Category Archives: My kind of town

Chicago neighborhood adventures: Andersonville edition

Posted on by
2

Last weekend, Megan and I continued our series of Chicago neighborhood adventures by visiting our friend (and fellow squirrel) Renee in Andersonville. (See our Lincoln Square adventure here!)

Thanks to what seemed like two feet of freshly fallen snow (it wasn’t really that much) and Ugg boots that were determined to prove that they were, in fact, NOT WATERPROOF, our activities mostly included eating brunch at Hamburger Mary’s, walking up Clark Street, walking back down Clark Street, and sloshing back to Renee’s to get our feet dry and drink wine. Despite that lackluster description, good times were had by all!

In case you’re not from around these parts, Andersonville is a neighborhood north of the Loop that has a major Swedish influence. Now that you know that, I bet the photo of the Swedish American Museum above is starting to make a little more sense, ehhh?

We actually stopped in the museum for a second, but turned around as soon as we noticed that admission wasn’t free. We’re still in a recession here, people. Also, our boots were making squishy/sloshing sounds and we were leaving a trail of puddles behind us. My apologies to the museum janitor/intern who had to mop that up.

Really, the best part of the day (besides the fantastic company) was our brunch at Hamburger Mary’s. Once we heard that a FREE mimosa comes with every entree, the decision of where to eat was pretty much made for us.

But that wasn’t the only cool thing about that place. They also have good food, funky/retro decor, and bring the check to the table nestled in a high-heeled shoe. Why? One can’t be sure. But now the photo above of the shoe on the table is also starting to make sense, ehhh?

Other highlights of our Andersonville adventure include checking out Renee’s cute condo (and even cuter dogs!), Megan valiantly saving me from being plowed down by an SUV exiting a grocery store parking lot, and experiencing a crucial tipping point in my life that has led me to finally swear off Uggs. Major breakthrough!! (And I want these as replacements).

Winter trees

Posted on by
Reply

Personally, I prefer the seasons of the year when the trees actually have leaves. But while walking to meet my friend Laura for coffee yesterday, I noticed that there’s something to be appreciated about gnarled, naked winter tree limbs highlighted by fresh snow. Against the gray glow of the sky, the branches almost look like a thriving network of human veins.

Gross.

But cool.

Walk around the block

Posted on by
1

There’s no shortage of awesome architecture here in Chicago.

Proof: These cool buildings can all be found within a 1-block radius in River North.

I took these photos a couple days ago when I decided to leave work for 5 minutes to take a quick walk and enjoy the nice fall weather.

Sometimes it’s fun to play “tourist.” All it takes is a moment to stop and look up.

But I recommend doing it somewhere off to the side so you don’t get body-checked from behind by a businessman on a mission. (Real tourists: please take note.)

 

The Pump Room

Posted on by
Reply

Last Friday was date night with the hubs (I actually never call him that) at The Pump Room.

Back in the day, The Pump Room in the Amabassador East Hotel was famous for its glamorous clientele (think Sinatra, Bogart, Bette Davis), and was the place in Chicago to see and be seen (read about it here). But it experienced a gradual decline in the 1990s and by the time I became a Chicago resident, I’m pretty sure that almost no one went there. <sad trombone>

But then along came Ian Schrager and Jean-Georges Vongerichten (fancy restaurant/hotel people), who completely re-worked the menu and  renovated the whole place, including the hotel, which is now called the Public Hotel.

It just reopened last month, and at the risk of sounding extremely un-hip – the place was hoppin’!

By the time we left, the restaurant, bar and hotel lobby were packed with very stylishly dressed people. The entire place was one big party!

The sleek, modern/slightly futuristic vibe of the restaurant is pretty cool (there are glowing balls of various sizes suspended from the ceiling), and the food is really good, and actually reasonably priced.

A few tips if you plan to check out the new hot spot in the Chi (yes, I’m aware I sound like a complete tool): dress to impress – trendy, but not too formal, go hungry, be ready to people-watch, and keep an eye out for celebs! (You know if you’re into that sort of thing…)

The Aviary

Posted on by
Reply

Let’s get real. I’m a little hungover this morning. But I have no regrets.

Last night, Will and I met my friend Sarah and her husband James at The Aviary, a cocktail bar that should really be called The Awesomeness (in my opinion).

This was no ordinary bar. Our drinks were creative works of art. Sarah was served a cocktail in a flask. One of the drinks Will ordered was encased in a hollow ball of ice, which he had to crack open with a tiny slingshot.

Yes, a tiny slingshot. You can’t make this stuff up.

Also, every single drink was DE. LISH. US.

I guess I should have expected nothing less from Grant Achatz of Alinea fame. (Alinea is the best restaurant in North America. Look it up.)

But one of the coolest parts about The Aviary is a secret, tucked-away room called The Office.

Sarah and James are Aviary vets, so they showed us first-timers a thing or two. Once we had finished our drinks in the main room, they slyly asked our server if we could go to The Office. She raised her eyebrow for a second, nodded, and said that someone would come by shortly to talk to us about our request. Mystery! Intrigue! It felt like we were doing something illegal.

A short while later, a young man with an earpiece escorted us downstairs to a locked, unmarked door. Just as I was about to ask why he was taking us to the janitor’s closet, he opened the door to a world of sheer coolness.

It was a dimly-lit room resembling a very rich person’s library with plush leather chairs, glowing bottles of liquor lining the bar and only enough space for about 10 people, tops.

Sooo coool!

When I went to the bathroom and they had to give me a key to get back in (the door was locked to keep out the riff-raff!), I was feeling pret-ty special, let me tell you. Almost special enough not to wince at the $20/drink price tag. Almost.

All in all, The Aviary was quite an experience. I would highly recommend visiting at least once if you are the type of person who can get over the feeling that you are drinking dollar bills (it’s not cheap, guys).

P.S. I would have taken more photos, but it was pretty dark in there and I’m fairly certain that using my flash would have been frowned upon. The photos above were taken in The Office, which had a bit more candlelight.