Archive for March, 2007
March 15, 2007 at 9:18 pm · Filed under Food, Lifestyle
For the past week, I’ve been taking bagels to work. Roommate brought a bunch of leftovers home, and I’ve been taking one to work each day. Unfortunately, yesterday, I ate my last bagel. To top it off, I got to work and I realized I forgot to eat cereal at home. *sigh* No matter. I’ve got a peanut butter oats bar in my jacket. Oh wait. I ate that yesterday too. Crud. This is going to be a long day…
By 10:30, things started to slow down and I began reading the Chicago Redeye. One of the first news snippets said “Starbucks will be giving away free tall coffees from 10-12.” Now, I never drink coffee, but I thought to myself, “I need something.” I bothered a couple co-workers, but none of them would get me a coffee. Time rolled on and I kept glancing at the clock. T-minus 45 minutes until free coffee expires.
Finally, I said, “Screw you guys! I’m going to Starbucks!” And, I ran as fast as I could to the nearest location. I got inside and the girl employee didn’t say a word to me. She handed me a cup and pointed to the help yourself coffee. It was set out in some canisters. There were about seven tanks. Four of them said “Kenya” on the label. I don’t know what Kenya is supposed to taste like, but it sounded right. I threw in some milk and sugar and ran back to the floor. I really didn’t care about what it tasted like, just as long as it helped me through the next 2.5 hours. And it did.
The rest of the day wasn’t busy. I looked over the Redeye and Sun-Times for the latest events. For the last few weeks, there have been nothing but St Patrick’s Day Parade/Food/Guinness articles and ads, and it peaked my interest. I may not go to the parade or wear green. But if there was ever a time to drink Guinness and enjoy the fine Irish cuisine: this would be the time. On St Patrick’s, everyone is Irish, right? I went through the ads. Green Beer Here. March Madness there, and I saw a headline for $10 corned beef and cabbage. “SOLD!”
March 15, 2007 at 9:17 pm · Filed under Food, Lifestyle
Emerald Loop is located in the 35th East Wacker Building on Wabash. In 1920, the building was the tallest building outside of New York. It was originally known as the “Jeweler’s Building,” because it was home to the Chicago diamond merchants. The letters “JB” are repeatedly etched along the building. It was also one of the notorious speakeasies of mobster Al Capone.
Now, I wouldn’t call the Emerald Loop an “authentic” Irish bar, but it certainly passes for having that American/Irish feel. The Emerald Loop is a part of the Vaughan Pub family of bars: Mystic Celt, Corcorans, and Vaughan’s Pub. It seems focused towards the downtown professionals, couples, and late night goers. The atmosphere vibrates with luxurious hospitality. The cherry wood bar extends across the room with plenty of welcoming seats and open visibility. There is also a dance floor. Noble blues, burned reds, dark browns, and shamrock greens paint the walls along with Guinness memorabilia. The menu has the bar and grill favorites with a couple Irish entrees.
Upon entering, you are asked to seat yourself, but I had to find someone. I needed auditorial confirmation. Corned Beef and Cabbage Special, today? “Yes, we do.”, replied one of the waiters. With my mind at ease, I hunted for a back table to myself. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find anything like that. The exposed and sociable atmosphere didn’t allow any table to oneself. Everyone is in wide view of one another. I sat at a small bar table in sight of one of the NCAA games and relaxed. I came during the afternoon and much of the bar was half-filled with males cheering on their bracket picks. But, all this is unimportant. Let’s get to indulging my carnal desires.
My waitress came by asked, “Would you like a menu?” I nearly stumbled over my tongue. Corned beef and cabbage! “And would you like pint of Guinness?” You are a mind reader! Now, Andelez!” (Ok, I wouldn’t be so rude, but it was in the back of my mind … I’m starving… ) A minute later, she brought back one of the most picturesque pints of Guinness. This was what you’d see in a commercial or posted along the walls. She even positioned it within perfect proximity of my menu and with the Guinness logo facing directly towards me.
