adventures | kimberly ah

Mar 30 2015

adventures, Office Supplies, snail mail, thrifted, vintage

New Vintage Stationery

vintage souvenir stationery, Abraham Lincoln and Yellowstone My parents came up for a visit this weekend and they brought me a few vintage treats including these fantastic old souvenir stationery sets. The Yellowstone is almost full but sadly the Abraham Lincoln one has one sheet left of each design. I’ve never been to Yellowstone, so I’d feel like a cheater using this stationery, but I think using it for a nature lover would be acceptable, right? (This stationery seems like a good enough reason as any to bump Yellowstone up on my travel wish list.) I have been to Springfield, the state capitol of Illinois, several times so these Lincoln landmarks are all familiar old friends from school trips and family trips of my childhood. I think every child who grew up in Illinois has rubbed Lincoln’s nose at least once. Since there’s only one sheet left of each of these designs, I probably won’t be writing letters on this stationery, but maybe I could use them in a mini-scrapbook of my next trip to Springfield? (First I have to get Naoto on board with a mini road trip!)

Have you seen any souvenir stationery lately? It seems like the best kinds of souvenirs (stationery, handkerchiefs, plates) are all things of things of the past now.

Tagged adventures, office supplies, parents, snail mail, thrifting, vintage

Mar 25 2015

5 Comments

adventures, crafty adventures, Forest Park, Oak Park, gardening, Office Supplies

Seed Swap 2015

On Sunday the Forest Park Community Garden hosted their fifth annual Seed Swap. Have you ever been to a seed swap? It was my first time, so everything was new and exciting for me. Basically, you bring packets of seeds to the swap–either something you no longer want to plant, or something you have in excess–and trade them with other gardeners’ seeds. It’s a perfect concept for city gardeners and community gardeners who do not have the space to plant an entire packet of seeds in their tiny plots. The swap was held in a school gym, plenty of space to allow for milling around, browsing seeds, and chatting with fellow gardeners. LaManda Joy from the Peterson Garden Project and The Yarden gave a presentation about gardening, her experience as a home gardener, and starting a community garden. The Lisle Seed Library was also there sharing seeds and information about their library’s programs for gardeners.

I brought six packets of seeds to swap (pictured at the top)–lettuce, broccoli, loofah, eggplant, beets, and snow peas. I made my packets from baby envelopes that I had on hand, my favorite Yellow Owl Workshop garden stamp kit, and a little bit of washi tape. (They *may* have been crafty overkill, but I didn’t care.) I came home with edamame, milkweed, malva, alyssum, morning glories, ornamental grass and a clipping from an oregano plant. I worked registration at the swap, so I missed out on seeing the wide variety of vegetable seeds, but I was kind of more into the flower seeds anyway. I wanted some perennials to plant on the balcony and some edamame to try in our plot this year, so I came home a happy camper.

Speaking of gardening, this was the scene when I left for work on Monday morning. Forest Park got about seven inches of snow…I hope it was good for my winter sowing project!! I’m working on planting some more this week. Spring gardens are just around the corner, right?

Tagged adventures, crafts, food, forest park, garden, gardening, rubber stamp

Mar 16 2015

1 Comment

adventures

Thoughts on Jury Duty

I’m officially done with jury duty! I have to say, I thought the whole experience was interesting and dare I say…kind of fun? Our group of jurors was really great–everyone got along and we were able to have a little bit of fun together. Our judge was relaxed, respectful of our time and our comfort, and he kept us informed of the process. Our bailiff was funny. The court reporter was animated as he recorded the dialogue…he was kind of like Stevie Wonder, grooving to the closing arguments while he typed. Even one of the accident reconstruction experts was interesting enough to make me want to take a physics class again!

As much as I’d love to write a blog post describing the details of my case, I don’t feel right about it*. I would never want the plaintiff’s family to find my blog and feel disrespected or criticized. But I will say, we deliberated for less than five minutes–all twelve of us were that much in agreement about the facts of the case. We found for the defendant, who shed a tear as the verdict was read.

