Chicago Maid-Rite and elephant necklace

As former Iowans, Timmy and I are both fond of Maid-Rite. When I heard that Chicago's first Maid-Rite was officially open, I decided to surprise Timmy by taking him there. While the sandwiches tasted the same as I remembered, unfortunately, the Chicago location does not have a butterscotch milkshake like the Maid-Rite I'm used to. The milkshake machine was taken apart while we were there, so, we weren't able to get another flavor. The service was great though.



Rather than getting a traditional "Maid-Rite" (loose ground beef on a bun), Timmy decided to get "The Rare Bit"; "The Rare Bit" is loose ground beef served open face on rye bread with a white cheddar sauce. I don't think our location offered that, however, our Maid-Rite was pretty old school, and did quite a few things differently than other locations.




After eating at Maid-Rite, Timmy and I decided to walk up to the Boys Town neighborhood and do some shopping. While heading to one of our favorite stores, we stumbled upon Gift on Belmont. I now have a new store to add to my favorites list. Gift on Belmont is a jewelry and accessory (mostly jewelry) store. Almost everything at Gift on Belmont is under $15. It reminds me of the jewelry section at Forever 21 magnified by ten. Even better the owners (I assume they were the owners), seemed very nice. One of my favorite parts was something I almost missed; a dresser filled with miscellaneous rings and hair accessories. I also really loved the statement necklaces they have hanging on the wall on the counter side of the store. If you love inexpensive jewelry, you'll definitely want to check the store out.

As you may have noticed, I have an obsession with pachyderms, so, when I saw this big (and admittedly loud) elephant necklace at Gift on Belmont, I fell in love. I couldn't justify spending much on a necklace so bold that I'm not sure how much I would wear it, therefore, I was pleased to find out that it was only $18.