We actually found a stone on the outside of the Freedom Museum from Delaware! (Not that I remember what it was from - some church or something - but I was excited nonetheless to see something from my home state!)
That was good enough for all of us so said goodbye to the Freedom Museum, and went on to... another museum! I know that might seem like quite a lot of museums in one afternoon, but remember that it is a rainy, miserable Chicago day. We welcomed any excuse to be inside, and getting a little culture is as good an excuse as any. So this time we were off to the Museum of Contemporary Art. It was pretty interesting. We saw a Karen Kilimnik exhibit which was infused with lots of Pink Panther and celebrity images. I am not really sure what the significance of any of it was. It was that type of modern art you are only going to understand if you bother to read all of the dissertations that these artists write, but it sure is interestingtolookat. After the Kilimnik exhibit, we wandered around looking at the permanent collection. There were these giant clam shells you could play in. That was pretty cool. It's not every day you get to stand on modern art.
We had to vacate the clam shells pretty fast, though, because Katie J got in trouble for taking a picture in the museum, which was ok with me anyway because the kids were being greedy with the clam shell. I didn't want to play with them anymore. We mosied about a little more. We saw some animal cracker art. There was a framed tiger cracker. Then there was a framed elephant cracker, and then there was a framed poacher cracker! Afterwards, I tried to take some pictures that captured both the koi fish in the pond and the ones on my boots, but it was tough. The fish weren't very cooperative. So the pictures didn't come out very well, but you get the idea.
Well after 2 museums the crew was totally dried off and in no mood to walk around very much outside anymore. So in search of more shelter, we headed to the John Hancock Signature Room. This turned out to be a great idea (after we got through the absurd security which required us to be carded 3 separate times) because the top floor was just below the cloud level. So we sat up there, sipping on champagne, munching on brie, and grinning over how we had a great view of the top of the Sears tower disappearing into the clouds. It made me even more glad that we hadn't shelled out that $15 to go up there.
And then after all day tromping around in the rain, the sun came out. Go figure.
Revitalized from The Bean(see post below), the crew set off to conquer the Magnificent Mile. Seeing as Erin and I are complete shopaholics (I mean that's what credit cards and your immature 20's are for right?), I thought that the mile might hold more allure, but in the end all the shops on the mile were a bit boring. They were all chains, and it seemed silly to go all the way to Chicago just to go shopping at H&M. The ones that we don't visit in DC (Gucci, Ralph Lauren, etc...) are all too expensive to be bothered with as well. Skipping over all the shopping left plenty of time for other exploring. That is when we stumbled upon this building with various rocks embedded in the wall.
See there's one from the White House removed from the inner wall during reconstruction in the 50's, and there's one Douglas Hall from the old University of Chicago. Then there's a piece of the Great Wall of China and one from the site of the Kensington Runestone in Minnesota.
After we spent a sufficient time checking out all the stones (there must have been hundreds!) we finally got motivated to figure out what this building actually was. Turns out it was a new museum called the Freedom Museum, which was free! So we went in to check it out. It was pretty small, but there was some interesting facts (all of which I have, of course, forgotten). Then at the end there is a section on the upcoming election. It was very interactive. You can take a video of what freedom means to you, and they'll save it for other people to view. Then they have this podium where you can give your acceptance/concession speeches. I have to admit I give a darn good speech! Erin's speech... eh... not bad, maybe just not appropriate either.
O well, like Julia said, Erin certainly was expressing her freedom, the salty mouthed pirate that she is!
I've had this long time (like years long) obsession with maxi dresses. I saw Paris Hilton wearing one in a picture one day, and while I would normally never cite her as a style icon, the dress made her look cute and not whorish! I have been in love with them ever since, but they didn't become popular until recently. So I could never find them before. Then today I left the office, and there was one in the front display at H&M. I had to have it! And so here I am, playing and blogging in my living room, in my brand new maxi dress!
So swirly and fun! Yayayayay! I can't wait to wear it to work.... Ok obsessing over. More stories from the law school trip! I can't believe I am only on our second day in Chicago. So we woke up on day 2, and the weather had taken a turn for the worse. Much worse. It was cold and windy and raining, which was especially hard to deal with considering it was 80 degrees back in DC that day, but the whole crew was good sports about it. Erin and I put on our new galoshes. Katie J and Julia bundled up in raincoats, and we all headed downtown to see the sights. Before we saw anything, though, we got side tracked by a little cafe with a big sign on it about being featured on the Food Network. Erin being the Food Network junkie that she is squealed with delight as we went in to check it out.
