Baker’s Square

During our first weekend in Chicago, Ken and I stayed in the suburbs to spend time with his family. On Saturday night, after Bob Chinn’s, we went to Portillo’s and Baker’s Square (as if we hadn’t eaten enough already!) Ken grew up eating at Baker’s Square pies and I’ve never been there so we stopped by to pick up two slices to eat at home:

So many pies:

They serve all kinds of food at Baker’s Square (it’s a diner that Ken used to go to a lot when he was in high school) but the highlight of your meal at Baker’s Square is definitely the pie. We bought one slice of French silk:

And one slice of caramel pecan French silk:

Really good pie filling but the crust tasted like frozen pie crust (and not even good frozen pie crust!) The French silk was light and airy and the caramel pecan French silk was sweet and very light with sprinkled bits of pecan. I like that they don’t over-sweeten the whipped cream, too! I’d like Baker’s Square more if they made better pie crusts but when you’re in the suburbs and you need something sweet, it’s definitely a good pick-me-up.

Bob Chinn’s Crab House

Everyone from the suburbs of Chicago always mentions Bob Chinn’s for seafood. When I lived in Chicago, I really wanted to visit but I didn’t know how to get to Wheeling. Luckily, Ken and his family have been going since Ken was a kid and Ken’s parents took us there for dinner when we arrived in Chicago! My friend, Carolina, said that they also have a really good steak but since it was my first time visiting the restaurant, I wanted to get the full Bob Chinn’s experience.

The original restaurant is located in Wheeling:

I’ve heard rumors that there used to be another branch in the city, but we opted to go to the original one that Ken used to go to as a kid. The restaurant is very family-friendly and was pretty packed for a Saturday night. Apparently they have really long waits because in their lobby area, they have all kinds of entertainment for kids (caricature artists, balloon animals, and lots of televisions). We arrived a bit later than Ken’s parents so by the time we arrived, our table was ready. The menu is printed daily because Bob Chinn gets seafood flown in everyday from all over the world so the menu varies a bit. There were way too many options for me to figure out what I wanted so Ken took care of the ordering. First, he started off with a mai-tai:

It’s world famous and very strong:

We shared garlic rolls:

They’re fresh rolls painted with butter, parsley and garlic. Really good, but they definitely need a little salt.

We all ordered bowls of their clam chowder:

The clam chowder was very thick and creamy and was very tasty. I feel like we all ate a lot of soup and garlic rolls that we didn’t have enough room for our main courses! Ken’s parents ordered the same thing as us so we were able to get our food at the same time. We ordered a two pound lobster:

And 24 ounces of Alaskan king crab legs:

I don’t know if I’ve ever complained about too much seafood but I was so frustrated with myself because I couldn’t finish all of the crab legs! We finished all of the lobster (and it was awesome) but then I think we both filled up because we had the appetizers. When we go next time, I’m saving all of my appetite for the main course!

One really cool thing about Bob Chinn’s: they know you’re going to be eating with your hands and you probably don’t want to go to the bathroom to wash them so they set up a bunch of washing stations throughout the main dining room:

So smart! I can’t wait to go back to Chicago so we can go to Bob Chinn’s again – the food was really good and it was definitely worth the drive to Wheeling!

We’re Engaged!

Ken and I spent the past ten days in Chicago, working and spending time with our friends and Ken’s family. On the 5th, I went to the city to spend the day with John and Angie (my roommates from college) while Ken golfed with his high school friends, Jordy, John, and Drew. We spent the afternoon standing in line at Hot Doug’s:

We waited in line for two and a half hours and had four different types of hot dogs (for a later post!) After our meal at Hot Doug’s, John drove us to the Shedd Aquarium, where we were supposedly going to a beluga exhibit before they dropped me off in the suburbs. Angie said she bought tickets for the beluga exhibit and John was really talking up the exhibit because he said he went to the jellyfish exhibit not too long ago and learned a lot of interesting things about jellyfish. I thought the beluga exhibit might be interesting after John hyped it up so much but then I also thought we were really cutting it close because Ken told me I had to be home for a family dinner by 7 (and it was already almost 6!). Ken called me while we were driving to the Shedd and asked me what I was doing, so I told him, and he said he finished golfing with his friends and they were watching the Bulls game at the country club. I’m not a huge basketball fan but I had been watching the Bulls in the playoffs and I thought they weren’t playing until Sunday. I asked John and Angie after I got off the phone with Ken and they said the Bulls were playing in another elimination and if they lost Saturday’s game, they wouldn’t have to play in Sunday’s game. Made enough sense to me!

