Link Love

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negroni

Happy Weekend! Is it time for a negroni yet?

This is a fun guide for choosing wine.

Howells and Hood is offering a chili flight during the Super Bowl, a faceoff between Oak + Char, DMK, Tanta, Tete Charcuterie and The Radler. You vote on your favorite. The food is the best part of this Sunday anyways and this chili flight plus over 114 beers on tap, this might be the best spot to catch the game!

As far as I am concerned, that football game has nothing on The Kitten Bowl. (2/1 @ 12/11c)

Love these Chex mix recipes with a twist.

I definitely ugly-cried through the last 20 minutes of the series finale of Parenthood. What a great show. Thursday nights and my supply of Kleenexes will never be the same.

We danced to this song at our wedding so I think I will give this card to Ryan for Valentine’s Day…and then frame it. He doesn’t need to know there was a dual purpose intended, right?

Signature Style

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Beauty Uniform

If a book were to be written about my style in my early 20s, it would be called “The Girl With A Million Shirts”. I don’t know what it was but I seemed to buy tops…and only tops. So when it came time to go anywhere, the result was me standing in front of my closet full of shirts with nothing to wear because, well, one can’t go sans pants in decent society. I tried to switch exclusively to dresses for awhile because of the aforementioned lack of liking pants but still, the “I have nothing to wear/whatever I will put on will make me feel awkward as hell” moments persisted.

Wait– maybe this was my 20s in general. Awkward (and unsure of myself) as hell sounds about right.

Anyways.

My husband noticed a little over a year ago that leaving the house was met with considerably less drama. I am nearly positive it’s because I have finally realized what makes me feel great, pulled together and, most importantly, like myself. A go-to signature style, a uniform if you will:

Blazer. Skinny jeans. Heels. Statement earrings or necklace. Clutch. Boom, out the door.

I know that no matter what combo of this I throw on, I will feel pulled together, strong, and confident. To dress it up, a silk camisole underneath the blazer; to dress it down, a cotton t-shirt. Sure, it’s fun to mix it up sometimes but it’s so great to have a go-to look in the proverbial back pocket that is fail-safe.

It also means I will be wearing pants. Which is important and an improvement over the in-closet freakouts of yesteryear. And ultimately, most importantly, I will be looking like myself. Which is the goal, right?

Do you have a go-to look that simplifies your routine or that makes you feel like your most-amazing rock star self? Has anyone considered/heard of a capsule wardrobe? I don’t know if I could really stick to pairing down my closet to 20ish essentials but I like the idea of simplicity and everything going with everything. Let me know, I’d love to hear!

 

 

RIP Mr. Cub

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I walked over to Wrigley on Saturday morning, wanting to see the marquee in person. My grandfather, a die-hard Cubs fan, always said that Ernie Banks was a “damn fine ballplayer and gentleman” so I figured I could pay tribute for the both of us. It was relatively early but the sidewalks were filled with people, young and old, in their blue and red. It was 43 degrees, practically a miracle for Chicago in January, and the day felt so hopeful. Hopeful for Spring…and maybe just hopeful for the Cubs that this is their year. Now that would be a miracle.

RIP Mr. Cub. Let’s play two.

On Getting Unstuck: Pizza Before 10am

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potato pizza

After an hour at my computer this morning, it was pretty clear that it wasn’t going to happen. I needed to get a document out that required a decent amount of care and I felt…stuck. I felt a lot of things, actually, but stuck was clear. Which often manifests itself into doing everything but the thing I need to do and this morning, it looked something like this:

Check Twitter. Check Instagram. Ooh, I like that coffee mug, where is it from? I miss Italy. Twitter. Molly McNearney is hilarious, let’s read through her entire feed. Hey Luna, come sit on my lap. Sitherenow, bad cat. I should go to Owen + Alchemy to get juice. Or order lox and a bialy from Southport Grocery. Oohh, donuts. I want a donut. Instagram, has anyone else posted? Let’s text friends. I am hungry. Or bored. Maybe hungry. Check Instagram again. Definitely need a donut. Or juice. Or prosecco.

Ahh, the seductive dance of distraction.

What I have found is that creation has to come from creation- creating rarely comes from a standstill place for me, I need to be in motion, already making.

So I made pizza. Before 10am.

I set out the few ingredients I had and got to rolling, cutting. I sprinkled the rosemary over the potatoes and reached for the parmesan. It felt so good to be making something, to start with nothing and end up with something. Sometimes, it may begin with a few words on a page and sometimes, it might be making something with my hands.

Something from nothing.

Those words are sticking with me today, a reminder that it’s possible, in life, in projects and in pizza, as long as you start where you are.

And this morning, starting where I was meant coffee and pizza before 10am.

