The Drive-In

I have very fond memories of going to the Drive-In with my aunt and sisters as a youngin.  I remember watching movies in my pjs while lying on layers of blankets and pillows and eating nachos.  What's not to love?  Alessandro had never been to the Drive-In before.  That is, until I made him go with me one day in 2010.  (We saw Inception).  Alessandro has a leg twitching problem, so he didn't appreciate sitting in a car for that long.  And he also has a falling asleep problem, so he did that too.  The experience wasn't a bust, but I wasn't sure if I was ever going to get him to go with me again.   

So, for security purposes, I bought a Living Socials deal when one was offered...2 tickets for the price of 1.  And one recent weekday night, we had our second Drive-In date. 

No one was there but us.

It was the coolest.

We didn't get nachos, but we brought our own snacks:  Oreos and milk.  We saw Cabin In The Woods.  It was lame.  We had a blast.

P.S.  I just asked Alessandro if he'd ever want to go back and he said, "I'd be just as likely to go back to the Drive-In as I would be to go to a regular movie."  So there is still hope : ) 

CJ's First Tiger's Game

One freezing day in April, I took my nephew CJ to his first ever Detroit Tiger's Baseball Game!  What a monumental event!

CJ thought he was coming over just to play at our apartment, which is one of his favorite things to do.  He should have been thrown off by the fact that he was dressed in 4 pairs of pants, 4 tops, a winter jacket, gloves and a hat. My sister dropped him off in the lobby and when we were on the elevator coming up he said, "When I get in your repartment can I please take some of these clothes off?"  I told him that we were heading out to do something special outside and I broke the news: 

I don't know why, but that video cracks me up.  He is obviously not that excited, is mostly uncomfortable in too many clothes, is disappointed because all he really wants to do is hang out for a casual afternoon, and is annoyed I'm asking him so many questions.  

Then, we called my sister so he could tell her where he was going:  

He managed to feign some excitement for her : ) 

So, after getting him wrapped back up like a stuffed burrito, we headed to the park. 

It was a cold, windy, gloomy, freezing Thursday afternoon.  

CJ was super happy to be at the ball park. 

One of his first questions was:  "How did that car get up there?"  

His next question was, "Can I have some cotton candy?"  

He also asked for a pretzel and cheese and I asked myself for french fries.  Even though I paid $1.25 for a tiny cup of cheese, he didn't eat it.  Maybe it was because his soft pretzel was rendered inedible due to its turning rock hard from the cold temp.  He helped me finish my fries instead...even though I didn't need help.  That's one thing I can handle on my own.

I love all of his different smirks and smiles. 

After we ate and watched a few innings, we rode the carousel.

Then we watched a few more innings and had a photo shoot.

And continued to freeze our butts off.

 When we got back home, CJ played with his souvenirs.

We had so much fun.  I only wish my first trip to the ball park was documented.  Instead, I'll just have to settle for this throwback pic:

How much can two people eat in one day? Our Chicago trip continued.

***Remember when I said one month ago that I was going to post Day 2 of our Chicago trip then?  Wow, how time flies!  Better late than never.***

Chicago, March 4, 2012

We woke up early on our second day in Chicago to head to the Maxwell Street Market.  (Read about our first day here).  Alessandro and I had both independently heard about this market and new it was a must-see. 

This market was awesome and is now our second favorite Chicago destination.  It is a hodge podge of a place, with vendors selling toiletries, clothes, junk and vintage goods.

We bought a new vintage toy wagon for our niece for Christmas and also...a pair of binoculars cause we thought we needed them.  Turns out we didn't.

But the best part was the authentic Mexican food and drinks.  I was taken to a happy place stuffing my face here, which by the way, was right before we had scheduled to meet Al's sister for lunch.  Oops.  But, since we're only in Chicago once.....

For tacos, we tried Manolo's food tent. 

It was really cool watching this hooded woman make tortillas so effortlessly.  I can still remember the wonderfully soft and fluffy texture of these tortillas...unlike any I've ever had before.  And I've had a lot of tortillas in my life, being Mexican and all. 

We ordered three tacos:  pork, tongue and pumpkin flower (which is squash blossom).

Please pardon my shiesty pictures.  It was way too cold out that day to focus.  I was just trying to survive, people.

