2012 So Far
My sincere apologies for disappearing again for the last few weeks. Once the new year began, school and work kicked into full gear again and I haven’t really had the the chance to breathe since.
So please excuse the fact that this is long overdue, but I hope that you had a wonderful holiday season! And happy new year (yeah, I know).
In the midst of all of the hoopla, I have been taking pictures on Instagram whenever the mood strikes. All of these pictures were taken this month and pretty much sum up what I’ve been up to so far: food, self-reflection and planning listening to great music and more food.
While this year has gotten off to more of a slow start, I do have a great feeling about 2012 and I’m looking forward to the rest of this year. And while I know that I say this often and I sometimes can’t keep this promise, I really do hope to blog much more this year. And that is the truth.
So how has the start of the year been so far for you?
Dose Market
It’s taken me awhile to write about Dose Market, but it’s fast become one of my favorite things to do on a lazy Sunday. For those of you outside of Chicago, Dose market is a once-a-month event featuring local Chicago vendors selling food, fashion and housewares. While I haven’t made it to the market every month, I knew that I had to go this month because of the Honey Butter Fried Chicken. And I also wanted to get some Christmas shopping out of the way as well…but it was mostly for the fried chicken.
While I didn’t shop much for clothing this time around, there was plenty of food and items from other vendors to peruse. Chicagoans? If you haven’t been to this market, definitely try to make it to the next market. Visitors, this would be a great way to sample some of Chicago’s great local businesses all under one roof. I only took a few pictures with my cell phone during my journey as I was mostly concerned with…yep, finding the fried chicken!
1. Lovely pastries everywhere you turned. 2. The eggnog meringue cookies from Lottie+Doof were delicious. 3. Ran into the ever stylish Nikia of ChiTown Fashionista and her gorgeous Celine bag.
1. Browsing the menu while waiting for the Honey Butter Fried Chicken (can you tell it was my highlight?). 2. I ended up buying a few pastries for some people at Truffle Truffle.
Long Lost Hobby
When I first began knitting, I declared to everyone that I knew that I’d make a scarf for them for the holidays. But you know what?
Not one person has received a scarf in the four years that I learned how to knit.
I keep this stash in hopes that I’ll pick up the needles and knit a simple scarf, hat or blanket, but I haven’t had the time to sit down and concentrate on a pattern long enough.
So I’ll keep the stash here, in an unimposing place in my room that barely gets a second glance unless I’m cleaning. I’m hoping that someday I’ll get a jolt to pick up the needles again and fall in love with knitting again.
Do you have any hobbies that you have abandoned? Or any hobbies that you’ve recently rediscovered?
Lately
Things that I’ve been into lately:
-Fall leaves
-Listening to the new Feist album and the latest Little Dragon album on my walks to work.
-At-home facials (minus extractions).
- This Pride and Prejudice and Zombies Ipad app. The app is interactive with sound effects, cool little animations and surprises at almost every page turn. When you have a limited attention span for leisurely reading, sometimes you have to inject some fun.
- Sally Hansen Salon Effects. These should have been invented years ago.
-This gorgeous skirt that I ordered after Chandra at More Modern Modesty pinned it on Pinterest. Can’t wait for this to arrive!
-Exploring this local popular apothecary in Chicago. Merz’s has been around for nearly 135 years and if you are a beauty fanatic, you will love this store. It’s not very big, but it’s packed to the brim with all types of natural beauty, hair and health products. It’s so crowded that you mainly want to get in and out, but go on a weekday and you can peruse (relatively) uninterrupted. I usually go for different hair oils like these:
-Reading everything I can from welikewelove magazine.
-Finding new home decor tips and tricks.
What have you been up to lately?
I’m Still Around
I’m still around. After a summer of doing almost nothing on a daily basis, this fall has been a whirlwind of non-stop activity. The good news is that I’ve found a new job working full time. The bad news is that with working full time and attending graduate school full time, so there is less time for updating my blog. I do plan on updating as much as I can and and I don’t plan on another super long hiatus as I’ve done in the past. The picture of the Converse represent my casual weekend style since I’m not longer able to wear them on weekdays. One day soon, I need to write a post about casual work wear, because I have plenty of questions on that subject!
