chicago in photographs

Back to Chicago. I wanted to share some of my vacation photos. I wish I could have had more time to see the sights.

Our first day in the city, we walked up to the Navy Pier and took an architecture cruise on the Chicago River. I snapped this picture before we boarded the boat.

This was my favorite skyscraper I saw on the cruise. There are two identical buildings and they're called Marina City. It reminds me of the Jetsons. I think it's really cool because each building has condos, plus parking, a grocery store, bars, dry cleaners, restaurants, and even a bowling alley. It's really a mini city.

After the river cruise, we walked up Navy Pier and had dinner at a Mexican restaurant right by the Ferris Wheel. I really enjoyed the pier, even if it was a bit kitchsy.

This is the new Trump tower, right near our hotel. It is really a sight to see.

We of course went to the Art Institute and I was very excited to see Grant Wood's American Gothic.

We also saw Nighthawks by Edward Hopper.

I love Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and this is one of my favorites of his, Au Moulin Rouge. It's a self-portrait of him at the Moulin Rouge in Paris. I love the lighting on the dancer's face.

I accidentally set off the alarm trying to get a picture of this, Vincent Van Gogh's Bedroom in Arles.

And of course I saw Georges Seurat's Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grand Jatte. It is very striking in person and absolutely enormous.

It was very foggy and cloudy when we drove out of Chicago. All the skyscrapers were completely covered!

emilio's tapas

To take a break from the cookbook posts, we'll head back to Chicago, to a great restaurant: Emilio's. On our way to the Navy Pier, we stumbled upon this Spanish tapas restaurant. My dad decided he was hungry, so we took a seat and ordered.

The menu consists of cold tapas, hot tapas, paellas, soups, and desserts. We each ordered a tapas that caught our eye and shared them over Spanish wine and sangria.

We started with the Garbanzos a la castillana. It was a cold garbanzo bean spread with garlic, radishes, and roasted red peppers. It was topped with a cool dill sauce and served with toasted bread. It was heavenly, much like hummus (which I love), but better.

Next we had Queso de cabra al horno, which was a baked tomato sauce with goat cheese and olives, served with toasted bread. It was my favorite of the three we had. It was rich and warm, with the slight flavor of nutmeg. Oh man, I wish I could replicate this!

Our last tapas was Carne asada a la parrilla, which is a grilled skirt steak with peppers, onions, and mushrooms, topped with a cilantro wine sauce. The meat was tender, juicy, and full of the flavors of the vegetables. It was very good, but my dad ate most of it.

All the food was delicious: fresh, colorful, and flavorful. The service was very good and the restaurant was clean and well-decorated, though we ate outside. We actually ended up dining a second time at Emilio's and trying another round of tapas. I'll share that meal in another post. If you find yourself in the Chicago area, I recommend a trip here. There are tapas for every palate!

You can check out their website here: Emilio's Tapas - Sol y Nieve

knit, purl

While in Muscatine, IA, I had the opportunity to try something I've been wanting to learn for a long time. I learned how to knit!

At the Serendipity Yarn Shoppe, I picked out my first pair of needles (Brittany Art Deco birch needles, size 9) and a ball of yarn. I sat down with the shop owner for a few minutes while she showed me how to cast on and knit. I started my very first scarf.

The motions were awkward at first, and the needles unyielding, but by the time I was on a plane back to State College, it felt natural. A few days after arriving home, I finished my lumpy, holey scarf.

My first scarf. Isn't the yarn wonderful? It's Plymouth Encore Colorspun worsted weight with 75% acrylic and 25% wool. The color is 7511.

But after starting my second scarf, tragedy struck. I left my needles on my bed and when climbing in that night, I sat on one of the needles and snapped it clean in half. I was so sad! Not only did I lose my beloved needle, but my bottom had obviously reached epic proportions to snap wood in half. This now brings the total of things I've broken with my butt to 2.

I looked up the Brittany website to see where the nearest dealer was located. Not anywhere near me, it turns out. I did notice their product guarantee, offering to replace any broken needles at no charge. I e-mailed them and waited impatiently for a response. I received a reply a couple days ago informing me it would be "no problem". What great customer service! I can't wait to receive my new needle.

book review: "chic shopping paris"

I hope no one is tiring of my seemingly endless posts relating to Paris and France. I can't help it; I am smitten.

