Things have been pretty hectic for us in the last few weeks, so please accept our apologies for the spotty blogging.
We are in the middle of many travels for both of us, as Michelle had conferences in Banff and New Orleans. I joined Michelle in New Orleans toward the end of the conference, and we had a very enjoyable couple of days. Not surprisingly for us, we didn't have much planned in the way of sightseeing, but we did manage to eat a lot. Check out our Picasa Page for pictures and comments. (For the record, we don't normally take this many pictures at restaurants, but Michelle insisted since we were "on vacation". I think she originally wanted to write more, but we just haven't had time.
It's been less than 2 weeks since we got back from NOLA, but we are heading to the airport in less than 2 hours, on our way to 2 weeks in Japan. Stay tuned...
Showing posts with label OFT. Show all posts
Showing posts with label OFT. Show all posts
Friday, May 1, 2009
Monday, January 26, 2009
OFT No. 17 - Visit from Val
Ok, so the last reported OFT was the river cruise, and clearly we've done many other fun things since then, but I've been lazy about posting on them! To name a few: Ashley came to visit on a job interview (how do I not have any photos of this?!), a holiday fried-food party, a Conor Oberst show, and a play at the Steppenwolf, "The Seafarer" with one of my favorites, John Mahoney. Seriously, we're not totally lame :)
Val came to town for the weekend, even though the day before she arrived we had the coldest day on record this year! But, being the proud Canadian that she is, she didn't mind a bit. We didn't have much planned other than to eat and catch up, anyway. She got in late Friday. Saturday started out with brunch at Frontera Grill with the three of us and Donald, and then she and I spent several hours doing some damage to the shops on State Street (woohoo!)
Val's general food request for the weekend was "tasty" with one specific request for deep dish pizza. So after we tired of shopping, we called Brian and he met us at Gino's East downtown. We don't eat deep dish much (for the sake of our arteries!) but it definitely hits the spot once in a while. Copious amounts of cheese, sausage, and crunchy bready crust... yum! After that, we went home and watched Wall-E (thanks for bringing it, Val!) and ate bowlfuls of ice cream with some imported crushed-up Skor bar.
Sunday we started with lunch at an Indian restaurant on Devon that was new to us, and quite yummy. We had gotten tickets to a play at the Royal George Theater for 5pm, so we headed home for a couple of hours. For some reason I really wanted to make cookies with my new cookie gun (a wedding present I haven't gotten around to using yet), so I whipped up a dough and baked off a couple of batches. Once again, no pictures, but I'll definitely take some the next time I make them, because they are pretty neat! The kitchen looks like a little cookie factory, with all the shapes lined up in rows. Maybe I'll make some next weekend when I'm feeling better, and post about it. They weren't bad for a first try, and I threw a bunch in a baggie to take with us to the play.
The play, "Don't Dress for Dinner" was pretty terrific. It is a silly relationship farce with a lot of action, laughs and miscommunications. Brian whispered to me at one point, that it was a "long episode of Frasier" - nothing but praise to my ears. We were excited to see it because it got good reviews in the Trib, and also because one of the actors was Jeffrey Donovan, who stars in a new TV show that we like (Burn Notice). Right before the end of the first act, one of the actresses slipped on some spilled sauce (the spill was part of the play, the slip was not) and it was quite hilarious. The actors fought not to break character, but in the end they all burst out laughing as the lights went out. That's what's great about live theater (and boxed chocolates) - you never know what you're gonna get!
Dinner afterward was at a Thai restaurant that we discovered a little while ago (the same one we went to with Ashley) that has some great, authentic dishes that are new to us. One of my favorites is "naem khao thawt" which is this delicious deep fried rice salad with "pressed ham." So good. Back at home, we had more ice cream (heehee) and played some Wii.
I am really bad at taking pictures these days, I keep forgetting. So the only pic I have from the whole weekend is this one:
Val and Brian playing Monkeyball "Simon Says"
Note the concentration required.
Oh! and you can see some of the cookies I made in the bottom right corner.
Love ya Val! Sending you lots of good thoughts!
Val came to town for the weekend, even though the day before she arrived we had the coldest day on record this year! But, being the proud Canadian that she is, she didn't mind a bit. We didn't have much planned other than to eat and catch up, anyway. She got in late Friday. Saturday started out with brunch at Frontera Grill with the three of us and Donald, and then she and I spent several hours doing some damage to the shops on State Street (woohoo!)
Val's general food request for the weekend was "tasty" with one specific request for deep dish pizza. So after we tired of shopping, we called Brian and he met us at Gino's East downtown. We don't eat deep dish much (for the sake of our arteries!) but it definitely hits the spot once in a while. Copious amounts of cheese, sausage, and crunchy bready crust... yum! After that, we went home and watched Wall-E (thanks for bringing it, Val!) and ate bowlfuls of ice cream with some imported crushed-up Skor bar.
Sunday we started with lunch at an Indian restaurant on Devon that was new to us, and quite yummy. We had gotten tickets to a play at the Royal George Theater for 5pm, so we headed home for a couple of hours. For some reason I really wanted to make cookies with my new cookie gun (a wedding present I haven't gotten around to using yet), so I whipped up a dough and baked off a couple of batches. Once again, no pictures, but I'll definitely take some the next time I make them, because they are pretty neat! The kitchen looks like a little cookie factory, with all the shapes lined up in rows. Maybe I'll make some next weekend when I'm feeling better, and post about it. They weren't bad for a first try, and I threw a bunch in a baggie to take with us to the play.
The play, "Don't Dress for Dinner" was pretty terrific. It is a silly relationship farce with a lot of action, laughs and miscommunications. Brian whispered to me at one point, that it was a "long episode of Frasier" - nothing but praise to my ears. We were excited to see it because it got good reviews in the Trib, and also because one of the actors was Jeffrey Donovan, who stars in a new TV show that we like (Burn Notice). Right before the end of the first act, one of the actresses slipped on some spilled sauce (the spill was part of the play, the slip was not) and it was quite hilarious. The actors fought not to break character, but in the end they all burst out laughing as the lights went out. That's what's great about live theater (and boxed chocolates) - you never know what you're gonna get!
Dinner afterward was at a Thai restaurant that we discovered a little while ago (the same one we went to with Ashley) that has some great, authentic dishes that are new to us. One of my favorites is "naem khao thawt" which is this delicious deep fried rice salad with "pressed ham." So good. Back at home, we had more ice cream (heehee) and played some Wii.
I am really bad at taking pictures these days, I keep forgetting. So the only pic I have from the whole weekend is this one:
Val and Brian playing Monkeyball "Simon Says"Note the concentration required.
Oh! and you can see some of the cookies I made in the bottom right corner.
I took Val to the airport on Monday morning (MLK day). It was a very short but very sweet visit, and made me hope that I can head west to LA again soon.
Friday, September 26, 2008
OFT No. 16 - Architecture River Cruise with Donald
Since Donald's birthday was last Friday, we took him on a cruise on the Chicago river last weekend. These architecture cruises are quite well-known and one of the 'touristy' things that are actually worthwhile. We weren't able to go last year, because we didn't look into it until pretty late; they sell out in advance and only run into the fall. Several different companies run these tours, but I have a membership with the Chicago Architecture Foundation and have heard that theirs are the best, so we went with them.
