Evening, Gentlemen.
The new Ju Ming sculpture in the AMA Plaza right outside of the Mies van der Rohe designed Langham Hotel came out of nowhere but I quite like these dudes hanging out on the Chicago River.
Gideon Akande: Men’s Health Next Top Trainer
Something my Dad always preached to me growing up (and, truthfully, to this day) is “Strong Body, Strong Mind”- the mental and physical are beyond connected and you have to take care of one if you want to take care of the other.
This is Gideon Akande and he is my Chicago manifestation of Strong Body/Strong Mind. An instructor at both Flywheel and Shred415, he leads some of the sweatiest, most fun, most ass-kicking classes I have ever taken and he motivates from a place of drive and determination, a commitment to your goals. I mean, his arms alone are inspiring- I am constantly thinking that if I am around him enough, maybe my pipes could be that baller- but real talk, Gideon as a person and instructor is the real deal. I am constantly inspired to go harder, go faster, be stronger.
And I am not the only person to think Gideon is the best thing since sliced bread protein: he is in the running to be Men’s Health Magazine’s Next Top Trainer! While us Chicagoans are lucky to have him at our fingertips for an elite level fitness push, Gideon’s contagious energy deserves go to global so everyone can “Get Fit with Giddy”. Check out his video for a few great workout moves, vote for him here and if you have a chance to grab a class of his at Flywheel or Shred, trust me…you don’t be disappointed.
Link Love
It’s not an April Fool’s Day joke…Wrigley will not be entirely ready for opening day but THERE’S A JUMBO TRON NOW!
Now this is the kind of networking event I can get motivated to attend.
“What if I couldn’t pull it off? What if everything up until now had been a fluke?” Soul Powered struck a chord.
A bottle of St. Germain has been sitting on our bar for awhile now…I usually don’t have open bottles of champagne hanging around (sad face) but a cucumber-cooler would be easy to swing.
I loved the board game Clue as a kid and this Dinner Detective event would basically be the in-real-life, adult version of that.
Passover Funk: yes. Hoping for a video reenactment from our friends and their family at Seder this weekend. (Updated to reflect the good video)
An Ode to March and Tom Izzo
Who is Tom Izzo?
Two facts: I am a die-hard Michigan State fan and Tom Izzo is the best coach in the history of the world.
In conclusion: the month of March is the best. Logic defied the assumption Spartans make every year that our team will do well in the tournament (because good lord, that regular season was abysmal) but I am so glad I didn’t retire my lucky MSU socks/glitter koozie/candle/shirt/jacket/hat prematurely because on Saturday, I will put everything back on, go to the corner bar and get ready to cheer my face off during the Final Four.
{Go Green! In Izzo We Trust! Spartans Will!}
House of Blues
For living in a city that has large amounts of tourism, I don’t find myself dismissing anything as being “for tourists” very often.
Case in point: I love the architecture tour; it is chock full of information every Chicagoan should know and when don’t you want to be on a boat on the river? The Bean: I will be the first taking selfies in this gem of reflection plunked in the middle of our fair city. Also in this category? The House of Blues.
Originally started in Boston by James Belushi, Aerosmith and Dan Akroyd (among others), this concert venue downtown has become a staple for music in Chicago. It was the first place I saw a concert with my now-husband (a Journey cover band, obviously) and I went back last night with girlfriends to see Super Diamond, a Neil Diamond cover band (despite my experiences, House of Blues hosts non-cover band bands too…allegedly). After some sushi and cocktails at Sunda, we headed to the HOB, got wrist-banded up and danced along to songs we knew and songs we didn’t. Tucked in Marina City, the venue is small enough to be personal but big enough to make you feel like you’re really at a legit concert. Super Diamond was great; the lead singer summed it up when he said “We love Neil Diamond and we want YOU to love Neil Diamond”. While I am not a Neil connoisseur by any means, live music and a dance party surround by people who know every word, well, that is a recipe for a good night.
They also serve alcohol. Helpful.
All of those things combined means that the House of Blues delivered last night and I would have been remiss to have overlooked it in lieu of an underground, out of the way music venue the cool kids are going to these days. Because real talk, “Sweet Caroline” always feels so, so good when you belt it out at the top of your lungs and that likely removes me from the cool kids music club anyways.
Fine.by.me.
Chatbooks
I really love Instagram. I love taking photos, I love posting little stories along with them, I love seeing photos popping up on my feed of what others are sharing and getting to see what matters to people through these images. When I scroll through what I have posted, it feels like a photo diary where I get to remember snippets of moments. And I have it with me all the time because it’s on my phone.
But remember back in the day (omg, the early 2000s!) when you would actually print out photos and –gasp– put them in an album? And you could flip through them with your hands and show other people? Yeah. There’s something to that too.
