Chicago Saturday

Our Saturday in Chicago was simple:  

We started with brunch at the Cherry Circle Room with Vanessa and Steven.  The restaurant was in a building that had formerly been an old-school gentlemen's athletic club (think dark wood paneling, leather chesterfield sofas, and cigars--not Gold's Gym).

apparently gentlemen like dueling
bunnies on their plates

Brunch was delicious and not photographed, and it was fun to catch up with Vanessa and Steven and their adorable two-year-old. When we had finished, they took us to see the rooftop lounge overlooking Millennium Park. It was lovely but freezing cold!

Amanda and I whiled away the afternoon, first with a conversation on a bench in the Chicago Art Institute's entrance hall, and then by chasing down a handful of artsy-hipster shops that all sold versions of roughly the same set of succulents, whimsical jewelry, cute (but probably useless) hand-thrown ceramics, and designer clothing items that were presented more as curated "pieces" than a stack of jeans.

Then we took a nap.  Because that's what happens when you go to sleep at 4am and then have to get up for brunch at the crack of dawn.  (Here "crack of dawn" means 11am.)

After napping, we headed out for dinner at Sunda, a lively pan-Asian restaurant with delicious potstickers and sushi rolls before landing at the watertower for the main event: theatre!





It was a new play called Mr & Mrs Pennyworth.  The basic concept was a pair of married storytellers who go in search of a giant monster who killed the Big Bad Wolf (of fairy tale fame).  The story was told delightfully with only the two actors and lots of gorgeous shadow animation and puppetry.  The simple tale wove together themes of storytelling, love, and what it means to be real.  I loved it. 



Fortunately there was a great late-night dessert cafe just down the street.  So we settled in with a slice of caramel pie and a glass of milk to discuss the play (and everything else) until bedtime.