STRONG BL**K PRESIDENT

I still can't believe it. I can't believe that a vast majority of people in this country voted for a man named Barack Hussein Obama. This country that we've been ashamed of for so many years just became something to be proud of again and I am overcome. This start at chipping away THE cancer that has plagued our country since its inception is incredible. All kids in this country will grow up with a black man as president. The minority voice is THE voice in America finally and it's so inspiring. I rarely feel this uncynical and wholeheartedly awed and impressed, but what we all did yesterday takes my breath away.

Here's Fidelis (far left) trying to catch a glimpse of Barack at their polling place.

Windy City Weekend

I am a great planner. I organized an incredible weekend for me and Erin in Chicago. We tasted new and delicious foods. We saw exciting things. We bought makeup.

Erin arrived Thursday afternoon. We rushed home to have cocktails and snacks. Since nothing was on TV and Erin had never seen My So-Called Life (unacceptable), we popped in the first disk.

For dinner, we went to Spring, Chicago's fancy locavore spot, with Joe and Alie. I expected a lot and got very little. The service was incredibly bad (very attitudy) and the food was only ok. So you don't need to go there! You're welcome for saving you $$$$.

The next day, we headed down to Roosavelt Rd. for Manny's lunch with Mom.

We really over did it, but that's kind of what Manny's is for. Mom was upset they didn't serve warm gefilte fish anymore, but she got over it. Erin and I took a walk around downtown after lunch. Erin bought tons of makeup. Pretty!!!! Then we got pedicures. I got the razor THANK GOD b/c my feet were totally dying to be scccccraped. Then we went shopping, bought a malted milkshake, and walked home. My So-Called Life Cocktail Hour commenced. We plowed through a few more eps before picking up Jason and heading to Penny's Noodle Shop for dinner. I love Penny's. It's so good and reliable and cheap. Then we went to Goldstar to drink brews and watch Halloweeen. Scary! Erin and I got in a minor tiff about whether or not people our age listen to bands like Journey ironically or because they genuinely like that music (I said ironically and, of course, I'm right). We freaked Jason out a little, but he has to grow up sometime. Luckily the tension was diffused when we decided to get a snack at McDonalds. We ordered a few things, drove up to the window and gave the woman money. Next thing I knew, she handed me BACK the money I'd just given her along with our food. She got so flustered from all the drunks that she thought she was giving us change or something. FREE MCDONALDS YES WE FINALLY BEAT THE SYSTEM TAKE THAT THE MAN.

High from our Mickey D's coup the night before, we headed to Rick Bayless' restaurant Frontera the next morning. We drank alcohol brunch drinks and got really full on chorizo and eggs. It was so delicious. After that we got various things waxed and went to see Happy Go-Lucky which was worse than expected. Erin thought it was ok. I fell asleep. We rushed home to change for the night. We stopped by the Empty Bottle to pick up Lykke Li tickets. Thanks Peter and Robin for helping us get into the sold out show!!! We got stamped and then headed to the Skylark for dinner.

I LOVE THE SKYLARK. It's my favorite bar in Chicago because it's never that crowded, the beers are cheap, there is great food and it's in a funky location. We shared a burger with onion rings on it (God bless the Midwest), salad and tots with sauces (disappointing). We headed back to the Bottle just in time to see that Swedish songstress sing and gyrate her little Aryan heart out.

I was pretty impressed with her live set. I'm not a huge fan of her music in general, but she had a lot of energy onstage. There was a heavy drum sound in all the numbers which was unexpected. Lots of dancing and moving. It was nice to see how she modified songs that are pretty mellow on the recording. She also covered Tribe's "Can I Kick It" and one other one.

Sunday we went to an awesome new brunch place near my house. It's a fancy grocery store slash cafe. Erin and I shared the best turkey club I've ever tasted and bread pudding pancakes. SO AMAZING. We also had brunch alcohols. The nadir of the whole weekend came after brunch when we tried to go to an all ladies dance class and it wasn't in session. God. That was so depressing. We were all decked in our work-out wear and then NOTHING. Erin even brought her Danity Kane shirt. So annoying. We went shopping to make ourselves feel better. We bought dresses. Then we came home for more MSCLCH. We put on our new dresses (pretty) and went to dinner in Andersonville at a new Korean restaurant JinJu. It was super cute and sexy. Great date spot! Then we headed to the lesbian wine bar Joie De Vine. Jason met up with us and we all had a great time with Erotic Photo Hunt.

We watched more MSCL and went to bed.

Monday we went to lunch and then headed to Midway. Great trip Erin! THANKS FOR COMING I LOVE YOU!!!!

Changes & Guest Bloggers Snugget and Vanessa

Since my last post, I've moved to Chicago for my fall semester abroad. I had a great going away party and an even better HELLO party upon arrival. Here are some pics.