We also got a canela tea to drink, because the young vendor was all, "Would you like a canela?"  And we were like, "Um, yeah, don't see why not."  Canela is simply cinnamon tea made by boiling whole cinnamon sticks in water.  It was really really good and we could not get enough of it.  We have no idea why something so simple could be so good, but it was.  I tried to recreate it at home and was semi-successful, but it was certainly better from Manolo's.  Try it out one day, will ya? 

We didn't get very far after finishing our tacos (we got to the tent right next door, actually) before we saw this goodness going on:  

Yes please.  We got a grilled corn on a stick with the works, which meant it was covered with lime, Mexican crema, Parmesan cheese and chili.  

For Alessandro, it was love at first bite.  He later proclaimed the corn as the best thing he ate in Chicago.  I recently made this for us for dinner...two nights in a row...we tore it up.  Alessandro is officially in love with this dish, called elote, pronounced e-loh-thay.  

The corn was so hot, in temperature and in spice, and memorably contrasted with the cold outside temperature.  It had my sensitive teeth asking, "Why, oh, why?"  But then my belly reminded my grill that everything would be okay.  

From the same food vendor, we also got a drink that is the primary reason that Maxwell Street Market will forever be held high in my heart.  The drink?  Atole de Arroz, which is a creamy drink made with milk, cinnamon and rice.  I have a love affair with this drink.  My Grandma makes it, but she hasn't made it in a very long time.  Last year, I couldn't take the craving anymore and I tried to make it myself, but it came out thicker than I remembered and was more of a meal than a drink.  I thought I was just going to have to settle for that...until my craving for the drink was fulfilled at Maxwell Street.  It was a happy time for me as I walked and sipped and smiled. 

As if that weren't enough, we also shared a rice pudding empanada, and how can that be bad?  It can't.  It wasn't. 

By this point, we had only a short time before we were scheduled to meet Alessandro's sister for lunch.  Ha!  Good thing it was more of a talking lunch than an eating one : )

We picked Goose Island Brew Pub for lunch, which was a Rick Bayless recommendation.  He didn't personally recommend it to me, but I read somewhere that he thought it was a must-visit.  We stopped at a Crate and Barrel Outlet first, which was right next door, and we left with some juice glasses, a small cutting board, a glass storage jar and baker's twine.  So exciting, right?

For lunch, we forced ourselves to munch--Alessandro had mussells and I had chorizo quesadillas.

Dang, I don't remember what kind of beer I had, but I wish I could because I really liked it. 

I have a bad habit I need to break of taking pics of food, not folks, so I missed out on snapping a pic of Al with his sis.   

After our morning and afternoon of eating, we headed to our hotel for a few hours of rest.  Then, we were ready for the moment we've all been waiting for:  dinner at Avec, our favorite place on Earth.

Check out Al in his new jeans!  

Avec is the coolest place.  It's super slim and wooden.  (They didn't pay me for that articulate plug).

It snowed while we waited.  And we reminisced that there always seems to be something falling from the sky when we're there.  The first time we visited, we walked for hours to get to the place because we kept getting lost and as soon as we stepped foot inside, it began pouring rain.  

At Avec, you dine while sitting at the same table with people you don't know, which is fine for us, but understandably not for some.  We discovered that we're not very friendly since we didn't want to talk to the couple next to us, but it seemed like they wanted to talk.  Hey, we were on a date and it wasn't a double!

See, Alessandro's all, "Um, stop talking, please." 

And I'm all, "Look, I'm on vacation!"  

Avec is a tapas joint, and we like to order a few small plates to share.  We ordered our favorite dish, chorizo-stuffed medjool dates.  The perfect combination of spicy and sweet. 

And, a couple of new dishes for us...roasted whitefish...

and a pork shoulder stew. 

The best part is that when we got our bill, this is what was placed in front of me: 

No, not the price, silly...

I had to do a double take, and I thought I was on candid camera or something. (Or had too much wine).  What are the odds of that?  Our favorite restaurant that we found while wandering Chicago one year before Alessandro was diagnosed with MS, that we visit each time we go back to Chicago, and that was referenced in our wedding vows, was now, 6 years later, participating in a fundraiser for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.  Weird how everything moves in circles. 

It was the perfect ending to a perfect dinner. 

Alessandro will kick me in the gizzard if I don't mention that we ate breakfast the next day at The Bongo Room, and he had one of his favorite breakfasts of all time.  It was a tomatillo, avocado, spinach and chicken scramble. 

That's all folks.  

It was a short trip where all we did was eat, but seriously, isn't that what you're supposed to do in Chi-town?