Had a client take us out on their boat on Lake Murray tonight. Man is it beautiful! Surrounded by pine trees, you can actually smell them after a hot day like today. Incredible. And they have the perfect lake house - the view from the living room is unbelievable! So thankful for these kind of opportunities! 
beach bum
I have become a real beach bum this summer... dunno why, but I am glad I am finally taking advantage my proximity to the beach. I especially love it when the wind is coming in over the lake, makes waves that look and sound like the ocean. It's a really great "second" if you know what I mean... 
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.
beautiful day @ the botanic garden
So, I am not a huge flower person... but I do love the Chicago Botanic Garden. Marcey and I met the Robinson's there to spend the most lovely day wandering the different gardens. There was so much in bloom - pretty much everything looked great except for the roses, they were just past their time. I really think I should try to make it up there once each season. Next up would be Fall foliage ... putting that on the calendar now! Till then, enjoy some pretty flowers!
Oh and I almost forgot about the crazy lilly pads! That may have been Elliot's favorite of the day...
Sunday ride
The beautiful weather we've been having has really inspired me to get out of the house! Be outside. Soak it all in! Saturday was beach day - loved every second. And today I dusted off the bike - yes, I really had to dust it off, it has been that long since I rode it - aired up the tires and took a 4 mile spin. This must be what it feels like to live in California.
10 on 10 { aug 2013 }
It's the tenth of the month and that means ten photos in ten hours!! I love this challenge - gets me out and about with the camera to find beauty in my day. And I really love it when the tenth falls on a weekend! Woot! 
Visited the hair salon this morning - aren't these foils just the most attractive thing? I wanted to get a better photo, but the salon was busy and people were looking at me strange trying to take a photo with my iPhone of my foils. I'm sure they were like wtf? :)
Ran a bunch of errands - picking up the necessary supplies for my last Ravinia show tomorrow.
Whipped up a batch of my famous roasted almonds. They are the easiest things to make and a huge hit! If you like almonds, you need this recipe!
2 c. sliced almonds 1/4 c. sugar 1/16 c. water salt (I use pink himalayan)
Combine sugar and water - basically making a simple syrup - in a microwave save bowl or cup. Microwave for 1 minute or until the sugar is completely dissolved. Pour over almonds and quickly stir. (The syrup should be just enough to coat the almonds - you do not want any liquid standing the bottom of the bowl). Evenly spread on non-stick cookie sheet and generously sprinkle salt across top. Bake at 325 stirring every 10 minutes until golden. (30-40 min depending on your oven). Enjoy!
And then decided to whip up French Macarons too! I'm just a domestic diva today!! I found a new recipe (here) that worked beautifully should you wish to give them a try. They are the fussiest cookies I've ever made, but SO worth it! I'll whip up some salted caramel and chocolate ganache to fill these babies in the morning!
Hope you had a beautiful day! Thanks for stopping by.
by train
Have you ever taken Amtrak? I embarked on my first US train trip this past weekend from Chicago to St. Louis - the Lincoln Service. I was very excited for the adventure - something new and different. It's about the same amount of time to drive, but so much cheaper! The price of the round trip ticket is the same as ONE tank of gas in my car. And, I can get up and move around, read, watch movies and surf on the free wifi! Win win, right!?!
I took the Metra commuter train from Evanston downtown - stopped in the French Market for yummy snacks. This was only my second ride on Metra - I would totally take it if I had to commute downtown daily, so much nicer than the L - minus the somewhat bossy ticket guys. 
Walked a few blocks over to Union Station - it's such a beautiful building, but just not well kept. I feel like it could be so much more! They have this big amazing grand hall with a few benches in it - nothing else. It's kind of an appendage to the area where the trains actually queue and depart. Once you get into that area it's a hot mess! People with all of their luggage all crammed into one small room with a few super crappy seats. You REALLY have to listen for your train to be called and they try to pull some folks up first (seniors and business class) and there is no PA system - it's just a guy standing in a door yelling above the crowd. I have to say I was kind of surprised by this whole process. Train travel has been around for so long, you'd think they would have a perfected system in place. 
I chose to pay for the upgrade to business class ($20 more each way) and I am SO glad that I did. The business car is spacious, quiet and you get a free USA Today and beverage. Now that's all superb till there's a delay on the train and the run out of water. So get your beverage early! And since the car is the first car behind the drive car, you really hear the whistles. And they are required to blow that thing anytime they cross a intersection. It's much louder than I would have ever imagined. 
