15 Fun Indulgences

I recenly read this article on Yahoo regarding the 30 fun indulgences that won't break the bank.  This is great considering everyone is scrimiping nowaday.  I know that I am at least. 

http://green.yahoo.com/blog/the_conscious_consumer/147/30-fun-indulgences.html

Among some of the suggestions they had - the article said:

1. Go out to brunch. Enjoying a meal in the middle of the day can be just as much fun as eating dinner out and a lot less pricey.

2. Get a foot massage. A good foot massage might not be quite as relaxing as a full-body rub, but it's pretty darn close and easier on your wallet. Just walking into a spa can lift your spirits. 

3. Have a themed movie rental week. Clear your calendar. Pick a time period or a genre and watch a movie every night. Don't forget about the local library as a source of free movies. In fact, more people borrow movies from the library than rent from Netflix, Redbox, or Blockbuster.

I got to thinking what little indulgences that I let myself have.  In no particular order:

1) Once a week get a fancy coffee drink with whole milk because really that skim stuff is awful.  Vary this up with Soy.

2)  Have a night in every two weeks where I walk my pup to the closest Red Box for a movie and then spend a lazy night cuddled on the couch and filling my brain with mush.

3)  Make pancakes for dinner just because

4)  Cook a big dinner and invite friends over for a hot meal

5)  Try out new recipes that I cut out of magazines or find online

6)  Add a ton of clothes, candy, makeup, and other items I don't need to my online shopping cart and then not buying anything

7)  Allow myself to plan out all the countries I want to visit in my lifetime and buy tickets to an international destination every year

8)  Sending my boyfriend a gift just because I miss him since he lives so far away

9)  Buying a chapstick for myself even though I own about 2 dozen just because I forgot to bring any of them with me

10) Learning a little of a new language through workbooks and poring through manuals in Borders.

11) Relax with a mug of hot chocolate on a rainy day and do absolutely nothing

12) Concerts at Millieum park with friends - with snacks and drinks

13) Lose a good half a day at Blicks arts and craft stores because I WANT EVERYTHING IN THAT STORE

14) Buying very expensive candy in small quantities just to say I've tried it

15) Making an attempt to eat food from around the world one restaurant/stall/food truck at a time.

What's yours?

Chicago - Explore and Eat Task #1: Lawrence Fisheries

I've been back in Chicago for close to ten months now and I have yet to explore around Chicago like I did in London and get into all the different neighborhoods.  I need to find a new routine for weekends anyways to keep boredom at bay (at least once I get my condo all clean) - so I decided that I'll give myself tasks of places/areas to explore in Chicago and a place that I MUST go for a meal in that area and take my camera along for the ride.  Then I'll update the blog with what I thought and fun pictures.  Sound like a plan?

First stop:
Lawrence Fisheries:
2120 S Canal St, Chicago, IL 60616(312) 225-2113
http://lawrencesfisheries.com/

I have heard really good things about this place and their sushi for a looonnng time even pre-London.  It is oh so close to Chinatown even though I haven't explored the area where the fishery is located at.  I know it's very industrial - so there should be awesome pictures from the trip.

Where else would you go to?  I am thinking Task 2 will be a bakery in Andersonville.  Any recommendations?

Quick update - more to come - promise!

Why hello there readers (I'm sure there is pretty much only 1 or 2 people reading this) - I've been completely MIA for a while haven't I?  Yes I know, I've been a bad bad bloger...here is a quick run down of the things that have happened that have prevented me from writing:

1)  MOVING - this one was huge.  The one month running up to me leaving London and returning to Chicago was crazy.  Wrapping up work, seeing friends, walking through my favorite parks, going to the food markets, seeing friends, packing...it was a bit crazy
2)  Readjustment time - so there is this thing called Culture Shock for when you move to a new country and adjusting to a new life style.  There is also this thing called Reverse Culture Shock which is much much worse.  I figured that because I would have my friends and family there that I would be okay - but I was pretty much in a three-four month slump of suck.  I won't whine here - but in short while I love Chicago and everyone here, I miss my London life dearly
3)  Family problems - less than a few days after I moved back I recieved some stressful family news.  Dealing with that took a few months and I didn't have the mental space
4)  Readjustment time - sorry I have to reiterate how much this reverse culture shock affected me. 
5)  Work - Americans just work more hours in general - enough said
6)  Other personal issues
7)  A lack of fun things that have happened - there has been a lack of traveling or maybe just a lack of posting anything.  That should change though. :)

That was my quick update!  I'll post some new things very soon!

Hugs,

Travel-Eat-Play

Amsterdam pictures!

I went away for a long bank holiday weekend in Amsterdam with one of my friends and her two girl friends. It was a really great time, but I wish I had just one more day there so I could have cycled around the city.

We stayed in a hostel right near everything:

The entrance is right into a bar/club and smoking den. The rooms are on top of all this.

The hostel was really cute. The rooms were clean and had it's own private bathroom.  The only complaint I had was that it was really really loud.  The club/music didnt' die down until around 5am or so, so you can still feel the bass through the floor.  I slept okay as I brought ear plugs but two of the other girls didn't fare so well.

