The Final Stop and Updates Since

I was doing a really great job of updating my blog while my mom and sister were here and then we decided to have the laziest Christmas Eve/Day ever and that meant no typing up my psychobabble for you, lovely person (hi Dad! I know you're reading this because you've been harassing me to write it).

The Hot Cocoa Crawl ended on December 23rd. We were in a bit of a rush that morning but we found out that Mindy's Hot Chocolate (our last stop) would be closed on the 24th and we couldn't end the crawl without going there, so we made the trip to Wicker Park. Although Mindy's does brunch, we got breakfast at Kanela Breakfast Club because I'd been there before and loved it. They have the best monkey bread ever -- except on December 23rd, when we went there specifically for said monkey bread and they were out. So, instead of getting that, we ended up getting mac and cheese as an appetizer (brunch is the perfect time for mac and cheese, obviously).

I was pretty torn over what I wanted for my entree, but ended up going with the banana walnut pancakes as they seemed both sweet and hearty (I decided against the chocolate pancakes since I knew that there was hot chocolate in my future). The pancakes were monstrous -- not the largest plate of pancakes I'd ever encountered, but close. I couldn't eat half of my plate and eventually decided against my rule of never taking pancakes to go (they always end up soggy and awful). (These pancakes actually didn't end up awful when I took them to go, so it was a worthy exception).

Even though Kanela is pretty close to Mindy's, we decided to take an Uber between locations since we were in a rush. It was the worst Uber of our lives. (I actually think it was a Lyft, but now I can't remember). It was too hot, too loud, and the guy didn't even know where we were going (hint: down the street).

So much chocolate.

Mindy's was a mad house -- they were doing a Christmas brunch so we couldn't get a table. We got our final cup to go (we also got my dad a little Mindy's gift package with a mug, hot chocolate mix and marshmallows -- Happy Hanukkah, pops). Spoiler alert: if a restaurant has Hot Chocolate in its name, you're in for a treat. This was the obvious winner of the Hot Cocoa Crawl. I didn't plan on saving the best for last because I had no way of knowing, but it all worked out for the best.

After that, my mom and sister got the pleasure of the holiday classic, Tony N Tina's Wedding. They loved it. They were two of the most active audience members -- some people in the cast didn't even know they were related to me and just thought they were two cool ladies who were fun to interact with. My boss even gave them a free drink (on me -- I get free drinks at work but I never use them so he passed them along).

And then it was Christmas Eve where we did just about nothing. We ended up having a marathon of the three Santa Clause movies starring Tim Allen and then Easy A for some reason. Christmas Day was just as lazy, with more movies and such.

On Monday, it was time to say goodbye, unfortunately. I started to miss them from the moment I had to close the door and watch their Uber drive away. Since then, it's been a week of cleaning and such, although I did a last minute temp gig yesterday. Things shall be picking up today when I head to the theatre for a sold out performance of TnT.

Four Stops on the Hot Chocolate Train

Wow. So, drinking hot chocolate nonstop all day might sound like heaven, but apparently, despite my best efforts, I cannot live on a diet of only chocolate.

 Today was the main day of the insanity known as our Hot Cocoa Crawl. We had five stops planned. Yeah, five. We don’t have a death wish though, so we were limiting ourselves to one shared cup per location.

Our first stop of the day was Caffe Umbria. The “E” should have an accent over it because they’re fancy. When we told them that we were doing a hot chocolate experience, they asked if we were following the list from the Tribune. Yes, yes we were. We ordered their hot chocolate and because my mom has super persuasion powers, they gave us a sample of their cioccolata calda. I don’t really know how to pronounce it because I only ever heard my mom say it and she had no idea how to pronounce it. Our first glass of the day did not disappoint! It was our favorite stop at this point of the tour and the cioccolata calda was basically a drinkable chocolate ganache. Susan was a big fan of that one.

Since one hot chocolate clearly isn’t filling enough, our next stop XOCO was two blocks away. Who needs time to digest when you can have chocolate? XOCO is a Mexican restaurant and they’re specialty is Mexican hot chocolate (for obvious reasons). Mexican hot chocolate is a little different because it’s typically ground cocoa beans and water. As great as that sounds, we decided to order “the Classic” which was ground cocoa and 2% milk. We got it to go because the lunch rush was happening and we couldn’t get a table (our only to go cup of this experience). I really liked this stop. It was thicker and had a really rich, slightly bitter, chocolate taste. We agreed that this was the place to go if you wanted Mexican hot chocolate (although we technically didn’t get the Mexican hot chocolate).

Have I mentioned that all of our stops were within a 20 minute walking radius of each other today? Ok, now I have. Having already had two hot chocolates in two blocks, we decided we needed to do some digesting and I lead Whitney and my mom down to Navy Pier. Whitney bought some Garrett’s Popcorn there because it’s a Chi-town classic but she hasn’t sampled it yet. Whitney and my mom also got gyros for lunch but my belly was too full for any more food.

We got on the trolley (not the bus – there is a free trolley to take people to and from Navy Pier, although the bus goes there as well) to get back to the Magnificent “Mag” Mile. Our next stop was supposed to be Vosges Haut Chocolat but surprise, surprise, when we went there, this store only sold chocolate and not actual hot chocolate. That’s false advertising if you ask me (and you did, obviously).

We walked down the Mag Mile from there and found our next stop, Pierrot Gourmet at the Peninsula. Yup, the name is that long. This was our most expensive cup of the tour so far ($7) and easily the most disappointing. We decided to order two cups here, their signature hot chocolate and their orange hot chocolate. Whitney and I weren’t too interested in getting the orange hot chocolate but our mom wanted to compare it to Bittersweet. Well, despite being our ritziest stop, this was a flop. The orange was TOO orange – was there even chocolate in there? Was there even chocolate in the signature chocolate? The only part that we liked was that the signature was topped with whipped cream and chocolate jimmies, but when sprinkles are the highlight of your $7 beverage, you have a problem. I summed it up by saying: too much money, not enough chocolate.

Our last stop of the day was less than a block away, so we ended up taking advantage of all of the shopping on the Mag Mile and stopped at Uniqlo and then went across the street to American Girl Place. Our last family trip to Chicago was 16 years ago and centered around American Girl Place (for us, at least, I’m pretty sure it was business related for my dad). They’ve discontinued the Molly McIntire doll because they clearly hate me, but it was fun to go back (although technically, to go back, we’d have had to go to an Anthropologie because they’ve changed locations since we first visited, but same concept!).