The tour is 90 minutes, which is quite a long time but I felt like it only touched upon the plethora of amazing buildings that shoot up along the river. Downtown Chicago has probably the most amazing architecture in the country, much of it built after the 1871 fire. Many of the buildings were designed by a few architects/firms, so there is some thematic continuity among them. (I was pretty proud of myself for guessing that the Amoco building was designed by the same architect who did Waite Philips Hall on USC campus.) Our guide, a volunteer docent, worked in water management so we got to hear quite a bit about the development of the river and its effect on the growth of the city.
I only took a few photos, because if I snapped every cool shot, there would have been way too many. Here are a few:
Here we are, ready to embark!
One of my favorites, 333 Wacker Drive. I like it even more
The view from some of the condos downtown, which
The tour is 90 minutes, which is quite a long time but I felt like it only touched upon the plethora of amazing buildings that shoot up along the river. Downtown Chicago has probably the most amazing architecture in the country, much of it built after the 1871 fire. Many of the buildings were designed by a few architects/firms, so there is some thematic continuity among them. (I was pretty proud of myself for guessing that the Amoco building was designed by the same architect who did Waite Philips Hall on USC campus.) Our guide, a volunteer docent, worked in water management so we got to hear quite a bit about the development of the river and its effect on the growth of the city.
I only took a few photos, because if I snapped every cool shot, there would have been way too many. Here are a few:
Here we are, ready to embark!
One of my favorites, 333 Wacker Drive. I like it even moreknowing that it was used in the movie Ferris Bueller's
Day Off (as Ferris' Dad's office building)!
Day Off (as Ferris' Dad's office building)!
The view from some of the condos downtown, whichwill soon be blocked by yet more condos.
Another nice skyline view
Another of my favorites, the United building. I didn't
take this picture myself, it's from here
Another nice skyline view
Another of my favorites, the United building. I didn'ttake this picture myself, it's from here
One advantage of the cruise is that you get to see buildings that would be hard to reach otherwise. I'm really glad we got to do it (finally!) and I even think it would be fun to go again - I'm sure the tour is pretty variable from docent to docent, and the downtown cityscape is always changing with buildings going up and coming down.
OFT No. 15 - Chicago White Sox vs. Detroit Tigers
The chair of my department has seasons tickets to everything in Chicago - baseball, basketball, hockey, football, opera, you name it. He generously gives many of these tickets away to faculty throughout the year. Before the wedding, he offered to treat Brian and I to a couple of games but both times we had to decline because we were busy (I always felt bad - who wants to repeatedly deny their department chair?!?!). Finally he offered us tickets on a day that we were free, so a couple of weeks ago after some uncertainty due to rain issues, we found ourselves sitting in left field at US Cellular Field. He has 4 seats, so he and my boss were there too.
We're not the hugest baseball fans, especially on TV, but almost any sport is fun to watch live. This game was not too interesting at first - the White Sox were up 7-0 through I think 7 innings, but the Tigers scored a few runs and got a grand slam to tie it at 7-7. Tense, right?! Well, in the next half-inning, the Sox fought right back with their own grand slam, and that was that. Pretty exciting!
We live so close to Wrigley Field (we can see into it from the living room) but game days are more of an annoyance than anything, given the amount of blue-clad fans that clog the roads around the stadium. We *may* even root against them making it into the playoffs... (sorry! But game nights make my drive home twice as long!) Like I said, watching sports live is pretty fun because you get caught up in the action (even if you have never cheered for the team a day in your life). I'm thinking we just might have to go to a Cubs game or two while we're here. Brian probably disagrees... definitely a Blackhawks game, though!
We're not the hugest baseball fans, especially on TV, but almost any sport is fun to watch live. This game was not too interesting at first - the White Sox were up 7-0 through I think 7 innings, but the Tigers scored a few runs and got a grand slam to tie it at 7-7. Tense, right?! Well, in the next half-inning, the Sox fought right back with their own grand slam, and that was that. Pretty exciting!
We live so close to Wrigley Field (we can see into it from the living room) but game days are more of an annoyance than anything, given the amount of blue-clad fans that clog the roads around the stadium. We *may* even root against them making it into the playoffs... (sorry! But game nights make my drive home twice as long!) Like I said, watching sports live is pretty fun because you get caught up in the action (even if you have never cheered for the team a day in your life). I'm thinking we just might have to go to a Cubs game or two while we're here. Brian probably disagrees... definitely a Blackhawks game, though!
Thursday, September 25, 2008
OFT No. 14 - LTH Forum picnic
Ok, I have a few OFTs to rattle off for you. Yes, we've been having fun, just not posting about it!
Here in Chicago, there is a very active online community called LTHForum, which is all about (what else?) food. It's similar to Chowhound, which I used to be a part of (kind of) when we were in California. Basically, if you have any kind of question (or opinion) about a restaurant, you will find information about it on here. There are also boards about recipes and cooking, and lots of other, food-related topics. Brian prefers to lurk and not post, but I like to post once in a while when I feel like I can contribute. We found out about LTH pretty soon after moving here, and have started using it quite a bit in our culinary adventures.
The people who frequent the boards are a pretty large but tight group, and seem quite friendly - in cyberspace, at least. There are always in-person events happening, and we decided we should begin to take part. Usually, it's just someone inviting others to join them at a restaurant, so maybe 10 or so people would go. But we decided to jump into the deep end, and make our first event the "Annual Picnic," a potluck affair held at a park picnic site. The signup for the event had almost 100 people on it!
There were dozens of dishes: homemade sausages, 'dragon turds' (incredibly spicy grilled chorizo-stuffed jalapenos wrapped in bacon), cucumber melon salad, homemade charcuterie, dreamy orange dessert squares, yak, deviled ostrich eggs, incredibly good kefta, braised raccoon, cherry pie, and so on and so on. You can see in the picture, that several long tables were heaving from all the food. Everytime we got up to walk around, new dishes appeared! Someone even brought a durian, but the smell was so offensive (to some) that they had to cut it open at a picnic table far away from the rest of the crowd. We brought cheese rolls (if the academia thing ever doesn't work out, Brian could be a bread baker) and Butter tart bars.
Here are a few photos of the day:
The spread... appears to go on forever, doesn't it?
People brought their smokers and grills for on-site preparations.
There was even a pinata for the kids! A chile pepper, no less...
It was a great foray into a new world, and we are excited to attend more events soon.
Random photo of the day - on our way home from the picnic, we spotted this auto insurance company beauty.
I wonder if their premiums are as retro as their sign?
Here in Chicago, there is a very active online community called LTHForum, which is all about (what else?) food. It's similar to Chowhound, which I used to be a part of (kind of) when we were in California. Basically, if you have any kind of question (or opinion) about a restaurant, you will find information about it on here. There are also boards about recipes and cooking, and lots of other, food-related topics. Brian prefers to lurk and not post, but I like to post once in a while when I feel like I can contribute. We found out about LTH pretty soon after moving here, and have started using it quite a bit in our culinary adventures.
The people who frequent the boards are a pretty large but tight group, and seem quite friendly - in cyberspace, at least. There are always in-person events happening, and we decided we should begin to take part. Usually, it's just someone inviting others to join them at a restaurant, so maybe 10 or so people would go. But we decided to jump into the deep end, and make our first event the "Annual Picnic," a potluck affair held at a park picnic site. The signup for the event had almost 100 people on it!
