Big Star: In Our Blood

Tacos. Almost from south of the border. Food moonlighting as Mexican, moonlighting Texican in Chicago? Sure, but better. It's more "inspired by" than pretend. And damn, this inspired food is good. See, the thing about Big Star is that it doesn't fail. It does exactly what it's supposed to do: brings a piece of the Texas border to the Midwest.

Not the whole thing. Just a little bit.

On Seth: "Stars" button-up by Scotch & Soda, Babe Lincoln.

On Jeff: Linen blend long-sleeve T-shirt from T by Alexander Wang; rolled khaki shorts by J.Crew; desert boots by Clarks; tan circle-frame shades courtesy of Topman; leather croakies gifted by Plett.

How sandy of you.

Which reminds us: Even if we only speak the language instead of having the heritage, "Mexican" food is part of us. Yeah, the place might be crowded. Might be hipster-ish. Might be just a dollar or two more than we want to pay, but once that $3 whiskey and those tacos hit our lips, you're not going to catch us complaining.

Nope. Just tossing our heads back, sliding our arms around friends, saying salúd and buen provecho in perfect American mimicry.

Tecate with lime, empty shot glasses, bad good decisions.

However, if you're in Columbia, Missouri, go to Taqueria El Rodeo.

Hands down, the best Mexican food in Columbia at a third of Big Star's price and three times better service. Such amenities include: using your debit card and being called, unironically, "amigos."

The only other better thing? Having neighbors who are actually from Mexico turn your backyard into a mirth-filled celebration of carne asada, beisbol and la risa. You may have to move to my neck of Logan Square for that one.

Don't go, verano.

Big Star photos by Carolina Mariana Rodriguez

A magical Saturday roadtrip

June 4 was a busy day. Like a driving-across-the-state-of-Missouri kind of day with lots of stops along the way and a little hop over to Kansas. (Map of our gallivanting and peregrinations.)

9 a.m.:
Jeff: Wake up in Columbia from wedding-dancing-coma and shacking at 1613 for the last time. I call my mother because I'm a good son (that, and I'm driving—you always gotta make those check-in phone calls when you've got a good commute). She tells me that she and Bill (step-dad) are going to NASCAR like any good Midwestern, blue-collar family does on a Saturday. They have extra tickets. I say, "Hell yes."
Seth: Wake up in Joplin and ignore Jeff's phone calls and demands. (Editor's note: because he is legitimately busy with reporting on tragedy and devastation.)
Cam: Sleeping.

11 a.m.:
Jeff: Stop by my favorite place in Independence, Cargo Largo. It's the island of misfit toys with sweet finds, like Sperrys, Jack Spade dopp kits and Clarks.
Seth: Car troubles. Turns out his car just needed a little T.L.C. Come on, Seth. Don't go chasing waterfalls.
Cam: Sleeping.

12 a.m.:
Jeff: Go back to my homestead and consume various forms of food that I won't buy for myself.
Seth: Back on the road.
Cam: Still sleeping.

1 p.m.:
Jeff: Hop in Seth's car.
Seth: Let Jeff hop in Seth's car.
Cam: Get up to go pee and then go back to bed.

2 p.m.:
Jeff & Seth: Arrive at Kansas Speedway and drink beer.

My thrifted brown woven and wine fringe leather loafers by Allen Edmonds.

At the end of the race, the winner does a little dance.

4 p.m.:

Drive to Columbia, surprise our friend Kimberly at "the Winery." We sneak out back and romp around in the vineyards.

Straw fedora with chambray trim ($14) by Target; thrifted shirting; khaki shorts by J.Crew ($20); thrifted woven loafers ($4) by Allen Edmonds; thrifted woven leather belt ($1); watch ($18) by Timex.

Shirting ($30) by J.Crew.

5 p.m.:

Eat a pint of Lavender Honey from Sparky's. Lament the fact all the cicada ice cream would be gone. (But not to worry; there would be plenty of cicadas later.)

This is the only ice cream you need to eat. Lavender Honey. It will change your life.

7 p.m.:

Leave Columbia and head to a pool party.

9 p.m.:

Arrive in St. Louis. Hop in the pool.

10 p.m.:

Someone pushes Seth over the edge and he eats a cicada.

11 p.m.:

To Duffy's! Kirkwood's frattest finest.

The early-morning hours of the next day:

@katiestipo and @emlew: "What are you doing, Jeff? Carrying your shorts like a school boy?"

@jeffkies: "Yeah...."

Thrifted shirting ($3); floral board shorts ($40) by EVER; blue lobster shorts (gift); thrifted woven belt ($1); canvas tote by Filson; waxed dopp kit ($50) by Jack Spade.

TRAVEL: Midwest weddings, shenannigans and reporting

We've been a little busy lately, thus why we've haven't posted as much.

• We all went to our dear friend Patrick's wedding in St. Louis.
• Seth is from Joplin and went down to do some long-term reporting about the tornado, clean up and see family. His family is safe, but the town is reeling—thanks for your prayers and donations.
• Jeff has had weddings each weekend and bachelor parties to plan. Someone has to make sure the Knob Creek is safe for everyone to drink and the dance floor is prepped for krumping, Dougin' and the Bernie.
• Cameron finished finals at Mizzou and has been getting kicked out of medical trials, thus remaining a rejected test dummy for medical studies. But he's doing well sans needles and mysterious pills for the sake of fat cash.

See you after the weekend with plenty of photographs, stories and posts to come. Enjoy your weekend.

