Summer Blockbusters and Enjoyment.

The past three weeks have been incredibly busy.

However, we have discovered the following amazing places to dine and drink:
Bar on Buena: This little local pace is incredibly delicious and has a lot of different regional beers and drink specials. We discovered it on a Sunday afternoon and ended up staying for their martinis. What? I don't have to go to work on Mondays.

Uncommon Ground: This little coffee shop offers free wi-fi and also dinner and drinks. Most of their foods are organic, or natural, or basically you just feel good after eating them. It maks everything a little more pricey, but the atmosphere is so chill. It bascially feels like if Anthropologie had food; you admire the decor as well as the precise nature that determines everything from the placement of food on the plate to the menu. C and I walked to Dairy Queen down on Southport and ended up stopping off there afterwards just to listen to some music and check out a great vibe.

Walker Brothers: I have been visiting this place since I was a kid. However, one of the first weekends I spend in Evanston with C, he said to me, "So, if you like breakfast, I should take you to this place..." Since then, he and I have known and expressed a mutual love for breakfast foods. We went there this past Sunday (and walked around the Evanston art fair. The most amazing chick I discovered there was Emma Overman. I want one of her pictures so badly. However, C and I don't really have a spare thousand lying around. I just love it so much. It's the organ picture, the first one on the page.) and for the first time, he experienced Potato Pancakes. I capitolize them because I forgot how much I loved them. It's too bad that Walker's is so far away, otherwise, I would come to eat there so much more. Or perhaps that's a good thing...

Wine Tasting: I definitely went to a wine tasting for the first time in the past few weeks. EPS won one at a med school dance and so she invited friends to come with her. We went to WineStyles in Evanston which is structured differently than most places that sell wine. It's structured by taste instead of region or anything else. So, I was able to buy some delicious wine, namely New Age white. It's basically sparkling apple juice. The wine has a little bit of effervesence, which I enjoyed. I also purchased some reds. They do free tastings on Tuesday evenings and Saturday afternoons which might be a fun experience, especially since I discovered that taking the El isn't so bad there! The evening was a lot of fun--but mainly just made me want to high-tail it out to California to go wine tasting. I don't think that's going to happen what with the leaving for Israel so soon.

Speaking of which, I desperately need to buy another pair of walking shoes. Okay, not another, ONE. I need to buy ONE pair of walking shoes. Do we like these [I don't...]? Or these, which I have labeled "chic old lady shoes"? How about these--I believe I am most into these, but I am worried about them being too hot? And finally, there's these which I am pretty sure are NOT what I am supposed to be buying, but are really cute.

Last weekend, we also checked out Powell's in Hyde Park. It is literally the kind of store that you can get lost in (with multiple levels and winding rooms, just like any good used book store). Powell's also has a location on Clarke Street in Wrigleyville which has always been very hit or miss to me (mainly miss) but this trip to Powell's resulted in not only stuff for myself and for C but also for my classroom. I'm incredibly excited about one of the projects that I run throughout the year which involves reading a book about a legendry figure (ie a biography) and I was trying to get away from run-of-the-mill projects on Jackie Robinson (not to denegrate what Jackie has done for the world, but come on people... there are TONS of influencial people out there). This book store had so many great little-known biographies like Isadora Duncan and Ella Fitzgerald. Granted, both of these people are relatively famous but, not really the kind of thing that kids are reading usually.

We also stopped at the annual antique car show in Oak Brook. This was a fabulous experience since my highly gregarious dad stopped one of the Packard convertible owners and asked him if it would be possible for the man to be our chaffeur during our weddng. We doubted he would simply just rent the car out. He did not rent the car out but definitely said that making a donation to his car club we could totally be driven about for the wedding. I have always thought it would be very neato (come on, if it's a fifties car, we should whip out some fifties slang) to have an old car in a weddng. Now, granted, I have not done much else in the vein of wedding planning... nor do I really like talking/thinking about it. However, that's one piece that's done.

The only other piece of wedding planning that we've got done is that we think we're going to take photographs at Graue Mill... we took some practice pictures to see what we'd think and I absolutely loved it. I'm glad we're starting to get a few things under control. Part of me wishes we could just run away to Ireland. Heh.

This past weekend, we threw a shindig at our very own house. There was much grilling, much drinking of wine and general happiness. ANR and her boyfriend came up for the evening, which is fun. Now that there's a place for them to stay the night, it's a lot easier for them to come up. On Saturday, we watched my godparents' son get married; they were actually not too pleased with the church service. Apparently the priest was a little flippiant and you couldn't even hear their vows. However, her dress was lovely and the evening was nice.

In the days leading up to Israel, I'm going to be doing a lot of packing and of course a lot of reading. I need to buy some books on the Kindle; right now, I have a Ken Follett book, which many people have said is a fun read for someone who teaches the Middle Ages. It's a chunky read, though. I also purchased a book on the Mob which I think might be a nice respite from serious learning. (: Yesterday, while in Evanston, we stumbled around a Borders, and I discovered three our four little books that I think I might want to add to my Kindle, including "The Little Book" and "The Angel's Game". As well as "Broken" (which sounded amazing) and "Let the Right One In" which sounded deliciously frightening.

Finally, I saw this book at Borders, which looks incredible. It's not available on the Kindle (sad for me) but I want to buy it so badly. However, there's a list of about 10,000 books that I need/want to read before then, so no more buying books. However, it looks incredibly intriguing. I've recently read The Book Thief which just made me frustrated that I was not a better writer and City of Thieves which was distrubing and enjoyable at the same time. Right now, I am reading another book for young adults as well as Revolutionary Road which is depressing but beautifully crafted.

Overall, the summer is really shaping up nicely, even without a C and A vacation!