Because none of us could talk about the case (to our families or to each other), we felt such a relief when we all realized that we were all on the same page. And it was a glorious experience to finally be able to talk to each other about the case. Imagine twelve people in a room talking on top of each other trying to release four days of pent up conversation about the case. Even though my jury duty was pretty painless, I’m looking forward to getting back into my normal routine around here. Today it’s suppose to be 70 degrees outside. I’m going to take a walk, write some letters, read my book club book, and feel thankful I’m not cooped up in a jury room!

*But if you know me in real life, I’m happy to talk about the case! I even made a diagram to explain things to Naoto!

Tagged adventures, Chicago

Mar 10 2015

5 Comments

adventures

Out For Jury Duty

Sorry for the quiet blog this week. On Tuesday I got picked for jury duty, which, if you know anything about jury duty, it throws a wrench into all your plans. I can’t talk about it (this part is so hard for me!) but our case is supposed to go through Monday. Thankfully I’m on a jury with a lot of nice, funny, food-loving people. This type of thing is much more bearable when everyone gets along and can have fun together. (As much fun as you can have in a courtroom anyway…)

Does anyone have a good jury duty story?

Mar 09 2015

1 Comment

adventures, Forest Park, Oak Park, gardening

Community Gardening at the Forest Park St. Patrick’s Day Parade

On Saturday, Naoto and I walked in the Forest Park St. Patrick’s Day Parade with the Forest Park Community Garden float. We haven’t been to the parade in a couple of years and I have to say, it was loads more fun walking in the parade than it was watching. Our float, pictured above, was a garden plot in full bloom…isn’t it charming? Six of us walked alongside the float and passed out little packets of sugar snap pea seeds. At first I was a little nervous about handing out non-candy treats to a bunch of drunk people and sugar-hungry kids, but it turned out most people–especially kids–were excited when they heard we were handing out seeds. People briefly shared that they had gardens or were excited to try gardening…it was really heart-warming to see so many hopeful gardeners in our community! The time passed quickly…it felt like we were rushing around handing out seeds and all of a sudden I looked up and we were at the end. Naoto was especially popular along the parade route because people always remember him from Trader Joe’s…he even got a kiss from a customer! He was such a great ambassador for the garden (and for Trader Joe’s!) By the end of the parade, we all handed out a thousand packets of seeds with little information cards about the garden and our upcoming Seed Swap (March 22, 2-4PM!) It was a bright and beautiful day…perfect for a hometown parade!

Tagged adventures, forest park, garden, gardening, holidays

Mar 05 2015

6 Comments

adventures, gardening, homemaking

Plot #6: Winter Sowing Experiment

I started gardening this week!! Back in December, Peggy (who seriously should be a contributor to my blog since she provides me with so much blog fodder!) sent me this blog post from A Garden for the House about winter sowing. Neither of us had tried it before but we both found the idea intriguing. I always feel like it’s late summer before all of my balcony flowers are really in bloom and by then, it’s sometimes too hot and busy to enjoy them. And last year, I had my best balcony garden but I also spent more than I normally do on flowers because I was addicted to having a lush, full garden. (I didn’t break the bank or anything…it was just more than usual.) Hopefully, if this winter sowing thing works, I can get a jump start on gardening, and I can start more things from inexpensive seeds instead of buying a lot of full-grown potted plants this year.

Winter sowing involves planting certain types of seeds in winter and keeping them outdoors in little protective “greenhouses”. Depending on your zone, you can plant perennial and hardy annuals as early as January. I waited until Tuesday (March 3) to start planting, so I planted some tender annuals, too. This blog post tells more about what you can plant when. I worked on my winter sowing in my kitchen on Tuesday afternoon. For my greenhouses, I used distilled water jugs that I’ve been collecting all winter. (Naoto has been very suspicious of this “garbage collection”.) I drilled ventilation holes in the top and drainage holes in the bottom of each one.Then I cut around the middle of the jug, leaving a little hinge underneath the handle. (Presley decided to take a bath while this was happening.) I worked in my kitchen sink, filling each jug with a few inches of soil. Then I soaked the soil with running water and let the water drain out into the sink. After that I planted my seeds, one type per jug, labeling as I worked.