There were dozens of dishes: homemade sausages, 'dragon turds' (incredibly spicy grilled chorizo-stuffed jalapenos wrapped in bacon), cucumber melon salad, homemade charcuterie, dreamy orange dessert squares, yak, deviled ostrich eggs, incredibly good kefta, braised raccoon, cherry pie, and so on and so on. You can see in the picture, that several long tables were heaving from all the food. Everytime we got up to walk around, new dishes appeared! Someone even brought a durian, but the smell was so offensive (to some) that they had to cut it open at a picnic table far away from the rest of the crowd. We brought cheese rolls (if the academia thing ever doesn't work out, Brian could be a bread baker) and Butter tart bars.
Here are a few photos of the day:
The spread... appears to go on forever, doesn't it?
People brought their smokers and grills for on-site preparations.
There was even a pinata for the kids! A chile pepper, no less...It was a great foray into a new world, and we are excited to attend more events soon.
Random photo of the day - on our way home from the picnic, we spotted this auto insurance company beauty.
I wonder if their premiums are as retro as their sign?Thursday, August 14, 2008
OFT No. 13 - Two Weddings and a Little Waterfall
The first two weekends in August meant two weddings at opposite ends of the country. The first was Scott and Sonya's, in Ithaca, NY. Sonya was my labmate at USC, and we've kind of led parallel lives over the last little while. We defended our dissertations within about a month of each other, got engaged around the same time, and were planning our weddings at the same time too. Neither Brian nor I had ever been to Ithaca, so it was neat to be able to go out there and see Cornell and the area. It was a beautiful wedding, despite the threat of thundershowers all weekend. The rains did come down, but not until we were safely in the tent at the reception (and then they made for some fun moments, like seeing Sonya and Scott running through the grass under a big umbrella). Here are a few pics from the weekend:
The new husband and wife!
Us with Mr. and Dr. Lundy/Negriff at their Sunday picnic.
The suspension bridge connecting the north and south parts
of Cornell campus.
The view from the suspension bridge, one of many gorges around Ithaca
(whence comes the saying, "Ithaca is Gorges" on all those T-shirts).
The view looking East (Canada is just across the bridge!)
And now we've moved West. All that white behind Brian is mist
The new husband and wife!
Us with Mr. and Dr. Lundy/Negriff at their Sunday picnic.
The suspension bridge connecting the north and south partsof Cornell campus.
The view from the suspension bridge, one of many gorges around Ithaca(whence comes the saying, "Ithaca is Gorges" on all those T-shirts).
Congrats Sonya and Scott! Welcome back from Belize!
On the way to the Buffalo airport on Sunday, we stopped at Niagara Falls to check out the natural wonder and gaze longingly at Canada just across the way.
The view looking East (Canada is just across the bridge!)
And now we've moved West. All that white behind Brian is mist coming up from the falls.
So then we were home for a short 4 days before heading to the airport again, this time on our way to Tucson, where the temperature in August is usually a pretty unforgiving 105 or so. It ended up being a bit cooler than that - but it was really humid as it was 'monsoon season,' apparently. This time, the happy couple was (Brian's cousin) Michelle and Jesse, and it was fun to see some of his (my!) family. Their ceremony was in a new-ageish Catholic church which had a neat set up that had the guests facing toward the center rather than the front. I don't have a really good picture from it because I tend to be too shaky when I'm excited or emotional, but here are a few from that weekend.
The beautiful bride!
The hubs doing the honors of ordering at Sonic between the ceremony
and reception. I love Sonic! Word on the street is that the first Chicagoland
outpost opens next week, near the outlet stores, no less... sweeeeeeeet!
The couple and the bride's parents on the grounds of the Tucson
Country Club, where the reception was held.
The fam! Aunt Wendy, Donald, Peggy, Yeye and us.
A pretty desert sunset.
The beautiful bride!
The hubs doing the honors of ordering at Sonic between the ceremonyand reception. I love Sonic! Word on the street is that the first Chicagoland
outpost opens next week, near the outlet stores, no less... sweeeeeeeet!
The couple and the bride's parents on the grounds of the Tucson Country Club, where the reception was held.
The fam! Aunt Wendy, Donald, Peggy, Yeye and us.
A pretty desert sunset.And after that, we ate cake, lost a jacket, and danced till dawn. Ok, more like midnight or so, but it was a really fun night. Congratulations Michelle and Jesse! Hope you are having a wonderful time on your honeymoon in Italy!
That's it for Wedding Season 2008, the BEST wedding year ever (I say with only the slightest of biases). No more trips planned till October, when we return to old stomping grounds and head to San Francisco. Frankly, all the travel we've been doing lately was getting a little tiring! But one of the things I took away from planning our own wedding was how meaningful it was that people made the effort to come, so it is was definitely our pleasure to be able to attend these two lovely events.
That's it for Wedding Season 2008, the BEST wedding year ever (I say with only the slightest of biases). No more trips planned till October, when we return to old stomping grounds and head to San Francisco. Frankly, all the travel we've been doing lately was getting a little tiring! But one of the things I took away from planning our own wedding was how meaningful it was that people made the effort to come, so it is was definitely our pleasure to be able to attend these two lovely events.
Friday, June 6, 2008
OFT No. 12 - Pastamaking
***We interrupt the regularly scheduled Wedding Recap Posts to bring you this breaking story...***
That's right, OFTs have returned! We are back to normal life, having wrested our nights and weekends from the hungry jaws of the wedding planning monster. Don't get me wrong, I had a LOT of fun planning and creating for the wedding, but it was always a little hard knowing that I was spending months upon months getting things ready for an event that would last just a day or two. In hindsight, I am so glad that we put all the effort that we did into the details, and honestly, if we were to do it again, I wouldn't do anything less. Sadly, I'd probably do more :)
But, with that said, it's superawesome to be able to relax in the evenings, to just watch TV without exacto knife in hand, and to make plans for other things with other people.
This Fun Thing came courtesy of one of our wedding gifts, the pasta roller attachments for our new Kitchenaid stand mixer. Ever since these babies arrived on our doorstep last month, Brian has been thinking about it, and anxiously awaiting the day we could put them to use. (I don't want to single people out for gift-giving, but thank you, you know who you are!)
We made regular old egg pasta, in the shapes of a handcut papardelle and a machine-cut fettucine. The pasta was great - nice and toothy. Brian preferred the fettucine, but I love me a wide noodle. We did a really simple alfredo sauce so the pasta could be the star of the show, and it was a great first batch! Without further ado, some photos of this adventure in noodleland:
That's right, OFTs have returned! We are back to normal life, having wrested our nights and weekends from the hungry jaws of the wedding planning monster. Don't get me wrong, I had a LOT of fun planning and creating for the wedding, but it was always a little hard knowing that I was spending months upon months getting things ready for an event that would last just a day or two. In hindsight, I am so glad that we put all the effort that we did into the details, and honestly, if we were to do it again, I wouldn't do anything less. Sadly, I'd probably do more :)
But, with that said, it's superawesome to be able to relax in the evenings, to just watch TV without exacto knife in hand, and to make plans for other things with other people.
This Fun Thing came courtesy of one of our wedding gifts, the pasta roller attachments for our new Kitchenaid stand mixer. Ever since these babies arrived on our doorstep last month, Brian has been thinking about it, and anxiously awaiting the day we could put them to use. (I don't want to single people out for gift-giving, but thank you, you know who you are!)
We made regular old egg pasta, in the shapes of a handcut papardelle and a machine-cut fettucine. The pasta was great - nice and toothy. Brian preferred the fettucine, but I love me a wide noodle. We did a really simple alfredo sauce so the pasta could be the star of the show, and it was a great first batch! Without further ado, some photos of this adventure in noodleland:
Thursday, February 7, 2008
OFT No. 11 - Our First Weekend Visitor!
