My Daily Detour

Change.

I hate it. Seriously, I really hate it.

I love exploring and discovering new things. It could be a city, a new restaurant, designer etc. I love finding little gems and sharing the experience with people. However, when I fall in love with something…it becomes part of me. It becomes a choice …and I become a creature of habit. I eat the same things at the same restaurants. I go to the same events and places ….it becomes traditions. Part of me.

When it changes….it really traumatizes me. I actually get overcome with sadness. It’s not just the change of a menu item, or a restaurant, or a staff member…..it becomes a loss, a break in a tradition— the end of a habit or an end of an era.

Today I woke up to a gray dreary rainy day in Chicago. My roommate is home for the weekend and I have the apartment to myself. There are a lot of things going on in my life right now…and I was cherishing and needing the solo time. Time for me. Time to think, make decisions, focus……just good ol down time. I decided I was going to walk Max and then go for an early brunch— take the book I am reading and lose myself for an hour in one of my new favorites finds. Grab a steamy cup of coffee and see if the rain was going to set in or clear up.

Let me introduce you to Eleven City Diner— it is literally right across the street from our building. http://www.elevencitydiner.com/

What I love about this Diner is that it is a flashback to his childhood memories. The owners name is Brad.

He is here on the weekend. His parents (whom I met this morning) literally work every saturday and sunday with him with the breakfast rush. The front of the menu holds his story. He created the Diner trying to bring back the feeling of family and sharing a meal. It is so warm and cozy. Packed all the time. Reminds of a good ol basic Jewish Deli/Diner in NYC. The food is AMAZING. Being the creature of habit I am, I always order the protein scramble (egg whites, with chicken and broccoli etc) but they do an insane French Toast on Challah bread with bananas, strawberries, toasted coconut and a dusting of powder sugar.

I have only been her 3 times— all for breakfast. I love having a dining partner— they can order the french toast and I get to take one glorious bite….but not today, I was solo. So I tucked myself in at the counter on a bar stool with my book. I loved sitting at the bar— it literally has all the makings of an old soda fountain—

So I settled in and just watched people. It was packed with Pre-Bears game people. The Chicago Bears were playing at home and our neighborhood is across from the stadium so the streets were FILLED with people in Bears gear. I could see the rain dance prayers dancing across their faces. I also watched families sliding in for brunch. Lots of couples from the neighborhood. I sat next to a darling little old man who has been coming here for years. His wife died a couple of years ago and he has breakfast here every Sunday. We chatted for a few…..its moments like this that warm my heart, makes me love living in a city. Real people and real stories. I watched Brad ( the restaurant owner) greeting people by name, asking about kids etc. It is truly a neighborhood joint. This is what I love–this becomes “the place I have to take you”….you count on them for the experience. I think I only read about 5 pages of my book, the rest I spent watching people and listening to conversations. The rain did not let up….and I didn’t care. I decided to continue on my Sunday plan.

Next stop was dropping off a couple of books at the library. The library is my new “thing”. I am working a new financial plan that allows me NO spending extra so I had to figure out how to feed my reading addiction. I am now a library girl. I learned I could go online and hold/order books, pick them up when I got the email they were in….VOILA! So I had 3 to return. Found a drop box outside the library…so I dropped them and continued on my journey.

Next stop: Marshall Fields State Street. I need a real umbrella. It has rained at least 3 times this week. My little piece of junk $5 NYC emergency umbrella does not cut it when waiting 15 minutes for a bus in a down pour. So off to the beautiful grand department store.

Marshall Fields ( which is now officially Macy’s but I REFUSE to call the state street store Macy’s….REFUSE) holds a special place in my heart. My parents use to bring my brother and I into this grand store at Christmas to see the windows. I can remember sipping hot chocolate from a street cart and walking around the city block and following the story in the windows. Every year there was a different theme…of course The Nutcracker will always be my favorite.  The windows were magical. All animated– mechanical and moving. Some would have dolls dancing, snow falling……pure magic. Then we would go inside. Santa would be up on the 7th floor along with THE GREAT TREE in the famous Restaurant The Walnut Room. My parents would wait for hours for a table in the room with The Great Tree. As a kid, I remember chicken pot pie….hot chocolate and the biggest tree you can imagine! We would get to pick out a new Christmas ornament for the year for our tree. It was a tradition. An experience. As an adult, I have gone back to this store MANY times with dear friends or my mom and enjoyed this tradition. A couple of years my mom and I even have invited a solo stranger to enjoy lunch with us….we have met incredible people from all over in that line for that magical lunch. Here is a picture of The Walnut Room (minus the tree–the rest of the year it is a fountain)

