Refinery 29 feature of Evanston

Evanston is one of my favorite places along the North Shore. There are so many things to do and so much culture. The houses are also gorgeous. Check out this article from Refinery 29 that my sister sent to me featuring Evanston. Day Pass: 10 Things To Do In Evanston

P.S. I love that the first picture is of French Macarons...my all time favorite treat!

Consignment Saturday, Part 2

This weekend my mom and I planned another field trip and continued the hunt for a green club chair (see earlier post Consignment Saturday). We went to three towns in the western suburbs of Chicago to visit the Crate and Barrel Outlet in Naperville, The Courtyard in Hinsdale, and Divine Consign in Oak Park.

We started the day off with breakfast at a North Shore establishment, Walker Brothers Pancakes. This is a restaurant that every family goes to on the weekends if you live in the northern suburbs. They have a consistent & delightful breakfast menu and it is a very family friendly environment. There is almost always a line, so my mom and I got up early to go before the crowd. The pancakes are so good that I was tempted to get them, but I ordered a classic and something I can't make at home, The Dutch Baby. This is a smaller version of the German Pancake, which is "a thin and delicate oven-baked pancake dusted with powder sugar and served with lemon on the side."

After breakfast, we started the trek to Naperville to visit the Crate and Barrel Outlet. This is the place I would go to first if I were furnishing a home from scratch. The prices are high, but it is still a significant cut from the prices at a regular Crate and Barrel store. These are some of my finds. I am dying for the bar and TV stand. Sadly I don't have room for the bar and don't need a TV stand.

Next stop was The Courtyard in Hinsdale. This furniture consignment shop had the green club chair we have been searching for! I spotted the chair immediately after walking into the store, however two men were looking at it. I quickly walked over, looked at the price tag, and flagged over the woman working to let her know we wanted to purchase it. We found the ultimate score and it looks fantastic in my parents house. Now if only I had remembered to take a picture. Although we found the green club chair here, I don't think I would come back. There was a lot of gaudy stuff that wasn't my taste.

The last stop was Divine Consign in Oak Park. This shop had a lot of stuff but you really had to search to find the fabulous pieces. The furniture was priced so low to keep inventory moving. The things I did like were sadly all sold, most likely due to the low prices. If I were to come back to this place, I would recommend coming first thing in the morning to get first dibs on the good stuff. 

After such a fun day with my mom, I went to a bi-monthly dinner party with some girlfriends from work that we call "Pie Night." The friend hosting tonight has a baby we are all in love with. Check out this cutie! Clearly he didn't want to go to bed and would have liked to stay up with the girls.

Song Obsession

I have a confession to make. Today I listened to Taylor Swift's song I Knew You Were Trouble five times on the way to work. I think I am obsessed. That being said, a friend pointed out to me that the music video is quite odd. She does a two minute monologue about said troubled relationship. Based on this, my assumption is that Taylor Swift should stick to singing not talking. Take a look for yourself.

Sunday Coffee

I met a good friend for coffee and lunch on Sunday. She lives on the border of the adorable Andersonville neighborhood. We went to a local favorite of hers, Kopi Cafe. I was thrilled to see that they had an all time favorite dish of mine (Chevre Chaud) from when I went to Paris. My friend also introduced me to my new favorite coffee drink, Mexican Hot Chocolate. Now if only it wasn't so bad for you. Such a yummy treat that I wish I could drink every day!

Consignment Saturday

My mom is on the hunt for a green club chair so my sister and I accompanied her on a field trip to Coyle and Herr in the Bridgeport neighborhood of Chicago. This consignment shop was featured on WGN's Bring It Home and is owned by two very lovely ladies. These women have a good eye and the photo shoots on their website practically made me drool. If I didn't live in a tiny studio and if I had an endless budget, I would have brought some treasures home.

After Coyle and Herr we went to an old favorite, Vintage Pine. This store is pretty pricey but has a lot of great pieces. I found a Boston Terrier painting that I adore, particularly because of the play on portrait painting. Taking something so formal and making it so silly. And for 175 bucks, I'm hoping to make this witty painting mine (hint for anyone out there who wants to buy me a generous present).

After hours on end furniture shopping, it was time to relax with a beer across the street at Whole Foods. For those of you who haven't been, the Whole Foods in Lincoln Park is no ordinary grocery store. This place has not one, but two bars. Grocery shopping is definitely more fun when you can walk around with a glass of wine or beer in hand. 

Happy Saturday!

A Little Friday Humor

A friend at work who knows how to make me laugh sent this to me. So cheers to a little Friday humor to start your weekend!

