I’m joining in on the fun for the first time this week and participating in Sara’s Tried It Tuesday link-up!

I’ve been pulling a Ron Swanson lately and trying to eat more meat than I’ve eaten in years. I’ve pretty much adopted the philosophy that if food looks good, it’s going in my mouth no matter what animal it contains. I don’t know why this is happening but bacon is smelling more delicious with each passing hour, and I can barely go a full workday without dreaming of a ham and cheese panini. So I’m not questioning it and slowly reintroducing different types of meat back in the ol’ diet.

BUT, and there’s a big BUT, there are a few caveats to this new-found philosophy:

1. I still don’t eat beef. Nope, never, nada. It’s not a preference thing, I just have hardly ever eaten it so it doesn’t even cross my mind as food.
2. Fish + Chicken first. Because they are the kindest to my stomach and the most versatile to cook with
3. I only buy organic, cage-free poultry without additives. So yes, I spend an obscene…OBSCENE…amount of money on meat for a single 20-something girl. But it’s how I’m able to eat meat — I HAVE to know that what I’m eating doesn’t have any “secrets,” ya feel me?
4. When I’m out to eat, I rarely eat meat at places that aren’t farm-to-table restaurants. Because if I bite down and I hit anything chewy or suspicious, I’m done. The meal is over. I won’t be able to finish it. What a shame that would be!

So how has this trial period back on the meat wagon been treating me? Rather deliciously, I have to say.

That delicious bacon I had on Sunday? It was crunchy, thick-cut and sweet. It took this breakfast to a whole other level. And I know it came from a local farm and was responsibly produced.

That deli meat I use to make my almost-daily turkey pesto sandwiches that I often just end up eating on the floor? Yeah, it costs me close to $10 a pound. So what? THEY’RE INCREDIBLE. Have you even stuck a turkey sandwich in the microwave for 20 seconds? Have you ever stuck a turkey sandwich with pesto in the microwave for 20 seconds? Have you ever stuck a turkey sandwich with pesto AND CHEESE in the microwave for 20 seconds? Too good.

And last, but certainly the BIGGEST accomplishment of my “Tried It Tuesday” adventure was that, for the first time in over a decade, I had sausage. With a runny egg on top.

I’m not going to lie. This was tough. The flavors were all there and it was a spot-on delicious breakfast sandwich, but my stomach wasn’t happy with its reintroduction to sausage But I trusted that the restaurant uses only quality ingredients in its sausage, no mystery meat, so I took a leap of faith. I don’t think I’ll be doing sausage again for awhile, but BACON, WELCOME BACK INTO MY WORLD. How I’ve missed you 🙂

How long will this meat experimentation last? Who knows. And don’t be surprised if a week from today I’m a freaking vegan (just kidding that would be excessive even for me). But I go through phases of being comfortable with different types of food, so for now I’m just going to blissfully ride the bacon train.

Questions:

• Are you “weird” about meat?
• What’s your favorite meat dish?
• What’s the most interesting meat you’ve ever tried?

This was a weekend of firsts for me. I didn’t have any big commitments, work, or travel plans, so there was SO MUCH ROOM FOR ACTIVITIES!

1) I went to my first concert of 2015. I have a goal (read: not resolution) to see live music once a month for the rest of the year, so now I can check January off the list.

Friday night a few friends and I went to see The Way Down Wanderers. I went to college with one of the guys in the band and it was such a blast! Bluegrass meets Folk meets Classical meets Rap. Or something like that.

2) I tried a new Ben & Jerry’s flavor: Americone Dream. It was a tough choice but I managed somehow.

(No these aren’t all mine)

3) I saw Dirty Dancing for the first time.

I brought…..a watermelon

Never again will I buy that my generation is responsible for the moral downfall of our society with the way we dance. Dirty dancing clearly started ages ago and now my peers are just honoring tradition — our style is just lazier and more monotonous, ending only when the call for 2am pizza is too strong to ignore any longer.

Although I will admit many late night dance sessions these days don’t end like this:

Believe me I’ve tried.

