The List: Xoco

What's The List about? Click here!

Last December, Bossyboots and I visited Rick Bayless' Topolobampo.  YUM!  Because I'm a Rick Bayless fan, his more casual restaurant Xoco was also on my "to visit" restaurant list and I made that happen just recently.  Xoco is a breakfast and lunch joint modelled after mexican street food.  Tortas make up a major part of their menu, and their buzzy items are their in-house chocolate and churros.  See some lunchy proof:

I started with the cubana torta - Smoked Maple Creek pork loin and bacon, black beans, avocado, artisan Jack cheese, chipotle mustard.  Aaaaaaaand I had to finish with the churros, for more than obvious reasons.

Overall, it was bit a of a heavy lunch for me, but SO delicious.  I highly recommend Xoco for a scrumptious lunch (go early, the line goes out the door!!!), but schedule yourself a light dinner - you'll thank me!  Highly recommended.

XOCO - 449 North Clark Street (enter on Illinois St.), Chicago, IL 60654

The List: Topolobampo

What's The List about?  Click HERE!

OK, so you may or may not have heard of Master Chef Rick Bayless.

(Photo Source)

Here in Chicago, we like to refer to him as "Ricky B". :) His restaurants Topolobampo, Frontera Grill, and Xoco are well-known and most Chicagoans makes their way to those tables sooner rather than later.

For some reason, I'm a "later".  Who knows why.  I love Mexican food, and being from Texas, I know what it's supposed to taste like (not Tex-Mex - MEXICAN).  Chicago, I love you, but I have yet to find a good Mexican meal here.  Maybe I waited because I was afraid after so many Mexican disappointments.

Anywho, I finally made it... and it was delicious.  Bossyboots and I made our reservations way back in September for a chilly Friday in December.  That's three months - if you're counting - which I was.  You have to wait a long time to get in on a weekend to Topolobampo.

Here we are excited to sit down at our table (I bought a new going-out blouse and everything!):

We had scoped out the menu for the evening ahead of time.  Usually, when you go out for a "fancy" meal, you select the tasting menu.  Often, you and your eating buddy will select different tasting menus so that you can try as many different dishes as possible.  That way you get a true picture of the personality of a restaurant.  This time, Bossyboots and I both set our hearts on lobster, scallops, crab, tuna, etc etc.  It just made more sense for us to go the a la carte route.  I don't share well.

Next time, I think we'll go the tasting route!  I do need an excuse to go back, so... twist my arm!

Drool:

Our chosen menu for the evening, in order:

• Guacamole with turnips and cucumbers
• Manitas de Cangrejo con Crema Habanera: fresh, first-of-season sweet Florida stone crab claws with creamy blood orange-habanero dipping sauce, crispy chips of local fall vegetables.
• Ceviche Fronterizo: lime-marinated Hawaiian albacore with tomatoes, olives, cilantro,and green chile; served on crispy tostaditas. 
• Langosta y Callos de Hacha en Salsa Otonal: Maine lobster and Viking Village sea scallops in creamy sauce of Nichols Farm sunchokes and roasted poblano chiles. Salt cod croquettes, young coconut, black barley, puffed wild rice, watercress leaves
• Chocoflan de Camote: super-creamy flan (infused with Nichols Farm sweet potatoes)baked atop moist chocolate cake. Dark chocolate caramel, rum-poached sweet potato, chocolate cookie crumble.
• Crepas con Cajeta y Platano: warm, buttery crepes filled with plantain custard. Nieve de crema (sour cream sorbet), peanut crunch, homemade cajeta and bittersweet chocolate drizzle.
• Cafe Playa: Kahlua, golden Arette anejo tequila, steaming americano (espresso, hot water) whipped cream, dusting of Mexican chocolate.
• Some sort of after-dinner candy treat!

*We also consumed several delicious margaritas.  Yum.

 The staff could not have been friendlier, and they are so great at what they do.  I highly recommend Topolobampo (as have many who have gone before me!)  We loved it - Xoco is next on my to-visit list!

The List: Buying a Couch

What's The List about?  Click HERE!

I am 32 years old, and I have never bought or owned a couch.  I have mooched for years off the generosity or convenient already-owned properties of my many roommates over the years!  MOOCHER!  That's me.

Anyway, this weekend, everything changed.

