Saturday

Chinatown. . .

One of the Xylenes singers also plays accordion. . . and a beautiful accordian at that.

Fake food!

I bet you can't guess what's better than a "Punk Rock and Roll" maki roll.

Chinatown has an answer for everything!

This is the 3rd page of specialty drinks at Joy Yee.

Salad and onion tart.

We Killed This Weekend

Dan and I did it up this weekend--stealing a page from staycationland. We went to the farmer's market in Oak Park, where we obviously had fresh donuts and then bought lots of produce.

Then we went shopping for a few goodies. Then on to Chinatown to see a buddy play in a 80's/90's coverband--the Xylenes--at an outdoor festival to benefit the Chicago water taxi. We walked around a bunch, saw some fake food and then ate the real thing at Joy Yee.

Then grocery shopping in Logan Square, picked up Dan's bike, visited the Needle Shop (a tiny fabric store that specializes in Amy Butler and Joel Dewberry and sewing classes, conveniently located across the street from a bar Dan is trying to gig for).

Then home, where I made an onion tart and a balsamic-y cantaloupe, greens, pine nut salad for dinner.

And then today, we had a lazy Sunday. I stained a number of embroidery hoops, while Dan did some homework. After, we went to the Berwyn Y and worked out. Then back home to play with LP and work on the quilt, while Dan did more homework. A lovely bath, reading a new printmaking book I purchased from the Needle Shop, followed by making homemade Paella with spanish chorizo, chicken thighs, cod and shrimp.

We ate our whole way through the weekend--but in a good reasonably healthy way, barring the donuts and chorizo.

Pictures of all to follow.

kid*a*collective

Who has a little girl that wouldn't want this dress?



So beautiful. Subtle color. Birch Trees. . . are maybe the prettiest trees (and not just because I only see them on vacation and so are attached to the happiness of being away). This dress and other ridiculously cute/fashionable baby/kid clothes at the kid*a*collective shop on Etsy.

Jasper Panda

The fabulous Jill Huntsberger mused out loud over lunch one day that it was unusual that I hadn't tried making a panda yet--after a few years of making a bunch of other animals.

So, here you are, tfJH! Pandarama!

New Rattles

Suspension Bridge

Cincinnati also boasts a gorgeous suspension bridge--designed by John A. Roebling (the same gent who designed the Brooklyn Bridge) and completed in 1866. Back in the days when Cincinnati was the first major city in the "West" with five times as many residents as Chicago.

Plus a Great Cincy Yarn Shop

One More Stitch--so great for knitters or needlepointers in Cincinnati (though properly for knitters, it would be called "One More Row"). I scored a very short #36 circular needle there--very hard to find. Mama bought yarn for a sweater for my favorite new (only, but still, she's exceptional) niece.

I'd give you a link, but they don't have a website. They're located on Madison Ave., across from DeSalle's and Purcell.

More Cincinnati

Carriage House Farms LLC

The "vineyard." Clearly there's a lot more growing these little grape vines need to do, but they're on their way. And for now, they make a pretty walkway down the center of the "truck garden".

Maybe the family farm shouldn't be on this list because not everyone can visit it. But it's a draw for me and it's an appealing reality of Cincinnati and lots of smaller cities--in that there's nature and farmland nearby. Cincinnati is an incredibly green town--in the traditional sense, meaning tons of trees and green expanses. And then right outside are these beautiful gems: family owned farms, wildlife preserves, huge public parks within a 10-20 minute drive from home, instead of an hour.

There are city folks who faint at the sight of mud or bugs or views unobstructed by tall buildings and cab stands. But for those city folks like me who like a mix of rural and urban, maybe the smaller city makes more sense? We'll see. . .

Chalk Food

Leave it to Dad to find the most "bar food" item on the menu to go with his beer. Fries. . . but "Duck Fat Fries". We all had a taste and they were amazing.

Mozarella and tomato salad

The Market Cheese Plate and smack in the middle of the plate is a piece of honeycomb from Richard's hives.

Melon Cucumber Salad

Mushroom Ragout

Lobster Risotto

Ribeye steak over beans and marscapone potatoes.
(Blurg, that was yummy).

Chalk

Okay, so Chalk Restaurant isn't technically in Cincinnati. It's located in the rejuvenated riverfront area of Kentucky directly across the river. . . but it's all part of the package of Cincy living (as is the York Street Cafe--which is one of my favorite restaurants of all time, also in Kentucky).

Chalk is an amazing upscale restaurant that crafts new menus every week, based on what local produce is available to them in the area. And Cincinnati is a small enough city that there are farms close by--making that local shopping and eating so much easier than in a big city like Chicago.

Chalk showed up on my parents' radar because the chef came to buy produce from the family farm in Cleves, OH--Carriage House Farms LLC. He buys honey and bee pollen from my brother--plus seasonal veg and flowers for his table centerpieces. Read the fine print at the bottom of the menu and you'll find CHF listed in the thanked farms.

Giant hanging garlic scuplture. The restaurant host made fun of it, but I think it's clever.

Findlay Market

Why, oh why, doesn't Chicago have a big old food market in the European tradition? One big building filled with Butchers, Fishmongers, Pastry shops and Cheese makers all indoors with local produce vendors in outdoor stalls while the weather permits? A cathedral ceilinged cavernous building filled with the noises of families picking out good food from local vendors?