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{is dousing food in balsamic a thing before noon? if it wasn’t, it is now…}

On Solo Days and Checking Things Off

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Our second day in Colorado a few weeks ago started with -16 degree temperatures. -16.

Let’s just say skiing with everyone that would not have set me up for success. No way.

So I took a solo day in the town of Breckenridge. I bundled up and shopped along the darling Main Street, ducking into coffee shops when I got too cold. I found an fantastic noon yoga class and the teacher sent me to Amazing Grace for lunch, this sweet little all-natural eatery inside a yellow house.

One of my most prized possessions is my copy of 2001 Things to Do Before You Die. For 10 years, I have been checking things off. There are so many memories within its pages. Some are simple like “bake brownies” or “make a paper snowflake” and others, I specifically traveled to check them off like “Dance in the gazebo while on The Sound of Music tour in Salzburg” and “Contemplate beauty at the Sainte-Chapelle in Paris”. Actually, items in the book crafted my itinerary for backpacking around Europe after I was done studying abroad. I was 20, I had this book and off I went.

For everything that has been checked off (“change your last name” was the most recent), there is still so much to do, to see, to experience. And I think that’s why this little book means so much to me and why I tucked it in my bag to Colorado. Sitting in that little yellow house next to an icy window in Breckenridge and flipping through the pages, it was impossible to remember the stories behind the check marks without scrolling my gaze toward the things I am excited to do next. Such is life, right? The past is always there but so is the current moving us forward.

Sparking my interest to check off this year:

  • Get your picture taken in a champagne tub in the Poconos
  • Make a thermos full of margaritas and watch the fireworks
  • Make homemade tortillas
  • Drive a bus
  • Risk saying no more often

One thing is for sure- I adore solo days in new towns and I am just as enthused about future adventures and what might be checked off while experiencing them as I was when I was given 2001 Things to Do Before You Die 10 Years Ago.

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Current Obsession: The Skimm

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Do you guys read The Skimm? I have been obsessed with it since last summer so I figured it was high time to share it with you. The Skimm is a daily email newsletter that gives me basically everything I need to know about what’s happening in the news…all in the time it takes me to scroll through the email. It’s like having your super smart, well informed friend give you a succinct rundown of the things.

I consider myself to be pretty aware of what’s happening in this world we live in but The Skimm has been a gamechanger, allowing me to know a huge breadth of information in a few minutes. It’s the jam and I feel like I learn so much every day.

If you’re interested, you can sign up here.

(this is not a sponsored post, I just really, really love reading The Skimm every morning!)

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Now What? | Winter in Chicago

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Ahh, winter. The part that isn’t shrouded in Christmas lights and shopping and festive parties. This time of year always makes me wonder “Now what?”…

Last year, the Polar Vortex kept us all pretty home bound and while this year isn’t exactly a reprieve, I think it’s going to allow for activities not on our couches so I present to you a few things coming up in Chicago to get you out and about. But don’t forget to bundle up.

{links in italics}

January 22: Publican Quality Meats presents Troublesome in a Little Butcher Shop– PQM & Off Color Brewing are teaming up for this open house featuring five bites by Chef Corey paired with the perfect craft brew.

January 22: Southport Grocery Secret Supper– a three-course meal that is a secret until you sit down. With Southport Grocery’s love of local and amazing food on their regular menu, it’s certain that what hits the table during a secret supper is sure to be amazing.

January 23: Vibeup– Vibeup is a wellness company striving to build a community through unique events and initiatives that encourages a healthy lifestyle.  The upcoming launch event offers a  60 minute yoga class + after party at the Godfrey Hotel with organic food, fresh juices & cocktails.

January 29: First Bites Bash– the official kick-off of Chicago Restaurant Week, this event in the Great Hall at Union Station gives a preview from over 50 restaurants of what’s to come January 30-February 12 when the dining scene in Chicago is celebrated with $22 lunches and $44 dinners.

February 8-March 22: 40 Days of Transformation– join Om on the Range for 40 days of yoga, meditation and community. This is my favorite studio in Chicago and sounds like a great way to get through a winter slump.

February 12: First Look for Charity– a little black tie action, be the first see this year’s Chicago Auto Show and support raising money for the Special Olympics.

February 14: Little Goat’s Valentine’s Day Party– why oh why has Valentine’s Day become all about prix fixe menus? Is Valentine’s Day the new NYE? Problem solved- Stephanie Izard and the crew at Little Goat are throwing a good, old fashioned V-day party- dancing, drinking and that beyond amazing food they are known for.

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Quotable

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“Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day. You shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.” Ralph Waldo Emerson

Happy Monday, friends. Whether it was good, bad or ugly, it is over…be done with it. Fresh start tomorrow and every day.

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