Turns out we had stumbled upon the Bourgeois Pig Cafe. It was lovely inside with an amazing selection of food and teas. I really wanted to try a new tea, but the girl who waited on me seemed totally uninterested in giving me any sort of recommendation. So I chickened out and just got English breakfast. We all enjoyed our food a great deal, though, and were thoroughly entertained with all the books and games lying about. The place is just a haven for wasting time. I think it would be very dangerous on my productivity levels to live near it! If I did, I would probably spend most of my days doing crap life this:
We finally managed to get off our butts (not before buying cookie for the road, though) and first on the list of actual tourist attractions to check out was the Sears Tower. Now last time I came to Chicago there was 0% visibility from the top, and wouldn't you know it? There was 0% visibility again. So this is the most we ended up actually seeing of the tower:
Yep, that would be the good ole leg model in the lobby which doesn't cost $15 to see. I could feel the crew getting a bit downtrodden at this point. The weather and the disappointment of skipping over one of Chicago's most famous attractions was starting to wear on them. So I did what any good tour guide would do. I took them to The Bean. I wouldn't tell anyone beforehand what The Bean was except that is was amazing. I knew once we got there and they beheld the magic of The Bean, that they would be transformed by The Bean's mystical powers of happiness. Sure enough, smiles spread all over there previously pouty faces once the spied this masterpiece:
That's right. It's a giant, reflective bean. I know those of you who have never seen The Bean were doubting that anything called the The Bean would really be as awesome as I built it up to be, but now you see the flaw in your thinking because the The Bean truly is one of man's most awesome creations. First of all, it shielded us from the rain while we played below it. Second of all, taking pictures with it entertained us for a good half hour. It was just what the crew needed.
O such good times. After this, we were all revived (See! The Bean's mystical powers! I'm telling you! It's like we were brought back to life. Like in Mario when you eat the magic mushroom and it makes you all lively. Not that we were eating any magic mushrooms on this trip. It was just an analogy. Stop thinking bad thoughts! The Bean's powers have nothing to do with magic mushrooms. I was using a simile. Sheeeeesh.), and ready to conquer the city some more!
Ok I'm back on track. No Lost tonight so I am going to stay on topic: our first night in Chicago! Katie J, Erin, and I headed back to the Arlington House, our hostel, to find Julia now that she had finally arrived.
To say that Arlington House was a lovely institution would be a bit of an over statement. It certainly had its benefits. It was cheaper than anything else we could find by a great deal. In fact it only cost us $100 per person for 3 nights. It was in a great neighborhood. We were in the middle of Lincoln Park and easy walking distance from lots of yummy stuff to eat and pretty things to buy, but then there were the downsides. There was the no heat in the room. Well actually no heat only in Katie J's and Erin's room. Then there were the hand towels they gave us under the pretense that they were full towels for showering. Come to think of it, only Katie J and Erin got the mini towels. (They thought the idea of trying to cover themselves with said towels after showering was so funny that they put on quite the towel fashion show after we settled into our rooms.) Hmmm... So in retrospect the hostel was only uncomfortable for Katie J and Erin, but Julia and I did have to listen to them complain. So indirectly that was uncomfortable for us as well.
After the towel fashion show/booty dance, we all met up with my friend Kylene who I waitressed with when I lived in Richmond. Kylene is fabulous. She has big eyes like one of those creepy kewpie dolls (except Kylene is not creepy), and she is going to cosmetology school (which is perfect for her because she was the kind of person who had different color hair every shift). Most of all she loves loves loves to just chat with anyone. Everyone from under age stoner boys who don't wear underwear and fill their time with only jazz, Jack Kerouac, and chess to older, self-absorbed accountants nicknamed after emotions. I don't even have time to get into the story about how Kylene ended up in the hotel room of the Wu-Tang Clan last summer. I mean seriously, she'll talk to anyone! (Although meeting up with the Wu-Tang Clan might have also had something to do with her curvy bottom.) Her gift for gab went over well with Julie, Erin, and Katie J, though, and we all ended up getting along splendidly at a tapas dinner.
