Chicago loose ends

Wherein I share photos of folks who are not strictly ALA folks and I share photos of meals outside of the major meals I wanted to spotlight.

Loose ends.  Oh, Peter.  I have a general practice of just writing what I write and not worrying about whether the prose is all that good.  I have no illusions of this blog being optioned for publishing deal or a film or television series.  Can you even imagine?  So I write what I write and look back and cringe and laugh.  But it does remain true to at least part of me, so I keep it all.  The loose ends it is.  That will teach me to write placeholder titles days in advance!

Friday morning in Chicago, and it was breakfast with Matt and Kim at a place we could all walk to, a Chicago Waffles location.  So much on the menu to choose from, but I opted for an omelet, something I rather like but seldom have.  Broccoli and cheddar in this one, and it was enjoyable. 

I liked the potatoes on the side as well.  That was a filling start to the day.

Friday evening, and we met up with Courtney and Robert along with Courtney's sister, Chelsea; Chelsea's husband, Andy; and their two daughters.  The family had driven down from the Madison area, and we were supposed to be joined by Courtney and Chelsea's parents as well.  They couldn't make it up from Indiana, alas, so it was just the eight of us at Eataly in downtown Chicago.  A fun time!  I hadn't seen Chelsea and Andy in at least a dozen years or more, and I had never met the girls.  Conrad had never even met Andy!  We shared some light bites and pizza, pasta, and wine.  Conrad and I also enjoyed their version of Last Words. 

After dinner, we headed over to the Langham Hotel with Courtney

and Robert

and shared a bottle of wine at Tavelle, looking out at the river and catching up.

Saturday lunch was with ALA folks whom I like very much.  Five of us had a leisurely (very very leisurely) lunch at Southern, not far from the convention center.  Great company.  Maybe a little pokey there, but the food was terrific.  I had a Hugo Spritz to start

and settled on two appetizers for lunch:  deviled eggs and fried green tomatoes. 

Oh, and we all shared a cornbread that Kathy, the southerner at the table, refused to accept was proper cornbread. 

Whatever it was, she liked it.  We all did.

Sunday lunch was with Robert (not the same Robert as above) at Apolonia.  Conrad was there for that one.  I thought my blue crab eggs Benedict were nicely done - I always appreciate it when the yolks are still runny, and these ones were. 

We shared pastries that looked lovely but were honestly kind of dry.  Ah well.  I really did like my eggs a lot.

I have no photos of my sandwich from Danke in Sterling Food Hall from my lunch with Michael on the Monday.  It was a good sandwich, and the food court was pretty cool (and pretty busy).  Just so great seeing Michael, though. 

It's been far too long.  We met years ago through our work at each of our libraries in Chicago on digital collections and hit it off - he became someone I would go for occasional happy hour drinks with.  Good guy.

That brings us to Tuesday lunch and a reunion with Rachel and David. 

We met up not far from Rachel's work, dining at The Gage.  It's such a reliable restaurant, especially since it's in such a touristy spot on Michigan Avenue.  There's something of a classic bistro feel to it.  I've enjoyed cocktails and food there several times, and this one was no less good.  A gin and tonic on a hot and humid day was sweet relief, indeed. 

I opted for a cold sandwich as well, a lobster roll. 

No, not a typical thing for Chicago, but it sounded so good.  It was tasty, a little wet.  I devoured it happily.  Rachel and David were such excellent company, too.  It's always a treat to see the online happy hour folks in person, and I will see all of them in person this calendar year!

Conrad and I also had a very nice dinner at The Publican with his colleague, Nate, and Nate's wife, Allison.  I didn't take photos of that meal, but we did enjoy it.

That, friends, wraps up Chicago.  I hope it does.  It was quite the ten days away, and although there was a lot about the time away that just sort of off, there were great friends and wonderful meals throughout.  I'm glad we had those. 

a few things

It's a mellow Friday night. Conrad got home about an hour and a half ago, we've had dinner (salmon), we're sipping wine and dealing with a few things related to finances and our upcoming Hawaiian vacation (YES!!!!). Some music playing. A good weekend ahead, according to our plans.

So let me get caught up.

I shan't worry about where I last left off and try to figure out everything I've done since. Instead, a few highlights:

A visit to TK.

And Michael, who doesn't care to be photographed. And Coney and Buster, my two favourite dogs in the world.

Go ahead, ask me how much dog hair I brought home on my clothes. Those dogs got some love from me! A quick weekend in Baltimore, but for a chance to see my best friend (and really, I can never say enough good things about Todd) and enjoy conversations while strolling around the lake? So worth it. Add in those banana desserts

at the Taste of the Town fundraiser event, and, well, we've got a memorable visit indeed.

Vancouver. An even shorter weekend there, but enough time to get in a good run around Stanley Park followed by breakfast and coffee at Safari Cafe.

Ah, Safari, we have missed you. Never close, Adam, please. Time spent with friends,

birthday cake,

and some new furniture.

Oh, and have I mentioned how freaking gorgeous that city is in the spring sunshine?

A return to Girl and the Goat. Eric was in town,

so we caught up over some small plates and (for me) drinks at the bar. I'm a fan, though I've only been there a few times. The shishito peppers once again were a star.

Breakfast with a library bigwig. Well, he might not think so, but Jeff lit up the library blogosphere last year. It was a real pleasure to sit down with him for a leisurely meal and discuss matters related to our profession and otherwise. And may I say that the man has some fine suits and shoes!

Small plates and cocktails at Erwin.

It's not that far south of Yoshi's, and yet it's mostly off our radar, sad to say. Conrad was out of town, but Michael

happily came along while I used up a Groupon. French fries, properly salty.

Yum!

So that's the world of Peter lately, and much food involved, of course. I will need to do some trimming down for a conference in Anaheim next month, but for now, I am content. And oh so happy to have Conrad home!