Just A Chi Town Girl’s Last(ish) Minute Gift Guide

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2015 Holiday Gifts

For those on your list that didn’t specifically ask for a robe (again), Christmas shopping can end up snowballing (holiday pun intended) into an ordeal. Here are a few things that are on my gift go-to list that I think are great for everyone from your sister to her boyfriend that you have never met to the co-worker who you know is getting you something so you should probably have something wrapped and ready to go.

Cooking Like a Master Chef: Chef Graham Elliot has won Michelin Stars, cooking shows (any heard of a little thing called Master Chef?), James Beard nominations all while running 2 very successful Chicago restaurants and now he has another winner on his hands- his new and first ever cookbook. It’s equal parts inspiring and accessible which means this is something your pro-in-the-kitchen dad will eat up as well as your roommate who is hoping to make something other than ramen in the new year. Our holiday menu is filled with recipes from this cookbook!

KeySmart: I know, I know- getting someone a key chain for Christmas sounds lame but I have been using my KeySmart for 6 months and I love it. Fishing in my bag for a jingle of keys that resembled that of a janitor was annoying so when I saw a co-worker with this neat stack of keys that fit cleanly in his pocket, I ordered one immediately. With the extensions, up to 20 keys can fit in there and it will hands down be the most useful thing under the tree this year.

Duke Cannon Soap: It’s pithy, honest, American and doesn’t give a f*ck. Did I mention its soap? With product names “Big Ass Bar of Soap” that “smells like victory/productivity/accomplishment”, this men’s skin care company is for dude’s dudes. Aaand  I am going say women who like dude’s dudes too because I most certainly bought 2 bars, one for my dad and one for my husband, and while my dad did get his I definitely took ownership of the one in our house because it smelled so damn good. And who doesn’t want to start the day smelling like victory?

NARS Gipsy Lipstick:  My best friend always gifts me the best beauty products. I mentioned this to her on my birthday this year and she said that she loves giving people something they can love, use up and then not have it laying around the house. I think she is on to something. This sheer red lipstick is my daily go-to and the perfect new color to play with after you change out of your Christmas jammies.

Club W: The gift that keeps giving, Club W is a wine club that allows the recipient to select what wine arrives each month. With videos of sommeliers discussing the bottles available via their sleek app, there’s no surprise when a shipment arrives and it’s a really great way to try new varietals you’ve never heard of. Winter is coming (in theory)- the people on your Christmas list might as well be well prepared, right?

Cooking at Home: Friday Night Dinners

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taco salad bar

Something we have gotten away from in the last few months has been Friday dinner at home. Work stress, general busy-ness, laziness…whatever it has been, eating out all weekend has become a thing. But with Spring seemingly here and a glorious weekend ahead with nothing planned, it was time to bring Friday nights home again.

I was in Colorado last week and had the most amazing roasted tomato salsa so with that as inspiration, I decided on a taco salad bar. The term “taco” is used very lightly here as I think the only thing Mexican about this meal is the fact that I made salsa, used chili powder on the protein and sliced up avocado and cilantro. But whatever. I wanted fresh and I wanted healthy and for full disclosure, I wanted wine because goodgodthisweek.

My favorite thing about meals like this is that while there is some prep time involved, it’s every man for themselves once you put each ingredient out. My husband wasn’t forced to eat kale if he didn’t want to and I was free to load up on green goodness, bypassing the steak. Everybody wins and at the end of the meal, we both agreed we need to do this for a dinner party soon.

Roasted Tomato Salsa

3 pints cherry tomatoes

1 poblano pepper

1 red onion

4 cloves garlic

handful cilantro

salt & pepper

Arrange the tomatoes, the poblano, garlic and onion (cut in thick slices) on a large baking tray. Season with salt and pepper and place under the broiler until they start to brown. You may have to remove the pepper and garlic early as they brown faster. After everything is roasted, place in a food processor with the cilantro and pulse until it’s at the consistency you want (I like mine well mixed but just before pureed). My food processor is small so I did this in a few batches and combined in a large bowl to stir everything together at the end.

Salad Ingredients

mixed greens

lacinato kale

avocado

asparagus (blanched)

sweet potatoes (roasted with a touch of honey and pepper)

red pepper (roasted)

red onion (leftover from the salsa, roasted)

shrimp (pan seared with lime juice, cilantro and chili powder)

skirt steak (pan seared with chili powder, salt, pepper and butter)

shrimp salad

{A pile of salad-y goodness for me}

steak salad

{Steak with a side of salad for my husband}

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As for the wine, I broke into our latest shipment of Club W. This monthly wine club is a lot of fun because I get to select what bottles arrive and with the sommelier videos on the app, sometimes I try things I might pass over at the wine store or have never heard of. This bottle of Valdiguie fit the bill last night as 1) I drank it while cooking per their suggestion, 2) it was red, 3) it was wine.

Friday night dinners at home are back.

