Unity O.'s Profile

Way to go Molly's...you go up another star in my book!!

Who on earth would have thought a cupcake place would be so hopping on a Friday night?!?!?  It was like the non-drinkers choice on Lincoln Park this past Friday.  A trio of us gal pals decided on a low key evening of catching up, chatting, playing some games & of course there had to be chocolate involved (as I say--it is a way of life).  Well, we rolled in about 8pm to find Molly's a little busy, but not packed...we must have hit it at the right time (a huge bonus for me was that I found a FREE parking spot in LP on a Friday night only 2 blocks away--woot woot!!).  

We wandered in, scored their biggest table (trust me that is not saying much in here since it is not a big place) and gawked at the cupcake display for like 15 minutes--there is just so much that draws your eye.  I love that they had so much variety at 8pm.  Since 2 of the trio had never been before, it took us a very long time to order.  This did not seem to bother the folks behind the counter...they just stood there and smiled at us (I think they knew we would love whatever we ordered).  

So, I opted for the Peanut Butter Nutella cupcake and let me just say this...YUM!!  This cupcake was so rich & dense, filled with a generous dollop of nutella in the middle--bliss.  It was like eating a really excellent peanut butter cookie with the added bonus of some creamy chocolate...trust me it took every ounce of will power to NOT get another one.  My friends ordered chocolaty cupcakes and you know what a good sign of great cupcakes is?!?!?  We did not share bites with each other.  We each enjoyed our own to the utmost.

This space is wonderfully bright & fun.  Lots of colors, upbeat music playing, and at the bar they have swings for seats (cutesy & fun!).  The crowd here is very young--it is Lincoln Park ya'll, but if you like cupcakes, do not let that deter you from enjoying the delights within.  Another plus is how late they are open.

Hmmm...Now I am totally here with this establishment.  It really does not have a typical coffee house feel to it.  It seems fancier than that--the vibe is more posh in comparison to the other coffee places in the area.   I would say it is actually 31/5 stars rather than 3.  

If you are looking for a quiet place to spend an afternoon with little to no interruptions, then this would be the spot for you.  The interior is very inviting & warm--plus if you score a seat by the window & the sun is shining in that is bliss on a cold day.   I happen to go to this place on a Sunday afternoon with a friend and we were the only ones in there for about 2 hours.  So, it was nice to have the place to ourselves, but I hope more people frequent this place during the week.  If you are looking for a place to bust out you laptop, surf the web, do some work, or just write Yelp reviews, this would not be the place for you.  They have a limit on wifi use which can be a bit off putting to many of you folks out there.  I understand they are trying to for a more relaxed feel, however, I think they are going to suffer for it in the long run.

The food & drink..So good!  I am still drooling over the maple oatmeal scone, it was so tasty (also very light & flaky).  Coffee was also very nice, I have had better, but this was definitely good and I would go back for it.  They have an extensive coffee menu; I believe their drinks are what they are known for.  So, if you love flavored coffee & such, check them out.

The interior of the place does have something that sort of bugged me--it really has no counter to walk up to.  They have table service which is nice, but no bakery stand to look (read drool) over the treats they offer.  The counter was designed to block off the kitchen area & has this big contraption in front of it, I find this off putting.  Mainly because if I just wanted to go in & order a coffee...there is no place to just walk up to and order.  There isn't a "to go" feel to it.  

I hear they have a great patio, so I will go back in warmer months to enjoy that.  All in all a good place to meet friends for some chat time & connecting, but not a good place to study or work.

Well, hello there my friend!  It is so lovely to see you...it truly has been too long.  Shall I just take a seat anywhere?  Well, I don't mind if I do, thanks.

That is exactly the feeling you get once you walk into the doors of Ipsento.  It is like walking into a friend's home that is all warm, welcoming and familiar.  It also kind of feels like I am walking into my grandmother's home with all the vintage seating & mismatched furniture (I totally mean that in a good way!!).  You walk in & immediately feel like you belong there...ah bliss.

