Ok, so I know it’s a teeny bit early, but table sets have been magically appearing outside of all our favorite outdoor hangouts. Cowboy Monkey, Kopi, Esquire, Guido’s even. Outdoor chillin is huge in the C-U area, and almost any relatively casual place has outdoor tables available, as well as some more cushy spots (Jim Gould, KO Fusion, Radio Maria).
It won’t get really crazy busy outside for awhile, but when it does it will happen fast and last all summer. I love this time of year in C-U, cuz restaurants tend to be pretty chill about dogs outside, and that means our dog can come out and have drinks with us, which is great for her since loves to get tipsy (haha). No, but seriously, it is great to be outside in the spring and summer, surrounded by other people loving the outdoors and having fun. I urge you to take advantage of the fabulous town resource that is the C-U outdoor scene. Have fun and feel free to pet my dog.

I have been out of town since last Wednesday looking at potential graduate schools for english literature. I know, not the most interesting biographical info ever, but hold, on, I’m going somewhere here. Checking out different campuses is cool and kinda sad, since it makes it quite clear that I will be moving out of the CU area at some point in the not too distant future. For those of you in school at UofI and/or otherwise affliated with the school, listen well: we have some sweet f*cking uildings.
My sweet spot for the week is the UofI English Building, with its atrium, wood floors, and amazing upstairs. For those of you who have never been to the 3rd floor of EB, it is kick ass. More wood floors, cool recessed windows, and even a little gothic scary-ness. I have always kinda though this, but in my visits to other English Buildings I have really realized how lucky we are. I know lots of people complain about Lincoln Hall and Gregory and the inequity between science money and humanities funk, but after visiting places with low walls, no light and no space,a building like a huge horizontal brick, I have a new love of the old UofI spots. I urge you to love it while you can, students and visitors, and hopefully you too will remember the creaky floors and drafty windows of the ancient university buildings with equal affection when it is your time to move on.

Ok, I’ll come clean: I have more than once wished that this town (or what ever one calls the strange configuration of C-U) had a Trader Joe’s. I know, I know, it is a giant quasi corporate organization, that is certainly semi-evil. But damn it, they have the best selection of sweet natural foods, wines, deli related goods, and everything else you would find a huge grocery store, except it’s all heady organic, sister bear. For awhile, shopping at Urbana’s Strawberry Fields only made my secret desire more acute. Used to be they had three rows of food, four/five aisles filled with vitamins and shampoo and smell oil, and the deli, which was pretty awesome, to be sure. However, since the major renovation, Strawberry Fields has been vastly sweetened. Ok, so now the deli is gone, but the coffee bar serves coffees and smoothies, they have lots more food and the “natural pharmacy” has a little area all for itself. Also undergoing vast improvement is the Co-op, that nondescript building on the corner of Springfield and Wright. They have always had fresh local eggs and meats and stuff, but rumor has it that they are also expanding. Finally, if you want special European goodies, like spreads, oils, vinegars, cheeses, olives, etc, check out either World Harvest Foods (on University) or Euro-Mart (on Springfield).

When you lay it all out, I guess we do alright with natural/local/heady-organic/exotic food. OH! I almost forgot about the Urbana Farmer’s Market, which is kind of lame right now, but only because it’s winter. Word to the wise regarding the Farmer’s Market in the summer, however: go early. It gets crazy and crowded and the all natural asphalt gets so hot and awful. I pretty much refuse to go after 9.30 am, so don’t make me regret sharing the earlyness secret with you…just don’t push me in your rush for heirloom tomatoes and fresh basil, and we’ll be cool. So I guess life without Trader Joe’s is pretty sweet here in Champaign-Urbana after all. Enjoy eating well.

For a totally land locked town, Champaign-Urbana has a lot of sushi places. Yes, Lake Michigan is kinda close, but I don’t think I would eat anything pulled out of there anytime soon. However, lots of places do fly in high quality fish for serving raw or lightly fried. I would recommend KO Fusion on Sundays and Mondays, when they have $1 sushi and 1/2 price wines and sake (for those of proper age, of course). Last time I went to dollar sushi night, they even had a choice of a kind of tasting plate, with one of each special $1 roll for only $10. There is a wide variety of maki on “the list” of dollar-priced items, with raw, cooked, and even non-fish choices. Have as many as you want, and wash it all down with a cheap glass of good wine, and you have yourself a meal fit for a samurai king for under 15 bucks…sounds pretty sweet to me.