 

Blizzard Essentials

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eataly

Where did this snow storm come from?! I swear, it wasn’t on the forecast until Friday! I was at Eataly on Saturday evening when the first flakes began to fall so I stocked up on the essentials.

Wine. Stuffed pasta. More wine.

19 inches of snow and a cozy, stay at home Super Bowl Sunday later, we arrive at Monday. I hope all of your cars were easy to un-shovel (ha) and this is the only visit from a blizzard that we see this year!

Thanksgiving Prep

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LB

This picture sums up what is on the agenda/how we are preparing for our holiday weekend. Wine. Cat. Snuggles. Repeat.

Ryan and I are spending Thanksgiving just the two of us in Chicago and I am excitedx1000 to spend a few days relaxing, cooking and being together in our home base after a busy month of travel. Oh and heading down to the Christkindlmarket on Thanksgiving morning to choose a new ornament for our tree.

Safe travels to all who are hitting the road today!

Can’t Even: A Weather Update

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I’m sorry but I just can’t even with this weather. Yes, I know it’s Chicago and it’s not like it’s my first winter here but something in me snapped around 10am today and after finishing my last meeting of the day this afternoon, I called my battle against the cold/snow off. So it’s fashion magazines, wine and Sex & the City reruns until further notice. I know, I know- the glamour of it all.

#chicagowintergoaway

The time we went to Eataly & never stopped talking about it

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I really hate when new restaurants open and everyone is all “oh em gee, this place is the most amazing of all amazing restaurants to ever open on the planet”. Okay, okay, I get it, said new restaurant is great, calm down. Eataly opened a few weeks ago and subsequently, people have lost their minds over it. I’ve heard it’s packed around the clock, strangers have given me “insider tips” on how to navigate it and so on.

Ryan and I were doing some last minute shopping yesterday when I got super hungry, super fast. I was still in the clothes I went to Flywheel in and needed a quick bite, let’s just shoot into Eataly and grab a slice of pizza and head back out, we decided.

Oh. Em. Gee.

Choosing 2 slices of the most incredible focaccia pizza led to getting directions to the nearest wine barrel (turn right at the coffee bar, we were told), which led to us standing up at a tall bar, raving about the ricotta and dough and toasting to what has already been the best holiday season we’ve had. We watched people having as much fun as we were, strangers talking to each other, incredulous over this grocery store/restaurant/food stand/wine shop/cheese emporium/meat heaven/crudo station. Ryan drinks wine but isn’t usually as enthusiastic as I am; he insisted we get another glass, he was having so much fun, he didn’t want to leave. While waiting at one of the many bars, we met a stranger in from Denver en route to Christmas in Houston, bought his beer and said cheers to safe travels. We met an old man from Brooklyn that couldn’t believe that you could just walk around with wine-we clinked glasses with him on the escalator. We perused wine from the region I studied abroad in Italy, passed cheese wheels bigger than I am and got very, very, very excited about our honeymoon in Italy.

Basically, everyone losing their shit over Eataly is 100% spot on. This place is amazing.

We went for drinks with friends before and after dinner and literally couldn’t stop talking about it. We woke up this morning talking about it. We made tomato sauce and pasta from scratch today because we wanted more of that simple, whole food. Our buddy we were with last night texted today to say he and his fiancée got in a fight over chess- we told him to take her to Eataly to make amends.

We are those people. And I don’t even care. I am going to be thinking of our fun afternoon for weeks to come. And dreaming of that ricotta zucchini pizza…

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On Personal Responsibility

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File this under “conversations with co-workers before 8am”.

Personal responsibility is great and muy essential but sometimes, you need to accept that it’s someone else’s job to teach you to operate the corkscrew.

Or something like that.

Thank God it’s Friday. And National Donut Day. Go get on that. I know I am.

Cats, wine and thumbs up,
Nina

Bloomingdales Shoe Relaunch

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Tonight was the launch party for Bloomingdales new shoe department. Drinking wine while trying on shoes = my kind of activity. The 3rd floor makeover looks beautiful, a much needed update…and of course tons and tons of shoes. The male models carrying trays with a single high heel on them was also a very nice touch- my fingers are crossed that they will be a permanent fixture…

Thanks for the invite, CS Magazine!

How About a Hump Day Treat?

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Wine, mani/pedis and Sex and the City are among my favorite things in the world and there’s a place in Old Town that apparently lives in my head.

Tonight, my nails got did, someone brought me wine repeatedly from a full bar and I watched episodes 1-3 from season 1 of SATC. Oh and I made some new friends because frankly, who doesn’t want to be friends with other girls who are clearly awesome with their taste in personal upkeep, alcohol and the television series that defined our generationand are sitting next to you enjoying the shit out of their evenings. Tonight was just what the doctor ordered.

Abre Nails– how did I not know about you before???

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Essie Chinchilly and some ridiculous blue that is amazing because it’s freezing out again and I don’t have any damns left to give and just wanted something interesting to look at on my feet in yoga.