Search Results for: behind the baubles

Summer in the City

July 11, 2016 by jessica 11 Comments

Rachel Rachel Roy Pleated Printed Fit & Flare Dress

Dave and I got back last night from our three-day weekend in Chicago. Even though the city is so close to Madison, we don’t make it down nearly as often as we should. In fact, this the first time we’ve visited the Windy City when it’s been warm outside. We typically head down for the Christmas market in December, and the last time we visited in July, the temperature didn’t rise over 65 degrees. (I had to buy tights!) We spent the weekend popping into beer bars we love, visiting The Field Museum for the Terracotta Warriors exhibit, and logging thousands of steps playing Pokémon Go along with the hundreds of other people playing — every time we saw someone holding their phone, walking with a sheepish smile, we knew they were playing, too!

Here are a few bars and restaurants we visited that you should add to your must-eat list the next time you’re in Chicago:

Piece Brewery and Pizzeria: Fantastic pizza where you can build your own culinary creation. We chose a white pizza topped with goat cheese, sauteed mushrooms, and red onions. A small is more than enough food for two people. There’s typically a wait at night, but the bar is lively and has a fairly quick turnover.
Mahalo: A Hawaiian-infusion restaurant in Wicker Park. It’s expensive, but worth it for the Instagrams you’ll get. Just get cocktails and go someplace else to eat.
Headquarters Beercade: Bar meets arcade. Order a drink and then select a free arcade game to play. They have an long beer list and a decent selection of cocktails to choose from. I played a lot of Ms. Pac-Man.
Au Cheval: According to Food Network and Bon Appetit, this is where you’ll find the best burger in America — and, yes, it’s really that good. Expect a long wait, though. We had a 90-minute wait time and went across the street to Haymarket Pub & Brewery for beer while we anxiously awaited our seat time.
Half Acre Beer Company: This is the brewery behind Chicagoland’s favorite beer, Daisy Cutter. The taproom also has a full kitchen.

P.S. There’s still time to enter to win a piece of engraved gemstone jewelry from LovePendants!

Banana Republic Italian Vachetta Bucket Bag Rachel Rachel Roy Pleated Printed Fit & Flare Dress

Art Institute of Chicago

Dress: RACHEL Rachel Roy (go down a size if you’re between two)
Bag: Banana Republic (it reminds me of this Stella McCartney bag)
Sunglasses: Miu Miu (borrowed from DITTO; sign up for a FREE month of their Endless Eyewear program with code BEDKNOBS)
Rings: Monica Vinader, c/o Julie Vos, Lulu Frost
Shoes: Soludos
Lips: Stila “Bella”
Nails: Zoya “Purity”

The Weekend Guide

June 24, 2016 by jessica 2 Comments

SIP
I’m a huge fan of gin-based cocktails. I can’t wait to mix up these rhubarb, fennel, and vermouth drinks this weekend.

WATCH
Sarah Jessica Parker is returning to HBO. She’s leaving Carrie Bradshaw — and her quest for marriage — behind with her new show Divorce.

LAUNCH
Have a heartbreakingly adorable pet? Read on for insider info on the world of Instagram-famous pets and their endorsement deals.

GOSSIP
The Devil Wears Prada is still one of my favorite movies, even though it came out 10 years ago. (Can you believe it’s been that long?!) Here are 17 little-known facts about the movie and its production.

KNOW
The UK voted to make its Brexit from the EU yesterday. It’s a long process, expected to take two years for the conscious uncoupling to occur. Here’s a guide for what this means for Americans. I try to stay away from controversial topics — and my opinions on them — on my blog, but this was a terrible decision fueled by racist, anti-immigration talking points (oh, wait, it’s called “nationalism”). Americans can’t even be too judgmental about it, given that Trump is the presumptive Republican nominee and we’re well on our way to alienating ourselves, too.

SURVIVE
Being an Airbnb host doesn’t seem easy — and it’s even harder to be reviewed harshly for things beyond your control. Just reading this essay has made me more conscientious about overnight stays.

NOTABLE SALES
An extra 30% off sale items at Tory Burch with code EXTRA30. (Tempted by these.)
An extra 25% off sale items at Shopbop through Friday with code 25EXTRA. (Debating this.)
An extra 30% sale items through July 5 at Kate Spade with code SUNSHINE. (Stock up on wine totes for the holidays, and this little red crossbody is perfect.)

EARLIER THIS WEEK
Picked up a budget-friendly black maxi from Target.
Wore a little blue dress.
Daydreamed about what I’m going to wear for the July 4th festivities.
Decided to head to Nashville in October. (I’m already pinning ideas! Let me know of any must-dos!)
Purchased tickets to see Hamilton in Chicago this March. (So excited!)

