Phoebe's Cupcakes

For anyone that follows my Twitter feed (thank you, by the way) it's pretty obvious that I have a fondness for cupcakes. So it shouldn't be at all surprising that I try to use some of my free time seeking out new cupcake bakeries to try.

This past weekend, I went walking through Lincoln Park in hopes of finding some great farmer’s market deals when I happened upon Phoebe’s Cupcakes. I stopped inside and was immediately drawn to the simplicity of the store. There weren’t 800 different cupcakes competing for my attention. In fact, there were only six to choose from. Even though the selection was limited, I still had a difficult time picking a flavor considering all six flavors sounded delicious. Since I couldn’t pick just one, I ended up going with a salted caramel and a red velvet one rationalizing it to myself as needing to try more than one flavor in order to get a proper opinion of the cupcakes at Phoebe’s :)

Store front of Phoebe's Cupcakes

Pretty chandelier hanging in the store

Really cute dispenser display with colorful sprinkles to add to your cupcake purchase.

Salted Caramel Cupcake: Vanilla Cake soaked in Homemade Caramel with Caramel Buttercream Frosting topped with Himalayan Rose Sea Salt

Red Velvet Cupcake: Classic Southern Red Velvet Cake with White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting topped with Red Sprinkles

Surprise! Caramel on the inside of the cupcake too! 

Wine Down

As much as I love being able to take advantage of all that city life has to offer sometimes it’s just as nice to be able to wind down and have a relaxing night in. Several weeks ago, a friend of mine and I decided to do a wine and cheese night.

To gather our necessary supplies, we ventured to my favorite Chicago grocery store, Fox & Obel in Chicago’s Streeterville neighborhood. The only problem with this brilliant wine and cheese night idea was that neither one of us knew practically anything about wine or cheese. (I guess my college years of enjoying Andre and Yellow Tail didn’t exactly make me a wine connoisseur. Not to mention, the extent of my cheese knowledge was knowing that KRAFT singles were always a must when making a proper grilled cheese sandwich). So when we got to Fox & Obel we were a bit overwhelmed to say the least. Luckily, Fox & Obel had a great wine sommelier on staff that helped us pick two great wines, both at reasonable prices. The sommelier  even suggested what types of cheeses to pair with our wine selections. We ended up with a red and white wine and six different cheeses  to enjoy.

It was great getting to try something a bit outside my comfort zone, and with great success! 

The Places You're Surprised You Loved

Being the "learn by the school of hard knocks" kid that I am (well, according to my mother anyway) when I graduated college I decided that it was unfathomable to subject myself to the "failure" of moving home and limiting myself to finding a job in the city that I had grown up in. I kept telling myself that if I never left and branched out I would stay in Chicago forever. Now, don't get me wrong, Chicago is an amazing city that I feel blessed to live/work in, but I saw so many of my peers going off in new paths and didn't want to be the only one not stepping out of my comfort zone. So, my senior year, I started the inevitable job search and decided that I was only going to consider Chicago as an afterthought, focusing on other major metropolitan areas for my search. Well, funny thing about that is whenever I was given a great lead/opportunity/job offer in another city I found something "wrong" with it. I think the real thing "wrong" was probably my unrealistic expectations and unwillingness to lose the safety net of being within driving distance of my parents house (just in case). But anyway, long, super drawn out story later, I ended up taking a post-grad internship in Ann Arbor, Michigan - a safe four hour drive from Chicago.

I didn't really know what to expect when I moved to Ann Arbor. It was nothing like Chicago. The people were different, the culture was different and even the pace was different. I took a big leap of faith by moving there considering I had limited resources in terms of friends nearby. Oh and did I mention that I had never been there before? But cares to the wind I made my way up north, subleased an apartment from a more than a little questionable character and set off to test myself in the city of blue and yellow.

Soon enough I became accustomed to the great little cultural nuiances that make up Ann Arbor, and even now I find myself missing many of the things/places I took for granted while living there - most notably the AMAZING restaurant scene that comprises Ann Arbor.

If you're even in Ann Arbor, there are several AMAZING restaurants that you must try:
DISCLAIMER: I use the word "restaurants" in terms of really really good cheap food that I could afford on an intern salary. I'm sure their are a ton of great high-end culinary stops in A2 that I would have loved to try given a different financial situation.

