July online happy hour: early 80s

It's later on Sunday night, and I should go to bed soon.  Dishes are done - and bloody heck, why did the dishwasher have to go on the fritz? - Conrad is upstairs.  I'm checking in before bedtime myself.  I'll summarize the weekend in another post tomorrow, but for tonight, let's just focus on the July online happy hour.

The theme today:  early 80s music. I took liberties with that.  We all did.  And there were good drinks to enjoy.  I ended up making five for us to try. 

Ranking them from least favourite to most...

The Thirsty Like the Wolf.  Cranberry juice (not cocktail) and lime juice made for a tart, even bitter drink.  Add some sweetener for balance, and this might be good.

The Dead or Alive.  Conrad liked this one most, but he didn't finish all of it.  A weird combo on paper that worked.  Kind of chocolate-y.

The Hungry Like the Wolf.  A bourbon drink made lighter in part by the healthy amount of ginger beer.  Surprisingly refreshing, and maybe more of a drink for another day.

The New Moon.  Because Duran Duran, right?  New Moon on Monday!  A gussied up G&T.  I think Allison made this one as well and liked it.

The Sweet Dreams Are Made of This.  A vodka sour that used a lychee liqueur and had club soda to lighten it up.

It was a lively, enjoyable online happy hour, and I managed to find a good variety of drinks.  I might not do the Thirsty again, but otherwise, they were good.  We shall see! 

persimmons

Happy Saturday!  Just wanted to share a photo I took on my morning walk yesterday.  Good walk, too!  I was out the door a minute or two before 5AM and managed 9.82 miles.  It's nice walking around where Van lives - a prettier, mostly residential area and (sorry, but true) less chance of running into and being accosted (or assaulted - it's happened!) by an unhoused person.  Maybe a greater chance of seeing a coyote, though.

Anyway, good walk, and as I ambled along, I caught sight of branches hanging almost over the sidewalk, laden with fruit.  Green fruit, not yet ripe.  But a handsome crop of persimmons coming along on the tree. 

I love how there are fruit trees like that and pomegranates and citrus fruits and loquats in so many yards.  Gives me real estate envy even more than I already have. 

date night in South Pas

Hey, that was a pretty good run of posts to start off July, right?  Not sustainable - life just doesn't offer that much to blog about every single day, but it was good while it lasted.  But after a very quiet week at work and at home, I'm back!

Van and I moved our standing weekly television date night to Thursday this week and dropped the television component.  Instead, we headed over into South Pasadena to grab dinner and drinks.  Nice evening for it.  We've had a hot midweek here - the temperatures out at work got up to 101 on Wednesday - but it was just good and warm by 6 or so yesterday.  We also don't have the air quality issue that is plaguing a lot of the country and Canada.  Yikes!  Those poor folks.

Anyway, it wasn't too far to drive over and park near where South Pasadena sets up its Thursday farmers market.  Good market.  I need to get to it.  It wasn't our actual objective last night although Van did buy himself some flowers. 

Instead we ordered at the window at South Pas Smash (and sorry, they don't have a website fully up and running to link to).  A smash burger for Van, a fried chicken sandwich for me. 

Good, simple.  I still don't get smash burgers as a thing (why smush the patty and force the juices out when you can have a nice, thick burger?)(I know it's to get more of a crust to interior ratio, but I still don't get it), but oh well.  I'd be fine going back and doing that again.

After the food and a brief wander through the market, we popped into Sid's Bar.  We hadn't know it was a live music night, and we were relieved we got in and got a table and drinks before so many others showed up.  Nice bar, not too lounge-y, not too hip (but definitely hip).  A dive bar for cool kids and older cool kids, if you will.  But they made Last Words, and that was good. 

The folks at the next table were curious, so I let them try mine, and they ended up ordering one for themselves.  Nice place.  Very loud!  Not a Conrad bar.

The evening was drawing in as we left,

and it had cooled off nicely.  We headed back to the car, drove the short distance home, and got Olive fed.  Once she was done eating and Van's flowers were in vases, I was fading, and as had been the case so often this week and last, I was lights out before ten.  Not our usual television date night, but a lovely little date night in any case. 

second weekend in July

The weekend that was, and really, it was a good weekend.  It's Sunday night now as I start this, I've had some decent, moderately-priced wine.  We've watched a little of Cougar Town, an older television show we're now getting into.  I have a ticket purchased for tennis in the desert this fall.  Why not start the weekend check-in?

And let's extend the weekend back to last Thursday.  A cheat, but Fridays during the summer are WFH, and although that's not a day off (there's always something or things to deal with), it is a little easier for not having the drive.  Anyway, Thursday evening was nice for having had friends invite us over. 

