Author: Mandra

Mercury in Retrograde

I don’t typically choose my topics or themes ahead of time; I don’t make many set plans when I’m solo. My roommate wrote me a birthday poem once, and in it, she said, “she knows the plans best made, probably made before her,” and that is how I live my life. I let fate guide…

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Nature’s Bounty

With community gardens & farmer’s markets bustling all over the city, my picture roll was flooded with flowers, fruits, and veggies for consumption & discussion. Now, don’t be ridiculous; I didn’t forget the libations. There are so many fizzy margaritas out in Chicago! I’ve never seen so much club soda being mixed with it before,…

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A Midwest Bayou

I’ve been a long-time researcher of vampire origins. I have no idea when this happened, maybe Kristy Swanson in Buffy the Vampire Slayer? Maybe Anne Rice’s “The Vampire Chronicles”? I made my friends play the Twilight DVD strategy game – Team Edward. My very favorite movie(s) is the Underworld series, and it led me down…

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Peaking all over town

Last week, I returned to Colorado Springs for a weekend with my friends, enjoying the fresh mountain air. By the way, Chicago is dealing with poor air quality because of Canadian wildfires. Cough. This post isn’t really about food or wine. Instead, I focused on the feelings I had being back in a place where…

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Meat me in the city, I’ll be wearing blue

Burgers, sliders, yes, I’m familiar… but a Meatball Martini? What is this phenomenon you speak of? First, a well-done simple smashburger vs. a large two-patty stacked egg monster is just fine by me, depending on time and my outfit because I will engage with it like a date on Bumble. Isn’t it really a first…

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Excellence happens within a seedy bun

When I stepped out into the Wicker Park neighborhood for the first time in the Fall of 2023, I was on a mission. I wanted needed to find a Chicago dog. It’s tradition, if not a mandatory passage into the food mecca of the windy city. This past year I was able to make it…

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Wandering in Chicago

I arrived in Chicago in April 2024 with my car packed to the brim, never looking back in the rearview mirror of my life in Colorado. Here we are a full year later, full of wandering, eating, concerts, and settling into a cadence of wonder and curiosity in the best city in the world! How…

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I’m backkkkkk!

I’m here. I’m clear. I’m ready to show no fear. It’s been 2019 since I posted my last foodie finds and so many things have happened. I’m still in Colorado Springs, CO, but will soon be venturing out to Chicagoooooooo in the Fall for a Eat, Pray, Rock(out) adventure. It’s going to be a helluva…

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