From there, we went to our last stop of the day, Leonidas Chocolate Café. I had been there before but that wasn’t going to stop me from getting through one more cup – a triple chocolate hot chocolate. Their small was liberally poured and the same size as some of the large cups we’ve had elsewhere.

We’d had a lot of chocolate and I had not had a lot to eat so I got a sandwich from Potbelly because vegetables exist and I should probably eat more of them. My mom and Whitney had thought that they would go shopping when I was at work but decided that they were tired and would head home when I had to go to the theatre (plus, I don’t know if you’ve heard, but Whitney is actually Santa and she had to go back to the workshop). The vegetables helped my stomach and throughout the show I got text message updates from my family about everything they were doing at my apartment – wrapping gifts, fixing my drawers, ordering books for Whitney. They had a big night!

The Hot Cocoa Crawl will wrap up tomorrow at Mindy’s Hot Chocolate (we may or may not have saved the best for last, only time will tell!) and then they’ll be seeing Chicago’s holiday classic EXTENDED BY POPULAR DEMAND Tony N Tina’s Wedding. (P.S. Totally wrote this post during tonight’s show – we only had 50 people in the audience! What else was I supposed to do with my new working laptop and a small crowd?).

Plans Change: But I Still Hate Shopping

As we get older, things change. Most of my father's comments on this blog prove that I've changed quite a bit since I was a born and particularly in the last few years, but there are a few things about me that have not changed: I still hate shopping and I absolutely detest crowds.

Good thing our plans for the day brought me in direct contact with both today! 

Pretzels

We spent the morning at my place -- mainly because my mom needed to work and my sister wanted to sleep -- and then went to the Christmaskindlemarket downtown. I'd heard that this was one of the most Christmas-y things to do here and my mom has been super psyched to go here since she Googled it. None of us realized exactly how many people would be at this "little" German market. Hint, it was a lot. But, I was comforted (barely) by all of the food. We got potato pancakes, lots of pretzels (including a cheesecake pretzel!) and candy. We didn't stay too long because I hated all of the people touching me, but it was good to go just because now it means I never have to go again.

Cuties

After that, we went to the Bean, which is always a good time and slightly less crowded. From there, we went to Macy's to see the Christmas tree and look at the shop windows. If the crowds at the Christmaskindlmarket were a lot for me, then the crowds in the eight story, perfumed department store nearly killed me. Whitney and my mom love shopping. I never have and clearly never will. Eventually, we moved on from Macy's to Target, but not even that could help me when confronted with Christmas shoppers. 

After I convinced my family to take pity on me (and they realized that they could go shopping tomorrow when I have to work), we headed to the subway! Down on the subway, we saw the ad for Tony N Tina's. Whitney was not impressed -- simply noting that the actor who plays Tony isn't wearing a wedding ring in the show.

Food in the air.

Plans, like people, also change, because when I said there wouldn't be hot chocolate in my last blog post, I lied. I did not intentionally mislead you, but there was hot cocoa today. The first cup came at the Christmaskindlmarket. It was very clearly instant cocoa mix but it came in a commemorative mug and since I will never be going back to the Christmaskindlmarket for as along as I live, it's good that I have this mug to prove that I was there.

So Instagram ready.

The second cup came from Bittersweet. This stop on the Hot Cocoa Crawl happens to be directly across the street from the one and only Chicago Theater Works so we knew it would be easy to get to but we decided that we should try it today. Even though it is across the street from where I work, I have only been to Bittersweet to steal their free samples. They are primarily a bakery but I have sworn off of Chicago cupcakes for the time being so I've never eaten there and the one time I tried to go in for hot chocolate, the line was so long that I decided to sneak my sample and just leave. I'm glad I did, because getting it with my mom and sister was so much fun. It came deconstructed with the cocoa in a tea pot and the whipped cream in a dish so you know it's classy (and stupid trendy). It was worth the wait. It was infused with orange and it was definitely one of the most unique cups of cocoa any of us has ever had. Our only complaint was that it was warm and not hot. If it had been toastier, we would not have had a single quarrel (ok, I might have picked a small fight with Whitney because she asked me to order her a water bottle that turned out to be two dollars and then they gave us water when we sat down... so she got the world's bougiest water on my dime).

After that, we walked up and down the street to burn off some calories before we stopped at Cheesie's for dinner. Ah, Cheesie's, the promised land. In my humble opinion, everyone who takes a trip to Chicago must make a pilgrimage there and I would be a bad person if I neglected to bring my two favorite women there. They weren't really hungry but they were thirsty, so I ordered the drinks along with fried pickles, fried mac and cheese bites and a Frenchie sandwich for myself since I had to head to work (they planned on getting sandwiches after I left).

Now I'm writing covertly from The Roast of Ebenezer Scrooge because there isn't too much for me to do during this show, unlike TnT, and given how loud and distinct my mother's laugh is, I can tell she's having a good time tonight. 

Chicago Christmas Begins

 Whitney and my mom have made it to Chicago. They have been here for roughly 24 hours now. They got into Midway (not O'Hare, like I thought they were flying into like normal people) at around 7:30 and made it to my place by 9. I made them breakfast (scrambled eggs and toast like that master chef that I am) and then we spent a few hours unpacking.

We decided to adventure our into the world after that. We stopped at Furious Spoon for lunch. It's a ramen restaurant. I've never been to a ramen restaurant -- I'd never even eaten ramen before yesterday -- and I'm not sure it will be back. Furious Spoon LOOKS super trendy and enticing. It is apparently one of the best ramen restaurants in the country because of course, that's a thing. Never having eaten ramen before, I asked my mom if she wanted to share. THIS was a mistake. You cannot share ramen because you basically need to stick your face one inch over the bowl if you'd like to get any food in your mouth. Either way, Susan and I split their vegetarian ramen (which we added fried tofu and an egg to) and Whitney got something that had pork in it.

We continued on from there, visiting a few stores before heading to our next destination. While my mother and sister are here, we are doing a Hot Cocoa Crawl that I have created. Most of the place we are visiting will be downtown, but this one -- Katherine Anne Confections -- was in my very own neighborhood. I'm going to give a real breakdown of the hot cocoa crawl once all hot chocolate has been sampled but yesterday, we got a flight of three mini hot chocolates (milk, salted caramel and brown butter) and a 7 oz gingersnap hot chocolate. Each one came with its own fancy marshmallow -- our favorite was the cinnamon sugar marshmallow! We've decided that the marshmallows were the real draw there, although they also have some chocolate truffles that I wouldn't mind going back for.

