MMC and G$ checking out the re-creation NikeLab in Chicago

Me and My Pup Gus

Happy Friday! OMG, how is it almost the end of July?! Yikes. Summer is flying by - and it officially feels like summer here in Chicago. We got together w/ my mom and stepdad and crew in Lake Geneva the week of July 4th. Super fun time. Kids had a blast hanging w/ their cousins and it was great to catch up w/ all of my sisters and relatives. It's always so tough to get everyone together like that.

I've been following chef Jason Vincent for awhile now - and LOVED when he was at Nightwood in Pilsen. He took a little hiatus in 2014 and the restaurant eventually closed in 2015. So I'm really pumped to head to chef-owner Jason Vincent's restaurant Giant in Logan Square tonight for dinner w/ PFC and another couple. And perfect = where to have date night outside (in Chicago).

Tomorrow morning I'm going to be up bright and early (not only due to our new pup, Gus!) but to make sure I'm in line at Urban Pioneer Group for The Daly Bagel pop up shop. YUMMY! Hoping to swing by the Makers Market FP founded by the local gal behind Blend Earth-to-Skin - from 11 am - 2 pm at The Lantern Loft. And this weekend I know that MMC is looking forward to seeing her counselors from Actors Garden perform in Anne of Green Gables.

Late Sunday afternoon CMC gets home from overnight camp! GMC and MMC have been thick as thieves these last two weeks w/ CMC gone.

XO - d2

PS - Cheers to the weekend ahead and some of my latest faves...

• Wow. Wide-leg active pants are apparently back. I wonder if I still have my first pair of Lululemon pants w/ a boot cut leg! 
• We're skipping our annual summer roadtrip this year but I've made a mental note to download this app for our next trip = Roadside America. I mean who wouldn't want to see the Garden of One Thousand Buddhas?! 
• Speaking of roadtrips - we always seem to buy some temporary tattoos for the trip. Check out these new embroidery tattoos by Tattly. Pretty cool! Love this stitched bouquet. Oh, and how cute are these dog tattoos?! Yup. I've gone a little dog crazy w/ our new pup! 
• How fun = movie coming out soon = Where'd You Go, Bernadette. Enjoyed the book. 
• I've been saving the latest season of Schitt's Creek for a time when I can watch several episodes at a time. I miss my Rose family! I think I might need this keychain = Stop Acting Like a Disgruntled Pelican. OMG, David! Love him. 
• Totally dig and appreciate this = a new Oregon law will let students take 'mental health' days. 
• https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/22/us/oregon-schools-mental-health-days-trnd/index.html
• Okay, so I officially scored 2 tix (thanks, friend!) to the Talk w/ Virgil Abloh at the MCA Chicago later in August. Super excited to be taking MMC. I honestly did not know much about Virgil Abloh until very recently. Proud big sister moment = my youngest sister and her business partner (of Norman Kelley) were handpicked by Virgil himself to host a workshop within the NikeLab Chicago re-creation center. Pretty cool! I took MMC and G$ downtown the other day to check out the NikeLab. It's open through this Sunday, the 28th.  Awesomeness = My Job is to be a Spirit Leader. Oh, and I just connected the dots to Serena Williams' off-white tutu (via Virgil) that she wore to the U.S. Open last year. And these shoes = pretty sweet! 

My Latest Faves

2nd Grade Harmonica Concert

Happy Friday! Cannot believe it's the 1st of March. Come on spring...where are you?! Just need a few signs that you are heading our way. It's been one of the longest Chicago winters ever.

My aunt and cousin are in town visiting w/ my dad and staying w/ us. Been super nice catching up w/ them. Last time we saw them was when we were on the Cape two summers ago. Fun week ahead = Tuesday night - Tell Me More w/ Jen Hatmaker & Kelly Corrigan and Thursday - Dear Evan Hansen. Heard it's fab - has anyone been?!

Cheers to a fabulous weekend!

XO - d2


Some of my latest faves:

• Great article on How to Help Teens Weather Their Emotional Storms. We have two teenage girls in our house right now! Ahhh! 
• OMG! PFC and I have been watching Catastrophe - SO funny. Love the main character - Sharon Horgan (relateable and so funny). Who has seen it?!
• I'm also obsessed w/ the show Schitt's Creek. LOVE it! 7 reasons you should be watching Schitt's Creek. The character Alexis always wears this necklace in the initial A. Would make a great gift for someone. 
• I admire Selma Blair for talking about her MS diagnosis on Good Morning America. Bravo. 
• Digging these Gola Bullet Liberty Sneakers. Super cute. 
• PFC and I love heading to Milwaukee for a weekend. Why Milwaukee is the Coolest (and Most Underrated City)? We love staying at Kinn Guesthouse in Bay View Village. Excited to head to Milwaukee over Memorial Day weekend for a family wedding! 
• Take a peek at the HGTV dream home in Whitefish, MT. Gorgeous. 
• I love Kate Middleton and have enjoyed watching her chapter as a Princess. LOVED the recent dress she wore at an event at the V&A Museum. Gorgeous, right?! 
• Finally = Big Little Lies (season 2) will premiere in June. 
• Hilarious = Kids are Speaking in British Accents from Watching Peppa Pig. 
• Why did Gregg Renfrew start Beautycounter? She rocks! Love her. Please reach out if you would like to learn more about BC or become part of this important movement. 
• Lastly, Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper. Enough said. I'm moving on from my obsession. 

