Tag: chicago

I Will Never Stop Admiring…

Three Morning Commutes

Since public transportation ridership is rapidly returning to pre-pandemic levels (I know many doubt this, but I experience it every day :)), I had to switch to the earliest commuting wave. When I started my current job, I used to take the 7:15 or 7:30 train, and occasionally the 7:00 AM train. However, these days, there is no chance to find an open seat on eitgher of them, so I switched to 6:30 AM, which was luckily added about a year and a half ago, When it was just added, there were barely five people waiting for it on the platform, but now there is a small crowd, and I have to rush in to find an open seat. And if, for whatever reason, I am not making this train, I am taking the L.

On Monday, I took a day off because I needed to do several conference-related and mom-related things, and I left the house at an uncharacteristic 7:45 AM. A CTA attendant at Jarvis station was visibly surprised to see me at the wrong time :). It was very interesting to observe the crowd on later trains, especially closer to the Loop. Early morning is for service workers, people working shifts and some occasional crazy IT like me, or contractors all all kinds, trying to start their billable hours as early as possible. Later, it’s a time for traders and the rest of the IT, especially working parents, who have no choice of commute time. And an hour later felt like students and freelancers commute. I was surprised to see that L-trains were even more crowded that an hour earlier, and I think it’s the Metra/CTA difference. Metra is officially out of the rush hour by 8:30, but the CTA rush hour continues. That’s the loudest and the friendlies crowd of all, with the least smarphone usage during commute, if you can believe it. They actually talk!

“The Disappointed Tourist” Exhibit At CAC

As I mentioned last week, my attepmt to see two new exhibits at the Chicago Architectural Center was unsuccessful, since they switched to reduced hours after the holidays. Yesterday, I was planning to attend the show at the Siskel Center, which started at 4:30PM, and I figured I can visit the CAC right before that.

The first exhibit is called “Framed Views”, and it shows the photos taken during the Open House Chicago. If was really nice, and I liked many of the photographs on display, but nothing unexpected.

The second one, however, was one big Awww!

This exhibit is called “The Disappointed Tourist”, and it’s descrition reads:

Is there some place that you would like to visit or revisit that no longer exists?” This is the question posed by The Disappointed Tourist, an ongoing project by artist Ellen Harvey presented in nearly 300 paintings at the CAC.

Based on this description, I thought it will be mostly about demolished buildings and such, but it was much more than that! It also covered real places which were gone long time ago, as well as some mythical ones.

Each picture includes the time when the building or placce was gone, and for me, the most horrifying were the pictures of ancient monuments gone during the most recent wars.

I startled when I saw Atlantis on this wall, because I first thought that this exhibit only concerned the recently demolished buildings, but it turned out, it was much more than that. Then, I followed down and saw the Hanging Gardens of Babilon
Continue reading ““The Disappointed Tourist” Exhibit At CAC” →

Chicago Christmas Tree 2025

The Nutcracker

Last year, I took Nadia to her first Nutcracker, and she was mesmerized with the performance, and was looking forward to this year’s one. This time, we also took Kira; I had somedoubts, especially because the way we got the seats, the girls were in the first row, and I was in the second row right behind them, ready to jump and put Kira on my laps. It was not necessary; although both girls fidgeted in their seats, theyloved the show. A very special Chicago Nutcracker was brilliant as always; I hope they will never change it 😊.

The introductory images with the pictures of the old newspaper articles about immigrant workers were as relevant as they could be!

Th usual pile of presents in the foyer

The official 2025 trailer:

The girls fidgeted the most during the Snowflake dance and during the final dance of the Sculptress, and indeed, if there are any “classic” parts in the Joffrey Nutcracker, these ones are. However, when I later asked them which parts they liked most, both of them mentioned these two. Kira said she wants to be one of these little Snowflakes :).

I especially liked this year’s Sculptress, her final dance was out of this world!

More of Joffrey Ballet Instagram (and you know I can talk about them for hours, so i ‘d rather stop now!)

Ten years of the Joffrey Nutcracker post:

Santa Train With The Girls

It’s not easy to get on a Santa Train, because these days, there is only one train instead of two, and it runs on different CTA lines at different times. Igor and I were discussing how we can get the girls on the train, and the only option seems to be to try to get on it after the Nutcracker, which was a little bit tight, even taking into account the usual holiday train delays. But then Igor realized that we could catch it in the opposite direction, when it departs from Howard, and take it to the Nutcracker instead.