After that, Whitney and my mom got their first taste of the CTA. Actually, they didn't taste anything because you aren't allowed to eat on the bus and you definitely shouldn't eat anything that you find on the bus, but they had their first Chicago bus ride. We took the bus all the way to the Lincoln Park Zoo! They were psyched to find out that the zoo is free 365 days of the year and we were there for the ZooLights (one word? two words? I don't know) display. My friend, Parker, also works at the zoo (for an outside company) taking pictures of kids with Santa, but it was his night off, so what did he do? Meet us at the zoo for some good old fashioned tourism. We got 3D glasses from the gift shop that turned the lights into different shapes -- mine were stars, Whitney's were reindeer, and my mom's were penguins -- and it was kind of trippy. Everyone was disappointed because we didn't get to see Alexander Camelton, the baby camel born at the zoo this summer, who was named after the $10 Founding Father, but we did get to see a lot of other animals.

After that, we got back on the bus, said goodbye to Parker (he got on the bus with us but got off at a different stop) and went to Pequod's for pizza! I take everyone to Pequod's. Haters gunna hate, but it's amazing. Mandy met us at Pequod's and got to be introduced to the rest of the fam for the first time. I also finally got to try their onion rings (I'd seen them before but always got talked into ordering a different appetizer!). After dinner, we Ubered home and I crashed on the couch while my mom and sister shared my extendable bed.

We have big plans for today as well, no hot chocolate but my mom and sister will be introduced to CTW for The Roast of Mister Scrooge!

Brunch

Today, I went out for brunch. At a restaurant called Brunch. Yup, I had brunch at Brunch.

A new friend from CTW asked me if I wanted to go and since I never say no to breakfast food, I was game.

The place had a lot of great looking options, so much so that I'm disappointed with what I ended up ordering. I got the donut French toast because it was one of their signature dishes and it was exactly what it sounds like -- Two donuts sliced in half and done up like French toast.

It was good but there wasn't anything special about it and honestly it fell a little flat, so brunch was alright but next time I'm at Brunch, I'm ordering the pancakes.

At least the decorations were on point.

Hot Flash Holiday

Yesterday morning was spent earning an incredible $11/hr for answering phones. I was working on the 37th floor of some fancy building downtown. I don't have a clue who I was working for but thankfully I didn't have to do anything more than transfer the occasional phone call and sign for some packages.

After that was over, the real fun began. I headed to CTW where I took advantage of it being a dinner theatre by using the microwave to warm up the rest of my calzone from Wednesday (I'd brought it for lunch at my temp gig but I didn't actually get a lunch break so it was dinner instead!).

We had The Roast of Mister Scrooge last night, which is wayyy easier compared to Tony N Tina's or even the recently deceased We Gotta Bingo because there is no dinner! Actually, it would have been easier last night if my laptop hadn't said a permanent goodbye after I'd finished the seating chart but before I'd printed it. So it was open seating at CTW last night! (Or as I said "Find a chair! Put your butt in it!" It's a roast, after all, the cast shouldn't be the only ones having fun). I was actually nervous for this show because my boss from Poetry Pals had gotten a ticket. We had free tickets and I offered them to my Poetry Pals co-workers since we'd been talking about holiday festivities and she was the only one who took me up on it. I thought that was wonderful of her to do but I was also nervous because she is a very sweet woman -- with three kids under the age of six -- who spends her time teaching third graders acceptance through poetry and I'd invited her to a play that's two hours of pussy jokes.

She did enjoy the show and we spent intermission talking about dirty jokes and the future of Poetry Pals.

Very pink

After the show, my friends told me to wrap up and face the cold because we had another show to go to. Our friend, Laureen, who is in TnT, had written a two-women show called Hot Flash Holiday and had invited all of us. I was going to go to the performance on Tuesday night by myself but I'm so glad I didn't because going with my friends was pretty awesome. They had a very cute and very pink set and inspired by the color scheme (and my own love of the color pink), I ordered the Pretty-in-Pink, a raspberry/lemonade/vodka concoction, from the bar.  To get a taste of the show, you can watch their trailer here.

The show was a good time (as was the drink). I was sitting right behind the camera they were using to videotape it so they probably got a lot of my laughing on their audio. My favorite part was when they handed out "prescriptions." They'd written all sorts of ridiculous things and I got one that I think I will be taking to the pharmacy because pizza solves all problems.

More Scrooge tonight, more TnT this weekend and then I just have to prepare for my Chicago Christmas with my mom and sister!!!

Oh Goodie...

It's gotten colder.

Reasons to Stay in Bed Forever

Snapchat doesn't lie.

I ate the cupcake. It was a really good cupcake.

Lunch Dates and Smallcakes

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is what we in the English teaching profession call a “near rhyme” (Date and cake sound similar but don’t rhyme the way date and Cate would, but it still counts as a rhyme).

English lesson aside, I thought it was a good title for this post because it’s exactly what I’m going to write about (funny how that works).

The morning started with a viewing of Teen Wolf in my pajamas. I’m not going to summarize six seasons of Teen Wolf for you or describe the ratty sweatpants I was wearing, but that’s how I began my day.

I skyped Mr. Ryan Lind for an hour and then put away some laundry before heading out for my lunch date with Ms. Amanda Lauren Belscamper. I was meeting Amanda (nee Mandy) at work and we were going to find somewhere to go from there. Google Maps told me that it would be about 50-60 minutes by two buses to get from my apartment to Little Marvels Day Care where Amanda works.

Google Maps lied. Or maybe I just made a speedy getaway. I got off the first bus and was looking into waiting for my connection when I realized that the bus I was waiting for was 20 minutes away and it would take me the same amount of time to just walk the rest of the way there, so that’s exactly what I did. (Why spend 20 minutes standing in the cold for a 10 minute respite in the petri dish of public transit when I could spend 20 minutes keeping my blood pumping and getting in a little bit of physical fitness?).

All of this took a solid 40 minutes and Amanda wouldn’t be free to eat for another 20. I walked up and down the block, stopping in a candle shop and a store dedicated to wedding stationary before finding a table at Pockets. I have never been to Pockets before, apparently it’s “all natural fast food” with a booming catering business and several locations across the city.

