Weekend Recap

Adam and I pretended like it was Spring this weekend. Even though it was in the 30s, we were out and about in the city refusing to wear heavy coats or hats and gloves. We were cold, but give me a break!

On Saturday we had my fam over for lunch. My parents were in town visiting my nephew so we had everyone over. I made crockpot turkey/jalepeno chili (yum!) and we ate lots of chips and guac. We also spent a good amount of time staring at baby August.

After lunch, Adam and I headed into the city to start apartment shopping, yay! Our apartment lease is up in July, so we’re getting a head start on the rental market. We looked at a few places this weekend and learned a few things:

1.) Our last apartment in the city was the bomb-dot-com location-wise, price-wise, and size-wise and now we’re sad (link to pics of our old place)

2.) We’ve GOT to live in the city near tall buildings, Starbucks, and Lake Michigan (we looked at some places in the neighborhoods, and we just miss the hustle of the city!)

3.) Paying to park our car in the city is going to suck.

After apartment shopping, Adam and I went on a progressive dinner with some of his co-workers. We hit Reza’s for apps, Troquet for dinner, and Nacional 27 for dessert (followed by some karaoke at Blue Frog!). A perfect reminder of the delicious food that awaits us in the city when we move back!

On Sunday we did a little more apartment shopping and then went indoor rock climbing with our friends at Brooklyn Boulders. While it was super fun, it was also very difficult for me and my Katy Perry-length fake nails – not very easy to grab onto the rocks. After rock climbing, we went to Little Goat (Top Chef restaurant) and stuffed our faces with a bunch of delicious comfort food (nachos, biscuits and gravy, mac and cheese, and tempura mashed potatoes were a few items we ordered!).

Here are some rock climbing pics of me and Adam!

St. Patrick’s Day in Chicago

As all Chicagoans know, St. Patrick’s Day isn’t on March 17, it’s on whatever Saturday is before. You hear the stories, but until you’re here, you don’t realize that it’s Chicago Mardi Gras. Literally thousands of revelers fill the streets, the bars and restaurants are overflowing, and one year we even saw a gang of skateboarders shut down State Street!

We have a great group of friends who we go out with every year and this year we’re headed to Bull and Bear for “Tap O’ the Mourn” – basically a breakfast buffet with green beer instead of OJ. You have to start early because the river gets dyed green at 9:15am! Here are some pics of the past years of revelry!

2012 – Ugh, best day ever. It was 80 degrees in March and I got a sunburn! Our friends from college visited and after seeing the river dyed, we spent the afternoon on Navy Pier drinking margaritas at Margaritaville on the patio! It was legendary! (This was the year we saw the skateboarders and were concerned.)

2013 – We spent a memorable morning with friends at The Grid and the afternoon eating burgers and peanut butter shakes at Epic Burger. It was not the gorg weather of the year before, but still a great day! (Photo stolen from Gracie Cargill’s instagram.)

2014 – Another chilly Patty’s day, but a great day with friends at Haymarket Brewery. This is a hideous picture of me, but the only one I have from that day (well, once again stolen from Gracie Cargill’s instagram). Adam and I like to mess with each other when we take pics, so he decided to hit me with a pickle mid-pic. I admit, it was a good one. And of course we ended the morning with burgers and peanut butter shakes (a tradition!).

2015 – I’m hoping for 2012-like weather (forecast says 54 degrees – I’ll take it!) and more burgers and peanut butter shakes!

 

A Night at the Opera

On Monday night, Adam and I went to see “The Passenger” at the Lyric Opera in Chicago. Going to the opera is one thing that we haven’t done since living in Chicago. Like almost everything we do in Chicago, or while on vacation, we got a deal on tickets from Travelzoo (people ask me how we can afford to travel so much and the answer is Travelzoo!).

Here I am in our messy bedroom taking a pic of what I wore to the opera. One of the difficult parts of being a late-twentysomething is wanting to shop at Forever 21, but feeling too old. Luckily Love 21  (Forever 21’s less-skantastic line) exists and makes life a little easier. This whole outfit is from Forever 21 (jacket, dress, jewelry) and I feel it successfully looks like a 28-year-old should be wearing it.

