For Wanderers

More music by my amazing sister Fabi, this time in my own living room!

Let’s start a campaign to get Fabi to stay in Chicago.

Dusk to Dusk

Chicago sky doing amazing things.

Makes me think of Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness (album, tour – all of it).  Same feeling.

Afterglow

Ali made a breathtaking film.  It is about an impossible love story, as she says.  Or maybe it’s about the whales.  In any event, it is beautiful.

Check out the trailer here.

You know, it’s weird.  I have known Ali for 15 years.  And this – the film; the story in the film – was inevitable somehow.  Like it had happened all along.

Afterglow will premiere in June.

Hipstamatic Chicago; International Vintage Poster Fair

One of the best things to do in Chicago is walk around the City.  Since it’s winter most (all?!) of the time here, you don’t get to do it much.  On Sunday, Abe downloaded Hipstamatic on my iPhone and it was slightly acceptable out, so we decided to walk for a while and take some hip pictures.

Walk = mandatory Intelligentsia stop, so we did that too.

Later, we found ourselves at the International Vintage Poster Fair at the Cultural Center, which was completely wild.Some of the posters were beautiful.And others – the World War II posters, specifically – were fascinating.  Not very subtle psychology here.  I wonder if it worked.The International Poster Fair happens once a year.  Worth seeing, definitely.  (I was going to say, “Be a man and go,” but that sounds so rude and if you didn’t look at the poster carefully, it would make no sense.)

What The Other Kids At School Are Wearing – Day & Night Edition

What The Other Kids At School Are Wearing is a newly-recurring post (here and here) that has featured Monday through Friday (i.e., work week) looks by fashionable, professional chicks.  When I got Kate’s adorable (!) pictures, the nature of the post changed a little.   This is What The Other Kids At School Are Wearing – Day and Night Edition.

*          *          *

Who: Kate

What: Law student; Law Clerk; Author of The Ginger List

Style, in a word: Urban-Chic (or Military-Meets-Floral – !)

Style inspiration: I find inspiration in a variety of styles – I like everything from casual bohemian looks to preppy equestrian looks.  The majority of my wardrobe comes from Anthropologie and J.Crew, but I also spend lots of time browsing the boutiques of Wicker Park.  If I could dispel one “fashion myth,” it would be that girls who are larger than a size 2 should not wear skinny jeans – in my opinion, everyone should wear skinny jeans!

Monday (day): This is my running errands outfit.  The brown shoes are by Sam Edelman and I love everything about them, cute and functional.  The coat is from J. Crew last season.

Tuesday (night): I wore this when I went to dinner and a movie on a weeknight.  The dress was a gift.  The boots are amazingly comfortable and versatile, from Stuart Weitzman.

Wednesday (night): This is a perfect look for a dinner party at a friend’s house.  The dress is almost my skin color, so I love it with a bold contrast of deep purple.  The shoes are from Click on Southport, and they’re great deep purple t-straps.Thursday (night): I wore this out with some girlfriends on a Thursday night for cocktails.  The top is from Anthropologie (shocker) and the bag is from Ann Taylor (What?).

Friday (day): I’ve worn this to work on casual Fridays.  The sweater is almost jacket-like and extremely soft and comfortable.  I got it from Banana Republic a few years ago.  And the shoes are amazing – they are Vince Camuto from a few seasons ago.

Saturday (night): I wore this on my birthday – it’s currently my favorite outfit.  The dress is from Nanette Lepore and the shoes are from Niche on North Ave.

Editor’s Note: Kate’s style sense is impeccable (birthday dress and shoes – to die for!).  She is trend-aware but not trendy and makes every look her own.  She has a great sense of what looks work for her and plays off of those.  Kate’s free-spirit style is perfectly balanced with attention to detail (tights, accessories) – she is bohemian-put together.  (I love how Kate combines blacks, browns and blues for a perfect, chic look, too.)  Kate is the girl who is always the best dressed at the dinner party, bridal shower, girls’ night out, etc. – even when you tried!

