light up a mean blaze with posters and screenplays

having a most unseasonably warm day of mass "love" exploitation in the winter hinterlands. 52 degrees! i thought we were in for another chilldown this morning, so i bundled up for WeeBeastie's jaunt and actually had to take off my hat, gloves and scarf to make it home sans sweat. the corduroy shirt i was wearing got lost too before i headed to work due to the heat. i sincerely cannot recall another february here with these types of temps. no complaints here!

the Mole and i aren't what you'd call connisseurs of valentine's day, so we're electing to stay in tonight away from the maddening crowds. it's been a couple years since i've worked this crazy night in a restaurant, so i remain thankful that those days have ended.

in lieu of hitting the town, we're having some homemade crab bisque and bisquits in the comfort of our crib. we may even step it up a notch and dine at our table!



looks good, no?

now, i can't really pontificate too much against the big meal day of the year, seeing as how we dropped a nice sum on an absolutely incredible sushi meal on saturday from one of my new fave restaurants, hachi's kitchen. it's in logan square, which makes it a short field trip from our hood immediate. the rolls were divine and the ahi appetizer we had truly melted in me mouth. the night's comedy highlight was Mole suprising us by snatching up a bottle of soy sauce and pouring it into a freshly decanted bottle of $30 sake. we all just sat in a moment of semi-stunned silence until our waitress came by, noticing our now brown decanter vs. the clear one she'd just poured. "wha' happen to sake?" she queried. Mole said, "i'm so embarassed. i thought i was pouring more sake in there!" a new bottle arrived, thus making our night a wee bit more financially decadent than we'd planned. i really cannot wait to try this place out again. no matter how you slice it, i *loves* me the sushi!





now, even with my love of the raw fishies, i still have no desire to get down with this:



it's exactly what it looks like -- you're picking your sushi off some nude model who maintains a very sleepy pose throughout your meal. a newer lounge downtown has been bringing this latest dining style to chicagoans. you know, i wouldn't care how hot a man or woman might be, i just don't think i'd like eating off somebody's skin whom i have no intimate knowledge of. it just seems a little dirtville, regardless of how clean the human serving plate may be.

so, after our crab bisque, the Mole and i plan to while away the evening in front of our heavenly fireplace.



i must say that i've become quite the firebug, setting anything papery and flameable ablaze. cereal boxes, junk mail, frozen food boxes, chinese takeout boxes, newspapers of every ilk and every bank and credit cared statement from 2005 have all met their demise in my fireplace. after that, i rely on the fine services of chicago firewood company.

niiiiiiiice racks!