#8 - Eat at one of the Top Chefs' restaurants

Last year I did "Best Thing I Ever Ate," and ate a few of those things and was fairly impressed.  So I decided to step it up a bit this year.

Back when I actually had cable - so, like, 6 months ago - I was quote the "Top Chef" conouissuer... coneussier...  conessier... connusseur...  watcher.  I flippin' love it.  I don't even know why.  I mean, the best part of the whole show has to be eating the food... which only a few people get to do and then they tell us how awesome it is.

When I really think about it, I have so many questions.  What do the Top Chef judges eat every day?  Most of them are chefs themselves.  Do they cook their own food?  Are they ever lazy about it?  What about the non-chefs, what do they eat every day?  If I ate some of the stuff on the show they thought was terrible, would it be the best thing I've ever eaten?  Why do I watch this show if I have no idea if I would even have the palette to eat what they eat?  Oh, and what happens if one of the judges just doesn't like a certain type of food, like how I don't like chocolate cake?  Are any of them ever allergic to anything?  

Anyways, both thinking about and just watching and not thinking about these questions has made me crave to eat at one of the winners' restaurants.  I have eaten at Deleece in Chicago, where Dale used to work (gay Dale, not Asian Dale).  It's flippin great.  The lobster eggs benedict may be one of the best things I've ever put in my mouth.  Seriously.  And it was like $13.  Obviously a lot for breakfast but for one of the best things I've ever put in my mouth?  Reasonable.

I really wasn't sure if I would succeed at this item though.  In fact, I'd pretty much given up on it.  I even lamented to my parents as we walked past Girl and the Goat (Stephanie Izzard, the Chicago champion's restaurant on Randolph in Chicago) that I wish I could eat there but I can't afford it and I would have had to have made reservations months ago to fit it in before I left town.  We went on to have a great little dinner at Maude's Liquor Bar on Randolph, which also serves a really great cocktail.  My dad even got boring and ordered the chicken and holy crap, it was probably the best chicken I had had in my life.  I didn't know chicken could be the best choice on a menu ever.  (Unless it's fried and you're at Harold's, which I still have to do.)

The next night we were going to go have dinner in Bucktown.  However, that morning, my mom had snuck down to the concierge at the Palmer House Hilton and asked him to just give the Girl and the Goat a ring, just in case.  They had a 9 o'clock reservation.  She hesitated.  The concierge leaned over and said, "Take it.  They don't have another reservation until July."  This was mid-May.  She took it.

And then she took me and my dad to Girl and the Goat.  It was everything I'd dreamed of and makes it into the top 3 meals of my life (the other two being in Vegas, and surprisingly, St. Louis).  I'll try to remember what we had without the fancy language: pretzel bread with homemade honey mustard butter, a salad of some kind?, mackerel, octopus with the perfect combination of beans and things, pig's face with egg and crunchy onions, goat, of course, and the most amazing part of the meal: the broccoli.  I'm serious.  This broccoli was incredible.  I will likely go back there at least once this summer, sit at the bar, have a glass of wine, and eat broccoli.  Fantastic.  We followed it all up with some red tea creme brule, which my dad swore he wasn't interested in but definitely helped us polish it off.

Although there's the long wait for a reservation and it's pricey - but not for what it is, this meal is up there with the St. Louis meal for being completely reasonably priced for what amazing, amazing food it was.  Plus, the service was casual and friendly.  

My parents definitely helped me check a big one off my list and to start off my Chicago send off in style!

#98 - Don't drink soda for 1 month

This one was much more difficult than I anticipated as someone who really doesn't drink a lot of soda.  I learned that I crave Coke when I'm hungover.  A lot of it.  I'm also a whiskey drinker, so whiskey and Coke has been a staple of my drinking diet.

I had to find some suitable replacements or I'd never make it.  Or stop drinking.  Which didn't happen.  At first I drank more wine, my other alcohol of choice.  But with that, I think I was taking in A LOT of calories.  I was trying to lose some wine weight I'd put on in the fall and sticking to only wine and no whiskey was not going to work.

I started doing whiskey and water.  Which then became whiskey on the rocks.  While I drink whiskey this way anyways sometimes, usually I had at least a splash of Coke.  Now I think I'm a complete convert.  I had a whiskey Coke the day after I completed my challenge and I really did not enjoy it.  Apparently I'm reformed.  Now maybe I'll proceed to scotch someday.  I still need rocks though.  I don't know how people drink that stuff warm and not even a little watered down.

A side benefit of this change is that I could always tell a place with a good pour and never had to worry how strong my drinks were.  I could see all that brown liquid yumminess in my little glass.

As far as the hangovers, I learned three things.  1) I should be hungover less often and avoid this problem all together.  2) When I drink quality whiskey or wine, I don't really get all that hungover.  I didn't need the sugary sweetness and was fine with just water to rehydrate.  I didn't find myself hungover very often though.  It's probably also because I knew exactly how much I was drinking and how strong my drinks were, so it was easier to drink slow and keep track and keep everything under control as to avoid being drunk and thus hungover the next day.  3) When I was hungover and needed some sweet, I resorted to watered down Gatorade.  Why I can drink soda straight with all its sugar and not Gatorade, I have no idea.  Juice worked too.

I'm not going lie, my first Coke tasted good after a month.  But now that I can weed it out of my drinking life, it's much easier to keep this health disaster medicine at bay.  I was hoping that like others I could give it up completely, but I don't think that's going to happen.  I do think I got it out of any kind of regular pattern though and now I stick to water and unsweetened tea.  (Side note: I think it's ridiculous that I have to specify "un"sweetened.  Shouldn't it just be "tea" and then if you want it sweetened, you say so?  I shouldn't have to say that I don't?  It's like how I took a survey today and the first option was "never married," like I was only in that category because I hadn't achieved that yet.  Or maybe I'm just being sensitive and they're nothing alike.  Whatevs.)