When we arrived by the Shedd, John asked me and Angie to get out of the car by the Adler Planetarium while he parked the car. I was wondering why he wanted us to get out so far away since it was cold. As you can see, there’s a long stretch of walkway between the planetarium and the Shedd:

I didn’t say anything because I figured I was walking with Angie (and not by myself) and I went to throw something away and turned my back on his car. As I turned around, I saw that Angie wasn’t waiting for me to start walking, instead, she jumped back into the car and drove off, leaving me completely dumbfounded and standing between the Shedd Aquarium and the Adler Planetarium:

I looked around to see where their car was and then I noticed Ken walking down the steps of the planetarium. We walked together to the water where he proposed (and I said yes!):

Right after the proposal:

After our private moment, John and Angie jumped out from their hiding spot and joined us to congratulate us:

Ken said he made a reservation for us at a steakhouse nearby and in the moment, I asked if John and Angie wanted to join us. They all laughed and John said very convincingly that they had other plans for dinner but we would meet up later to celebrate at a bar. I tried calling my mom to tell her the good news but her phone went straight to voicemail, so I called my brother and spoke to him for a few moments. David congratulated me and told me to have fun celebrating. He kept it short because he was in a limo with my mom and Ken’s parents on their way to the city to surprise me:

Here they are in front of the steakhouse:

Ken’s friend, John, used Uber to get us a car to take us to the steakhouse since there aren’t many cabs in the museum area. We were really early (around 6:20 for a 7pm reservation) and Ken was really under the weather, so we asked if we could stop by Walgreens to pick up some medication. Ken ran into the store while I waited in the car and came back a few minutes later with some cold medication. The driver took us to Mastro’s and since we were early, Ken asked if I wanted to get a drink at the bar because there were a bunch of other people trying to get seated in front of us. We headed to the bar and the line was also really long so we walked back to the hostess stand. I heard the hostess say that she had a wonderful table for the two of us so we followed her up the winding staircase.

The hostess led us through French doors to a private room where our families and friends were waiting for us! I was completely surprised:

I was even more surprised that Ken had asked my mom and my brother to be a part of our special day! My mom flew in earlier that day from North Carolina and my brother flew in from New York. Ken’s parents picked them up from the airport while I was in the city:

John and Angie helped keep me distracted while Ken was coordinating with everyone else:

Ken was calm as a cucumber the entire time:

Me with Sammy and Charley, Ken’s niece and nephew:

Ken sent out an email to all of our friends and family saying that his niece and nephew were able to keep the engagement a secret even after spending an entire day with us, so if they could do it, everyone in the party could do it, too! Lucky for him, everyone was very tight lipped!

A photo of my engagement ring and the gift my mom bought for Ken – a new Panerai watch:

Everyone at the engagement party:

The next day, we all changed our flights so we could spend time together (lots of ping pong was played!) We were all delayed at O’Hare and we ended up eating dinner with my mom, even though she was supposed to have been in the air by the time we got to the airport! She took one close up of us, the newly engaged couple:

Thank you to John, Jordy, and Drew for planning the surprise with Ken! Thank you Teresa and Adam for flying from San Francisco to celebrate with us, thank you Flo, Paul, Sammy and Charley for coming to dinner and for the wonderful wedding gifts! Thank you Kristen for coming to celebrate with us! Thank you Dr. Chen and Mrs. Chen for helping plan everything with Ken and for picking up my family from the airport, for hosting all of us and for the incredibly generous engagement gift! Thank you mom and David for flying to Chicago to surprise me and for keeping it a secret (I know it must have been difficult!) Thank you John and Angie for helping Ken plan this wonderful surprise and for being great best friends. And finally, thank you Ken, my wonderful fiance, for coming into my life, sweeping me off my feet, and making our engagement such a wonderful night.

Byredo Parfum’s Rose Noir

I just purchased a new perfume that I have been searching for; my usual scents by Bond No. 9 are almost finished (in case you’re wondering, I like to wear The Scent of Peace and Bryant Park and sometimes layer them for an interesting combination). My new fragrance took many trips to Barney’s to discover; initially I liked another fragrance by the brand (Gypsy Water), but I discovered that my skin reacts well to the combination of grapefruit, freesia, rose damancena, cistus, moss and musk.

I wanted something original and finally found it – Byredo’s Rose Noir:

The packaging is chic – everything is assembled by hand in Sweden and has an interesting calligraphy-like design based on the fragrance you pick:

A perfume that I can wear during the day but the musk makes me want to dress up for a late evening dinner at the Per Se Salon after enjoying an opera at Lincoln Center. It makes me feel like an adult and lingers on my pulse points long after I’ve spritzed it on my skin. A great addition to my growing perfume collection!

Almond Restaurant

On Saturday, Ken and I were looking for a brunch spot near our apartment before running errands and decided to settle on Almond, down the street from us. The restaurant has changed names a few times and I’ve never been to the previous restaurants but decided to give Almond a try since I’ve been there for happy hour in the past. The brunch selection is large and we started off with their free biscuits and butter:

They remind me of The Waverly Inn’s biscuits; made with so much butter that they practically melt in your mouth. Served warm and with lots of butter (unsalted, unfortunately).

I decided on the duck hash:

Served with crunchy bits of has browns, red onions, and duck confit, a side of salsa (I didn’t really get this addition), two poached eggs and a side of toast. This might be the first time I’ve said this about a restaurant, but everything was under salted and plain.

Ken ordered the chorizo omelet and had the same complaint as me:

We also ordered a side of chicken sausage because I checked in on foursquare:

All in all, a good spot for brunch when we’re in a pinch and don’t want to go to our regulars, but definitely not a place I’m adding to my list of favorites. The restaurant has a warm atmosphere and they run a lot of offers on foursquare, so be sure to check-in if you decide to visit.