My Last $100: 48 Hours in Chicago

by Shawna Kenney

$23.95: audiobook version of John Waters’ Carsick because I needed something to listen while flying LA to Chicago. (Hey, that sounds like a Sade song). Audiobooks are expensive but my eyes need a rest sometimes. I had to save them for my own reading at Women and Children First Books.

$4: six-pack of bottled water for hotel room and two Clif Bars

$18.38: shared Uber to Wicker Park from Hyatt Regency O’Hare and back.

$22.92 canvas Doc Martens, $50 minus the friend discount.

$25.08: lunch at The Chicago Diner, which I have been waiting for all of my vegetarian life. It included seitan “wings” to share with friends ($7) and the Radical Reuben with mashed potatoes and gravy ($11). Wish I’d also gotten a shake.

$20: CSA box from South Central Farmers’ Cooperative in Los Angeles — because I had to have good food to come home to. This time is includes: black kale, red lettuce, carrots, tomatoes, zucchini, Detroit red beets, basil, red chard, yellow peaches, and avocados. I would have spent way more if I bought all that from ‘Ho Foods’ or the farmers’ market.

Shawna Kenney is an author, teacher and freelance writer who bikes around Los Angeles.

Photo via ryanready

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