Our pumpkins wrinkle as Ray turns a year older

Around Bucktown: 

Although many consider Bucktown and the greater Wicker Park area to be “hipster-centric” catering to those who shun organized sports and appropriately fitting clothing in favor of skin-tight pants and surly-cool expressions, we do have a number of sports bars.  Add to the list Fat Pour Tap Works – which just moved into the neighborhood at Division and Damen.  Of course it is equipped with plenty of TVs, 50 beers on tap, and the nice surprise of a relatively “upscale” (for a sports bar) menu, as well as a healthy dose of attitude and humor.  They even know how to quote shakespeare! Favorite quote of the bar: ““For a quart of ale is a dish for a king” (from A Winter’s Tale). Check out a more extensive reviews and information here and here.

Since the weather has been holding out, you may also consider taking a stroll around the neighborhood and check out the murals throughout Wicker Park and Bucktown that were commissioned by a local project.  Because we are not sure if we have permission to actually show pictures of the works of art you should really visit this site, get a map, and get moving!

Around Chicago:

Halloween is right around the corner, and though Ray is not present to enjoy our tributes to him through costume, there is still plenty of entertainment to enjoy around the city.  Chicago Traveler and the Pipeline have a list of activities to consider, Fat Pour is having their own Halloween Bash, Frankenplaza takes over Daley Plaza downtown, and Boo-Palooza is a good kid-friendly option for this weekend.

Around Ray’s:


Not everyone gets paid to carve pumpkins, but WE DO! These are pictures of our waste of time and Ray’s payroll.  One pumpkin ended up as an unintentional ode to Colonel Sanders, and one was deemed “Kitty Stardust” due to her star-shaped eyes and cat ears.  Unfortunately we got so distracted by the roasted pumpkin seeds that we forgot to take pictures of the finished products…who fell victim to the neighborhood dogs pretty quickly.

Rocky’s Ringside Ramble: Rocky will be dearly missed by Ray and the girls as he has passed away and is now in kitty heaven.  

Maggie’s Rant: Of course, being the proud psycho cat, I am still going strong, but I do miss my companion – though I would never show it.  Instead I continue to demand tuna at all hours of the day and make it clear that I now own the entire B&B.

(The World Revolves …) Around Ray:

Ray turned the ripe old age of I’m-not-allowed-to-say this week and we had a wonderful dinner at Rio’s D’Sudamerica to celebrate- one of the best steaks in town in his opinion, as well as an extensive Peruvian-based menu.  It was a nice send-off to Ray, who once again, is in Central America for bird-watching.  At least now we won’t have to keep track of whether he’s a Green Bay or Bears fan depending on which bandwagon he jumps on every week.