Great raspy voice and smooth melodies { love }
BEN HOWARD - PROMISE [HD] from Noisefield on Vimeo.
bostrom workshop!
As if I wasn't already excited enough to escape Chicago winter weather and head west to the sunny shores of San Diego.... now I also get to attend a photo workshop by Stacy Bostrom! I have been a huge fan of her work since I discovered her blog via the ten on ten challenge years ago. She has a most unique way of capturing light and life and I simply cannot wait to meet her and learn some new tips and tricks!! Double excited!!
Have you seen the work of Heather Hansen
Ochi Gallery - New Years Eve 2013 — Heather Hansen.
I ran across her work today and - WOW - I am simply blown away by her charcoal creations. They are controlled, but still so organic and graceful. I really enjoyed charcoal drawing back in college, but could never have imagined turning out this type of work. I hope she finds her way to Chicago so I can see her create one of these!!
snowy bean
Love this little instagram video from one of my fellow Chicagoans - had to share.
charlie brown christmas
Have I told you I am a huge Peanuts fan? Well, I am. When I was a kid they would have these 30 minute animated specials that would come on primetime TV - well before cable - and I would sit mesmerized. When VCRs came out, my dad recorded each and every one of those specials taking the extra time to remove commercials and everything. I would come home and watch them after school over and over.
In keeping with that them, my favorite animated holiday classics is A Charlie Brown Christmas. I look forward to seeing it every single year! I was so happy to catch it this past week! And then I found this gem - flash mob Peanuts style!
signature necklace
I have been eying the Brevity Jewelry signature necklace for a while now. I have monogram rings and necklaces, and love them ... but the signature necklace, now that's unique and personal and fabulous!
I spotted is on Fab.com one day and decided I'd go for it! I signed a piece of paper and emailed it to the artist. She sent me a proof full scale so that I cold print and hold up to make sure I liked the size. And then we wait... I was SO excited when this baby showed up in the mail. It's hard to know how it's really going to look from a print proof, but I have to say I love it! Really could not be happier!
staycation : three
Stay : threewalk thru millenium park and the laurie garden lunch @ sweetwater sweets @ sugar bliss happy exhibit @ the chicago cultural center impressionists @ the art institute walk @ the nature boardwalk near the lincoln park zoo
I was skeptical when I woke up this morning and is had rained overnight and the sky will filled with clouds. But, as the morning went on, the clouds rolling in over the lake began to give way to the blue sky above and it turned out to be a really, really nice day! iPhone photos only for now - I will do a little more on each item in upcoming posts. Just too many photos to process tonight and each of these things deserves a little elaboration.
I got downtown a little early to walk through the park and Lurie Garden - had not been in the gardens before. Given that it's Fall, most everything is on it's way out, but it was still a beautiful green space in the middle of the concrete jungle!
I squeaked in a visit to The Happy Show by Stefan Sagmeister at the Cultural Center (it leaves next week) and I am so happy that I did! I love his humor and keen grasp of the obvious. This exhibit is fun and interactive and says much of what we think, but never admit or say out loud. 
From there I walked over to the Art Institute of Chicago to take in the Impressionists (another exhibit at the end of it's run). There were a lot of amazing works - didn't really love that they were spread out so much - somehow never found the AI's famous Seurat. Guess it's a good thing I have had the pleasure of seeing it before, but if I were an out-of-towner, I'd be pretty upset it wasn't front and center. 
Last stop of the day was over to the Nature Boardwalk near the Lincoln Park Zoo. I have seen a good number of photos of this structure that sits along the nature walk and have wanted to get there myself to take a go at it! No idea why it's taken me so long, but man, was I missing something fabulous! I might have gotten a little carried away photographing this thing...
staycation : days one two
The last couple of years have been very busy at work and I squeaked in a little vacay here and there, but didn't come close to taking all of my vacation days. So ... this year I said I was going to take as many of my vacation days as I could! Why let them go unused, right?!? This week will be my first ever "staycation!" It's odd for me to take time off from work and not be going somewhere. Kind of funny to hear everyone's response. "Where are you going again?" I finally started answering "Chicago" and then they kind of got it. I feel like I do a pretty good job of getting out and about around town, but Chicago has so many amazing things to offer - why not be a tourist in my own city?
So let the stacay begin!
stay : one
brunch @ Farmhouse Evanston
shop local - ventured into a few shops that I had never been in before and found a couple of great items
end of summer party on rooftop in Bucktown with a pretty spectacular view - my pitiful iPhone photo just does not do it justice
stay : two
brunch @ Little Market Brasserie
Kind of got rained out today, so we spent a huge chunk of the day sitting and chatting over some fabulous food and drink. I topped it off with a black bottom sundae that had the most delicious homemade salted caramel - I literally ate it by the spoonful - oy!
And they had live music - every Sunday for brunch! I have never seen this before and think it's a fabulous idea! The lead singer was dishing up acoustic versions of his band's music (Mighty Fox) mixed in with covers. He had a great voice too! We thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience. [soundcloud url="http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/78936477" params="" width=" 100%" height="166" iframe="true" /]
Frost!!
Finally made it to Highland Park to get some gelato from Frost. I had heard many good things, so my expectations were high. Let me tell you, it lived up to the hype. Wish I lived closer!! You are looking at cookies n cream, dark chocolate and sea salt caramel mix - sooooo good! Also sampled their lemon - perfectly tart, perfectly refreshing.
moleskine + milk = fabulous
So I got my second photobook from MILK, the Moleskine Photo Book - and this one is just as fabulous as the first one I got! I made a 2012 in review book and love it! It's got the same flexibility as a Moleskine, same type of smooth paper and image quality is superb. Oh and it's even got the signature pocket - perfect for holding tickets, cards or any kind of memorabilia from the year! I am still hoping they will get a larger variety of templates, but think this may be my annual book of choice! 