Ipsento is wonderfully cozy, has a hippie literary (kind of Nerdtastic) vibe to it--check out the names of the sandwiches (love it!), feels utterly organic, and is the sort of place you can park your behind in for an afternoon (free wifi).  One thing I really like about it is the split level floors as it can cater to different crowds & needs. 1st floor some tables, a nice window seating area, and the counter where you order.  2nd level--room for your more quiet study or work--have a very library feel to it--I tried to sit up there, but felt I had to be uber quiet, so I meandered back down to the 1st level (ah, much better for this chatty chic!).  

Food & Drink---yum!  Coffee is brewed nice & strong just the way I like and served in generous mugs (Yay!).  I had one of their scones on a recent visit and even though it was in the evening (half off baby--yay!), it was still delicious.  Looking forward to going back for lunch some day and you should too.

Location is conveniently located about 2 blocks from the Western Blue line stop, has plenty of street parking...NON-METERED (woot woot!!), and is open till a decent time for a coffee house in a non university area.

These classes kick my a$$--seriously, I am usually sore all over leaving their one hour (feels like 5) intense work outs.  I am not ashamed to admit that I am out of shape, but holy frijoles, I find myself looking like I was hit by a truck by the time the class is over--sad I know, but that is how it is.  

A friend of mine bought the groupon offer & she has graciously allowed me to attend 3 classes with her (you have got to love the free--yo!).  I have tried Zumba Toning, Circuit Boxing, & Zumba, all of them intense and fun (although I freely admit that Circuit Boxing was the most difficult for me).  The classes are normally limited to about 15 people per session which is actually great since the rooms are not huge--15 fit pretty nicely.  They are lead by great instructors--who are enthusiastic & encouraging.  You can tell they really love what they do & that makes the environment fun.  Definitely makes you feel like you can do it & you want to do it.  FYI--if you ever do an indoor class with Amy--she will really push you (not in a bad way).  

The studio is a fairly decent size, although it is not located in the most welcoming of buildings.  The entrance is confusing, enter on Huron not LaSalle & once you enter the building it seems rather dank & dreary.  However their space is warm & inviting, it is an interesting contrast.  

So why the 4 stars rather 5?  Well, to be honest it is because the classes are not all beginner friendly.  They are fast paced, intense, and have lots of choreographed moves.  So, it can be very easy to feel awkward and like you cannot do it.  You should not let that scare you though, if you stick with you can catch on pretty quickly.  Another knock to their star status is the fact that the classes are very difficult to get into.  They fill up rather quickly and if you are not on the ball, you have to wait at least a week to even take a class.  When you are trying to get in shape--that kind of sucks!

I would advise the Teamifit people to perhaps think about offering a beginner class here & there in order to avoid the awkwardness.  All in all, great classes offered a beneficial times--I might buy a membership.

Oh me oh my...Guess what?!?!  I found Nemo, oh and Marlin, Oh then there was Dory too, I also found Bruce--er wait a minute, if I had found Bruce I would have crapped my pants--HELLO he is a GREAT WHITE SHARK!  Trust me when we were in the shark area, if Bruce would have been there--people would have been running & screaming down the halls, plus he would have totally eaten Nick.

Okay, so I am little late in giving my 2 cents on this shin dig, but hey I needed a week to have it all settle in. Plus it is fitting that this is my 1st review of 2010 (I know I am slacker!!). This event was absolutely amazing...what a venue, what a crowd, what a staff, & what awesome Yelp CMs we have to pull off this fete.

From the very 1st moment of entering the Shedd, I knew this was going to be great. The staff of the Shedd was so nice; they were informative, gracious and seemed genuinely pleased to have us there. They answered any questions I had regarding the fishes & such..With all smiles I must add--you can tell they are proud of what they do & that was so great. I must tell you that the Shedd is one of my favorite places to go--mainly due to the fact that I used want to be a marine biologist.

You want to know the best part of this event for me?!?! NO KIDS & NO STROLLERS--oh man that was bliss. It was so wonderful to walk around the area without being bumped, jostled and run into by kids. I wish the Shedd had evening hours for adults. A close 2nd to that is seeing the baby beluga--how fricking cute was he?!?! 3rd best was being in the shark area and it was so quiet--you really felt like you were under water with the sharks.