According to their menu, “a pocket is a freshly-baked, multi-grain bread pulled right out of the oven, split open and stuffed with your choice of finely chopped greens, vegetables, cheeses and meats. Served with your favorite dressing on the side.” When Amanda met me there, 25 minutes later, I ordered a calzone. (I’m going to assume that you’re all intelligent people and don’t need me to describe a calzone for you). I went with a calzone over a pocket because it seemed warm and hearty and that was what I needed. I also suspected that a calzone would lead to leftovers which means I can go another day without a trip to the grocery store.

I was right about the calzone. It was very large. It will probably be dinner tonight AND lunch for tomorrow. Amanda ordered a pocket but it wasn’t what either of us expected (Amanda had been to Pockets but had only ever ordered a salad and didn’t know what she was getting into). I should have taken a picture but we were both kind of in shock. The pocket was a sandwich that kind of spilled into a salad. I was expecting a pita pocket but this was more of a roll that had been cut open and forced full of veggies and what didn’t fit at that point just covered every free inch of plate.

My love and I caught up, got to go boxes and said our goodbyes.

Now, I have visited Amanda at work one other time and it was notable because it introduced me to Smallcakes, a Chicago cupcakery and creamery. Yup, they do cupcakes and ice cream. The last time I was there, I got some confectionary monstrosity that sat like cement in my stomach for days (totally worth it). (I have yet to get the ice cream, but they do ice cream/cupcake combos and I am mentally preparing for the day that I get a "Cupcake Smash"). So after Amanda went back to work, I went across the street to get a treat.

There were a lot of options – nothing as decadent as the salted caramel brownie red velvet cupcake I got the last time (ok, there were equally decadent cupcakes but none of today’s flavors of the day appealed to me) – so I got the Chocoholic. Chocolate cupcake, chocolate frosting and chocolate shavings on top. I took it to go because I was still stuffed full ala a calzone, so now it is sitting in my fridge, waiting for me to finish putting away my laundry, since I said I wouldn’t eat it until I finished folding the laundry I’ve been procrastinating on for 36 hours now (notice how I said that I was working on laundry before I went out in the first place). Cupcake updates to come.

Zanzibar is Very Far

When I was a kid, we listened to tapes by a guy called Bill Harley. One of them included a story about how his procrastination of his homework led to him writing a song about Zanzibar with lots of fun facts, including that Zanzibar is very far (and that they don't have cars and that men and women smoke cigars).

Well, today, I went to Zanzibar but it was only 49 minutes via the Chicago Transit Authority. I should be more specific. I went to the Zanizbar Cafe at the corner of Bryn Mawr and Kenmore St.

I had a job interview today and this was the location of their choosing. (Now that my internships are coming to an end and we're heading into the new year, the job hunt is back on!).

In true Thomson fashion, I got there early and the interview started late.

I arrived at the Zanzibar Cafe at 9:30am (without the use of Google Maps, I might add. I'm getting good at finding my way around the city!), but since that was early, I circled the block. 9:40 is a far more reasonable time to arrive, I told myself, and I sat on the bench at the front of the restaurant.

Well, time wore on and soon it was 10 with no sign of an interviewer. A few minutes went by and I figured that if I stood up and walked to the bathroom, she would appear and wouldn't you know it, she'd been sitting at a table the entire time!

Well, we did the interview (no comment on that for the time being) and I headed home (another 49 minutes via train and bus). I didn't get anything to eat or drink at the Zanizbar Cafe because I was nervous (and late apparently) but it was very cute and I might have to find an excuse to go back, which won't be hard because it isn't very far.

Whaddup from my Internship

Today, I braved the cold to go to my internship and I got there to discover that my boss was going to be two hours late without leaving me much to do, so I wanted to update you because my morning commute was a good one today.

First off, Chicago did a great job keeping the streets clear through all of the bad weather. The same cannot be said for the sidewalks because I basically skated to the train station this morning. No salt, no nothing. I did pass a few people shoveling outside of their shops and restaurants but nothing major.

I did make it to the train and managed to get a seat today, which was a good thing because we spent about ten minutes sitting at the station. According to the (repeated) announcements, there was a delay due to police activity a few stops ahead. I really want to know what was happening but a Google search currently yields zero news results so I'll check again later in the day.

Once the train did get moving, it was smooth sailing (erm, tracking? Railing? I don't know). I got off at my stop and made a detour at the post office before heading to work. The sidewalks in Noble Square aren't in any better condition than the sidewalks in Logan Square but I made it. Just in time to discover that my boss would be late! Woohoo! Now I'm writing up this quick post while I wait for further instructions of how to fill the next two hours.

I'll let you know if I find out what caused the delay on the train, or maybe you can let me know if you read this post and are inspired to do some internet-sleuthing of your own!

Winter Storm Stuff

So that big old winter storm advisory hasn't turned out to be so bad. Yes, we have a few solid inches of snow but it started yesterday afternoon (around the time my first show of the day was starting, which made things pretty interesting), went on for a few hours, stopped this morning and just started up again. The sidewalks are slushy but the streets are nice and clear.

The only real things ways the snow has changed things for me is that last night's Uber home cost double because they had surge pricing (also, if anyone can help me figure out how to get Uber Pool that would be great. My new phone doesn't give me that option and I would like to save some money!) and today's show was cancelled. Honestly, today's show probably would have been cancelled rain or shine because we'd only sold about 40 tickets... But, now I have the day completely free to cook and clean  and read and sleep. I get to watch the snow from the warmth of my apartment, which is just the way I like.

Speaking of warmth, this week I made the life changing discovery of storm windows because up until a few days ago, I thought I was going to freeze my butt off in this Chicago winter since my room is one-half windows and it's been so cold, but the storm windows have really saved my butt. I might still get insulating curtains because I'm cold blooded and want to be as warm as humanly possible at all times, but we've already had a world of improvement.

Just in case you've never seen snow before, this is the view from my apartment.

Apart from being wrapped up in coats and scarves this week, my plans include some work stuff (including the end of my internship with Lookingglass Theatre -- sad), a skype date with my best friend in New York, a lunch date with my best friend here in Chicago, and a job interview. Stay tuned because I may or may not blog about it.

Winter Storm Warning

Everyone says that I should be used to the cold because I'm from the Northeast and yes, that's true but it doesn't mean I like it! I also really don't like this winter storm warning that showed up on my phone today... The next few days should be fun!

When in Doubt, Chocolate

As I write this very post, I am killing time before I go to the final dress rehearsal of Lookingglass Theatre's Mr and Mrs Pennyworth. 