4) I tried a famous Lincoln Park staple for the first time: Blue Door Farmstand.

This place is BOMB.

I also met Sara from Lake Shore Runner for the first time in person! I’ve felt like I’ve known her for so long but it was a relief to meet her and see that she is just as sweet and adorable in person. Susie came too — she’s pretty cool, I guess.

Scratch that, extra cool. She knows how to photobomb a latte pic like a champ.

Aside from the firsts, I did some run of the mill activities to balance it all out. A little outdoor running, a little Flywheel, a little yoga sculpt. I think my body is confused over what I’m trying to do to it. I like to think a healthy life is fueled by a steady flow of ice cream AND greens, and so far it’s been going well.

Run in the snow — didn’t slip!

5) My first apartment flood

Okay, maybe a little dramatic, but we’re currently dealing with a flooding dining room in the apartment. Thankfully we caught it before it damaged anything but since it’s hardwood floors in a really old building, the people below us are dealing with water leaking from their ceiling and light fixtures. The really stressful part has been that the owner of the building isn’t responding and the “emergency number” is a fluke (great to know in times of an emergency). Luckily we were able to contact a plumber and he’s on his way, but TBD at how this first “adventure” is going to turn out!

Questions:

• Did you have any “firsts” this weekend?
• Favorite Ben & Jerry’s flavor?

Sometimes the best food comes to you when you least expect it.

This was true of my experience at Tango Sur in Lakeview. I knew the Yelp reviews were glowing, but I wasn’t convinced before I went there. I was worried that, as a traditional Argentinian steakhouse, Tango Sur would drop the ball with any dish that wasn’t filet mignon or a lamb plate. Luckily this couldn’t be further from the truth.

The outside of the building is very unassuming. After a few summer walks to the Dairy Queen next door I’ve often seen throngs of people waiting outside for a table, bottles of expensive wine in hand (it’s BYOB). The restaurant itself has two very intimate, small rooms, seating only about 50 people at a time, so you can almost always expect a wait. (Luckily I asked and found out that they have a “waiting room” in the winter for people to pass the time — I couldn’t imagine people in parkas waiting outside for the food in mid-January, no matter HOW good it is).

The second thing I noticed about Tango Sur is the lighting. It is pitch black inside. Not dim, black. The only light comes from long-stemmed white candles in the middle of each table. It’s incredibly romantic and quite the fire hazard, a charming combination to say the least.

I went with my family and, at the suggestion of the host, we arrived at 5:30 just before the crowds started making their way over for dinner. We were seated at a table in the middle of the restaurant, lively Argentinian music filling the room at just the right volume: loud enough that if someone began to dance it wouldn’t have been out of place, but soft enough that we could still have a conversation.

Our waiter was a sweetheart — he couldn’t have been more than 20 years old and knew the menu backwards and forwards. He immediately offered us an ice bucket for the bottle of Pinot Grigio that we brought, a thoughtful gesture.

As we browsed the menu and sipped our wine, we picked an easy appetizer that we knew would satisfy the table: Pravaleta.

Argentine provolone cheese cooked on the grill with olive oil and roasted red pepper.

We’ve talked about this before but it’s worth another mention: you can’t go wrong with a plate of cheese. The best part, in my opinion, was the roasted red pepper, which I made sure to get a little of with every bite.

My dad also ordered a ham and cheese empanada, which they get from Mercado Meat Mart, the small, authentic Latin American grocery store next door.

Not being a huge empanada person, I passed on trying this, but my dad certainly liked it. Plus everything is better when it comes in mini-size.

Our entrees were the real stars of the show. First, both my dad and brother got “El Filet”, range-grown fillet mignon, cooked on the grill then topped with a red onion wine sauce.

Now, I don’t eat red meat, so I don’t know a good steak from a bad one, but the guys were raving about their dishes. The portions were HUGE (they got two pieces of meat and ended up taking one home — talk about bang for your buck) and they said the meat was delicious and tender. So it was a win for them!

