Now, my husband has attempted to take me to The Loop before. It's been a couple years, though.
The Loop, for those who do not know, is the arty (I call it arty farty) area in the city. It's all Birkenstocks, hemp clothes, dreads, and tie-dye. I would have really liked it in college. However, since I was many years removed from those days, my husband taking me there ended up a little overly-dramatic the first time he attempted it. I believe he may have parked the car and I refused to get out and we came home. I just felt weird. Some people have to be in a mood to deal with street musicians and a high (brow?) crowd. I am one of those people. Not the high crowd - the ones that need to be in a mood to deal with them. Sigh.
I used to be a coffee shop type of girl. The tortured writer/painter type. Now I'm more of a read-books-instead-of-write-them, cuddle-on-the-couch-at-home type of girl. I want to still be all knowledgeable about the latest indie movies and the bands no one else has heard of yet, but now both of those things make my brain hurt.
I just felt too insecure, I guess, to walk around The Loop with my husband. Which is stupid, I know.
This time, we drove through, and we drove slowly. I looked in the windows full of local clothing stores and handmade items. The vintage record stores, little art galleries, little crafty shops.
PIZAZZ FUTONS. What a name for a futon store. Just saying it makes you feel like you've been smoking something, and you have to gesture very dramatically when it comes out of your mouth, otherwise you're not saying it right. Feel free to add jazz hands. It rhymes with Pizazz. A natural union there.
Then, we passed this.
Now, you may have noticed we don't eat out a lot. Partly, it's expensive. Partly, I like to cook. Mostly, I tend to get sick whenever we eat out. However, this gave me a craving for mac and cheese like nobody's business.
I'm a planner. I don't do a lot of spur of the moment stuff. And I'm not a Loop person, just remember me sitting in the car, refusing to get out. I've only lived here 4 years. It was not that long ago.
We drove around some more, made sure we knew where we could park for the Tosh show, and then started heading out of the city.
I said, "Are you hungry?"
And I INITIATED GOING OUT TO EAT. Then and there. And so we went, we parked in the same parking lot as was my previous fail, and we walked through The Loop and had a late lunch at Cheese-ology. There were flowy peasant dresses, and men wearing fedoras, and employees wearing vintage tees.
There was also MAC AND CHEESE of the tastiest caliber. I went original and he went Philly Cheesesteak. It was served in cast iron skillets. Piping hot. They had Pepsi (the hubby's drink of choice) and a very tasty and calorie-free peach iced tea.
The mac and cheese was, I assume, not calorie free. I didn't ask. Why would anyone ask that? Some questions have answers you do not want. Best leave those questions in the room in your mind that is being visited by all things mac and cheese. That'll quiet 'em.
We had a very nice, sit down meal. When we got there, the place was not very crowded at all. It was after we sat down and waited for our food that a long line of people came in. It was nice to already just be and be able to watch everything and everyone. And to enjoy my excellent company. The table was small so it felt nice. Safe. Close. No "let's-get-back-to-the-car I'm-scared-of-hippies" meltdowns or anything! A perfect little lunch.
We walked by a couple shops, restrained ourselves from going in. Got back to the parking lot, back in the car. Headed home. That was a multi-layered date! Date explosion!
But, did we go home? Not straight home, we didn't. Date A-bombs, away!
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