Back in October, I wondered how Albany Whipple Park was coming along. I walked over and took these photos then, but just didn’t get to posting them. It looks nice! Can’t wait til Albany Whipple Park becomes an access point for the Bloomingdale Trail!
Oh, one more thing: A lot of the structures on the Albany Whipple playlot look to have the same design and style as those in Palmer Square. I think they were designed by the same group.
Tags:albany whipple park·bloomingdale trail·Chicago·humboldt park·logan square·palmer square
Last week Association House had an art auction fundraiser at Aeree Loft. Thirty smackeroos got you into this pretty venue where you had all the drinks and appetizers that you wanted (provided by Pure Kitchen Catering). There was a lot of art to bid on, everything from paintings to pottery to jewelry, and all of the proceeds benefitted Association House.
Association House is based in Humboldt Park and helps more than 20,000 participants each year through programs in community services, child welfare, behavioral health, out of school programs for kids and teens and El Cuarto Ano, an alternative high school. Jess is on the associate board for Association House so I always try to go to the fundraisers to help out a bit.
Afterwards we went to Cobra Lounge, which was nearby. I somehow missed all the times that our FeedBurner crew used to go there. Nice to finally check it out, even if it is just a dive.
See you in my nightmares, Chris!
Tags:aeree loft·alden·association house·brittany·Chicago·chris·humboldt park·jessica·nathan·purekitchen·sara·west loop
I read this article yesterday about how Mayor Rahm is handing over a chunk of land in Bucktown to the park district and how it will be developed into a public access point to the Bloomingdale Trail. The Bloomingdale Trail is an abandoned railroad that is going to be developed into a park, kind of like how the High Line was done in New York. (Highline before, Highline after.)
Last night I walked past this parcel of land and took the photo above. It’s very lush and green. There were people throwing balls and letting their dogs run. Nice improvement. As I recall, the land before this improvement was just a busted up vacant area. Here’s a screen grab from Google Maps that shows how this area used to look.
Quite an improvement, huh? This is the second park that has been created to serve the Bloomingdale Trail. The first is Albany-Whipple Park in Humboldt Park (some say Logan Square, but I consider this Humboldt – south of Armitage and west of Humboldt?). A few years ago this was just an empty lot:
In 2009, I took this photo of the park as it was being developed:
The Bucktown park looks a lot like Albany Whipple Park did in 2009. Grass. A fence. I need to get back over to this Albany Whipple Park because they’ve since added a playground and have developed the park more.
Anyway, I’m excited for the Bloomingdale Trail to be developed. I can’t wait til they start work on the trail itself! Read more on the Bloomingdale Trail.
Tags:albany whipple park·bloomingdale trail·bucktown·Chicago·high line·humboldt park·New York·rahm emanuel
Breakfast croissant sandwich
Grilled cheese: Pavé d’Affinois cheese, honey butter, toasted brioche
Cappuccino
In January a new restaurant called Rewster’s Cafe on the border of Logan Square and Avondale opened up. After we got back from our trip to Hawaii in March, Jess and I went to check it out. We really liked it.
Chef Frederic Zahm is the French chef/owner and was working behind the counter. Couldn’t be nicer. Some think the $10-11 sandwiches are overpriced, but all of them are made with top-notch ingredients and all come with a side (we got salads). And both were super delicious. We got the croissant breakfast sandwich and grilled cheese and split them.
I also had a cappuccino, which I chugged. I remember being really tired and possibly hung over that day, but I don’t remember why. Anyway, the cappuccino was not enough so I also had some of the locally roasted (in Humboldt Park) Dark Matter coffee. Everything was great. The sandwiches were delicious. I loved the grilled cheese, but it was very rich. Splitting our sandwiches was perfect. I’ll be back!
Tags:avondale·cappuccino·Chicago·coffee·dark matter·frederic zahm·grilled cheese·humboldt park·jessica·logan square·rewsters cafe
Trent and Loden’s wedding was on Saturday. I was really excited because many of our friends would be there and we all knew it was going to be a good time. Also, it happened right in our neighborhood, so it couldn’t have been easier to get to and home from.
The wedding ceremony was at the Humboldt Park formal gardens.