Cleveland has the Westside Market--Dan and I visit it with his brothers every Thanksgiving and get gorgonzola stuffed olives, lil smokies and Israeli couscous.

And Cincinnati has Findlay Market:

This is the parking lot side of the market, but essentially, it's a large central building (not shown here), with a collection of shops on either side of it in these amazing old structures. And there are butchers in those shops that have been in business in Cincinnati for over a century.


When I visit Cincinnati, I always make my mom go for a Findlay run, if for no other reason than to visit Silverglades--home of the best Spanish Chorizo in the Midwest. Why in a town with such a strong German history? Who knows. . . but I get two Chorizos every visit for paella back at home where you can only get Mexican Chorizo.

This time, I also bought four of the German Veal Bratts. . . nothing like 'em in Chicago.
Sometimes, I have dreams about living in the top floor of one of Cincinnati's beautiful old buildings--buying it for a song and renovating it with Dan. We would stabalize the top floor so that it could hold the weight of a rooftop garden--so that I could finally be the perfect blend of city/country mouse. And then we would go to Findlay Market every Saturday for freshly made belgian waffles and coffee, and return home with arms full of baguettes and fish and fresh produce. I'd work for Cincinnati ArtWorks and Dan would be a computer genius for some lucky company, right downtown, both within walking distance of our beautiful home.

Cincinnati Trip

I took a little break from work (the day job. . . I still made things while I was down there and I will post them soon to prove it!) and traveled to Cincinnati to see my family and the farm and the new baby niece.

Cincinnati often gets a bad rap. The only time Cincinnati seems to make national news is when something extra-super terrible or crazy conservative happens. And so I think much of the country doesn't know exactly how beautiful and laid back and lovely Cincinnati is. Impressive art museums (both old school and modern). One of the few acoustically perfect performance halls. A huge arts community--there was a time long ago when Cincinnati was the arts and artisans center of the middle of the continent. That's less true now, but that flavor and spirit has never left. Ridiculously beautiful architecture that feels like a weird mix between Boston and Savannah--lots of early German architecture/brick buildings with extensive flourishes at the top of the first floor and then mirrored at the top of the building. . . but also old brick houses with immense deep porches because it gets hot in southern Ohio.

Dan and I think about moving there from time to time--usually while sitting in traffic in Chicago or having something bad happen to us on the train. I'm not done with Chicago yet, but there's a lot to recommend Cincinnati. . . as you'll see in the following posts.

Clare Owens Drew Me and Mine

Well not actually. Clare Owens doesn't even know me. . . but it could totally be me and Dan. I saw this illustration and it made me go all ooey gooey thinking about loving my boy.



Check out her blog and all of her other great illustrations here!

Deer Attack!! Aaaah!

Visiting my folks in Cincinnati for the week and brought my city dog along. My parents live in the city of Cincinnati, which might suggest that they actually have a city-living experience. But it's like I'm vacationing in the country for the week.

I sent LP out to do his usual morning business and he just about had a heart attack mid-business when one of these deer trundled out on to the lawn right next to him. This is a photo of mama and twin fawns later in the morning in the front yard, chomping their way through the salad bar that apparently is my mother's garden.

Milimbo Etsy Shop

I have been finding myself attracted to lots of Spanish illustrators and printers on Etsy of late. I don't have a good explanation for this other than that the work is excellent and much of it follows a similar aesthetic principal of very modern and minimalist. So much of it makes me nostalgic for design from the 50's and 60's. . . from France. Weird, but it delights me.

This print is from Milimbo's shop on Etsy. This one is called "Lost"--little Red Riding Hood. But you have to check out the shop, because he's also created a gorgeous modern picture book of the whole Red Riding Hood story in pictures--no words. Check it out here.

Franny Bluepants

Hot off the crochet hooks and already on Etsy at the fivetrees shop: Franny Bluepants.

More Indiana Dunes

It's Summer, After all

I run a big high school arts program during the summer. That takes up a lot of my time and energy for much of the summer. . . and I love it. But when it ends at the close of July, it's like I always discover that it's summer time. I can see the world outside of campus again and I wonder why I haven't gone on more walks with the husband and the dog. Or the Beach! What about the beach?

So, D, L.P. and I headed off to the Indiana Dunes today. To lay in the sun and read and swim and chase a yellow ball in the tiny Lake Michigan surf and to dig holes around said ball (it's up to you to decide who did what).

Cold frame

My awesome husband, Daniel, has made me a cold frame--which means we are going to eat fresh lettuce and spinach through early winter. How much does he rock on a scale from 1 to 10 (Hint: it's possible to go off the top of the scale for emphasis. 12.3? 14.2?)

Friday Evening

At the end of Friday and HSSI Showcase (and three days, really, of prep and physically tough work to get everything ready), I snuck out of the bar the Fabulous Jill Huntsberger, Dimitri Moore and Dave Pritchett and I were celebrating in to snap this picture. The kids did an amazing job with the day--performers and most especially producers, our team of 5 exceptional students--and this picture sums it up for me (without putting up pictures of kids that they might not appreciate in 10 years time). The day was perfect from start to finish (even when it wasn't)--beautiful and cool and lovely.