Ok, wow, it's been a long time since I posted anything. I'm glad Brian has been doing his share - but maybe it's time for something non-foodcentric!
As you may have noticed, with wedding planning and work getting pretty busy, official OFTs are becoming a little less frequent. OFT 11 was a goodie though, as it lasted several days long! You've already heard that our friend Jen was in town for an interview, and spent a couple of days extra with us. Unfortunately her arrival was at the mercy of the weather and O'Hare airport (worst airport ever), and so she arrived about 5 hours later than she was supposed to.
Speaking of weather - recently, Chicago has been kind of crazy. It was really cold when Jen was in town, then it warmed up (in the 50s!) and now it's a snowy, slushy wonderland. Today saw snowfall all day, a lot of which stuck to the ground, and a lot of which turned into puddles of slush. Thank goodness for my winter outfit - floorlength sleeping bag coat, and waterproof, furry boots. It makes the walk to my office almost enjoyable - I like to reminisce about the neighborhood-wide snowball fights of yore as I'm making fresh tracks in the Midway snow.
Anyway, back to Jen's visit. As you know from Brian's post we had a nice dinner at Frontera Grill on Friday night. We didn't get home from dinner until rather late, and Saturday was supposed to be really cold, so we didn't plan on doing much Saturday. Oddly enough, we ended up doing quite a bit. Jen had also requested deep dish pizza, so we went to Lou Malnati's for a sausage and mushroom casserole (that's what I call 'em - I don't think they'll ever be pizza to me). It was pretty good, but all agreed that it could have been more flavorful - sorry Lou. After that, we decided to head out to the Museum of Science and Industry just off the campus of UChicago. We got there at 3:15. Unfortunately, it closes at 4pm! So instead, we decided to just drive around campus a bit. I love my campus, it's really lovely with lots of ivy and gothic influences. I should take some pics and write about it some time.
To get a little culture in, we stopped at the Frank Lloyd Wright Robie house, which is just on the edge of campus (and in fact served as housing for the theological school at some point). The tour was pretty interesting, and the 2nd floor of the house is really quite lovely. We had to use our imaginations a bit because they are going through some major restoration work, but the tour guide was obviously very knowledgeable and spoke lovingly about FLW and his work.
Neato art glass windows in the Robie House
After that we went to my office just for fun (Brian hadn't even seen it yet!) and, apparently, to exasperate the security guard on duty :) On the way home, we hit another of Jen's excellent requests, a Vosges chocolate location. Vosges is a fancy chocolate company based in Chicago that offers interesting flavors - they have a Bacon bar - yup, exactly as it sounds. Happily, they had several samples out, of which we (I) took full advantage. We tried some truffles with chile, wasabi, balsamic vinegar, and curry. Jen and I also opted for their "drinking chocolates" - mine was an ultra-rich, thick and creamy concoction that I couldn't finish (gasp)! It reminded me of the dipping chocolates I had in France, though not quite that thick. (Wait, wasn't this post supposed to be non-foodcentric?!?!)
We decided to take it easy that night, eating leftovers and renting Superbad. The movie was funny enough, though a little too... um... phallo-centric (?) for me. But it starred our beloved Michael Cera, of OFT No. 10 fame, so it was still worth it. He's just too adorable.
And just like that, our fun weekend came to a close. We took Jen to the airport on Sunday morning, and then it was off to get our groceries for the week. Sigh, back to normal. Well, all good things must come to an end. Thanks to Jen for distracting us from real life for a weekend!
Any other potential visitors out there? Come one, come all - we'd love to have you!
As you may have noticed, with wedding planning and work getting pretty busy, official OFTs are becoming a little less frequent. OFT 11 was a goodie though, as it lasted several days long! You've already heard that our friend Jen was in town for an interview, and spent a couple of days extra with us. Unfortunately her arrival was at the mercy of the weather and O'Hare airport (worst airport ever), and so she arrived about 5 hours later than she was supposed to.
Speaking of weather - recently, Chicago has been kind of crazy. It was really cold when Jen was in town, then it warmed up (in the 50s!) and now it's a snowy, slushy wonderland. Today saw snowfall all day, a lot of which stuck to the ground, and a lot of which turned into puddles of slush. Thank goodness for my winter outfit - floorlength sleeping bag coat, and waterproof, furry boots. It makes the walk to my office almost enjoyable - I like to reminisce about the neighborhood-wide snowball fights of yore as I'm making fresh tracks in the Midway snow.
Anyway, back to Jen's visit. As you know from Brian's post we had a nice dinner at Frontera Grill on Friday night. We didn't get home from dinner until rather late, and Saturday was supposed to be really cold, so we didn't plan on doing much Saturday. Oddly enough, we ended up doing quite a bit. Jen had also requested deep dish pizza, so we went to Lou Malnati's for a sausage and mushroom casserole (that's what I call 'em - I don't think they'll ever be pizza to me). It was pretty good, but all agreed that it could have been more flavorful - sorry Lou. After that, we decided to head out to the Museum of Science and Industry just off the campus of UChicago. We got there at 3:15. Unfortunately, it closes at 4pm! So instead, we decided to just drive around campus a bit. I love my campus, it's really lovely with lots of ivy and gothic influences. I should take some pics and write about it some time.
To get a little culture in, we stopped at the Frank Lloyd Wright Robie house, which is just on the edge of campus (and in fact served as housing for the theological school at some point). The tour was pretty interesting, and the 2nd floor of the house is really quite lovely. We had to use our imaginations a bit because they are going through some major restoration work, but the tour guide was obviously very knowledgeable and spoke lovingly about FLW and his work.
Neato art glass windows in the Robie HouseAfter that we went to my office just for fun (Brian hadn't even seen it yet!) and, apparently, to exasperate the security guard on duty :) On the way home, we hit another of Jen's excellent requests, a Vosges chocolate location. Vosges is a fancy chocolate company based in Chicago that offers interesting flavors - they have a Bacon bar - yup, exactly as it sounds. Happily, they had several samples out, of which we (I) took full advantage. We tried some truffles with chile, wasabi, balsamic vinegar, and curry. Jen and I also opted for their "drinking chocolates" - mine was an ultra-rich, thick and creamy concoction that I couldn't finish (gasp)! It reminded me of the dipping chocolates I had in France, though not quite that thick. (Wait, wasn't this post supposed to be non-foodcentric?!?!)
We decided to take it easy that night, eating leftovers and renting Superbad. The movie was funny enough, though a little too... um... phallo-centric (?) for me. But it starred our beloved Michael Cera, of OFT No. 10 fame, so it was still worth it. He's just too adorable.
And just like that, our fun weekend came to a close. We took Jen to the airport on Sunday morning, and then it was off to get our groceries for the week. Sigh, back to normal. Well, all good things must come to an end. Thanks to Jen for distracting us from real life for a weekend!
Any other potential visitors out there? Come one, come all - we'd love to have you!
Thursday, December 20, 2007
OFT No. 10 - Triple date!
Last weekend we didn't have plans for Friday or Saturday night, but ended up going on a triple date with two couples from Brian's lab. We went for dinner and a movie in Evanston (how cliche is that?!)
Dinner was at the Dixie Kitchen & Bait Shop, a Southern/Cajun restaurant that Brian and I
found when we stayed at Donald's apartment during the apartment hunt. Their bread basket consists of ultra-yummy mini cornmeal pancakes (with honey butter), and they make a mean fried chicken. Big portions and pretty good service - and no, no bait.
