Entries from February 4th, 2011

The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon by David Grann

February 9th, 2011 · No Comments


finished 02.08.11

Pretty good book, though my attention did flounder a little in the middle. The book tells the true story of a British explorer who was obsessed with finding a Amazonian civilization (Z) that may or may not have existed at all. In 1925 the explorer disappeared, never to be seen again. The author ends up travelling to the Amazon and finding more information about the mysterious disappearance and Z.

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Elevation at Logan Square Auditorium

February 9th, 2011 · No Comments


Elevation, Logan Square, Chicago


This disaster of a photo is Fake Bono on Mike Dunlay’s shoulders

Last weekend we met up with friends at Rocking Horse for dinner and then went over to Dunlay’s on the Square for a drink. One of our friends, Josh, owns a few popular restaurants in Chicago. One of his business partners is Mike Dunlay and it was his birthday, which is why we were out. After a drink at Dunlay’s on the Square we headed up to the Logan Square Auditorium where Mike had hired a popular U2 cover band called Elevation to play for the party. It was so much fun! And nice that we were just blocks from our house.

After the party, we wanted to go to Bonny’s, but it and The Whistler both had massive lines out the door. We stopped over at Cole’s, but it was super packed and sweaty. We had one drink and left. And then one more at Logan Bar and Grill, which was not busy or hard to get into.

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Paul Baker’s Birthday

February 8th, 2011 · No Comments

Last year Paul Baker had so much fun at his birthday that he decided to do the same this year: dinner at Spring World in Chinatown at 7:30 p.m.

To pass some time after work, before dinner, I met Alden and Emily at Wabash Tap for a beer. I liked this place. Good unassuming neighborhood bar. Lots of pool tables.


Wabash Tap, Near Southside

After a drink there we headed down to Chinatown and met up with Paul Baker, Kate, Paul’s sister Jen, Nicole and Dallas for dinner.


Paul and Dallas deciding what to order.


Paul talking to friends, waiting for dinner.


Kate & Paul digging in!


The afterglow!

We all ordered a dish, except Paul who ordered about three, and then we put them all on the lazy susan and tried everything. So good!

After dinner Paul and Nicole and Jen headed home. Alden, Emily, Dallas, Paul and I started looking for a cab to go somewhere else and hang out for a while. We couldn’t find a cab, but we found this:

A free shuttle bus to the Horseshoe Casino! So…. of course we got on the bus.

At the casino we had to sign up for the players club to get our free bus ticket back, but it was no big deal. It was free and took about 5 minutes.

Paul played blackjack for the first time ever. Kate texted me and asked me not to let Paul blow their wedding savings. I asked the same of Dallas. Paul ended up $25 ahead at the end of the night. … uh…. Dallas.. did not.

While at the casino we had a Slim Jim, which was delicious til we noticed the second ingredient is mechanically separated chicken. Ok. I’m not going to lie. It was delicious after that too!

At 1:36 a.m. we took the bus back to Chicago then took the train home. Fun night. Unexpected. Happy Birthday, Paul Baker!

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Superbowl XLV – We Are The Champions!

February 7th, 2011 · No Comments

This year for the Superbowl my brother came down to visit and to go to Trent and Loden’s house for their party. For a half a second after we beat the Bears in the last game, I thought maybe Dallas and I should host a Superbowl party, but we’re leaving for Hawaii next week (!!!!) and we quickly came to our senses about the timing of that. We have enough plans and money and everything to worry about, no need to pile on a Superbowl party! We’d gone to Trent and Loden’s Superbowl party last year, though, and it was a lot of fun, so no need to worry. I knew they’d do it right. Actually, Dallas wasn’t feeling well, so he stayed home. Danny and Caroline came and picked my brother and I up and we were off.

I was surprised when we arrived because I didn’t know that Trent’s friend Andy was a Packers fan from Wisconsin! Limey was nice enough to take a photo of all the Packers fans together.


Caroline, Andy, Richard, Rachelle

Not a bad showing for a Superbowl party in Chicago!

Another great part of having parties at Trent and Loden’s house: They have a kegerator in their dining room! Yesterday Trent had Brooklyn Lager and Founders IPA on tap and it was awesome. I didn’t think I was going to drink on Sunday because of the weekend I had (more on that later), but the Brooklyn Lager was delicious.

Loden always makes such delicious food! This photo is of one of her specialties: Chocolate covered bacon! We also had pulled pork, mac & cheese, cheesy potatoes, baked beans, and taco dip that had crack in it. It had to be crack. So addictive. Ed also brought his famous S’Mores dessert. Loden’s friend Mike made this appetizer dip that was basically a vat of bubbling hot cheese. Of course, this made it onto the coffee table that the Packers fans were sitting around… along with a big bowl of cheese curds that my brother brought from Wisconsin. If that’s not enough, someone may have pushed off the tortilla chips and used cheese curds to dip into the hot cheese dip! Hey, we’re from Wisconsin. What can we say? We like cheese and cheese on cheese! (I have a photo of this somewhere, but I forgot to upload it.)

Loden asked me to bring dessert and I thought a long time about what kind of green and gold dessert or football-themed dessert to bring. I originally wanted to make football-shaped brownies, but couldn’t find a football cookie cutter without running around all over town. I ended up with these:

The colors are not quite right, but close enough. These were Zesty Lemon Bars and Lime Squares. I actually had to make the lemon bars twice because the first batch did not turn out. I used this recipe first. I should have known to never stray from Martha!

Charlie is Trent and Loden’s dog. He’s so nice and lovable. He is a Cockapoo. So soft and snuggly, he’s a huge baby. But so chill. Nothing phases him. Not even when his “sister,” Sugar Bear, gets out and wanders around the house:

Anyway, the game! OMG what a great game! This is the first Superbowl in a long time that I actually cared who won! Everyone was nice enough to let the Packers fans sit on the couch at the TV and watch the game. Other were mingling and eating snacks. A bunch of my friends were at first cheering so hard against the Packers, but eventually they just started cheering for their numbers. Dallas wasn’t even there and he won $200 in a Guthrie’s pool! Trent and Limey were also betting on everything. Who will score next, the next play will be a pass or not, who will fumble next, etc. I guess that’s what you have to do when you don’t care about the game. Limey did not come out ahead on all those bets!

I’m so happy the Packers won, I think it’s still sinking in! Packers are the Superbowl champions!

One more thing. I made a bet with Sean, an old NY blogging friend who is a huge Steelers fan. When I emailled him to “pay up,” he told me his wife gave birth to their baby boy yesterday! Their first born. What a gracious loser. He’s already posted to his blog!

I bet this is the last time he makes this sort of bet with someone who can do a bit of Photoshopping! hahahha

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My Half.com Store

February 4th, 2011 · 2 Comments

I think I’ve mentioned before that I’ve been selling a lot of my books on Half.com.. and also buying a lot there. It’s a great site and you can really get some great deals. I went through my bookcase last night and updated my Half.com listings. Check out my store, maybe there’s something you want to read!

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