NYC NYE Take Two

I flew over NYC for a work trip today and got rushed with warm and fuzzy memories of the city. Another benefit of living in Chicago: quick and cheap flights to JFK/EWR/LGA. Two years ago I rung in 2010 in the city and since then, I've been a handful of times....probably four times to visit Sean, once for Mrs. Contreras' bachelorette party and a few other times I vaguely recall....but NYE is just another monster of fun. We didn't do the standard Times Square situation in 2009/10, but we did hang at a party at Sean's buddy's rooftop, watching fireworks go off over the city, while consuming some adult beverages. Good times! And after Christmas sales at pretty much every department store and even boutiques?! I'm drooling thinking of the shoe floor opportunities at Barney's. To top it all off-Mrs. C and the hubby will be there to celebrate as well. Let the countdown begin!

It's Beginning to Look Alot Like

So I admit-it's a little bit of a Charlie Brown Christmas, but give me a break. We JUST moved. Gotta start somewhere right? I spent all of Saturday in my yoga pants with the heat pumped up and a cup of coffee glued to my hand. A perfect recipe for DIY time.

I don't highly suggest the sweater pillow case project though. There was an obnoxious amount of fuzzy red stuff all over the apartment....and who wants to clean after you've used up all of your energy on making things look so pretty?

Torta Alla Gianduia

I made my first recipe from the How to Be a Domestic Goddess cookbook by Nigella Lawson for Thanksgiving this year. The Torta Alla Gianduia, which I still don't really know how to pronounce, is an amazing Chocolate Hazelnut Cake recipe. It's a people pleaser!

The only thing the recipe is missing is how to peel hazlenuts. I didn't really think about it when I scooped the hazelnuts out of the bulk bins at Whole Foods, but when I got home the thought of peeling each one individually made me want to scream my head off. This blog post saved my sanity.

Peeling the Skins Bake the hazelnuts for 1/2 hour at 250˚F and then wrap the still hot hazelnuts in a kitchen towel. The hot hazelnuts create steam and loosens the skins. Unwrap the towel so that there is one layer below and above the hazelnuts and apply firm pressure while rolling the hazelnuts back and forth.

You can find the recipe and directions here

Cold!

So it's been cold this week. Really cold. A girlfriend of mine told me that she didn't leave her apartment for three days over the weekend, and I forsee ALOT of these days ahead for myself. Time for online cold-weather shopping!

Marc Jacobs took the keep your ears warm thing a liiiitle too far, but the rest of my list seems pretty doable. My wardrobe has changed significantly from the simple Rainbows, Tshirt and Skinny Jeans outfit to....well all of this. Boyfriend, this doubles as a Christmas list as well =)

1/2/3/4/5/6/

Thanksgiving

These non Instagram photos will show you what a scrumtious time my belly had this Thanksgiving. Sean's mother is a fantastic cook and firmly believes in all natural, home made everything. Lucky me! AND we strategically showed up on Wednesday night, so we had to eat two dinners? Oh Darnit. I contributed a Chocolate Hazelnut cake that, thank goodness, turned out deeeeliciously. Post to come soon on that business.

Me and Sean also took a little photo opp stroll in the back yard area and got exposed to a little Blair Witch....best believe I was looking over my shoulder and watching each movement of the sun going down. Taking in each inch of the Midwest, one day at a time.

Give Thanks

I have more positive things in my life than I could ever ask for and am SO SO thankful for it all-supportive family and friends, who are spread all across the country/world, the silliest and most fun boyfriend who understand all my idiosyncrasies, an amazing job and coworkers/clients (and of course the free hotel points and airline miles), great food to fill my belly, my good health, sparkly things in my closet, and a lovely city to call my home (for now, don't get crazy now San Diegoans).

Happy Thanksgiving!

Affordable Luxuries

Affordable luxury (William DeShazer, Chicago Tribune / November 10, 2011)

Since it's the week of Black Friday, midnight madness, cyber Monday-whatever they're calling it these days, it's only appropriate to stay on the topic of...shopping. And to highlight my FAVORITE two words when it comes to shopping: Affordable AND Luxury. I read an article, Frugal finds at fancy stores, in this past Sunday's Chicago Tribune and I got even more excited than I usually am for Christmas shopping. I OBSESS over buying gifts for the people that I love and firmly believe in squeezing every single penny out of your dollar with every shopping experience. Why wouldn't you? It's not that I'm cheap, I simply refuse to believe that there are 100 pennies in a dollar and some gifts can definitely make it seem so.

Last year I bought a few friends some items from Marc by Marc Jacobs' Special Items, which is a hodge podge of random, lower cost (I said lower, not low) items like t-shirts, tote bags, jewelry, wallets and key chains. One of the most fun items that I purchased for a friend was a scarf made from scraps of fabric from their full line. It was fun to go to a store that's special to only a few cities in the US, while buying these affordable luxuries. Although a resourceful friend of mine knew these tricks and showed up to Christmas last year with Marc by Marc wishbone friendship necklaces for four of our friends!

[Those are obviously wishbones if you can't tell]

Sooo to risk my friends and family knowing what's in Santa's sack...please enjoy the details of this fun article...Ellen Warren from the Tribune goes to a few boutique/luxury establishments in Chicago and asks what she can buy for $50. What a fun task! I mean the gift wrapping alone is well worth spending the $50 for each gift! Teal box anyone?
Ikram

porcelain cup with elegant cherry blossoms $10

Jonathan Adler

colorful dog leash

salt and pepper shakers

Chanel

$25 nail polish

Barneys

skull ice tongs

note card holder

Tiffany's

Boxed set of two decks of playing cards

small glass bowls from Germany $30

Happy Black Friday/midnight madness/cyber Monday/definitely not shopping with the crazies week!

A La Card

A La Card is a brilliant idea. For $30, you get a deck of 52 cards, each a gift certificate for $10 to the restaurant described on the card. Directly from their website:

Newest Buzz on the Chicago Dining Scene... We've created a consortium of 52 Chicago restaurants--and not just any restaurants, but the best in the city. The restaurants span 25 different neighborhoods, various cuisines and price points, but they have a couple things in common--killer food and great passion that oozes from the chef/owners of these non-corporate gems. At one end of the spectrum you'll find "dog/sausage-haven" Hot Doug's and the other you'll find James Beard Award Winning Chef Carrie Nahabedian's Naha... Lula Cafe, Mexique, The Bristol, Arami, Smoque, Longman & Eagle, and The Gage to name just a few.

Sean bought the cards at one of the street festivals this summer and we haven't used a ton of the cards quite yet, but as 2011 winds down (they expire at the end of the year), we're kind of trying to hustle to use as many as we can.

Really $10 is nothing in relation to the bill, but hey, it all adds up and what better reason to try new places than to "have to". I hope they expand to other cities!

[Crossing off as we use. We've gotten our ROI at least =) ]

[Places we've been]

[What's left to use]

[Top choices]