Bossyboots and I have been looking for sofas together because we are "serious" (I don't know what else to call it!) so he needs to be on-board with Senor Couch.  Our shopping adventures have resulted in the discovery of "Bossyboots Time".  My personality is to make split-second decisions that I 1,000% commit to... Bossyboots likes to research, price-shop, and he does not settle.

You can imagine the discussions that our two opposing decision-style personalities produce.  :)  

This is one of many situations, however, where Bossyboots wins.  Last weekend, after several months of hunting, we finally found "the one"!  I was so excited to actually BUY that frakker.  Welllll, then Bossyboots said he wanted to take a couple more weeks to think about it.  We decided to pay our couch another visit, and what joyous surprise did we behold?

A 20% off sale!

Yesssssssssssss.  Bossyboots loves to think things over, but he REALLY loves a good deal.  SCORE.  We walked straight up to the counter and plopped down our hard-earned cash.

In 8-12 weeks, I will be the proud mom of this sexy, sexy sofa:

Hurry up, West Elm, hurry up!

The List: Bikram Yoga

My first entry on The List!

So, I've always wanted to try bikram yoga.  Always, always.  It's funny - I never tried yoga until a few years ago.  I grew up in conservative Christian America, and growing up, I had the impression that yoga was "of the devil".  I don't even remember why I thought that - my parents never said it - I think I heard it at church.  Why is it of the devil?  I have no idea - probably because it's associated with Eastern spirituality.  Whatever - I love it.  It's a great way to connect your body to your mind - when I take yoga, I feel my body very clearly.  Hard to explain, and I know it sounds weird, but yoga helps me understand my body and breathing so much better.  Yoga breathing involves filling every bit of your core with air, and then expelling every bit of it back out.  Sounds crazy, but it's great and really makes a huge difference in how I feel.  I love it.

Anywho, I've only ever tried Vinyasa flow, which is a great starting place for new yogis.  I've always wanted to try Bikram though!  Bikram involves moving through 26 different poses, twice, and it takes about 90 minutes.  Bikram yoga rooms are heated to 105 degrees, with 40% humidity.  Wearing a minimum of clothing is recommended.  !!!

My friend Colo had always wanted to try bikram, as well, so we decided to give it a go together!  We bought a class at Bikram Yoga Andersonville and went together on a Saturday morning a couple weeks ago. Upong entering the studio, we removed our shoes and stashed our stuff in the locker room.  Then... it was time to go into the hot room!  I'll be honest, we were nervous because neither of us is a yoga pro, even though we do love going to classes.

We did our research and showed up in teeny, tight yoga shorts, with yoga tanks.  Ummmm, I stripped down to my sports bra/shorts within 5 minutes of starting the class.  Everybody does it, so it was no big deal.  We moved slowly and specifically through the poses - taking a couple breaks because I felt like I was dizzy a few times.  Apparently, this is normal for newcomers to bikram. 

And you know what?  I loved it!  I sweated like a racehorse, but it was great.  I felt fantastic afterwards.  I bought a one-month pass, and I'll be going back.  Since I already have a gym membership, I can't afford to keep going longterm, but I bet that after my monthlong pass is up, I'll keep going from time to time.  Both Colo and I give bikram a big thumbs up!  It's a challenge, but I loved it.  My first foray into The List was a success!

Have you tried bikram yoga?  What did you think??

The List: Adventures in Living

You may or may not have noticed a little change up there in my blog header... I have a new link to a new feature on this site: The List.  If you're a regular blog reader or blogger yourself, you've likely seen and heard about things like 101 in 1001 - the idea is to do a set number of stretchy tasks in a certain amount of time.  I love learning new things and experiencing new adventures, so I love the idea.

A couple weeks ago, I sat down to try to figure out what my 101 in 1001 might be, but as I worked on it, some tasks felt a bit forced, and some of the things I want to do might be hard to make happen in 1001 days!!!  So I adjusted course, and instead worked on a "Life List", something more akin to a bucket list, I suppose, minus the icky-sounding bucket part.

Everything on my life list are things I want to do or try.  Some of the things are on there just because I've never done them before - some are easy, some...like climbing Mt Kilmanjaro... are a bit pie-in-the sky.  But you never know!  As I complete an item, I'll post about it and link to the post on my LIST page.

So check out my list HERE!  What have you already done that's on my list??  Was it fun - would you do it again?  What's your #1 item on your Life List?