Category Archives: south loop

romance is in bloom at bhldn chicago

Posted on April 10, 2012 | 1 Comment

Don’t worry gents, I’m still on the market. Yet you don’t need to be a bride to blush at BHLDN, the dreamy new bridal boutique from the Anthropologie family. BHLDN recently celebrated its one-year anniversary by opening its second retail location, and Chicago was treated to a romantic reception.

The stunning 3,600 square-foot townhouse is a treasure trove of glamorous adornment. Between their place cards and pumps, garters and gowns, BHLDN’s attire and trimmings offer a multi-dimensional special occasion. The pastel swathed showroom of the first floor is bursting with lace, tulle, and chiffon that bridesmaids will be begging to re-wear. Glass cases display vintage-looking accessories with a curatorial air. It’s almost as if earrings and gloves were plucked from a flea market and showcased in a museum, begging to be bought.
 
 

Atop the winding staircase, angel wings hover over the whimsy of the second floor. Gorgeous headpieces, shoes, dresses, and baubles command attention, while the lingerie room lures you astray. Another nook allows brides to pull the perfect pinwheels and candlesticks to personalize their decor.
  
 
 

And then there are the gowns. About 45 luxe looks strike a pose in the bridal salon ranging from understated, to sweet, to seriously chic.
 
 
 

Over 300 guests attended BHLDN’s launch, which featured guest hostess Darcy Miller Nussbaum of Martha Stewart Weddings. Judging by Chicago’s response it’s a match made in happily ever after.
 

For Further Exploration
An Anthropologie Anniversary
Design*Sponge Book Signing in Chicago

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Posted in chicago, events, exploring, gold coast, impressions, south loop

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my four favorite things: restaurant week 2012 recap

Posted on March 22, 2012 | 1 Comment

Chicago is in the midst of Chef Week, and if you haven’t had the chance to dig in there’s still room to make a rezzie through this Friday, March 23. I’ve just barely had time to digest last month’s Chicago Restaurant Week, but here are my four favorite bites.

Drinks at Chicago q
Chicago q may have had the week’s best menu. Yet while the hominy, smoked corn and black bean salad and slab of St. Louis baby back were as mouth-watering as expected, it was a cocktail that ultimately won me over. Fusing rye, lemon, OJ, and cinnamon-infused simple syrup, the Orange Blossom Martini offers a spicy, citrusy way to enjoy whiskey that’s all-together too drinkable.

Apps at Bistrot Margot
Old Town’s Bistrot Margot is a mainstay of all classique French fare with charming décor and très generous portions. Simmered in garlic and butter, the satisfyingly briny escargot had me snatching every crumb off the table to soak it up even after the snails were inhaled.

Main at Blackbird
There’s no wrong way to do Blackbird, but the special five-course Restaurant Week tasting menu ($65 rather than the standard $33 or $44) seemed most fitting for my first visit. Choosing a favorite course at Paul Kahn’s gastronomic powerhouse is like choosing the most flavorful movement of an eloquent symphony (or mashup in a dubstep remix if that’s your thing). If you insist, I’ll favor the pekin duck breast. The savory fowl was aged for a week and its slight saltiness rounded out with fuyu persimmon, red wine braised radishes, black beans and sesame.

Dessert at Tapas Valencia
Tapas Valencia may have had somewhat nontraditional tapas service, but in addition to four-course menu the dessert was accompanied with a complimentary glass of cava. After devouring everything set in front of us, the decadent dessert platter of  warm chocolate cake, cheesecake, almond pound cake with pear, strawberries, and ice cream drizzled in caramel seemed daunting. Thankfully we had that cava to wash it down.

For Further Exploration
Chicago Restaurant Week 2011 Recap

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Posted in 4 favorite things, chicago, eating, events, exploring, gold coast, ohio city, south loop, west loop

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vintage chicago street scenes: celebrating a city in motion

Posted on November 9, 2011 | 2 Comments

  

“Where anything might happen – and usually does,” the narrator of this 1930′s newsreel describes Chicago, “a city of superlatives.” The forces of energy and movement, this sense of anticipation are what attracts so many people to city living. Whether or not you’re a nerd for history, any viewer enjoys seeing their city on the screen. It’s fascinating to compare the world you know to a past, fictionalized, or futuristic version.

 This clip allows us to tour places we now take for granted through the lens of the extraordinary superlatives they were at the time. The skyline seems strangely stark behind the Wrigley Building and Water Tower. Rail yards line Michigan Avenue in what has only recently become Millennium Park. The Haymarket Police Statue is on public display in a park sometime between attempted bombing attacks. We dash from the Union Stockyards to the buildings of the 1893 and 1933 World’s Fairs, admire gypsy women at a market on Maxwell Street, and then bask in the State Street’s bright lights.

[via Lee Bey]

Thomas Edison shot Chicago’s second movie ever in 1897 at the corner of State and Madison (a police parade film preceded it by a year). Yet on a corner that is still one of Chicago’s busiest, we see no stolid sepia-faced citizens posing stiffly. Streetcars and horses pass through a sea of bowler and boater-capped heads, while picketers brandish indistinguishable signs in the thirty-second clip. The city is a measure in motion.

