As if Rahm was going to take Jon Stewart’s rant about Chicago deep dish laying down. Rahm is a mean little man but I agree with the sentiment I think he was trying to convey- nobody talks shit about our town but us.
And I guess they also sent the Daily Show some non-threatening, non fish deep dish for lunch too. Hope it was Lou’s.
This flu is the pits.
(Image via @extragrumpycat)
42. David’s Tea A walk up to the Lincoln Park location this afternoon procured me tins of Coco Chai Rooibos and Forever Nuts. I already cannot wait to wake up tomorrow morning.
43. Balloons. Festive, underrated, orbital vessels of cheer. Big fan.
44. Luna Bell. The best (furry) little friend in the world.
45. Twitter In 140 characters or less, I combined my love of history with politics and a ridiculous song and got a response from the historic Willard Hotel. The Internet is amazing.
46. Friends. There is not enough gratitude in the world for the remarkable women in my life who show me such love, grace and support.
47. Sunshine. Chicago winters get long; sunshine helps.
48. Baking. There’s something reassuring and calming about following directions and getting an (edible) end result.
I don’t typically use this space for my opinions on politics, world news, or the like.
This is a place for things I like, places I love, happenings that make me happy.
But for the last week, every time I turn on the news, check Twitter, etc., I am met with information that I literally cannot process.
Christmas tree taxes, 72 day marriages, 5 hour jail stays, pop star murderer convictions, college football child rape charges, subsequent protesting of the removal of a coach…
What is wrong with people? Seriously- WHAT is wrong with people?
I cannot believe that a marriage entered into during the taping of a reality tv show, followed by the taping of an extravagant wedding has the makings of a golden anniversary. I cannot feel sympathy for someone, murdered or not, who most likely molested small children. I cannot think that serving 5 hours of a 30 day sentence is going to do anything to teach an entitled actress any lessons about the consequences of her drug-laden actions. And I absolutely cannot understand that anyone finds it acceptable that when given the opportunity to stop the actions of a child rapist that they would not move mountains to do so.
A Christmas tree tax to fund the marketing of Christmas trees? I thought Christmas marketed Christmas trees.
We have an obligation here, people- to not be idiots.
So maybe it’s time to “occupy” something other than Wall Street. Let’s occupy productivity. Creativity. Let’s occupy family and togetherness and love. Isn’t that worth more of our time?
It’s time to pull it together.
This is truly the greatest customer service story of all time.
My affection for Twitter is no secret and this is proof that it is pretty much second to none in terms of speed of communication. Below is the story of a steakhouse (Morton’s), a man (Peter Shankman) and a porterhouse steak that really went the extra mile.
“As we were about to take off, I jokingly tweeted the following:
Let’s understand: I was joking. I had absolutely no expectations of anything from that Tweet. It’s like how we Tweet “Dear Winter, please stop, love Peter,” or something similar.
I shut off my phone and we took off.”
Click here to read the rest of Peter’s amazing tale of Morton’s thoughtfullness.
Like I said, I don’t even eat steak but this story makes me wants Morton’s to be my carnivorous haunt of choice. Ryan is a steak person so maybe if he plays his cards right, a Morton’s trip is in his future…
In any case, I wish more companies recognized that good PR is only a good customer experience away…
When I was a kid, my family came to Chicago pretty often. Being from the west side of the Mitten, only a few hours from the Chi, anytime we were in need of great food and some shopping, we hopped in the car. Like clockwork, our first stop when we got into town was Papa Milano’s. It was my family’s absolute favorite Italian restaurant on the planet. Their red sauce was TDF (to-die-for), the gnocchi perfection and the hostess never failed to be wearing electric blue eye shadow.
One night, we asked the cab to take us the to corner of Oak and State in anticipation of some Papa Milano’s gloriousness and…nothing. Papa Milano’s had closed.
To say my Dad was devastated is an understatement. “How could they close Papa Milano’s? It’s a Chicago institution! And I want their house salad and I want it now!”. He wrote the family, begging them to reopen, somewhere, anywhere. When Barney’s and a Citibank went up on that corner…well, it was (almost) enough to make my dear old Dad swear off Chicago and Italian food forever.
I follow Penny Pollack, Chicago Mag’s dining editor, on Twitter and last night, she tweeted the tweet of all tweets: “The Family Behind Papa Milano’s returns with Mama Milano’s“. Come this May, a pizza bar called Mama Milano’s will be open at 1419 North Wells!
A pizza bar! In Old Town! Giuseppe Pizza (tomato sauce, mozzarella, salami and olives) for everyone!
It turns out that people other than my family have been missing the Milano magic in Chicago. Something tells me that my Dad is going to be visiting me a lot come May…
Somehow, I didn’t make the list (shocker, right?) but Time Magazine’s list of the 140 Best Twitter Feeds is pretty comprehensive. Lord Voldemort cracks me up on a regular basis, White Girl Problems makes me wonder if she’s really kidding and for good measure, Breaking News keeps me connected to the real world in real time.
Even more shocking than the lack of @NinaintheChi on the list, Dan Sinker didn’t make the list either! His turn as the fictional Mayor Emanuel entertained me (and 48,799 others) on a nearly hourly basis. Good news though- Sinker just inked a book deal, loosely titled “The F**king Epic Twitter Quest of @MayorEmanuel”. #wellplayedsir
If Twitter is your thing, 1) follow @NinaintheChi immediately and 2) check out Time’s list.
