chicago!

I just got back from a quick trip to Chicago for the Law & Society Association conference. It breaks my heart just a little bit- I pay a $90 registration fee (and that's the student discount), and all I get is a program the size of a phonebook and a tote bag. Next year, it should give out t-shirts that say "I paid $90 to attend the LSA conference and all I got was this lousy t-shirt."

But I digress. It was great to be in Chicago again, and I really enjoyed the break. Drew and I ate deep dish pizza and Chicago style hot dogs. We walked around a lot, just enjoying the city and seeing what we see. We headed up to Lakeview and the Lincoln Park neighborhoods, and basked in the sun in Oz Park.

We went to the Chicago Diner, a veggie restaurant near Wrigley Field. It was the best food I've eaten in a long time. We ate the Radical Reuben:

And the Dagwood:
Somehow, we found room for a slice of lemon coconut cake:

Vegan or not, you should check out the Chicago Diner if you're ever in the area. After eating ourselves into a food coma, we walked up to Wrigley Field. Unfortunately we did not snag tickets for any Cubs' games, but maybe next time.

Other non-picture highlights: We went to a show called Cirque Shanghai at the Navy Pier. I've never seen Cirque du Soleil, but I imagine this show was similar (but way cheaper). The Chinese acrobatics was very impressive, and the performers make it look so easy. After the show, we walked around the Navy Pier, where we discovered Garrett Popcorn. This was my third trip to Chicago, and I can't believe it took me so long to try out the popcorn. I know what you're thinking- it's just popcorn, right? But this stuff is phenomenal. They serve up buttery popcorn, caramel, and cheese, and they also have fancy stuff like pecan caramel crisp and macademia caramel crisp. We got the Chicago mix- a combination of cheese and the caramel crisp. It sounds a little peculiar, but it was awesome- the perfect mix of savory and sweet. Obviously, you can't eat each flavor separately, you have to eat one cheese and one caramel kernel together. Or I guess you could just shove a handful in your mouth, but why would you do that? This stuff should be savored. Anyway, I loved the popcorn so much that I bought more in the airport. Surprisingly, it did survive the trip home.

On our last day, we trekked out to Soul Vegetarian, and to Chinatown.

Not a lot to say about Chinatown. There are shops and restaurants, but we weren't in the mood for eating or shopping. We browsed in a bookstore (well Drew did, I couldn't read anything except these books geared toward children learning English). After roaming around, we relaxed in this park next to the river.

All in all, the trip was a lot of fun. We are back and ready for Week 10.