I only made it through seven jugs before I ran out of soil, but I’m hoping to run out today and buy more so I can finish the job this week. So far, I’ve planted broccoli, snow peas and lettuce in preparation for our community garden plot. And I’ve planted Evening Primrose, Columbine, Zinnias, and Achillea for the balcony. I have at least ten more potential seed packets waiting for winter sowing, depending on how adventurous I feel.

I put all of my seeds outside on the balcony. (I’m hoping my neighbors do not complain about the unsightly water jugs…condo living is challenging sometimes.) The seeds are sharing a table with my perennial sedum for now (which looks dead in the top picture, but I promise it’s just resting). That table gets the most sunlight and it gets snowed and rained on, so I figured the seeds will have the best chance there. For now, I wait…the hardest part of gardening!

Tagged adventures, diy, food, forest park, garden, gardening, home, homemaking

Mar 04 2015

6 Comments

adventures, Naoberly's Noodle Tour, what's in a name

Naoberly’s Noodle Tour: Furious Spoon

On Friday, I met up with Donovan for a date at Furious Spoon-a delicious new addition to Chicago’s ever-growing ramen scene. Furious is near Naoto’s office…lucky him. I can see him becoming a regular here. Everything at Furious Spoon is pretty simple. The menu offers four ramen options, a few sides, some Japanese beers, sake, whiskey and pop. You order at the counter and take your number and an enormous wooden ramen spoon to a seat and wait for your ramen to arrive. The tables are communal and there is a long counter of seats looking into the food prep area. Donovan and I sat at the counter, giving us a good view of the ramen assembly. The noodles are made in house and the bowls are assembled quickly with care. I thought the presentation was beautiful. I’m only sorry I didn’t get a shot of the huge wooden soup spoon in my picture.

I got the Shoyu Ramen and I thought it was wonderful. The broth was really tasty and not quite as salty as some of the other ramens I’ve eaten recently. The noodles were so good–they had the right amount of bite and a good texture. The cha-sui (pork) was kind of skimpy, a little bit fatty (which some people really like for the flavor) and a little bit boring. (Disclaimer: I am so enamored with the char-grilled cha-shu at Ramen Miso-ya that it’s hard for me to find anything that compares!) The simple additions of bean sprouts, bamboo shoots, fish cake, nori and scallion were perfect complements to the texture and the flavors in the bowl, but you can add twelve other toppings, too. Donovan had the Vegetable Ramen and she shared a pickled shimeji (mushroom) from her bowl. It was so tasty that next time I’m ordering a side of pickles!

I really liked the vibe of the restaurant–they play old school hip-hop, but it’s quiet enough to have a conversation. The staff was friendly and attentive, making sure we liked our bowls. And, an added bonus…the ramen is the least expensive of all the ramen we’ve had so far. I’m hoping Naoto can squeeze me in for a lunch date soon so I can try those pickles and another kind of ramen!

P.S. Our other ramen visits can be found here:

Misoya

Slurping Turtle

Ramen-San

I think I need a name for this series…Naoberly’s Noodle Tour is in the lead, because I love alliteration.

Tagged adventures, food

Mar 03 2015

7 Comments

adventures, gardening

Garfield Park Conservatory

On Saturday, I went to the Garfield Park Conservatory for the first time in my nineteen years in Chicagoland. The visit was prompted by Katie’s Instagram last week. She called it her “annual February desperate to see/smell something green” visit. Lucky for Karen, Peggy and I, the Spring Flower Show, “Sun Showers” just opened. It was the perfect antidote to the cold, snowy, dark, dreary days of winter. We went on a rare sunny day. The sunbeams were pouring in and the conservatory was warm and humid. It felt like we went on a little vacation. We took our coats off and walked around breathing in the fresh dirt and the bright flower fragrance. Here’s a little peek at some of the flowers… The yellow umbrellas were so cheerful! I am going to make many efforts to go back as often as I can. The conservatory is less than five miles from my house–only a few train stops away!! I can’t wait to go back again and see what new flowers emerge as the flower show goes on until May 10th.

