I love it when I find a new local business to support. I read all sorts of good things leading up to the opening of a new bakery called Hewn. They hand forge their bread fresh each day and let me tell you... they have spoiled me for all other bread. It's the most perfect combination of crispy crust, pillowy middle and so much flavor you don't need to put anything on it - just eat it as is! I picked up their aged cheddar this past weekend when I stopped in (in addition to my usual croissant and baguette) and OMG! I am in love!
So glad to have such a quality artisan in the neighborhood! 
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!!
Smurf spotting
Ran across this cutie on top of an old mailbox this morning. I loved the smurfs as a kid.
10 on 10 { july 2013 }
Hello! Happy Hump Day! I actually remembered the 10 on 10 challenge today, and was able to be out of the office for part of the day - that means only a couple of photos of my desk! *wink* I shot everything from within the VSCOCam app and edited in the app as well. I find it very hard to get a good focus out of this app. Anyone else have this problem? And I find the images very 'noisy' compared to ones I take with other apps... I think I am going to have to go back to the SmugMug Camera Awesome for taking photos and use VSCO for processing ... again.
Anyway ... here's my day.
[ shower ] [ tea ] [ kitty ] [ jobiste ] [ roadside weeds flowers ] [ work ] [ workplace humor ] [ gelato for the co-workers ] [ walk through the park ] [ and a stop at the beach ]
Go check out everyone else's day over on Rebekah's blog at a little bit of sunshine!
4th of july weekend recap
I started my holiday a litte early with a concert at Ravinia to hear Matchbox 20 and Goo Goo Dolls and they were fabulous - played all the old favorites! We popped some bubbles to celebrate Amanda's birthday and did not let the rain get us down. Barbara and Steve even got to put use to their umbrella chairs!
Logged some balcony time with my new balcony slipper chair. I paid a visit to the Restoration Hardware outlet in Kenosha a week or so ago and picked up an awesome chair and cushion set for a song. First let me say holy smokes do they charge a LOT of money for their stuff. Do you know anyone that could justify outdoor cushions for over $800? No freakin way! But ... for $20, YES! YES! YES! And seriously, what do I care that the chair has one small piece that has been cut? I don't!
Caught a night out with our friend Bernard and his lady, who were in from LA. It's always so good to get together with old friends and just pick up where you last left off. I am so thankful for the fabulous people in my life!
And ended my weekend with a beautiful Sunday on the beaches at the Indiana Dunes with another one of my dear old friends in town visiting. So good to see Miss Mary and the Pittmans! The beach was pretty crowded too! It was a super weekend! So hard to go back to work after four and a half days full of fun!
on the grid
I got my invitation to VSCOcam Grid today! I am going to use this as my "phoned in" blog - finally a replacement to my old Posterous blog. The only thing is that I wish I could find other "grid" users and a way to follow them. From the few that they have posted on their blog/facebook, there are some wonderfully talented people and I would love to see their work... Doesn't seem I can follow via RSS either. Hmm... Come check out my grid yffoto.vsco.co
flowers for mom
Happy Birthday Mom! Photos of beautiful peonies on your day! ( because you say I never take photos of flowers * wink * )
the weekend
Had a great weekend - drove to Chesterton to hang with my girls Holly and Sloane and to hit the European Market so I could pick up some yummy goodies. Rosemary flatbread, homemade granola - that's to die for! - locally made cheese and Ben's Soft Pretzels! Hands down the best soft pretzel I've ever had!! 
Got to sneak in a little time with the cutest little girl you ever did see - Sloane. I mean look at those blue eyes! And she gives me the funniest faces! 
And then Sunday was the most beautiful day. I took a walk, hit the gym and snaped a selfie for the G+ Sunday Selfie project. All iPhone ... I am getting very lazy about taking out the "big" camera ... But with the revamped VSCOcam, I just gotta tell you ... I'm loving it! I even love how it makes the photo fill the screen while it's saving the image to the camera roll! 
Spotlight
blown away
Have you downloaded the new VSCO Cam app? Holy smokes did they do an A M A Z I N G job with the design of this app. I used the previous version pretty much daily to process my photos - but not as a camera. Now that they have the ability to touch focus and expose from two points like the SmugMug Awesome Camera app, I am all in! 
I am seriously blown away by the amount of presets - almost too many to choose from! The user interface is so easy - with everything within reach even though there are a LOT of options! And it's fast! Super fast shooting. Super fast editing (if you know what you want to do) and great speed on saving to camera roll too!
I was slightly disappointed when I downloaded the new bundle of presets (you know I gotta have it all) that I wasn't seeing anything that looked like the presents in the original app. Then tonight when I was playing around, I decided to open the old app and compare. To my surprise, they gave previous users a bundle of presets for free that match the old Cam app line up - YAY!
I do have one tiny request future updates - please allow me to save the original shots as an album in my photo album on the phone so I don't have to export every time I snap a pic. Oh and if I could take a video and apply your presets I that would be truly dreamy!!!!!
Bravo VSCO team! Bravo!