If you like canals and water, Amsterdam is your city.  The entire city is dissected with canals and lakes.  As a result there are a lot of house boats along the water.

 Most all of the people in Amsterdam get around via bikes.  As you can see in the pic above, they are very active.  It puts me to shame!

Here is a pic of their bicycle parking near the train station....

What you can't see is that the bike garage in the background is actually 3 stories tall.  My question is how the heck do you find your bike if you left it there for a while and forgot which area you parked it????

Obviously, when in Amsterdam...um...eat pancakes!  I saw that the Pancake Bakery was one of the most recommended restaurants in Amsterdam, so we went there for brunch

Here is the menu:

So many choices...what could we possibly choose?

I had this:

Boobies and pancakes!

But seriously, I had ham and mushroom pancake, while Ms. boobalicious had banana, whipped cream, and powdered sugar.

My other companions had:

Banana-nutella on the left and plain powdered sugar on the right. Oh and that is the Chocomel drink in the middle. Delicious delicious chocolate milk with the pancakes.  Everything was great but it's more like a crepe rather than a fluffy pancake as most Americans would expect.
Lots of pictures following..

Count down to Chicago - To do list before I leave London

Since the countdown to Chicago is now on - you are probably wondering what I want to do before I leave London. Here is my list of to dos before I go:
1) Visit Portobello road market for antique maps and hummingbird bakery cupcakes
2) Go to the Science Museum
3) Go ice skating at Somerset house
4) Eat at a michelan star restaurant at least one time
5) Go to Brighton with a friend for a day trip at least one more time
6) Go to Wales for a weekend
7) Take a day trip to Lille, France
8) Have a three-four course dinner party
9) Go Retro night bowling
10) Go to the Ministry of Sound night club
11) Have Turkish food at Yildz
12) Go to Borough market for Monmouth coffee and a garlic prawn wrap
13) Overindulge in cheese and desserts at Harrods food hall or at Neals yard
14) Szechwan hot pot with friends
15) Clubbing out at Heaven
16) Charity shopping in Balham
17) Eat at Nobu - expensive celebrity sushi haunt



I'm sure there are a lot more things I want to do in London that I will add to the list once I think of more. Any recommendations?

Update - Moving back to Chicago, Traveling, Thanksgiving...

I haven't updated this in a while! My countdown to moving back to Chicago is on - less than two months until my last day of work and a little over two months before I fly back to my home country - bidding adieu to my lovely London.

A lot has happened in between my Zurich post. I am taking a lot of yoga and dance classes, seeing friends for salsa dancing and eating out. Travel wise I went to Amsterdam with a couple of friends for a long weekend which was a lot more tame than I expected it to be. I will post pictures and a longer post when I can get access to the pictures, but all in all a great time. In summary, I saw things I've never saw before except in movies (weed) and only heard about (red light district). In between there were canal cruises, Anne Frank museum, pancakes, brownies, dancing, creepy men, and a lot of walking. But pictures are worth a thousand words so - will post that very soon.

I went on a day trip to Paris with the boy in September and spent a great week with him in London, even though I had to work. (pictures soon as well!)

After my half marathon, which I completed despite having a cold, pink eye, and a hurt ankle, I also went to Rome and Naples, Italy for a few weeks with David early October. Italy was amazing. I would go back again in a heartbeat. I'll post everything and the pictures soon as well. In short, Rome is great if you are into Roman history, architecture, ruins, and religion. David geeked out pretty hard while he was there. Rome had lovely markets and excellent gelato as well as friendly people. The apartment that we stayed at was wonderful. David developed a love for a Cornetto (sweet croissant) shop that was close to our apartment and wanted to go there daily for their cream stuffed bread and cornettos. mmmmm. The Vatican museum was amazing but we didn't see the pope... Rome is a bit touristy though, I think locals usually stayed away from all the sights, but that also meant that the city was a bit cleaner although still filled with graffiti and cigarette butts everywhere.

That brings us to Naples which was the second leg of our trip. David and I almost turned back around to go back when we got off at the Naples central station. It was scary, the people, little kids clinging to your arm, the garbage everywhere...graffeti and people who looked like mafia people.. BUT as the girl at the Hostel said to us - it grows on you. I know that Naples was probably one of my favorite parts of the trip because it felt like real Italy. You see the narrow streets busy with pedestrians and cars and can see how the stereotype of neighbors yelling at each other across the balcony would work - one probably brandishing a rolling pin. Also - the most fantastic pizzas I've ever had. Period. It makes me think of Chicago pizza and go ew...it makes me think of New York pizza and think how it's a sad substitute. But I took pictures of most of my food - so posting those soon! (my goodness I'm behind!)

