Ginevra about Town

In early April Rebecca Danger released a monkey pattern, I made one as a present; he turned out so cute immediately I casted on another. This time it was for me. I used a skein of yarn I bought at the first Stitches Midwest event I attended. MacKintosh Chubby Sock in a color way so vibrant it had to be a creature of some sort. The Dyer, Liz, had done a number of Harry Potter inspired color ways, like the cover of the books and one for each major character. I chose Ginny Weasley. And so after three years of this yarn trying to be various other objects I made Ginevra. Now she is a monkey about town. About two weeks ago when the weather became nice I rode my bike to a beautiful park called Palmer Square. I read my book and Ginevra explored.

Then a week ago my girlfriends and I had a junk food party. We each brought a favorite junk food from our childhood and then watched Titanic mystery science theatre style. In the "food" category there were Doritos, Cheetos, Chicken in a Biscuit, Strawberry Cupcakes, Ho Hos, Chocolate Peanut Butter Bugles (those were a delicious surprise), and Oatmeal Cream Pies. For libations I brought Bullet Bourbon and Kool-Aid Kool Bursts and there was some lovely boxed wine. It was quite the evening!! Ginevra was in the middle of it all. Especially when it came to poking fun at Leo and Kate. I blame the sugar high.

On Memorial Day Ginevra got out again. I took a bicycle ride to the South Side of Chicago, Bridgeport to be exact. My friend Kate got the itchy feet and wanted to explore a new neighborhood. We brunched at Nana. Starting with the Prince of Spring cocktail which was a lovely mix of prosecco, St. Germain, pear liqueur, and toasted rosemary; then on to chicken and waffles. I am in love with the phenomenon of chicken and waffles. Savory fried chicken atop a sweet waffle with loads of butter and syrup. Nana surprised me by having a savory pea and scallion waffle topped with sage gravy. 

Normally not a gravy person I licked every bit of it up. Ginevra was jealous. She's quite the foodie. My dessert leg wasn't satisfied however. I get down to Bridgeport so rarely that I feel almost obligated to try everything! Kate and I each ordered a dessert. Strawberry rhubarb pie with lavender meringue a la mode with Black Dog Gelato and Funnel Cake with a champagne sabayon and raspberry preserves. After all that our tummies were busting!!! We took a constitutional down Halsted to 27th street stumbling upon a new green space called Stearn's Quarry. In the 1890's it was a limestone quarry which was turned into a landfill and then a sledding hill; now a nature reserve complete with ponds, wet land, trails and beautiful view of downtown from atop the hill. Kate and I dipped our toes into the pond chatting away the afternoon and watching red winged blackbirds flit about the park. What a way to spend a hot day and begin the summer. 

There are many more trips to Bridgeport in our future especially now we discovered what we are referring to as the Northwest Passage. A safe bike route down Loomis from the north to the south side.