My Latest Obsessions

Enjoying some ice cream at Green City Market in LP

The Lovely Miss Catherine McLinden Carr

Happy Friday! We are in countdown to school mode. This year we don't go back until the Friday after Labor Day (yes that means we had 98 days of summer). While fun, we are all getting a LITTLE antsy. Swim team is over and we are running out of steam. Well, okay, maybe I'm running out of steam (and ideas to keep us all occupied)! So, thankfully we have one last family outing planned. We are heading to Kinnikinnick Farm this Sunday for 3 nights. We are all SUPER excited. A friend passed along the farm and I have been reading about it here and here. This past Wednesday we went to Green City Market in Lincoln Park as I wanted the kids to meet the farmers and see how they sell their produce. Very fun!

This week I was able to catch up w/ a dear friend who I had not seen in a very long time. We went to one of my favorite spots in Lincoln Park = Athenian Room. Love that place. I get the SAME thing EVERY time. Love it. And then last night we went to dinner w/ one of our favorite (see couple crush below!) couples and had a FABULOUS meal at Gaetano's. The meal was AWESOME!

We are having a chill evening tonight and then tomorrow Peter/I are stopping by a cocktail party and then heading to dinner by ourselves for a date night. We have reservations at West Town Tavern but I may change it up. We have not been there in a long time. Last time we were there my Mom/Travis met Peter for the first time.

Some of my latest faves...

• Love this = a DIY popsicle chandelier. 
• Tiny Triangle rings = LOVE these. Super cute. 
• Best Berry Cobbler - want to try this ASAP before berries are out of season! 
• I've talked about girl crushes before. Here is an article about couple crushes. Mine are mostly celebrity couples (like Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson = most normal hollywood couple out there) but I do have a few "real" couple crushes too! Whose your couple crush?! 
• The fabulous Bethany Meyer of the blog 4 Gods Sakes Boys wrote this article/post - 50 Shades of Grey 10 years later! HILARIOUS. 
• Oh Harry! You definitely are the fun one my dear. Your bro William was unimpressed though - he does indeed need to be the responsible one! 
• GMC tried this yummy ice cream at the Green City Market this week = Snookel Fitz Ice Cream. It was YUMMY. 
• These brownies look AMAZING. Must make soon!
• We had some guests last Sunday morning w/ us. I made this YUMMY and DELICIOUS Baked French Toast. It was devoured very quickly. SUPER easy as I made it the evening before and just popped in the oven the morning of. Perfection. 
• Five beautiful Movie Kitchens. Love them. 
• 10 Ways to Carve more time in to your day. The one that works best for me = consolidating errands (works even better sans kiddos!). 
• My sister and I RELIGIOUSLY watched 90210 from day 1. I went back and forth crushing on Brandon Walsh (the good guy) and Dylan McKay (the bad boy). LOVE these Old Navy commercials w/ the old gang. 
• I stumbled upon this amazing looking quaint hotel in Vermont. I'm adding it to my list. It looks FABULOUS. 
• I'm not sure how I feel about this ad w/ Michael Phelps and soviet gymnast Latynina for Louis Vuitton. Michael has beat her medal record. 
• Love it = Method + Orla Kiely. 

My Latest Obsessions

Sister LOVE = C + M

Family Trip in Saugatuck (Summer 2012)

Happy Friday! It is GORGEOUS out and a bit cooler (kind of San Diego-esque if you ask me) today. LOVE IT! We had a BLAST last weekend at our dear friend T's place in Saugatuck. It was the perfect setting for 7 adults and 6 kids. We enjoyed awesome dinners after the kiddos went to bed and just CHILLED. Much needed. PFC/I always feel like we are on the GO. ALL. THE. TIME. Fun but it can get exhausting. We are delighted to be doing NOTHING tonight. PFC always breathes a sigh of relief the evenings I tell him we have NOTHING going on. After the kids are in bed maybe we'll rent a movie. 