Most of today was spent temping, which is was a good way to make $12/hr while I did my Christmas shopping and I went straight from said work to the theatre. The downfall of this plan was that I was an hour early, so instead of walking outside in the cold, I did what any intelligent person would do: I walked into the Ghirardelli store (where they had free samples) and when I was done there, I went to the Hershey store, (where they did not). Chocolate is warm and smells good. I'm brilliant.

The Hershey store didn't have samples, but it does have a geotag

The Slushy Stairs of Potential Death

The snow has melted but I thought I would share how woefully unprepared we were on Sunday when it started.

Tony N Tina's Wedding starts at a church and then everyone walks to the theatre. Well, if it's snowing, then they have to walk in the snow! Funny how that works!

Add that to the fact that the steps of the church hadn't been salted or shoveled and we were all in for a grand old time! Everyone scrambled to find a shovel at the church (except for me because I was running will call at the top of the slushy stairs of potential death) and here's a picture of our fearless director as he battled Mother Nature:

No one died. No one even slipped to my knowledge (and it's my job to know) although they did track a lot of water onto my dance floor! Mini-freak out from the producer aside, we all survived and I'm sure we will get to see another snowy day at the dinner theatre.

Snow Update

My first Chicago snow continues and this is the view from my apartment

First Chicago Snow

Blah blah blah Thomson doesn't blog very much blah blah blah she's always working blah blah blah DEAL WITH IT!

Yesterday marked the return of Blanket Scarf, my most favorite scarf which is the size of an actual blanket (hence it's name). I wrap it around my head and it is so cozy! I love blanket scarf.

Apparently blanket scarf means that it is cold enough to snow and this morning, I looked outside as I was eating my French toast and we have flurries! Snow flurries!! I don't really want snow but I do want to recognize my first snow here!

Also, yesterday I bought new boots, so between that and blanket scarf, I might have started winter.

Thanksgiving

So, I think they say cheaters never prosper and I don't know who "they" is, but I think I did alright at Thanksgiving dinner last night, when I cheated on being a vegetarian and ate some turkey...

I spent the afternoon with my friend, Claire and her friend, Krista (Krista definitely qualifies as my friend now but I met her through Claire and didn't really know her until yesterday). They'd ordered a Thanksgiving package from Boston Market (which I didn't even know was a thing) but it was basically one giant pre-cooked Thanksgiving feast!

I paired the meal with "red velvet wine" that I bought because I thought it was funny (and it totally was).

We had a mini-Hilary Duff marathon as we played A Cinderella Story and The Lizzie McGuire Movie back to back. I paired dessert which was apple pie and ice cream (did I mention that the meal came with a pie, because it did) with a second bottle of wine, this time a white blend.

The holiday was a success AND I brought home leftovers.

Add caption

Thanksgiving Post

Ok, so I really promise that I haven't done anything great recently,  just lots of work and absolutely nothing exciting BUT it is Thanksgiving so I wanted to post.

Last night,  I went to see Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them with my friend, Claire, and her friend, Krista, and on my way home, I, for the first time since they went up, saw one of the big ads for Tony N Tina's Wedding  (EXTENDED BY POPULAR DEMAND). It is very cool to see something like that (technically, two cool somethings since I saw the poster AND the movie).

Still waiting for one of these ads to mention house management but until then, this is nice.

My Turkey day plans were supposed to include the parade but we nixed that idea in favor of sleeping in (a task that I failed at) and now the plan is just a mid-afternoon feast courtesy of Boston Market.  And wine,  because if we don't celebrate with fermented grapes, did we really celebrate?

Also,  my sister recently went to a grilled cheese restaurant in Columbus and now I REALLY can't wait for her to visit because I have to show her how it's done here .

I promise that I have not done anything blog worthy since I last blogged! I have not been ignoring you but I have not been very interesting either.

Anyways, I return to you today because it is so cold! It was 60 degrees on Monday and now Snapchat is helping me express just how miserable I am...

Also, I know they call it the Windy City, but someone could have told me that the wind would wake me up multiple times throughout the night!

Brunch (but with photos!)

For some reason, it wasn't letting me add this photo to my last post but you all deserved to see the glory of brunch. did I mention the French toast had fresh strawberries on top? No, I did not. It was the bomb.com.

(I also included a pic of the "Sweet" portion of the menu so you could truly understand the difficult position I was in here!)

Brunch at Kanelas

Went to brunch with Mandy today. We went to a place called Kanela Breakfast Club that has several locations throughout the city but that I've really been wanting to try.

Holy cow, we were not disappointed. After ordering a mimosa and a bellini  (one for each of us, not one a piece), we saw the monkey bread... We ordered the monkey bread even though it was not meant for two mere mortals. This was the monkey bread meant for gorillas. The monkey breado to end all monkey bread!

It came in a cast iron skillet and yup, we ate all of it. I will definitely be taking Whitney and my mom here when they visit for the holidays because it is my favorite brunch spot yet. (AND THEY JUST BOUGHT PLANE TICKETS TODAY).

We still, however needed our main course. I was really torn because everything looked amazing. The red velvet French toast eventually beat the chocolate pancakes and I got herb roasted potatoes for the heck of it.

Wowza! The French toast was LEGIT and tasted like it had been drizzled in ice cream!!! So amazing! And, as I already said, I am excited to go back with my guests!


After that, I went to the show where an older gentleman gave me a $2 for helping bring his drinks to his table.

It has seriously been ages since I last blogged! My apologies.

So, Cubs won the World Series yada yada yada. it was very loud yada yada yada. You don't actually need me to tell you this yada yada yada.

Basically, I have been super busy and instead of trying to write about every single detail since I last blogged -- mainly because I don't remember -- I'm going to just pick things up from here and hopefully not neglect this blog again.

Headed to brunch with Mandy this morning and then we have a show! Tony N Tina for the win (wait, no, that was the Cubs and Donald Trump... awkward... TnT is still good though! I love it, even when it's super crazy like it was with a two-show day and 184 people last night! Wow, nice  run on sentence/parenthetical,  Thomson...).

K, thnx, luv u, bye

HalloQueen

Hello people of the Internet, it is I, your fearless leader, here to bring you the latest updates on all of my adventures.

My last update was about my unfortunate running form but since then, I have found a new coffee shop, taken a killer noteworthy selfie, and returned to the motherland of Cheesie's.

