Chicago MMXII

Pretty.

Oooh -- Wolcott's is gone and cool new french bar to open in its place!

http://troquetchicago.com/

$5 pints of Blue Moon just wasn't enough, I guess.

Wolcott's didn't last long. Did we ever go there? I can't even remember.

What does it mean to be a "French bar"?

We never went there. At least not according to my untappd.

Sometimes I go places without your untappd.

Yeah, Wolcott's was almost never full, even for big sporting events. There was even a short-lived Wednesday karaoke night -- I walked by one time, and it looked like it was just one dude mangling "Edge of Glory."

What does it mean to be a "French bar"?

Chicago Magazine:
“‘Troquet’ is actually the French word for bar,” Nicole Outrequin Quaisser says. “It will have your croque-monsieur in different varieties, and we will have traditional baguette sandwiches. And we will have something like a small plate, like a pork belly or veal breast with traditional french fries and some salad.” French, German, and local beers will be offered on tap, and chalkboard menus will give the place a traditional atmosphere.

From the owners of LM (the French restaurant in Lincoln Square), btw.

Tricky having that just two blocks from Fiuntainhead, though LM has its foodie fans.

Hopefully that area can sustain two such places. That particular intersection really can use a bar/restaurant. Wolcotts, for its shortcomings, was a good idea.

A brand new Mariano's is being built by my work, at Halsted and Monroe. That's only one block south of the Dominick's at Halsted and Madison. Sort of a weird choice.

Further retail updates while I'm at it: Wal-Mart is under construction at the former Pearl art store at the Chicago Brown line stop and a Target is being built near mu work on Van Buren about 4 blocks west of Halsted.

Also that CVS in the Century shopping ctr is going to be pretty huge.

xp Well, that one Mariano's at Roscoe/Western is right next to a Jewel.

it's 9:30 am, why does my stomach think it's lunch time?

the gut wants what the gut wants?

other neighborhood restaurant updates:
* the shitty thai restaurant at byron and lincoln closed, is being replaced by ... another thai restaurant. hopefully less shitty.
* a grilled cheese/soup/coffee place is opening on lincoln across from the jewel. i think this is the fifth restaurant that has been in that location since i moved to the neighborhood.
* big bricks looks to be doing pretty good business. would like to eat there sometime.

i think this is the fifth restaurant that has been in that location since i moved to the neighborhood.

Yeah, I think it was a teahouse? And then Indian?

I couldn't tell if Big Bricks was open yet or not when I drove by the other day. This was during the day, though. Seems like it would be a good place for a large gathering.

I had a good lunch at Apart Pizza yesterday: $5.35 for a decent-sized pizza and soft drink, good stuff to read, and good service.

it was a teahouse, a coffeeshop, an Indian place, and a sushi place

It's kind of an awful space for a restaurant...would probably work better as a store?

I actually wanted to go to the Indian place but didn't know about it until like a week before it closed.

yeah the Indian place looked alright. i think i hung out at the teahouse once during my work from home/school from home period.

I've wanted to, but I've never actually set foot in the Mariano's on Western. I take one look at the giant clusterfuck that is its parking lot and decide to skip it and go somewhere else. I suppose I should walk or bike over there.

I want to go to Big Bricks.

ok let's all go there for pizza and beer someday

Okay.

now you are talking real talk
i don't care what opened or closed, i just want to do something fun
THE WEATHER IS MAKING ME FEEL CRAZY

it's definitely the weather

So tired of people not being able to get their shit together. We were supposed to be practicing for an interview for a new project today and as of last night, we were told to get here early today to start practicing. Got in at 6:45 this morning and finally heard at 8:15 by the partner in charge of the interview that "something came up" and the practice was delayed. Same thing was emailed at 9:30 and 10:45. Now we were just told that we would be starting practice at 5:45 tonight, "so make whatever arrangements you need to be able to stay really late tonight". Yes because its always easy for everyone to completely rejuggle their lives because you are a horrible planner and completely unable to prioritize.

oh any pub quiz interest for tonight?

1) In The Year 2525 10 pts
2) Itchiest Oreganos 12 pts
3) Match- Virgin's Nasty Fear 14 pts
4) Chemical States Round 16 pts
5) Dead Or Canadian 11 pts
6) Pictures 15 pts
7) General Knowledge 22 pts

i'm pretty tired and have a long-ass day tomorrow but would go if other people do

I'm going to see Aida tonight.

Can't do trivia as I have plans to go to Cal's tonight.

In other words, stop by Cal's and say hi.

I'm going to be playing Mass Effect 3 tonight.

Can't do it tonight, would still love to do it pretty much any other time.

Let's make plans! Next week?

next week would be good for me

midtarms heeeeeeeeeeeey

next week would probably be good for me too

I'm directing a reading of a play near the trivia joint, but it won't be done 'til 9.

next week fer sure

Okay this is really just a trailer for a video game, but it kinda made up for a shitty 14 hour work day:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVGAfA15U1I

Haha, aww.

Wait. That's a national ad! Did the Red Sox used to be as big a joke as the Cubs?

I'm not sure they were ever quite as big of a joke as the Cubs, I mean they never made it into Back to the Future as a lol moment, but they were seen as the second biggest underdogs in MLB until they won the 2004 World Series. They had an 86 year championship drought, but the Cubs currently sit at 103 years.

That's amazing when you think about it. They're living history; a link to the past. 103 years! 103 Years of Suckitude

I'm wearing a suit. I feel like I look like crap in a suit. Stupid suit.

I'm guessing by your wdyll pictures that you would pull off a suite quite well.

A suit too. Not sure how your suite approach would be.

Yeah, Nick, you look pretty fly in a suit, BUT I totally TOTALLY can identify with the "WRONG CLOTHES WRONG CLOTHES" feeling. I always feel like I'm in drag when I wear suits. I'm still working on perfecting the sheath dress and cardigan combo for business attire, which is going to be my life's work should I ever manage to achieve it (I am not recommending this as a solution for you).

Ugh. I almost wore a suit today because I ran out of cardigans and I need something I can take on/off to adjust for the temperatures in my office.

What did you wear instead?

I don't like my suit - it fits too baggy, especially the pants. I feel wide in it.

I've found it much more tolerable and enjoyable to ditch the entire suit concept, when I can, and go with a couple nice jackets that I can interchange with other pants/shirt/tie combos. For some reason it feels a whole lot less stifling and stiff than a proper suit.