The Season of Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving (minus the whole historical actualities) is such a great season. A time to reflect on the friend and family you hold dear, and to give thanks for experiences from the past, present and future. Here is an homage to the present, or rather, an update as I've successfully neglected Glut with Guts for nearly a month.

via Glut with Guts

I hosted a small dinner party for close friends to celebrate a new quarter century. [Gasp] I think this is the first actual public acceptance of the fact that I am indeed, [gulp] now 25 years old.

via Glut with Guts

After a quick dinner at Ghramwich, +1 and I hurried to the Art Institute for a night concert of music from the Jesuit missions of Chiquitos in Bolivia, including scores recovered and restored by Chicago composer Gustavo Leone. Most of these pieces hadn't been heard in more than 300 years. Not to mention how cool it was to see a harpsichord actually being played!

via Glut with Guts

Sharx and I are fortunate to live in a neighborhood that appreciates the arts. We're just a mere blocks from the infamous Old Town School of Music, and from this quaint little used book store. We both thoroughly enjoyed perusing through the alley ways of books after books, layers upon layers. MY favorite find was a 1969 book titled, "Everything you wanted to know about sex: but were too afraid to ask." Sharx, however, was not too amused when I started reading the book aloud. I mean, the public's got a right to know, right?

(I'll spare some of the better questions in the book, topics ranging from sexual organs to orgasms and abortion, for a later post. It'll be a good one: I promise.)

via Glut with Guts

Oh Friends-giving, how I love you so. I'm so blessed to know such an entertaining and stylishly cute group of ladies! We shared in some good food and wine (pomegranate wine, anyone?), and soaked in each others companies. It was a kind of night to remember for a while.

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So to all of you out there, reading my rinky, dinky blog, HAPPY THANKSGIVING! I'm as thankful for you as well as anyone, and wish you and your loved ones a happy holiday filled with thanks and love.

Minna-made

Unpacking after moving has taken quite a bit longer than I had expected. This in addition to minor "issues" with our apartment have kept me hesitant from breaking in the new space. It's now week four in my apartment, and slowly but surely, things are coming together and I've started to feel a bit more at "home".

via moi

S came over the other day with two lovely new additions to my kitchen: basil and rosemary! After I wake up each morning, I scuttle into the kitchen and rub a leaf of each for good measure. They smell so great!

Moving out of my old apartment, I did a major purge of my things: I threw out boxes of old clothes, many bottles of lotions and sadly... a lot of kitchen stuff too. However, essentials at hand, I've started to cook once more.

via moi

I made my pseudo pad thai. I say pseudo (and probably should) about most/all my cooking as... I barely measure. This is a bad habit I've picked up from years of watching my halmoni (grandmother) cook in the kitchen... only I have no experience to back up my method. haha oh well.

I love "easy made" recipes. I hate when I pick up a cookbook filled with ridiculously obscure french names and processes or 'crazy' ingredients. I'm a simple girl, with simple tastes and would like a recipe to be blunt and show me how in 10 steps or less. No hand-holding, just slap it down on the table.

(Also, please ignore my washer/dryer in the background. My kitchen is cramped but functional and cute!)

Other weekend happenings: I'm loving my new neighborhood and all the foodie/wino nooks and cranies.

via Glut with Guts

Truffled eggs at Fork in Lincoln Square/North Center = HEAVENLY. Sitting atop a light puff pastry with a thin layer of mushrooms and goat cheese, this truffle flavor infused eggs made me happy and giddy. I don't think I spoke the entire time I was eating this and had my eyes closed like a freak after each bite.

Other notables from the Fork menu:

via Glut with Guts -- Duck Crostini

via Glut with Guts -- Orange Carrot Juice

After brunch, +1 and I went to our favorite breakfast/bakery place (that had a 2 hour wait for brunch! Hence why we choose the no wait Fork instead.) for some coffee.

Welcome to Lincoln Square:

via Glut with Guts -- Cafe Selmarie

via Glut with Guts -- The Fountain of Lincoln Square gets a washing!

via Glut with Guts -- Sunday Sprawl

via Glut with Guts -- Summer Sprigs! :D

Brauhaus: Beers and Brats

I had a jovial time last weekend at Brauhaus, taking in some beer, brats, and a little boogie. No place on Chicago is quite like this welcoming atmosphere, drawing in everyone there in song and dance. But with the beers they offer, food that comes in abundance, and strudel to meet your bliss, who can resist a cheery little song and dance? I sure can't!

BEER ME! ..and you wonder why I'm a glut....

PROST, PROST, PROST!
♡M

Festive Fall in Lincoln Square

Taken at Dominicks in Lincoln Square

Man, I'm a horrible blogger. I never remember to bring my camera anywhere (hence the crappy iPhone photos)! Anywho....

Yesterday was a super productive day... I got my blood drawn for testing, got my flu/H1N1 shot, got my teeth cleaned, re-evaluated my savings/retirement plan, and got my hair did. Phew!

I did something unheard of for this glut with a huge gut... I forgot to eat. I spent my morning fasting for my blood test, then was rushed to meeting after meeting, went to the dentist, and after the lecture my dentist gave me, felt too guilty to eat anything then ran off to the salon for my appointment.

So it was a relief when +1 called me to see if I wanted to grab dinner. I love the Lincoln Square neighborhood (where we met up) and everything it has too offer, even beyond the one block stretch of Lincoln off of Western. We debated what to get, what was close enough to go to, if we should bring puppy along, etc. etc. and before we could make a decision, it was fast approaching 9pm and everything would soon surely be closed.

Then we realized that we had biked past the new Dominicks at Lincoln and Farragut a few weeks ago, and it looked like it was near completion. Now I must include, Dominicks has long been building a new facility in my Edgewater neighborhood, one of the strong points that led me to putting down my roots in the new neighborhood. I love Edgewater and living near the lake, but walking past that still incomplete Dominicks structure, is such a tease.....

Anyways, back to the story. We wandered over to the new Lincoln Square Dominicks and me oh my, what a nice place! It was deceptively large, and had a great Signature Cafe area, much better than what I had anticipated! I can't wait now, for mine to be completed....

the long awaited Edgewater Dominicks a la uptownupdate.com