leading up to the new year....

Day 11 (Dec 30) - Chicago
Becky, the kids (+ cousins), Becky's mom, and I went to Chinatown to check it out. It looks kind of like the one in Philly except it's got more pagodas and cooler architecture. Our arch is better though! We walked around buying little knick-knacks for the kids, then went to this restaurant that is popular in the area. You could tell, because the line was out the door. It took a bit to get seated since there was 8 of us, but lunch was really good.

On the way back to Becky's mom's place, I got a message from Jessie to come to Granville station which was only two stops past Becky's on the red line. She told me to meet her at Metropolis Cafe, which is supposed to be one of the best in Chicago. After some tea, we went to do some more house hunting!

__House#5: A and her roommate live in a place similar to the girls from the previous day, except this house was sort of perfect. Exactly what Jessie's been looking for, except a little out of her price range. A is a grad student, and does art in her free time. She converted the basement into a studio for art, and there's also a laundry in the house so she wouldn't have to run around trying to find one. Alas, they also wanted someone for January 1, which is too early for her.
__House#6: J's place was pretty cool, but seemed more like a chill pad, and not a live pad. They had 4 rooms and 2 living rooms, so it gave the illusion of having more room than it did. It was all guys who lived there, and the place didn't seem like it was being taken care of at all. The bathroom was filthy, and the toilet seat was even split in two. As we walked out, a rat ran past us on the street, and we knew this place was no good.

Afterwards, we returned to the Flat Iron for a little bit, and went to eat dinner at Earwax. They asked us if we wanted a booth or to sit under the monkey, so of course we chose under the monkey. Dinner was really delicious. On our way out, one of the waiters stopped us, and said "We have something for you", and handed us a container. Inside was the cutest cupcake ever! We went Myopic, a cool bookstore across the street and ate our cupcake while reading books.