But really, what have you been up to this week/end?

Thrifty Thursday: White Linen Blazer

Yeah, we know. Two blazer posts in one week? Two posts of Cam in one week? Two posts of Cam in a blazer in one week? Maybe a little excessive. But thanks to the weather, we won't be able to feature these much longer (fingers crossed). The relevant detail to this particular post is the white linen blazer he snagged from a thrift store for about three George Washingtons. You read that correctly: $3.

The point here isn't necessarily to show off cool clothes. It's to demonstrate that workable style is doable on the cheap. After some very unscientific price-guessing, I'll estimate that if purchased new, this whole outfit would push $775 retail. But what you see here cost less than $265. Plus, you're not spending those numbers every single time you put on a set of clothes. Each piece of the pie can be mixed and matched with the other items in your wardrobe. Which allows you invest in the glasses, the boots, etc.—the stuff Cam's wearing with several different outfit combinations.

By far, the biggest savings are coming from the jacket. Three dollars compared to the $150, $200, $300 you could expect to drop for a nice blazer? No contest. As long as you've got an idea of 1) what you need and 2) what looks good, you can find some great bargains at thrift stores. Of course, be prepared to not find anything, either. Only pull the trigger if it's got a place in your closet.

Linen blazer (thrifted, $3) size 36; J. Crew broken-in chinos (retail, $60), size 31; brogue boots (Urban, $80), size 10; vintage, U.S.-made oxford (eBay, $10) by Gant, size 14.5-33; black cardigan (thrifted from Jeff's closet) by Merona, small; tartan tie (outlet, $15) by J.Crew; Preston eyeglasses (warbyparker.com, $95) by Warby Parker.

Photos by Bethany Jones.

midweSTYLE: Mocha blazer on the rocks

Correction (2:55 p.m.): In the initial version of this post, we forgot to credit our very gracious photographer, Bethany Jones. Thanks so much for helping us, Bethany—when you come to Chi this summer, the vino and/or Guinness is on us.

While my blogging brethren reside in the wonderfully windy city of Chicago, I enjoy the pleasure of calling Columbia, Mo., my temporary home as I pitter-patter my way through four years of the dream-world experience that is modern day higher education. Columbia is a lovely place for a million different reasons, but one thing that's not high on that list is natural scenery. But after being cramped up in your favorite local coffee shop (see: Kaldi's), studying your ass off for the huge exam in that class you never actually attended because you swore to yourself you'd just read the book and get notes from that guy who you did that group project with earlier in the semester, you're gonna need some fresh air, and lots of it. Enter Capen Park/Mulch Site. It has mulch for taking and rocks for climbing—what more could you ask for? You're right, nothing.

Winter's still got her foot in the door here in Missouri, which means I still have an excuse to wear blazers without people on campus thinking I transferred in from the SEC. This thrifted beauty fits well almost everywhere but the arms, which could use a nice visit to the tailor. I'm working on that.

Also, I tend to opt for boots when wearing jackets. Why? I don't really know. Maybe it's because my high school mascot was a lumberjack. Maybe it's because I misplaced my favorite longwings. Or maybe it's because when I'm not blowing out my pocket fades or doing squats to make my honeycombs explode, I'm usually out climbing rock faces in blazers and tie bars. I know you sensed the sarcasm.

"The 77" dry 14-ounce Kurabo fabric, two and a half months (Standard Style, $200) by Baldwin Denim, size 31; mocha blazer (thrifted, $20), size 38; blue and pink polka dot tie (my old man's closet, free); old leather belt (my old man's closet, free); dark tortoise "Preston" eyeglasses (online, $95) by Warby Parker; coral oxford (retail, $50) by American Apparel, medium; thrifted work boots (borrowed from our dear friend Travis Craig, $9), military watch (eBay, $18) by Rothco.

Photos by Bethany Jones.

FAVORITE: Leader 725TR

Editor's note: Here at the Midwestyle, we're fans of practical transportation and staying fit. Bikes accomplish both. This is a post by Cameron N.—student, model(?), thinker, no-longer-part-of-this-blog, and apparently, hipster. Cam, over to you:

The perks of living on East Campus are many. I'm just a five minute jaunt from class. I can be in the heart of downtown in 10 or 15 by foot. That convenience sounds great, I know, but most mornings, I wake up for my nine o'clock classes at about 8:44, throw on a pot of coffee, practice the bare minimum levels of personal hygiene, put said coffee in my thermos, and finally jam out the door at about 8:56. And unless I'm trying to do that painfully awkward walk-run-skip thing I usually do when I'm in a hurry, I hop on my bike. Living in a small-ish town like Columbia allows my bike to be my main mode of transportation.
And I like that.
Because I like my bike.
Yeah, I'm aware it is a fixed gear.
Shut up.

Specs: Leader 725TR frame - 58, Leader Trickstar steel fork, Cane Creek ZS headset, Nitto bullhorn handlebars, Kalin seatpost, Pake PBS saddle, Origin8 Pro Track crankset, Shimano bottom bracket, All-City pedals/toe clips, Velocity B43 wheelset laced to Origin8 hubs, freedom Thickslick tires.

Heather henley (Christmas gift from the lady) by J. Crew, small; "The 77" dry, 14-ounce Kurabo fabric (Standard Style, $200) by Baldwin Denim, size 31; brown leather belt (stolen from dad's closet); Mid Skool 77 LX courtesy of Vans Vault, size 9.5.

Photos by Zach McSpadden. Thanks for helping, guy.