Has anyone tried these? I saw them at the store a few months ago.

Amish Friendship Bread is bread made from sourdough starter that is shared in the same fashion as a chain letter. Someone, who knows when, starts the dough and it gets fed and reproduces like crazy. At the end you use a bit of your dough to make bread or muffins and then pass on bags of starter to your friends.

My coworker Aimee passed some starter on to me a few weeks ago. I took care of it, fed it, bathed it, in sickness and in health. About ten days later I added a few more ingredients and made it into cinnamon raisin walnut muffins. Dallas and I ate a bunch of them over a weekend. The rest I brought to work on Monday, where they were a big hit!

I passed extra starter dough onto Anjum and Jess. Hope their bread/muffins turned out as good as mine!

Last Friday we took Erika out to English for her last day at Roundarch. It was a fun time talking to all my coworkers… about not work stuff.. Everyone was drinking these schmancy beers by St. Peter’s Brewery. They were delicious. I’m going to have to look for them at the liquor store next time. And they come in these old, 1800s, style bottles.

And this happened:

And that’s all I remember. Just kidding. T-Money DID buy a LOT of drinks, though.

The night actually went way, way, way later than I’d anticipated. Somehow I found myself at Arabia Hookah Lounge in Noble Square until 2 in the morning! I never smoked hookah before, so I thought I’d give it a try. I shared the mango flavor with Josh and Anjum and Marlena shared apple. I’m glad I tried it once, but my throat was so sore the day after. I’ll probably never do it again. Ugh! Fun night, though.

Several weeks ago I had to go to see the eye doctor. To check one of my eyes out better, they had to dilate it. The feeling was really weird and when you looked at me, one of my pupils was realllllllly large and one was not, which made me look freaky. I tried to take a photo, but you can’t see. Thought I’d share anyway.

Imagine that!

Under our stairs, above the lower level door, it was someone’s brilliant idea to put the laundry exhaust. In the winter all the steam coming out forms stalactites by the pipes.. or maybe just icicles. On the ground icy stalagmites form.

Over the past few years I’ve read Jhumpa Lahiri’s books The Namesake and Interpreter of the Maladies. Recently Jen gave me her newest book, Unaccustomed Earth, and I enjoyed it as much as her previous books. She’s a great writer. Interpretor of the Maladies and Unaccustomed Earth are both books of short stories. I hope her next book is a novel, like The Namesake, because sometimes I love her stories and characters so much that I’m disappointed when they’re over so quickly.

My favorite iPhone application this winter is a bus-tracking application. Even though I hate buying applications, I shelled out 99 cents for the Buster app. That was probably the best 99 cents I ever spent because it allows me to plan my commute so I don’t have to stand outside waiting for the bus to arrive. Especially helpful on days like this:

I checked on Nice Slice again and didn’t see any exterior changes, so I decided to walk north on California Avenue. Passing by the Roberto Clemente Post Office, I stopped to appreciate how pretty it is. Inside, it’s about as miserable as any post office in the city, but the outside is nice.

From there on I decided to keep taking photos, even though I only had my cell phone with me. This metal fire escape/stairway outside a building on California Avenue is not actually that common in Chicago. It reminded me a lot of New York where almost every building has this type of escape.

I checked on Letizia’s again. No visible progress so far. On to The Boulevard, that’s Logan Boulevard. The day was spring-like, but I’m hesitant to say “spring” because as you can see, still a lot of snow on the ground.

There were lots of puddles where the snow is melting, though. Trees reflected in a puddle here.

A church and some houses on The Boulevard. Chicago’s boulevards are so pretty. Stately houses, manicured lawns. I love how they’re major thoroughfares but there are large patches of green and quiet local streets along side the express boulevard.

There were a lot of people outside walking around, enjoying the sun and fair temperatures.

Few more houses on The Boulevard.

I decided to stop and get some coffee. Letizia’s isn’t open yet, and why go to Starbucks when there are other local options? So, I went to New Wave Coffee.

This is my barista. And look at the pretty mocha he made me. You don’t get that at Starbucks! New Wave serves locally-made Metropolis coffee and in my mocha, Ghirardelli chocolate.

I entered New Wave on Logan Boulevard, but I exited on Milwaukee Avenue. Walking south on Milwaukee you come across the Milshire Hotel. This place has obviously been there forever. I can’t find a lot about it online, but I’m lead to believe that it is not good. All I could find is people saying that only vagrants, hookers and junkies stay there!

When ever Dallas and I pass this place we sing La Isla Bonita.

Discount Mega Mall. It is what it is.

The car wash is a busy place on one of the first spring-like days of the year!

Dallas and I are convinced that our tiny Logan Square Philly’s Best is really just a part of the garage/car wash. It has service entrances on each side!

There’s this place on Milwaukee Avenue called La Casa del Vaquero. It’s hard to see inside the windows because of the glare of the sun, but if you’re ever passing by, take a look. They have all kinds of wacky stuff inside including a stuffed buffalo, horse and ostrich!

The Whistler is another window to watch for. The windows there change all the time and are always really artistic. Always interesting to see how they have them decorated.

I was happy to see that Foto Quetzal still has this awesome photo in their window display.

If you think dead animals in a window was weird, then what do you make of life-sized pirates?

Maybe even weirder? Chicago has its own Statue of Liberty (at Liberty Bank).

Precision Die Cutting. I’ve passed by it a thousand times.

But this time I looked up for some reason and noticed that they have a sign where they say their the “Home of the Whirlypic”… whatever that is! All I can figure out online is that they’re some sort of plastic outdoor ornaments or vehicle antenna ornaments.

Cole’s is a newer bar that has become a neighborhood favorite. They have free music there all the time.

Logan Square Kitchen is a kitchen and venue space that opened within the last year. My friend Ed has checked it out a few times – he’s got a food-related side business.

The talk of the town: Revolution Brewing.

Stopping for a dry cleaning errand at Smart Cleaners.

I can’t remember where it was.. somewhere I lived… the drycleaning hangers always said something like “Back so soon? And fresh as a daisy!”

Cozy Corner, Emilio’s Produce Stand, the California Blue Line stop. This is a busy intersection. And see the rectangle in front of this guy’s face? Sears Tower. We’re not too far from downtown.

Same corner, different view.

Same corner, different view. Love/Hate. Love Foremost, Hate Subway.

Logan Bar & Grill. Love/Hate in a more traditional manner.

My California Blue Line train station. It’s old and rickety but I like it anyway.

The Mexican bakery, Panaderia la Central.

I think it’s so cute that our local taqueria, Taqueria Moran, has St. Patricks Day decorations up right now.

The final stretch home.