So, Chatbooks. It’s this app that takes your Instagram feed and turns it into little 60 page books. You can choose if you want your captions to show up or locations but that’s pretty much all the work involved. Name your series of Chatbooks, pay the $6 per book, and poof, you have sweet little photo albums that just show up at your door.
Mine arrived yesterday and I love them! The photo quality is actually really good (something I didn’t count on being only 6 bucks each) and it is so cool to have these photos I love in my hands. I think they will be cool to set on the coffee table for people to thumb through and to just have around. It just shows such a fun moment-in-time look at the last few years.
If you want to try it out, you can get your first book free with this promo code: GY94C7UW
{This is not a sponsored post, I just really like these little books!}
Berry Chia Pudding
Let’s talk about chia. They’re seeds, kinda slimy and you once slathered them on a terra cotta little statue of a cat or Bart Simpson to make a chia pet. I get it. They’re weird.
They are also really good for you. Healthy omega-3 fats, fiber, calcium, protein, manganese, all sorts of things to make you feel super virtuous. I have been adding chia seeds to my oatmeal for a few years now and inspired by this chia parfait that looked great, I decided to see what else I could do with these little guys.
Chia Pudding: 2 cups cashew milk*, 1/2 cup chia seeds, 2 tablespoon unsweetened coconut shreds, 1 tablespoon maple syrup. Combine in bowl and stir vigorously. Cover and store in refrigerator for an hour.
Berry Topping: 1 cup strawberries, 1 cup frozen blueberries, 1 banana, 1/2 cup cashew milk*. Combine in a blender (I don’t have one so I used a bowl and a submersion blender).
*almond milk would work well too.
The finished product: delicious and creamy, not at all reminiscent of a chia pet. With how easy it was to pull together, it would make a great staple to have on hand for when a healthy snack is needed mid-day. Easy, healthy and delicious: nothing could sum up my mid-week food needs more.
Snow. Again.
I think that snow yesterday nearly pushed everyone over the edge. I walked out of a meeting to find two more inches, on top of the 4 that had fallen overnight, on my car and nearly cried. A week ago it was 73 degrees and I was walking outside in a t-shirt; now I was back in my winter coat using a snow scraper. Yuck.
I absolutely play favorites when it comes to juice bars and Owen + Alchemy is it. Their product is so diverse and unique, their packaging is great (I reuse the glass bottles all the time) and their people know more about whole ingredients and the health benefits than anyone I have ever met. Little juice doctors, I say!
So to fight my anger about the snow storm, I drove to Logan Square to pick out a few juices to get me through the week. On deck this morning: #58. Organic coffee, raw almond and cashew, maca, vanilla bean and maple syrup. The combination of these gorgeous bottles being so good for me and such a treat really hits the spot on what I need to make it through this chilly week. Because every day can’t be a butter cake day (see previous post).
Stay warm out there, friends!
Bribing and Butter Cake
2 of our best friends were in Chicago this weekend. They are the kind of friends where time spent together just begs for more time together; like I told them when we were saying goodbye, the worst thing about hanging out with them is that it doesn’t happen every day. Friends that are family are so special and we don’t take it for granted.
As with everyone we are wild about, any visit to Chicago turns into a campaign to get aforementioned awesome person to move here. For these two, that meant a great lunch while watching the NCAA tournament, a few afternoon craft brews and arcade games, eating off of each other’s plates of pasta for dinner and, to really pull at my friend’s dessert loving heart-strings, the butter cake at Mastro’s. Because if you are going to pack up your two babies and move across the country for anything, it would absolutely be for butter cake and fresh whipped cream, right?
While I do wish everyone we love would move to Chicago, it is kind of cool…we get to watch our favorite people live their lives in places they love and between Boston, DC, LA, Nashville, etc., we don’t have a shortage of cool places to visit and other desserts to dig in to.
But really…I did my best with that butter cake.
Link Love
Not only is today the first day of Spring but it’s also a solar eclipse and a super moon. Pretty cool.
I made this Brussels Sprout Salad last week and it was so good that it might end up on my table again this weekend. Added bonus: the hot mustard is amazing and you have tons left over.
Today at Mariano’s, I learned that it is the Festival of St. Joseph, the patron saint of family, and in celebration Zeppole is made. One filled with cannoli is in my fridge as we speak.
To balance my zeppole, I have all of the ingredients to whip up this Chia Pudding Parfait.
These 31 quotes from children’s books made me smile- so many lovely memories wrapped up in those words.
The Chicago Beer Festival is tomorrow at Union Station.
Also of interest- wine and an Citizen Cope acoustic session. Tonight until Tuesday at City Winery.
Happy Weekend, friends!