Being Irish for a Day

Last Saturday was the Chicago St. Patrick's Day Parade and celebration. Every year, the city of Chicago dyes the Chicago River bright green. The river is already normally green, but man, when they dye it for St. Pat's, it looks like toxic waste. I woke up early and me and my friend headed downtown, Busch Light in hand of course :) What, don't judge me. How often do you get to drink beer at 9am on a Saturday? Not often. Anyway, we followed the masses down to the river and watched as the green dye oozed out of somewhere and proceeded to begin the celebration of the Irish. Not only is the river dyed green, but the beer is too. We went to a hole-in-the-wall Irish pub in Lincoln Park and had some green beers. Green beer. Apparently, it's pretty easy to accomplish. You just put a few drops of green food coloring in a frosty mug (or in our case, plastic cups) and voila, green beer. After a few beers, we decided that we should probably eat. And being in Chicago, my friend wanted a Chicago-style hot dog, which apparently the style is called "dragged through the garden." We ate at this place called Firkin & Pheasant (a firkin is an English word for a 9-gallon keg/barrel of beer) and ordered a Chicago-style dog. This thing came out and it had to have been at least a foot long. It didn't even fit on the plate and as promised, dragged through the garden. It had tomatoes, pickles, the greenest relish I've ever seen, mustard, ketchup and housed between a huge bun. Everyone becomes Irish in Chicago in March. It's pretty crazy. I guess it's like the dedication in St. Louis to Mardi Gras. I wish the Italians had a holiday to celebrate like this...

The Staples of an Italian Pantry

I haven't gone grocery shopping in at least a month, maybe longer. I'm digging through my pantry and become extremely grateful that I'm Italian and my mother raised me to appreciate a few things that can make a perfect meal...or at least a delicious meal. First and foremost, no kitchen in general is not complete unless you have extra virgin olive oil (also known as EVOO--Racheal Ray). Heat some EVOO in a sautee pan. Next, you chop up some garlic and toast it in the EVOO. Once you garlic is browned, toss in some pasta (already cooked--I try and keep some in the fridge at all times). Sprinkle in some kosher salt and cracked black pepper. I like to finish it off with some basil or oregano. Now, if you're lucky, you'll have purchased some type of protein and stuck it in the freezer for a rainy day. I had shrimp. And some green beans. It turned out to be pretty delicious. So let's recap: EVOO, garlic, pasta, salt and pepper, basil and/or oregano. OH! My mom would give me the look if I didn't mention one last staple, SAUCE! For those of you who aren't familiar, sauce is Italian for tomato sauce, homemade if you can. I heart my heritage and love exploring what it has to offer.

The Grey Outdoors

I'm back home in the land of the wind. I ended up being home for two weeks. It was really nice. I enjoyed seeing my friends and getting a taste of spring. Yes, we had a few days where the sun was shining and it was about 65 degrees. I definitely miss getting those random warm days here and there. Today, it's grey outside and I think it's snowing. Haha. Next weekend is the St. Patrick's Day Parade and all of the festivities that go along with it. I'm pretty excited about that. I've never seen the river dyed. Should be interesting. Girl's night tonight. Looks like we are getting sushi. YES. I'm craving it. I didn't have any while I was home, which I normally get sushi at least twice. I did manage to get some other things done though which is fine. So, I'm stuck. I'm thinking about saving up for either a laptop or a camera. I kind of want to get back into photography and I'm in the perfect environment for great pics. That might be the topic of one of my up and coming blogs. We will see!

Home Sweet Home

For the next week, I'll be in my homeland of southwest Missouri, Springfield to be exact. After being stuck at the gate on the airplane for an hour while we were being "de-iced," we finally made it to the runway and were stuck again for another hour. I know, I know, it could've been way worse. The best part of the flight was the landing, instead of lots and lots of houses and buildings, all I saw were farms and cow pastures. Ah yes, good ol' MO. I haven't been home since Christmas, which isn't too long, but I felt like I should come home...and work out of the Springfield office for a few days. Oh and get a haircut. Haha. I also got to drive my car today, which I haven't done in two months. It'll be nice to see my friends and enjoy a break from the city. Hopefully, it'll be a little warmer down here.

The Sun

The one thing that I've learned so far from living here is that Chicagoans live and I mean LIVE for those sunny days. Like today for instance. The sun is shining, it's a warm 45 degrees and there are so many people outside, it's crazy. I've seen at least 5 people run by my window in the last hour or so. I'd like to be enjoying this sunshine. The people here are tough and I keep hearing that a summer in Chicago is worth the worst winter in Chicago. Now, I've been up here a few times over the summer and I have to agree. The beach is amazing, the music festivals and just sitting out on a patio. So when does summer time get here? I was told that it will do this weather thing where it's 30-40s and rainy through at least April. A few beautiful days here and there and then in May and June...well...I don't want to jinx it. Days like today are kind of make my coffee decision difficult. It's sunny and chilly outside, but warm and cozy inside. Do I want a hot drink or something iced? Decisions, decisions. I'll probably go for the hot drink considering I left my coat at home, on purpose. I didn't want to wear it! Hot drink it is. Happy Friday all :)

Working from a Starbucks

I've been working from my apartment for a while now because they are doing construction at my office downtown and let me tell you something, it's difficult to concentrate/edit when there's drilling and constant chatting going on. Today, I decided to switch it up a little bit and hit up my neighborhood Starbucks. Now, I was hoping to discover a unique coffee shop, but I have not stumbled across one just yet. I'm not a Starbucks basher, I enjoy their drinks and I dig the atmosphere, however, I like to support the locals. There's quite the mix of people in here right now and it seems that majority of the folks in here are on their laptops or reading a newspaper. Wait, hold the phone, they're still printing newspapers? Hmmm. I'm joking. I knew they still were. I forget you don't know me yet, I'm sarcastic at times, but it's all in good fun. One of my friends thinks it's weird how people will set up their make-shift office in a 'Bucks and I think Dane Cook made fun of it or something. How people want to be noticed when they are drinking their double espresso and writing a screenplay on their Mac. Well, I'll tell you what. I'm drinking an iced mocha and editing on my Mac and I might have some ideas for some screenplays...too similar? Haha. I'm fine with it, I'm not a hater. 

I'm Trying Something New

My New Year's resolution for 2011 was to be more spontaneous and try new things. Well, this whole blog thing is pretty new for me. I never really understood why people wrote blogs, this was a few years ago. I realized that I have blogs bookmarked in my web browser that I check regularly. I'm wondering how my blog will turn out and if people will read about my life. I think I have a pretty interesting job/life. I've had people say that they would like to live vicariously through me. In the last year, I traveled from the west coast to the east coast and have eaten at just about every type of restaurant you could imagine. Maybe I'll write about my food experiences. I've had some good ones and continue to have even better ones. Here's just a taste: I've eaten at Maialino, a Danny Meyer establishment in NYC, I interviewed Dan Akyroyd about Crystal Head Vodka and one week in Vegas, I ate at 20 different restaurants. So, if you're interested keep up and if not, well, that's your decision.