I'll talk more about my big life changes later, but in the meantime, Snugget and Vanessa have graciously invited us join them in their latest culinary adventure: Thurs-deggs. Here Snugget describes how this genius idea unfolded:


This week an egg-shaped light bulb went off in my head. “We need a weekly breakfast to be excited about,” I thought. As it was Tuesday, and a day’s notice didn’t seem fair, I suggested Thurs-deggs. I like routines and plays on words, so this was eggs-actly what the doctor ordered. Plus Vanessa likes to cook and I like to eat. Egg-gain…perfect. So this Thursday we premiered Thurs-deggs, which will hopefully be a weekly egg-ccurrence featuring new and egg-citing or old and classic and all down right delicious breakfast egg-stravaganzas!

Sept 18: Breakfast Tacos

 

With little warning for the inaugural Thurs-deggs we had to make do with what we had in the old refrigerator. There was a jar of salsa, half an avocado and some small corn tortillas. Bingo, bango, breakfast tacos!

Vanessa hails from sunny Los Angeles, California, a city rich in Mexican heritage, so I had no doubt these would be very authentic.

Here is how she made them:

Thurs-deggs Breakfast Tacos (because burritos are too large when you're eating at 6:50 am)
Serves: 2

Ingredients:

4 corn tortillas
half an avocado, sliced
4 eggs (room temperature if possible)
Tablespoon of butter
4 tablespoons salsa
Sriracha (optional)
salt and pepper

Crack eggs in a large bowl and whisk for a minute or two until the yolks and whites are fully integrated. Place a small saucepan on medium heat and add butter. Let it slosh around. Once the butter starts to bubble but before it browns, add the eggs. Stir constantly, scraping down the sides and folding the eggs over with a wooden spoon. Before the eggs are completely cooked turn of heat. Continue to stir eggs. Now, turn on another burner on high. Place the tortillas on one at a time, flipping them over so they heat and brown evenly on both sides. Place two tortillas on each plate, evenly divide the eggs. Pile the avocado and salsa on top. Add Sriracha if you enjoy the spicy.

Fall Break Part II: Chicago

THURSDAY:

Since Zoë decided to have Thanksgiving with us this year (something that hasn't happened since veganism took hold of our youngest several years ago), we only got three items from Boston Market: turkey, mashed potatoes and corn bread. The rest of the meal which included dressing (or stuffing, but not so-called because it wasn't prepared inside the bird), haricot verts, sweet potatoes, salad (endive/pickled beet/walnut (I forgot the pear)), cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie were all vegan! 66%!!!!! It was delicious. We also had a turkey-shaped butter.

Dad gave thanks for antibiotics, that we aren't dead and that we all speak English (which is God's language (which we know because the Bible was written in English (obviously))). Then mom tried to finish naming all the presidents. Zoe got mad. It was a really fun family time! Here are the boys, deliriously sated after the big meal.


FRIDAY:
Dad planned every meal for the vacation. Today's breakfast was challah french toast. It was moist and delicious. After breakfast and lounging, we went to see Margot at the Wedding which wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I learned that Mom always gets the Kid's Pack at the AMC. She likes it because it comes in a tray.

After the movie, we ate salmon for dinner. Then I picked up Alison, Jeremy and Noah in Hyde Park and we went to Rainbo Club. I love it there. It's so relaxing. We drank some greyhounds and ate Mamba.

I ran into MC! Hi, coquettish cutie!!!

Then we went to Katie's party and ran into lost of people from high school which was both pleasant and unpleasant. There was a tasty cake there. I ate some of it. We also played games with a plantain.

Here's Katie on Katie's fridge twice.


SATURDAY:
Today's breakfast was buckwheat pancakes, Dad's specialty. They were good as ever. There was also bacon. After eating and lounging, Mom, Dad and I went to see No Quarto da Vanda, or In Vanda's Room at The Siskel Center. It's a documentary about a heroin addict living in a Lisbon slum, directed by Pedro Costa (who I learned later is kind of famous). The woman profiled in the film we also later learned stars in many of Costa's fictional films. I'm not sure I understand the logic of hiring a heroin addict to star films that aren't documentaries about heroin addicts, but I don't understand lots of things, soooo yeeah. The film looked like a Caravaggesque Vermeer.

See kind of?
Anyway, it was very dark obviously, but very beautiful looking, well shot and produced.
When we got home, Dad made lamb chops. Lamb taste good.

SUNDAY:
Today we ate lox and bagels in the morning. Robin picked me up and we went to Target. I got some tampons!! After that I went shopping with Mom. She bought me a dress. Thanks Mom!!!
For dinner we had turkey divan which is a casserole with some creamy dressing sauce on top and a bread item and a vegetable. I'd never had it before, but it's really the best way to use the greatest number of Thanksgiving leftovers all at once.