Plus the pitchers of flavored margaritas might have helped the conversation flow a wee bit. Maybe. Just a tad. I mean, of course, good company was the best part of the dinner, but if I had to pick a second best part of dinner? Yep, Kylene's got it right. It would be the berry flavored marg.
It was great to see Kylene and I wish we could have spent more time together, but she had school (boring). So she had leave us to go home and get in bed. We were far from done our night, though. Our next stop was Baby Wants Candy, the musical improv show that an improv buff from home had encouraged us to go see. It randomly turned out to be about a 10 minute walk from Arlington House. We got there just in time to double fist some drinks and run into the theater before the show started.
I was able to snap a video of the group. The video does them no justice in showing how funny they were. We were peeing ourselves the whole time (obviously except for this scene that i am about to show you. Although there was some giggling going.)
So, what'd you think? Amusing at all? Bad camera work you say? Yes I know. Thanks for bringing it up. Some of us are having to make do with the video function on our crappy digi's. Anyways even if you didn't crack a smile during that video, I ensure you that you would love them in person. If you are ever in Chicago, and especially if you are staying at Arlington House, do yourself a favor and go see Baby Wants Candy.
The theater was right around the corner from DePaul University. So despite our attempts to avoid a college bar, we ended up hitting up a college bar after the show. Despite DePaul being the largest Catholic University in the nation (which I just learned when I googled it to make sure I was spelling it correctly) those kids throw down like drinking excessively is the new proven way to make it into heaven.
I came back from the bathroom at point and this tall, dark, and intoxicated man had moved in on my friends. We "hit it off" immediately, and by that I mean that within 5 minutes he had asked if I had a husband a half dozen times and asked me out on a date for the following night. He never did end up calling. I would have been pretty surprised if he even remembered being at that bar, but I decided that night that I could love any town which has good margaritas, hysterical improv, and men who ask you out within 24 hours of your arrival. Chicago seems like my kind of place. Maybe I will have to convert Search for J Street into Search for Arlington Street one day. (Although there is actually an Arlington St. in Chicago so that might not be as effective of a title, but I've got time to work on something better.)
So I was going to post about the final part of my first day in Chicago, but I got tied up at work. Then by the time I got home, I was half starved. So making some dinner took precedence, and then Lost came on. Lost is like my kryptonite. I am totally incapable or doing anything escape stare at the TV for that one hour of the week.
Tonight's episode was not a disappointment. Jack's (and Claire's, for that matter) dead dad is back. Remember how he was always walking around when they first got to the island? Way back in season 1. Then one day, he just stopped showing up, and you always thought to yourself: "what was the deal with Jack's dead dad?" (Of course at this time, you didn't realize he was Claire's dad too.) Well maybe this time we'll get an answer....
Ha! Yea right! Lost is the TV embodiment of the Socratic method. They are just going to keep answering their questions with more questions, but gosh I love it. I keep coming back for more. Anyways since Lost distracted me from writing even a halfway decent post, I will try to appease you with some Lost eye candy and a promise to write something better tomorrow!
(Ok I know that was a shameless ploy to amuse you with attractive celebrities rather than witty and insightful writing. You, dear readers, deserve better, but to be perfectly honest, I can't promise you'll get any better on Thursday nights for the rest of the season. Sorry! I'm addicted!)
Our 2 heroes found themselves in a bind as they faced what seemed like certain doom at either the hands of the Chicago mafia or the devious trap imagined by none other than the Deep Dish villain...
Haha nooo. I'm just playing with you. There was no super hero action. I wiiiish, but that doesn't mean the rest of day 1 in Chicago was without adventure! After I got done at Northwestern, I wandered around the area for a bit looking for the 22 bus which would take me to the hostel where we were all staying. One stop into a weird shoe store and chat with an ultra friendly doorman later, I finally found my bus stop and made it up town where Erin and my friend Katie J were waiting for me. They had stumbled upon this delicious cafe called Basil Leaf. Erin and Katie J got yummy looking sandwiches, but when my salad came out it put the sandwiches to shame!
