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]

Wisconsin Weekend

Last weekend me and Sean took a little weekend trip to Wisconsin. Friday we stopped off in Madison, 150 miles north of the city, and then spent the rest of the weekend just north of Lake Geneva at his parents house in the woods. It's crazy how you can travel a short distance and be worlds away!

We took a pleasant stroll around the college town Madison, which reminded me ALOT of where I went to school in Boulder. Yuppie hippies, North Face jackets and birkenstocks galore, a "college" downtown area with the likes of pipe shops, women's book stores, bars with drink specials plastered all over for foot traffic to readily see and then the "adult" downtown area with the more upscale restaurants, lounge bars and museums. Now that I'm technically in the "adult" category we let ourselves enjoy a meal at L'Etoile, an organic French jewel of a restaurant with a perfect view of the capital.

Saturday we spent some time with Sean's parents walking around the darling town of Lake Geneva and taking in the last colors and temperatures of fall. This wasn't my first trip to the Lake Geneva area, but every time we are up there it is seriously the most relaxing place to be. Something about waking up right in "nature", but not having to be in a tent, sleeping on the ground is just. so. amazing. And that extra hour? Heaven.

I love the Philosophy of L'Etoile: "We believe supporting our local farmers and artisan producers has a direct impact on our community: it strengthens local economies; it encourages variety and enriches our food traditions; it promotes health and wellness by offering menus made from natural and wholesome ingredients.

We also believe that we can play a role in educating others. At L’Etoile, our entire staff goes on fieldtrips throughout the year to visit the farms where our food comes from. We also teach students at Sherman Middle School about cooking with healthy options (CHOW program) and help to support their large on-site garden through a community partnership with REAP Farm-to-School."

[That's a baby creme brule, sandwiched between pear sorbet and concord grape coulis. Divine.]

[Nothing says thank you like...]

Goodbye Fall.