Blue Skies

I'm smitten with this song (and band) and love the simple, beautiful nature of the video. April has been kind of a downer for me. The days of perpetual rain and clouds have left me lacking energy and productiveness and I've been more anxious than normal about work. But today, the clouds are gone and the sun is shining...blue skies are coming.

Rainy day roundup

   

1. Lollipops and Limes umbrella
2. Shadow-stripe scarf
3. Red Shoes and Raindrops print
4. Hunter boots
5. Anorak
6. Bossypants

Summer cooking

I'm a fan of any recipe that gets me in and out of the kitchen as fast as possible. This summer, I plan to cook my way through these quick and easy meals found in The New York Times. Check out more of Mark Bittman's columns here. As a consequence of my unusual work hours, I find myself too often turning to prepared foods and occasional stops at fast-food restaurants. A personal goal of mine is to be more thoughtful and conscious about the foods I eat. It's encouraging to know that it is possible to cook wholesome meals using fresh ingredients, without spending too much time and money.

Easter dinner

1-2. Decorating eggs.

3. Eggshell vases.

4-6. Dinner table.

7. Easter baskets.

Chocolate whoopie pies

I baked these delicious chocolate whoopie pies this past weekend for Easter. I used a recipe from the Chicago Tribune that was adapted from "Making Whoopies: The Official Whoopie Pie Book" by Nancy Griffin. The whoopie pie is said to have originated in New England but the exact location is still debated. My favorite story is of Amish women who would bake the desserts and pack them in their children's lunches. When the children opened their lunchboxes and saw the chocolate treat, the would yell, "Whoopie!".

Chocolate Whoopie Pies

Prep:1 hour   Cook: 12 minutes   Makes: 2 dozen

For the pies:                             1. Heat oven to 350. Mix together flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and salt

2 cups flour                                in a mixer bowl. Add egg, oil, and vanilla; slowly beat in milk until

1 cup sugar                                 combined, about 2 minutes.

1/3 cup cocoa

1 tsp baking soda                  2.  Drop batter by tablespoons onto parchment-lined baking sheets, leaving

1/4 tsp salt                                  room for spreading. Bake 12 minutes. Cool completely on wire racks.

1 egg

1/3 cup salad oil                    3.  For filling, combine all ingredients in a bowl; beat until smooth. Spread

1 tsp vanilla                                about 2 tablespoons of the filling per cookie on the flat side of half of the

3/4 cup milk                               cookies. Top with remaining cookie to make sandwiches.

Filling:

1 stick butter

1 cup each: confectioners'

   sugar, marshmallow cream

1 tsp vanilla

1/8 tsp salt

The recipe makes 2 dozen smaller whoopie pies; I wanted to make some larger ones also, so I just dropped larger scoops of batter on the baking sheets. For the filling, I had to double the recipe to have enough for all the pies and used a pastry bag to pipe the filling onto the cookies. 







Lost treasures

Guess your weight chair from Coney Island and print blocks

 

Antique tiles

m&m and action figure molds

It was cold and wet today in Chicago but Talitha and I braved the lousy weather to do some antique shopping. We grabbed some breakfast at Bagels on Damen and then spent the morning browsing the massive collection of treasures at Architectural Artifacts. They have an insane collection of found objects, both beautiful and bizarre. We saw antique tiles, religious artifacts, false teeth, tigers, and many more weird and wonderful things. It was a fun way to spend a rainy afternoon.

*Pictures taken with my phone. Excuse the poor photo quality!

New napping spot

Pablo loves to sit by the sink and watch the running water. Apparently, now, he also likes to relax IN the sink. He looks a little annoyed that I'm disturbing him. 

Modern Vintage Chicago

Christine and I spent the afternoon on Sunday browsing vintage fashion at the Modern Vintage market. There were so many vendors it was a little overwhelming. I especially liked the huge collection of Louis Vuitton handbags and luggage. The vendor even had a Louis Vuitton vest on! Christine snagged a pair of earrings for her wedding but I, unfortunately, went home empty handed. I had my eye on a cute leather satchel but someone else got to it before me. After shopping, we grabbed a cup of coffee at Chicago's Legal Cafe, a cafe/law firm where you can get coffee and council at the same time. We went back to Christine's apartment to watch a depressing documentary about the state of education in the United States and then cheered ourselves up with some sushi at South Coast Sushi. It was such a fun day!

Fork

My friend E and I tried Fork in Lincoln Square a couple weeks ago. They have a massive beer and wine menu and we each ordered a beer flight and an order of french mussels. For dinner, I had the chicken burger with brie, baby arugula, apple, and fennel. I had expected the food to be somewhat mediocre but it was actually pretty amazing. Fork is at 4600 N. Lincoln Ave.

Chapel of the Resurrection

Chapel of the Resurrection

My brother and I attended a luncheon at the University Club of Chicago for our alma mater, Valparaiso University. The president was there to give a presentation of his vision for the future of the University. He spoke of his first official day as President of the University. With no appointments on his calendar he spent the afternoon reflecting in the Chapel, the centerpiece and heart of the campus. His story brought back memories of all the times I spent in the chapel, good and bad, during my years on campus. The chapel was where we all gathered on 9/11 to be together and try to make sense of the awful tragedy. It was a concert hall for countless Symphony performances. I mourned the loss and celebrated the life of a dear friend and classmate there. And it was a place of song and dance during Songfest.

goodbye

My dear friends, E and Kristen, made the move from Chicago to Kansas City on Friday. I was so very sad to see them go but couldn't be more thrilled for them as they begin this new chapter in their life. Looking forward to visiting them and their new home this summer!

As E was packing up her apartment, she found this funny drinking game we made back in college. I think it was pretty creative!

Shamrock Shuffle

 

 


Christine and I ran in the Shamrock Shuffle 8k on Sunday along with 40,000 other people. I forgot my camera but snapped a couple pictures on my phone at the post race party. I've been dealing with a knee injury which has been super frustrating but I was determined to run so with a lot of R.I.C.E, Ibuprofin, epsom salt baths, rosemary oil, stretching, and tons of caffeine on race day, I made it to the finish line. Despite the knee pain, it was a lot of fun and I was proud to run on behalf of the Chicago Diabetes Project. Looking forward to the next race!

Museum of Contemporary Art

My friend Lauren and I met at the Museum of Contemporary Art last week to take advantage of their Tuesday free day. It was fun to catch up and wander around the museum, but I'm still partial to the Art Institute of Chicago. Later, we had a vegan meal at Karyn's Cooked.

15 minute Doughnuts

I made these quick doughnuts last week using this recipe from Real Simple. Using store-bought biscuits makes these a cinch to whip up. They were delicious! 
Love this doughnut recipe roundup at Design Crush. Can't wait to try some of these! 

Chicago French Market



My good friend, Talitha, and I met for breakfast at the Chicago French Market last week. I had been wanting to check it out for quite awhile and it is also #8 on my 28 before 28 list. We enjoyed a couple crepes from FliP Crepes and I bought some macarons to take home from Vanille Patisserie. I will definitely be going back again to try some gelato.