Farmer’s Markets, hipsters and rain.  Never.  Ending.  Rain.  These are a few of my favorite things…well, that’s what summertime in Chicago means these days.  What are we?  The new Seattle?  Maybe…after this post, you might just think so.

It’s been raining for almost 3 weeks non-stop.  It’s been raining so much I don’t have to water my balcony flowers.  Although every time it rains it does cause quite an “incident” on my balcony.

Muddy balcony.  Not good.  More on my city balcony oasis next week.

For most places, April showers bring May flowers.  But this usually does not happen in Chicago.  More like June showers. It’s finally starting to get hot, but as always in Chicago, the weather is unpredictable, it can be sunny and rainy at the same exact moment.  See that?  That’s some blue sky poking through the clouds while it’s raining.

So what’s great about this time of year?  Here are some other glimpses of summer-to-be  greatness.  The farmer’s market in the West Loop has opened up.  My neighborhood has it’s own farmer’s market.  Two in fact.  Soho House is also hosting a Farmer’s Market.  It just brings me such joy to buy farm fresh veggies.

I got all of this…okay not ALL of it, but i got a pint of strawberries and a bunch of rhubarb.  And a pint of baby yellow squash and bunch of asparagus, as well as head of broccoli and a dozen eggs.  I got the brown chicken eggs on the right…duck eggs were on the left.  maybe next time I will be brave enough to try the duck eggs.

Okay, so that tablecloth reminds me of the vinyl tablecloth my aunt in Greece would put on her outdoor table before we ate.  Why do older, ethnic women love floral in vinyl?  Is it the “easy to clean” factor?  My mom and my aunts are obsessed with getting me cotton lace floral table clothes too.   I mean I get it, it’s the “lost feminine arts”, but I am not a doily kind of girl. I don’t want to offend them.  What to do?

Here’s the glamour shot of my bounty from the farmer’s market that day.  No doily. No way!  I protest!  Don’t tell my mom and aunts, ok?

Anyway, the other thing I love doing in Chicago in the summertime, especially when it rains is going to eat breakfast at Lula Cafe in Logan Square.  I am secretly in love with that place.  And even though it’s crawling with hipsters, I am afraid that I might secretly have a hipster heart.   ‘Tis true.  I have to hand it to them.  They really have a knack for unique places with really amazing food.  Maybe we really are the new Seattle?

Oh, and did I mention Lula Cafe serves the best coffee in the world?  It’s Metric brand coffee.  AWESOME!  Forget your paper cup coffees with green mermaids on them.  Put it down.  Now.  No really.  I see you.  Put it down.  Metric is the best tasting coffee I ever had.

Okay, it’s official, rain, hipsters and coffee.  I declare Chicago the new Seattle.

Moving on…the other best tasting thing I ever had was this:

That’s the “Nearly Summer” salad at Lula Cafe.  What vegetable genius is this you ask?  Braised collard greens, fresh mixed greens, sugar snap peas, a soft boiled egg and sorrel cream sauce topped with picked rhubarb.  The soft boiled egg is hiding under that sugar snap pea.  I see you!  Who gets this excited about vegetables?  Me!  This was an amazing brunch item.  Go.  Run.  Eat.  And have the coffee.

That’s my husband.  He is embarrassed that I always have to photograph everything.  Some people keep a diary, I keep mine on Instagram.  What?  Have some coffee Jeff.  Did I mention it’s the best coffee ever?

So this happened.  A really large shelf cloud rolled into Chicago and rained hail onto us this week.  And then this happened.  A jumbo rainbow!  That’s Chicago.  At least there is always a reward at the end. =)

I love you Chicago.

Enjoy,

Kallie =)