Jazz Hands

Even though I was sick on Friday and couldn't attend the physician party to which I was invited Friday night, Jack came to visit me in Chicagoland. To make the most of our time living so close to downtown, we decided to utilize a gift card I won at the hospital's gala and try a new sushi restaurant, Tamarind. We went into town a little early and had a light dinner of Godzilla and Spicy Windy Maki rolls. The place was minimalist and non-descript, but the sushi was great. Half of sushi-eating is the experience and it did not disappoint.

Jack and I were itching to try a couple new venues. One was located around the corner from Tamarind in South Loop, called Kasey's Tavern. It's been there since the 1930's and has unique microbrew beers for $3/pint on Saturday's. So we stopped in for a pint (I had Bell's from K-zoo, very good) and enjoyed the eclectic atmosphere of such an old pub. Plus, we finished up the NFL play-off game as the Saints dominated the field.

The second venue was Andy's Jazz Club , across the river. We heard rave reviews on this place and since we increasingly like jazz (particularly live jazz), we decided to give it a try. The place was packed and I felt resigned to sit on the window and listen to the tremendous jazz. I felt like I should have been wearing a slinky black dress and smoking a cigarette out of one of those sticks. Jack ran to the restroom and I noticed he was flagging me over from across the room. He tried to get us a table but the only table available was for six...and there just happened to be two couples also trying to nab a table. So we plopped down with complete strangers and had a phenomenal time!

The jazz was excellent. Just excellent. Even if you're not a devout fan (I greatly enjoy jazz but am by no means a connoisseur yet), you could not help but tap your foot and bop your head to the bass, piano, and trumpet. It ended up becoming one of those memorable nights I will never forget...especially as our table mates tipped the hostess to let us keep our table. They had a two hour maximum and we were already at three hours by that point! We stayed for over four hours, absorbing every beat. I kept fighting the urge to do "jazz hands!"