Yesterday morning, I was headed to work at one of my internships -- Adventure Stage Chicago -- and I was early! I noticed a bakery called Lovely and decided I would stop in. It was, in fact, lovely. I got hot chocolate and a croissant (because I have no lunch food in my apartment). Not my favorite but the store was so cute. Like 1950s meets modern day teen angst.

After that, I went to work obviously. There were trick-or-treaters in the office so that was mind-numbingly adorable.

After work, I returned to my apartment and took a nap and then headed out again. Cheesie's, otherwise known as Heaven on Earth, was dressing up as Bob's Burgers for Halloween. (I, on the other hand was dressed as my black hole of a heart and took the greatest selfie of my life at the bus stop and coined the term "HalloQueen" in the process). I don't watch that show but I will go for any excuse to dine at Cheesie's.

All hail the HalloQueen

Mandy had saved me a spot in line which was a good thing since the place was packed and the line quickly stretched down the block and across the street. I tipped well since it looked like they needed the moral support.


After dinner, Mandy and I were forced to head our separate ways; we each had to take the train home but she was going north and I was southward bound but we continued our conversation across the train tracks as two best friends should.

That's my best friend

Although I had an amazing time at the 5K yesterday, I still think running is dumb and looks so uncomfortable.

The Hot Chocolate 5K provided me evidence of this by sending me my very own commemorative race photo. Don't I look like I'm having fun?! No. I don't, because no one looks like they're having fun when they're running...

Will Run for Chocolate

I did my third ever 5K today and I killed it! Clearly I only do themed 5Ks because the previous ones were a color run and the Mermaid 5K earlier this month but I legitimately ran this one hardcore and the reason was, this was a Hot Chocolate 5K. I got chocolate at the end! (And it case anyone doubts my hardcore running efforts today, I finished 13,945 out of 19,928 runners). I also proved that I really am THAT motivated by chocolate (and also that my assertions that I run like a fat toddler chasing an ice cream truck are pretty true since I was literally running for dessert).

My crazy schedule barely leaves time for sleep these days and this 5K meant I couldn't sleep in today either. I was out the door at 6:45 BUT my landlady actually drove me since her daughters were doing it as well, so that was an unexpected perk.

Fly the W for Wrigley

It was dark and chilly when we arrived, but 40,000 people lining up to do a 5k /15k will warm you up pretty quickly. Cub pride was also on display (it's on display everywhere... my subway car was so full yesterday that I almost couldn't get off the train and they were all singing the "Go Cubs Go" song and some guy was playing it on a TUBA. Side note: I'd never heard this song until yesterday, but apparently it's a thing... Sorry, Cubbies, but the Red Sox have the greatest song... You all know Sweet Caroline, right?).

I was not the happiest of campers in the wee hours of the mourn, BUT the race had a geotag and I was super happy when I'd finally finished. Mandy and her friend, Paige put it really well -- it was surreal running through the streets of Chicago like that. They'd closed Michigan Avenue! For this 5K! (FYI: 9:34 was when I finished but I did not start at 8:15 -- that's just when I was cold and grumpy).

I'm extremely proud of myself for the way I ran today, because I did actually run! Last night, I was debating if I could just sneak over the finish line to get my mug because I've been so stressed and haven't been working out but today I proved that I am tough as nails and can do anything!

Even if I hadn't gotten that good feeling at the end of the race, the swag alone was worth it. I got an amazing, heavy duty sweatshirt just for registering! You got a medal for completing the 15K version of the race but ain't nobody got time for that (It's a cool medal but I'm not stupid). But everyone who completed either race got their finisher's mug with hot chocolate AND fondue. It was heaven. I met up with Amanda and Paige after the race to enjoy the spoils of victory (they both had earlier start times and are faster than me anyways). Strangely, the fondue was better than the hot chocolate , which you'd think would be amazing because "Hot Chocolate 5K" but I still drank it cuz I am a champion.

Victory is sweet.

Although chocolate is delicious, we decided we needed some brunch food, so we got on the train and went towards Fullerton, since it put all three of us in a good place to get home. We had zero ideas of anywhere to eat nearby and Mandy even suggested McDonald's but we stumbled on a diner place. It was crowded and our server forgot about us, but the food was good (I got a breakfast skillet) and we need to go back because they claimed to have the best milkshakes in Chicago.

After that, I almost fell asleep on the bus and nearly missed my stop, but I managed to get home, where I collapsed on my bed and slept well into the afternoon. Wide awake now, I've made myself some dinner and am catching up on Hulu on my phone. I don't know when my next 5K will be (Hot Chocolate 2017, anyone) but I'm excited to frame my bib and give it a place of honor on my wall!

The Power of Mimosas

I was doing really well on that consistent blogging thing until I stopped doing well on it... anyways, here are some updates since the last time I posted.

First off, this blog has served an actual purpose besides letting me share all of my mind-numbingly dull thoughts. I wrote about how my wallet was stolen the other day, but then someone commented on my blog that they'd found my ID! Yes, they found my ID and then went to the trouble of finding a way to contact me and they were able to do it through this very blog that you are reading right now. I'd already spent $25 to order a new license but at least my personal information is no longer floating around the universe. I got it back on Tuesday (and now I need to get around to writing them a thank you card).

Next off, mimosas can cure just about anything because Sunday brunch with Amanda Lauren Belscamper soothed my soul like you would not believe. We went to the Chicago Diner which is a vegetarian restaurant  that I'd visited last February. They have two locations, the one that is close to where I work (which is where we went) and one that is walking distance from my apartment. Mandy picked the restaurant, but she loves me so she picked the vegetarian place! I got their breakfast platter, which was scrambled eggs, breakfast potatoes, fruit, vegetarian sausage AND bacon plus the whole thing came with a pancake on top. We also, of course, got mimosas.
Since then, it's basically been all work and no play, which makes Thom some money, so I'm not complaining. I finally put away the laundry I did a week and a half ago though so there's some progress for you! Today, I will be heading to my internship and then calling the laptop people to find out why they STILL haven't fixed my computer. I also need to work on a Halloween costume before my friend's party tomorrow but since I have the whole day off tomorrow, I can plan then (or I can lie in bed until it's time to leave, which might be a better use of my time...).

P.S. Here's a picture from brunch. I wanted to put it next to my description of brunch but this is one of the downfalls of blogging from my phone.

The Baby Bears

Good news and bad news:

Bad news: My laptop still isn't fixed.
Bad news II: The allergy test I had revealed NOTHING (except that I might be slightly lactose intolerant)
Bad news III: My wallet was stolen!

Good news: The Cubs are going to the World Series!

