Home Inspiration, Part 2 (with blue)

My friend asked for a couple of revisions to her mood board. We went shopping this past weekend and she decided she wanted to incorporate some blue. She and her husband have already purchased the couch that you see, and when at Crate and Barrel we found the coffee table and console. I am not one to normally use color, so what do you think? Feedback welcome!

Option 1:

Option 2:

Option 3:

Mercadito

Last night a girlfriend and I went to Mercadito. We were looking for something on the cheap but that was downtown with a chic atmosphere and good food. We settled on Mercadito because they have a Taco Tuesday special that can't be beat. The atmosphere felt very sexy and the colorful lights and music almost gave it a sophisticated club feeling.

We ordered three varieties of tacos. The Pastor: chile ancho rubber pork, grilled pineapple, chile de arbol salsa, The Carnitas de Puerco: michoacan-style braised pork, chile de arbol coleslaw, toasted peanuts, and The Pescado: sauteed tilapia, poblano-tomatillo mojo, avocado. My absolutely favorite was the Carnitas de Puerco because of the toasted peanuts.

And check out those light fixtures. Come home with me!

Home Inspiration

If you know me, you know I love all things home decorating. And just home in general. A dear friend of mine recently asked for some decorating help so I put together a living room and dining room mood board. What do you think? Anything I should change?

Lazy Sunday

My guy and I had a completely relaxing Sunday. We made a pizza from scratch, including using yeast for the dough. My favorite toppings are pine nuts, sun dried tomatoes, and pepperoni. Jeff also made some chicken wings. Sundays are for stuffing yourself and being lazy, right?

Saturday Eats: Hash House & Topo Gigio

Yesterday we started the day out at Hash House A Go Go. This place originated in Las Vegas and opened a Chicago location this past July. The portions are out of this world huge and the food is decadent. They are all about excess here. The plates could feed three people so I recommend splitting with someone. And make sure to order something that comes with the biscuits and mashed potatoes because they are so yummy. Even after I was completely full with my food, I couldn't stop myself from picking at Jeff's biscuits and mashed potatoes. We also got to sit next to the fireplace, which usually makes me love a place.

After recovering from our entire afternoon of food coma, we went to dinner at Topo Gigio right out my back door in Old Town. This is an oldie but a goodie. I went to this restaurant growing up and always recommend this place to people if they ask where to eat in Chicago and are willing to go beyond the downtown area. This is one of the best Italian restaurants in the city (on par with Piccolo Sogno), and for the quality of food and experience the prices are reasonable. There are so many good items on this menu, but I can't stray from my all time favorite: Tortellini alla Panna, which is tortellini in cream sauce with mushrooms, pancetta, sweet peas, and parmigiano reggiano cheese. Yum!

Margaritas at Zocalo and Take Out from Butterfly Sushi

My guy came in town this weekend and tonight we met up with some good buddies. We started the night out with a margarita at Zocalo and then Butterfly Sushi take out at their apartment.

Zocalo would be the perfect spot for a first date but I wouldn't recommend anyone go out of their way to go to this place. That being said, there were a lot of good things that would make me come back for a happy hour. The lighting was dim, the music was live yet you could still hear conversation, and the margaritas were delicious. I ordered the Citrus Cazuela margarita, which was citrus infused tequila with white wine and a splash of squirt. The margarita was served in what we thought looked like a dog bowl and what I initially thought was a bowl of salsa. The presentation definitely makes you want to take a picture.

After margaritas, we headed to our friends place for Butterfly Sushi. I have been dying to try this place for a while, as many sushi loving friends told me it was good. The spread we ordered definitely satisfied my craving for quite some time. 

And not to brag, but how cute is this little nugget that is in town? Miss having her around all the time.

Winter Wonderland

Today the snow started coming down hard and fast in Chicago. Check out these pics of the snow in my neighborhood. And look at those two snow free areas on the sidewalks. Those are not shoveled, they are heated sidewalks. Only in the Gold Coast.

This was the eery view from my apartment when I got home. Usually I have a gorgeous view of the lake, such as the below.

Super Bowl week in New Orleans

The past nine days I was in New Orleans for work for the Super Bowl. I was managing a portion of the hospitality activations for a client and in doing so got to be in the same room as some serious football stars including: Marshall Faulk, Rob Gronkowski, Eli and Peyton Manning, Joe Montana, Joe Namath, Steve Young and Roddy White.

Although this was an extremely busy week with not a lot of sleep, I still managed to enjoy some of New Orleans best. The first day I ate some of the ultimate New Orleans foods. I started the day with one of my favorite treats, king cake from McKenzie's. I learned that McKenzie's is a bakery that started in the Great Depression and has since gone out of business, however a competitor purchased the recipe and is producing their goods. Although I have heard from locals there are better king cakes out there, this satisfied my craving momentarily and kept me wanting more.

When it came time for a lunch break, I suggested to my coworkers that we go to Mother's. I must admit that I heard about Mother's through the tabloids because Beyonce had eaten there the week prior. This restaurant is a uniquely New Orleans tradition and was opened in 1938. They are known for their baked ham. The restaurant is grungy looking inside but that can sometimes be a sign of the best places. I had the Ferdi Special (named after a local merchant and regular patron), which is a po' boy packed with baked ham, roast beef, debris and gravy. In case you're wondering, debris is the roast beef that falls into the gravy while baking in the oven. Yum!

After a long day of loading in the event site, a coworker and I had a backwards dinner and stopped at Cafe du Monde for a beignet and coffee appetizer before heading to dinner. Although I am sure no locals go to Cafe du Monde because it is extremely touristy, I couldn't pass up the chance to go here while in New Orleans. The coffee is traditionally served Au Lait, meaning mixed half and half with hot milk. The beignets are a square piece of dough, fried and covered in powdered sugar. These are so good that I was literally eating the powdered sugar by spoon after finishing the beignets. I couldn't get enough. 

After Cafe du Monde we went to NOLA for dinner. This is one of Emeril's restaurants that I had been to last year when I was down in New Orleans and it was so good I had to go back again. I had eaten so much already, that I was only hungry for a bowl of gumbo. 

After recovering from my first day of food coma, I found some other local spots throughout the week. I had been told that I had to check out Central Grocery, which claims fame to being the "home of the original muffuletta." This place was founded in 1906 and is a small old-fashioned Italian-American grocery store with a sandwich counter. They were featured on the PBS special Sandwiches That You Will Like and a five best sandwich series on The Today Show. The staff here was friendly and the sandwich phenomenal. You can order a half sandwich or a whole sandwhich. The whole sandwich is about 8" in diameter and would be way too much food for one person. I ordered the half sandwich and it was my favorite thing I ate in New Orleans. You can buy the ingredients to bring home, and I wish I had. 

Another sandwich spot I checked out was Johnny's Po Boys. I was inspired by the line I saw outside of Johnny's Po Boys and had to check it out. This place is the oldest family owned po-boy restaurant in the city of New Orleans.They have been featured by Good Housekeeping as one of the top 100 value restaurants in the United States and Rand McNally's Best of the Road. I asked some locals in line what I should get and they recommended the shrimp po' boy. My mouth was literally watering while I was waiting in the 30 minute line to order my food. The restaurant smelled amazing and everyone's food looked delicious, in a southern fried kind of way. The sandwich was so good and I was so hungry that I actually forgot to take a picture. There was also a lot of southern hospitality here - the people I was chatting with in line were so nice and I ended up sitting with them to eat.

Beyond the food in New Orleans, there is also the charm of the beautiful French Quarter neighborhood. Check out these pics that made me want to come back for another visit, next time not for work. And Travi needs a bike basket like that dog, right?