My mom ended up ordering the shrimp appetizer as her entree, which she wasn’t over the moon about but still enjoyed. I didn’t snap a photo because I was too busy drooling over my dish, which was a) made for an NBA player to consume and b) was so insanely delicious that I’m salivating just writing about it: Suprema a la Napolitana.

Chicken breast, breaded and topped with baked ham, mozzarella and tomato sauce

YOU GUYS. It was mind-blowing. Breathtaking. One of those foods you want to stop eating because you know physically your stomach can’t expand any more but your tongue keeps saying more! more! moreeeee! Needless to say, I ended up taking over half home, as my body was already succumbing to the plate of cheese that I ate just minutes before. But it. was. incredible.

We ended the meal a whole 10 pounds heavier and so satisfied, with absolutely no complaints whatsoever. Sure, it took awhile for our food to come out, but you have to wait for greatness, am I right? Plus, we had two bottles of wine and plenty of great conversation to fill those minutes. My mom, being a mom, told the waiter that it was our birthday, so they even came out with two plates of flan for my brother and me. It was so unexpected and unnecessary, but such a wonderful touch at the end. Not to mention that the flan was served with a homemade caramel sauce on the side that I would sacrifice my firstborn child to taste again.

All that being said, we had two bottles of wine, an appetizer, four entrees (including two orders of filet mignon) and dessert for under $120. In Chicago. It felt like we were stealing as we walked out.

All I can say is THANK GOD Tango Sur is a five minute walk from my apartment. Now to make friends who will willingly fork over good money to eat Argentinan food instead of get $5 slices of pizza…#roughlife

Questions:

• Have you ever tried Argentinian food?
• Do you have friends who are open to trying new types of food with you?

Hey team! I’m writing to you from the horizontal position on my couch that I’ve maintained for the past eight hours.

Sickness is a funny thing…sometimes you feel it coming on and, like a wave, it passes mildly, but other times, *WHAM*, out of nowhere, it feels like Clay Matthews came at you out of your blind spot and you’re out of commission for awhile. I’m so lucky that my home in the suburbs is less than an hour away so that, during times like this, I can come home, act like a baby, and be taken care of. My day has mostly revolved around soup, m&ms (for my mental health, of course), and Buzzfeed.

Speaking of which, I found a pretty cool article you might find helpful!

24 Diagrams to Help You Eat HealthierMy favorite diagram is the one about nuts — now I know I can eat allllll the pistachios.

Before The Plague of January 2015 came on, I had a pretty awesome Saturday spent with my dad. After I got off work he came to the city and we made a night of it. If you’ve ever read my About Me section, my high school life revolved around basketball, and it was my true love for quite awhile. I even considered playing in college but decided I wanted to go to Illinois, a D1 school, and that was never gonna happen haha. But my dad was always my #1 fan, always at all my games. Anyway, we used to go watch women’s basketball games at Northwestern, and since it’s been a few years we decided to bring back the old tradition and go see a game.

It was so much fun to be back at Welsh-Ryan arena with my dad, especially because the Wildcats played Michigan (our #1 team). Funny how I used to be terrified of college athletes but now that I’m post-grad, the players all looked so small! Perspective is a funny thing.

After the game we went to dinner at Farmhouse, a farm-to-table restaurant that focuses on seasonal, local food. We sat at the bar and had a few drinks and appetizers before placing our dinner order. It was a beautiful space!

Their drink list is interesting — they don’t carry any commercial brands (you should have seen the look of surprise on my dad’s face when he asked for Bombay Sapphire gin and was instantly shut down). I asked for the closest draft to my beloved Stella and the bartender gave me a few samples before I settled on a wheat ale (I really wish I could remember what it was! Blogger fail).

After consulting Yelp, we knew we had to start with their famous cheese curds

Beer Battered Wisconsin Cheese Curds with homemade ketchup and spicy curd sauce.

Now, I don’t think I’ve ever had a bad plate of fried cheese, but these were definitely special. The sauces were both homemade and you could tell the curds were as fresh as possible. Each and every one was well-sized and stuffed with cheese — no extra breading at all. We both loved them.

And for our entrees Dad and I got the same thing — the Indiana Fish Fry.

