Inspiration Kitchen

Hi Everyone! Liane here to share with you all my dining experience at Inspiration Kitchens location in Garfield Park. There is another Uptown location too that has different options on the menu.

Inspiration Kitchens is so much more than restaurants. There is an entire non-profit organization behind these restaurants working to address issues of poverty and hunger. The approach taken to addressing these issues move far beyond the traditional methods practiced by other social services.

At Inspiration Kitchens, one of their primary goals is to make a sit down dining experience accessible for all people. They offer "working poor" families in the community an opportunity to sit down together at a table of their own to be waited on. This is a drastic shift away from the traditional experience a family of the same socioeconomic status would have at a soup kitchen. The approach of Inspiration Kitchen brings back a level of humanity and pride for those who are receiving a free meal.

The entrance to Inspiration Kitchens in Garfield Park

Inspiration Kitchens partner with other local organizations working in the community to address issues of poverty and hunger. Families receiving assistance from these community organizations can be registered with Inspiration Kitchens to come in for a meal. What makes this such a unique approach is that paying and non-paying dining groups are mixed together, so no one knows who is getting a free meal and who is paying.

Beautiful tables made out of repurposed wood fill the dining area at Inspiration Kitchens.

The culinary work being done at Inspiration Kitchens is equally impressive as its social work! Another aspect of this non-profits mission is to provide people with job training. I guarantee that anyone will find a dish on the menu that will leave their mouths yearning for just one more bite. A word to the wise, don't pass up the desserts here.


Please visit their website to learn more! http://inspirationkitchens.org/

A Not So Secret Garden

Hi Everyone! Liane here to showcase another beautiful gem this city has to offer.

The Conservatory in Garfield Park is a destination worth adding to your list of places to see in Chicago. A quick ride west on the Green Line brings you directly to it!



The Green Line at the Conservatory.



The Conservatory at Garfield Park.

 

 

There is no admission charged for entering this oasis in the city, which is fantastic for a broke college student looking for a new place to explore. I plan to visit here often as I ride out the last few weeks of winter. Here is a sneak peak inside The Conservatory at Garfield Park!

Inside the Conservatory.

 

Inside the Conservatory.

 

The Conservatory has a large open room with tables and chairs for people to come in, sit down, and stay awhile. The gift shop sells food and drinks in case you forget to pack a snack! Being here made me so happy today, as anyone who was with me for class can attest to!

 

Inside the Conservatory.

Seating area inside the Conservatory.

 

Oh Hi!!!!

 

Hope you enjoyed, and that you make it out to this amazing place as soon as you get the chance to. 





 

Happy Birthday!

Dear Chicago,
Happy Birthday! I'm sorry I wasn't there in time for the cake. Maybe next time you should get more, though. Also... I'm pretty sure some people just came for your food.



I hope you weren't expecting a huge dance party, because there were only a few people and I'm not sure if you even invited them.

Also, why would you invite Ms. Tittles and her cupcakes? I mean compared to the Flirty Cupcakes food truck, whose line was 40 feet long, Ms. Tittles' van was so janky! There had to have been someone else you could have invited. I mean, don't you know the muffin man?

Also, just a little tip. Puppets were fun in like 5th grade, but you're old now, you're 177 years old! Time to stop living in your youth.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed your lame --ehem I mean, small-- party--or rather, social gathering. Overall, I must admit that while your birthday party wasn't what it should have been, your other events (re: mardi gras, fashion show, art exhibitions, comedy performances) have surpassed my expectations and for that, I am grateful. May your birthdays never end.

Yours,
Silvia

Seeing the City

Hi Everyone! Liane here with another post to show off the sights of Chicago.

In the past few days of classes we have been all over the city. On Thursday, the Urban Seminar students were invited to a lecture on Restorative Justice held at Northwestern University's College of Law. The lecture took place on the 8th floor, and the views from this space were second to none!

Navy Pier as seen from Northwestern University's College of Law 8th floor space.



A skyline view as seen from Northwestern University's College of Law 8th floor space.

 

On the way to this lecture, we got a little turned around inside the buildings. This allowed me to do a little exploring. I came across this really interesting sculpture of a wishbone down a long hall in the College of Law.

Wishbone Sculpture in hall of Northwestern University's College of Law.

Stay tuned for a post from a tour of the University of Chicago! Coming soon.

I feel bad about the Trail of Tears

So I root for the Chicago Blackhawks over the Pittsburgh Penguins. However, Penguins ARE running out of ice to March on and Happy Feet on. And seeing that the teams' colors (red, white, and black versus gold, white, and black) are equally flattering on me, it really came close.......

BUT GO BLACKHAWKS   (especially since my roommate likes the Penguins' mascot better, so now we're rivals)

So did they win on Saturday? I was on the train when fans for both teams were headed to the game. So awkward...for me. Because I was one of the only people not decked out in sports gear.

I'm making a real effort to start rooting for sports stuff. So please comment or text me (THIS IS KATIE) which teams are trending, and I'll become a fan immediately.

xo

Oscar de la LeoDiCap

I'll live blog the Academy Awards as I'm writing this.

For a class assignment, I had to eat some food and then write about it.

I can't remember if that was before or after we made posters about ourselves.

For such sophisticated projects, you'd never know I'm a mere 22-year-old college senior!

I did lots of art stuff this week. DANG IT WAS HOPING BLUE JASMINE WOULD GET THAT ONE BUT WAY TO GO SPIKE. 'HER' WAS A GOOD MOVIE, THAT'S WHY YOU WON. I KNOW SOMEONE IN REAL LIFE NAMED SPIKE.

That's some art that was in this one gallery. I think it's a rock inside a glass box.

Nope, not enough funds for a rock. It's a flat thing.

