Category Archives: Friends and Family

Dec 19 2012
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Friends and Family

Day 86: Bookclub Part One

Recently, I was invited to start a bookclub with some of my friends and tonight we had our first meeting to organize our year of reading. Two people came up with the idea. They invited three people to join them (this is where I came in) and each of the five of us invited an outside person that the others did not know well. Six of the ten people gathered to organize, going over dates, rules or “norms” as we called them, and, obviously, book choices.

I’m super jazzed about the list we came up with because it has a good balance of fiction and non-fiction with one classic and one play! We are starting with The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern and will continue with the following list in an uncertain order:

Medusa’s Gaze and Vampire Bites: The Science of Monsters by Matt Kaplan
The Round House by Louise Erdrich
The Swerve: How the World Became Modern by Stephen Greenblatt
The 100 Year Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disapeared by Jonas Jonasson
Lose Your Mother: A Journey Along the Atlantic Slave Route by Saidiya Hartman
The Coast of Utopia by Tom Stoppard (this is the play!)
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
Tell the Wolves I’m Home by Carol Rifka Brunt
The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Moloka’i by Alan Brennert

I will post again with more about how meetings are structured and how it goes after the first book. It was so fun to plan and realize that if we want to pursue something academic or creative, sometimes we just have to ask people and get started. I’ll probably go download The Night Circus now and get started!

Dec 16 2012
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Chicago Specific Fun, Food/Drink Fun, Friends and Family, Fun for Couples, Nightlife

Day 82: Vinejoy

If you like wine, parties and cool people and you don’t know Vinejoy, you are sorely missing out on some of the best independently made wines and super fun parties ever. I mean it. Ever. Not only do these two dudes bring the best craft wines of California’s Central Coast to Chicago’s independent wine shops (like In Fine Spirits, City Provisions, A. Vision Chicago, Que Syrah, etc.), but they also do special events, weddings, and tastings throughout the city.

Probably the most fun event they spearhead is their monthly potluck held in various spaces throughout Chicago. I’ve been to a few different ones-in a bakery, an artist’s loft, and the Vinejoy Offices. Each potluck features a food item (goat cheese, leeks, bacon, vegetables, etc.). Every person attending contributes $20 and a dish containing the featured item. (The money goes towards the basically unlimited amount of wine Vinejoy supplies these parties with). Everyone votes (in a creative way-I won’t spoil it) for their favorite food item and that person wins a bottle of wine. If that wasn’t enough, I always meet the most interesting people at these parties. Its like these guys are magnets for talented, cool, smart, groovy people.

Tonight I went to a special potluck for frequent attendees where the food was not a specific item but your “signature dish.” I made pumpkin bars, of course, and the hubs brought mini tuna melts that WON the favorite dish! Other highlights included mini chicken pot pies and mac and cheese. Aside from the good food, fun people and tv playing a VHS of The NeverEnding Story, they also had a photobooth curtesy of Emily Alt Photography. (Hopefully someday I’ll be able to have a whole blog post dedicated to a photobooth). Needless to say, we had a great time.

If any of this sounds fun to you, or you just want to know more about them, sign up for their mailing list here. Maybe I’ll see you at their next fun event?

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Dec 10 2012
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Chicago Specific Fun, Food/Drink Fun, Friends and Family, Guilty Pleasures, Holiday Fun, Reader Suggested Fun

Day 77: Christkindlmarket

It’s Guilty Pleasure Monday and the fun is a reader suggested activity! My friend Sarah suggested I meet her at the Christkindlmarket in Daley Plaza. Conveniently located right near her work, Sarah has been more than once, so she showed me where to find the nesting dolls, indoor ornament stores and nutella crepes. I, unfortunately, came full from lunch so did not get to sample the crepes but I did makes some purchases while moseying around catching up with my friend.

Both of my purchases were unique for me; a bird ornament with a feather actually coming out the tail and a Tibetan Singing Bowl. The bowls caught my attention just by being gold and shiny. I thought, “what cute little bowls to put jewelry or something in.” The man working the booth (Tibetan?) told me that they sing and then demonstrated. With a wooden stick he circled the outside of the bowl creating a lovely, pure note. He mentioned they are used in meditation and yoga rooms and are meant to calm. The first time I tried it, it didn’t totally work for me, but I wanted it anyway. He wrapped it up and gave me some notes on my technique. (Obviously I practiced as soon as I got home and I am happy to report I can create the tone almost as well as this man. And it is quite soothing).

Most of the booths contain ornaments and other items handcrafted in other countries. (Hence why there are Tibetan Singing Bowls in a holiday market). Many of them are from Germany and the rest of Europe. You can also get cuckoo clocks, beer steins and many a wooden toy. I highly recommend checking this market out. It’s even worth a special trip to loop if you don’t regularly go there.

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Dec 09 2012
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Chicago Specific Fun, Food/Drink Fun, Friends and Family, Nightlife

Day 76: Technically Today

When December moved from the 8th to the 9th, my dinner party friends and I were in the midst of an almost three hour dance party at our favorite local dive/dance/photo booth bar, the Holiday Club. Located on Irving Park and Sheridan (a mere block from our home), this Uptown gem does not look like the kind of place that has children of the 80’s and 90’s dancing for hours on a Saturday night, but it does just that with a dj that mixes a little nostalgia with a lot of volume. Seriously, the place was packed. And because I technically was there (dancing my heart out) on this day, it is today’s fun thing.

Now we all like to have fun, but we rarely go out to a bar at 11pm and dance until after 1:30am. On the contrary, 11pm is usually a late night for us. I guess we were all feeling a little feisty because everyone was on board and excited for this special and unexpected fun! And yes I do have some pictures but those are probably best left unshared.

Dec 08 2012
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Around the House/DIY, Food/Drink Fun, Friends and Family, Holiday Fun

Day 75: Set the Table

Tonight, the hubs and I are hosting some of our friends for a holiday dinner party and game night. It will be casual, but, just for fun, I decided to set the table. I like how full and festive it looks with all the dishes, decor and the gift bag “place cards.” They also have a tasty holiday treat inside!

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