Beer battered yellow perch, tartar slaw, mustard seed gatstrique, and tavern-cut fries

There’s usually nothing special about fish and chips. It can be great no matter what — all you need is a little lemon and tons of ketchup or tartar sauce and you’re golden. But the special thing about this was the entree as a whole: when you combined the fresh fish, slaw and mustard seed gastrique all in one bite is was absolutely perfect. I could have swam in a pool full of that gastrique. The bartender said it was sweetened malt vinegar and mustard seeds. I would love to meet the person who created that — I love restaurants that take care to make sure all the elements of a dish come together to make one spectacular eating experience. It was like a math equation: fish + slaw + gastrique = perfection. Now that’s math I can understand.

So even though I spent half the weekend horizontal on my couch, it was a great one. Great time spent with my dad and wonderful food. Now I’m spending my Sunday night with some of my favorite ladies…

And gents…

My besties.

Favorite Song: “I Will Follow You” by Rivvrs

I can’t stop playing this song! It’s been my go-to lately, whether I’m checking email, studying, or just walking to the train. IMO, music is one of the few keys to true happiness. I always have music on — when I’m making breakfast, taking a shower, writing, whatever. Never underestimate the power of music to alter the course of your day. I don’t care if it’s Pearl Jam, Avril Lavigne or Toby Keith — just get your jam on. This has been one of my favorites to run to lately:

Yes it’s a British boy band. No their music isn’t available on Spotify. And yes I’ve been pretty salty about it. But the tempo is perfect for a run so if you don’t mind having YouTube open while you sprint away, by all means.

Favorite News: Pizza update! (always crucial)

Giordano’s in the Loop is offering a “Cubby Special” this weekend. All you have to do is ask, and this beauty will be set before you. Now to find a dinner date…

Favorite Workout: Shred415

I know I’ve said this to you guys about sixteen times recently, but I haven’t worked out harder than I did at Shred in a long, long time. The main idea behind Shred is to combine cardio and weight training in one hour of hard work. No two days are the same. Some days you alternate running and core work in 10 minute increments. Other days you run for 30 minutes and work on weight training for the last half an hour. Oftentimes it’s divided into four 15 minute pieces. Every workout surprises your body with new moves and challenges, and I love the balance between cardio and weight training. Gideon, one of the instructors there and a great friend of our lululemon store, led class and between sprints and core work I left drenched in sweat, my muscles shaking, and with an insatiable hunger. So much so that I shoveled an entire avocado in my mouth as soon as I got home. Skin not included, of course, but it was dicey there for a minute.

If you have ClassPass or are looking for a new way to workout in Chicago, please please please go check out the kind folks are Shred415! And if you want me to join you for a class (or any class, for that matter), shoot me an email! I’m always down to sweat.

Favorite Show: About a Boy

I discovered About a Boy just a week ago, but because there are only two seasons out so far, I’ve already started to re-watch both seasons and plan on doing so until I get sick of the same 24 episodes. It’s just the cutest.

Favorite save/splurge: Industry Night at Sunda

Enough said.

Favorite Article: Which Alcohol to Pair With Your Girl Scout Cookies?

Valuable knowledge, my friends. If you need me I’ll be locked in my room snacking on some shortbread and champagne.

Favorite Pastime: Trivia Crack

Spencer introduced me to the most addictive game ever. We even played it last weekend at his apartment while sitting next to each other on the couch. No conversation necessary, just straight up trivia. Thanks to this game I now know the uniform colors of the Miami Dolphins, the ins and outs of podiatry, and why Zeus punished Prometheus by chaining him to a rock in Greek mythology. THIS is the stuff I should have been learning in high school!

This is the face of defeat

Favorite Video: The Power of Failure

This video really hit home for me. Failure is one of our greatest friends. Failure naturally builds humility, self-examination and self-realization. Failure equals new possibilities in life that you didn’t expect. What do you think?

HAVE A KICK-ASS WEEKEND!

Questions:

• Have you tried Shred415?
• Do you play Trivia Crack?
• What do you take away from the video about The Power of Failure?