Setting the Table: Vol. 10
Chicago bound & links for the weekend!
Every Thursday, I'm setting the table for your weekend…a little collection of reads, recipes, fun things and whatever else caught my eye this week. It's the moment before the chaos when you get to decide what kind of experience you want. NOT a to-do list…just really sweet possibilities.
I’m writing this from my plane at LGA, boarding pass in hand, coffee in the other, with that distinct giddiness when you’re about to spend an entire weekend with someone who has known you through multiple versions of yourself and loves you anyway.
I’m going to Chicago for the next few days.
It doesn’t happen too often, so I forget…but then quickly remember every time I travel alone. The calming quiet of it…moving through an airport without having to narrate the experience to anyone…just watching…existing inside the noise without being required to respond to it. I sat at my gate for twenty minutes this morning just people-watching and it felt almost indulgent, this small act of being completely anonymous and completely present at the same time. Nobody needed me…nobody asking me anything…I was just a woman at a gate with her coffee, watching the world move by.
My phone has buzzed three times already. Millie, FaceTiming from home, where she and Yas have apparently declared it an official day of movies, video games and playdates. She looked so happy it made my heart warm over in the best way. She doesn’t need me today, neither does he…and that specific freedom…that knowing and confidence that the people you love the most are completely fine, better than fine, and that you can disappear for a weekend while the whole thing holds together without you.
I’m still smiling about it somewhere over Ohio.
My friend Sal has been my ride or die since my Charlotte days…it’s one of my cherished friendships that doesn’t require maintenance or explanation. Despite the amount of time in between our visits, we just pick right back up where we left off. We’re heading to Chicago to explore a city neither of us is familiar…together, and honestly, weather be damned, we are going to have the best time!
THE GRAZING PLATE
(quick bites, short reads, things to nibble on)
What I’m reading on the plane:
These have been living in my tabs this week & feel just right for a weekend of unplugging and thinking…
You’re Not Lazy, You’re Overwhelmed by Meg Josephson. I needed someone to say this out loud…saving it for the flight.
Who Are You When You’re Not Performing? from Shit You Should Care About. This question has been following me around for weeks and apparently it’s following a lot of us around. Good.
The Invention of Summer from Cake Zine. Because it’s April and I’m already dreaming about warmth and long evenings.
The Quiet Self-Sabotage of Thoughtful People from Quiet Growth Chronicles. This one hit a little close to home. Read it and report back.
Chair Time with Eric Trine from Wrong House. A conversation about making things slowly and intentionally in a world that rewards fast. Exactly what I needed to read before a weekend of doing absolutely nothing productive.
And Ina Garten dropped a new playlist for summer on her Substack…I will be listening to it while I walk around a city I barely know with my one of my best friends and it will be perfect.
THE DESSERT PLATE
(the sweet stuff, pure joy, no justification needed)
Here’s a little of what’s on our agenda for the long weekend:
• The architecture river cruise is already booked for Friday tomorrow morning, which I’ve been told by approximately EVERYONE is the thing you absolutely cannot skip.
• Second City on Friday night.
• Wrigley Field tour because it’s on Sals’ bucket list and honestly, I’m not mad about it.
• Skyline views from Sears/Willis Tower (if the clouds don’t block it all)
• The Music Box Theatre for the Beyond Chicago film series if we can snag a seat…
And in the moments between it all, a serious amount of eating.
We’re staying at the Millennium Knickerbocker…a 1920s hotel that Al Capone’s brother literally ran, which feels appropriately dramatic for a girls trip. The Martini Bar in the basement has speakeasy energy and we intend to find out for ourselves.
The food list is long and I have feelings about all of it.
Dove’s Luncheonette for the fried chicken and gravy under the Blue Line tracks. Pequod’s for the caramelized crust deep dish that I’ve been told will ruin all other pizza for me. Milly’s Pizza in the Pan if we plan ahead, which they say is one of the best pizzas in the world and only makes 45 pies a day. Ghareeb Nawaz on Devon Ave for late night Pakistani food at $6 a plate. And so much more…
Also very possibly…some vintage shopping in Wicker Park and Pilsen, and a wander through the Bridgeport Art Center which has creative-building-full-of-artists energy that I’m craving.
I’ll soak in as much as I can, trying to unplug and barely check my phone. I’ll be back Sunday night with a full heart, sore face from smiling & laughing way too much, probably some new vintage finds, and hopefully some fun stories to share.
And…we just got a 15min weather delay on the tarmac…so, before I takeoff…
Sunday’s essay is something I’ve been sitting with & rewriting for a hot minute. It started as a piece about women and the algorithm that I almost published and then didn’t, because reading it back I could hear the judgment undertones that wasn’t my intent, nor was it wha I wanted to put out in the world…we have enough judgement, amiright?!
What it became instead is something more honest and thoughful…about the price of admission and content creation, about what my husband Yas teaching me the art of SEO vs. the science of it and why it all sounds exactly like hospitality to me. It’s about what we are slowly, stubbornly trying to build and why.
Stay tuned, turkeys. See you Sunday!
What are you setting out for your weekend?
Much love,
Jess
Have a great time!! 😍