All Mirth, No Matter in Magical Realism

Last Wednesday I worked downtown, did power flow yoga, went to sushi with A, three martinis (!) at Art Bar after dinner, then late night Corner Bistro.

Woke up around 7am on Thursday, and headed to the airport. Plane to Chicago was filled with male bodybuilders, luckily none sitting next to me. Checked into hotel, did battle ropes circuit class followed by candlelight yoga. Rushed back to hotel to shower and get ready as fast as I could. Headed for work drinks at South Branch Tavern. Do not recommend. Every single food item had cheese, fried onions, and/or "buffalo" sauce on it - I am not kidding. Got some facetime in with everyone I wanted to chat with, then grabbed a cab and headed to Wicker Park to meet up with Red!!!

I really liked the Wicker Park neighborhood, and the bar, The Violet Hour was great too. Perfect choice. I had read about this place from a few Chicago faves, so was really excited to go. Red had prepped me on finding the door, which was unmarked and located in the middle of this big, colorful, every fun mural! Red came down the block and of course I recognized her immediately. This was a HUGE day for Red as she'd just defended her dissertation that morning, plus had recently received and accepted an exciting new job offer. So much to toast to!!!

We were extremely sensible and kept it to two cocktails each though: - For Red: Dark & Stormy and a "Long Tall Sally" (Pineapple-Infused Beefeater gin, Lemon, Dolin Blanc, Luxardo Maraschino, Chipotle Bitters) - For me: An Old-Fashioned and "Corrupt But Correct" (Banks 5 Island rum, Cynar, Zacapa 23, Absinthe, and Chocolate-Cherry Bitters)

If I go back, I need to try the Cake in a Jar next time. Overall it was such a nice night with a warm, smart, and interesting lady.

Friday morning came way too early with meetings starting at 7:30am. Ugh. Other than the early start, day went well, and before I knew it I was heading back to the airport. Got home around 10pm and just vegged with A - I think we watched American Ninja Warrior.

Spent the day in bed on Saturday - again, I was just zonked with allergies. I got up for a 5pm vinyasa class, then got showered and ready to go out. We went for dinner at Melibea for a lavish three course meal: - A had the mussels and a glass of crisp white wine, - I started with the burrata with fresh green peas over charred bread with a "Gin & Smile" cocktail, made of prosecco, St. Germain, grapefruit juice, gin, and a sprig of rosemary. Very light and fresh!
- For our mains A did the grilled skirt steak with a glass of red, - I had sea bass with a "Paper Romance" which was Campari, rye, Fernet-Branca, ginger and lemon. So good! I love anything with Campari.
- For dessert A had the goats milk cheesecake and the "Anise Resolution" (Applejack, ouzo, mint, pineapple, lime, and orange water) and - I did the chocolate mousse (served in a mason jar so almost Cake in a Jar?!) and a glass of port.

We had an 8pm reservation and didn't leave until almost 11 - very leisurely! After dinner we had a walk around the neighborhood and a drink at Wallflower before heading to bed at a reasonable hour.

Sunday we got up fairly early, did laundry, then breakfast around 10am. It was really nice. After that we walked all around town doing errands, then home for a mid-day nap. I headed out for vinyasa yoga around 5pm again, and then we had a nice lazy Sunday evening together. I baked two kinds of chicken - the ginger/olive oil/lemon one I did last week, plus a new one for A that was kind of like chicken fingers. It was chicken tenders dipped in beaten egg, then dredged in a mix of cayenne pepper, whole wheat flower, and TVP for crunchiness. He really liked it!

Monday was uneventful, it was my coordinator's birthday so I took her and the team for lunch on Stone Street - we ate outdoors and I had a burger with avocado, tomato, and cucumber on an english muffin. Yum! (I am hoping to eat the salad I packed and didn't eat for lunch today, really hoping it's still good.) After work went to opening night of Shakespeare in the Park in Central Park. Show was "Much Ado About Nothing" - it was a good production and after party was way better than expected - we hung out for several drinks.

Tuesday I worked from home, went to rowing circuit class, then showered and got ready for the annual Summer Party for the High Line. This is always a great event and one that A particularly loves. This year was good but it's hard to beat last year's Carnival Theme. There was a surprise performance by De La Soul, lots of people-watching, and terrific food and drinks!

Hung out until the end, then went to the Catch Rooftop (random), Hogs & Heifers (always awesome), then down the block to Coppelia for sustenance to fuel the end of our mini-bender.

Yesterday (Wednesday) I was dragging - no one was in the office so I worked from home again, this time trying to move as little as possible. Miraculously A came home around lunchtime bearing pizza - total surprise from the best boyfriend ever. We hung out a bit, then he headed back to the office and I got back online. I had dreams of going to the metabolic conditioning class, but between allergies, lack of sleep, and too much booze it was impossible.

A made mozzarella, tomato, and avocado panini for dinner, and I barely rallied myself to wash face/brush teeth and throw on shorts, shoes, teeshirt. I felt okay but was looking particularly pallid so tried to spruce myself up with some bright lipstick. We walked over to Chelsea Market and headed to the top floor. Such a great space, right now it's being used as a pop-up store/offices for Google Glass, and the event was a screening of short films made with Glass as part of the Lower East Side Film Festival.

Although I have mixed feelings on Google Glass, I thought this was a really neat idea and good opportunity to try out Glass without investing $1500. They had a bar set up, and people were literally in a line for drinks. (What is this, San Francisco?!) They had tiny glass bottles of different sodas and pellegrino, so against my better judgement we got on line and hung out a bit. They had tons of mini candies and different types of popcorn so we were in hog heaven. A ate popcorn, sour patch kids, and NERDS (remember those?!) and I had Twizzlers and Junior Mints. Yum.

Google Glass Selfie (taken with Android phone, ha!)

Huge picture of me in the Fuuuutuuuuure:

Watched the shorts and booked it out of there before Q&A and more drinks...walked home, A made another panini and we ate it while watching American Ninja Warrior again. I would like to see a short film made by an American Ninja Warrior while wearing Google Glass.