Good Reads

Christoph Niemann live-illustrates his experience while running the New York Marathon.

DIY Cranberry Liqueur.

This video made me smile.

Pay for cuddle time with friendly felines at a Cat Cafe in Japan.

Check out the 2011 issue of Gifted Magazine for gift giving inspiration.

Tis the Season

It's finally time to put up Christmas decorations, start blasting holiday music, and bake Christmas cookies. This year I'm hoping to celebrate the season with these festive Chicago events:

It's a Wonderful Life and White Christmas double feature at the Music Box Theatre

Christkindl Market

The Nutcracker

ZooLights at Lincoln Park Zoo

Ice Skating in Millenium Park

Breakfast buffet at the Walnut Room

Dysfunctional Holiday Revue at Second City

What are you looking forward to this holiday season?



Sonic Arboretum

Looking forward to checking out this new installation at the Museum of Contemporary Art.

Giving Thanks



Via

Today I'm thankful for...


MusicBreakfast Clubchristmas carolsburgers
PIEblack catsa toasty apartmentlongs walkstap shoes
good bookscoffeetwinkle lightsdancing

...but above all family and friends.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

The burger search continues...

Last time we were at The Butcher and the Burger, we overheard a fella remark that he had just eaten the best burger of his life. I'm not prepared to make that declaration, but I will admit it was darn good. 

The Time Hack

The Time Hack is a project created by journalist, Matt Danzico. Research suggests that one's perception of time differs when one engages in a new experience, rather than a mundane and repetive task. Danzico aims to explore this idea by engaging in a new experience everyday for an entire year. He records his percieved time and memory of the event, which is then compared to the actual recorded time.

Good Reads

A Very She & Him Christmas album.

New season of Arrested Developement on Netflix.

What composer would you invite to Thanksgiving dinner?

What a fun wedding!

Stay updated about Chicago events with this calendar.

Fun website suggests a drink to go along with the music you're listening to.

The Kitten Covers

Album covers recreated with kittens = too funny.






Via {The Kitten Covers}

This is a love note...

...to the incredibly charming Charlie Fink of Noah and the Whale. You stole my heart at Saturdays show at Lincoln Hall. The voice, the hair, the witty banter...sigh. Your show was incredible. Come back soon.

Love,
Heather

P.S. Lincoln Hall, you're not bad either.

*Thanks to Christine and her iPhone for the photos.

Dose Market

Christine and I spent last Sunday afternoon browsing the Dose Market at the beautiful River East Arts Center. The monthly market features a variety of fashion and artisan food vendors. The adventure continued with lunch at Grahamwich and dessert at Hub51. Another Sunday well spent!

Good Reads

Filene's Basement is going-out-of-business after more than 100 years.

I kind of wish I worked here.

Digging these prints.

Yummy fall cocktail.

Ever wonder how they installed the huge Christmas tree at Marshall Fields, I mean, Macy's?



Inside Marina City

Goldberg's Marina City Towers are pretty fascinating. Because of the corncob design of the towers, each apartment is shaped like a slice of pie, having almost no interior right angles.

Iker Gil and Andreas E.G. Larsson spent more than two years documenting the lives of residents in the towers for the project, Inside Marina City. The resulting photographs provide a behind-the-scenes look into the diverse living spaces and the people who live there.

 

The best tortilla soup ever...

So Talitha has been talking about this amazing tortilla soup from Los Nopales and I finally tried it this past week. She wasn't kidding...this soup is delicious...diced chicken, avocado, cilantro, sour cream and tortilla strips...doesn't get much better than that.



Happy Hour

Bonnie and I mixed up these Cinnamon Snaps drinks last week for our girls night. We definitely had more fun mixing these up than drinking them. Anyone want to come over and drink the rest of the apple schnapps?

Cinnamon Snaps

Makes 2 drinks

3 oz. Vodka

2 oz. apple schnapps

1/4 c. Apple cider

1/4 c. Sugar

1/2 t. ground cinnamon

Add Vodak, schnapps and cider to cocktail shaker; shake well with ice.

In shallow bowl, mix sugar and cinnamon. Moisten rims of 2 champagne flutes and coat with the cinnamon and sugar. Strain cocktail into the flutes. 

Good Reads

PopArt posters of your favorite designers.

90s nostalgia. Pop Up Video is back!

Chicago by boat: A timelapse journey.

The Beer Belly of America.

Rahm Emanuel: A Progressive in the Age of Austerity.

50 States Challenge

Remember the Friends episode where Ross tries to name all 50 states in 6min.? He misses Thanksgiving dinner because he's determined to remember them all....in the end it was Delaware he was missing. Bonnie and I decided to try it for ourselves so we set a timer and made our lists. I was pretty confident before we started that I could list them all but it was harder than I thought. When the timer went off we were both about 7 states shy of 50. The state we were both missing....Vermont. 

Girls' Night

Bonnie came over on Friday night for some quality girl time. There was pizza, cocktails that we had more fun making than drinking, caramel apples, and more pizza. It was a fantastic night!