Tomorrow we are having 3 of our nephews and 1 niece over for the day/overnight. The kids are SUPER excited to hang w/ their cousins. We are making these chocolate chip cookies and going to see if they are the only ones we'll make from this point on. We started the process yesterday as they highly suggest refrigerating the dough for 36 hours (meaning that tonight we'll actually bake the cookies). We shall see! Excited to see (and taste) the results. 

Have an awesome weekend! Summer is slowly but surely (and unfortunately) coming to an end...

Some of my latest faves...

• The girls LOVED watching the FAB (or Fierce) Five during the Summer Olympics this summer. Every night at 7 pm they would run to the couch (pjs on and showered) and wait for PFC to get home to watch the Olympics. They LOVED it. So we bought tix to the Kellogg's Tour of Gymnastics - they are going to flip! We are keeping it a surprise! 
• I was on a hunt to find a FAB chocolate chip cookie recipe yesterday. I stumbled upon quite a few = Jacques Torres' recipe in Martha Stewart / healthy chocolate chip cookies (might try these) /  Cook's Illustrated's Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie (involves browning the butter). We ended up w/ the one above - we shall see! 
• Joanna's Goddard's post on scheduling sex. Interesting topic! 
• LOVE this dotty blazer. Would be great for fall! 
• Bon Appetit's Best New Restaurants. This old fashioned blueberry coffee cake from Cakes & Ales looks DIVINE! This is a must try in my book. 
• I've been thinking about fall lately - as soon the girls will be back at school. So, when I stumbled upon this recipe for Butternut Squash Ravioli w/ Saged Brown Butter I took notice. Come fall, I'm going to try this one out for sure! 
• The legendary editor of Cosmo passed away this week. Here are some great quotes from Helen Gurley Brown. My fave = "Good girls go to heaven, bad girls go everywhere."  
• I haven't gotten tired of all the Call Me Maybe spoofs and you tube videos. Those Harvard boys really had something going. Totally digging this one here. Great voices. LOVE this! 
• Totally heart this fabric by Liberty of London. I think it would make such a pretty bed skirt or duvet cover. 
• Pretty lace dress w/ flared skirt. 
• This post on Sisterly Love reminded me of the pic of C + M above. 
• And lastly, maybe we'll make these Spiced Peach Pancakes SUN am for our guests! 

Enjoy your weekend! XO

My Latest Obsessions

GMC's first official haircut

Happy Friday! Happy August. I cannot believe that we have hit August already. Crazy. Summer is flying by. The summer has been great. I honestly thought that GMC would be much harder to handle at this crazy 2 year old stage in terms of the summer and the girls but all has been well. He (along w/ his sisters) LOVE the pool which has been great.

We are off to Saugatuck this weekend and staying with some of our dear friends. Very excited to get away and chill with all the kids. Last time I was in Saugatuck it was for a night en route to T's amazing wedding. We are in charge of dinner for the crew Friday PM. Menu = Barefoot Contessa's yummy Corn Salad, Mozarella Salad (fresh basil and tomatoes courtesy of my friend's garden), pub burgers, sliced watermelon, and yummy Almond Florentine and Black Raspberry Chip Ice Cream sandwiches for dessert (sinful but divine!). And of course I'm using my fave = Graeter's Black Raspberry chip ice cream (SO amazing) - and best part is that you can now find Graeter's ice cream at your local grocery store.

Some of my latest faves...