Now, I really did not get to enjoy the food--wow those lines were long, but I do not go these events for that anyway--I go to see you people--duh! I did get a piece of Dominoes & left me tell you, that pizza never tasted so good--I was hungry yo! It was nice to see all the vendors there & the trolley to the "L" was so appreciated.

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!! Johnny, Jelena, & Colleen--YOU ARE THE FRICKING BEST!!

I love supporting local businesses, especially when it comes to a bookstore. There is something to walking into a place filled with books, there is a warm sensation that fills me & makes me happy. Independent bookstores especially make me light up. The layout, the selection, the people working the counter, it is all just a great experience.

Now, smaller bookstores like this one tend to have smaller selections, but the Book Vine is more than happy to special order anything you would like. They keep those special orders behind the counter with your name on it.

The book Vine is so aptly named as it not only sells books, one can also pick up a lovely bottle of wine as well. They have a special (closed doored) area of the shop dedicated specifically for grapes masquerading around as wine. So, you can ideally plan a lovely evening of books & drinking something I know you Yelpers enjoy.

The shop itself is split up into two levels, 1st floor has books, wine, magazines, and also the checkout counter. 2nd level, has comfy chairs to sit and read the used books that are stored up there. It is a great place to go and relax. I would imagine that this is a great place for a book club to have its regular meetings as well.

So, if you are ever in this neck of the woods give the Book Vine a try.

So, you may be wondering what this city girl is doing in Northwest Iowa. Well, not a whole heck of alot--let's just say my in-laws live in a town of 184 people (YEP, ONE HUNDRED & EIGHTY FOUR!). So, the thing to do is head to town & that town is Cherokee. The place to be in Cherokee is the Copper Cup. Well, I like to call it the Copper Kettle, mainly because I think it sounds better. So, for the rest of this review I shall refer to it as the Copper Kettle.

Imagine if you will a place where the locals come, have a cup of Joe, sit and shoot the breeze, and find out the gossip around town. Can you picture it? Good well, the Copper Kettle fits the bill to the tee. The atmosphere is very relax where one can go to read the paper or a book, come to meet a book club, or come spend some quality alone time when they are escaping a house jam-packed with 18 people.

The Copper Kettle sells your regular coffee shop fare: scones, muffins, tea, coffee, and biscuits. You can get fru fru drinks as well if that is your thing. They also have little trinkets you purchase as well, thus it also has a boutique feel to it. They also host music nights & for a town like this that is welcome treat.

So, why the 4 stars & not 5? Well, honestly the coffee itself is a bit on the weak side. I like a strongly brewed cup of coffee and this falls short. Also, they charge for refills and while I understand many coffee shops practice that now, I still do not like it. Cannot complain too much since it is about .25c for the refill.

Overall, I love coming to the Copper Kettle and will continue to so when I come to this part of town.

Yes, I am majorly lame & left Pasha early.  So, now I am the 1st review this event.  MAN OH MAN--Johnny T knows how to treat Yelpers right.  Seriously all he keeps outdoing himself with these Office Hour events.  They are tres hip & chic...he may need to take it down a notch or else the expectations are going to be off the charts.  Trust me I have been to the past 3 & they have been rocking!  Now to be fair these are my favorite events, they tend to be on the smaller side, so lots of talking can be done.  If you are new to Yelp, trust me check one of these bad boys out if you want to actually meet people.  

The event, wow!  Just plain WOW!!  The food was delicious, my favorite was the pumpkin polenta--creamy & not at all sweet.  Also, got to try rabbit for the 1st time as well as steak tartare--both very good.  I have to Grocery Bistro major props for serving up some tasty fare.  Most of all the servers were fantastic, they were quick, courteous, and always served with a smile, even when swarmed by hungry Yelpers.  I will definitely hit this place up for dinner sometime.