Don’t let my smile confuse you, Adam and I were sick all weekend and I’m still recovering. In fact, my nose was so stuffed-up over the weekend that I wore a nasal strip for 2 days straight (you know, like what snorers wear?) and it bruised my nose! It was much more bruised the day before, but a little ice calmed it down. (My under-eyes look kinda bruised, but that’s just my constant struggle with smudged mascara.)

Anyway, Adam and I went out for sushi and then hit the Lyric Opera. The last time we went to the opera was in Vienna last year, so we thought we’d fit in, but we soon realized this wasn’t our crowd and we weren’t fancy enough for the Chicago literati draped in diamonds and fur. Especially when I lost one my fake nails.

The opera itself was amazing and the singers/orchestra were out of this world. The story was about a post-WW2 German politician and his former SS guard-wife who are traveling via boat to Brazil when his wife sees a woman that looks like someone she guarded in Auschwitz. The story goes back and forth between the SS guard on the boat and flashbacks of Auschwitz. It was heart-wrenching and disturbing, but also artistic and inspiring.

The line that stuck with me most was “It hurts so much to be human.” While there’s no way to remotely relate to the pain people felt at concentration camps, it’s a line that reminds us that everyone experiences pain in life. It’s a great reminder that we all hurt and just want to be loved and we need to work to stop injustice and prejudice when we see it happening, even on a small scale.

 

Apartment Tour

Adam, Tobias, and I recently packed up our beloved downtown Chicago apartment and headed 10 miles due west to the hamlet of Oak Park to live close to (as in the same apartment building as) my sister and brother-in-law. I’ve always been super close to my sister, but since she’s 7 years older than me, we haven’t lived in the same place at the same time since I was 10.

But last year, my brother-in-law was transferred to a hospital near Oak Park for his medical residency and they finally moved close to us! When the opportunity to live within walking distance to them became available, I jumped at the opportunity! While we miss the city (and we’ll probably be headed back there next year), I know that I’ll never regret having this year to be so close to my sister (especially cause she’s having a baby boy in December!).

Check out the pics of our new apartment! I call it “country-living,” but my Pennsylvania-farm-raised husband assures me that 10 miles outside of a major city cannot be considered “country.”

 

Recent Reads

After living in downtown Chicago for three years, and now living in an outlying suburb, I realized that I didn’t know enough about the history of this amazing city. I picked up City of the Century from the Chicago public library and am slowly but surely working my way through the monolith on Chicago. I love learning about Chicago’s founders who not only shaped the economic and societal standards for this Midwestern city, but whose bar-loving, hard-working personalities still epitomize the city today. My mortality is never more present then when I read history books, but I take the realization as a challenge to continue to strive for more purpose each and every day.

Even though I grew up going to church, went to a Christian college, and have a minor in Biblical studies, I still feel like sometimes I just don’t get what being a Christian should look like. I decided that the best way for me gain a better grasp was to read more books on mah peeps, early Christians. I started with Rob Bell’s Jesus Wants to Save Christians: A Manifesto for the Church in Exile. Admittedly, it wasn’t the most comprehensive resource on church history (and I’m reading others!), but it was great, quick read that challenged a lot of my Christian values. I learned that the heart of what Jesus stood for is to fight for the justice of the oppressed. I’m not too oppressed living in my air-conditioned apartment, watching QVC, sitting next to a fancy Persian cat. A Christian’s life shouldn’t be boring, or normal, or easy.

My other main reads as of late have been in the Oak Park Wednesday Journal (the local newspaper!). Adam and I moved out to Oak Park (the Stars Hollow of Chicago) to live closer to my sister and brother-in-law. While we definitely miss living in the city (and are already dreaming of city apartments come August 2015), I do love the small town vibes that Oak Park has and I’m really trying to take advantage by learning about the village government (Pawnee, anyone?), frequenting small businesses, and trying out the village composting program (and already failing at it). Oak Park may not be where our future lies, but it’s our present and I want to be engaged!

Summer Textures

Remember when Man BFF and I first moved to Chicago and I was about a week into my new job when I tucked my skirt in my underwear? Well, I figured that after almost a year of recovering from the embarrassment that I was finally willing to wear the skirt again.

This time around, I successfully wore this skirt without showing anyone my knickers.

Now on to the actual outfit. This look is all about textures. The raised pattern on the shirt, the pleats of the skirt, the chunky beads of the necklace, and the metallic cords on my animal print sandals all contribute to a full look.

