Shame on me. Always disappearing from this here blog world without even a warning or a friendly goodbye.
On top of that, I never even got around to posting all the Chicago food/art photographs that I promised I would! And now it’s January!
Seriously, shame shame shame!
Well, the only way to make up for it is by making up for it!
Chicago is just windy and busy enough to have provided me with the perfect training wheels for my big move to London.
Post wedding, we drove from Cleveland to Chicago to spend a lovely week with my brother-in-law & his wife and a couple of Simon’s friends from London (and I spent an additional week alone waiting for my belated marriage visa to arrive safely).
Here is my brother-in-law gleefully peering up the skirt of the infamous Marilyn Monroe statue in Chi-town.
The newlyweds atop the famous John Hancock tower.
The view from said tower:
It was REALLY high up and I was getting a little dizzy/clammy/panic-stricken…
I’m talking about REALLY HIGH.
When you go to the bathroom at the bar on the top floor the wall is simply a giant window so you step out of the stall feeling like you are about to topple over and directly out of it.
Which makes you feel queasy and generally uncertain about your safety.
So then we got some cocktails and everything seemed okay again…
Mandarin and Strawberry you-aren’t-going-to-die Martini
Long Island death-is-not-imminent Iced Tea
See? Feeling much better now!
And then we were starving.
We happened upon this little vegan gem a couple of blocks from our hotel in Boystown and gave it a whirl.
I’ve been trying to help my husband improve his eating habits (per his request) and I thought, what better way to show him how easy it is to eat healthy and not have meat or dairy in the equation?
The food we ordered was out of this world. Simply shockingly good.
Sweet Potato Quesadillas
The Rockin-Morroccan Veggie Bowl with fried tofu tower of freedom…okay I added that last bit…
UN-chicken sandwich
Wickedly decadent peanut butter parfait
And the guiltiest pleasure of all, the exquisite French Lavender steeped Lemonade
(Be careful with this lemonade as it is danger-zone level sweet and will give you a sugar crash like you have never before experienced)
My darling enjoying his coffee after our first Vegan feast as a married couple!
The thing is, I’m not vegan. I’m not even vegetarian. I prefer to eat vegan or vegetarian, and much of the time I do.
Basically, it’s not a priority for me at this point so I try to eat as plant based as humanly possible, but if I want a piece of salmon or a mango lhassi, by Jesus I’m gonna have it!
I was really and truly impressed with the level of service, knowledge, and care the staff at Native Foods displayed while we were there. Not to mention that the food was sensational and incredibly filling. It was also fairly pricey, but I felt that it was definitely worth the splurge (so much so that I went back two more times during my two week adventure in Chicago).
My husband was really impressed as well and it made me really happy to see a self proclaimed “Meat & Potatoes Brit” branch out and try something new and probably somewhat scary.
So, that being said, after we feasted it was time for some art!
My friend Nikki was nice enough to get us a couple of free passes to the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago.
Sometimes I love Modern Art…
(This was my favorite piece hands down! By Nick Cave no less!)
Sometimes I find it irrelevant and irritating…
But that’s one of the great things about going to art museums, you get a chance to explore how you prefer to see the world.
I apparently like mine filled with porcelain woodland creatures.
I also had the pleasure of visiting The Chicago Art Institute while I was stuck on my own the next week. I wish we had gone together! It was jaw-dropping.
Simply epic.
And I took a healthy amount of photos so get comfortable!
WASN’T THAT THE COOLEST? Le Sigh. I <3 Art.
Also, I was truly impressed with how well my camera did in all of the different parts of the museum, some rooms very very blue and bright, some were very dim and red…everything just came out splendidly!
Well, until the next post (sooner than later I PROMISE! SCOUTS HONOR) see you later! xx
