Purple satin shoes

Today I walked four miles to buy a pair of purple satin shoes. What? Last night I made three batches of cookies for my boyfriend, not because we wanted lots of delicious cookies but because it took me that long to get it right, and after all that sampling I was in desperate need of some exercise today. And tomorrow night I am going to a ball and I needed some colored shoes to go with my black dress. Makes total sense now, right?

Said shoe. I sort of wish it was a brighter purple...but it's okay because I also purchased three pairs of back-ups. I buy and return like it's my job.

Image

And this is tomorrow night me. Purple shoes in hand, exhausted from my hike today.

Crushed

If you like salt and oil and crispy goodness, make these crash hot potatoes immediately. That is all.

Image from Pioneer Woman

PS Isn't the name awesome too?

PPS Thanks to the Pioneer Woman.

Heat wave

What dreadful hot weather we have! It keeps me in a continual state of inelegance.

~Jane Austen

My J.Crew light tissue tee is not thin enough and my side braid is looking a bit droopy. 82 in April in Chicago? I hear you Jane.

Summer goal

I am going to make my own jam this summer. This statement immediately elicits images of me in a pioneer style nightgown, barefoot in the kitchen stirring a pot. In actuality, I will probably be wearing workout attire, running around the kitchen like a crazy woman whose jam is currently burning on the stove. But my goal is out there, so I'm doin it.

{Image from the Pioneer Woman}

Actually, it sort of looks like a lot of steps...

No particular day

That was really good work of me writing in my blog every day during Lent, wasn't it?

I feel like I complain about law school an awful lot, not necessarily out loud because I don't want to be branded a complainer, but definitely in my own head. I recently had a really diverse and different day that reminded me how lucky I am sometimes not to be living the nine-to-five.

8:40ish: Wake up. Drink my morning glass of water and check my email/read the news online.

{Image}

9:30-10:30: My favorite class at the gym- muscle work.

{Image}

Not really related to the gym, but aren't they the hottest couple?

12:00-1:00: Lunch meeting for work. Got to see the debut of a new product and get a free lunch and the best cupcakes ever.

1:00-4:00: Get some work in.

4:00-5:00: Meet with the head of the Loyola University Museum of Art for a private tour and talk about legal issues and the museum.

{Image}

5:30: Meet my boyfriend and parents for dinner at Piccolo Sogno. I pretty much want to live at this restaurant, not only to eat their fabulous authentic Northern Italian food and drink the wine, but because the exposed brick walls and glass chandelier decor are something I want to emulate in my apartment. PS Piccolo Sogno- little dream- could not be a more fitting name.

8:00-9:30: Take a trip to Home Goods where I scour for a miniature ornate, antique-looking mirror which I plan on painting with a lacquer paint to match the one in Piccolo Sogno's bathroom (for $7). Head to Target for some Easter candy. After a long day, I'm falling asleep in line, so I justify opening and eating a bag of Starburst jelly beans in the car so that it keeps me awake on the 5 minute drive home.

{Image}

10:00: In my pajamas reading in bed.

{Image}

Do it now!

Lately I have become a total mantra person. I get this phrase in my head and it's like I march to its beat until a new phrase comes along. Right now:

Do it now Do it now Do it now!

I'm fairly certain that this came off my Lululemon manifesto water bottle (I spend a lot of time staring at all the sayings when I'm bored, although the "Children are the orgasm of life..." one bothers me slightly). I have such a bad tendency to take off my clothes at the end of the day and toss them on the desk or dresser and say, I'm tired I'll get them tomorrow. At the end of the week I literally pick up piles and piles of clothes to put away. This awful habit makes my "cozy" apartment go from cozy to cramped really quickly though. So lately it's "do it now!" Get a mantra, it will make your life good.

{His Master's Choice, Etsy}

Slow down

Do you ever just miss a time and a place so much that it hurts? It happened to me as I was getting on the train today- I had just finished a particularly long and fairly mundane day and I was starving, and with all my might I wanted to be back in college, going home from class to meet my roommate to spend an hour or so at dinner together. That hour was the most relaxing part of my day, when everything else disappeared except for the space we were occupying. That hour felt like one giant exhale and the world wouldn't start again until the next morning. Since leaving, life kind of feels like a never ending inhale.

{Photo}

Sweet home

Forbes just came out with a new list titled "America's Most Miserable Cities" (Forbes does not = blog). I personally find the article to be depressing and the photo slideshow even worse (pictures of miserable-looking people, inmates, crime scenes, ect). It was so sad to see that Chicago is ranked 10th (and I was appalled to see that St. Louis, a former home, is ranked 7th!). So for a quick afternoon pick-me-up, I'm firing back at Forbes with the best things about Chicago.

{Image}

*Running on the lakefront in the summer at sunset while hundreds of people play beach volleyball and you have your own little race with the guys on the path in front of you.

*The free concerts in Millennium Park during the summer, packed with people eating picnic dinners and drinking bottles of wine.

*The Cubs- doesn't matter if they lose, Wrigley Field has the best energy and is the most fun stadium. Ever.

*The architecture, especially the way that most of the buildings on the river and in the Loop have ornate clocks on them so that I always know that I'm 5 minutes late for work.

*The always slightly-green river.

*The fact that we have a highly efficient public transportation system that makes owning a car seem like a silly idea.

{Image}

*All the museums, especially their free days in the summer and winter.

*Being able to pass by one of the tallest buildings in the world without even blinking.

*The skyline. Best view from the north: North Avenue Beach. Best view from the south: Shedd Aquarium.

*The Chicago Marathon- there is not a marathon with a better course (flat!), better crowds, or better time of the year (autumn leaves!).

*That you can walk pretty much anywhere if you have the time. I wouldn't consider it crazy if you walked from Lincoln Park to the Loop.

*The ingenuity and creativity of the chefs at local restaurants and how they aren't afraid at all to take risks.

*Lincoln Park (the park). Everything about it, but especially the free zoo.

*How even though winters are rough, I appreciate warm days and sunny days infinitely more.

*The Bears. Especially their big shouldered fans.

*The Mag Mile. But only on weekday mornings when there are little to no tourists.

*The harbors on the lake and how excited I get when they start filling up with boats again.

*The very distinct personality of every neighborhood (even if I have been called "a Lincoln Park sort of girl").

*That Southwest flies into Midway.

*The Bean/Cloud Gate.

{Image}

*Summer events. Especially the Taste of Chicago.

*The art, flowers, and sculptural objects along Michigan Avenue.

*Chicago's green movement, which is one of the most aggressive in the nation.

*Chicago-style pizza. And Chicago-style hot dogs. Nobody does it better. Can I have one now actually?

{Image}

Ashes to ashes

I admit, I have been avoiding my blog. I like to think of it as "saving up" for the next 40 or so days, as my Lenten promise is to give up reading others' blogs and write in mine more. I always try to give up something I really love and will be a challenge (in the past I have given up sweets multiple times and chocolate once- it was pretty awful), and blog reading has really taken over my evenings. Therefore, I will focus less on others' wonderful lives and more on my own equally wonderful life. I'm slightly worried that my fashion sense will suffer and my home decorating ideas will wane, but no big deal. It looks like I will be spending Easter with a chocolate bunny and lots of blog catching up!

Ribbon and sparkles

I sometimes wish I could be Martha's protege. I'm loving this idea she had to repurpose old jewelry and make some handmade pretties.

Brooch into bracelet.

Bracelet into belt.

Necklace into bib.

String up some pearls.

Fancy beads.

Images via Martha, brought to attention by Design Crush