Highlights of 2013

Okay, I know, it's been just under a year since my last post. I totally suck at this thing but I am resolving to try and be better, I swear! I'm making my reentry into this poor, sad blog with a highlights reel of the last year. We'll start with Christmas...yes, Christmas 2012.

I celebrated Christmas like it was my last one ever by participating in as many activities as I could.

American Theater Company presents It's a Wonderful Life: A Radio Play

Music Box presents the 29th Annual Christmas Show: White Christmas

White Christmas (my favorite Christmas movie of all time and this may be the best Christmas event I've ever gone to).

Caroling at the Bean (Millennium Park).

A night at the Pfister Hotel in Milwaukee.

Late night eats at Elsa's on the Park. This tree was made out of thousands of paper clips suspended with fish line!

Visiting the Fonz in downtown Milwaukee.

In April, Chicago was flooded for a few days.

I threw my best friend a bridesmaids tea in April, a few weeks before her wedding.

And then, at the end of April, I officiated their wedding - one of the most exhilarating and anxiety-inducing moments of my life.

At the beginning of the summer I checked out the new Logan Square restaurant, Parsons Chicken & Fish, and Adam Rapoport, editor-in-chief of Bon Appetit was there signing his new grilling book.

At the beginning of June, one of the biggest outdoor parties of the year, took place: Maifest.

I turned 30 a little more than halfway through June and celebrated with a special request - dirt cake. I love to indulge my inner 8 year old.

I celebrated on my actual birthday with a trip to Willis Tower and to the Ledge (my knees went weak).

With two of my favorite people on Earth - who were not scared at all.

My inner adult rang in 30 with a luau at my apartment at the end of June, wearing my grandmother's Hawaiian dress from the 60s, and surrounded by my beloved friends. A friend came with a saber for a ceremonious sabrage, my first, and created a memory I won't soon forget.

The luau was complete with photo booth.

In July, I volunteered at Pitchfork Music Festival.

And met some other awesome volunteers from the organization I work with - Open Books.

My wonderful friends all convened on a Saturday in July for an all day picnic in Logan Square's Palmer Square Park.

I added this burger to my top 5 burger list (Little Goat kimchi burger).

Drank some beer.

And some more beer.

And a ginger hibiscus margarita from Rodan.

And introduced one of my best friends from London to the mint julep (and old fashioned) at The Southern.

At the end of July I went to Door County.

Enjoyed a beautiful view of the bay (and a glass of wine).

Did a wine tour and tasting of Stone's Throw Winery at 10:30 in the morning (though, according to this clock, it is always 5:00).

I looked yonder at Ellison Bay Bluff.

I imbibed in a signature vacation cocktail: the brandy old fashioned, Wisconsin's favorite drink.

I went on the first ghost tour of my life and loved every minute of it.

In mid-August my girlfriends and I went camping and were miserable - I got more than 30 insect bites all over my body.

 

I made my obligatory Superdawg trip at the end of August.

 

At the beginning of September, I went to Glazed and Infused for a maple bacon long john, which ruined me for all other donuts.

And then went thrift shopping all over creation with one of my gal pals.

  There was a LOT of this.

And I got to spend ridiculous amounts of time with the most awesome people on Earth. 

See you soon, dear readers!

Mars Cheese Castle

Dear readers, please forgive me for my lengthy absence. I've been spending a lot of my free time decorating and improving things in my apartment and that has led to not getting out much over the past couple of weeks. I've been sitting on this Mars Cheese Castle post for nearly two weeks now and it's time to share with you this awesome cheese shop that has become a tradition among my group of friends. 

I was probably in junior high or high school the first time I stopped at the Mars Cheese Castle - 15 years ago it was a divey time warp that didn't look all that much like a castle but within it was contained a cornucopia of cheese that would cause any average cheese-loving American to swoon. Now, it is a legitimate brick castle complete with faux moat and pointy roof thanks to a complete rebuild of the shop a couple of years ago. Don't be fooled, dear reader, because cheese is not the only treasure you will find here. There are a myriad of other Wisconsin made treats ranging from whole apple pies (baked in a brown bag by Wisconsin's own Elegant Farmer), New Glarus beer, Door County wine, to jellies, local honeys and a whole wall of hot sauce. The store is ginormous and really exciting for food lovers - I was able to find white truffle honey, which I've been looking for for years (and which tastes amazing drizzled over goat cheese flatbread).

Somehow, day tripping to the castle has become an annual (sometimes biannual) tradition for me and my gal pals. Located about an hour north of Chicago in Kenosha, Wisconsin, it is something most Chicagoans visiting Wisconsin have seen driving up the 94 expressway. Our personal tradition dictates that breakfast must be had at the Cracker Barrel down the road from the castle and cheese drenched apple pie (brown bag) must be devoured after procuring our cheese and other miscellaneous comestibles.

If you like the combination of sweet and salty flavors you
have got to try putting sharp cheddar cheese on your pie.

You can get many combinations including chocolate cheddar and blue cheese cheddar.

When you see this sign you have got to stop for some cheese and pie.

A vacation to Door County, Wisconsin

Two weekends ago my gal pals and I took a much needed weekend trip to the Hamptons of the Midwest. That's right, peeps, Door County, Wisconsin. After trying to get my girls up there for ten years, we finally were able to plan it and they adored it. It's about four and a half hours away from Chicago and great for a long weekend. There's tons to do no matter what your interests are from biking up the coast, parasailing, paddle boarding, kayaking, to lots of shopping and great beaches. However, there are a few things which you must do if you find yourself in the Scandinavia of the US.

Stop at the Walmart in Sturgeon Bay to stock up on food and supplies. Because no trip is ever complete without a trip to the local Walmart.

Rent a condo and cook half of your meals at home. We stayed at the Landmark Resort in Egg Harbor because this is where I've been staying with my family since I was a little kid. They've got an indoor pool that's open 24 hours and we made good use of it.

Cook an awesome dinner your first night in town.

Walk around the resort and take pictures of the scenery.

Get up early in the morning for a trek to Al Johnson's for some Swedish eats.

Take obligatory pictures of the goats on the roof while waiting for a table.

Take silly pictures in the gift shop while still waiting for a table.

Fill up on Swedish EVERYTHING, including meatballs, pancakes, and lingonberry preserves (not pictured).

Go to the beach because the sun is burning holes in your skin and the only cure is jumping in a large body of cool water.

Later on, for dinner, you must witness the famous Door County fish boil. We went to Pelletier's in Fish Creek for ours.

You will learn how to bone your piece of fish, but it won't work as well as in the pictures because whoever created this manual is clearly a fish boning guru.

But aside from the bones it'll be the best piece of whitefish (caught that day!) you've ever laid on your taste buds.

The next morning you will wake up early to make breakfast, check out of your room, and then drive along Hwy 42 to visit all the shops.

You will take more obligatory pictures with the faux humans at Nan & Jerry's Bait & Tackle in Fish Creek.

Then you will stop at every food market along Hwy 42 from Fish Creek to Egg Harbor.

You will see cherry pies at every stop along the way and kick yourself for not buying one. You were conflicted because Cafe Selmarie in Chicago makes the best damn cherry streusel pie ever ever ever but when you return you will find out that it's currently "out of rotation" from their shop. You will stare longingly at this picture of scrumptious cherry pies.

And really, what trip to Wisconsin is complete without a basket of deep fried cheese curds among the best friends a girl could ask for.