I was hoping to go to a few more places in Europe before I have to say my goodbyes here but I don't know if I have the time (or the money) to do so. However, I am going to Germany in December. Unfortunetly, I used up all my holidays this year so I couldn't go back to the States for either Thanksgiving or Christmas. My wonderful German friend, Sarah invited me to spend Christmas with her family in Germany, which I readily accepted. So not only will I get to see tiny villages in Germany (her mom lives in a village of less than a thousand people, possibly 500-600) and get to have hearty German food (mmm schneitzel...) I will get to have family time with her welcoming family and not feel alone as I did during Thanksgiving this year. That is really all of my travels thus far!
Thanksgiving dinner for me on the 26th of November consisted of a bowl of porridge (oatmeal to all those Americans out there). I decided to celebrate Thanksgiving with a handful of friends (who love food) on Saturday the 28th instead. I bought a ton of groceries, 5 turkey legs, green beans, fresh cranberries, corn meal, pumpkin puree, stuffing mix, etc. The Corn meal and pumpkin puree finding took me all over London. American groceries are so difficult to buy in London. Especially corn meal. Brits don't understand the concept of corn bread. Their first question is why would you want to ruin perfectly good bread with corn? Sweet corn to them is only found in some salads and in some sandwiches. So of course I had to make some Corn bread to prove that it is indeed delicious especially with my home made honey butter.

I started preperation for Thanksgiving on the Tuesday - wet brining the turkey legs, then dry brining them on Thursday, then making corn bread on Thursday and pumpkin pies (2) on Friday before getting everything else done on Saturday. We didn't have that much leftovers among the 5-6 of us so I consider it a success. However, I do have a lot of pumpkin pie left as well as 2 boxes of profiteroles and an entire beautiful french cake that people brought and never even opened because they were chock full of Turkey and other foods. The menu was:
1) Roasted Garlic, Sage, Thyme stuffed Turkey legs
2) Roasted Garlic cheddar mashed potatos (I like Garlic can you tell?)
3) Candied sweet potato with marshmallows
4) Fresh green bean casserole
5) Baked spinach and artichoke dip
6) Fresh cranberry sauce
7) Mixed salad
8) Corn bread
9) Pumpkin pie
10) sage and red onion stuffing with sausage and mushrooms
11) Cornbread stuffing

A lot of food for 5-6 people eh? Especially as each of the turkey legs were almost as big as one of my thighs - and I do have big thighs. I'll post pictures of Thanksgiving before my travel photos.

CAKE OR DEATH!!!

Cake please!!!

This is probably one of my favorite Eddie Izzard comedy skits ever.  Mostly because I love cake.  Mmmm...cake. See Cake or Death here!

My love of cakes probably started as most people's do around their childhood friend's birthdays.  I really didn't get to eat my first cake (that I remember) until around 2nd grade in Happy Hollow elementary school in W. Lafayette, Indiana.  I remember being invited to a friend's birthday party - and at that time and age, everyone in the classroom was invited - and seeing my first birthday cake.  It was decorated with white frosting and colorful icing and lettering.  It may even have been a Disney Character...whatever it was I don't remember.  But what I DO remember is that in the sickenly sweet frosting that covered the large rectangle of cake, was soft, lucious, sweet, airy cake.

I am one of those people that unless the frosting/icing is light to medium sweet buttercream or whipped cream icing, I scrape it all off.  My sweet tolerance (for a cake lover) is low.

My mother was never a baking kind of person.  She can make amazing food but she doesn't really do the whole baking cookies and cakes and tarts thing.  That is - as Austin Powers would say - not her bag, baby.  So for me, I could only really get cake at birthday parties and every now and then, Jewel-Osco (a Grocery store chain) when I really whined.

I started baking when I was in High School.  I knew that other people's parents baked and figured that I could do it too.  I begged and pleaded with my parents to buy me a Betty Crocker cookbook.  In fact I probably still have it some where at my parents house.  Anyways, Betty Crocker cookbook showed me all the cakes and candies that I could be making.  I made a yellow cake as my first cake, followed by a sponge cake, and then I progressed onto caramels and toffees after my parents complained cakes were fattening.  An addition of a very old old Muffins/breads/and baked goods book ignited me into making bagels, croissants, and challah bread from scratch.

Cake was still one of my favorites.  But only if I put in half the sugar that the recipe asked for - I found that out quickly. :)

Then came the cupcakes.  It seemed perfect - mini cakes and are easy to hold and that you didn't need a fork to eat!  I started baking those in College once I moved out of my parents house I believe. mmm.

I'm happy with the addition of the new gourmet cupcakes shops that are springing up all over Chicago (my home town) and London (my host town).  While a lot of them are delicious, some of them are really just really bad cake topped with way too colorful and too sweet icing. 

Favorites in London:
Crumbs and Doilies - Lovely flavors and nice people!
 Bea's of Bloomsbury - known for their infamous Cookie Monster cupcake!
Hummingbird Bakery - Lucious red velvet with cream cheese icing

I have this thought that when i retire, that I would open up a cafe/cupcake bakery that is attached to an independent bookshop.  We'll see how well it works.

(Found on a fanpop website)

So cute!!!

So yes...cake.  Who doesn't love it!