The bright blue dresser in the window of the bucktown location has always caught my eye, so I was excited to run into another location in Andersonville when I was out window shopping.
le sigh
that blue. its just perfect. tragically perfect. looking around White Attic made me want to repaint and redesign my entire apartment to center around that wonderful blue. And then, of course, I would buy all of their wonderful revamped pieces because, as others have pointed out, they are MUCH LESS expensive that crate and barrel.
So here is my official caution: don't go in here if you are prone to furniture envy. Because I was giving evil glares to my unfortunately ordinary dresser for days after visiting White Attic.
Friday, December 18, 2009
Roscoe Blooms
We met with Siddanta of Roscoe Blooms about doing flowers for our wedding after he was recommended by our venue. It was a great meeting and one thing thing that I really appreciated was how much time Siddanta was willing to spend with us. You can tell that he really cares about his work and is willing to put in the time to get to know your taste.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Maggiano's LIttle Italy
One of my classmates organized a group of us to go to Maggiano's for their family style meals last night. I'll admit I was skeptical. When I think Maggiano's, I think of the awkward bat mitzvah parties I attended when I was in 7th grade. What can I say? It was the spot to be. Anyways, since I like to think that I've made it past my 7th grade years I wasn't really sure about going here for dinner. After i got over myself, I was pleasantly surprised!
We got the classic family size meal (about 30 a person), which means we got to pick two appetizers, two salads, two pastas, two entrees, and two desserts for the table. The food is supposed to be never ending, but we didnt get to test that out because all of us were so stuffed we barely finished what was on the table. I'd have to agree with Nik B that there is nothing extraordinary about the food. It's all good and deliciously rich, but it isn't special. (side note: Not to beat down on classic american italian dishes, but I'm not really sure lasagna or baked ziti can ever really be special unless its coming out of your grandma's oven.) My favorites of the evening were the chopped salad, fried calamari and the gnocchi.
Even though the food wasn't super special, it was nice to get to try so many different dishes and to be able to eat family style with a group of people. Plus the service was good and the atmosphere was perfect for a celebratory group.
With some beer and two bottles of wine, at the end of the night the bill came to about 50 bucks per person. Not cheap. Not outrageous. It felt just right.
We got the classic family size meal (about 30 a person), which means we got to pick two appetizers, two salads, two pastas, two entrees, and two desserts for the table. The food is supposed to be never ending, but we didnt get to test that out because all of us were so stuffed we barely finished what was on the table. I'd have to agree with Nik B that there is nothing extraordinary about the food. It's all good and deliciously rich, but it isn't special. (side note: Not to beat down on classic american italian dishes, but I'm not really sure lasagna or baked ziti can ever really be special unless its coming out of your grandma's oven.) My favorites of the evening were the chopped salad, fried calamari and the gnocchi.
Even though the food wasn't super special, it was nice to get to try so many different dishes and to be able to eat family style with a group of people. Plus the service was good and the atmosphere was perfect for a celebratory group.
With some beer and two bottles of wine, at the end of the night the bill came to about 50 bucks per person. Not cheap. Not outrageous. It felt just right.
Monday, December 14, 2009
Mexique
While my rave review of brunch at Mexique still stands, I was seriously underwhelmed by their dinner service. Honestly, problems started days before we even had our meal - with our reservations. We called on a Tuesday for Saturday reservations and they said the ONLY time they could seat our party of 5 was at 5:00 o'clock. Um. Okay. My mom really wanted her sister to try the place so she took it. The problem? The restaurant was still half empty when we left.
Anyways, we were all very excited to try the food after our great experience and brunch and after reading all of the wonderful reviews on yelp. And don't get me wrong, the food was okay. But, it was just okay.
In general, I found the appetizers to be much more exciting than the entrees. We tried the trio of sopes, the french onion soup, the ceviche, and the chicken tinga. The ceviche and the onion soup were both good, but the chicken came out a bit cold. The trio of sopes was presented beautifully and was delicious. While the appetizers had lots of flavor, I found the entrees to be bland. I had the asada and my steak was flavorless and cold, the pork roast was overpowered by the sweet potato mash, and the tilapia was also bland. I will say, however, my fiance's chicken dish was very flavorful and I would recommend it.
