and has the apartment all to herself? Well, eat popcorn and watch the most girlie movies I can get my hands on of course.

I am currently watching My Best Friend’s Wedding. Apparently it takes place in chicago, didn’t remember that. It is really amazing to me how many movies take place here and I get overly excited to see my city on film. I really do love Chicago. In addition, I take pride in being so “Chicago” and knowing my city well enough to get piss off when the exit they take in a movie does not match where they end up.

Other Great Chicago movies:
Ferris Bueller's Day Off
Adventures in Babysitting
While You Where Sleeping
The Blues Brothers
Girls Just Want to Have Fun
High Fidelity
Home Alone
Kissing a Fool (no one likes this movie but me)

Anyway, back to the movie.

Other People's Crafts

It seems a little off calling the event we went to on Saturday a craft fair, but I guess that’s what it was. Craft fairs, especially during the Christmas season, conjure up images of overly crowded gyms filled with old women looking at over flowing booths containing cutesy-wootsy, potpourri smelling decorations that people with names like Bambi or Candy put out for every different holiday season. The Renegade Craft Fair Holiday Sale, however, is basically the opposite of almost everything I associate with the stereotypical craft fair. First of all, the event had the highest concentration of people from the Indie crowd that I have ever seen in one place. Mike and I both felt that our jeans weren’t tapered enough, because they weren’t at all, and that our shirts didn’t make ironic enough of a statement. We basically felt totally uncool. Second, instead of household decorations, the booths were mostly filled with screen print t-shirts, hand-made jewelry, and other things similar the stuff you can buy on etsy and manned by people with multiple tattoos and piercings. To top it all off, the whole affair was in the Pulaski Park Field House, an incredible building from 1914. Anyway, I really had fun and got a few people checked off my Christmas shopping list.


Here are some of my favorite vendors:

(family, be warned; looking at some following links may give hints of your Christmas presents)

http://www.shoporangeslice.com/ - This is like the fourth indie craft related thing I’ve seen that includes orange in the name. Orange is the color of indie.

http://tugboatprintshop.com/ - Cool prints, they just ask for storybooks to be written around them.

http://theneedleshop.net/ - my first stop after I get my new sewing machine.

http://www.sosillystuff.com/about.html - cute kids clothing.

http://www.nomadicant.com - neat looking earrings, but some of posts looked a little thick and heavy.

http://ellembee.etsy.com/ - hand printed clothing, mostly organic looking prints.

http://www.freshieandzero.com/index.html - I like the simplicity of the things here.

http://pacificpuzzleworks.com/ - Awesome puzzles, beautifully crafted, but a bit out of my price range.

And of course, I have to give a shout out to the only storefront of the Renegade movement, Renegade Handmade.

Some people run 26 miles, others walk 8

Sunday was the Chicago marathon. Inspired by the beautiful weather and the insane runners, Mike and I decided to walk. We ended up walking about 8 miles south of our apartment (map). One of the things I like about Chicago are the diverse neighborhoods that, together, make up the city. And there is no better way to get to know a neighborhood than meandering through the streets.
We began our journey by walking through the Loyola campus on our way out of Rogers Park. Since we got kind of a late start, we needed to stop for lunch pretty quickly. We had our first stop at a diner in Edgewater. Mike has a true love for somewhat sketchy dinners that give you the feeling that you've been transported back in time when you enter them. I humor this love. Standee's was tasty and my steak sandwich definitely gave energy to trek onward.
Crossing the border into Andersonville we happened upon the Senn High School, my mom's school. It is a very beautiful building/campus but from the stories that my mom has told me, it wasn't always such a serene environment, at least not for her.

Chicago has some really neat architecture. You can see influences from all over the world just by walking down the street and looking at different buildings.
Onward from Andersonville, we passed through the north side's mini Asia-town. This area is not as impressive as China town, but not much is. For some reason I really like the Uptown area and I can't wait to see what happens to the big Uptown theatre now that it has new owners. Next stop Lakeview-Wrigleyville. Along Halstead, this area is more commonly referred to as Boystown. Notice the Hancock building peaking out from behind the corner building.
In Lincoln Park, we stopped for nourishment at a cool little coffee/tea/sandwich shop called the Bourgeois Pig. I have a feeling that if I lived anywhere near this place while I was taking classes, I would have spent a million hours here.
Next stop, quick peep into Crate and Barrel and CB2. Small world, we ran into my cousin and her husband. Lauren could not, or maybe did not want to, believe that we had walked that far when we could have just driven or taken the CTA.
To round out our day, we had dinner at Goose Island and had a pint or two of good Chicago beer. I really do love Chicago and I can't wait for more long walks with Mike.

Go Cubs Go?

This is a pictorial representation of one of the reasons Mike doesn’t like the cubs. With fans like this guy, home field advantage might not really be an advantage. We can only hope that going to LA may actually help the cubbies. Good luck tomorrow boys.