The Rundown v21

Let’s see… Last time I wrote one of these posts I had just quit my terrible 9-5 job to work for myself. Everyone has been asking me about the adjustment, and of course I love it, but it has been more of an adjustment than I anticipated. I guess that I thought I would have more time than I do. Most days I am up and at my desk by 8:30. I break for breakfast around 10, and often I completely forget to eat lunch because I get to wrapped up in my work. Sometimes Charles comes home to find me at my desk still in my pajamas, to which he kindly says, “I guess you have had a very busy day” – which is true since I genuinely try not to spend the day in pjs.

While I am still busy, I have more time for life! I am not spending my weekends inside working, and apparently there is a whole world of things to do on the weekends. I was seriously missing out! Here’s how I have been spending my time lately:

I joined a group of my food blogging friends for a dinner at Lawry’s Prime Rib. The River North eatery was originally a mansion and is full of history – we got a fascinating behind the scenes tour before our meal. Dinner was wonderful. Believe it or not, this is the smallest portion of prime rib at Lawry’s! And I loved the gravy volcano mashed potatoes, it reminded me of the way my dad used to serve mashed potatoes when I was a kid.

I joined a group of my friends (they also happen to be bloggers) for a brunch aboard the Odyssey II, a yacht that sails Lake Michigan. I am so lucky to have an incredible group of kind and smart girl friends. The brunch itself was so fun – there was a huge buffet of food, and a mimosa bar. The weather was perfect, and it was the best way to spend a Sunday.

Our husbands came too, and we are always joking that they need to start a blog about being a blogger husband. They are super cute, right? I grabbed these photos from my friend Kelly since I left my SD card at home that day (beginner’s mistake!).

I swung by the Taste of Chicago to visit my friends MJ and Beth from Chicagoanistas Live at the Revlon Love Is On Pop Up Shop, where I discovered the perfect pick lipstick shade, “Sweet Pea”.

The pop up was conveniently located right by my favorite food truck, the Fat Shallot, so I stopped by for a little snack. They were serving half orders of grilled cheese and truffle fries, and according to their Facebook page they were selling 1,500 orders of grilled cheese a day!

I went to the Windy City Smokeout and had the best weekend ever. If you missed it this year you need to go next year.

I had the bottom of my hair highlighted with pink, and I loved it. I thought it was girly and fun for summertime. My husband might not have agreed, but lucky for him, after three washes, it is all gone. (This is the picture I posted on Twitter when someone asked to see how it turned out.)

I celebrated Bastille Day at Mon Ami Gabi with The Everygirl and several of my blogging friends.

The Windy City Blogger Collective hosting its monthly networking happy hour at The Westin in River North. The hotel’s restaurant Hana has a patio on the new Riverwalk.

At the party they served up amazing sangria and the prettiest appetizers. I probably ate 5 of these fava bean and blue cheese crostini.

Erin and I went to the Green City Market Chef BBQ, the annual fundraiser for the Green City Market, everyone’s favorite farmer’s market. Over 100 Chicago chefs came together and served up food at the party. Erin and I had so much fun visiting our favorite restaurants and discovering new ones. We especially loved the ricotta pie from Taus Authentic.

Charles and I had a date night at Frontier where we tried Chef Jup’s new burger that he created as part of the James Beard Foundation Better Burger Project. Frontier’s burger is made with 75% bison and 25% trumpet mushrooms, and is topped with fried avocados. Of course we loved it.

I grabbed brunch at Little Goat (the sister restaurant to Girl and the Goat) with Erin and my friend Cait who was in town from San Francisco. Instead of ordering brunch off the menu, I created by own by ordering sides of scrambled eggs, bacon, and cheesy grits. I am from Maine, so unfortunately I missed out on cheesy grits growing up, but they are SO GOOD.

I think I invented Avocado Tostadas. It’s a fun variation of Avocado Toast that replaces the toast with a tostada. It’s pretty amazing – I have been eating it for breakfast a few times a week. (Does anyone know if this existed, or did I come up with it?)

Last weekend I attend Simply Stylist, a one day fashion, beauty, and blogging conference with lots of my blogging friends. It was fascinating to hear Catt Sadler and Jacey from Damsel in Dior talk about how Jacey got her start.

My friend Maya and I had dinner at Chicken Shop, and ordered just a little too much food. I love the low key atmosphere and seriously good rotisserie chicken and sides at Chicken Shop.

Last night I went back to Frontier for the WCBC and Brown Box Club party. The Brown Box Club is a styling subscription service, where stylists hand select items based on our preferences and budget. They had a fun party where the most delicious fruity pink drinks were served!

And, least exciting of all, I went to the dentist. I am only telling you this because I love the view from the dentist’s office, and I want to share this photo with you. The office is right across from the old Marshall Field’s store that is now a massive Macy’s and it has the prettiest architecture.

Tomorrow Charles and I are headed to Shedd BLU, and aquarium’s annual fundraiser, and next weekend I’ll be at Lollapalooza. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!