*If you want to be featured in this series, send an email to professionalchicks@gmail.com with What the Other Kids at School Are Wearing in the subject line and I’ll send you instructions!

Hello Friend

We saw Bill Cosby last night at the Chicago Theater (picture above borrowed – I forgot to take a picture of the outside of the theater).  It was an impromptu thing – we had no plans and it was this or college basketball at a bar.

We bought tickets from a very nice man outside the theater in a full-length black faux-fur coat who disappeared the second we handed him our money.  It was not sketchy at all.

The Chicago Theater, like many of the historic theaters in Chicago, is an amazing, intricate space.  The lobby is breathtaking – all marble and glass and ornate chandeliers.

Inside, the theater is dark red and gold with these intense murals everywhere.  It’s quite beautiful.

The theater alone is worth seeing.

And then there’s Bill Cosby, who is 73 years old and hilarious.  He’s animated and clever and very minimalistic – no opening act, no music – it’s just him in a chair talking for two hours.  Everyone in the theater was dying laughing.

I have never seen Bill Cosby live but his gestures were all so familiar.  From years of watching the Cosby show, I guess.

It was vaguely nostalgic, too (or sad, because he has grown old), being in a room with this total icon – the TV dad of the 80s.

At the end of the show, he got a standing ovation that was as much in recognition of this as it was of the performance.  Though the performance deserved it, certainly.

Dinner Tonight

Every summer Abe goes fishing with his grandpa in Alaska.  They come back with literally hundreds of pounds of this amazing wild caught, flash frozen halibut, salmon, cod and other fish.  And every shelf on our freezer looks like this pretty much all year (as does every shelf in Amy’s freezer, our frozen fish babysitter).Often (tonight included), when I’m uninspired as to what to make for dinner, I make fish.

Salmon with Garbanzo Bean Puree, Broccoli and Couscous

Ingredients

Olive oil (just have the bottle handy)

Juice of one lemon (before you juice a lemon, press down on it and rock it back and forth to get the juices going)Salmon steaks (wild caught, preferably)

Baby broccoli (these look like rapini, or broccoli rabe, but they are not bitter at all)14 oz can of garbanzo beans, rinsed5 or so basil leaves

1 tablespoon of fresh grated Parmesan cheese

2 cups of couscous, cooked (I have no idea how you are supposed to prepare couscous, but I do this: pour uncooked couscous in a deep bowl, boil water in a tea kettle, pour the boiling water over the couscous until it covers the couscous by half-inch or so, cover the bowl with a plate.  In 5 minutes, the couscous is ready.)Lots of good quality sea salt and pepper

Directions for Salmon

Marinate the salmon steaks in lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste.  10 – 30 minutes.

Heat a tablespoon or so of olive oil in a grill pan.  Grill salmon steaks to medium.Directions for Broccoli

Arrange broccoli on a baking sheet.  Drizzle a tablespoon of olive oil over the top.  Add salt and pepper to taste. Broil on high until the edges are slightly crispy and the middle is tender.Directions for Garbanzo Bean Puree

In a food processor, puree two tablespoons or so of olive oil with garbanzo beans, basil leaves, Parmesan cheese and salt and pepper to taste.  (The best way to do this is to put all of the ingredients but the olive oil in the food processor and turn it on low.  Drizzle olive oil into the food processor slowly as the mixture purees.)

When you are done, the puree should be the consistency of a thick paste.Spread the garbanzo bean puree on the salmon.  Plate couscous and broccoli.  Eat! Dinner tonight reminded me of this amazing salmon and fava bean puree Phlip and Lisa made a group of us years ago.  That was amazing.  This was not bad for a Thursday.

If Only

Abe and I are obsessed with Boggle.  Best word game ever.  If only it were 1994, we could play on TV instead of on our iPhones.

Sigh.  Bye.  Thanks for stopping by.

