Chicago - Day 3

After spending absolutely too much time on our feet and staying out extremely late the night before, Matias and I were left to hang out alone on Thursday.

Before we met up for dinner, I had a late lunch at Hanna's Bretzel. What's a bretzel? A baguette made out of pretzel dough. The sandwich had the potential to be really great or really awful. Thankfully for me, it fell somewhere in between. I had a caprese bretzel. I have to say that I wasn't really a fan of the bretzel itself. The pesto, tomato, and mozzarella were good. I must have looked extra hungry because the sandwich artist gave me 4 sides instead of one. So I got soy nuts (yum), and 3 orders of roasted veggies. The sides were tiny so it wasn't like I hossed out on food. The roasted vegetables were the best part of the meal. In my little eco friendly container I got a carrot slice, a piece of broccole, and squash with a flavorful garlic sauce.

When i met up with Matias, I made him take me to Molly's Cupcakes in Lincoln Park. Although I'm not really a fan of cake, I can stand a cupcake every now and then. Probably because you get more frosting than cake. Yelp reviews raved about the cupcakes at Molly's, so I felt I needed to try one. We got to the shop and were impressed with its cuteness. There were swings hanging from the ceilings at the cupcake bar, board games lying around to play with, and brightly decorated stuff adorning the walls. It felt fit for a kinder gardener, but considering this was an ice cream/cupcake shop, it seemed appropriate. We had to wait in line to get our cupcakes. I got carrot with cream cheese frosting but watched people order red velvet and delicious looking filled cupcakes around me. (after I ate mine, I wished I'd gotten a filled one) When I ate it in my hotel room later, I wasn't all that impressed. The girls at The White Flower Cake Shop make a much better carrot cupcake (and the most delicious chocolate covered brownies), but I might have enjoyed the Molly's version if I'd eaten it in a better ambiance.

For dinner, we went to Ping Pong, the cutest Asian bistro. I decided to try a ginger martini. It tasted like what I think Murphy's Oil soap would taste like. Blech. But that was my own fault for ordering something crazy. We'd talked about bringing a bottle of wine (which you can do for a $10 fee), but we forgot about it after our cupcake run. We started the meal off with vegetarian dumplings. After attempting to eat my food with the chopsticks they'd provided for less than 10 seconds, I asked for silverware. I might have starved otherwise. While waiting for our meals, we noshed on the tarrot root chips that were provided. I ordered broccoli and tofu. It came in a slightly spicy brown sauce. I ate every last morsel. Our meal ended with two chocolate covered fortune cookies on ping pong paddles. I thought it was a nice touch.

Overall, I had a fantastice time in Chicago with my friends and with my food!