Yup, the Baby Bears threw the puck and scored a touchdown to go to the Academy Awards of Baseball.

This sports news doesn't actually outweigh all of the crap that has come up in the past few days but it does explain why I was at the bar until 3:30 last night. (It was a theatre bar though, so the collective sports knowledge was in the negative numbers).

Knock on wood, but it would be very cool to see the Cubs win. I was in middle school when the Red Sox reversed the curse and it would be nice to think that I'm a) Chicago's good luck charm and b) now old enough to get really wasted with the rest of the city instead of falling asleep before the end when I attempted to watch the game. Although, let's be honest, either way, I'll sleep through the actual game.

Temping Was Amazing Today*

I am clearly crushing the less-than-minimum-wage game the same way I manage to kill the mood whenever I enter a room.

Today was the third day of my thrilling time with FIA. The perks of which included a surprise appearance by Claire Noone today, hanging out with Victoria (a college friend of Amanda Belscamper's) and taking a few covert snap chats because the event had their own geofilter. Please feast upon me as I restock bags and magazines -- a job I was clearly born/went to college for.

*That title is 100% sarcastic by the way. The only things that were amazing about today was the variety of skin tones that clashed with that slime green shirt and the truly hideous bottle of wine I purchased when Claire and I went to Trader Joe's at the end of the day.

**The bottle itself is amazing. I have not had the wine yet. But the bottle was really ugly and I needed it.

***Because I'm collecting empty, ugly wine bottles now.

I've Got Answers

This week, I'm working another temp job. It isn't a one-day gig like last week at Pensions and Whatever but three whole days at an FIA Expo. They told us what FIA stood for yesterday at orientation/training but I was so busy stuffing bags and folding table cards that I can't remember. (I'm clearly working towards that big temp promotion! My nom-work ethic is rivaled only by my pension for ill-timed sarcastic comments within earshot of my boss).

One thing I like about this job is that yesterday,  we were able to dress casually. This meant blue jeans and anything else you wanted really. (I wore my Little Mermaid shirt because it was sitting on top of the pile of clean laundry that I dumped on my floor and haven't put away yet...) We'd been told that the dress code for the rest of the week would be black dress pants, a white button down and a black jacket but yesterday they told us that they had t-shirts for us and that we should even think about wearing dress shoes* because we would be walking wayyy too much. I liked this change in plans because I still hadn't found a white button down.

*They did suggest not wearing your brightest pair of athletic shoes but I have only one pair of sneakers and they're electric blue with fuschia laces so that's what I've got on today. I guess it's better than going barefoot?

My official job title is "Bag Runner" which they say means that I'm supposed to make sure that bag stands are replenished but I think it means I take people's bags and run with them. Basically they gave me a job with very little to do which is just the way I like it.

So I'm working in a hotel that costs more than what I'll be making in these three days from a single night AND I'm doing it in a neon green shirt that has "I'VE GOT ANSWERS" written on it. It goes well with my shoes... if you can't actually see me.

Two Months

I realized that today marks two whole months in Chicago. I realized this over a cup of hot chocolate so let the Koffee Shop Kwest continue.

I'm writing from Intelligentsia in Noble Square because I'm early to my first day at my THIRD internship. Intelligentsia is another mini Chicago chain and like Bow Truss, I can see why people would cry gentrification. It's very sterile, lots of gray, black and geometric shapes. It's about the craft here. They have only one long table and chairs, so if you want personal space you need to sit on the long benches around the perimeter of the room of one of the large orange blocks that function as both chair and Table depending on your needs. The most unique art came in the bathroom, where they had a small mural of wild animals, but im not sure that's a selling point. The hot chocolate was $4.46 and they get points for the intricate latte art but I didn't like the drink. Their hot chocolate was too dark and bitter. Give me the sweet stuff! Hot chocolate should be a warm cup of candy and this stuff seemed more like chocolate coffee. Since I don't like my beverage options here, I'm not sure how eager I'll be to test one of their other locations but it served it's purpose of giving me somewhere to sit this afternoon.

TINY SPOON!

185 Broken Laptops

So, my boss sat on my laptop on Saturday in a freak accident and somehow I've ended up blogging more since I don't have a computer than when I did...

Saturday night, post-show but pre-lyft ride/blog post home, I went out to Cheesie's with Claire and Parker and met their friend, Suz. My friend, Jessica, who pulls double duty as Darla Blue, the Bingo call girl in Bingo and Maddie Monroe, the father-of-the-groom's stripper wedding date in TnT, had an improv show at The Annoyance at midnight called Skinprov (there might be a theme here...). Skinprov is basically naked improv, except they don't actually get naked. I learned two things very valuable things here:
1. Don't tell Claire Noone about a free improv show, because you WILL be going.
2. If your friend says their improv show is 50 minutes, they're lying; an hour and a half minimum.

So, why is this post called 185 Broken Laptops? During the show, they did a bit where they told jokes based on audience suggestions. The game was called 185 and the goal was to say 185 [blank] walked in a bar and the bar tender wouldn't serve them because of [blank]. They asked for a suggestion -- "something you have in your bag" -- and I shouted out "A BROKEN LAPTOP." They were pretty surprised about this and even stopped to ask why I was carrying around a BROKEN laptop and then used it in the bit, so at least someone got a laugh out of my misfortune.

And why am I writing about all of this now? Because I have laptop brain. I just dropped my laptop off with some laptop people. I went to TWO different Best Buys yesterday and they told me that it was going to be two weeks minimum -- more likely five -- and a nice chunk of change. (I didn't expect a different answer at the second, they'd just been so rude to me at the first one that I wanted another opinion). My broken laptop should be better by the end of the week now! The one perk of this whole fiasco is that yesterday, after enjoying my first glass of cider of the fall and making cider muffins, I got 14 hours of sleep. So enjoy my phone blogging while you can because odds are that one my laptop is fixed, it will be back to my usual one post a week!

Cheesie's Cheese Bites

I didn't post a picture last night when I was grumpy in the back of my Lyft (which, even though it was awful, only ended up costing me $1.30), but I think everyone should know the glory and bow their heads in awe of Cheesie's mac and cheese bites.

They'really so beautiful; it's like staring into a mirror.

Dear Lyft Driver...

I know I'm new to Chicago but perhaps deciding to pick up another rider in Wrigleyville after the Cubs win a playoff game isn't the best decision. Particularly when it is already the opposite direction of where we're going.

