What Are All These Birds Doing?

As promised in my last post, I shall now describe today, aka Tuesday, January 26.

Today, I said goodbye to Jas -- for now. He hugged Mandy goodbye and then we had a moment where we were like, do we hug to say goodbye? Do we not? Mandy stepped in and told Jas that she and I never hugged until the end of the tour in May (which is true) and Jas and I have now set our calendars accordingly. Tour partnerships are the strangest relationships...

After that, I went with Mandy to work and by that, I mean, we rode the subway together. I got the seven day Ventra card (which looks and feels like a credit card... way to go Chicago) so I can basically ride the subway as much as I want between now and Sunday, so I wasn't too worried about where I was going. We spent most of the train ride trying to figure out what I could do with my day because odds are, I won't see Mandy until tomorrow morning based on her internship/work schedule. Several museums were free and I decided that I would go to the Lincoln Park Zoo, which apparently no one knew existed...

So, after walking Mandy to the front door of the Goodman Theatre, I turned around and got right back on the train I'd just gotten off and continued on my way. The train was the easy part, because after the train, I -- you guessed it -- got lost on my way to the zoo. How is it possible for one person to get so turned around so frequently? I think I would fare a lot better if my cell phone didn't try to help me out. Give me a real map and I'm good but my stupid "smart phone" flips me around so much that you'd think it was a Motorola Razr in 2003 (still bitter that I never got one of those bad boys).

So, part of my reasoning for picking the zoo had to do with Aladdin. In MCT's Aladdin, there are penguins. Yes, I know. There are lost penguins in the desert, which is strange to say because technically Antarctica is a desert but what seven year old knows that?! There is also a fabulous scene in the play where Sinbad the sailor and his amazing sailors come across the penguins and one of the sailors says "What are all these birds doing?" Then the penguins coo and it's adorable. Well, Jas and I have come up with our own, adult version of the line which involves a word beginning with the letter "f" that isn't fit for print. And now, whenever we see a bird (and sometimes when we don't), we say this line and act like it is a lot funnier than it is. So, yesterday, when we were talking about potential things we could do during our next residency, which is in Indianapolis, I mentioned that there was a zoo and that it would be pretty funny if there were penguins there. Once again, we thought this idea was a lot funnier than it actually was, so today, when I had to come up with something to do, I decided that I would go to the zoo and take pictures of all of the birds.

So, yes I went to a zoo that had gorillas and zebras and giraffes and all I took pictures of were birds. Ok, I also took a selfie! When I texted Jas, he seemed very impressed by my dedication to our cause. Our cause being stupidity, of course.

I made a meme.

The Lincoln Park Zoo is, by the way, working on a penguin exhibit for 2016, so when I return here in the fall, it will be waiting for me. Jas has added this to his calendar along with our hug in May. (God, tour partners are weird...).

After the zoo, I retraced my steps to the train station and then went on to get some grub! I'd read about The Chicago Diner, a vegetarian diner (meat free since '83) and wanted to give it a shot. And wouldn't you know, I accidentally ended up in Chicago's gay neighborhood. My gaydar is clearly a much better guide than my phone's GPS. On my walk to The Chicago Diner, I also crossed paths with another place I'd been hoping to go -- Ann Sather. Ann Sather is on The List courtesy of both Buzzfeed and Thrillist. It's a double whammy. But more on that in a second.

I really like finding vegetarian restaurants. I'll have been a vegetarian for a whole year on Sunday and while I maintain -- as I always have -- that it probably won't last forever, I have made a resolution to continue looking for exclusively vegetarian/vegan restaurants when I travel because I always enjoy them!

I ordered the Cajun Black Bean Burger, which was a black bean patty, sauteed onion, mushroom, spinach, tomato, fried jalapeno, cheddar sauce and creole mustard. It was spicy, but fantastic! I also had to order a vegan shake, a) because (no)milkshake and b) because it is "award winning." I need to judge these things obviously! It was good, although more expensive than I would have liked. The burger was so big that I couldn't finish it and I took it home with me for dinner tonight!

After my belly was full, I turned back towards the train station and again walked past Ann Sather. I already knew what I was going to do. Ann Sather's cinnamon rolls are their claim to fame.
I may not be as versed in cinnamon rolls as I am in vanilla milkshakes but I still had to give them a try! I went in and got two to go (two cinnamon rolls for $3.50! The price alone adds to their infamy). Now, one cinnamon roll was supposed to be for me and one was supposed to be for Mandy. Notice how I use the phrase "supposed to be" because after eating the first one this afternoon, I'm not sure the second one will ever see Mandy. When I got it to go, I didn't realize that they'd given me extra frosting! I will be licking that container clean after I finish eating roll number 2 (because it's going to be screaming my name in the morning... sorry, Mandy). I waited until I was back at Mandy's to open the bag so that I wouldn't be tempted to eat them cold (and also because I was still digesting lunch) but at Mandy's I warmed up the roll and the frosting and nearly died. Top notch rolls of cinnamon right there. The highest notch. The most wonderful notch. Sorry not sorry, Mandy. I'll take you back there, but a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do and this girl needs to eat more cinnamon rolls!

And that was basically my day! I've been chilling at Mandy's for a while now, thinking about food and taking way too long to type out this post. I'm also trying to decide what to do tomorrow. I'm meeting Ms. Mandy for lunch but then what else? I don't know yet! Suggestions are appreciated!