This Christmas, Mark and I visited my hometown of Chicago, after what seemed like a 5 year hiatus. Usually we visit Mark's family in Seattle over the holidays, but I owed it to my Mom to visit her in Chicago for Christmas this time.
My Chicago trip was a homecoming of sorts. I reunited with 2 high school friends I hadn't seen in over 20 years. I had a stomach ache just stressing about meeting up with them before my trip, because I had no idea what they would be like, and whether or not we still had things in common anymore, or whether or not I would properly remember our shared memories. However, one of my focusses this year (and a New Year's resolution) is to lean into my relationships more, so I forced myself to arrange some meetups. I must stress that it was quite strenuous arranging everyone's schedules. The sound of my iPhone receiving a text messages started to give me heart palpitations and I could feel the stress hormones flooding my veins. But once we set up dates, meeting up became a piece of cake. My 2 friends were a lot like I had remembered, and where my memory faded, they helped fill in the gaps.
It was fun thinking back on our teenaged adventures: like that time Smitha, Yael and I moshed in the rain on a giant muddy plain at Lollapalooza, and got so filthy, that Smitha was not allowed inside her house before being hosed off. Or the many sleepovers at Hanna's house watching cult classics like "Heathers" and discussing the opposite sex. Anyways, resuming our friendships was a piece of cake. In fact, conversation was so interesting, and conversation passed so easily, that I wonder why I can't find friends who are so easy to talk to here in California.
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| Dinner at Coco Pazzo with (from Left to Right) me, mom, my cousin Janice, her husband Tim, and Mark |
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| One of our favorite things to do in Chicago was visiting Eataly, where you can shop, and eat in a Italian style food hall |
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Bunuelos at Frontera Grill - a high end Mexican restaurant helmed by celebrity chef Rick Bayless. This was a restaurant that was on Mark's bucket list.
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| Deep Dish Pizza Part 1: Lou Malnati's. Apparently, while I was living away from Chicago, a new deep dish pizza place came into vogue. I am more used to the heavy, doughy deep dish pizzas made at Giordano's or Pizzeria Uno. Lou Malnati's pizza was different. It features a lighter, crispier, more buttery crust, and the toppings are not as tomatoey. Chicagoans love it. |
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| Deep Dish Pizza Part II: Giordano's -- the deep dish pizza I am accustomed to from my youth |
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| Niketown in Chicago is always on my list of places to shop. Here I am standing in front of a life size poster of Kevin Durant. I literally come up to his waist. |
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| San Soo Gab San is our favorite Korean BBQ place in Chicago. My childhood friend, Hanna and her husband, Andy were able to join as well. Cousin Janice and husband Tim rounded out the group. |
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| Selfie shot mirrored off the Bean |
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| My friend Smitha, recommended that we visit a speakeasy called The Violet Hour on the hipster neighborhood of Wicker Park. |
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| On a dare at the Lincoln Park Zoo, I sat on Santa's lap after I told Smitha I had never sat on Santa's lap before. |
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| At Christmas, we ate one of the specialty panettones we had bought using my Mom's special china |
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My friend, Smitha wanted to visit Zoolights-a free Holiday event at the Lincoln Park Zoo where you can walk around and view the animals while enjoying festive holiday lights. Temperatures had dropped to new lows that Chicago hadn't experienced in decades. Nevertheless we put braved the cold.
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What's up, just wanted to mention, I liked this blog post.
ReplyDeleteIt was funny. Keep on posting!