Then we watched Juno, a movie about a teenager who gets pregnant after sleeping with her best friend, and the way she deals with it. We were particularly excited about the movie because of the cast. The actors included not just one, but two of the stars of our favorite and very sadly now-defunct TV show, Arrested Development. That would be Michael Cera (a Canadian) and Jason Bateman, of course. The main star of the movie is Ellen Page, (another Canadian) who's getting good press. She was good, though we thought that the script was a little overwrought - she was a little too smart-alecky too much of the time. Michael Cera's character was fairly central to the movie, though he didn't have that many lines or screen time. The scenes he was in, though, were great, due in no small part to the ultra-flimsy running shorts that he sported for most of them. They were cringingly delightful. Jennifer Garner did a somewhat surprisingly good job, though Jason Bateman wasn't terribly believable as an aging rock musician. (Eh, don't feel sorry for him - it's his comeuppance for the snubbage he inflicted upon me and some friends at a film premiere a couple of years ago...some of us are still rather bitter about it...)
Anyway, go see it. It has an interesting soundtrack, a pretty good story, and some very promising young Canadians. What could be better? Oh, in case you're not convinced, take a look at these gams:
Need I say more?
Dinner was at the Dixie Kitchen & Bait Shop, a Southern/Cajun restaurant that Brian and I
found when we stayed at Donald's apartment during the apartment hunt. Their bread basket consists of ultra-yummy mini cornmeal pancakes (with honey butter), and they make a mean fried chicken. Big portions and pretty good service - and no, no bait.
Then we watched Juno, a movie about a teenager who gets pregnant after sleeping with her best friend, and the way she deals with it. We were particularly excited about the movie because of the cast. The actors included not just one, but two of the stars of our favorite and very sadly now-defunct TV show, Arrested Development. That would be Michael Cera (a Canadian) and Jason Bateman, of course. The main star of the movie is Ellen Page, (another Canadian) who's getting good press. She was good, though we thought that the script was a little overwrought - she was a little too smart-alecky too much of the time. Michael Cera's character was fairly central to the movie, though he didn't have that many lines or screen time. The scenes he was in, though, were great, due in no small part to the ultra-flimsy running shorts that he sported for most of them. They were cringingly delightful. Jennifer Garner did a somewhat surprisingly good job, though Jason Bateman wasn't terribly believable as an aging rock musician. (Eh, don't feel sorry for him - it's his comeuppance for the snubbage he inflicted upon me and some friends at a film premiere a couple of years ago...some of us are still rather bitter about it...)
Anyway, go see it. It has an interesting soundtrack, a pretty good story, and some very promising young Canadians. What could be better? Oh, in case you're not convinced, take a look at these gams:
Need I say more?
Thursday, December 13, 2007
OFT No. 9 - Fried Turkey, With a Side of Guitar Hero
This goes back to last weekend. Was this really our first OFT in December? Yikes! Well, the weekend before was when the snow hit, so we stayed holed up in our apartment. I did a bunch of craft-y stuff, which to me is a VERY fun thing (a VFT?), but not really worth bjourning about.
So last weekend we had a bona fide OFT, which was going to Brian's labmate Jenni's house for hijinks and fried turkey! Now, I've had fried turkey before, but it never fails to be really fun to watch. For one thing, it takes less than an hour to cook, which is nice. The best thing though, is seeing the bird go in the oil. It roils like crazy, bubbling and spitting loudly (much like the insane piranhas I encountered in an olive grove in Morocco... but that's another story).
So last weekend we had a bona fide OFT, which was going to Brian's labmate Jenni's house for hijinks and fried turkey! Now, I've had fried turkey before, but it never fails to be really fun to watch. For one thing, it takes less than an hour to cook, which is nice. The best thing though, is seeing the bird go in the oil. It roils like crazy, bubbling and spitting loudly (much like the insane piranhas I encountered in an olive grove in Morocco... but that's another story).
Here's the turkey going in (that's Randy, Jenni's husband):
Randy was quickly engulfed in the steam (it was pretty cold outside):
There was plenty of tasty food (we made macaroni and cheese, and turned some of it into fried mac 'n cheese balls) and dessert - just like any proper holiday party.
While the food was being prepared, some of the guys were setting up the ubiquitous Guitar Hero. If you haven't been exposed to this phenomenon yet, you should try it. We were first introduced to this by Jackie and Jon playing Frets on Fire (a PC version) on their keyboard - before they got the 'guitar.' What, you've never seen a keyboard being used as a guitar before?!?
They burned us a DVD and we played it with my keyboard. Unfortunately, I have a very big ergonomoic keyboard, so it just wasn't the same! The game guitar is not like an actual instrument where the output is digitized, it's really just a joystick in guitar form. You have 'frets,' a strum bar and a whammy bar. You don't have to know anything about reading music or even notes - it's more of a rhythm game than anything.
We sort of had a competition, but it just devolved into random people picking random songs and playing, while the rest of us watched, mesmerized. Style points were also given if the player did something especially noteworthy (like playing behind their back).
Here's Brian rocking out:
And me:
Baby Ming approves:
There was also a White Elephant gift exchange, where we ended up with a cookie cookbook (not bad, not bad) and some reusable shopping bags (useful, especially since we're really trying to cut down on plastic bags).
Fun times, and a good kickoff to the holiday party season.
There was also a White Elephant gift exchange, where we ended up with a cookie cookbook (not bad, not bad) and some reusable shopping bags (useful, especially since we're really trying to cut down on plastic bags).
Fun times, and a good kickoff to the holiday party season.
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
OFT No. 8 - Happy 11.5 Years!
This week was another multiple-OFT sort of one. It started off with going to the opera with Donald. No, Brian didn't go. No, we didn't even ask him if he wanted to. Yes, he's ok with that.
The opera was Handel's Julius Caesar at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. When Donald mentioned that there countertenors involved, I knew we were in for an interesting ride. (Countertenors are often men who sing in the soprano range, modern day castrati essentially.) It was a strange night. It was 4 hours, 48 minutes of very facetious staging. Caesar was written in 1707, and let me just say, I'm not sure how Handel would feel about the inclusion of warships, blimps, the Charleston, and a Cleopatra costume worthy of a Vegas showgirl. Anyway, interesting evening, nonetheless. Every review I've read of it has been positive, so... I guess I'm the weakest link.
Anyway, the real OFT of the weekend was Saturday, which was our 11 and a half-year anniversary! To celebrate, we got tickets to see The Crucible at the Steppenwolf, Chicago's famous ensemble theater. Gary Sinise is a co-founder, and a lot of well-known actors have been a part of it (my personal favorite: John Mahoney, aka Frasier's dad, Martin Crane). The play is a powerful commentary on persecution, innocence, and mob mentality, and this version was pretty well done. Yeah, I'll admit it, I cried a couple of times (but really, that doesn't say much now does it?) A few of the main actors were away, which was most noticeable in the performance of the understudy for Mr. Parris. Eeek. Overall though, it was nicely staged and emotional. Hard to go wrong with such a great text!
After the play we had dinner - thanks to our dear, sweet friends Mike and Misha. As a graduation/housewarming gift, they had sent us a gift certificate to an Italian restaurant that was quite close to the Steppenwolf, so we headed over and had a nice dinner of crab-stuffed shrimp with sauteed spinach, and Vitello di Franco. Everything was tasty, and the restaurant seems to be pretty popular, as it was packed the whole time we were there. Thanks Cohens!!!
