Open 6 days a week (closed on Saturdays), La Trailita (it's a food truck, but before their current truck, they were just a small trailer) serves some of the best tacos and quesadillas in Chicago, including tons of vegetarian options. They are open year round (even when it gets cold!). There is another taco truck across the street at the intersection, so make sure you're going to the right one (it's in front of a convenience store). I believe it's run by some ladies from the church it parks near. Recommend their tacos al pastor and potato quesadillas. Salsa is very tasty but very spicy!

I'm usually too busy to do this but when I can, getting out to the lakefront at night is truly one of the best things ever. There's something about the night sky, the water, wind and the city behind you that calms everything down.

The ONLY place to get fresh fish, H Mart is a mecca for Asian (particularly Korean) ingredients. Their huge store, out in the suburbs, was a haul, and their recent opening in the loop has made me super happy. Gorgeous range of seafood, marinated meats, kimchi, green tea mochi, korean fried chicken, soju, enoki mushrooms, purple yam; this place is da' bomb (in the best sense)!

This is Ludwig Mies van der Rohe's first domestic structure in the United States, and it is a beautiful example of Minimalism. The house is located outside Chicago, but is worth the drive and the tour guides are pretty great. Due to flooding, the house and the property will undergo major preservation changes beginning in the next decade, so it's hard to tell how long the house will remain in it's current state.

I am lucky enough to have one of the five Great Lakes of North America right in my backyard. How cool is that?