#99 - Only listen to classical music for 1 week

Though I have loved classical music since high school, this one was tougher than I anticipated.  I had a few attempts where I made it a few days but not an entire week.  I picked this as a goal because sometimes I forget my love of classical, particularly the romantic period: Tchaikovsky, Beethoven, Mahler...  I played the viola growing up.  I even went to orchestra camp.  Laugh if you want but I loved being a part of talented young musicians playing real, heavy music.  Luckily since I played the viola, it was easier to get in than if I had played one of the more popular instruments.  So in an effort not to press "skip" every time classical comes up on my iPod or Pandora, I spent a week with no other music but classical.


The three tough spots were 1) remembering, 2) I lost my iPod until about a month ago, and 3) running.

I generally have my car tuned to NPR, so that wasn't really a problem unless they were doing a music spot, which, unfortunately, they did do during one of my road trips to Michigan when my iPod was still lost, and I had to flip around stations in western Michigan searching for a classical station until I settled on silence for a bit.

I have been picking up running regularly again and I have a hard time running without music, and classical just doesn't cut it for running music.  After that torturous car ride, I totally forgot about my goal and ran 45 minutes listening to my regular running mix.  Oops.  So I had to start all over.

Finally I got my heard in gear and spent a week running with no music, NPR in the car, and the Tchaikovsky station on Pandora.

Got it!

mk

#16 - Punch someone in the face

I didn't think I'd actually do this.  And I guess I only really grazed him.  But I took a full swing at this guy:

I won't get into the details but basically he's like the little brother I never had and he deserved it.  Love ya, buddy!

#82 - Take a mosaic class

Thanks, Groupon! I paid $30 for a 3 hour beginning mosaic class at the Chicago Mosaic School.

It was flipping awesome.

There were 2 instructors. One, Ahmed, from Egypt, (but not THAT Ahmed for Egypt. Although he was funny, and Ahmed should be threatened) taught us all the mosaic tool basics. We cut glass, ceramics, and porcelain. That was already fun. I'd never cut pieces before, just arranged tiles.

Then the other instructor, Helga, from Germany, took us on a little tour of the facility. Their student gallery is awesome. And they have a little store in the back called Tiny Pieces. And their bathroom is all mosaicked on the wall with sea life and then on the floor with marble. And their kitchen backsplash is all mosaicked. It's flippin cool. And they run classes on how to do all of that in your own home!

So then we picked out a picture frame or a big tile to mosaic. I did a frame. I love it. I did purples and whites and mirror. I need a cute girlie picture to go in it. I then had extra time (because I don't tend to overthink any art I do) and did a tile which I'm using as a spoonrest because it matches my kitchen.

I really want to take more classes there. I had so much fun. I hope they offer more Groupons!

If you're interested in mosaics, check out http://www.chicagomosaicschool.com/ Even their website is cool.

#69 - Snowboard down a blue hill without falling

I did not have high hopes for this one. Firstly because I'm a little broke after all of last year's adventures and secondly because I had enough trouble getting down the greens last year.

However, Brent Belt & Chris Ogden did it again by arranging Devil's Head 5.0. They managed to get us rooms for $109, lift tickets for $30, and rentals for $25! Plus, everyone brings their own food and booze, so it's a full day of ski / snowboarding for under $100 if you do it right. Even though Nora Neri had to back out on me (because she got a birthday flight to Florida that weekend. Whatever.), my dear buddy Rebeca Matus jumped on board! Oh man, I like her.

We got there around 10am but had a little trouble locating Rebeca's lift ticket, which was, in fact, not there, so we had to buy her one. Somehow we had to wait in the longest line ever for skis while the lift ticket line was short and then when we had to wait in line for the lift tickets, the ski line was short! Weird. It was only for her too. My lines were short. Oh well.

So by the time we got our tickets, our rentals, and then into our room, it was time to meet everyone for lunch. We found our tie-dye-clad hosts pinned with sheriff and deputy stars, in the parking lot with some of the group. We dined on turkey and cheddar sandwiches on French bread, which we were teased for bringing. We also had nips of whiskey, occasionally chased by Coke.

After a warming lunch, we hit the slopes. Well, the bunny hill. But we killed that sucka. So we moved to the green hills. That went well too! But we spent most of the afternoon on those. But then I got Cindy Cudz to take me on a blue hill. It was... really not bad. I liked it even. Thanks, Cindy!

I was so confident that in the evening I let Billie Berens and Marie Lucas and friends to take me down a black! Scary! Except

not. It was fine.

I still can't do my toe edge, but I have my back edge mastered! Love it! Too bad it's such an expensive hobby!

#73 - Eat Indian food on Devon

I had Indian food for the first time in 2010 in San Francisco with Miss Rachel Felson. It was delicious. Since then, I've been a big fan of the Trader Joe's Indian Food and naan. Easy meals.

I have been a little disappointed in myself for working so close to Devon (Chicago's "Little India") for around six years and never eating Indian food there. Luckily, Davisson Benson, one of my students, harasses people to go to a place called Shairra Punjab all the time. So I figured he was the one to go to.

We had a little lunch date and ate all kinds of delicious Indian food on the buffet, plus warm, wonderful naan, all rounded up by some floaters. Okay, that might not be the technical name, but that's what DB calls these little doughnuty things with rice pudding.

I can't wait to start bugging my coworkers and other students to go there with me now.