It came with delicious berries and nuts and crumbled blue cheese aaaaaand a honey vinaigrette to top the whole thing off! Plus the waitress and the kitchen were very accommodating. When I asked if they'd take the blueberries off, they gave me tons of extra strawberries! If you are ever frequenting the Lincoln Park neighborhood of Chicago, you need to stop by. Not only is the food good; the wine is yummy, the service is friendly, the prices are reasonable, and the customers who sit behind your table and end up in your pictures are quite humorous.
See there's a funny man waving to our parents, and then there he is saluting us with his wine. He was sills. His wife was totally trying to drag him out of the restaurant because he was embarrassing her, but he just made us giggle.
Well after an hour and a half lunch, Erin, Katie J, and I are getting a little worried. See we were suppose to have a 4th joining us, my friend Julia (Baltimore Julia). She said her plane was to land at 1, and by the time lunch was over it was almost 3. Why hadn't we heard from her? Did her plane hit the same Lost-esque turbulence? Was she dead? Alive? Trapped on mysterious island?
*RING* Phew. We all breathed a collective sigh of relief. There she was. It had just taken her a solid hour and a half to commute to the hostel from O'Hare. The crew was all together! Mayhem was sure to ensue.
And now I shall finally be able to catch you up on my jet set life! J Street tackles new cities!
Who knew when it came down to it that Erin would turn out to be just like my mom? I never really believed she would be able to play the responsible one. But there I was, at 6:10 a few weeks back, hating her for waking me up 5 minutes before my alarm was supposed to go off, just like my mom used to do.
"Caaaaara...."
"It's not 6:15"
"Cara stop splitting hairs. I'm making you breakfast."
*GRUMBLE* And then I roll out of bed and pop into the shower. By the time I get out, there is a feast waiting for me on my bed: scrambled eggs, cheesy grits, bacon, honey glazed ham, and toast. It's all a bit cold (I take long showers), but the thought is there. Erin and I run around nibbling on our breakfasts and finishing up all those last minute things we needed to get done. By the time we went outside to catch our shuttle to the airport, I was feeling pretty good about life. All my loose ends at work had been tied up, I had cleaned the kitchen and living room, Erin had cleaned the bathroom, we had eaten as much of our left over food as we could (hence the enormous breakfast), thrown away everything that wasn't going to last, and I even had time to water all of the plants. I told Erin sometimes we are such good little adults. I'm really proud of us!
Then we were off to our first stop: Chicago!
Those are the clouds over Lake Michigan. I was admiring the shadows they made on the water for awhile. Then our plane hit some rather upsetting turbulence, and I wasn't in the mood to admire anything anymore. Erin had taken a few "Tylenol" to get her through the plane ride without her ciggies, and somehow those knocked her out enough so that she didn't notice that the entire plane pulling apart at its seams. I, on the other hand, was perfectly aware of how much this resembled the first episode of Lost. (Except I didn't see any hottie doctors or con artists on my plane. Plus, if we landed on an island, it was going to be a bitter cold one up in a great lake instead of a tropical one with mangos.) We fortunately managed to land (on the second try) without me throwing up all over Erin's stupid grinning face.
Then I was off to my first law school: Northwestern!
The original motivation of this trip was to visit law schools. Partly because I wanted to learn about the specific schools I visited, and partly because I wanted to learn about what to look for in law schools in general. (Well and partly to take off from work and play around in a bunch of different cities, but I try to pretend that I am super studious and that was really just a serendipitous benefit.) Northwestern was my first stop. I had a really chill Asian gal with a woven orange beret take me around for a tour. She was a good tour guide, but even more than that, she seemed like a person I wouldn't mind spending 3 grueling years sitting next to. Hopefully she was representative of the student body in general. Another plus was that the campus is in a great location. Right on the beach and the Museum of Contemporary Art. The library has a breath taking view of the lake, and the top of the Magnificent Mile is only 2 blocks away (which means lots of shopping!)
In the next episode, will Erin and I meet up with the Super Friends to take down the Chicago mafia or will the Deep Dish villain lure us into his diabolical trap? Stay tuned to find out. Same bat time! Same bat place!
Search for J Street is my lifestyle blog where I share my search for the best of what's out there--concentrating on fashion, food, drinks, outdoor adventures, and the arts.
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