Bring it On

Breakfast in bed and sugar overload with jumbo cinnamon rolls and hot chocolate

I love it when I manage to schedule consecutive events on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and I still feel somewhat rested at the end of it all. The weekend started off with a quick stop at a local art and wine show, followed by some early holiday shopping and a dinner at my favorite chain restaurant of all time. Saturday included a manicure and a retirement dinner party, and Sunday was capped off with an annual trip to Randolph Street’s Vintage and Antiques Market. I’d say it’s official: the holiday season has begun!

Walls of colorful landscape impressions at the Art and Wine Fair

My version of the ideal retirement

Battling hordes of vintage seekers at Plumbers Hall

My weekend uniform: bright colors, glitter flats, lots of plaid and bold statement jewelry

Changing Clocks

I thought the “fall back” in time that we recently experienced would make getting out of bed a little easier. Instead, it’s resulted in pitch black driving conditions on the way home from work at night. Though I always get anxious at this time of year thinking about the long march ahead into the dead of winter, I do have a few things in store this month to keep my spirits high:

1. Spend a long weekend hosting friends from college and finding every excuse to do girly activities like a trampoline exercise class
2. Hit the strip in Andersonville and check out some bars and a restaurant that I’ve never before visited
3. Wear my new black leather booties to death
4. Check out the Wonders of the 1893 World Fair exhibit at the Field Museum
5. Continue my heavy use of the crock pot and try a few new recipes
6. Attend a local art and wine festival event with the tickets that I recently scored from a friend
7. Clean out my closet and get my massive sweater pile into the drycleaners
8. Head to Cincinnati to celebrate Thanksgiving with family and eat lots of turkey, cranberries and stuffing
9. Start to seek out the perfect item to add to my ever-growing holiday decoration collection
10. Begin planning my next warm weather vacation…

Girls Take Wisconsin

No, we were not dressed up for Halloween as private investigators or American Girl dolls

The girls’ family weekend was exactly what I hoped it would be. Not only did we enjoy the autumn-esque traditions hinted at in my last post, we also held “Christmas in October” since we won’t be making the usual visit to Cincinnati to celebrate the holidays this year. With side trips to Madison for one of their last outdoor Farmers’ Markets of the season, to Delafield for some cheese curds, Spotted Cow and shopping, to downtown Oconomowoc for their Halloween parade, and to the couch for a late night viewing of World War Z, it’s hard to believe that we fit so much in to so few days away.

These seemed to be incorporated into every bouquet at the Farmers' Market

Vintage stamps turned eye-catching jewelry 

Blue skies for the win during a walk down State Street

Bear: the world's smallest horse, and the highlight of the Halloween parade. Note the knees behind for scale.

My favorite Friday night tradition: bloody marys with beer chasers at Burke's Lakeside

Peace in the Suburbs

The last one, but maybe my favorite because you can't beat this tranquil view right behind the Northwestern arch

We were taking a walk along the Lake a few weeks ago when a partially hidden white sculpture caught my eye. We immediately changed our route to investigate, and soon found ourselves toe to face with a very large Buddha head that seemed to be emerging from the ground.

I soon learned that this was one of seven scattered throughout Evanston as part of the Ten Thousand Ripples Project—a beautiful effort to remind each us of the importance of peace. We soon made a scavenger hunt of it, grabbing coffee each morning and making a pilgrimage to a different location until we had scouted them all. The time spent together finding each of them was not only serene, it was a lot of fun too, because it encouraged us to get out and see parts of our community that we otherwise rarely visit. There are other locations for the Project in and around Chicago, and if you’re able to get out and find a few, I can promise that you'll be at peace too.

The head that started it all: on the banks of the Dawes Park Lagoon, one of our frequent hang-out spots in town

Arguably the most visible, and the trickiest one to visit: at the intersection of Green Bay Rd. & McCormick Blvd.

Don't know how I missed this one so many times: at the southern entrance into downtown Evanston

In my old stomping grounds: off of Main St. on Ridge Rd.

In an unexpected (and hard to reach on one-way streets) spot among the roses: right on Howard St.

The one that took us to a place we had never been: at the base of the hill in James Park

Crossing County Lines

I had no sooner opened my eyes on Saturday morning before I realized that we had a completely unplanned day ahead of us ready to fill with adventure. I rolled over in bed, grabbed my iPad, took a look at the forecast (dreary but doable), and then quickly flipped through Twitter before stumbling upon this article listing a few local spots for apple and pumpkin picking.

It wasn’t long before we were in the car, coffee in hand, and making our way through cornfields to Stade’s Farm in McHenry County. We took full advantage of the trip by squeezing in a side visit to Glacial Park, where we were able to score a picnic table that afforded us some great vistas and a spot in which to enjoy our still-warm apple cider donuts. I love this time of year.