What I did love about train travel is the view! I sat and took a ridiculous amount of photos - if only the windows had been clean. I loved seeing little kids standing in their back yard waving at the train, buildings painted with memorials, corn fields and industry. 
We rolled into St Louis just shy of 11 PM - right on time. Would I take the train again, yes, I suppose I would. But still don't think I'd love it for long trips. It will not replace my air travel, but it was a fun adventure and great alternative to driving myself!!
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! 
the all new loo!
Three weeks ago I started renovating the bathroom in my condo. It was supposed to only be a week, but as most construction projects go, it didn't quite play out that way. Thankfully, this weekend I was finally able to shower with a door (not a makeshift curtain) and repopulate the room with my "stuff." It finally feels like it's supposed to, though we have one more day of caulking, polishing and sealing the tile.
Here's the before and during... 
It probably doesn't look that bad in the "before" photo, but I didn't capture photos of the tile that was growing black mold or the door that would not close properly because it's no longer square in the frame, or the chips in the 4x4 floor tile from who knows what. I had a choice to make - repair all of these things and live with the cheaper model or go in for the upgrade. I went for the latter - surely I will get my money's worth out of it when (if) I sell, right!?!
And now for the beautiful after...
I am really, really pleased how it all came out. There is still work to be done - I have not changed out the mirror, sink and countertop - but wanted to see how all the other finishes came out before picking a stone for the countertop. Now that it's all together, I'm still not sure what stone I should go with ...
I am a designer. And as such, I am sometimes paralyzed by the amount of possibilities. I like so many different styles. For example, I thought I would have an all white bathroom going into this whole project. And as you can see, when it came right down to it, I didn't go that route.
Decisions. Decisions.
Choosing the tile was the easy part - well the wall and floor. But then there was the baseboard (tile or wood) and how to cover the edges of the ceramic tile (I chose a marble pencil tile) and the threshold where the shower door sits - how wide, solid marble slab vs tile and what color grout and so on.
The biggest of decisions was the ceiling inside the shower. Most people just have drywall up there, but the owners prior to me had some kind of hard surface (Corian or similar) and I rather liked that approach. Plus, it's a very compressed space - so not much height for the steam to escape. So after much thought (and pricing) I decided on a custom piece of backpainted glass. It was the most expensive option by far, but is for sure the best solution.
I changed all the plugs and switches - love the clean snap on plate to conceal the hardware. I purchased these at Lowes and my electrician tells me that Home Depot has better electrical fixtures. Well heck, how am I supposed to know that?
Then there was the fan - every bathroom needs a fan and mine old one was on the fritz. There are lots to choose from, but most electricians will tell you to purchase from a supply store and not HD, Lowes or Menards. I chose a Panasonic whisper quite model and am happy with it so far. It is a little more expensive than those you see in the big box retail stores, but not much.
So... shower heads. Holy smokes are there a lot to choose from! And you have to visit a showroom that has them set up with running water to even be able to see what the water pressure will be like. I chose to go with the Speakman Anystream, though I was intrigued by the Kohler Moxie (speaker in the shower head - awesome!) but the water pressure out of that thing was pitiful. The Speakman is 2.5 GPM, and most of the others don't even come close to that! (1.8-2.0)
And then shower drain strainers ... bet you've never given a minute of thought to these guys. Well, let me tell you, they are hard to find. Most of the drains come standard with a strainer - mostly brushed nickel over brass with really open weave. I found some really cool ones, but all required some kind of retrofit of my current drain (which I did not want to do), so I did manage to find a nice polished one (in the photo above) on Amazon - you will NOT find these at your local hardware store.
Who knew there were so many tiny decisions to be made for a tiny little project?
sonoma
We spent our second day in wine country in Sonoma. I had heard it is far more laid back, but didn't really know what that meant till I got there. It is far more casual, smaller wineries, less manicured, but just as good! We shopped in Sonoma Square - adorable shops and tasting rooms all along the square. Shop. Taste. Chocolate. Shop. Taste. Lunched at the Red Grape (yummy pizza!) and then over to Ravenswood for another tasting. And finished with dinner at The Girl and the Fig. Perfectly lovely day! 