The girls were impatient, so we left well in advance, and it turned out to be perfect, because there were picture-taking opportunities and tons of candy canes.

A line for pictures with Santa

Finally, the train doors were open, and we got inside (Igor joined us by then). It was super crowded, so even though we got the seats, it was difficult to see the rest of the car.

The ride took significantly longer than it would be on a regular train, but we still managed to get to the Nutcracker on time!

Can We Put Them To Work?

WBEZ reported earlier this week that the hazardous situation with snow removal in Chicago is not only due to the record early snow, but also because 60% of the landscapers are not leaving their houses, afraid of being deported.

When I shared this news with Boris, he said: Let ICE agents do this! I said: It would be great, but on what grounds? Boris replied: Well, ICE is detaining people whom they call illegal because they believe they are taking jobs from Americans. Since apparently, nobody wants these jobs, ICE agents should be summoned to snow removal!

While this is unlikely to happen, I still think it’s funny enough to share:)

A Snow Day In Chicago

Wednesday was windy like never; Thursday and Friday was super-cold, and on Saturday, it was snowing, setting the record of the most snowiest day in Chicago in November!

Boris and I ventured to the Loop, because I wanted to go to the Art Institute, and do some holiday shopping. It was still cold, it was still very windy, plus, it was snowing!

I found this sweater in one of the boxes when we were installing new shelves in our storage unit. It was hand knitted for me by my grandaunt when I was eighteen, and I decided to try it on. Since it looked not bad at all, I decided to take it out :). I have received complements about it everywhere on that day!
That was by our house at 3:30 PM, and it was not it!

Boris and I took turns cleaning our stairs because it was completely unsafe to use them:

By 6 AM, the snow was mostly over, and the cleaning crew came and cleaned it from everywhere, and then the snow started melting. However, it looks like it’s not it, and there will be more cold and more snow during the upcoming week.

Monadnock Bistro

I have a list of Chicago’s new restaurants which I want to check out, but I am increasingly rarely have opportunities to do so. One of these places was Bistro Monadnock. I love the building and it’s story, so I was excited to see this new restaurant. Their web side says:

This project is a homecoming for the bistro’s owners – John, Karl & Graeme Fehr. The three brothers previously operated a boutique law firm in the Monadnock Building from 2011 – 2017. Ditching the courtroom for the dining room, this is their third hospitality concept in 6 years. They considered no other building for this restaurant.

Since Boris is in town (he arrived on Sunday), but I still needed to work from the office (not like I absolutely needed to, but it was easier to organize everything that way, and I had other things to do in the Loop. One of these to-do things was near DePaul campus, so I suggested we go there for dinner.

The menu is all in French, and I knew only a couple of dishes. so I had to Google them to get an idea. After googling, the pictures on the website started to make sense :).

That was Jacques Rose, very nice fruitie and tart cocktail
Frisée aux Lardons salad: “potatoes” in this salad are these very thin laced chips:). I was trying to imagine, how warm bacon could pair with greens, but it was really great.
Bouillabaisse was one of the few dishes I didn’t need to google:)
Beef Bourguignon – I didn’t know that the meet was boneless ribs (it was Boris’ choice after we got instructions from the waiter)
They ran out of a dessert I wanted, so we both got profiteroles with pistachio gelato

Restoring Justice After The “Blitz”

From WBEZ News:

The 615 detainees are from a list of roughly 1,800 arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the Chicago area between June 11 and Oct. 7, and there could be more to come, Jon Seidel reports for the Chicago Sun-Times.

It’s not clear how many of the people covered by U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Cummings’ order remain in the country. The judge said he doesn’t want anyone released who poses a risk to public safety; he’s giving the Justice Department a chance to identify any such person.

But Cummings said he’s trying to restore the status quo that existed before the Trump administration recently changed its interpretation of immigration law. That policy shift imposed mandatory detention on people across the country who previously would have been given a chance for a bail hearing.

Agents detained many of the people while they were working, including 20 landscapers and four ride-share or taxi drivers. Seven were also arrested at an “immigration-related hearing,” Cummings said, and another 11 in public places like a park, gas station or Dunkin’ Donuts drive-thru.