If Chicago feels like a dark, dead wasteland of misery in the winter (I exaggerate a bit), then I’m happy to say it really comes alive in the summer. There are more festivals and markets than you can shake a stick at. Brian and I have finally been taking advantage of these exciting outings, with some help from a few friends. Last month, our buddy LB (pictured above right) was able to drag us out of our apartment to visit the Dose Market, which happened to be celebrating it’s first birthday. If you’re not awares (as we, ourselves, were not), Dose is a monthly, indoor market, with an impressively curated list of food and fashion vendors (aka Dosers).

After arriving, we decided to fuel up with some horchata from Crop to Cup. I think my love for horchata is rivaled only by my love for chocolate milk.

We then started winding our way through the crowd, the tables, and the impressive displays. We were quite impressed with Gentleman’s Boombox, which wins the award for most creatively repurposed object.

LB and I drooled over some treats from Bake and Brian drooled over some finely handcrafted leather shoes from Oak Street Bootmakers.

There was some more fine leather work…

And some vintage camping gear from Camp Wandawega.

Then I noticed one of my favorite local jewelry makers, Laura Lombardi. It’s always such a treat to see her work around town.

We then made our second purchase: some chocolate peanut butter from Yumbutter. Yum is right!

After we enjoyed our complimentary drinks (beer from Goose Island and cocktail creations combining whisky from  Spicebox Whisky and snow cone syrups from Jo Snow), I grabbed a bottle of  smoky heirloom tomato catsup from The Scrumptious Pantry (lord knows I love my condiments!).

We also took full advantage of the Smilebooth before we headed out.

We even got Brian to join the fun. And you know how much he hates fun….

All in all, it was a wondrous adventure!