It may be summer but you don’t have to wear only light and airy looks. What textures are you playing up this summer?

Christmas in Chicago

I know, I know, it’s not even Thanksgiving. But growing up my family always celebrated Christmas with my mom’s side of the family on Thanksgiving (tree, presents, Santa – played by my dad, the whole shabang!), so as soon as Nov. 1st hit, it has always been the start of the Christmas season for me! This year is no different, especially now that we live in Chicago. As everyone starts bundling up and the weather gets blustery, Chicago takes on a timeless “Silver Bells” quality. Who care if the holiday is still 2 months away!

Yesterday, Man BFF and I kicked off the Christmas season by attending the lighting of the Christmas tree at the world famous Macy’s on State Street here in Chicago. Conveniently for us, we live just one black away from this store that takes up a whole city block! Our main draw to the event was Chicago’s most famous couple, (ok, not Oprah and Stedman or Barack and Michelle) reality stars Bill and Giuliana Rancic! We had a bird’s eye view from behind, so most pics our of their backs, but here they are!

Before they lit the Christmas tree, Bill spoke about coming to The Walnut Room in Macy’s as a kid and hoping to make the same memories with their future children. So sad! We hope you get pregs soon, G! Here they are lovin on eachother.

And finally, the big moment! The Christmas tree is lit (my pic is only of the top half cause it’s so huge)!

Afterwards (oh wait, did I mention Man BFF shook Bill’s hand?) we strolled around Macy’s and took a few pics of what I was wearing. I wanted to look like a classic shopper in a store that seriously takes you back to the glory days of shopping.

Saturday Shopping

Man BFF and I had a perfect Chicago afternoon. After spending the morning cleaning our apartment (ugh) we went to tour a few buildings around town as a part of Open House Chicago. Afterwards we bused it up the Magnificent Mile to Topshop/Topman hoping to track down some special finds. Unfortunately, no luck, so we hopped across the street to Water Tower Place (a mall), indulged in some Chicago pizza, and went on a mini Banana Republic shopping spree. All sale items were an additional 25% off, so of course that only inspired more shopping. Here’s what I bought:

Green Sweater w/Sparkle Sleeve Detail

Little Black Dress

Pink Sweater (Mad Men Collection) and Lace Tank

Boho Chic T-Shirt

Oh, and guess what will be delivered on Tuesday….

Autumn in Chicago

After a busy weekend, I am finally getting back to blogging. Man BFF and I wanted to make the most of our first weekend home together in over a month, so we jam-packed our weekend with Chicago-y things (including Navy Pier and Chinatown). My aunt came into town to run the Chicago Marathon, so we were thrilled to have a good use for our guest room and also enjoyed watching the festivities of the marathon (and being reminded of why we’re not runners). However, I did see some pink sneakers that just may change my mind.

Here are some pics of recent outfits that I’ve worn but neglected to blog about.

Hooray for getting my hair up in a bun! Scarf + necklace = easy way to spice up a boring outfit. Disregard the visible bra.

A neutral blazer is an easy way to make a pair of moccasins, pair of jeans, and your husband’s shirt look a little more put together.

Leggings. Your closet’s answer to a case of the Mondays.

Friday night at Navy Pier. Gotta enjoy it while the weather is still above freezing.

Rainy Day

Yesterday started off as a pretty rainy day up here in Chicago. Usually rain means a bad start to a Tuesday, but I was excited for an excuse to finally wear my Missoni for Target rain boots. I used to have a pair of killer Target rain boots back in the college days. They were purple with little pictures of lipstick, mascara, and blush all over them. Once I got out of college I decided that they were a little too young for me (probably too young for me even in college to be honest) and I’ve been looking for a pair of grown-up boots ever since. Of course I could have saved up for a real pair of wellies, but isn’t it fun to have something that everyone else wants?

The big question when wearing rain boots: do I match my outfit to the boots? Luckily a neutral trench can alleviate that concern.

And here’s what I wore underneath it all (including the shoes I had stuffed in my purse to wear at work). This shirt (from Walmart) has little black designs on it, but I decided to go for brown and gold shoes and jewelry to switch it up. When considering wearing black flats think to yourself, what shoes would make this outfit more interesting?