For one, Le Dog was my go-to lunch stop at least once a week I'd say. It's a little homemade soup/hot dog joint that boasts some of the best quick-food around and (don't kill me Chicagoans) it could easily beat out many Chicago hot dog stops. Not to mention, their lobster bisque is hands down the best I've ever had. The only problem is that they only offer it on Thursday's and Friday's.

Zingermans, a sandwich shop/deli revolution in Ann Arbor's KerryTown District has garnered national press for their wide variety of specialty sandwich options and unique eclectic culture. It's a little on the pricey side for a deli in my opinion, but worth the occasional splurge.

Blimpie Burger...need I say more? If you haven't seen Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives on The Food Network you may not know what I'm talking about so I'll cue you in. Blimpie is your average hole-in-the-wall burger joint with no-so-average tastes. Their burgers are HUGE, delicious and fairly priced. The best part though is how you order. It kind of reminded me of "the soup nazi" episode on Seinfeld. They have a very specific way for you to order your burger and if you don't abide by their rules...well, just do me a favor, follow the rules. :)

Ashley's was my favorite libation stop at the end of a hard day of work. The bar (with pretty decent pub food) offers over 60 beers on tap and a number of themed beer flights like Fruit Beers...I'm still convinced that the pear beer I tried there had to be juice.

Do you remember?

Do you remember all those simple things you loved when you were growing up? Back before the days of deadlines and student loans? Well, lately I've been getting pretty caught up in everything that I have to do day-to-day (clearly shown by my lack of blogging) that I haven't taken time to appreciate the little things as much. So, I decided to make a point of doing some things that bring me joy this week and that got me thinking about all the things I loved to do as a child. As it turns out, childhood memories serve as a great source for inspiration. I decided to reinstate some of these pastimes into my days and have found a lot of joy in activities I was sure I had outgrown at the age of twelve.

Here's a list of some of my favorite childhood activities that are still just as fun today as they were when I was little - oh and as a side note - they're all free, which always helps when it come's to those grown-up budgets :)

1. Playing childhood games with close friends i.e. MASH - Yes, it is still fun to see what job you will have when you "grow up" even though you already have a job. Oh, and it doesn't hurt that you can still put down Leonardo DiCaprio as your future husband even though we all know that's not happening anytime (but just in case you're reading this Leo, the weather in Chicago is starting to get nice, so you should consider a visit when you get a chance).

2. Petting every dog that walks by - It's annoying to the owner but, come on they are so darn cute!

3. Coloring - Okay, I know adults still "doodle" on their meeting notes but when's the last time you legit broke out some crayons/markers/colored pencils and actually colored? I took a stab at it with my friend Erin recently and it was a lot of fun (see image of still unfinished, coloring project that will probably take me until I'm 30 below)

4. Listening to music that was "cool" 10 years ago - The fact that I used to think (10 years ago) that "Tearing Up My Heart" by The Backstreet Boys was a metaphor for my love life is laughable...

5. Playing in the rain - Nowadays people are so grumpy whenever it rains. I get it, commuting in the rain stinks, but going home, throwing on some old clothes while running out to play in the rain is one of the most satisfyingly innocent acts you can partake in.

Please feel free to share any great ideas/memories you have. I'm always looking for more to LOVE. :)

Savor the Flavor

This week I traveled to Savor the Flavor, a little restaurant gem that I have been dying to try ever since I happened by it. The concept behind the establishment in brilliant...grilled cheese, ice cream and coffee. What else could anyone really need?

Now usually when I get myself all psyched up to try a new restaurant I tend to leave a little disappointed, or at least realizing it was not what I had expected it to be. To my pleasure, Savor the Flavor was exactly what I expected!

It had a very relaxed/comfortable, hole-in-the-wall type of feel that worked well with all the mis-matched, worn-in furniture strewn throughout the place. Of course it didn't hurt the vibe they gave off by having Nora Jones playing the background.

The restaurants walls were covered with purchasable art and from local artists, which is a great concept in my opinion. I personally LOVED the one in the white frame on the left side in the picture above. If it hadn't been $250 I might have ran away with it.

Oh, and did I mention that they had a whole collection of well-loved board games to play while waiting for your food?

Yummy grilled cheese. I had mine made with cheddar and swiss with tomato on wheat bread. Savor the Flavor lets you create your own grilled cheese by choosing from a variety of breads, cheeses and toppings to customize your sandwich to your liking.

Ice cream. One of my all-time favorite treats. I had the Moosetracks. I would have taken a picture of it for you but unfortunately for me, i was quicker at eating the ice cream than my hands were with the camera...oh well. :)