The Rundown v. 12

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Happy 2015 everyone! I have been determined to get 2015 off to the right start. Charles has been traveling with his family, and I have been taking advantage of the fact that both my home life and my work life have been quiet and I have been focused on getting ahead and planning content for this site. While I have spent a considerable amount of time during the past few weeks writing in my office, I did make some time for fun too.

Just before I headed out of town for Christmas, my friend Margaret and I checked out Barley and Brass, a new restaurant in Wicker Park, with a fun bar food menu. It’s a sister restaurant to 25 degrees, and it has a similar vibe.

I headed to Maine on the 20th and stayed until the 26th. While there I had some happy hour adventures in my sleepy hometown. I might have gone back for another order of David’s potstickers the next day.

We got to spend lots of time with my four legged nephew Milo, who now has his own Instagram account. He wasn’t much help when it came to decorating the Christmas tree though.

We went on a pretty epic food crawl through Portland and it was such a blast that I might need to go on a food crawl of Chicago soon.

Here is a photo taken towards the end of food crawl. I think you can tell how full we are.

I hosted a little New Years Eve party, which as genius since it was about 12 degrees that day, and by hosting the party at my house, I didn’t have to go outside in the cold.

My friend Tomissa and I discovered the most delightfully random neighborhood pub. Most of the patrons where 70+ years old. It’s our new Friday happy hour spot.

I caught up with some friends over ramen and sushi at Wakamono in Boystown. People are predicting that ramen will be one of the big 2015 food trends.

After hearing everyone rave about Newsies on Broadway I made the last minute decision to go the day before the show closed, and I LOVED it. Newsies was one of my favorite movies when I was a kid, and seeing on stage was just so much fun. The guys in the show were crazy talented and the choreography is incredible.

Last weekend my friend Maya came over and got her car stuck in a frozen puddle. We hilariously tried to push it out, and then introduced ourselves to some really kind neighbors who thankfully came to our rescue. We then returned 3 days later to present them with beer and cupcakes.

I returned to Chicken Shop with some friends for a low key Monday dinner – two Mondays in a row. photo via

I somehow convinced my lovely girl friends to come over on a day when Chicago reached subzero temperatures. I created a salad bar with fun toppings and it proved to be the easiest way to host friends for dinner – more on that soon.

Plus, my lovely friend Nicole interviewed me for her Work Smarter, Not Harder Series on her site Cedar & Rush. You can read the interview here.

This weekend, Charles finally comes home!!! This is the longest we have ever been apart (I think). Plus I am going to a fun speakeasy birthday party, and a brunch with my girl friends. And… figuring out how to seal up the door to my balcony since there is snow inside my home right now… (wish me luck with that).