peak hours

Yep, I'm still posting about that road trip I took in August/September.

You drive right into Grand Teton National Park when exiting Yellowstone. I wish I had a week to hike and camp there. The mountains were un-be-lievable. At one point I actually exclaimed, "I can't believe these peaks!!!"

I felt like I had stepped directly into Middle Earth's Misty Mountains (super nerdy reference).

walking on sunshine

...and a convenient man made path.

Please enjoy these photos, taken at the Lincoln Park Nature Walk this weekend.  We're saying goodbye to all of our favorite Chicago spots.

bee happy

I have been a longtime fan of Burt's Bees products, so when Dane showed me these videos a while ago, I was smitten with their sweet, arts-and-craftsy, slightly obscure vibe. I was reminded of them today when I saw at least a dozen plump bumblebees lazily buzzing around gardens. Wasps and hornets are terrible, but bumblebees? Adorable.

Almost as adorable as Isabella Rossallini & friends educating us on bumblebee society and Colony Collapse Disorder. Sound strange? It is. Wonderfully strange.

Burt Talks to the Bees: Worker Bees

Burt Talks to the Bees: Queen Bee

Burt Talks to the Bees: Drone Bee

DIY : felt flower crown

Since spring, I've been seeing so many flower crown DIYs on my favorite blogs; I knew I had to make my own. In my commitment to use the supplies I have instead of making a trip to the craft store for every DIY idea that comes my way, I decided to use some leftover felt scraps to make little felt flowers for my crown. I also used an old faux flower stem, so this project cost me zero dollars. Hooray!

You will need: scrap felt, glue gun, scissors, flower patterns (I found mine here), bendable flower stem large enough to make a ring around your head, pencil (not pictured)

Start by tracing your patterns on the felt. I made three different sizes. You don't have to trace them perfectly, I found it easy to cut out the pattern if at least the spiral was traced. Don't worry about making every petal perfect! Cut out the patterns (I also cut some simple leaves from my green felt). Wrap the stem around your head comfortably, then carefully remove it and glue together where the end joins the stem (I had some hangover that I let go past the end of the ring, but if you'd like you can snip that off).


Starting in the center of the pattern, roll up the flowers by spiraling the petals tightly together. Put a large X of glue on the back, or as much as you need to hold all of the petals securely in place. Wrap the rest of the flowers. I ended up making more flowers than pictured--I decided to make my crown asymmetrical and fuller on one side instead of a single ring around.


Attach the flowers to the stem with glue. To hold larger flowers in place, I wrapped the back petals around the stem. For smaller flowers, I simply glued them directly to the stem or to the sides of the flowers surrounding them (if they were in a cluster). Fill out your crown with the greenery.

And you have a lovely, hippy-ish flower crown that's perfect for a festival or BBQ. My brother told me I looked like I belonged at Night of a Thousand Stevies, which I took as the highest compliment. I'll definitely be wearing this in some Montana pics during our road trip.

Happy Friday & stay cool!

fruit & ricotta panini two ways

So I love to cook. But the weather lately has been...shall we say..."toasty" the past few weeks. Thursday it's supposed to break 100 degrees--I don't care how much you love to cook, the thought of turning on an oven or standing near a burner when it is that hot (no A/C in this abode) is nauseating. So unless you want to eat salads & cereal for every meal the rest of the summer, you're going to need some options. These sandwiches may seem warm & comforting thanks to the melty cheese and toasted bread, but the fruit gives them just enough of a bright punch to taste refreshing.

Yep, I just used "refreshing" to describe a sandwich. I'm a rebel like that.

I made these on my little George Foreman grill, but you can also make them on a stove top like you would a grilled cheese (if you can stand the heat) or just by nuking the ingredients for, say, 15 seconds, and popping the bread in the toaster before assembling. Whatever keeps you cool.

Spicy Pineapple Ricotta Panini
2 slices of Texas Toast
2 1/2 Tbsp ricotta cheese
1/4 cup cubed pineapple (please use fresh & not that weird tasting canned stuff)
sprinkle of crushed red pepper

Spread the ricotta cheese on one slice of bread. Top with a sprinkle of red pepper & pineapple. Put the other piece of bread on top. Grill on a hot panini machine/ George Foreman grill that is liberally coated with cooking spray for 60-90 seconds (depending on how crispy you want your panini--I like mine lightly grilled, so I cooked it for 60 seconds).

Blackberry Jam & Ricotta Panini
2 slices of Texas Toast
2 1/2 Tbsp ricotta cheese
2 1/2 Tbsp blackberry jam
pinch of salt

Spread the ricotta cheese on one slice of bread. Lightly sprinkle with salt. Spread the jam on the other slice of bread, and put the two slices of bread together with the jam/ricotta kissing in the middle. Grill on a hot panini machine/ George Foreman grill that is liberally coated with cooking spray for 60-90 seconds (again, depending on how crispy you want your panini--I like mine lightly grilled, so I cooked it for 60 seconds).

Or mix it up! Use whatever jam or preserves you have on hand. I made a version with pineapple, ricotta, sliced jalapenos, and chicken breast last week. Yum.