I am excited about this week’s sweet spot, because it is completely subjective and I feel both non-bossy and informative. This week, the sweetest spot is home. Since I was out of town almost all week, I am simply extra appreciative of my cozy little house, and especially attuned to the pleasures of one’s own space. Perhaps it is the Cancer side of my astrological personality, but home kicks ass this week! I’m sure that next week I’ll be itching to go somewhere and do something, but for now, I urge any and all readers to relax and enjoy your very own pillows, books, or whatever other material goods you take pleasure in. Also, the renewed presence of beloved pets is always great.

So, yeah, it’s kinda cold outside still, not quite spring yet. Nonetheless, this week’s sweet spot is outside, so bundle up if you’re checkin it out. Over by married graduate-student housing, past McKinley and Japan House, is a park whose name I cannot ascertain, although I know that it kicks ass. You gotta slow down after the “Japan House” sign or you will cruise right by the parking lot.

wanna play?

The park itself has hills, trees, benches, fields, a pond, and opens right into the botanical Asian-style garden behind Japan House. A beautiful place to picnic, sunbathe, or maybe dog-watch. For some reason, perhaps the isolation or the wide variety of terrain, this park also seems to be the unofficial secret dog park, where people can bring their chill and well-behaved dogs to run around and chase things. My dog happens to prefer hill-sprints after the tennis ball, but to each his/her own–there’s plenty of space for all canine friends to enjoy.

Alright, I’ll come clean: I am an English dork, so I guess it’s only natural that I would be interested in books. Lucky for me, I live in Champaign-Urbana, where there are lots of great places to find and read those lovely objects of escape and information.

Downtown Champaign’s Jane Addams Book Shop is an amazing place to find used books, out-of-print books, “antiquarian” books, or simply wander around awed by floor-to-ceiling books stretching back much further than it would appear from the building’s exterior. Seriously, it’s kinda like Narnia for readers, a store that gets bigger the more you explore it. Unfortunately, the time-suspension rules of the magic wardrobe do not apply, so beware of hours passing in the outside world.
Now, if you have no money but you still love books, there are plenty of sweet libraries around. The new Champaign library is sleek and modern, filled with sunlight and people, although there are some rooms for quiet and some comfy places to hang out and read. I saw a girl reading with her shoes off, so you know the staff is pretty chill. Also, be sure to check out the Children’s Desk, which is some sort of see-through plastic covering a neon-like light bank that changes color!! Amazing.
If you like your libraries a little more old-school, head over to the Urban Free Library, with statues, a coffee-shop, and a very comfy-homey relaxing vibe. It seems that they have a better selection of “classics” here than at the new Champaign lib, but this observation is based soley on my own browsing experience and is neither fully researched nor scientifically calculated.

UIUC Main Library

Last but certainly not least is the Main University Library. Not only does this giant building have separate libraries for different subjects, it has plenty of scary gothic passages and stairways, and the Main Stacks, which are both incredible and mildly frightening. It is easy to get lost wandering deep in the stacks, and easy to get fascinated and sucked in to successive wings filled with books. Watch out for ghosts in here…

This week’s sweet spot is Boardman’s Art Theatre, in downtown Champaign on Church St, near the giant construction site that will be “M2″ in about five years. Unlike the mega-mart movie theaters by Meijer or in Savoy, the Art Theater only plays one movie at a time, but it usually one of the bestest movies currently playing. Lately, they have run “No Country for Old Men” and “Juno,” with “There Will Be Blood” coming soon. The theater itself is not huge, but roomy and appealingly old-school feeling, and the bathroom has those little cool/scary retro white tiles.

check me out!

But Boardman’s is sweet not only for what they do play and where they play it, but also for what they don’t play-namely commercials. If you have been to a mega theater in the last few years, you know that they play about 20-30 minutes of previews and commercials. Now, I have always been a fan of previews, but, as far as I know, Sprint and Coca-Cola are not making movies any time soon. And not just one or two discreet commercials, but five or six, seemingly more than they play on tv at one time. This phenomenon has actually pissed me off at movies before, so the Boardman’s experience is a much appreciated one. Also, they have great popcorn and any movie treat you could want. So, rock on Boardman’s Art Theater! and if you haven’t seen a movie there you should walk or ride your bike or take the bus or even drive your car to downtown Champaign and check it out.
(word to the wise, don’t park in the Impasta’s lot on the right of the Theater-they tow cars like crazy, but the food is great-dinner and a movie anyone?)