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The Rundown v. 36

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What? October is almost over? How did that happen? Time is absolutely flying by and I keep feeling like I am two days behind. After spending all of September home in Chicago, I took two trips this month, and am preparing to be away for most of November. Here is what I have been up to lately:

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I spent 5 days in Austin and ate lots of barbecue and tacos with my friend Jocelyn. If you haven’t been to Austin, I highly recommend it, but plan on bringing a few extra pounds back with you.

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The following week I flew to the East Coast to spend time with my family. I was in New York City with my sister for a couple of nights before going to Maine to hang out with my parents.

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I attended an amazing dinner hosted by The Everygirl and Cuyana. Cuyana believes in having fewer, better things – it’s definitely a philosophy that I can get behind. They make the beautiful women’s clothing and accessories, and they gave me a gorgeous leather iPad sleeve that doubles as a clutch. It’s really handy when I travel.

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Hyphen, a new luxury mattress company, hosted breakfast in bed, and it was a fun opportunity to lounge in comfy beds while catching up with friends. Fun fact: hyphen donated all of the mattresses used at the event to charity (what a cool company!).

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I made it to Gibsons twice. Gibsons is my favorite classic Chicago steakhouse, and their food is consistently top-notch. I even got to sit down with the owner and we talked about how the television show The League shows the exterior of the restaurant like it is the bar where the characters hang out. It turns out The League just did it without even asking Gibsons! On my first visit to Gibsons this month, my friend Jordan and I had dinner. We loved the W.R.’s Chicago Cut Steak, the Brussels Sprouts, the Blue Cheese Scalloped Potatoes, and the Strawberry Shortcake. Then the next week the Windy City Blogger Collective hosted an event there. We feasted on cheeseburger and fried chicken sliders and had the most amazing evening.

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The Windy City Blogger Collective also hosted an event at with mywalit at Notice Accessories in Andersonville. mywalit is an Italian handbag company, and Notice Accessories is a fantastic clothing and gift shop.

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My friend Jenny and I had lunch at Del Frisco’s with two of the sommeliers. We learned that Del Frisco’s has a strong team of women sommeliers, and Amanda and Jessica shared some of their wine pairing methods with us. I’ll be sharing more details later, but just so you know, their cheesesteak eggrolls are unbelievably delicious.

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This week Jenny and I attended an instagram meet up hosted by the Feed Feed. We checked out the Green City Market and then went to the 3 Arts Club Cafe at Restoration Hardware. It was so fun to meet people I had been following on instagram for years.

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I went to the most incredible dinner hosted by the Patron Secret Dining Society. The multicourse meal was prepared by the talented Sarah Grueneberg of Monteverde and paired with remarkably creative cocktails by Femme du Coupe.

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The gnocchetti with sausage, eggplant, and ricotta was a highlight of the meal. It was followed by a Skate Schnitzel (a fun Mediterranean take on a German classic), and an Apple Berry Crostata. My favorite cocktail was the Pistachio Paradise. It was made with pistachio shrub, honey syrup, lime, apple juice, baked apple bitters, and Roca Patron Reposado. It tasted like dessert without being overly sweet.

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Oh, and did you hear? The Cubs are in the World Series! To celebrate the Hotel Zachary (it’s opening next year in Wrigleyville) sent over lunch from the Smoke Daddy. Smoke Daddy is one of the hotel’s restaurant partners (so is Big Star).

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The Chicago History Museum opened their Mainbocher exhibition and it’s amazing. The Chicagoan fashion designer had one of the top labels in Europe in the 30s, 40s, and 50s. I had never heard of him before, and I loved his work. It’s definitely worth a visit to the museum to see the exhibit and check out Secret Lives of Objects while you are there.

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And Halo Top sent me all of their flavors to try. I am eating them one by one and I can tell you that the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough and Cookies and Cream are both amazing! I think Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough is my new favorite.

This weekend we plan to go to a couple of Halloween parties. If you don’t have weekend plans, here are some cold weather date night ideas for you.

Jenn Lake

Monday 31st of October 2016

Oh my word! You seriously had the most amazing October! Love!

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