holiday time in the loop

since we are in desperate need of a new couch (yikes, our sleeper sofa is just...well *rotating yikes gif*), leff and i headed to the state street macy's this weekend. maybe you know about it? it used to the the old marshall field's? 

i swear to you, when i had to exchange a pair of boots at this store in the 90s, this is where i fell in love with chicago. 

i mean, i'm kinda joking but only kinda. it's just an all around glorious fucking store and macy's kept a lot of the details as you can kinda see in these pics. they also put up a honkin huge tree.

i mean, fine. people were taking selfies in front of it. tbh, i'm more impressed with the view.

we did find a couch, btw. just got to see if it will fit cause someone (me) forgot to measure the space before we went to the loop.

since we were nearby, leff and i popped over to christkindlmarket. (i have a lot of catching up to do in regard to holiday stuff in chicago since i was down for the count with pneumonia last year.)

anyway, christkindlmarket was just as crowded as i expected it to be. there were also a lot of brats!

will prob go back for the gluhwein at some point before xmas day. maybe also one of those stonking giganto pretzels too.

since we were at the gov buildings anyway, i talked leff into heading over to james r thompson so i could finally walk inside the dubuffet.

i've heard a rumor that it will go if the thompson center is torn down. it would be a shame, really. i've always had a soft spot for this goofy old sculpture.

not gonna lie tho, i kinda don't care if the thompson center gets razed.  dunno what they'd do with such a huge empty block but, and i am not alone in this sentiment, i wouldn't miss it. it's very, um, berlin GEE I WONDER WHY (helmut jahn designed both the thompson center and sony center at potsdamer platz (i wasn't really a fan of jahn's when were were in berlin either. *shrug*)

just...blah. i really like what jahn did at o'hare! just not this particular building. or, you know, sony center.....ha hah...

MOVING ON, we walked down randolph cause i wanted to try to find the old heidelberg restaurant building cause the fact that this tiny building still exists in the loop is just crazy. it's a tea shop now but, for a while, i guess it was a steakhouse? idk, i saw footage of it from the 30's on youtube (AND I CAN'T FIND IT AGAIN ARGH) that showed the original clockwork figures moving around on the quarter hour. you can kinda see where those would have been located above the clock face.

look, i'm fascinated by this building. it's right next to the oriental, aka the theatre with the most haunted alley which is a whole other topic for another day.

but speaking of other topics, i got to see the aic lions with their wreaths!

we were at aic for the thorne rooms' holiday decorations! i love this tradition SO MUCH!!

do click through on the thorne room link. it's really hard to get a good pic of the miniatures cause of the glass, so, please, if you are AT ALL interested, check out their professional photos.

leff and i still have to head back downtown for mag mile lights and maybe also to see the tree in grant park. ice skating at the ribbon?? oh! and on the way home, zoo lights! (i think they also have new holiday mold a ramas too. lol)

what can i say? i kinda like the holiday season in chicago. it feels...right? stay tuned for more ~soft holiday stylings~. (maybe we'll also have a new couch soon. haha)

take heart

started a small free painting project in chicago tonight called "take heart"!

the premise is simple, if you see a heart painting (or two or three) in your little library box, please take it and let me know at rakkadeer+takeheart at gmail dot com (include the number on the back of the painting in subject line) so that i can replace it with another. 

it's just a little bit of encouragement in what has been a very, very rough year for many. anyway, if you live in chicago or have friends/family here, please be on the lookout/let them know! thanks!

happy thanksgiving

happy thanksgiving if that's a thing you celebrate. this year, leff and i had chicken vesuvio. it was SO GOOD and it even looked like i knew what i was doing before i put the dish in the oven.

here it is after baking for about 50 min.

there are a ton of chicken vesuvio recipes out there but ours came from this book that leff picked up from one of the free little libraries in our neighborhood.

the recipe in case you can't get your hands on the book:

i'm sure your family will enjoy it whether or not they are composed of four empty chairs and a table in a vacant lot

or you, your animal friends and a very large japanese style cream soda. i know we did. (leftovers for daaaays!)

(ps-- if i know you and you want my friend code for "pocket camp", dm or text me and we'll swap!)

sunday in ravenswood

i'm really glad leff and i have finally found time to explore around wilson/uptown/ravenswood. it's something we've been meaning to do for about a year but, well, you know how time goes.

since i'm still a newbie in chicago, i didn't know about the hull house gorilla. (lots more info at link!) 

we passed him on the way to lillstreet.  apparently, leff and i saw more of john kearney's work at oz park this summer but i didn't realize he had so many sculptures around town. i need to track down his deer! (oz park wasn't written up as i was on blog break. soz.)

anyway, lillstreet is incredible. so. many. amazing. ceramic pieces!!!! please hover for artists names (or look at tags that are listed in order of appearance.)

we also made it to architectural artifacts. it *really is* like a museum!

one more shot of general ravenswood

and a picture of the banans we bought at lillstreet

and i'll let you go. it's thanksgiving week, after all and there's A LOT happening rn. see you after the holiday!

choc choc 2nd anniversary and kodomo matsuri at jasc

leff and i celebrated pocky/pretz/pepero day this year with kbeauty and japanese food. choc choc even provided the pocky and pepero as they were celebrating their 2nd year in business! 

i loveloveLOVE choc choc! so the freebies (canvas bag! red ginseng face mask! DOUBLE STAMP DAY BIG DISCOUNTS) were just icing. here's my haul for the day.

hells yes finally got some cosrx acne patches!

also being celebrated on saturday was kodomo matsuri at jasc.  we were there at the same time as santa (no photos tho, soz) but our main draw was, naturally, the food! oh, the food! gyoza

and onigiri (this kind was a golden seaweed which neither of us had tried before! leff said it wasn't as, idk, kelpy? it was hard to describe but v good!)

and teriyaki beef skewers!!! these were the main draw for many people (at least FOUR webers were going!) and i understand why. so tender, juicy, smokey and not too sweet!

one of the older ladies pointed at our okonomiyaki and smiled. i guess cause we got the topping right? ha i will never pass up kewpie.

if you are in town for kodomo matsuri, this is an event that i will force you to attend if only for the food. (there were demonstrations and an entire craft area but it was very crowded and i was hungry.) all the food was incredibly fresh and delicious and i can't wait until next year when i will also get a teriyaki dog.