MONDAY:
I woke up at 3:30 am to get to the airport. Then I went immediately to work. I felt like this:

Middle West = Best

This weekend I had an awesome adventure time in Chicago. My vaca happened to coincide with the most hectic close in Allure history, for which I gave myself a hefty pat on the back. After my 6:10 am flight was straight up canceled, I wandered LaGuardia hoping to fly standby sometime before my 1:00 pm automatically rebooked flight departed. LaGuardia is truly the most depressing airport in America with the least appealing food options ever. I ended up eating Auntie Anne's Cinnamon Sugar Pretzel Sticks at about 6:30 am out of sheer boredom. It was fucking disgusting. Even more disturbing though was the fact that Auntie Anne's had the hot dog pretzels ready to go at that hour. Piles upon piles of pretzel wrapped hot dogs were sitting in the warming case. Who is going to eat a fucking pretzel dog at 6 in the morning? I know most people are very very beastly, but that's pushing it.

I got on an 8:30 flight and was home by 11. Dad has a new tai chi regiment. His drawn instructions have been replaced with photographed choreography. I guess that means he's moving up?


Zoe and I had lunch with mom and saw her new office (nice digs). Then we went shopping and just hung out like sisters do y'know? We went to this vegan restaurant for Zoe's bday dinner. It was fun and everyone got along.
Cute girls!

Dad and I were the only ones drinking of course.

Then we showed our teeth.

Then Mom and Zoe did tons of drugs in the bathroom. Omg jk!!!

They did them at the table.

Friday I got a much needed pedicure and less needed manicure. They scraped off so much dry skin from my heels. It was fucking insane. My pedicure took twice as long as Zoe's for this reason. After my lady was done, she was like, 'Wanna look?' There was a mound of dead skin on the newspaper. Really disgusting. But now my feet are soft as can be!! Haley arrived that evening. We rushed home for cocktail hour for which Zoe prepared some delicious apps.

We also had prosecco and some vegan spreads and shit. It was yums. Mom got drunk!

Dad got a hairs cut!

Nice bald spot, Zoe!


After apps, Haley and I went to Sweets and Savories primarily to sample their duck fat frites. We also ordered a Kobe Beef burger to share which they split into two mini burgs (too cute!). I got mine with fois gras because I'm not a huge d-bag loser who is scared of eating livers.

Everyone should go to Sweets and Savories. They are super attentive, but not overly so. They also provide complementary lavender truffles at the end of the meal. They are struggling for business. Just go there now. Bring friends.

We went to The Hideout after dinner. The outdoor area smelled like nacho cheese, but whatever. Here's Haley sippin' and lookin'.

Then we met up with Jeremy who was wearing a really gay hat. We went to The Happy Village which was incredibly packed. Adrienne, Chapman, Daniel, Ben, Alison and Noah were also there. Fun time!

Alie wearing Jeremy's faghat.

Then we went to some other bars and met up with other people etc etc.

Saturday Zoe, Haley, and I went to the salon for more beauty things. After that we went to Arturo's for Mexican food. Haley ordered what she thought was a pork burrito, but ended up being a burrito full of just pork skin. It was the nastiest thing I've ever seen. It looked like overgrown larvae rolling in rice. Eew eew eew.

Then we went to Village.


We got to Pitchfork at around 4, in time to see Battles who used to have a really dope website, but apparently abandoned it for a soulless Myspace template. Regardless, we didn't watch Battles b/c we were too busy sneaking Haley into VIP and then gorging on free Chipotle, ice cream and beer. VIP was just great. Great great great. There were tons of benches, short(er) lines, and more attractive people. Overall, I thought the festival was alright. A lot of the bands were ill-suited to the venue. Professor Murder, Clipse, Girl Talk, and even Cat Power (barf) were all totally lost in the large setting. Really I just don't like concerts that much. It makes me feel icky when I see the crowd of people attracted by music I like. I don't like what it implies about me. I like the free stuff and having an excuse to sit outside and drink lots of beer. For that, Pitchfork was perfect. It was also such a treat to see my friends from Sound Opinions. Even Barry (who I haven't seen in years) was there!

Nice Robin.


The was the best thing that happened all weekend. Aw!!


Sunday (Zoe's 21st birthday!!!!!) saw more thrifting at a different Village.
.
Haley scored me some nice boots and a sweet denim sleeveless shirt. Thanks Girlmachine! After that was beachtyme, for which Jeremy met us. I learned that the sand at Lake Michigan is NOT naturally occurring. I was shocked. Here's Haley, boobs blazing, practicing for her upcoming stint at Abu Ghraib.

Too soon?

After the beach, Haley had to hop the El and go back east. Jeremy and I proceeded to the second day of the festival which was much the same as the first. I thought New Pornographers and Of Montreal did a nice job. Prince Paul was a fun surprise at De La Soul.
To summarize:
1. I don't like concerts.
2. I do like free things (especially if 'things' means 'ice cream and beer')
3. I do like music.
4. I do like sitting outside sometimes.
5. I don't like crowds of douche bags.
6. I do like Chicago a LOT.
7. As long as S/O keeps providing me with free VIP passes to this festival, I will keep attending.


My trip home went off pretty seamlessly, save for a few terrifying encounters with an impressively facial haired and body odored woman.

Glad to be back :) Missing the middle though :(