Shout-out to Anna for her new haircut. What a babe.

GO CATE BLANCHETT I LOVE BLUE JASMINE AND WOODY ALLEN AND BLUE AND JASMINE TEA AND WAIT J.LAW IS NOW ON SHE'S DEF TOP 5 BEST DRESSED

AWWW NAWWW IT'S GOTTA GO TO LEO PLZ PLZ PLZ PLZ PLZ PLZ PLZ PLZ NOOOOOOOO MATTHEW MCCONAWHO NO WTF WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

I'll talk for a minute about my week and then Best Picture will be announced. I haven't seen all the movies yet because I'm afraid to illegally download movies online. HAVEN'T SEEN TWELVE YEARS A SLAVE BUT IT SOUNDS PRETTY GOOD TO ME, NOT BEING A SLAVE FOR TWELVE YEARS BUT JUST THE MOVIE LOOKS GOOD YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN

Another gallery I went to had pie, and one of the artists was there. He gave us advice on how not to jump off a cliff after we graduate college. 

  ART

I listened to another politician guy go bla bla bla, and THEN I went to this place called Jesus People USA. Naturally, I thought this place would be weird, and weird religious yada yada is not a good way to follow political bla bla. However, I could not have been more pleasantly surprised.

We walked into Jesus People USA (JPUSA), and a man yelled, "Hey did you hear about the kidnapping?" As a member of the anxiety-meds club, I had to find out about the kidnapping. The man then said, "We couldn't wake him up. The kid was sound asleep!" Oh. It's a joke. Or maybe he really was just talking about a kid who was napping, and now I can stop worrying about all the kidnappings I hear about on the news because they're probably just talking about kids napping and not being able to wake them up like maybe during nap time.

JPUSA served our group grilled cheese and tomato soup. They serve a lot of people food when they're hungry, which is an amazing thing to do. A woman told us all about the charity work this group does, including counseling for adults undergoing divorce. I don't think it has to be adults though. They don't really discriminate ever. They provide housing and resource services, they run a coffee shop, and they're opening a hip skate shop. Their members are typically Christian, but not always. Some atheists join just because the organization is so freaking charitable and kind of like a commune in that they all live together. It's like college dorms, which is obvi what we all dream of for our life-long living arrangements. They are some of the only people I've ever known to practice what they preach. Respect.

We saw a play called "Clybourne Park" at the UIC Theater, which was amaze.

AND THEN I REENACTED THE MOVIE 'DRINKING BUDDIES.'  I constructed a Saturday in which I would no-doubt be standing where my hero Olivia Wilde once stood. 'Drinking Buddies' is a movie with no script, meaning all dialogue is improvised. It's a feel-good movie that I've seen about 5 times (so far). It's on Netflix so you have no excuse.

Anyway, the movie was filmed in Revolution Brewing, which conveniently is in Chicago. So roommate Emma, fellow-Hanoverian Brooke, and I had dinner and drinks there on Saturday night. The food was great and the lights were very dim, so you know it was a cool place. But I was that girl who took a picture with the flash.

Once we demolished that meal, we went to the Empty Bottle, which is where other scenes in the movie were filmed. Pretty sure I sat on the same toilet as Olivia, just saying. Some bands played there that night.

The b-room stall me and Olivia Wilde share->->->->->->->->->

Brooke gave her number to a guy in a band, and then we waited in a laundry mat for the bus. We bought ninjas so that we'd be "using the place of business" and not just loitering.

By the way, this was Katie. And these people who live by my apartment have a chandelier for their driveway:

Friday 2/28

So let's backtrack a bit to last Friday. Friday's are our core course days. This one was unique because we split up into different groups. The Hyde Parkers got to stay in Hyde Park and meet Ms. Dorothy (teacher, quilt maker, power walker, Chicago connoisseur, and overall inspiration) at UC's social service center. The way I see it, though, Friday's split into 4 chunks:
1. Hyde Park art center
2. Du Sable history museum
3. Clybourne Park performance
4. UC Mardi Gras festivity

1. Hyde Park Art Center. It's current exhibition challenged the notion of high art by intermingling well-known artist's works with lesser known local artists. I peeked into a room and saw a bunch of elderly women from the community making pottery together. So cute! My phone was being silly, but David (roomie, football player, German accent, die-hard sea hawks fan) took some pictures.

Oh hey there's Brooke and I!

Oh hey its Liane, Silvia (me), and lil' Brookey

#candid

Heya Jake! David took a creeper pic of you!

2. Du Sable Museum of African-American History. Notables: A great start to the museum with some fascinating masks from different parts of Africa. The "endangered species" exhibit featuring visual, graphic art exploring the role of race and masculinity in society. Knock yourself out.
I don't have any pics from this. Sorry, you'll have to use your imagination. Or, I know, DO THE ACM PROGRAM! (shameless plug. Shameless b/c this entire blog site is a plug).

3. Clybourne Park performance. A great play based off of book Raising in the Sun. Explored gender, race, sexuality, "politically correct" terminology, all through the set up of one house owned by different generations and demographics over time. Wish we could've had an audience-based discussion with the cast/crew afterwards.

4. Mardi Gras at UC. If you're an ACMer who lives in Hyde Park, likes free food, and is interested in networking, then you are probably inflitrating UC whenever possible. I have crashed a handful of their events already. I really recommend it. This time, me and 3 other Hyde Parkers went to their Mardi Gras event in Ida Noyes hall. Brooke and I got to see the last part of a performance of Second City... FOR FREE.

UC Mardi Gras

Second City

 ...Sorry not as great of pictures as David's. I'm just kindof impatient.

So there's a slice of life blogpost for ya. Or rather, chunks of Friday. Ew.

Anyway, until next time!

--Silvia