Today it was pretty empty. A couple of older couples enjoying brunch on the other side of the room in the windows. This store is also famous for its Tiffany dome–all the tiles were hand applied by Tiffany:

It WAS 7 floors of pure grandeur. The 3rd floor has an area called The 28 Shop….it used to have 28 huge private dressing rooms where the socialites use to come for fittings. The name is there….but the grand dressing rooms are gone. There was an amazing book store in the basement that was the largest bookseller in the city–no more. Now it is a couple of bookcases with the same name “Barbara’s Books”. There use to be a BEAUTIFUL bakery in the very lower level that made the most gorgeous deserts. Cakes they would put in white boxes and tie with string. At Christmas they had the most amazing huge sugar cookies decorated in the most intricate ways…..NO MORE….it now is a self-serve sushi place. There was a huge old fashion candy store…with jars of Jawbreakers, chewy candy—– and at Christmas it was full of ribbon candy. It is now a small area with Frango mints in boxes. The 4th floor had an amazing Bridal Salon. Fairy tale dresses…..places where you would sit and register for your China. Gone. I wandered all 7 floors….found tucked in a corner the history of Marshall Fields….found the original statement for what Marshall Fields stood for:

In my wandering nobody approached me. I watched associates staring off into space. Talking to each other— almost hidden in the back of the department. It just made my heart hurt. It has changed. The magic is gone— which of course amuses me to no end since Macy’s slogan has something to do with ” The magic”…..there was no magic. It felt like a glorified Target. Terrible customer service and nothing special. The building is still magnificant…and you can almost feel the old spirit in it….but the magic was gone.

I found the umbrella….but I did not find the comfort and love of Fields. Change–and I hated it!

I continued down the street. Passing the Palmer House. I stopped. Shall I? I decided I shall. I turned around and went in. The Palmer House is the palace or castle….at least that is what it felt like to my brother and I. The Palmer House is where we would stay as a family when we would come to the city. It was where my mom and I stayed on my 16th birthday. She took me to Chicago for my first girls only trip. I had my first makeup consultation at Clinique at Marshall Fields State Street. She bought me my first skin care and makeup. We ate at Ed Debevics. Went to see one of my first professional theatre performances ” Sheer Madness” at The Blackstone Theatre.  We also actually saw Victor Victoria with Julie Andrews before she quit doing broadway too. Anyways, I digress……

I walked into the Palmer House on the street level. There use to be the most beautiful women’s boutique….my mom would buy the most beautiful dresses, scarves and handbags there…..GONE. It is now a Starbucks. Right next to is the escalator that brings you into the great lobby. I took a deep breath…….I will forever my brother freaking out the first time we came up it because of all the naked people on the ceiling….laughing. PLEASE, let there be naked people…..

Thank god for the naked people! So I took a walk around the lobby. There use to be an expensive fancy restaurant in the basement called Trader Vics— Gone. There was a GORGEOUS magical room called The French Court where we would always have Sunday brunch before driving home—GONE. Now a banquet room. There is ballroom off the main lobby called the Empire Room that I use to tell my mom that I was going to have my wedding reception at…..it is still there—-is that a sign?

There has been change at The Palmer House.

Such incredible memories….memories of childhood and dreams. Someday I want to live in Chicago……Someday when I get married……Someday when I have kids, I will bring them to see Santa here…….. it was an incredible morning in the rain.

I still agree with my first statement. I HATE CHANGE. When something, somewhere or someone becomes part of my world….it holds a special place. I don’t like change. I want to count on it. I want to revisit it. It is part of who I am. I love traditions.

Thank god for memories…today I pulled so many of them out of my mind, dusted them off, polished them up—-and then stuck them away for safe keeping. Finding comfort in the fact that I will have them there forever.

So….we leave this post with the idea of the opportunity for new. Time to add some new places and experiences to my collection. Time for some new traditions. I guess at the end of the day you are looking for that feeling. That memory to be made. That comfort. The feeling of love.

ELEVEN CITY DINER ……

you are my first new kid on the block….don’t let me down.

Stop in when you are in Chicago for brunch…..tell them Laura sent you!

xoxo,

Laura

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