After dealing with the rollercoaster of spring weather, I'm relieved summer has finally arrived in Chicago-- my friend Sarah of Zzouzi Vintage and I recently enjoyed celebrating the start of the season with ice cream, bare legs, and vintage and food-filled adventures in the Pilsen and Chinatown neighborhoods.We were lucky enough to happen upon an old fashioned ice cream truck in the Pilsen neighborhood, we both ordered paletas, traditional Mexican popsicles made with real fruit puree. SO much tastier and fresher than their American grocery store counterparts.
Of course we had to pose with the truck, thankfully the female owner didn't mind.
Sarah tried a mango paleta and I strayed from my usual watermelon and had a strawberry paleta.
We enjoyed the truck's mint green paint and the old fashioned lettering of its logo.
Pilsen is home to dozens of small, independent galleries so it was no surprise to find this colorful spraypainted wall. It reminded me of my time living in L.A. and Sarah's outfit went well with the abstract design.
While driving from Pilsen to Chinatown we happened upon a bridge overlooking the Chicago skyline. Of course we pulled over to take photos.
The bridge was bordered on one side by an industrial area and there was a public park below that unfortunately we couldn't find the entrance to-- next time we'll explore it.
We ended up in a construction site while looking for the park's entrance, oops.
Sarah and I both have a fondness for boba (bubble tea) so we made our way to Joy Yee's in Chinatown. We both got ordered large iced milk tea with tapioca pearls. So refreshing on a hot day.
We took advantage of the colorful backdrop of Chinatown, I hadn't taken pictures there since having dim sum with Tabitha last summer.
Of course my voluminous 1950s dress called for some twirling action, so twirl I did! Sarah had the idea to take an overhead shot, I liked how the photos turned out.
It was a blustery day, so my hair and dress kept blowing all over the place!If you're curious about my dress, it's a cotton 1950s dress that I bought from Buffalo Exchange to wear on my birthday back in March. Sadly I didn't get decent photos of it during my birthday festivities so the dress had a full outing now that it's warm enough to wear it without tights.
From now I'll be posting instagram photos along with my "normal" photos. Sarah convinced me to join a couple of weeks ago and since I already take photos often with my iphone it has been an easy transition. The photo above and the 3 below were taken by Sarah on instagram. Her handle is @sazzou and mine is @thriftaholic (of course!).
I tried on an amazing silk 1940s boat print dress at Knee Deep Vintage in Pilsen but it sadly did not come home with me.
I'm pleased to say that I captured the jumping shot in one take, guess my MFA in photography was well earned.
Our paletas, yum!