Perfect Weekend Brunch

On Sunday, we decided on a quick brunch at Orange before everyone caught their respective flights out of town.  At this point, brunch at Orange is pretty much standard in Chicago.  I remember first eating at Orange before I started law school, which is nearly 10 years ago now.  So it has managed to stick around, which is not easy for a food-forward brunch place (or any brunch place, really).

There are plenty of great write-ups about Orange.  It was voted best brunch in the City, for example.  The quick version is that Orange is consistently very good.  It is among our favorite brunch places and it is the perfect place when you have guests in town.  The gimmicks – there are lots at Orange – are suddenly new again.

Start with Orange coffee – that is, coffee infused with real orange – and cucumber water.  You can order both before you are seated (there is often a wait at Orange, but it goes quickly).While you consider what to order, order Frushi – an Orange exclusive (trademarked and all).  Frushi is a fruit and rice dish that resembles sushi but tastes like a special fruit salad with sweet sticky rice.  (This is my one exception to the food-sensory-confusion-thing.)  Frushi is meant to be eaten with chopsticks and the flavors change daily.  This was mango rice with grapefruit and coconut rice with banana and strawberry slices.  How can you not adore this?!For breakfast, I couldn’t decide between the orange-rosemary infused french toast or the caprese pesto eggs benedict (sweet or savory – always the breakfast dilemma!), so I ordered both.  Really.  And loved them both equally.

The french toast is airy and the orange-rosemary is a nice, delicate combination.  Not too sweet at all. The eggs benedict is the best I’ve had that I can remember.  The eggs are perfectly poached, the roasted tomatoes and fresh mozzarella are a perfect breakfast rendition of a traditional caprese and the hollandaise (which I normally do not like) is light and pesto-y and delicious.  All savory dishes come with a side of herb, semi-smashed potatoes.  So good.  (I didn’t bother with what everyone else ordered.  We were too hungry and in a small hurry.  (And I ordered enough for three.)  But it all looked very good.)

And then we rushed off in the rain so we could grab bags and catch flights (and say a bunch of really sad goodbyes).  Well, Abe and I stayed but anyway.

I Have No Idea How To Explain This – Perfect Weekend Con’t

Saturday was an amazing day in Chicago.  Beautiful out – nearly spring.  We walked along the lake for a while.  When it’s nice out, Chicago is like no other place.

In the evening, we had reservations at HB (Home Bistro), this sweet little restaurant in Lakeview (on the recommendation of our good friends at The Ginger List!).

HB is aptly named – the ambiance is a-dinner-party-in-a-good-friend’s-brownstone.  I love that.The food is home style comfort food – and it’s all very nicely done.  What I like about HB in particular is that it is perfectly representative of the kind of food that’s happening in Chicago right now, but it’s reasonably priced and BYOB.  Upscale-accessible?  In any event, a great option when guests are in town.

Highlights of the meal include:

Mussels and duck-fat fries (Have you noticed this is practically an obligation?);

Bibb lettuce with pancetta, cashews and golden beets (I swear there were these incredible mashed potatoes under the salad, although, if I’m right, that would be so random);Bacon wrapped dates stuffed with almonds (the firm almond was a nice bite with the soft, sweet date);Pulled-pork pappardelle (though you can’t tell by this post, recently, I have tried not to eat too much pork but this was definitely a table favorite and worth a bite or two – the homemade pasta in particular was excellent);Duck breast with lentils (smokey, rich, perfect small portion).Overall very successful savory dishes.

The desserts were nice, too, though not especially memorable.  The chocolate cheesecake was lighter than average but otherwise pretty standard.   The cookie sandwich was good but the filling was this a hyper-sweet frosting and for some reason I expected it to be ice cream so I had sensory confusion – which I dislike.

The bread pudding was the dessert highlight – slightly sweet, soft, lots of cinnamon.  Yum.

And that was dinner.  Lovely.  Highly recommend HB.

Unfortunately, I’m not allowed to explain the rest.  So forget I mentioned it.  But this happened.

Cool.