And in other news, my friends came to my show tonight, I got fried mac and cheese bites at Cheesie's and have to go to Best Buy because the director of Tony N Tina's sat on my laptop and cracked the screen!

First Chicago Medical Crisis

Guess who knows where urgent care is now?

Quite frankly, I'm surprised it took this long for me to injure myself/get sick to the point of needing medical assistance but yup, this week broke my streak.

I'm proud to announce that a mysterious allergic reaction blew up my face and sent me to urgent care (because when your eye is swollen shut, it's time to admit that there is a problem). I have no idea what caused this but it was the most unpleasant thing to have happened to me since I moved here. It was not, however, my most unpleasant trip to urgent care -- that would be the time that I went to the CLOSED urgent care in Center Valley, PA during a hurricane.

So yup, 10 points to me for not waiting a whole week to write another post but 20 points to the universe for replacing my face with something that more closely resembles a poisonous fungi. If you need me, I'll be searching for bell towers to call home and pining after gypsy women.

(And by the way, urgent care here was very nice although they lose points for choosing to give me a shot of steroids in my butt cheek instead of my arms).

(Also my face looks pretty face-like again so maybe that bell tower thing can wait until after I go back to urgent care for an allergy test next week).

I promise I will find a happy medium between random, one-sentence posts and describing an entire month in a singular post but that time has not come yet!

So, the last time I wrote/you read, I had stopped at Leonidas Chocolate Cafe, opening myself up to about 10-million extra calories a day, but that's alright. I don't remember anything else I did last Tuesday so I'm going to guess that it wasn't important and isn't worth writing about.

After that, Wednesday was a big day. I got a text that morning from Amanda Belscamper asking me about the abnormally large crowd outside of Osmium Coffee, which is right next to CTW  (and part of her daily bus route, apparently). I hadn't been to the theatre so I didn't know but I'd find out when I went to work later.

Before work, however, I had to go to the AT&T store. My phone was two and a half years old and had stopped connecting to WiFi so it was time for an upgrade. I walked in with a smile on my face and left a short while later with a new cellphone and no drama (which should have been my first clue that something was wrong but more on that later). I went to work (blissfully unaware that I'd purchased a garbage phone) and Osmium Coffee.

Upon arrival, I discovered that Osmium was crowded with Gilmore Girls fans because Netflix had converted the store into Luke's Diner for the day in honor of the 16th anniversary of the show's premiere (and as promotion for the new series, obviously). The transformation really only included a sign, cardboard cut out of Luke Danes and coffee cups and I'm actually pretty sure that Luke Danes would hate hipsters and Osmium Coffee and probably be confused by Chicago in general but it was be cool.

We did a show and then I went out with about six members of the cast. They made me take a shot of Malört because apparently you aren't really from Chicago until you have. Apparently it's supposed to be bad and make you gag and everyone was shocked that I took it like a champ but I was just trying to figure out what I'd actually been given to drink.

I took an Uber home from the bar and somehow, I ended up talking the Uber driver into giving me his phone charger. So, my first 25th birthday presents were a bad shot of alcohol and some electrical cords.

The first birthday present I gave myself was another stop at Leonidas on my way to my internship! I got the salted caramel hot chocolate with the whole milk because if I cared about calories and skimping on quality, I'd go to Starbucks.

At the end of the work day, I returned to the apartment for my party! We were having an ugly wine-indoor picnic birthday/housewarming party. Basically, the theme was that everyone had to bring the ugliest bottle of wine they could find and we were going to drink it on the floor because we have no furniture. Before the party, however, I got a "flower" delivery. My mom sent me a plant but it was basically a small tree... Either way, it was a good birthday (and my bottle of wine, Kinky Pink Moscato, was the ugliest).

I slept in on Friday but then it was time for the phone drama because the phone I'd had for less than 48 hours was already out of memory space. Turns out they'd sold me a GoPhone which is basically a burner phone. I was PISSED. AT&T handled it pretty well, considering they'd messed it up in the first place and I have a NEW new phone (and no, it isnt a Samsung Galaxy Note 7 so it isnt going to explode). With that problem solved, it was onto a weekend full of shows! Really full but still fun, including a real life wedding proposal at Tony N Tina's Wedding on Sunday.

Yesterday was Columbus Day  (Chicago still calls it that) and there was a large Italian pride parade so a group of TnT people went to pass out flyers in exchange for comp tickets  (yup... shameless). Our main selling point was that our tickets are cheaper and easier to get than Hamilton tickets AND we give you dinner.

After that, I had about appointment to run off to so I couldn't get lunch with the cast but ended up at The Bread Cafe. One of my best friends, Ellen, is a sweet baby angel who is obsessed with bread so I decided to try this place in her honor. I'm happy to report that it lives up to the name of bread.

Now, today. Oh boy, today. Well, you're currently benefitting from my boredom. I have a temp gig that required me to leave my apartment at 4:30am (where I watched the bus pull up while I was still too far to get there and had to wait for 15 minutes) and is for Pensions and Investments. My job is mainly to try not to look bored, which is almost impossible because even the experts who are getting paid more than $10/hr to be here look bored...

Leonidas Chocolate Cafe

I have done a very, very bad thing here.

Yesterday, I spent most of the day watching 3-5 year olds as their parents attended Rosh Hashanah services (shanah tovah, btw) but after that, it was time to go over to my internship at Lookingglass. I knew that they wouldn't have much for me, but I also knew that I didn't have time to go home in between the two so I figured I would find something to do to kill a few minutes and this is when a very, very, very bad thing happened, because I stopped at Leonidas Chocolate Cafe.

You know that if something has "Chocolate Cafe" in the name that it is going to be some damn good chocolate and I was intrigued so I crossed the street and went in. (Yes, thankfully this place isn't directly along my commute and going would require at least an extra 20 steps which is obviously too far out of the way for me to go every single day).

I didn't know if this would qualify as a coffee shop when I went in but they do, in fact, serve coffee along with a lot of other things that aren't chocolate. But mainly, they sell chocolate. Lots of pretty chocolate! And this includes a variety of hot chocolates. It wasn't a cold day (and definitely not cold by Chicago standards) but I was chilly so hot chocolate was exactly what I needed! They had a lot of good looking options but I decided that I'd start with the "basic" Triple Chocolate Hot Chocolate.

So, this place has the potential to be the best "coffee shop" on the list and also make me gain a dress size.

Am I a bad person, not to my knowledge, but as I've said, yesterday was the start of a very bad thing.