holiday part two: state route 1

Photo journal up the coast!

[Kardashians, anyone? Calabasas, CA]

[Roadside fruit stand]

[Santa Barbara]

[Cambria]

[Big Sur]

[Post Ranch Inn]

[The Best of California Forever]

[Lamplighter Inn, Carmel]

[Monterey]

holiday part one: san diego

Our vacation was a whirlwind. Period. My ten day holiday away from the Second City started out in my hometown of San Diego and was probably the most relaxing part of our trip. Pool side slothing, hiking, home-made meals by the mother, birthday and engagement (not mine) celebrations and overall, just a three-day blink of time back in America's Finest City. I am so lucky to have such great family/friends to go home to a few times a year!

[an obvious must for any trip to CA]

[birthday treats from one of my favorite lovers]
[celebrating the birthday and an engagement of the pretty lady on the far left]
[summer noodles made by mom]

[private room dinner at The Cowboy Star]

[being silly with the girls at the Se hotel]

[in good company]

[sunrise that started our road trip up the coast]

summer vacation

ORD->SAN->SFO->LGA. Off to summer vacation I go. Happy 4th of July weekend!

[carry on]
[accessorize]

[YES for bikini weather! All I can say about that]

[brights: Custo Barcelona, Zara, F21, Trouve]

[stripes: Urban Outfitters, H&M]

[and Whites: Hudson, F21, James Pearse]

[good-bye thunderstormy Chicago!]

this summer

[via maryruffle.tumblr.com]

I have emailed google calendar alerts to all of my friends who live in Chicago, those who are visiting Chicago and those who may have expressed an inkling of interest in visiting. Obnoxious? Absolutely. Here's my list of to dos for this summer (in no particular order).

1. Aug 5 Lollapalooza with my closet girlfriends from home and Chicago. We bought tickets for the Saturday lineup to listen to a little love from Lykke Li, Atmosphere, My Morning Jacket and Ellie Goulding. Outfit planning has commenced on high priority
2. Rooftop pool lounging at my girlfriends' high rise apartment
3. "Beach" time (As a CA girl I'm still weary of using this term as it relates to the lakes)
4. June 23-26 Luxury Garage Sale's Pop-Up sale @ Sofia
5. June 26 Chicago's Annual Pride Parade
6. July 1-6 take a road trip up the CA coast. On the list is LA, Santa Barbara, Cambria, Carmel, Big Sur and SF
7. July 7-10 go to NYC for a weekend (needs no further explanation :) )
8. Workouts on Saturday Mornings in Millineum Park. Brilliant idea city planners
9. July 15-17 Pitchfork Music Festival
10. Make home made popsicles and perhaps even ice cream (I fantasize about using every kind of cake batter and cookie dough as chunks)
11. Visit Denver to oogle over the cutest nugget alive
12. Go to the Randolph Street Market to scout vintage treasures with the mama when she visits
13. Farmer's Markets galore
14. A Lake Geneva Getaway. Relaxing on the lake and shopping in the town.
15. July 23-24 Wicker Park Festival for hipster people watching
16. August 12-14 Ginza Holiday Japanese festival to celebrate my heritage and eat some yummy food
17. August 27-28 Bucktown Art Fest
18. Camp in northern Wisconsin. I use the word "camp" loosely, meaning I will be sleeping on an air mattress if this trip happens to pull through!
19. Call friends, who don't live here, to catch up while taking strolls through the city
20. Go on an architectural boat tour and various other tourist activities when the mama visits
21. Attend a cubs game, on a promotional day, of course

I think I've been successful maximizing the awesome summer thus far. Here's the "done" list:

1. Taste of Randolph

2. Music Monday's in Millenium Park

[PB&J sack dinner picnic]

3. Division Street Festival

4. Old Town Art Festival

blue

A few new blue home accents that I picked up over the weekend....

Spoon holder from World Market for $3.95. Was pretty excited when I flipped this baby over and saw the price

Hand-me-down dining chairs. [Armani Casa]

Roundabout Rug from CB2I know these aren't "home accents", but couldn't turn down a good deal WHILE shopping for home goods
Happy Monday!

portland

Work has been providing me a great work-life balance these days by sending me to some awesome cities. I was in Portland a few weeks back and have nothing bad to say about the little crunchy hippie city. The Chicago concrete jungle has deprived me a bit from nature and I was absolutely taking in every breath of fresh lush air that I could. My first night I enjoyed some deliciousness at the Organic Beer and Sustainable food establishment Hopworks Urban Brewery and for fear of embarrassing myself in front of the bosses, decided to lay off of pulling the camera out and asking everybody to stay still while I took photos of their food. In due time. We also paid a visit to almost-James-Beard-winner Andy Ricker's restaurant, Pok Pok. Ricker refines his Thai cooking skills (no Pad Thai here, sorry) by visiting friends who actually live in Thailand and has grown from essentially selling eight menu items on a food truck to well, almost winning a James Beard award. We asked the waitress to choose a few things off the menu so we could share them all and the spices were overwhelming and the ingredients as fresh as can be.

Now, for the scenery.

On the drive up to Hood River

Windsurfing on the river

A little break

A pint glass for the new apartment

Look familiar Twilight fans? Right off the Columbia Gorge nests the View Point Inn, the scene of the Prom in Twilight. Geeking out and proud of it.

Long flight home

Follow my blog with Bloglovin