Struck Brightly By the Winter

Saturday , once I rejoined the living, I headed up North for some quality Jones time of the married variety. I've been third wheeling with B&C since we were but wee things in college and before they acknowledged publicly that they'd been madly in love with each other since high school. For me, they are that couple that is just really easy to be around. The strange thing is that the fact that it is so easy to hang out with them as just me, makes me want someone else to come hang with us more. Someone of the "my better half" variety. I digress, we had fun, even in A LOT of snow.Kicked it off at Old Orchard where I poached cologne samples from Sephora and two department stores for my Dad's Christmas gift. So far I've got V&R by Viktor & Rolf, for him by narcisco rodriguez, L'Eau D'Issey Pour Homme by Issey Miyake, Intense by Issey Miyake, Canali, Light Blue for Men by Dolce & Gabbana, Vera Wang for Men and Vintage by John Varvatos. Below however, I guess I am supposed to be saving.Woman at Sephora would not let me have a sample of this for my Dad because she said it would ruin me. "It is too sexy for Dads, save it till you have a boyfriend you want to smell in that way." Clever girl.
Jacky's Bistro- I have not had a dinner this good in a very long time. I am not even exaggerating when I say it's the bistro next door for B & CVDJ. They started us off with a roasted bulb of garlic in olive oil and fresh bread, although I recommend just skipped the bread and eating the garlic straight. I guess that's the benefit of not having a legalized tendency to make out with someone at the end of the night. 1st Course: Wild Mushroom Soup with Smoked Duck Confit in the middle...they pour it at the table which I for whatever reason get such a kick out of. Main Event: Sautéed Sea Scallops, Soft Polenta, Spinach-Mushroom Ragout, Roasted Corn Sauce. They had brushed the scallops with a very light brown sugar dusting before sauteeing. Wow. Last: Espresso and two bites each of what was best described by C as a Giant Truffle. Thin, crispy chocolate hazelnut crust with a thick layer of rich semi-sweet chocolate mousse on top...all covered in dark chocolate ganache and surrounded by raspberry sauce. Superb.
Not my deal but if you're into zombies and Will Smith talking to himself, go to town. The dog was pretty cute.


How can you not love a place whose website is SuperYummy.com? Mar and I trudged through the snow for awhile this morning and landed at Letizia's Natural Bakery. Quiet other than (bottomless, organic, free trade) coffee going and Armchair Apocrypha playing in the background. Split a cherry tart and a lox bagel. Happy with both.We weren't quite done exploring the hood on a sunny, cold day so we just went for a walk. We first landed at Plein Aire on Division where Mar did quite well. On to Ukranian Village, sloshing all the way. I genuinely lust after everything at Willow. Not just for my house either- that is an EXCELLENT to get gifts. I do admit that the only gift I got today was for me but at least now I can tell my keys apart via glow-in-the-dark skull covers. That's so metal...
We have about 1 ft of snow on the ground. It's gorgeous but not so fun to soak your feet in. I got home by walking on my heels as I could no longer feel my toes. Took about 4o minutes and some hot pink fuzz to properly defrost. I may have also put my colder foot underneath the cat. She even let me. I.Can't.Wait. Leaving for the theater now! (See Above for my "review")

Title taken from "Snow Day" by Matt Pond PA