The Weekend Guide

May 6, 2016 by jessica 5 Comments

LEARN
Dave and I went to the bank this week to get pre-approved for a home loan. While we don’t have a specific house in mind yet, everything we’ve read urges a buyer to get the preapproval letter in order first to make an offer more enticing to a seller. There’s a short list of homes that we’ll be touring with a realtor in the next couple of weeks provided they aren’t purchased by someone else first! (Madison has a crazy real estate market right now with many homes swept off the market within a week.) We’d like a sweet 1950s or ’60s home. They come with tons of character, but they also come with small rooms, which is why I’m referring to this small-space decorating guide when the time comes (hopefully mid-July!).

READ
If you’re like me, you’ve alreay poured over the best-dressed lists from the Met Gala. My favorite post, however, comes from Brandon Stanton, the brilliant man behind Humans of New York.

KNOW
It seems terribly inefficient to load a plan from front to back. Beyond that, it seems there’s research to support that walking through a first-class cabin can lead to “air rage” on the flight. (I’ve never understood how pre-boarding is a perk to first-class passengers. While I love to travel, I don’t love to be strapped to a seat in a stuffy plane for longer than necessary. )

DISCOVER
I appreciated this poignant article profiling the financial differences of four men, ranging from a gentleman on the poverty line to a CEO millionaire.

MASTER
So much of this post rang true. There’s a true art to the mom email!

EXTEND
Tacos are by far one of my favorite foods and we didn’t even use Cinco de Mayo as an excuse to overindulge yesterday. Dave was out of town, so I opted for a more responsible meal of chicken and a side salad. Boring. You know what’s not boring? A weekend of tacos to look forward to! Here’s a comprehensive list of Mexican meals to make all summer long. I’m definitely trying this corn salad.

EARLIER THIS WEEK
Dressing like a Danish girl.
A stunning ring from Anjolee.
Style steals under $50 and under $100.

Put a Ring On It, Anjolee!

May 3, 2016 by jessica 4 Comments

You may have heard of Anjolee before, a leading website for diamond jewelry, and like me, you may have mistakenly thought that the company had its roots in e-commerce, making you a bit leery of buying fine jewelry online. Well, I’m going to squash that misconception. The company actually began in the early 1960s when its founder began designing his own jewelry, earning accolades for his tennis bracelet designs. The family-owned business moved to California in 1977 and eventually launched an e-commerce division in 2007 in order to work with the public directly rather than through wholesalers and retailers. That’s when the brand was given its monkier, Anjolee. The name was inspired by the mother of the founder’s two nephews, combining the word “angel” with her first name, Lee, altering the French word for beauty from “jolie” to “jolee.”

Personally, knowing that a jewelry company has this kind of longevity and has a earned a reputation of quality makes me more likely to trust the brand. It’s daunting to buy jewelry sight unseen! Rest assured, though, knowing that Anjolee stands behind its quality and offers a 30-day money-back guarantee, which even applies to custom orders.

While we’re on the subject of custom orders, that’s actually the best part of shopping with Anjolee. You can change the gemstones, switch the type of metal and karat, increase a diamond’s carat weight and quality, and add engravings; all so you can create the perfect piece for you or a loved one. In my case, I started with the Heart Felt Emerald Cut Engagement Ring, swapped out gold for silver and switched from a diamond to a blue topaz stone. The ring is now the perfect everyday piece to wear alongside my other daily gems.

Thanks to Anjolee for partnering on this post!

Flaky Skin? Try Gentle Dermabrasion

March 30, 2016 by jessica 7 Comments

I didn’t know about the ins and outs of dermabrasion until I started working on this post last night. Yes, I knew it was a skin treatment. Yes, I knew it made skin smoother. No, I did not know it sounded as awful as this:

Dermabrasion is a “technique that uses a wire brush or a diamond wheel with rough edges (called a burr or fraise) to remove the upper layers of the skin. The brush or burr rotates rapidly, taking off and leveling (abrading or planing) the top layers of the skin.”

Doesn’t it make your skin crawl just to read it? Thanks, WebMD. (At least it was my first search on the site that didn’t lead to cancer.)

Anyway, the only reason I’m enlightened now is because I’m obsessed with this gentle dermabrasion scrub from Origins. While “gentle dermabrasion” is just marketing speak for “exfoliator that actually works,” it totally lives up to the hype. I have dry, flaky skin in the winter that neither lotion nor overnight masks totally fix (even though I adore this one). The only thing that has gotten rid of it has been the brand’s “Modern Friction” scrub. I received a sample with a recent Sephora order and found that it smoothed my face without leaving behind redness, irritation, or breakouts (unlike this one). The little “scrubbers” are made of rice starch. Paired with the extracts in the Origins product, it sort of smells like Froot Loops — or at least my memory of them. (I can’t remember the last time I had a bowl.)

It’s not cheap at $39.50 for a 4.2 ounce bottle, but you’ll find that a little goes a very long way.