This might sound a little weird, but since returning from Yerevan, I was feeling a little… untethered. My time there was so extraordinary and amazing and intense! Being on the other side of the world for two weeks, it felt like just enough time to acclimate, and to start feeling like I “live” there. Returning home has felt a little strange, and it’s taken me a while to start feeling like I belong in Chicago again.

This past Friday definitely helped with that. My good friend Fabi (see her on p. 178 of Let’s Make Cocktails!) asked if I wanted to go to a cool sidewalk sale. So Friday, I took the train downtown, spent the morning drawing at the Art Institute, and met up with Fabi for coffee. We wandered over to Atlas Stationers and spent a fabulous time browsing fancy pens and markers and paper goods under the shadow of the L tracks. I bought a new sketchbook and some fun Tombow markers, and Fabi treated herself to a glorious Kaweco fountain pen.

We had a cocktail and admired our purchases, and then we walked down the street to José Andrés’s Bar Mar for a light dinner.

Everything we ate was incredible. The crab cake was some of the best crab I’ve ever had. The lobster roll was decadent and creamy. The ceviche was bright and savory and delightful, and adorably presented in a half coconut shell. The octopus was probably my favorite, served on a bed of saffron aioli. The octopus is prepared sous vide and then flash fried to get a delicately crispy texture on the outside while keeping the inside tender. It was outstanding!

It did me so much good to spend the morning at my favorite art museum, the afternoon wandering the loop, and to cap off the evening with this outstanding meal.

My feet are finally back on the ground here; I’m firmly tethered to Chicago again. :)

Upcoming Events:

I have a new lineup of events and appearances for the fall! Here’s the full list so far:

September 2 Cooked Book Club, Evanston, IL
September 12-13 Small Press Expo, Bethesda, MD
September 26 Milwaukee Independent Local Comics Fest, Milwaukee, WI
October 31 SLICE Expo, St. Louis, MO
November 7 Sheboygan Zine Fest, Sheboygan, WI
November 29 Genghis Con, Cleveland, OH
December 5-6 MICE Expo, Boston, MA

Come say hi and let me draw in your books!

What I’m Into Lately:

Lately, I have been reading The Man Who Could Move Clouds by Ingrid Rojas Contreras, a book that my new friend Julia recommended to me in Yerevan. It’s a beautifully evocative memoir of Contreras’s childhood and family in Colombia in the 1980s and 90s, interwoven with drama, violence, politics, and lots of magic. Literal magic. I’ve never read a memoir that felt this much like magical realism! Utterly enchanting.

What Toki’s Into Lately:

He’s still being pretty clingy these days, like he’s worried I’m going to fly away again. If a lap appears for even a few seconds, he’s grabbing it.