Visiting with Dad

We've been experiencing a gush of visitors these days. Most recently, Dad and his girlfriend Jaynie came out to celebrate her daughter Lauren's graduation from DePaul. Joe and I had belated birthday jibaritos with them at Borinquen Lounge (the food's amazing, the service...not so much). They gave us our belated birthday gift as well--a Soda Stream soda maker! It's a completely unnecessary but completely awesome gadget (I think that's called a luxury?) for making homemade carbonated drinks. Monique, Dad and I had planned to go for a nice bike ride by the lake, but dad had to head back home a little earlier than planned. Instead we met for brunch at Lulu Belle's Pancake House in the Southport Corridor. It was a really lovely visit. Friendly, helpful service, warm vibe, delicious food, and some quality family time. Joe and I had been meaning to try this new spot for a while--in fact, Joe grumbled that I beat him to it after he had discovered it. But what can I say? It was the perfect place for some much needed father-daughter catching up. Don't worry,  Joe, you'll have no trouble getting me back there for some complimentary iced biscuits and another veggie eggs benedict (or maybe a bacon-stuffed waffle).

Celebrating Joe

Since the drive-in movie parties of my childhood, summer has always meant birthday to me. With our birthdays just one month apart, Joe and I really get to make a season out of celebrating. I had to work on his birthday this year, so we celebrated together the day before. I got up early to run up to El Norte in Edgewater for chilaquiles and surprised him with breakfast in bed. Though they serve it all day, it's the morning cook that has the dish perfected. A single order is enough for two, plus leftovers. We had planned a long bike ride by the lake, but Joe decided we should blow it off, instead napping and relaxing until we left for a late lunch at Maggiano's. After a heavy breakfast, a chopped salad really hit the spot. We snapped photos downtown until it was time to head towards Navy Pier to see the Dark Knight Rises at Imax. Navy Pier is pretty much tourist hell on earth, but there's no better way to see a big budget action flick. It was basically a day of Joe's favorites.


But his birthday didn't end there. The following evening, we met friends at Pizza Rustica for some delicious buttery crust pizza and a blueberry gin fizz or two. In true italian form, the meal took ages, but no one seemed to mind much as the drinks kept flowing. The pizza was spectacular. We followed dinner with wine and a few rounds of Cards Against Humanity at our place. Joe was more than happy to debut his homemade set. The night was topped off with delicious cupcakes provided by Becky and Cheryl. If there's a better way to enjoy a birthday than with good friends and great food, we have yet to discover it.

Birthday Recounting

Pull up a chair while I recount the past week or so in which I have been unable/unwilling to update.

My birthday. An ungodly hot Thursday, the 28th of June. It began with multiple wakeup calls from my mother. She sweetly sang Happy Birthday to me, which would have been adorable at 10, but was downright infuriating at 6am when I finally answered the phone. I spent the first hour or so of my day fuming in bed as I tried to get back to sleep. I finally gave up and got moving.

Determined to get back on track, I went for a morning massage (gifted by my generous sister), followed by brunch with Joe, Monique and Becky at Nookies, an upscale eatery in Edgewater that I've been meaning to try. Lovely spot, good coffee, average chilaquiles. My favorite meal of the day with three of my favorite people. The stuff of birthday dreams.

Party Animals. 

After brunch, Becky dropped me off at work for a few hours. The twins had been talking about my birthday for weeks, but seemed unimpressed by the lowly birthday hats, sparkler candles and rice crispy treats I had provided. Look, dudes, if you want a swinging party, then you'd better contribute more than construction paper birthday cards with puff balls. Though they did add sparkly stickers. That was a nice touch.






After work, I went home to get ready for birthday drinks. I took my time getting dolled up (if not on your birthday, then when?). Joe said I looked beautiful. Then he made me take a few pictures of him. We headed to The Long Room, a dark and moody bar nearby that lets you bring your own food. We had packed an array of my favorite snacks to share: dolma, dubliner cheese, chocolate-covered bacon, homemade lemon-coconut bars. It was a lovely night of friends stopping by to celebrate and play a round of Cards Against Humanity.

Later at home, however, I found myself feeling a little...well...melancholy. I hate to be that guy, but I couldn't shake it, and I felt like a brat after all the sweetness my loved ones had showed me. I'd like to blame my sour mood on my rude awakening, but surely that can't be it. It's not that I resent getting older. After all, age is just a count of the number of times the earth has circled the sun since you were born. Few other astronomical occurrences get me down. Yet I felt decidedly weepy all day, despite the good times had by all. Is it all the expectations attached to such a day? What am I, seven years old again? My mom gets the birthday blues. She also manages to get Flag Day blues and Mexican Independence Day blues, so maybe that's a different story. But I did feel a little more sympathetic after my own inability to enjoy an otherwise perfect day. Whatever the reason, I sure hope this isn't the beginning of a new birthday tradition.