When the bus boy brought out my corned beef and cabbage, I was elated. I’d been waiting for this moment for most of the day. As the picture shows, these were glorious proportions. The cabbage was luke warm and juicy. There was no raw dryness. It wasn’t soggy or over cooked. For cabbage, it had an excellent crisp flavor. The mashed potatoes were creamy, buttery, savory, and had great texture. I love how the warm potatoes cool off and get that crusty thickness on the outside. But the corned beef…Mmmmm. It looked like they hacked off a slice of cow carcass. (I wonder if it was angus?) It was juicy, tender, and delicious. Typically, I’m a picky eater and cut off all fat from meat. The fat on this cut wasn’t slimy or chewy. And I licked the entire plate clean.
March 14, 2007 at 5:24 pm · Filed under Lifestyle
Yesterday at work, I was standing next to one of the brokers. He holds out his knuckle and asks me “Hey, what’s going on ‘T?” …Tee? Somehow, I’ve acquired an obscure new nickname or he thinks my name is Tim. But I’ve worked here for almost 7 weeks now. I hold up my arm and give back the respect knuckles. Whatever. Life goes on.
Later, I see him, again, and he says “Hey, what’s up Turtle?” Ok, yes, turtle. That’s starting to make more sense. But then I had to ask, “Why are you calling me Turtle?” He said, “Because you look like a Turtle. You remind me of the Slowskys. You know. The ones from the commercials.”
Who the what now?
[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/WLs7DSxsLog" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]
I guess I’ll take it as a compliment. Though I’d have to start calling him Rat or Templeton.
March 13, 2007 at 7:29 pm · Filed under Bonsai
I took these photos over the weekend. Today, I’m pronouncing the little bamboos dead. I guess they weren’t happy with their new soil environment.
March 11, 2007 at 2:52 pm · Filed under Lifestyle, Photos
This shower project has been 6 months in the making. Before Halloween (maybe even August), Landlord saw that our shower was leaking, and the water was seeping into his bathroom. He asked us to stop using our shower and use his instead. He got an estimate on the work, but it was out of his price range. So, nothing got done. 2 months later, Roommate was feeling bitchy and macho. “When’s that shower going to get fixed? I could do it!” I said, “Well, why don’t you then. Put up or shut up. Landlord wants to pay less than $XXXX.” Personally, I didn’t mind showering in Landlord’s apartment. His bathroom was twice as nice as ours. We never had to clean it, and he always had the thermostat cranked up.
So, Landlord bought Roommate a case of Budweiser. He’d get drunk, grab a hammer, and bust stuff up. In a week, Roommate pulled all the crappy tile off, replaced the moldy wood, and put up some new drywall. It looked like we’d be getting our new shower. But the work ended there. “When’s that shower going to get fixed?”, I mocked Roommate! He just grinned and didn’t say a word. He couldn’t find any shower panels or know anything that didn’t involve beer and a hammer. A month went by.
Around New Year’s, Roommate had some guests staying over. He didn’t want his pals to go downstairs to shower, so he got this bright idea. He drilled some holes in the drywall and hung plastic around the walls. It was “ghetto fabulous” as he put it. His friends got some shits and giggles out of using it, but I never caved in. The shower looked like a construction site with exposed drywall and clear plastic curtains everywhere. I kept using Landlord’s shower, but Roommate used his half-arse creation…Months go by.
2 weeks ago, I go down to shower and Landlord said to come back later. He had a contractor over to look at his place and he said he’d take a look at our bathroom as well. 2 days later, We had 2 guys in our apartment actually getting work done, but it wasn’t just the shower. They were remodeling the rest of the bathroom! They demoed the entire bathroom by tearing out the sink, the toilet, the rest of the wall tiles and pulling up the vinyl floor. A few days later, we had a new bathroom with all new amenities. They even changed the color of our pink bathtub to white! If the employees of Emerald City can change Dorothy’s eyes, I guess you could do a bathtub too.
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