While most of my weekends are now consumed with homework, I don’t really have much time for the extracurricular. However, I did manage to go to the opening of the infamous Magnolia Bakery here in Chicago. I know that it is a New York staple and it was featured in an episode of Sex and the City. So you can imagine how packed the opening day was with long lines and deluge of people walking around with Magnolia Bakery bags. Overall, I really liked the look and feel of the bakery and while it been open for less than a week, already looks like it fits right in within the Chicago landscape.
As far as the cupcakes? Well, I’ll just say that there are some other shops in the city that are favorites, but since this is right around the corner from my job, I’m sure I’ll be sneaking in periodically for a sugar fix!
Another Year, Another Birthday
Another year, another birthday has passed. Although I tell all of my friends and family that I ‘m no longer big on birthdays (true), I can truly say that I am happy to have made it to see another year and I am looking forward to everything that being 28 will bring.
I feel wiser, stronger and optimistic about my goals. I’ve decided not to do a “bucket list” as I have in the past, because I’m just comfortable with saying that I will get there when I get there.
While there were no big birthday festivities, I did indulge in a cupcake from my favorite bakery, Molly’s. Later on that evening, a couple of friends and I visited The Bedford, where I allowed myself to have a glass of wine to top the night off. Overall, not a bad way to spend a 28th birthday. I am looking forward to seeing what the rest of this year will bring.
Summer 2011: Looking Back
Can you believe that we’re already nearing the end of August already? I know we have a little less than two weeks left, but I feel like fall is pushing its way in very quickly.
I’ve enjoyed this summer much more than previous summers, especially when I compare it to last summer. Last summer, I was pretty stressed out and really didn’t get the chance to do much at all. I mostly attribute that to my decision to return to graduate school, worrying about money, figuring out which graduate school I was going to attend, worrying about money and then turning down a great opportunity for…a not so great one.
This summer? I’m still on my summer break, I’m pretty broke (no shopping splurges here) and I’m more unsure than ever about my future. What I can say is that I am happy, a bit more stress-free and taking in as much as possible before Chicago goes into hibernation mode. To share what I’ve been up to this summer, I decided to share some of the pictures I’ve taken through Instagram:
From Top Left: 1. Taking the train into the city. 2. Road trip to Wisconsin in July. 3. An exhibit at the Museum of Contemporary Art 4. Cool motorcycles in front of a restaurant.
All of these photos are from Chicago’s Dose Market in July. It was my first time there and I just loved visiting some of my favorite Chicago businesses as well as being introduced to new businesses. Definitely a must-go each month.
From Top Left: 1. The crowd from above at Dose Market. 2. A signature cocktail from the guys at Aviary, Grant Achatz’s bar. 3. A yummy gelato cone from Black Dog gelato. 4. I tried to sneak a picture of Grant Achatz and the guys from The Aviary. They were very focused!
From Top Left: 1. I’ve been stalking this Mason Pearson brush for about a month now. 2. Went to see Blonde Redhead in July in the sweltering heat. I didn’t care because the concert was FREE. 3. Summerfest in Milwaukee. As a first timer, we saw Kanye West put on a wonderful show. 4. On my lunch hour, I’d walk over to Nordstrom and look at the pretty clothes. I’ d only look, though.
How has your summer been? Also, if you’re on Instagram, let me know! You can find me here.
Don’t Call it A Comeback
*please excuse the grainy photo. Camera is in the shop, so I’m phoning it in these days.*
I realize that it has been nearly 11 months since my last post. If anyone still reads this blog to come back to the last updated post from September 3rd, 2010, I apologize.
So much has happened since that last post, it feels like that was a million years ago. Just to get you a little up to speed on the extra long blogcation: I entered graduate school in September and juggled that with working extra long hours. In December, I decided to take a new direction in life and I finally went on a self-imposed break for the last six months.
