Guardians + Chicago Distillery + Emporium

We left Makai at daycare a few hours late and went to see Guardians of the Galaxy IN THE MOVIE THEATER. Dallas hadn’t been to the theater since last October, before Makai was born, and I hadn’t been since January. After that we hit up two spots in Logan Square that we hadn’t been to yet – Chicago Distilling Company and Emporium Arcade Bar.

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Chicago Distilling makes their own gin, vodka and white whiskey right here in Logan Square. Dallas had a gin and tonic, a drink that used to be his go-to in the olden days. He wanted to really taste the gin. I had a fancy grapefruit cocktail with the white whiskey. Nice. Cool spot. No food. You can also buy bottles of the booze to go and I’ve seen it at the Logan Square Framers Market too.

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Emporium has a Wicker Park location that we’ve been to a bunch of times. The Logan Square location just opened a week or so ago. Dallas was there last week and liked it so I was glad to check it out. There are some arcade games and pin ball games, but the main focus is table games, like pool, foosball, air hockey, etc. All the beers are canned and there’s a permanent food truck inside that serves sandwiches. The place is huge and the buildout is really nice. I liked it a lot. We each had a can of beer off their extensive list then it was time to pick up Makai.

Sueoka’s Store and Snack Shop

For some reason I never visited Sueoka’s Store and Snack Shop in Koloa town, so I decided to stop in while I was walking around the area.

I was so glad I finally stopped in! There were so many cool and different things to look at in the store! I didn’t really buy much, but had a fun time looking around.

The snack shop is actually a window outside of the store. I didn’t really check it out, but I heard they have really cheap plate lunches and teri burgers.

Inside, the store itself is a bit dated, but clean. The aisles are pretty tight and jammed with both things you’d find on the mainland and things very unique to the Hawaiian market. Those, of course, were the most interesting to me.

In addition to the boxed and canned stuff, there’s fresh produce, seafood and meat.

Now I just have a whole slew of photos of interesting things I saw! Papa’a = “cooked crisp”, so I guess papa’a chips are crisp chips! From Taro Ko Farm.

More chips from Taro Ko Farm.

Great selection of Hawaiian books sprinkled around the store.

There was a large selection of Hawaiian liquor. Here’s Keoki’s Kona Coffee Liqueur and Maui Okolehao. Okolehao is derived from the ti plant.

Old Lahaina Rum from Maui.

Ocean Vodka and Hawaiian Vodka.

Hawaiian Popcorn.

Rice! Lots of rice!

Laura’s Otap is Filipino puff pastry.

Shoyu. Lots of shoyu!

Umeboshi = pickled plums.

Mama Sita’s is a Filipino line of sauces and mixes.

Noodles. Lots of noodles!

Tapioca pearls.

Bee-Ann’s Fish Crackers, another product of the Philippines.

Maui white cane sugar.

Aloha Sunset pancake mixes. We’ve gotten some teas they make, but never the pancake mixes.

Cones for Sushi, cone sushi.

Ono Ono Luau Leaves for laulau or squid luau!

Zippy’s!

Super random assortment of non-food items. I bought a couple of the Japanese Salux wash cloths for Dallas. He uses them every day. I have one in my shower I use sometimes too.

Fresh ahi.

Kauai Grown pork belly.

Boy Bawang chips are from the Philippines. Lechon Manok is Filipino roast chicken, so I guess the chips on the left are chicken flavored!

Ding Dong Snack Mix is a mixture of “greaseless peanuts, corn bits, U.S.-grade green peas, corn chips and curls.” Another chip from the Philippines!

A selection of teas from The Hawaiian Tea Company from Maui.

A selection of teas from The Pacific Place Tea Garden in Honolulu.

Lots of produce!

Pineapples, of course!

Half and aisle of canned meats.

Hawaiian Sun guava jelly and jam. Classic!

Assam Milk Tea is from the Philippines.

Crack seed!

Kauai Kookie, a favorite!

Hawaiian Springs Water.

Hawaiian Sun tropical drinks.

Aunty Lilikoi is also a favorite from Waimea. Looks like they got a web site revamp and a label revamp.

Marlin Fish Jerky from Kona.

Salty Wahine spices are made in Waimea. I didn’t buy any this time, but I have in the past.

Fresh leis!

Fresh orchids.

Lunch. Bike. Pool. Barbecue.

Erin got a new job and she works from home now. Since her home is a 5 minute walk from my home, on Thursday we made plans to lunch on salads from Robey’s while sitting outside in the sun. Nice time. Erin had her bike in at Roscoe Village Bikes and while we were waiting for it to get done we shopped around a bit at Roscoe Village stores. While in the bike shop I talked to them about my bike and what sorts of cruiser bikes they have. RVB doesn’t sell Electra bikes but told me about some other brands I could look into. I made note of them and thought I’d looked them up online, but ended up not doing it. I’d like to support RVB, but they didn’t have any of the bikes in stock and would have to special order what I wanted and I was afraid I wouldn’t like it or how it rides.


Hamlin Park, Lakeview, Chicago

After lunch I went and sat at our neighborhood pool for a while. It was pretty packed! I couldn’t get a lounge chair so I just laid my towel out on the cement and enjoyed the weather.

On Friday I went to the bike shop where Dallas and I originally bought our bikes, On The Route. I talked to John there a lot about replacing my Electra Townie and realized something I didn’t know before. I had a 7-speed bike and the 2008 models of the 7-speed bike don’t have all the bells and whistles my bike had, which is why my bike was so much more expensive than the 7-speeds available now. I had the internal hub shifting and a shock system and fenders, all things that the 2008 model 7-speeds don’t have. So, to get those things I’d have to downgrade to a 3-speed or upgrade to the 8-speed. I decided to upgrade. It was more expensive, but the money I’m getting from insurance will take a bite out of the price. OTR had to order my bike, which I wasn’t nervous about since John told me that the seat and the body of the bike haven’t changed so it should ride just like my old bike. The bike will arrive in a week or two and this is what it will look like:

Friday night we had a barbecue at our house. A lot of people came, about 15 or so. It was fun and I’ll admit I drank too much of the Summer of Rachelle official drink. On Saturday I was SO sick. I mean, I don’t even think it was hangover sick. I maybe was coincidentally having the stomach flu? I was still getting sick at 9 p.m. last night. There’s no way that was still a hangover. I couldn’t even take a sip of water. What a waste of a day. I don’t know what happened, but I missed Colleen and Justin’s going away party, Margaret’s Golden 26th birthday and a chance to see an afternoon showing of the Dark Knight at the IMAX with Liz and Killian. I need to remind myself that I’m almost 33, not 23.

Vodka Lemonade Declared the Official SoR Drink


Vodka Lemonade, Village Tap, Roscoe Village, Chicago

On Friday night I invited people to come out to Village Tap for some drinks & dinner. I then declared that vodka lemonade is the official Summer of Rachelle cocktail. Can you think of a more summery drink? About a dozen people showed up and most of them had at least one of these signature cocktails.