The Book of Mormon

My sister gave me tickets to The Book of Mormon for my birthday and the day finally came that we got to go! This is now hands down my favorite musical and if you live in the Chicago area you must see the show before they skip town.

We started off the night with dinner at Italian Village, or so I thought. This restaurant group is very tricky as they have three restaurants in the same building. I accidentally ended up in Vivere, which is the more expensive of the three restaurants, oops. They sat us in a cozy little booth, and as much as I hate to say this about a Chicago establishment, the decor felt like a Cheesecake Factory with a dose of classy and on steroids. The Italian Village restaurant group stakes claim as having the oldest Italian restaurant in Chicago opening in 1927. There seemed to be a lot of elderly patrons whom I suspected have been coming to this place forever. The food confirmed my suspicion. The restaurant was good and they make all their pastas in house.

The more exciting part of the night was seeing The Book of Mormon. The writers of this musical are the same people who wrote the TV show South Park. That being said, you need to have a sense of humor to like this musical. Thank goodness most people I associate with have a sense of humor. I didn't think poking fun of a religion could be this funny. I was laughing at every single song and didn't want the show to end. There is no mystery to me why The Book of Mormon has won praise from all the critics. 

Antique Taco

Tonight I met my good friend Billy for dinner at Antique Taco in Wicker Park. Antique Taco was opened by a graduate of Kendall College (culinary school) who had a Mexican background and an interest in antiques. The idea was to combine his two interests in one place. We ordered two kinds of tacos: pork carnitas and crispy fish tempura. The pork carnitas were especially tasty because it came with a piece of bacon and fresh avocado. The meat was cooked perfectly and not too spicy. We also ordered the abuelita's pop tart for dessert. Think of a pop tart mixed with s'mores. Yum!

The only thing I was disappointed with were the selection of antiques. As a home decorating lover, I was envisioning a much larger selection than this...

NYC Birthday Weekend

This weekend my friend Amy and I flew to New York City to surprise our dear friend Emily for her birthday. The weekend was absolutely fabulous and we ate our way through New York. I am smitten with the West Village neighborhood.

The first pit stop was my friend Rebecca's for the night on Friday. Rebecca and her husband Matt just got a puppy named Molly. She is the sweetest little thing and I would have brought her home in my suitcase if I could have.

Saturday morning Amy and I met up with Emily's boyfriend to surprise her. We sat out on her front stoop waiting for her. The look on her face was utter shock and she may have shed a tear when she came down the stairs and saw us sitting there. The symbol of a true successful surprise! We then walked down the street (birthday hats on) to a restaurant called The Little Owl. As we later learned, this restaurant is on the first floor of the building that is always shown in Friends. If that wasn't enough to make me like this place, they also had some pretty delicious breakfast tacos.

After brunch we walked around Emily's neighborhood and she showed us her favorite ice cream spot, Victory Gardens. This is no normal ice cream place as they have goats milk ice cream. New favorite and I wish we had this place in Chicago.

Saturday night Amy and I treated Emily to a birthday dinner at The Smile. The ambiance at this basement level restaurant was dark and cozy and the food delicious. Emily and Amy ordered a squash, ricotta cheese, beans and fried egg dish that was to die for. I am going to try to make this at home, although I doubt it will be nearly as good.

Sunday was Emily's actual birthday so while she was at Soul Cycle I went and grabbed some flowers and cupcakes. Then we went to brunch at another neighborhood spot L'Artusi. This place had the most decadent brunch menu. I normally don't order biscuits and gravy (usually I leave that for my guy) but I couldn't resist these. They had parmesan biscuits, sausage gravy and a poached egg. Yum! After brunch, Emily's boyfriend surprised us with massages at The Trump Soho. Talk about a sweet gesture. I could definitely spend another afternoon there!

After a relaxing day of brunch and the spa, we went to one of Emily's favorite restaurants abc kitchen, which is near Union Square. This restaurant has local and organic food and is an absolute must go if you are in New York City. The ambiance is very modern and sexy with lots of candles and glossy photography artwork.

Sadly Emily needed to go to Los Angeles for work Sunday night, so I was on my own in New York City for Monday morning. This isn't such a terrible thing when you have Emily's adorable West Village neighborhood to explore. I walked up and down the streets and settled into Amy's Bakery where I ordered a pecan roll (one of my favorite breakfast treats). Then I had another quick visit with Rebecca, and off to the airport. Such a lovely weekend with fabulous friends that I didn't want to end. Going to work this morning is going to be a real tough task.