Hope you're staying cool!

let's go antiquing

Yes, "antiquing" does sound like an activity more suited for retirees or hipsters, and I don't consider myself either. Antiques sound old and breakable and fussy. I will watch a qualified person appraise them on television, but they don't always fit my asthetic.  I do, however, appreciate cool things ("probably because you're cool!" is what you're thinking). And I've found that a lot of places one would visit while "antiquing" contain many cool things that are not automatically associated with dust. So on a sunny Saturday, Dane & I took a little cross-town trip to the Randolph Street Market to find cool things. It was a pretty successful window shopping endeavor.

 I would love to get an old wall map of the USSR & hang it like Rachel did! A folksy Russian/Soviet influence seems to be creeping into my style lately...I wonder why...

Retro specs make me feel like a librarian.

Dane even found a great shirt for our move-- "Living in LA--Be Ready!" Apparently this t-shirt company is trying to warn us about LA's rampant violence (how else would you explain a dog owning three guns in his bullet hole-ridden living room?).

It's funny how places like this can make me think, "ooh! I need a colorful yardstick!"

I should have taken a picture of a set of 1960's swimsuits that were by far my favorite items at the market. We had so much fun browsing through all of the vintage clothes, items, knickknacks, memorabilia, handmade jewelry and furniture, that we didn't even mind waiting over 20 minutes for the bus too much.At least there was some shade.

What a perfect summer day!

over the weekend

How was everyone's weekend? I have to brag, mine was pretty fantastic. Dane & I went down to the South Loop for brunch at a diner called White Palace (it's been featured on Diner's, Drive-In's, & Dives) that is famous for its chicken & waffles. I'm the type of person that can never decide between sweet or savory for brunch, so I'm glad this dish provides an out for me.

After brunch, we hit up the movie theater nearby for a matinee. I love matinees; there's just something transportive and magical about sitting in the dark, cool theater for a few hours, immersing yourself in a movie, and then re-emerging into the bright daylight. This matinee was doubly great because we had some free movie passes to redeem AND needed an air-conditioned escape. It was hot as the dickens outside (do people still say that? do people under 65 still say that?).

Along the way, we snapped a few photos on the bridge over the river.



I'm not much of an outfit poster (I never know how to pose!) but I wanted to share this romper I bought last fall. The weather hadn't been warm enough to wear it yet--the poor thing had to hang in my closet all winter. I love its tiny polka dots!

romper: vintage; purse: Target; ring: vintage; sunglasses: vintage

 Bring on the work week!

minor obsessions: water sign

Happy Friday dear readers! Has this week felt long to anyone else? I found myself frequently forgetting what day it was and needing the weekend as far back as Wednesday. I haven't had much time recently to browse the internet, but I have been noticing a water motif in the pictures and items I'm clicking and pinning. My astrological sign, Scorpio, is a water sign, so maybe my stars are just acting up.

I would love to jump off a small cliff into a lagoon at some point in my life...I also think a photo of me *gracefully* leaping into some clear blue water would be a great header image for this blog!

This is a sneak peak of some of the stunning artwork you will see if you head over to Cheri Lee Charlton's exhibition at Swim Cafe this month! Browse her gor-ge-ous work here!

 I would probably end up drinking this Prosecco Sangria like it was water.

 This Holding Hands print by artist Laura Berger currently sits upon our mantle, and I can't wait to give it a more permanent frame and place once we move.

 Saltwater Sandals are the more fashionable alternative to "land & sea" shoes. They're rumored to be very high quality and oh so comfortable--they also have sizes for ages 0-100 (sorry, 101 yr olds). Me want.

I have a pretty big day ahead of me tomorrow that involves brunch and a matinee movie, and a whole weekend of performances. I also have a few upcoming DIYs for you that I'm pretty excited about! TGIF people!

heartland cafe

I absolutely love eating outside. Food just tastes better. Maybe this stems from my family eating outside fairly often in the summer when I was younger. Maybe the long midwestern winters make me want to spend as much time as possible in the great outdoors once the weather shifts. I'm not going to Freud myself too deeply on this, it is what it is. Restaurant patios, picnics by the lake, eating Taco Bell on a park bench (yes I have done this sober, in the daylight), I love it all. I don't even mind if a few bugs pass through, unless they are spiders. Spiders are the devil and ruin everything! But I didn't spot a single spider while at the Heartland Cafe, and fear usually heightens my senses whenever they're near.

This cafe has more to offer than just being spider-free. I had passed by this winter and noticed the sensational patio, but made a note to return once I could actually take advantage of said patio. Dane reminded me of this recently and suggested that we go there for brunch. The reviews on Yelp are fairly split, but since I had such wonderful memories of driving past that patio and since Yelp reviews are sometimes...weird...so I was still excited to go.

Heartland Cafe is in the Roger's Park neighborhood, which is a very cute area with a cool small-town vibe that I don't visit very often due to the fact it is so far north in the city. But it has some great murals, artwork, shops, and cafes.

The entrance of the cafe is a little general store, with some cute items. Of course, Dane was drawn to the record bin--Linda Ronstadt looks great in those socks & roller skates! On the culinary side, the breakfast potatoes were to die for, and my spinach & cream cheese omlette was pr-e-tty darn tasty, too.

Wisconsin Union posters!

Sometimes it's nice to take a little trip to a new neighborhood--sometimes I forget how many different areas there are in Chicago! Maybe I should make a goal to visit some new ones before I move...if you have any suggestions, I'd love to hear them!