Today I'll review a wonderful book I picked up at the Prairie Lights bookstore in Iowa City. They had a table full of cookbooks and travel books on sale. You can imagine how long I toiled over this table. So many books to choose from! I picked up this great little book called Chic Shopping Paris.


The book features the author's bonnes addresses (a personal list of one's favorite shops) arranged by Parisian arrondissement. Paris is arranged into 20 neighborhoods, or arrondissements. Each has its own unique culture and shopping. For example, the 4th arrondissement is home to the Marais district, with a lively gay culture and the center of Paris's Jewish community. the 18th arrondissement, my favorite, is where Montmartre is located and known as the artists district.

This book contains lively descriptions and beautiful photographs, highlighting some of Paris's greatest shops. Each shop featured lists an address, nearest metro stop, phone number, hours, and website (if available). The book was published in 2008, so it may be somewhat outdated, but it makes a great coffee table book if nothing else. It's a handy size, easy to pack in a suitcase and carry in a purse. There is also an index in the back listing shops by type, making it convenient to find whatever you're looking for. Since it is a bit outdated, I would recommend looking the shops up online before visiting them.

While skimming Chic Shopping, I really noticed how specialized shopping can be in Paris. Astier de Villatte sells only rustic, white dinnerware. Causse sells only handmade gloves. Laguiole sells knives. La Petite Robe Noire focuses on "the little black dress". Alexandra Soifer is a store that sells only umbrellas. Cire Trudon is a candle shop that was once the royal purveyor of candles for Louis XVII. I could go on and on. Shop owners often pick one thing they do well and stick to it. It's an idea so far removed from the big box stores and concrete shopping malls that are part of the American culture. It feels distinctly European.

This book has reawakened my desire to go back to France. I recommend it to any lover of France, anyone traveling to Paris and anxious to shop, or those who are just addicted to shopping.

I just had to add some photos of the inside of the book to highlight the beautiful photography.

A two-page photo of the little black dress shop.

A children's shop.

And here's an example of the information provided for each shop.

hotel review: hotel palomar chicago

The Hotel Palomar in Chicago's River North neighborhood was the perfect vacation retreat. Unfortunately, our last night there, I forgot to take pictures of the room. You would too if you had spent 12 hours baking in the sun on an aluminum bench and inhaling all varieties of smoke. Okay, so the Crossroads Guitar Festival was a blast, but I was in no position to do anything but collapse on my bed with a bottle of aloe in my hand. I slept in the next morning and allowed myself exactly 30 minutes to pack, shower (ouch), slather myself in a layer of aloe (ahh), and inhale my cup of tea. This was a very long explanation of why I don't have pictures of my wonderful hotel room.


The location was just fantastic: two blocks from the Magnificent Mile and one block from the new Trump Tower. Right in the heart of the city. The lobby was great, lots of leather and gleaming marble. Palomar is a dog-friendly hotel and I was impressed with the dog bowls out front filled with water and dog biscuits.

The staff was extremely helpful, even sending a brand new hair straightener up to my room since I had forgotten mine. They upgraded our room to the luxury suite since our booked one-bedroom suite wasn't yet ready.


The hotel room was on the 9th floor and we had a great corner room with tall windows and wonderful city views. There were three rooms: a large bedroom with a king bed, a bathroom with a small sitting room outside, and a living room with a pull-out bed (my room). The decorating could be described as modern and warm. The furniture was sleek and trendy with plasma TVs in both rooms.


The bathroom was the best part of the room. Everything was covered in marble and there was a huge glass shower. The bathtub was practically a swimming pool, with jacuzzi jets and a self-cleaning feature. There were two sinks and a mirror that took up practically the entire wall. It was stocked with L'Occitane bath products (shampoo, conditioner, lotion, soaps) and had the perfect make-up mirror. The room had three ample closets, one even stocked with plush animal-print bathrobes.


Our room was great, but the rest of the hotel had some great amenities as well. If I had brought my swimsuit, I would've loved to spend some time on the rooftop pool and terrace. If I wasn't lazy and full of good food, I would've worked up a sweat in the huge fitness room (personal trainer available if you wish). I did enjoy the wine reception in the lobby a couple nights, and a delicious breakfast in their restaurant, Sable.


Overall, the hotel was spectacular, quiet, and comfortable. It was within walking distance to pretty much everything we visited. The staff was very helpful and if you have a dog, it's a great place to bring them along.