That's a rare thing.  People get intimidated or weird about cooking for me, and I swear, I SWEAR

EVEN. IF. YOU. MAKE. ME. A. BOX. OF. KD. I. WILL. BE. GRATEFUL. THAT. YOU. COOKED. FOR. ME.

I mean it.

Jennifer and Sanders, however, provided us with a dinner beyond Kraft Dinner, with halibut cooked on the grill

and some very juicy and sweet corn on the cob.  Lovely!  We sat outside and had a great chat, the five of us.  Very good food!

Friday came, and it was off to Maestro that evening.  Sooooo long since last we were there.  They had closed for some renovations, and before they reopened I was off to the Midwest, so it had been weeks.  Too long.  So it was so very good to be back.  YAY!  We sat outside, the three of us, and shared gaucamole, a roasted beet salad, the tetela, calamari, and the bone marrow esquites. 

Such a nice evening there.  We came back to the condo to have some little pastries from Bu Pastry Bar. 

A nice way to finish the evening as we watched some Stanley Tucci in Italy.

Saturday!  Saturday I was up early, but I lingered as I heard Conrad stirring upstairs.  We eventually went out on our walk, a nice casual one.  And then it was Amara.  So, yes, a proper and regular weekend for us.  Our usual breakfast after all this time,

and a second round of lattes to boot!

 

Then there was the SG Lewis concert, a good walk this morning, a great and bountiful breakfast at Van's, a new pair of shoes for walking, dinner with some television.  Nothing especially photo-worthy, or moments where taking photos wasn't at front of mind.

All in all, a good mix of busy and not busy this past weekend. We're almost halfway through the month, which doesn't feel real, to be honest.  Fall semester will be upon us in no time at all! 

SG Lewis in Chinatown

Rather than wrap up the whole weekend in one post, I wanted to focus on one particular weekend happening (I'll wrap up the rest of the weekend in a post tomorrow, I think).  Leaving Conrad with Olive for the evening, Van and I hopped the Metro down to Chinatown to go to an open air event there.  SG Lewis, an artist we both like and whom we've seen in concert at the Greek before, was doing an extended DJ set, from 6 until 10 or 11 (I saw varying information, and it didn't matter - we didn't intend to stay the whole night). 

A cool opportunity.

It was a fun night.  Not too crowded when we got there before 6:30. 

There was still some free pizza being handed out, and we happily took a piece each and settled into enjoying the music.  There were no lines at the bars at that time either.  The sun was behind buildings, so there was no fear of sunburn.  Ideal!

Lewis did mix in some of his own songs, happily.  And it was great to bob and sway and bounce to the tunes.  Eventually we claimed seats and shared a large hot dog and chips at the sandwich shop open within the venue space.  That felt good to sit down.  We moved back from the crowd after that, soaking in the music, dancing less, people watching.  Such excellent people watching, and we were genuinely surprised that he has such a large gay fanbase.  Oh, and we were almost certainly the two oldest attendees, and if not that, then in the top five!

We headed back to the Metro around about 9 or so and got back to the condo, picked up the car, and arrived back home to Conrad and Olive at Van's house by 10:15 or so.  I wasn't up for much longer - I've been getting to bed early these days, relatively speaking, and up earlier than usual in the morning.  I don't mind, I promise.  It was a terrific evening, one of those things that reminds these two old farts that we're still alive and enjoying things!

 

Oh, and apparently I'm hot!  :-P

Aussie candies

I was writing a few note cards and such this afternoon, and as I was jotting on a postcard for one particular friend, I remembered that she had gifted me with some Australian candies and that they were sitting on the table nearby.  Time to try them, I realized.  I needed to thank her, and I wanted to thank her from a place of actually having tried them.  So, I tried them.

The easy one first.  We have Life Savers over here, but fruit tingles? 

Imagine something a little less sour than a Sweet Tart but similar in texture.  Lightly fizzy, too.  I liked these but I need to try a few more flavours to see whether there is much difference among them.

The challenging one second.  Stephanie warned me that these might be just so, but since she and I both like candies that are chalky in nature, she wanted me to have some.  Musk sticks. 

Start with the colour, which is very pink indeed.  The texture was a little chewier than other chalky candies.  It's the flavour, though, that is, well, wow.  SUPER floral, musky, perfumed.  It's a lot.  And they are sweet.  That said, I can see the appeal.  They're curious enough that I had a second, and I am sure to go back to them again some time.  I can't imagine eating too many at once, though.  Quite a candy!

It's Saturday afternoon, and I need to get ready to head downtown with Van.  I'll do the weekend report late tomorrow or on Monday.  Have a good rest of the weekend there! 

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.