We also had dessert. We tried the creme brulee (good), the apple tart, (yum), and the guac cream. My aunt really loved the guacamole cream, but it tasted too much like straight avocado for my sugar loving taste buds.
Anyways, if you're still with me - mazel. The moral of the story: eat here for brunch. eat somewhere else for dinner.
Anyways, we were all very excited to try the food after our great experience and brunch and after reading all of the wonderful reviews on yelp. And don't get me wrong, the food was okay. But, it was just okay.
In general, I found the appetizers to be much more exciting than the entrees. We tried the trio of sopes, the french onion soup, the ceviche, and the chicken tinga. The ceviche and the onion soup were both good, but the chicken came out a bit cold. The trio of sopes was presented beautifully and was delicious. While the appetizers had lots of flavor, I found the entrees to be bland. I had the asada and my steak was flavorless and cold, the pork roast was overpowered by the sweet potato mash, and the tilapia was also bland. I will say, however, my fiance's chicken dish was very flavorful and I would recommend it.
We also had dessert. We tried the creme brulee (good), the apple tart, (yum), and the guac cream. My aunt really loved the guacamole cream, but it tasted too much like straight avocado for my sugar loving taste buds.
Anyways, if you're still with me - mazel. The moral of the story: eat here for brunch. eat somewhere else for dinner.
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Married (Happily) With Issues
Devin sent this article to me over the weekend. How that girl has time to read the NYT, I'll never know.
I think my favorite line from the whole article is right on the very first page -
"I’ve never really believed that you just marry one day at the altar or before a justice of the peace. I believe that you become married — truly married — slowly, over time, through all the road-rage incidents and precolonoscopy enemas, all the small and large moments that you never expected to happen and certainly didn’t plan to endure. But then you do: you endure."
I think my favorite line from the whole article is right on the very first page -
"I’ve never really believed that you just marry one day at the altar or before a justice of the peace. I believe that you become married — truly married — slowly, over time, through all the road-rage incidents and precolonoscopy enemas, all the small and large moments that you never expected to happen and certainly didn’t plan to endure. But then you do: you endure."
Saturday, December 5, 2009
bad week
oh man I couldn't be happier that the week is over. as my classmates heard me endlessly bitching about, i stuffed about 2,000 envelopes for the new research project my lab is starting. it sucked. big time. partly because i'm a complainer and partly because it really did just suck. by yesterday afternoon, i was feeling so overwhelmed and unmotivated that dreadful, pessimistic voice kept popping into my head to ask me all sorts of annoying questions.
why am i doing this?
what is the point of all this?
is all of this shit really worth it?
And then it started to feel like maybe it wasn't worth it. and maybe there really is no point. and maybe there are no good reasons for me to devote countless hours to this program.
and let me tell you, those are not good thoughts to be having during finals.
anyways, i went home and spent a few hours being in a funk. and then i made some jambalaya (paula dean's recipe). and that felt good. because i haven't cooked in forever and it felt nice to make something for neill and myself. and then i woke up this morning feeling rejuvenated and refreshed and recommitted. and that also feels nice. and now i'm going to study for statistics and psychopathology and that also is going to feel good in that annoying way.
things are much better today. thank god. because i didn't want to spend all day moping around the apartment.
why am i doing this?
what is the point of all this?
is all of this shit really worth it?
And then it started to feel like maybe it wasn't worth it. and maybe there really is no point. and maybe there are no good reasons for me to devote countless hours to this program.
and let me tell you, those are not good thoughts to be having during finals.
anyways, i went home and spent a few hours being in a funk. and then i made some jambalaya (paula dean's recipe). and that felt good. because i haven't cooked in forever and it felt nice to make something for neill and myself. and then i woke up this morning feeling rejuvenated and refreshed and recommitted. and that also feels nice. and now i'm going to study for statistics and psychopathology and that also is going to feel good in that annoying way.
things are much better today. thank god. because i didn't want to spend all day moping around the apartment.