Palomar is owned by Kimpton, which has great luxury and boutique hotels across the country. You can check out the Hotel Palomar website here and Kimpton's website here. The pictures I added are from Expedia, not ones I personally took.

rick bayless's frontera grill

Rick Bayless is an American chef specializing in Mexican cuisine. He has written several great cookbooks and has appeared on Iron Chef, Top Chef, and won Top Chef Masters in 2009. More recently, he gained public attention as the guest chef for the White House state dinner in May. Barack Obama is a fan, and so is my dad.

Rick Bayless owns three restaurants in Chicago: Frontera Grill, Topolobampo, and XOCO. My dad likes to visit celebrity chef restaurants when he has the opportunity. He's been to Emeril's NOLA in New Orleans, Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill in New York City, Mario Batali's Babbo in New York City, and of course, Rick Bayless's restaurants in Chicago. He was very excited to take me to Frontera Grill.

Frontera Grill doesn't take reservations, so there is often a long wait. We chose to eat at the bar instead of waiting 1 1/2 hours for a table (when my dad's hungry, he's hungry). Even though we sat at the bar, the service was superb. Our waiter was attentive and helpful, despite being very obviously busy.

The decor was bright and bold, with lots of Mexican and Southwestern art along the walls. There was a fantastic tiled backsplash and a cool iron dragon sculpture. Great vases full of bright, fresh flowers were all over the tables and bar. It was noisy and dim, but not unbearably so. It's to be expected for such a popular restaurant.

To drink I chose a pineapple and cucumber cooler. It was pleasantly sweet and very refreshing. The margaritas looked great, but I wasn't in the mood for liquor, so I stuck with my cooler and iced water. It was much harder to choose what to eat for lunch. Everything on the menu sounded delicious, but I was in the mood for some fresh fish. The downside to living in a small town in the middle of a landlocked state is the unavailability of really fresh, delicious fish. State College, PA has no fish market. I take advantage of being in big cities and try to eat as much seafood as possible.

I finally decided to order the fresh catch of the day: swordfish. We did have a bit of wait for our food, but nothing too bad. My mouth was positively salivating by the time our waiter put my plate in front of me. The swordfish was grilled to medium-rare and served in a pureed sauce of green vegetables, herbs, and cream. It was accompanied by grilled asparagus and fingerling potatoes.

That first bite was phenomenal. The fish was cooked to perfection and it melted in my mouth. The sauce was vibrant and light, with a gentle peppery bite and essence of cilantro. It paired very well with the fish and potatoes. So often, fish is overcooked, dry, and overly flaky. I can't describe how fresh and buttery the swordfish really was. Since it was cooked to medium-rare, by the time it reached the table, the middle was just opaque. I was pleased and surprised at how light the meal was, not heavy like you would expect something with cream and potatoes to be. I think this dish could convert a seafood hater to a fish lover. It was my favorite meal I had in Chicago.


Unfortunately, the restaurant was dim and I have a simple point-and-shoot camera, so it was difficult for me to capture a good picture of the food. The picture does not do it justice.

If you are in Chicago, I highly recommend a trip to Frontera Grill. You will not be disappointed. If you wish to save a bit of money, I suggest going for lunch. With drinks, appetizers, and an entree, we paid about $30 each. I don't find this unreasonable for a delicious meal at a famous restaurant. Keep in mind that the wait will be lengthy. But enjoy the wonderful food!

a summer picnic in versailles

When I studied abroad to France a few years ago, I was surprised at some of the similarities between my culture and the French culture. One thing we have in common: picnics.


I was fortunate to be in Paris for Bastille Day, France's celebration of the storming of the Bastille prison, and a symbol of the beginning of modern France. Celebrations are much like our Independence Day festivities: parades, flags, firecrackers, and picnics. My French host lived in the town of Versailles, home of the famous Palace and an important site during the tumultuous years of the Revolution. I was invited to a barbecue picnic at his home on Bastille Day.

French picnics seem to be similar to the ones I am accustomed to in the United States. Our host grilled chicken, steaks, and lamb. His wife made vibrant chilled salads and vegetable sides. But what makes French picnics unique is the bread, cheese, and wine. An improvement, I'd say.

Everyone's favorite dish seemed to be a simple vegetable salad dressed with a tangy vinaigrette. I was too shy to ask for the recipe, but our host's wife did tell us that what made the salad so delicious was the addition of French mustard into the vinaigrette.

