pizza with a fork and knife {is still pizza}

ok i love new york pizza.

i could eat it every day and not get sick of it.

and i love that

 grease running down your arm,

scarf it down before you realize how many calories it is,

koronet is the motherland

feeling.

but

 i must admit something.

{manhattan, plz don't h8}

i prefer chicago pizza.

as in,

i'd rather deprive myself for a month,

wait an hour for a table,

wait another hour for a pizza,

STUFF MY FACE,

almost chop my finger off cutting the crust,

and then repeat.

why's does it always have to come in second place? 

:-(

my favorite french man adrien even flew across the pond just for a slice...

{adrien, don't look so scared}

a trip home is just not complete without some obnoxiously thick pizza.

{oh yeah, did i mention i'm home??}

xoxo

yeh

photo shoot/pig out sesh on location at uno pizzeria in chicago

{p.s. "uno chicago grill" b.s. that makes appearances in boston, new york, etc, ain't got nothin on the original.}

carnegie hall

how i love carnegie hall!

every time i go there,

i feel so old school...

getting dressed up,

and walking up the same stairs that people a hundred years ago walked up,

{and listening to same of the music too}

the men in tails and bow ties,

oh i love it all.

this evening and last, i saw the 

chicago symphony orchestra 

perform. 

my old teacher was a soloist this evening in 

bartok's sonata for two pianos and percussions.

it was so glorious!

his calf heads sounded unlike every other performance that i've seen of that piece,

and i was so into it!

go teacher!

i love cso

elliott carter was in the audience.

he's like the lady gaga of the classical music world.

kidding.

but he is pretty famous.

and he's 101 years old.

and i got to meet him!

can you imagine being 101?!?!

when i'm 101,

i'm going to be chillen on the big porch of my big southern home,

reflecting back on my life,

on my time in paris,

and barcelona,

and india...

on my three, maybe four (hopefully successful) careers,

thinking about what i'm going to cook for dinner,

and then i'll probably write my one millionth blog post.

i hope your weekends were all as lovely as mine!

xoxo

yeh

sweet home chicago

after a wonderful day of practicing, chicken and dumpling soup,

and a quiche and cake date with one of my very favorite teacher friends,

i flew home to chicago.

(and along the way completed my last paper of the semester! yay!)

things i came home to:

1. a new pair of mustard yellow flats sitting on my bed.

2. freshly baked pumpkin bread with chocolate chips.

3. homemade tomato soup with basil from our garden.

4. a fridge stocked full of mustard.

some of the highlights are...

-stonewall kitchen's basil pesto mustard

-napa vally's stone ground mustard

-sierra nevada's pale ale and honey spice mustard

5. little post-it notes all over my bathroom mirror asking

if today was going to be

a schnitzel day?

or

a swedish meatball day ?

or

both?

and do i want to go shoe shopping?

6. a naked hannukah bush,

waiting to be ornamented on christmas eve

(does that even make sense?)

7. a huge jar of nutella

...all thanks to my super mum!!!

you'd think she's trying to get me to come more often or something :-)

today is preparation day for our annual

dumplings of the world extravaganza

read: i get to experience sweet smells of potsticker and samosa filling while i practice marimba in the living room.

and mum gets serenaded by sweet sounds of bach while she cooks up the potsticker and samosa filling in the kitchen.

{it's a symbiotic relationship}

oh and did i mention it's a balmy

negative ZILLION degrees fahrenheit outside?

xoxo

yeh