During the break, I began to question if I should even blog anymore. I started this blog as an outlet to get me writing again and about things that I was passionate about. I never wanted to become too serious about blogging and I’ve never wanted to do this for any money or statistics.
There are so many fantastic fashion and beauty blogs out there, and it’s easy to feel like you are being caught up in the masses. If you don’t really have any specific direction, you begin to feel like you are all over the place. Or at least this is how I felt.
In the past couple of months, I’ve logged in to my blogging dashboard and prepared myself to write a post, but the words never spilled out. Many times, I’ve thought of just letting this domain expire and forget about blogging altogether.
But I’ve decided to give it one more go. I’m not saying that I’ll update as frequently as I did (pre-hiatus) or where my focus will be, but I’m just going to start from the beginning.
Glasses
A couple of weeks ago, I was forced (well, almost) to stop wearing my contacts after a nasty eye infection from…well, wearing my contact lenses too frequently. I guess after a solid 3 year run, the jig was up. Now, I’m still learning how to navigate while wearing my glasses and feeling comfortable about wearing them.
I bought a pair of cheapo geek glasses a few months ago that had no prescription, but I loved wearing them because they gave off a different look.
Now that I am forced to wear glasses, I long for my contacts, mostly for the comfort and ease they provided. However, since I am ever the browser for anything slightly relevant, I have found some wonderful frames from Warby Parker. Honestly, these frames have me second-guessing my whole anti-prescription glasses stance.
Here are a few of my favorites:
(all photos from Warbyparker.com)
The best thing? Their frames are only $95 dollars, and that includes prescription lenses. That sounds pretty sweet, especially if you know how expensive one visit to the eye doctor can be. I’m still doing some “browsing”, but I am seriously thinking about buying one of these frames.
What’s your stance on glasses? Love em? Hate em? Don’t care?
Friend Friday: Conspicuous Consumption
1. Do you think fashion blogs are often just conspicuous consumption? Are some?
I’d be lying if I didn’t say that I didn’t think that some fashion blogs displayed great amounts of conspicuous consumption. I mean, many fashion bloggers really like to shop, right? However, I don’t judge or point fingers at anyone in how they chose to spend their own money, if they have that money to spend.
2. As bloggers do we have the obligation to explain our personal financial status, how we pay for the things we showcase, if we have debt, etc…
I personally don’t think so. I know that many other bloggers are much better off than I am and I accept that. No one has to explain where they got their money from or how they make their living, from my POV. I do wish there could be more open dialogue in the blogosphere about accruing debt for clothing and accessories, because I do feel like it’s a trap that many can fall into if not careful. My feeling is, if you go broke or into debt trying to maintain your fashion blog, then it might be best for you not to have one. It’s just not worth it.
3. Critics often say that fashion bloggers should use their money to support more worthwhile causes than clothing themselves in a different outfit daily. What’s your reaction to this? (here you can reveal charities if you’d like.)
I don’t think it’s fair to judge or determine how someone else should spend their money or tell them where and how to spend it. I do support my local Goodwill and I am seeking to support another organization in my area within the next couple of weeks, but that is because I want to. Would it be nice if fashion bloggers put the money towards an organization? Of course! It’d be great! However, it is up to said person on whether they want to do so or not.
4. Since you started blogging, do you spend more money on fashion and beauty products?
I wouldn’t necessarily say that I spend more money; but I spend my money on fashion and beauty differently. Since I’ve began blogging, I’ve bought more vintage clothing and sought out many wonderful independent designers. I’ve gone by recommendations of other bloggers and through my own research, I’ve found some great gems. I’m not so sure that I would have done so if I didn’t begin my own blog.
5. Life is about more than what money can buy. What are the things that top your list of what life is all about?
A long time ago, I came to the conclusion that I will probably never be rich or have a lot of money and I am totally fine with that. To me, life isn’t about money, material possessions or flaunting. It’s about giving back to others, experiences and happiness. For me, that’s when I know I’ll be fulfilled.
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