On the metro ride back to my dorm in Paris, I scribbled down the bare bones of the dish in my little notebook I always carry with me. When I arrived back in the States, I attempted to recreate the dish myself. It wasn't quite as delicious as I remember, but it turned out very similar.

It is a great summer salad--as all the vegetables are in season during the summer months--served alongside a good piece of grilled meat or fish. The key, I think, is to use a high quality French mustard, and to let the dressing marinate with the vegetables for a couple hours.

Bon Appetit!

Versailles Salad

INGREDIENTS:
2 cucumbers, roughly chopped
3 tomatoes, cut in small wedges
1 bag frozen corn, defrosted -- may substitute fresh grilled corn if desired
French mustard (Dijon works fine)
White wine or Champagne vinegar
Extra virgin olive oil
salt and fresh ground pepper

DIRECTIONS:
Whisk together the mustard, vinegar and oil to make a thin dressing. I never measure the amounts; I always just guess and adjust the ingredients as necessary. To make a rough guess, I would suggest starting with 1/3 cup oil, 3 tablespoons vinegar, and 1 teaspoon mustard, but work with it until you get the desired taste. Season with salt and pepper.

Arrange the chopped vegetables on a platter in rows: 1 row with tomatoes, 1 row with corn, 1 row with cucumbers. It should resemble the French flag, but in different colors. If this is too fussy for you, you can simply toss the veggies together in a bowl.

Pour the dressing over the vegetables and refrigerate for a couple hours. Serve cold. I recommend using a piece of crusty bread to soak up the leftover dressing.

prairie lights

I love books. I love the smell of them, the covers, and most of all, the words inside. Bookstores are a paradise for me. A Borders or Barnes & Noble is nice, of course, but I love those quirky local bookshops with hidden nooks and crannies. Webster's in State College is a great example.

The University of Iowa in Iowa City is home of the famous Writers' Workshop and it's considered by many to be a literary university. The result is some great bookstores. During my visit, I spent a couple hours inside Prairie Lights. It was three-and-a-half floors of heaven.

They have a coffee and wine cafe, which means there's a great coffee smell following you around as you look at books. And boy, do they have a lot. They have a great selection of sale books (more on those later) and gifts for book lovers. They have a section of local reads and art as well. If you're lucky to be there at the right time, they host frequent author readings. And I don't mean one of those local aspiring authors who prints their own books off lulu.com, I'm talking about well-known, published writers.

I would go to the University of Iowa just so I could spend my days here.

Check out their website here: http://www.prairielights.com/

maid-rite

Unless you're from the Midwest--or know a Midwesterner--you might not be acquainted with Maid-Rite, the original loose meat sandwich with a cult following. California has In-N-Out, Kansas has White Castle, Connecticut has Ted's steamed cheeseburger, and Iowa has the loose meat sandwich.

I might be unfamiliar with the Maid-Rite if 1) I didn't watch so much food television or 2) I didn't know an Iowan. The Maid-Rite is a burger made with a specific cut and grind of beef and a secret blend of spices, but isn't formed into a patty. Some have said it's like a sloppy joe without the sauce. The first Maid-Rite was opened by a butcher in Muscatine, Iowa, but the restaurant is now a franchise chain. You can find their diner-style restaurants across the Midwest, and now in Texas and Colorado.


They come plain, with no condiments or toppings, but you can order your preferred toppings if you wish. I ordered a Cheese-Rite (a Maid-Rite with cheese, if you couldn't figure it out) with pickles and a side of onion rings. They always come wrapped in the red and white paper with a long spoon tucked inside. It was delicious, but the "cheese" was a Cheez Whiz type concoction, not the slice of American I had expected. The sandwich was tender, with just the right amount of spice and a mild beefy flavor. It was soft and yummy--not at all greasy, though slightly hampered by the gooey glob of cheese. Next time, I'll order the plain Maid-Rite.


Overall, I was pleased and satiated by my first experience with the famous Maid-Rite. It may look unassuming, like something you might find on a grade school cafeteria tray, but sometimes the simplest things are the tastiest. If my future endeavors take me to Iowa, I might be in trouble...

she's alive!

I'm back! I have been away on a lengthy hiatus (that's a word you don't get to use often) while traveling, being sick, cleaning, packing, and admittedly--being lazy. I haven't forgotten about my blog and I'm excited to share lots of new things with everyone.

Chicago was great, and surprisingly Iowa was as well. After my last few trips being abroad, it's really nice to experience my own country's heartland. This was my first visit to Chicago (outside of O'Hare) and my first trip to Iowa. I have pictures, hotel reviews, food reviews, and more to share from my travels.

