Week 5, Day 7 - Resist the Temptation!

Week 5, Day 7 Outfit: BR Purple knit top, Silver Jeans (I packed light!), Brooks Tennis Shoes (to withstand the massive walking in downtown Chicago!); Evening Attire: Ann Taylor Loft black faux wrap-dress, Nine West knee-high boots

Day 2 in Chicago and still having a blast! Last night, we started with a drink at the bar of a Brazilian Steakhouse (what a complete 180 from dining at the Vegan Soul Food Restaurant!) and then headed to a wine bar/restaurant and enjoyed small plates of mini-grilled cheese sandwiches, a sampling of creamy cheeses, and a roasted beet salad - all paired with different glasses of wines. I was able to fight off the urge to eat seafood and luckily, Mikey was game. We then headed to a hole in the wall blues club and I finally got to see Mikey shake his tail feathers like he has always claimed to do when hearing good blues music. This was Mike and I painting Chicago red - which brought us old fogies back to the hotel by midnight.

This morning, we headed to the Museum of Contemporary Art and had as much fun chuckling at items being sold at the store as we did seeing the actual pieces on display. Mike and I are giving serious thought to purchasing a faux moosehead made out of cardboard - you have to see it to get the humor in this. We then hit up a sushi restaurant for a light lunch (all vegetarian, of course) and then Mike headed off to his beloved jazz CD store and I substituted my clothing shopping for home goods shopping at Crate & Barrel (see above picture above of me resisting the strong pull into the monstrous Banana Republic - it's almost as if the wind was blowing me away from the store - thank you wind!). It's been great substituting time that would have originally been wasted on spending more money on clothing with something more memorable and meaningful. Okay, yes, I admit, spending money at Crate & Barrel really is not all that much better than buying another pair of jeans or a dressy top for a night out on the town - but baby steps, right? Kind of like substituting fish for meat. I'll eventually repent in my conspicuous consumptive ways and finally become the responsible adult that my mom always wanted to be - maybe :)

Tonight, Mike and I are going all out with a 10 course dinner at a restaurant described by my grad school advisor as one of the most interesting dining experiences he has ever had - one that begins with you eating the menu. We've decided to challenge the chef a little by requesting strictly vegetarian food. I figure a good chef should be able to create a 10 course vegetarian meal that is not made up of fake meat products but consists more of fresh produce and legumes. We shall see! Stay tuned...