This is Logan, Trent’s nephew. He was the ring bearer and he kind of stole the show at one point in the ceremony. That kid. People were chanting his name later on at dinner! Hilarious. Gonna have to keep an eye on that Logan!
The wedding seemed to have a kind of “summer to fall” theme. There were flowers, but also many fall leaves and colors. Perfect for September and Labor Day weekend. The aisle was sprinkled with white rose petals. The flower girls threw fall leaves from their baskets.
Sadly, Loden’s dad passed away recently. Her brother, Lane, walked her down the aisle, which I thought was a really nice touch.
The wedding ceremony was more traditional than those I’ve been to lately, with a minister and readings. It was a beautiful ceremony. Trent and Loden wrote and read their own heartfelt vows and I think there were sniffles all round.
Officially married!
Time to party!
Looks like the ushers, Limey and Sam, were already partying!
The reception was at Stan Mansion in Logan Square, which is actually just a few houses from where our friend Ed lives. He was kind enough to host us for a while between the ceremony and reception and also during the wee morning hours after the reception. After a drink or two, or an Advil in my case (it was a rough day for all after that pre-wedding party at The Tap the night before!), we headed to Stan Mansion for cocktails.
When we entered there was a grass colored table of rocks. On each rock were guest names and on the back of the rocks was the table they were seated at.
The bar area was off to the side and everyone was gathered for cocktail hour. After a while we were asked to go into the reception area. The room was so gorgeous, these photos don’t even do it justice.
Some of the tables had beautiful orchid centerpieces, like the one above, and some had tall, architectural fall leaves, like the one below. I like that things matched but not every table was the same… and flowers and leaves, kept with the theme.
Trent and Loden making their grand entrance -
The dinner was blessed and then we all got down to business. Smoque, arguably one of the best BBQ restaurants in Chicago, catered the wedding. Dallas and I have tried to go to Smoque but the line is always too long. I think Dallas had it one time without me, but I was excited because I’d never been there. And let me tell you, it did not disappoint.
Ribs, brisket, barbecue chicken, macaroni and cheese, baked beans, cornbread and salad. It was all so delicious. My mouth is watering right now just thinking about it. People at our table were going up for seconds it was soo good. The only bad thing about that is later on we were all kind of in a coma .. or trying to fake dance with extended bellies.
Trent and Loden had a traditional wedding cake, above, and a more unique side cake, below. Wiser’s is their favorite whiskey and it was flowing very freely all night long. In addition to cake, Ed (The Baked Escape) baked a few cheesecakes for the dessert table.
Trent and Loden made their way around the room, stopping at every table, during dinner.
After dinner we got to hang out with all of our friends.
People we see often like The Limey…
… and Danny and Caroline …
… others who had travelled from far like Justin (with Ed and Dallas) Justin and his wife moved from Chicago to Colorado a few years back ….
…. and Herm (with Ed) Herm is our friend Allison’s boyfriend.. Allison moved from Chicago to San Francisco a few years ago …
We had so much fun at Trent and Loden’s wedding. Great friends, great food, great drinks. Like I mentioned earlier, after the wedding most of our friends headed over to Ed’s house. A lot of the wedding party ended up there, and Trent and Loden made a quick appearance as well. Before we knew it, it was past 2 a.m. The good thing was that we could just walk home to our house.
Oh, and I don’t want to forget to mention this. At the entrance of the wedding reception there was a photo booth. Everyone got their photo taken and the guy operating the booth printed one strip out for everyone in the photo plus one extra for a guest book. The photo strips were pasted into the guest book and we wrote our messages next to our photos. The photo booth was open all night and the photos got more hilarious as the night wore on. We had been taking so many photos in the photo booth at Village Tap the night before at the rehearsal party so this continued that theme right on. Also, Trent and Loden’s save the date for the wedding was a photo booth strip. Fun!
Here’s a photo of the strips I was in.. the photo was taken at my house the next day.
Tags:allison·bbq·caroline·Chicago·dallas·danny·ed·herm·humboldt park·justin·lane·limey·loden·logan·logan square·photo booth·sam·smoque·stan mansion·trent·wedding