So that's the OFT report. Sunday was spent working wedding stuff. I got to break out my ol' Gocco machine, which is a screenprinting press from Japan that is really neat. Hopefully I'll have some more free time to do other things with it, since it is really fun and you can get pretty creative with it.
Well, I hope everyone is having fun getting ready for the Thanksgiving holiday! We'll be cooking up our usual feast, and bjourning about it after the fact. Also, we just got the second Bacon-of-the-Month installment yesterday, so stay tuned!
The opera was Handel's Julius Caesar at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. When Donald mentioned that there countertenors involved, I knew we were in for an interesting ride. (Countertenors are often men who sing in the soprano range, modern day castrati essentially.) It was a strange night. It was 4 hours, 48 minutes of very facetious staging. Caesar was written in 1707, and let me just say, I'm not sure how Handel would feel about the inclusion of warships, blimps, the Charleston, and a Cleopatra costume worthy of a Vegas showgirl. Anyway, interesting evening, nonetheless. Every review I've read of it has been positive, so... I guess I'm the weakest link.
Anyway, the real OFT of the weekend was Saturday, which was our 11 and a half-year anniversary! To celebrate, we got tickets to see The Crucible at the Steppenwolf, Chicago's famous ensemble theater. Gary Sinise is a co-founder, and a lot of well-known actors have been a part of it (my personal favorite: John Mahoney, aka Frasier's dad, Martin Crane). The play is a powerful commentary on persecution, innocence, and mob mentality, and this version was pretty well done. Yeah, I'll admit it, I cried a couple of times (but really, that doesn't say much now does it?) A few of the main actors were away, which was most noticeable in the performance of the understudy for Mr. Parris. Eeek. Overall though, it was nicely staged and emotional. Hard to go wrong with such a great text!
After the play we had dinner - thanks to our dear, sweet friends Mike and Misha. As a graduation/housewarming gift, they had sent us a gift certificate to an Italian restaurant that was quite close to the Steppenwolf, so we headed over and had a nice dinner of crab-stuffed shrimp with sauteed spinach, and Vitello di Franco. Everything was tasty, and the restaurant seems to be pretty popular, as it was packed the whole time we were there. Thanks Cohens!!!
So that's the OFT report. Sunday was spent working wedding stuff. I got to break out my ol' Gocco machine, which is a screenprinting press from Japan that is really neat. Hopefully I'll have some more free time to do other things with it, since it is really fun and you can get pretty creative with it.
Well, I hope everyone is having fun getting ready for the Thanksgiving holiday! We'll be cooking up our usual feast, and bjourning about it after the fact. Also, we just got the second Bacon-of-the-Month installment yesterday, so stay tuned!
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
OFT No. 7 - Dumpling Party!
That's right, this week we had a food-related OFT, as some of you have been clamoring for. I'm still sad that I didn't get to go to Hotlanta, but instead we got to make dumplings!
First off, you should know that I am a dumpling FIEND. I don't think I've ever met a dumpling I didn't like, and I'm always up for trying more, or eating the same ones over and over again! Favorites include: Din Tai Fung soup dumplings (xiao loong bao), pierogies (with grilled onions and a little bacon - which reminds me, Bacon-of-the-Month #2 should be on its way soon), gnocchi, and the super cheap ubiquitous pork and veggie dumplings we got in China (something like 20 for a dollar!)
Making dumplings is a fun activity for us, because it's easy and of course, at the end you get to eat superyummy pockets of goodness. You can really put whatever you want in them, but we like to follow a recipe we copied out of a Ming Tsai cookbook, Pork and Ginger Potstickers. We don't make the dumpling skins ourselves, because you can easily find wrappers at the market (certainly at Asian markets, and I think maybe even at big supermarkets). It's pretty easy to prepare everything, and then you can get down to the filling and wrapping.
Ok ok, on to the photographic evidence!
All prepped and ready to go. It kind of looks like bibimbap, doesn't it? Let the mixing begin!
Now it looks like a giant meatball. A very very cold, frostbite-inducing giant meatball:
The wrapping station. You want to have a floured surface for your finished dumplings so they don't stick, and eggwash to help seal them:
Pleats may be out when it comes to pants, but they are definitely the way to go for dumplings (I just think it looks nice and professional, but Brian says it helps with the seal). Brian is a master at this - look how beautiful that is! We couldn't find plain wrappers, so we tried these green 'vegetable' ones (I forgot to look at the ingredients, but there was no noticeable difference in taste).
Oh yeah, we also did spring rolls. I love Vietnamese imperial rolls, or cha gio, especially when made with rice wrappers, because they have this lovely crisp-chewiness that is so satisfying. You can see the set up in this picture - the wrappers come in dried sheets that you need to re-hydrate in hot water (the pasta bowl at the top). I didn't take a pic of the package, but these are the same ones I used, if you're interested. Then they're pliable and translucent (you can see one in mid-wrap on the cutting board), and ready to roll! These are the same wrappers that are used for Summer Rolls - if you use ingredients like beansprouts, vermicelli noodles and shrimp that are pre-cooked or don't need to be, you'd be done at this point. Ours, however, were destined for a trip into a shallow pan of hot oil...
My preciousssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss:
And the finished products!
Sooo good, and now we have plenty of dumplings in the freezer for lazy-dinner days. Or, erm, any day, really. YUM.
First off, you should know that I am a dumpling FIEND. I don't think I've ever met a dumpling I didn't like, and I'm always up for trying more, or eating the same ones over and over again! Favorites include: Din Tai Fung soup dumplings (xiao loong bao), pierogies (with grilled onions and a little bacon - which reminds me, Bacon-of-the-Month #2 should be on its way soon), gnocchi, and the super cheap ubiquitous pork and veggie dumplings we got in China (something like 20 for a dollar!)
Making dumplings is a fun activity for us, because it's easy and of course, at the end you get to eat superyummy pockets of goodness. You can really put whatever you want in them, but we like to follow a recipe we copied out of a Ming Tsai cookbook, Pork and Ginger Potstickers. We don't make the dumpling skins ourselves, because you can easily find wrappers at the market (certainly at Asian markets, and I think maybe even at big supermarkets). It's pretty easy to prepare everything, and then you can get down to the filling and wrapping.
Ok ok, on to the photographic evidence!
All prepped and ready to go. It kind of looks like bibimbap, doesn't it? Let the mixing begin!
Now it looks like a giant meatball. A very very cold, frostbite-inducing giant meatball:
The wrapping station. You want to have a floured surface for your finished dumplings so they don't stick, and eggwash to help seal them:
Pleats may be out when it comes to pants, but they are definitely the way to go for dumplings (I just think it looks nice and professional, but Brian says it helps with the seal). Brian is a master at this - look how beautiful that is! We couldn't find plain wrappers, so we tried these green 'vegetable' ones (I forgot to look at the ingredients, but there was no noticeable difference in taste).
Oh yeah, we also did spring rolls. I love Vietnamese imperial rolls, or cha gio, especially when made with rice wrappers, because they have this lovely crisp-chewiness that is so satisfying. You can see the set up in this picture - the wrappers come in dried sheets that you need to re-hydrate in hot water (the pasta bowl at the top). I didn't take a pic of the package, but these are the same ones I used, if you're interested. Then they're pliable and translucent (you can see one in mid-wrap on the cutting board), and ready to roll! These are the same wrappers that are used for Summer Rolls - if you use ingredients like beansprouts, vermicelli noodles and shrimp that are pre-cooked or don't need to be, you'd be done at this point. Ours, however, were destined for a trip into a shallow pan of hot oil...
My preciousssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss:
And the finished products!
Sooo good, and now we have plenty of dumplings in the freezer for lazy-dinner days. Or, erm, any day, really. YUM.
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
OFT No. 6 - The Museum of Contemporary Art
Sorry, yes, have been neglectful in the past couple of weeks. I like how the absence of OFT posts makes people contact me and ask "oh no! Does this mean you're not having any fun?"** It's just been kind of busy recently, and last weekend one of us was not feeling well so we took it easy. All is well now, not to worry.
Last weekend (ok, two weekends ago), we felt like getting a little cultured up, so we headed to the Chicago MCA. Smartie Brian noticed that it is free for forty days to celebrate 40 years of being open. Score!
The MCA is actually pretty small. The building itself is not really impressive, unlike other museums where the edifice is a work of art in its own right. The main temporary exhibition was called "Sympathy for the Devil: Art and Rock and Roll since 1967" which sounded so promising! But it wasn't really that great. We joined a tour, and while the docent obviously knew her stuff about the pieces and the artists, she didn't really have that rock 'n roll kinda feeling, you know? Also, it seemed like they mostly were showcasing music and art from the 60s and 70s. I think the 80s and 00s could have used a lot more press (I am kind of willing to skip much of the 90s...shhhh...not all of it). One cool thing was that they set up a recording booth that anyone could book, so it was like a performance and a demo session all in one.
The rest of the museum was just kind of eh, although they had a nice exhibit of Calder mobiles (Brian: "I wouldn't want that in my house"). I would!
The lowlight of the museum was a performance art piece that just involved a male/female couple making out in various positions. I'm sure it was supposed to make us aware of our discomfort (or arousal?) at such a public display of affection, or our immaturity. Yeah, I'll admit it, I giggled. It was just odd though, and I kept wondering a) if they had a whole lot of chapstick stashed somewhere; and b) what would happen if someone plunked down beside them and starting making out too.
Anyway, that was about it. Then I dragged Brian to an art supply store for some more canvas. We met Donald for dinner at a Mexican/Cuban resto, where I had some decidedly awesome pork chops (size of my head! perfectly cooked! on top of sweet potatoes!) Portions are definitely not lacking in this corner of the world.
**Since starting work at the U of Chicago, I have since learned that it is often referred to as the place "where fun goes to die"... sigh.
Last weekend (ok, two weekends ago), we felt like getting a little cultured up, so we headed to the Chicago MCA. Smartie Brian noticed that it is free for forty days to celebrate 40 years of being open. Score!
The MCA is actually pretty small. The building itself is not really impressive, unlike other museums where the edifice is a work of art in its own right. The main temporary exhibition was called "Sympathy for the Devil: Art and Rock and Roll since 1967" which sounded so promising! But it wasn't really that great. We joined a tour, and while the docent obviously knew her stuff about the pieces and the artists, she didn't really have that rock 'n roll kinda feeling, you know? Also, it seemed like they mostly were showcasing music and art from the 60s and 70s. I think the 80s and 00s could have used a lot more press (I am kind of willing to skip much of the 90s...shhhh...not all of it). One cool thing was that they set up a recording booth that anyone could book, so it was like a performance and a demo session all in one.
The rest of the museum was just kind of eh, although they had a nice exhibit of Calder mobiles (Brian: "I wouldn't want that in my house"). I would!
Polychrome and Horizontal Bluebird
The lowlight of the museum was a performance art piece that just involved a male/female couple making out in various positions. I'm sure it was supposed to make us aware of our discomfort (or arousal?) at such a public display of affection, or our immaturity. Yeah, I'll admit it, I giggled. It was just odd though, and I kept wondering a) if they had a whole lot of chapstick stashed somewhere; and b) what would happen if someone plunked down beside them and starting making out too.
Anyway, that was about it. Then I dragged Brian to an art supply store for some more canvas. We met Donald for dinner at a Mexican/Cuban resto, where I had some decidedly awesome pork chops (size of my head! perfectly cooked! on top of sweet potatoes!) Portions are definitely not lacking in this corner of the world.
**Since starting work at the U of Chicago, I have since learned that it is often referred to as the place "where fun goes to die"... sigh.
Monday, October 22, 2007
OFT No.5 - Music To Our Ears
This week we actually did TFTs - three fun things!
First, was the Bright Eyes concert on Friday night, at the Chicago theater. This was a highly anticipated show for me, because I just love Bright Eyes. The frontman, Conor Oberst, is one of the best lyricists around these days, and I was excited to see if he put on a good show, too. The theater was beautiful, an old baroque movie palace. Our seats were awesome, we paid just a little extra and got box seats rather than balcony and it was so worth it. Soloist Andrew Bird opened the show, and reminded us a lot of Final Fantasy, who opened for Bloc Party when we saw them last year. His stuff was very inventive - any given song included several layers of looping, whistling, singing, guitar, glockenspeil, and two very interesting looking, er... instruments:
He had a nice voice and obviously was multi-talented, but after about 3 songs it got a little repetitive.
Bright Eyes on the other hand was really good, though Conor seemed sick, drinking lots of water and telling us about how he was cold all day. Listening to a BE album, you might think it's just him, but there were two other guitars, a drummer and a keyboardist. It was good fun, they sounded good and played no less than 3 of their war-protest songs. It struck me during the concert, as it has a couple of times before while listening to one of their albums, that they sometimes have more of a folky/country sound than I would ever usually go for. But that's only on a few songs, and regardless, the lyrics are too good to pass up. They didn't play my favorite song, unfortunately, but Brian sweetly put it on our mm50 iPod player when we got home.
The second OFT of the weekend was Donald's first orchestra concert at Northwestern on Saturday night. They played 3 pieces - a Brahms overture, a Brahms concerto for violin and cello and a Dvorák symphony. It was a good, free evening of culture (thanks Donald!)
Finally, the third OFT was going out for dinner with Brian's lab (including his boss) to celebrate some good news about a grant application. We went to Opera, a restaurant housed in an old film storage warehouse in the south loop. On Sundays and Tuesdays they have a prix fixe, which is a pretty great deal relative to the prices of each of their dishes. We had a fun night chatting with Weiss labbers and stuffing ourselves silly!
A pretty busy weekend, as you can see. Not sure what's up for next week, but my Chicago Architecture Foundation membership finally showed up, so perhaps we'll try to go on the architecture river cruise...
First, was the Bright Eyes concert on Friday night, at the Chicago theater. This was a highly anticipated show for me, because I just love Bright Eyes. The frontman, Conor Oberst, is one of the best lyricists around these days, and I was excited to see if he put on a good show, too. The theater was beautiful, an old baroque movie palace. Our seats were awesome, we paid just a little extra and got box seats rather than balcony and it was so worth it. Soloist Andrew Bird opened the show, and reminded us a lot of Final Fantasy, who opened for Bloc Party when we saw them last year. His stuff was very inventive - any given song included several layers of looping, whistling, singing, guitar, glockenspeil, and two very interesting looking, er... instruments:
He had a nice voice and obviously was multi-talented, but after about 3 songs it got a little repetitive.
Bright Eyes on the other hand was really good, though Conor seemed sick, drinking lots of water and telling us about how he was cold all day. Listening to a BE album, you might think it's just him, but there were two other guitars, a drummer and a keyboardist. It was good fun, they sounded good and played no less than 3 of their war-protest songs. It struck me during the concert, as it has a couple of times before while listening to one of their albums, that they sometimes have more of a folky/country sound than I would ever usually go for. But that's only on a few songs, and regardless, the lyrics are too good to pass up. They didn't play my favorite song, unfortunately, but Brian sweetly put it on our mm50 iPod player when we got home.
