fancy lunch

Last week was Administrative Professionals Week! One of the attorney's I work with was super sweet and set up a day to take us all out to a fancy pants lunch.  She belongs to the Metropolitan Club in the Sears Tower, and she brought us up the the 67th floor for the lunch buffet!

I didn't take any pictures of the food.

 (I wanted to but I didn't want to embarrass anybody I was with!), but I did take some pictures of the sweet view . . .

(I took this picture with a panorama app on my phone - it's way cool)

It was so fun to leave the office for a bit, and indulge in some shrimp and taquitos!!!

Also, I don't know what it's all about but there's a fun yarn installation outside the Sears Tower.

Does anyone know why??

donuts make me go nuts

Every once in a while at work (i.e. when it's someones birthday) we get to take a break, hang out, and get a little sugar buzz.  We've always alternated between cupcakes, fancy french pastries from Ogilvie Station, or cream puffs from Beards Papa's.  All are delightful choices, but now there's a new sugar boss in town, and his name is Do-Rite.

Do-Rite Donuts opened up at the end of February this year.  It's located in a tiny spot cut out from the storefront of Petterino's, and Boy-George is it delicious!!

I come from the land of Voodoo Donuts, so I'm no stranger to the gourmet and unusual in a donut, but I'm here to tell you that these deep-fried dough-rings do not disappoint! 

My favorite would have to be the Old Fashion. As basic as it is, Do-Rite does it so perfectly that you can't deny it's deliciousness.  They have all the classics, chocolate frosted, boston cream, vanilla glazed, and then they have some you won't find at your corner donut store, like their peanut butter and jelly, lemon custard poppy seed, and cinnamon crunch.  

We have yet to try it at work but they do (much like Voodoo) have a bacon maple donut.  The ladies aren't too keen on meat with their sweets, but maybe next time I'll sneak one in.

If you live in Chicago, and have a sweet tooth, then head on over to Do-Rite. Just make sure it's not too late, their last fry is at 11am.

Donuts and Champagne.

I'm the classiest broad I know.

a dose of my weekend

I hope everyone had a fantabulous weekend, because The Morning Man and I sure did.

We decided to check out Dose Market on Sunday.  I had to meet someone in the area, so we thought, why not!

Dose is a monthly fancy flea market.  It's hosted in the River East Art Center (near Navy Pier) and the vendors include a range of food, fashion, and home goods.

 It costs 10$ to get in so from the beginning they set themselves up for a more buyer friendly crowd, as opposed to most fleas or fairs I've been to which are free to enter but might tend to draw in more "window shoppers" than people ready to spend.

(honor & folly)

(the rebuilding exchange)

(with your 10$ to enter you also got a free drink ticket!)

As soon as you walk in you get the feeling that the girls who run Dose Market are a little more selective in their vendors than other gatherings of this kind.  The whole event has a classy and cohesive aesthetic.  The tables aren't packed to the gills, and even the patrons seem to fit the merchandise . . . no one is underdressed.  

I definitely enjoyed myself, but it was a little to rich for my blood, so I didn't end up with a new outfit, or a full stomach, but we didn't leave empty handed.

On our way out The Man spotted an Alfajores stand.  His step-dad is from Argentina and a few Christmases ago The Man spent two weeks in Mar del Plata visiting his family for the holidays. He loved every bit of it, but his favorite part was the food. Steaks, red wine, and alfajores.  We barely got out the door before we consumed the sweet treat.

I tried to save the rest for dessert after dinner, but that didn't quite work out.  Alfajores are an Argentinian treat made out of dulce de leche sandwiched between two buttery, crumbly cookies and dipped in either dark chocolate, white chocolate, or rolled in coconut.  Lucila's doesn't have a store, but we were excited to learn that they're always at the Logan Square farmers market.  

Seriously, if you have the chance to eat a home-made alfajores, do not pass it up!!

When we finally left the Market it was time for some lunch.  We drove around town trying to come up with a spot we hadn't been before. Unfortunately it was that golden hour on Sundays when most restaurants close to transition from lunch to dinner.  We were just about to give up and head over to our regular pizza spot when a bright sign caught our eye.  All we saw was the word "MELT."

And It was Delicious.  

Thankfully I had a lactose pill, because there is no such thing as a cheese-less sandwich at MELT. 

I got the Autostrada (olive oil and sea salt ciabatta with mortadell, capicola ham, sopressata salami, procuitto, melted provolone and hot giardiniera).

And The Man got the Detroit (1/2 vienna corned beef and 1/2 vienna roast beef with swiss cheese horseradish cream and arugula on a roll)

It was worth every penny. . . and the potential stomachache.

happy easter!

We had a blast this weekend!

We did a little bit of everything . . . 

I did my Easter nails

We painted some Easter eggs

And we ate some Easter food

Happy Bunny Day Everyone!

bloga-joba-versary

Holy Guacamole!

It's my 2 year workiversary and my 1 year bolgiversary.
How the heck did that happen?

It's hard to tell where the time went.  One year ago today I wrote this post. I still feel the way I did then, I've been a little better at pushing myself to be creative in my personal time, but still there's something missing. A feeling of self-satisfaction? Of accomplishment? Or maybe just the ability to believe it when I tell myself there will be more than this. You get a little disillusioned when you sit in a florescent lit box for too long. I know I have to change something, but where do you even begin?

I'm still excited about this blog, and I still feel (as I said back in July) that it is a great motivator.  But I need to take it further. It's so easy to come home, sink into the couch and stare at a screen all night, and it's so easy to sleep the weekends away. Seriously, So. Easy. But I really have got to get my patootie off this couch and do something productive with my time (yes dad, you've been right all along).

I have so many ideas running though my head but I'm always putting things on hold until there's more time, space, money, and so on in the never ending list of excuses.  I'm somehow frozen by the fear that this is it, that I've found my career . . . and it's beige.

The funny part is how common these feelings are.  Just about everyone goes through it and, for the most part, gets past it.  I read at least one story a week about someone clawing their way out of the depths of their cubicle. It's frustrating being in the middle of a problem and knowing the possible solution but not being able to bring yourself to the execution.  All it takes is doing. But it's so much easier to sit. I've been a sitter for almost 25 years. So, what's it going to take to get me to stand up?

. . .  welcome to a quarter life crisis

truth

so so so so so funny
so so so so so true
check it out

plain and clean

So, for the first time, I let a holiday slip by without doing something fun and crazy to my nails.  They're just plain and clean . . .

. . .

APRIL FOOL's!

I painted them to look like they weren't painted!!

Then I quickly took it off, cuz it were ugly (the "nail color" I chose was way too brown).

But I found my new favorite polish to play with

Matte about you by ESSIE.  It's a top coat that makes your nails matte instead of all shiny.  From what I've seen on the interwebs it looks best over Navy, it kinda gives it a velvety look.