To ease back into the blogosphere, I'll start with a shop and product review. My travel stories will be a bit disjointed--it's just how I roll.

While in Iowa City (home of the University of Iowa Hawkeyes...more on this later), I did some shopping downtown in the wonderful, unique boutiques. The first one I checked out was the very aptly-named Soap Opera. In case you couldn't tell, I love bath & beauty products, so I naturally loved this store. An entire shop full of soap!

Not only do they carry some more well-known brands like Crabtree & Evelyn and L'Occitane, they also feature organic and local products. You can find any soap with any possible ingredient. In case soap isn't your thing, they also sell bath toys, loofahs, nail care, moisturizers, face care, hair care, lip balm, fragrance oils and more. They even have their own line of bath and beauty products.

I had to limit myself to one bar of soap and it took me a long time to find that one special bar. Did I want one shaped like a Chihuahua? I couldn't justify spending $20, even if it did look like Carmella. Did I want one of those big bars of lavender L'Occitane soap? No, L'Occitane is readily available. An Iowan-crafted one? An organic one? A goat's milk one?

I ended up choosing a bar made by Vivo Naturals. It caught my eye because of the ingredients (100% African Shea Butter and bamboo) and the slogan of "Personal Care. Global Impact." They purchase their ingredients from a collective farm in Togo run entirely by women. Rather than donating proceeds directly to charity, they are directly improving the livelihood of people who need it.

I chose the Green Tea + Mint bar. I love the scent of mint and this one had crushed bamboo added for extra exfoliation. I was intrigued. This soap ended up being a godsend for my sunburned arms. It makes a rich, silky lather that is lightly scented. The bamboo, as promised, exfoliates very well, leaving your skin soft and smooth. The soap rinses clean, but moisturizes without leaving any film. I was very pleased with this product, especially for only $4.75.

This brand is surprisingly easy to find. They sell their products on their website, even offering a special of 10 soaps (and these are BIG) for $30 with free shipping. They are sold at Whole Foods and even Amazon.com, but I think I would feel most comfortable ordering from them directly. They offer five different formulas: Green Tea + Mint, Brazilian Acai + Pomegranate, English Lavender, Lemongrass + Verbena, and Rose Water + Jasmine. Another plus: they are packaged in 100% recycled materials.

Check out their website here (they're also on Facebook): http://www.vivonaturalproducts.com

Visit The Soap Opera's website here: http://www.soapoperaiowacity.com/index.html
You can order online from them!

the sweetest place on earth

I love roller coasters. I also happen to love chocolate. What better place to satisfy both desires than Hersheypark? I took my first trip to Hersheypark when I was in 8th grade. In Northwest Arkansas, the places to go were Six Flags over St. Louis and Silver Dollar City. They are great, fun parks, but Hersheypark was so different than the others. It was clean, shady, and I swore it smelled like chocolate. It had lots of roller coasters, but lots of other rides, too. A park for everyone.

This was my third trip to Hershey since moving to Pennsylvania. It is still as great as I remember, but growing rapidly. There is now a water park and another new coaster since my last visit. The other impressive attraction is the Zoo America, which is included in your park ticket. It's a small zoo park featuring different animals and habitats from North America.

But one of the best things about Hersheypark is known as Chocolate World. The Hershey Chocolate factory doesn't offer tours, so Chocolate World was born. You take a ride through a colorful, musical world of chocolate-making. Chocolate smells are pumped through the ride and animatronic cows sing about the joys of milk chocolate. It is so dark and cool and sweetly-scented that it is hard not to fall asleep.

Just when your eyes are fluttering closed, you're ushered off the ride and through a labyrinth of hallways until you reach a very bored teenager handing out fun-sized Hershey Bars. Free chocolate! What could be a better ending to a hot, sweaty day at the park?

I've been to many parks, but Hersheypark remains my favorite.






It should be noted that I seem to be getting older and therefore unable to withstand the jerking, twisting, dropping, spinning and banging of your average amusement park ride. Somewhere within the last five years, I seemed to have develop a gag reflex. No, I didn't vomit, but I sure felt it was touch-and-go at times. I'm hoping my tender stomach was merely a side effect of eating bad food and getting very little sleep the night before, but it could be the simple fact of age.

I guess I will need to visit again soon? For experimental purposes, of course.