• Cute heart earrings. 
• Gorgeous gown - would make a lovely wedding dress. 
• How amazing is this treehouse?! I would LOVE it. It could be my secret hide away where I would read and drink flavored coffee. Speaking of reading, I'm totally into my latest book = Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. I just finished! I read that Gillian lives in Chicago - didn't realize that. And Gone Girl is going to become a movie produced by Reese Witherspoon. Cannot wait. Any good book recommendations? I need another one ASAP! 
• Kind of random = bikinis and books. 
• Some Olympic inspired pillows. Fave = Tennis Player Flapper Girl. 
• Interesting headboards. Design* Sponge did a little sneak peak into her place. Lovely.
• This photo just exudes COOLNESS. Love it. 
• Yummy looking pink lemonade cookies. 
• Pretty wood painted necklace! 
• Wow - lots going on in Olympic Village. What happens in Olympic Village stays in Olympic Village. Oh, to be one of the best athletes in the world!!!  
• Everyone loves Peter Pan. Aren't these bedazzled peter pan collars cute?! 
• Looking for some different hippie chic shoes to take you through the rest of summer = Painted Bird shoes. FUN! 
• So, we tried to hold out on GMC's haircut so that we could go to our friend John Haagenson's new Lemonmade Style & Snips. The above pic is from there. We had a blast there. The place is ADORABLE. So great to have a place as such close by. The logo/design work was done by the talented Nicole of Design Womb. 

My Latest Obsessions

GMC - 2 years old (love that little smile!)

GMC's Elmo Cupcakes for his bday - he LOVED them!

Happy Friday and Happy Birthday week to our favorite Georgie! He turned 2 on Monday. The other day I heard C + M discussing life in general and how "so NOT fun it would be w/o their little brother George." Such a fun conversation to eaves drop on! We had a very low key (compared to last year's big bday bash) birthday party for George = just the 5 of us and my mother in law stopped by to say hello. We had dinner together as a family (which doesn't happen too often so that was really great) and we sang Happy Birthday over fun Elmo cupcakes. George's fave present from JuJu = Green Monster backpack (now he can be just like the GALS)! And one of my favorite gifts for him = New Balance 990 shoes (the same exact model that my Dad - BIG GEORGE - has worn for years and years).

We had a great time at PFC's 20 year Marquette reunion this past weekend. I LOVE Milwaukee! We did get to the Milwaukee Art Museum and saw the Paris Poster exhibit. Very cool. And we ended up at Cafe Benelux for brunch on Sunday before we departed. YUMMY! Perfect end to our great weekend.

Every night this week we have been watching the Olympics. It has been super fun seeing the girls get excited about it and pick out their favorite athletes. They LOVE the swimming (boys swimming = my fave!) and the gymnastics. And how amazing to see Gabby Douglas win the gold as the all around individual in gymnastics.

This weekend we are heading to Chicago q (yummy) for dinner on Saturday with some other couples on and  then on Sunday we are heading to a BBQ to see a friend and her family that are in town for the wknd. FUN! I get to play some more tennis this weekend! Tonight PFC/I are making some yummy fish tacos and I want to watch one of Rob Lowe's old movies = About Last Night. Speaking of Rob Lowe, I enjoyed reading the article about the "Brat Pack" that was in New York Magazine in the 80s.

Some of my latest faves...

• How cozy are some of these screened sleeping porches?! Which one is your favorite? I admit that when GMC goes down for a nap some afternoons I take a little snooze as well. I HEART naps. They ROCK! 
• I so HEART this pic of Kate Middleton and the Prince at the Olympics. They look so in love. And they honestly look like they have fun with one another. So cute! 
• I did NOT watch the latest Bachelorette w/ Emily but I did see the adorable "Glam Camping" party she put together for her daughter Ricki. Speaking of "glamping." We are heading to Kinnikinnick Farm in a few weeks for several nights (just the 5 of us). The blogger Yolanda of Travels w/ Clara did a little post on the farm. 
• Cute way to wear your heart on your sleeve. 
•  Hermes now does wallpaper = how lovely! 
• Fall = cozy sweaters, jeans, boots. LOVE these boots. Pricey = yes. Love them = YES! 
• Pretty clutch that would add a little pizazz to jeans and a t-shirt. 
• Loving this striped coral necklace. Unique for sure. 
• Simple brass hoops. Everyday fun. 
• Yesterday was National Ice Cream Sandwich day - who knew! So, we were inspired to make these yummy (and easy) Strawberry Shortcut Cake sandwiches. 
• Interesting article about the gymnastic leotards from the Olympics. 
• An easy braided updo. Another way to stay cool! 
• Doesn't this ROOM look SUPER cozy?! Love it.