Instead of posting an attempt at a concert review, tonight I will shoot for something easier. I will describe the yummy dinner I just had. There is a restaurant called Big Bowl here...as far as I know there are only two locations in Chicago. I went there for my birthday in July and fell in love with the food and drinks so much so that I crave it constantly.
Today, a friend from college called me and said that she would be in town for the night and asked if the boyfriend and I would like to go to dinner. I'm always game for some good company and excellent cuisine (that I don't have to cook), so we went to Big Bowl because it was convenient and something a bit different. To start off, I ordered a pomegranate sangria because there is nothing I love better than a fruity wine (though Blue Moon comes close). She ordered something that I probably would not have been adventurous enough to order: a Thai herb mojito, featuring gin, fresh lemon grass, mint, cilantro, and a pinch of Thai chile. It was odd and tasty, and I would recommend it to anyone who's not afraid of a little something different.
For dinner, I stuck to the same thing I got the last time I was there...and the time before that: the yellow curry vegetable with tofu, bok choy, green beans, seasonal vegetables, and a coconut curry sauce.
It was heaven, as usual. Sweet and creamy with a hint of spice going down. I often have major objections to my boyfriend's play-it-safe-and-order-the-same-thing-every-time routine at restaurants, but I honestly don't think that anything else can compare to this, so I will continue to eat it again and again and again until I no longer have access to it.It was a lovely evening with flawless food and interesting conversation. It was nice seeing a friendly face from Tallahassee as well. It's funny how fast the years go, isn't it? I feel like no time has passed at all, when it has already been a year and a half since I moved. As much as I rag on Facebook, it has the amazing ability to make me believe I'm just as connected to everyone as I always was. I almost feel like I know more about people's lives now than I did when I saw them every day. It's kind of awesome when you think about it.
Random thought for the day: I don't care where I live, I only want to feel passionately about it. I see friends, writers, poets, musicians, and strangers that are connected to their physical location in a way I've never experienced. It is their city, and everyone else is only a visitor. A lot of my life has been spent daydreaming of escaping my current locale for a more exciting, exotic one. This is why I made myself travel. Even if I was afraid...even if I had no one to go with...I traveled all that my meager wages would allow. Now I feel like I am smack in the middle of the excitement, but I can't seem to make it my own. I'm working on it. I'm slower than most at truly letting people in, so perhaps I'm the same about places. I appreciate the things that Chicago has allowed me to do more than I can possibly put into words. It's almost surreal. Still, I sometimes find myself yearning for more. Ungrateful or insightful? Only time will tell.
This tune pretty much sums up how I've always felt on the subject. Yes, I suppose I was occasionally a bummer of a kid. It's probably one of the main reasons I loved them oh so much back in the day and continue to love them now:
