Super-Shopper!

Cooper is a good little shopper. We spent the whole afternoon walking around, beginning with a breezy stroll along Lake Michigan, and then visiting shops on Chicago's "Magnificent Mile," a.k.a. Michigan Avenue. In search of a gift for Troy's grandma's 85th birthday tomorrow, we wanted to find something special. Even though it was about 99F degrees and the humidity felt like it was at 95%, we swooped in and out of Bloomingdale's, Marshall Field's, Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus, Burberry (side-tracked!), and Lord & Taylor. Tucked away in a corner of Marshall Field's, we discovered a tiny outpost of the famous La Brea Bakery, Nancy Silverton's awesome bakery in Los Angeles. I had a really good chicken salad sandwich that consisted of shredded chicken dressed with a Dijon mustard vinaigrette & combined with kalamata olives, shredded Napa cabbage & radicchio. Who knew this was here?! Who knew Nancy had outposts? That's so cool. Chicagoans are lucky. Cooper had a chewy wheat roll and some milk, and scoffed at a kalamata olive I offered. Then we hit the street again, and found a beautiful crystal necklace for Grandma. I hope she likes it. Tomorrow is her big party, with her five children in from all points of the U.S., along with her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She's never seen Harry or Cooper, and I feel very excited for this reunion, especially as Harry looks very much like Grandpa, who was her lifetime love and passed away several years ago. I think it will be really nice for her to see that resemblance. I love her to bits and can't wait to see her.
I must commend Cooper -- he never complained and was a pleasant & cheerful shopping companion all day. He especially loved the cab ride back to the hotel. Check out the t-shirts I got for the boys. I will bribe them to wear the bottom one.

Nancy Silverton's sandwich book