Chicago + Celebs, Mid-Century Modern Happiness

This past Friday I drove to Chicago for another fun outing

with  my friend, Alan.

For years, wherever we are,

our favorite thing to do is to ride around + look at houses.

Here I am, doing said-same with the guys from Steely Dan:

My favorite musical geniusi:
Donald Fagen + Walter Becker

Friday, we (Alan + I) drove past this famous guy’s house in Chicago:

Chicago’s mayor
Rahm Emanuel

Over the years, my Al-meister friendship has provided me

with glimpses of the (now former) residences

of a few other Chicago celebs, including these favorites:

Nate Berkus, Joan Cusack, the late-great Gene Siskel

Just imagine if the two of us lived near L.A. or NYC.

It might look a something like this:

I used to be in love with this guy
until he ditched me
for that much younger gal.

* * * *

But back to Friday’s outing.

We enjoyed a bit of shopping, as we always do.

I bought a couple of cool vintage treasures here:

Foursided
on Clark Street in Andersonville

This cool shop carries a lot of Chicago merch,

+ my plans include sending them one of my Chicago pillows:

Fingers crossed they’ll approve of + want to sell said-same.

* * * * * *

But I’m digressing quite a bit again.  Back to Friday’s outing.

We shared some small plates at a Wicker Park restaurant/bar,

the name of which I don’t recall.

The food + vino were de-lish, but my highlight was our waiter.

(I don’t remember his name, either!)

Oopsie!
Another bad photo!

But how could I forget that he’s a St. Louis Cardinals fan?

Look!  He even retrieved his Cardinals cap to share with the class!

Go Cardinals!

* * * * * *

Now let’s have a look-see at Alan’s (+ his partner, Keith’s) mid-Century modern house:

I helped Alan select the dark gray paint for their exterior.

As typical of many mid-Century  modern house plans,

the street side/front of Alan + Keith’s house is quite private . . .

. . . . while inside, the living + dining rooms are oriented to the back yard.

Look at all the glass:

And now, let’s have a look-see at some of the boys’ groovy stuff:

Vintage medical cabinet

Alan’s Swiss cross artworks, displayed with a pair of vintage wooden clamps.

Genius!

I’ve given G.O. the heads up that I love this + that I’d like at least one for myself.

He’s already forgotten, but oh, well.

More grooviness:

People. This art gallery
is devoted to all things canine.

I’m seriously needing something similar
with something of the Dachshund persuasion.

There’s the ADOR-able Sophie the Papillion
in the boys’ TV room

Meanwhile, that signage is pretty radical, no?

But what say ye about the pennant pillows?

Yes, I  made those from vintage pennants.

How could I not give them to Keith + Alan

as a “just-because” gift?