What I Did This Weekend: Chicago Edition

This weekend I was in Chicago aka Chi-town aka The Windy City aka the place where bread with a hole in the middle gets to pretend it's a bagel!

I was there for this purpose, however I had a whole day free to tour around and Chicago is a pretty awesome city.  Here's what I did:

What I Did This Weekend

What I Did This Weekend in 4 Episodes

Saturday- The C-Word

Saturday morning marked the grand opening of the C. Wonder at Columbus Circle, so I decided to check it out.  If you're familiar, C. Wonder is a clothing/homewares store that a lot of ladies have been losing their shit over ever since they opened their first store in Soho last year.  I am not insanely in love with their stuff, it's a little too Sorority in the City for me, BUT they have this:

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I really want it.  Why?  Check out my Hot Pink post & you'll know.  The Grand Opening promised treats, prize drawings and "mystery gift cards to the first 300 customers" so I thought, anything that makes this less than $98 has to be good, right?

So a little background on me: I'm not really the "shopping party" type and I hate crowds and lines (wait, why do I live in NYC?).  But for a gift card and the chance to get something I already wanted, I swallowed my pride, joined the 150-person line that had formed BEFORE 10am and prayed I wouldn't see anyone I knew.  A too-cool image is very fragile, ya know?

15 minutes later: Cut to me hiding in the corner of the store eating free candy and just trying not to get body checked by the monogrammed masses, clutching my $5 no-longer-a-mystery-gift card.  One of the salespeople, reading my mixed expression of social anxiety and disappointment, felt the need to ask me if I was OK.

All in all, it was generally a waste of my time.  C. WordWonder is on my S-list and I was too annoyed to buy the tray.

Sunday- Seventh Heaven

After such an unsuccessful Saturday, I needed some divine intervention to renew my faith in the Office Redo Gods.  I found it at Organic Modernism, one of my favorite furniture stores in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.  I had merely stopped by to ogle a few pieces I've had my eye on, and ask some questions.  But then the next thing I knew, there I was, talking to the owners about the Alma Brass chair and lo and behold, they offered me a $200 discount.  People, if someone offers you a 33% discount, you take it, right?!!!

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She's home now, already covered in cat hair just like God intended.

 

Sunday- The Emmy's

Sunday night my show had a black tie Emmy's party.  The show had been nominated but we didn't win.  My husband's show won.  So really I won too.  Because Jon is a winner.  I got to wear a silver silk charmeuse dress I bought on an impulse 5 years ago and never worn.  I also got to break the news about the chair to Jon at the party.  A little booze never hurts when discussing impulse purchases.

 

Monday- The Office

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Don't try to go to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden or the Brooklyn Museum on your day off Monday.  They're closed.  In fact, don't try to get any type of culture at all, culture is closed on Mondays.  Instead, go to Allswell in Williamsburg for brunch.  Order the Crispy Chicken Sandwich.  And be happy that not being in the office has been instrumental in completing your home office redo this weekend.

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The End.  

No wait, actually:

To Be Continued...

A Williamsburg Weekend

This weekend was all about exploring.

I don't know about you, but I tend to fall into patterns- going to the same places, seeing the same people, doing the same things.  It gets to the point where I'm actually nervous to try something new.  Some of you may call that Social Anxiety Disorder, but I just call it "being in a rut" because that sounds way less certifiable.

I guess I was feeling especially adventurous this weekend, however, and tried to shake things up while at the same time getting to know my neighborhood a little bit better.

If you don't know, I live in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.  But not the "cool" part, not Bedford.  I live a few subway stops east, though I daren't say I live in "East" Williamsburg because a.) there's no such thing as East Williamsburg and b.) that's what people say when they live in Bushwick (not that there's anything wrong with that).

There are tons of awesome spots in my part of town, however.  Here are a few that I visited for the first time this weekend:

Grand Street Bakery:

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These people really walk the walk, repurposing the former Grand Street Bakery into a cool vintage store.  The t-shirt selection is righteous and I saw some pretty awesome leather boots that wanted so badly for me to adopt them.

Asian Foods Express:

This Asian restaurant supplier on Grand Street is a true gem.  Though it has a storefront, it looks like a store that has yet to open, with boxes piled up in front of the windows.  Even Yelp says it's closed, which I think adds a bit of street cred to the place.  I guess they just don't care because their main line of business is wholesale; providing Asian ingredients to the Thai and Chinese restaurants in the area.  However, if you stop in (at a time that they happen to be open, which seems a bit unpredictable), they'll sell you whatever you need!  Jon and I bought palm sugar, Thai basil and green chilis, all ingredients we don't see at our regular grocery store.

Then we went home and rocked out with our wok out.  We (Jon) made Pad Kra Pow and it was sexy hot.

Mei Ying Qi Gong Tui-Na:

Finally, I also got a Chinese massage because my legs hurt from marathon training and my neck was sore from writing Project Runway recaps on my laptop.  True story.  I'm usually a little wary of massage spots- all the nakedness and the fear of a little tug with your rub.  But reviews suggested this place was upstanding and cheap so I gave it a try.  My masseuse rubbed my neck so hard I thought my head was going to explode, and if you know me, you know that means it was the best massage ever.  I have bruises on my legs from where she punished my calves.  After she ripped apart my muscles, she used hot stones so I left feeling like Paula Abdul 5 minutes before an American Idol taping.  It was glorious.


I'm so happy I discovered a few new "regulars" in my 'hood.  Sorry some of these pictures are ass- I forgot to snap my own.