Inside another room of the conservatory was a quote by William Cowper’s The Task, which I think captures the feeling of our day the best,

“Who loves a garden, loves a greenhouse too.

Unconscious of a less propitious clime

There blooms exotic beauty, warm and snug,

While the winds whistle and the snows descend.”

I’m definitely thinking spring and gardening!

Tagged adventures, garden, gardening

Feb 11 2015

10 Comments

adventures, Naoberly's Noodle Tour, what's for dinner

Naoberly’s Noodle Tour: Ramen-San

Naoto and I are back in a ramen groove again…which is perfect timing since we are still in the dead of winter around here. Last weekend, we tried Ramen-san in the River North neighborhood of Chicago. I wish I’d taken more pictures of the entire restaurant. It’s rustic-modern with beautiful exposed brick walls, semi-communal tables and bench seating. It was just the right amount of noisy and while we were there (early dinner on Saturday night), they turned down the lights and showed the Bulls game on the brick walls. We started with cocktails. Naoto got an Asahi (He loves finding Japanese beers on tap!) and I got a Singapore Sling. Can you believe I’ve never had a Singapore Sling before? It was so good–gin, pineapple, Cherry Heering, Benedictine and lime, all beautifully topped with a slice of pineapple and decadent Luxardo cherries. We ordered the shrimp & pork wontons, which were a little spicy and really tasty. It was a nice warm-up for our big bowls of ramen. I have to say that the ramen presentation at Ramen-san was pretty lackluster. It kind of looked like my ramen was just thrown in the bowl, which was a bit surprising considering this was the priciest ramen we’ve had and the restaurant itself was very polished. In spite of it all, the ramen was very tasty. I got the tonkotsu ramen, which is pretty traditional with its pork broth, chashu pork slices and soft cooked egg. The broth was really tasty and the noodles were cooked perfectly.Naoto had the Kimchi & Fried Chicken Ramen. He really liked this spicy and unusual take on traditional ramen. He said it had just the right amount of heat to warm him up and he loved that the fried chicken was still crispy, even in the broth! Because we were taking the L, we got drinks for dessert. Naoto got another beer and I tried the Cilantro-Lime Margarita. It was rich and delicious with its special addition of yuzu (my favorite Japanese citrus) and spicy lime salt.

Ramen-san is the latest in our Ramen Adventures. Here are the links to our previous journeys:

Slurping Turtle

Misoya

Tagged adventures, cocktails, food

Feb 06 2015

4 Comments

adventures, Forest Park, Oak Park

Holy Snow!

On Saturday night it started snowing and it pretty much didn’t stop until sometime early Monday. And it snowed some more on Tuesday and Wednesday. Our area snowfall was somewhere between the 19-22 inch range. Above is what it looked like when I walked for coffee on Sunday morning. Everything was still passable and it was very pretty! Late Sunday afternoon, Naoto and I walked over to our friends’ place for the Super Bowl. The wind had picked up by this time and sidewalks and streets were somewhat of a challenge to walk in. We ended up walking to the L and taking it two stops and then walking through at least a foot of snow in some places to get to their apartment. It felt a little insane, but it wasn’t very cold and we feel like as Chicagoans, we should be able to handle a little bit of snow. (That being said, we never would have driven in that mess!) By the time the Super Bowl was over, we found ourselves walking in the streets to get back to the train. Some homeowners were outside clearing the walks, but not everyone had, so you’d find yourself in a clear path that walked into a dead end of waist-high snow. In front of our own building, the snow had drifted up by the garage door and we had to climb a snow mountain to get to our front door. What a fun adventure! On Monday morning, things were bright and sunny and a big mess! We’ve been trying to walk everywhere (mostly to work, for coffees and to the blue mailbox!) so we don’t have to navigate the messy roads and crazy parking situations out there. Stay warm, Chicago!