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.