Entries Tagged as 'the whistler'

Our Engagement Photos

December 12th, 2009 · No Comments

There’s a photographer located next to The Whistler on Milwaukee Avenue who has the most bizarre photographs in their storefront window display. We were at The Whistler for Dallas’s birthday in and I couldn’t resist finally documenting the craziness!

Dallas’s friend forgot his ID that night and the Whistler wouldn’t let him in so we went to some kind of sketch bar nearby. You had to ring a buzzer to get in and there were signs warning you not to do drugs in the bathroom. From the fancy pants drinks at The Whistler to drug warnings at the other bar.. oh, Logan Square. You are SO having growing pains!

Later on we went up to The Rocking Horse for more drinks and dinner.

[Read more →]

Tags:·····

Richard Russo on Writers on the Record With Victoria Lautman

September 24th, 2009 · No Comments

richard_russo_victoria_lautman
Richard Russo and Victoria Lautman, Harold Washington Library, The Loop, Chicago

Last night Richard Russo was the Season Six opener for a series of author interviews called Writers on the Record. The interviews are conducted by Victoria Lautman front of a live audience and then later broadcast on the radio at 98.7 WFMT.

I went to a few of these interviews years ago when they were held at the Looking Glass Theater. I saw Frank McCourt and Elizabeth Kostova there. And then? I don’t know. I guess I kind of forgot it existed for a few years, until I just happened to remember or come across it again recently.

I’m glad I went last night. Writers on the Record is now held at the Cindy Pritzker Auditorium at the Harold Washington Library. Which, by the way, was the first library in Chicago that I’ve been to. And they wouldn’t let me get a library card. That’s a different story, though. Anyway, Victoria is a fabulous interviewer and I’ve read 3 of Richard Russo’s books so I found it really interesting to hear some of the background and his writing process.

This has been quite the literary week for me. On Tuesday I finished the book Mysteries of Pittsburgh and Wednesday night I went to a reading at The Whistler. There were a bunch of writers from a site called The Nervous Breakdown who each read different pieces. Pretty entertaining, plus, who doesn’t love the drinks at The Whistler? Especially after a hard day?

[Read more →]

Tags:···········

Happy Birthday, Jessica

December 9th, 2008 · 2 Comments


Jessica and Rachelle, Cafe Bolero, Logan Square, Chicago

On Saturday night Jessica invited Dallas and I out for dinner and drinks with her friends to celebrate her birthday. I was excited to go, not only to celebrate the occasion, but also because we were going to two places in our new neighborhood that I’ve never been to.

We had dinner at Cafe Bolero, a Cuban restaurant. I don’t think they were used to groups of 10 or so, but I thought the food was good. We all shared a bunch of different tapas plates. I remember empanadas, plantains, ceviche. We also shared many pitchers of sangria. Jess and I also tried a caipirinha, but I didn’t like Cafe Bolero’s version of the drink as much as I’ve enjoyed it other places. For my entree I had Fricase de Pollo – tender chicken stewed to perfection with roasted peppers, garlic, potatoes and herbs in a tomato base sauce. This also included rice on the plate and beans on the side. It was great. The chicken was so tender. My only complaint was that some of the chicken was still on the bone so it made it a little more complicated to eat. After dinner we had pumpkin pie that Jess’s friend Max made. That’s when the photo above was taken.

After dinner we went to The Whistler, a new(ish) minimalist bar on Milwaukee. Blink and you won’t see it, it’s not marked well outside. Inside is just a bar and a few tables. I drank beer all night, but they also had a whole list of specialty drinks that they meticulously made with fresh ingredients like rosemary and hibiscus flowers. The crowd leaned toward hip and young. We had fun. Jess’s whole birthday group was up in the DJ area so we looked down on the bar. It was good people watching! Oh, funny thing. Dallas and I were recognized in the bar. It was a friend of a friend of ours who reads this site. We talked briefly. Kind of neat. .. but then I swear I saw this girl all night that I do not know but that a friend of mine used to be friends with and I recognized from photographs. I should have paid it forward and introduced myself, but I’m not sure she is still friends with my friend and I didn’t want to start anything.

Anyway, we had a great night. Happy birthday, Jess!

Oh, one last thing. At The Whistler they had this photo collage that was actually one huge photograph cut up and separately framed. I have no where in my house that I could make this happen, but I took a photo of it anyway, because I thought it was so neat.


The Whistler, Logan Square, Chicago

[Read more →]

Tags:·······