Last time I wrote one of these posts I was in London! And I had the best time there. We go about once a year, but this was the longest trip yet and I got to really explore St. John’s Wood, see the Harry Potter play, and take a cooking class. Of course we also got to spend time with our families.
While in London I took a day trip to Castle Combe and Lacock, which are in the Cotswolds region. The fall weather was perfect and the area was so gorgeous. It was a highlight of my trip.
I returned home to Chicago in mid-October and spent a vast majority of my time catching up on work and working on holiday recipes. I must say it was a delicious task.
We celebrated Halloween at an elaborate party with a Chicago (the musical) theme. The event included tommy gun laser tag, burlesque dancers, and live music. It was one of my favorite Halloween parties ever.
I celebrated by birthday with a relaxing staycation at the Union League Club of Chicago, and then hosted a birthday party with friends a couple weeks later – with plenty of cake and champagne. Sometimes you just need an excuse to bring your friends together and to eat cake.
The Marriott Marquis Chicago opened and I got to attend a dinner at their restaurant, Woven & Bound. The restaurant features modern American cuisine with global influences. I loved the wild pierogi and the gnocchi with vegetables. If you are ever at McCormick Place, Woven & Bound is the place to go for dinner.
And Charles and I attended the Marriot Marquis Grand Opening – a lavish event where drones were shaking up cocktails. Jennifer Hudson even performed! The hotel is gorgeous and massive! And it has already hosted some high profile guests – Obama hosted the Obama Foundation Summit there earlier this month.
My incredible friend Debi Lilly hosted some bloggers for brunch at her loft, and it was beyond beautiful. She decorated the table with a massive garland made with live flowers, and she even decorated a Christmas tree with live flowers! I will be sharing more photos on instagram soon!
Charles and I spent most of last week in my hometown, Kennebunkport. We had a lovely Thanksgiving with my family, and I made my famous-at-my-parents-house Bourbon Butterscotch Pie. We also went midnight shopping, had some Scrabble battles, and I worked on a new lobster recipe for the site.
In the past months, I took a step back from attending events to focus on work, make time to work out, and to spend time with Charles. It been really nice to develop a consistent workout routine that involves a mix of hot yoga, running (when it is warm enough), and spinning. And quiet evenings at home have become more appealing than most event invites – what can I say, I love drinking wine in my pajamas. I think that this is by far the shortest edition of The Rundown yet!
In just a couple of weeks we will be heading back to London for Christmas, so now that I am back from Maine I am busy getting the website and my life together so that I can take a couple weeks off.
I hope that you have had a wonderful Fall!