Falling in Love with Chi-Town

I really liked Chicago before, but now I'm falling in love with the city.  Last night, we went to Millennium Park for the Celebration of Dance Chicago Dance Festival.  We missed the first 1 1/2 hr of the show (don't even get me started), but the last 1/2 hr was AMAZING!  The Joffrey Ballet was spectacular - and the show was FREE!  I love it!

Today we started off with a Food Tour in the Near North/Lincoln Park neighborhood.  Wow, it was AWESOME.  Secret:  way to my heart is through my stomach.  After the tour, I've officially fallen in love with the city.  My favorite stops on the tours are Old Town Oil, The Spice House, and the Tea Gschwendner. 

Old Town Oil.  Specialty Olive Oil (including varieties such as garlic, walnut, mushroom and sage, cilantro and onion) and Balsalmic Vinegar (spectacular flavors such as Strawberry, Raspberry, Peach, Mushroom, Pomegranate, etc.)

I had so much fun, and forgot (was too busy eating) to take photos of the food we had.  I had my first reuben sandwich (delicious!) at the Ashkenaz Jewish Deli, tasted delicious teas and learned about how they are made at the Tea Gschwendner (oh!  the entire store smells like heaven!), had the most wonderful time drinking oil and vinegar at the Old Town Oil (I imagine this is what I would do in heaven), sampled the most delicious toffee and touched a real cocoa bean (they are huge!) at The Fudge Pot, and devoured a delicious stuffed pizza at Bacino's Pizza. Our tour guide, Hillary, was amazing - she knows so much about Chicago architecture and injected lots of fun cultural bits into the tour.  I learned lots about Chicago, about food, and about architecture.

Our tour guide, Hillary.

This was THE original Playboy Mansion that Heffner purchased.  It used to house 32 bunnies at any given time.  The style of the house is called a "Georgian" style because of it's symmetry.  Heffner donated the house to the Art Institute of Chicago (where he dropped out), and was used as a first-year dormitory for a few years before it is sold.  

The city of Chicago was rebuilt from the ground up after the Great Chicago Fire in 1871 (which is why Chicago is called the Second City).  This is a very typical Chicago style building, where the building is very deep, but the front is actually quite narrow. 

After the food tour, we dropped by the Chicago History Museum.  It was great learning about Chicago - I love the Crossroads Exhibit, where it explained the adversities that the city has gone through and how they have defined Chicago.  It definitely gave me a deeper appreciation of where I'm living and the pride Chicagoans have for their city.  I mean, come on, did you know that Kraft Mac n' Cheese was invented here?  That's right, along with the birth control pill, nuclear chain reaction, and the Ferris Wheel.

In short, I'm in love.  Chicago is a GREAT city.  I can't wait to see and experience more of it!

In an unrelated note:  My apartment has been painted (expert job, might I add), and the only thing I'm possibly missing is a TV.  I have a couch, a rug, and a coffee table, facing a blank wall with cable jacks.  It screams missing TV.  The TV that would go PERFECT there is a 42" flat screen, but it's $500 (for the cheapest one I can find), and I don't REALLY need it.  I don't really have the money to spend on it, either.  Hmmmm!