The venue for the OH was very warm & intimate, they set a table just for us, not just any table a super duper long one that ran the length of the place.  FYI--I absolutely love their cutlery and I want some for my home (good gift idea peeps!).  GB is not very large, but it makes for a great date night affair.  

Once again a fabulous Office Hours..thank you YELP!

So, you know how you can tell when boobs are fake? Well, you can tell with Christmas trees too ;-) It is all about the feel & let's be honest fake don't feel right. People you just gotta go real for a tree, who wants fake? Now you can go to one of those tree lots sprinkled through out the city, or you can get your Paul Bunyon on and cut down your own.

This year, Matt & I decided to get in touch with our inner rustic selves & venture to a tree farm to get our tree. In fact it is the earliest I have ever gotten a tree--seems oddly weird. Currently we have an 8 foot White Pine (it was 9 feet, but let's just say it was a little too big for our place...you know like bending on the ceiling) taking over our living room & it is pretty fabulous.

This farm is pretty sweet, they have a wide variety of trees to choose from & it is a rather large place to wander around in. It is also only a little over an hour outside of the city. Not too far from Huntley, so if you also want to get your shop on you can swing on by the outlet mall.

Once you arrive at the farm, you head over the warming house where you meet with the owner (he is super friendly & very helpful), you then receive instructions on where the varieties are located and you also receive a saw. You can wander around or you can get a ride on the horse drawn carriages (Clydesdale's yo!). Hey, even Santa is there--he rides around on a John Deere tractor picking up trees for folks. Tree prices vary and it can run you a bit of $$, but it really is more about the experience anyhow right?!?!?

Here are the pluses:
*Free Parking
*Warming House
*FREE hot chocolate & coffee for patrons
*Pick your own tree & cut it down.
*Free de-needling & wrap of tree
*The sell Apple Cider Donuts--yum!
*Horse drawn carriage ride
* Santa is there which is fun for the kids
*they have 8 varieties of Christmas trees: Blue Spruce, Balsam Fir, Concolor Fir, Douglas Fir, Fraser Fir, Norway Spruce, Scotch Pine, and White Pine

Cons:
*A bit pricey
*The Christmas decorations they sell are a bit cheap looking.
*If you cut down your tree & leave it for pick up, it can take a very long time to get it up to the warming station.

All in all a great place to get your Christmas tree, heck this may now be a tradition for us.

For the record, I actually quite loathe Evanston...I truly do not get the appeal. I will however venture there from time to time either for the farmers market in the summer or to meet a VERY GOOD friend (if you are merely an acquaintance you are out of luck :-).

Yesterday I happen to be meeting a friend for some catch up & girl chat time and since I have read some good reviews of this place (plus we both live on the far north side of the city), we choose to plant our behinds at the Unicorn Cafe. I love supporting local independent places--no Starbucks for this lady.

It seems how packed this place gets comes & goes in waves. I got there around 4pm & there were plenty of tables available, but at 5pm there were none. Luckily my friend had the foresight to get there early & she had already got us primo seats--she had to wait though when she got there (guess you have to time it properly). They have free wifi, which makes people stay there forever; seriously some people plant themselves there all day. This place gets packed with students from Northwestern and also your ordinary working class stiffs.

This place definitely has an eclectic vibe--does not seem like the sort of place you find in the burbs, seems more city like which is why I kind of dug it (sort of reminds me of Dollop or Noble Tree). You can go to study, work, chill, read a book, do some teaching English as a 2nd language, or simply to chat with folks. No one seems to mind whatever it is that you are doing, as long as you do not bother them.

The brew is Metropolis so bonus points for that; although they could use some bigger mugs to put it in (they are tiny!). The baked goods decent although the brownie I had was a bit dry. They have a variety of sandwiches, soups, and pastries for sale at very decent prices, so I will definitely be hitting them up again if I am in the area. One downside...CASH ONLY which can be a pain for this non cash carrying person.

The staff is super!! They are very friendly, attentive, and all around cool people. If you are in the hood, give Unicorn Cafe a try--remember though seating is not a guarantee.