The second OFT of the weekend was Donald's first orchestra concert at Northwestern on Saturday night. They played 3 pieces - a Brahms overture, a Brahms concerto for violin and cello and a Dvorák symphony. It was a good, free evening of culture (thanks Donald!)
Finally, the third OFT was going out for dinner with Brian's lab (including his boss) to celebrate some good news about a grant application. We went to Opera, a restaurant housed in an old film storage warehouse in the south loop. On Sundays and Tuesdays they have a prix fixe, which is a pretty great deal relative to the prices of each of their dishes. We had a fun night chatting with Weiss labbers and stuffing ourselves silly!
A pretty busy weekend, as you can see. Not sure what's up for next week, but my Chicago Architecture Foundation membership finally showed up, so perhaps we'll try to go on the architecture river cruise...
Sunday, October 14, 2007
OFT No.4 - Interpol at the Aragon
This week's OFT was seeing Interpol live in concert. In LA and San Francisco we were pretty successful in going to a number of shows, and I was in part excited about Chicago because I felt like we would have plenty of opportunities to see live bands here as well. We bought these tickets during the summer - and I've been anticipating a fun evening ever since.
The Aragon theater is pretty interesting, it is huge and kind of reminded us of an amusement park ride - sort of "It's a Small World"-style. There was open seating upstairs - next time I might try to get there early to get the really good seats.
The opening act, The Liars, was pretty terrible. The music was jarring and obnoxious, and the lead singer's voice was awwwwful. However, he was very entertaining, with a lot of groovy dancing. As for Interpol, though they aren't my favoritest band ever, I do like them a fair bit. Their album Antics has some really key songs, and the new album Our Love to Admire is growing on me. I have to say, their set was technically excellent. I think it was the best sounding concert I've ever been to. No off notes, no patchy bits, no uncomfortable lowgrade feedback. Everything was clear and crisp, a really enjoyable listen. That said, I would say they were solid. They only played for about an hour before they left the stage the first time, which I was disappointed about, but the encore was pretty long. It was in the encore that they got a little innovative - during the main set they pretty much played straight from the albums, and it would have been nice to hear a little more creativity earlier on. Brian remarked that "their songs are too similar." I can understand that, but the quality of the sound made up for that for me.
In all, a good evening out and a nice OFT. Next week we have tickets to Bright Eyes - I can't wait!
The Aragon theater is pretty interesting, it is huge and kind of reminded us of an amusement park ride - sort of "It's a Small World"-style. There was open seating upstairs - next time I might try to get there early to get the really good seats.
The opening act, The Liars, was pretty terrible. The music was jarring and obnoxious, and the lead singer's voice was awwwwful. However, he was very entertaining, with a lot of groovy dancing. As for Interpol, though they aren't my favoritest band ever, I do like them a fair bit. Their album Antics has some really key songs, and the new album Our Love to Admire is growing on me. I have to say, their set was technically excellent. I think it was the best sounding concert I've ever been to. No off notes, no patchy bits, no uncomfortable lowgrade feedback. Everything was clear and crisp, a really enjoyable listen. That said, I would say they were solid. They only played for about an hour before they left the stage the first time, which I was disappointed about, but the encore was pretty long. It was in the encore that they got a little innovative - during the main set they pretty much played straight from the albums, and it would have been nice to hear a little more creativity earlier on. Brian remarked that "their songs are too similar." I can understand that, but the quality of the sound made up for that for me.
In all, a good evening out and a nice OFT. Next week we have tickets to Bright Eyes - I can't wait!
Sunday, October 7, 2007
OFT No.3 - The Magnificent Mile
This week's OFT was not that exciting, we just went downtown to the "Magnificent Mile" which is a major shopping strip on Michigan Avenue. As with pretty much everywhere in Chicago, there is neat architecture to be seen, such as the Hancock building. But, that deserves its own post - preferably after we have gone on one of the architecture river cruises. I'm just waiting for my Chicago Architecture Foundation membership to kick in, hopefully before it gets really cold.
So not much to report, OFT-wise. Shopping isn't quite the same with Brian as it is with my usual partners in crime (you know who you are) - it's generally a lot quicker and more goal-directed. Saturday we did some research on a winter jacket for Brian, and I finally bought a jewelry box, something I have been looking for forever. Just so that you are not picture-less, here is a photo of it. I was looking for something modern and sleek, which this totally isn't, but it has all the room I needed and actually fits in pretty well with the orange walls of our bedroom. It's kind of charming though, I think.
So not much to report, OFT-wise. Shopping isn't quite the same with Brian as it is with my usual partners in crime (you know who you are) - it's generally a lot quicker and more goal-directed. Saturday we did some research on a winter jacket for Brian, and I finally bought a jewelry box, something I have been looking for forever. Just so that you are not picture-less, here is a photo of it. I was looking for something modern and sleek, which this totally isn't, but it has all the room I needed and actually fits in pretty well with the orange walls of our bedroom. It's kind of charming though, I think.
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
OFT No.2 - Pumpkin Picking
On Saturday, we picked up one of Brian's labmates and her husband and drove North to a pumpkin farm. I think the original plan was to go apple and pumpkin picking but there was a family festival going on so we did that instead. A few other labmates joined up, and we quickly noticed that it was very family-oriented; we may have been the only group there without kids in tow (at least until we were joined by yet another of Brian's labmates with her family, complete with a 4-year old and a baby).
Here's the group on a 'shortbus':
Jackie, Jenni, Brian, Charlie, Jon, and Yuan.
As you might expect, there were lots of pumpkins!
Big ones you could cuddle up with:
and giant ones that might take over the world:
(actually it's a really little one that I'm holding up opportunistically)
They had already harvested a bunch of them and put them in organized piles for you to choose from, but we paid extra and went on a tractor hayride that took us out into the field. We were so excited when they stopped to let us pick pumpkins, only to realize that the ones next to the road weren't connected to any vines - it looked like they'd just driven along the path and tossed a few pumpkins out of the truck. I'm sure the guy in the tractor was snickering as he watched us "pick" our pumpkins..."he he he, city slickers, he he he..."
Of course you need a little red radio flyer wagon to cart around your orange treasures:
but you can't take it with you into the 3-mile corn maze:
It was a fun, g-rated day and we came home with a couple of beauties.
What's going to be our OFT next weekend? I don't know for sure, but Brian just cut out a Filene's Basement coupon for me... hmmm...
Here's the group on a 'shortbus':
As you might expect, there were lots of pumpkins!
Big ones you could cuddle up with:
and giant ones that might take over the world:
They had already harvested a bunch of them and put them in organized piles for you to choose from, but we paid extra and went on a tractor hayride that took us out into the field. We were so excited when they stopped to let us pick pumpkins, only to realize that the ones next to the road weren't connected to any vines - it looked like they'd just driven along the path and tossed a few pumpkins out of the truck. I'm sure the guy in the tractor was snickering as he watched us "pick" our pumpkins..."he he he, city slickers, he he he..."
Of course you need a little red radio flyer wagon to cart around your orange treasures:
but you can't take it with you into the 3-mile corn maze:
It was a fun, g-rated day and we came home with a couple of beauties.
What's going to be our OFT next weekend? I don't know for sure, but Brian just cut out a Filene's Basement coupon for me... hmmm...
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