With shape-shifting neighborhoods and movements that come and go, our contemporary street corner will morph someday as well, sooner than we know. Compare Edison’s intersection with the State and Madison intersection of 2009.

Cities changes every day, it’s why we’re drawn to them. Step out on the
sidewalk, inhale the energy, and examine what’s in motion around you. After
all, anything can happen.

For Further Exploration
street scene: vintage outdoor ads in chicago

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Posted in chicago, exploring, film, link love, magnificent mile, river north, south loop, street scene, the loop

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chicago’s best of the fests – june 2011

Posted on July 9, 2011 | 2 Comments

“Why?” It’s a question Chicagoans often encounter regarding the choice to trudge through each inhibiting winter (all 5 months of it) for a few short summer weeks. Why? Because we make it count. Between miles of beaches and the Lakefront Trail, outdoor sports, massive summer concert festivals, and alfresco dining or drinking on every rooftop and slice of sidewalk that can be called a patio Summertime Chi makes even the worst blizzard worth it.

Street festivals in every neighborhood are another warm weather fixture, and with over 400 to attend in Chicago you have to set your schedule wisely.
Here’s a recap of the best fests of June 2011.

Do Division: June 4 – 5, 2011
Perhaps my favorite summer street fest, Do Division is a great way to kick off Chicago’s festival season. Wicker Park is packed with craft and artist tents, food & booze booths, interesting live music, and prime people watching.
 

Printer’s Row Lit Fest: June 4 – 5, 2011
Each June, the Printer’s Row Lit Fest attracts booksellers, bibliophiles, publishers, authors, performers, and organizations to the historic neighborhood for a celebration of all things literary. Read more…

Chicago Blues Fest: June 10 – 12, 2011
Chicago’s largest music festival has featured the world’s most renown blues musicians for nearly thirty years. This free fest is a great way to take in the city’s skyline from Grant Park while enjoying the best blues has to offer, whether seated on the lawn or dancing with fellow fest-goers.




Old Town Art Fair: June 11 – 12, 2011
Art booths are a staple at many summer festivals, but the Old Town Art Fair boasts 620 of the best from all over the country. The featured artists are judiciously selected by a panel of professional artists, gallery owners, and museum curators. The inspiring array includes mediums from painting, photography, and 2D- and 3D- mixed media to sculpture, metalworking, ceramics, and jewelry, so ensure you allot enough time to explore it all!
 
Block prints by Kreg Yingst capture the imagination of music.


The intricate sculptures of Ted Gall open to reveal worlds within.


Ella Richards captures life with her paper cut art.
Kyle Fokken‘s sculptural self-portrait is “Difficult to Fathom.”


Each of Amy Flynn’s Found Object Robots comes with a story of its own.

 

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Posted in arts, chicago, exploring, listening, old town, printer's row, reading, shopping, south loop, the loop, wicker park

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book lover’s bliss at printer’s row lit fest

Posted on June 20, 2011 | 1 Comment

Chicago is shining today, and the crisp white tents lining Printer’s Row point upward as if suspended by strings from the cerulean sky. The South Loop streets no longer harbor the hum of the city’s publishing industry or the clamor of commute at Dearborn Station, but they draw 125,000 visitors nonetheless. Each June, the Printer’s Row Lit Fest attracts booksellers, bibliophiles, publishers, authors, performers, and organizations to the historic neighborhood for a celebration of all things literary.

The largest free outdoor literary event in the Midwest packs Dearborn and Polk streets with stacks and shelves. There are so many words to consume in the new books with freshly inked signatures and stiff bindings, well-worn paperbacks, deliciously dusty volumes, plastic wrapped rarities, posters, prints, magazines, and manuals. It’s a struggle, but I limit myself to a handful of finds – one can only carry so many books on the train after all. I purchase another edition of A Confederacy of Dunces, this one a copy from 1980, the year of its first publication. “Ah excellent selection,” nods the vendor, “it’s one of my favorites.”

The volunteer t-shirts proclaim “Get Lit,” and I feel veritably drunk on contentment. I sway between booths, run my fingers over leather-bound stacks, discover new Chicago publishers, and enjoy the common bliss of so many book lovers. Spanning seven stages, the fest events include readings, signings, discussions, children’s storytelling, and musical performances. A breeze wafts through the tent as I take in a reading of David Baker’s poetry, and I let his words wash over me, soaking in them as I am the late afternoon sunlight. Down the street at the Hotel Blake, Elynne Chaplik-Aleskow transports us to Israel in a reading chronicling an incredible experience of friendship spanning 40 years, the power of technology, and several countries.

Over all of this, the sentry of the Dearborn station tower gazes on, its stopped clock a reminder of temporal futility and the tenuous timing of print media. Yet this is no museum. Under the station’s watch, Chicago’s devout yearn for literature, enlightenment, and expression. Now is the time – to read, to write, to learn, and to explore. I leave Lit Fest with not too many books, a list of many more, several new contacts, a sense of fulfillment, and so much inspiration. It’s a moveable feast indeed.

For Further Exploration:
Story Week: Chicago Classics
Prowling Powell’s Bookstore

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Posted in arts, chicago, events, impressions, printer's row, reading, south loop, writing

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