errands and hummus
For once, I managed to brave the stores on the 26th. One nice thing about Lincoln Park is that everyone goes away for the holidays. It's a neighborhood with lots of transplants -- young people with too much money from their high-powered jobs who visit their families wherever else for the holidays, thus leaving us lots of parking, and apparently little post-holiday neighborhood shopping traffic. Barnes and Noble had the best cards, and my 50% off calendars. Cost Plus World Market filled out the card collection, and we stopped on the way home to find Zoo Tycoon 2 - Endangered Species (to feed my addition), and for the annual Char Dog visit (to feed Tim's). Char dog is an institution in Chicago, and has some of the very best fries I've ever eaten. As importantly, the boy is hopelessly addicted to their veggie burgers. He has a Pavlovian response to their mention if he's been away from them for too long. He orders them two at a time, hoovering the first and savoring the second. It makes me happy when he finds things that make him that happy.
After some tycoonage, we headed back out and sat at the coffee establishment that also always merits a visit. There weren't as many cute gay boys as I hope for, but there were enough to sate me, I suppose. My mocha didn't sit as well as they often did. I best not be developing a milk intolerance. I would be too sad to give up the espresso beverages. Got home, did a bit more shopping with mi familia (a whole new Barnes and Noble, where I also picked up the paper journal I'm using for '06). We went out for dinner at Casbah Cafe, a local mediterranean/moroccan type eatery, where I had a dish that involved cilantro that I didn't completely hate, and we were comped baklava, just to finish out an entirely lovely vacation day.
After some tycoonage, we headed back out and sat at the coffee establishment that also always merits a visit. There weren't as many cute gay boys as I hope for, but there were enough to sate me, I suppose. My mocha didn't sit as well as they often did. I best not be developing a milk intolerance. I would be too sad to give up the espresso beverages. Got home, did a bit more shopping with mi familia (a whole new Barnes and Noble, where I also picked up the paper journal I'm using for '06). We went out for dinner at Casbah Cafe, a local mediterranean/moroccan type eatery, where I had a dish that involved cilantro that I didn't completely hate, and we were comped baklava, just to finish out an entirely lovely vacation day.