My Latest Obsessions

On a hunt for our Christmas Tree

Christmas Card 2018
Photo Cred: Alma Veliky

So much fun hanging w/ my mom JuJu and youngest sister over Christmas

Escaped the cold for a bit - Cabo

Happy Thursday! I haven't posted in a REALLY long time. We've been hibernating at home for a few days - no school and below zero temps. So I decided to write a post! 

Cheers to 2019! Guess what?! We are adding a puppy to our family come spring. We cannot wait! We are getting a mini Australian Labradoodle. Kids are over the moon! We did a trial run of watching my mom JuJu's dogs when we were in Montana this past summer and have been talking about one ever since. The time has come! 

XO - d2
Some of my latest faves...

• LOVED the movie A Star is Born and I've been playing the song Shallow on repeat. The best = Bradley Cooper's surprise visit on stage w/ Lady Gaga in Vegas. LOVE! Their chemistry is UNREAL. I'm obsessed! Why A Star is Born reveals the future of the music industry. 
• PFC and I also saw Bohemian Rhapsody this past weekend. I didn't know much about Freddie Mercury before the movie. Here's a rare interview w/ him from the 80s. Rami Malek did an amazing job playing Freddie. You might remember him in Gilmore Girls! 
• Latest binges TV wise = Dirty John (heard the podcast is awesome), Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Friends from College (LOVE Fred Savage in it), The Americans (started last night!). 
• Latest books = Educated by Tara Westover, When Life Gives you Lululemons by Lauren Weisberger - a sequel to A Devil Wears Prada, Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty. Found Educated fascinating. Currently reading Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens. Great so far! And I started The Art of Raising a Puppy by the Monks of Skete. 
• Loving my new shower cap. I wash my hair twice(ish) a week and appreciate the upgrades to the Shhhowercap. Bit pricey but will last a lot longer than the flimsy ones from the drug store. Would make a great gift!
• My new favorite pajamas = dreamy cotton pajamas from J.Crew. They are SO comfy. LOVE. J.Crew has so many sales that I typically wait until they have one to pull the trigger. I scored this set at 40% off. 
• Guess who was the top #1 trending beauty brand of 2018?! Beautycounter - wahoo!!! My favorite BC product of the moment = Overnight Resurfacing Peel. The best! Great review from a Foodie Stays Fit. Message me if you have any questions. Great skincare quiz.  
• I've never been a big new years resolution person. However, I decided that 2019 is the year that I start a yoga practice. Been LOVING the classes at this local studio = Local Yoga in Forest Park. I'm all in! Even PFC tried a class w/ me! 
• Lastly, PFC and I decided to make sure we book a date night once a month in 2019. I was inspired by the following article, They Made a New Year's resolution to have a date night without the kids every week in 2018. Our January date was last weekend - saw Bohemian Rhapsody and had dinner at Lucca's. Yum! 
• Couldn't agree more = The Smartest Parents Let their Kids Fail. I don't bring in forgotten homework. Period. 

My Latest Faves

Chillin on Craigsville Beach (and looking oh so grown up)!

Matching Top Knots - we had to snap a pic! 

Niagara Falls - Canadian side 

Jetties Beach Nantucket 

Millway Beach in Barnstable - Cape Cod
low tide + sunset = amazing!

Biking in Nantucket

Sailing in Bristol, RI

Favorite Ice Cream shop on the Cape = Four Seas! 

First Day of School
CMC (8th Grade), MMC (6th Grade), G$ (1st Grade)
How is this possible?! 

Happy Friday! Happy Labor Day Weekend! Ok, so I haven't posted in a LONG time. It's definitely been awhile. I honestly cannot believe that today is the first day of September and that we are transitioning back to school and Fall. I adore fall and all that comes w/ it. Layers and cooler temps. Awesome sleeping weather. Leaves changing. 

We are saying goodbye to summer. Our summer was definitely a bit front loaded at the start activity/camp wise and we ended w/ our August family roadtrip. Our roadtrip gave us the chance to regroup as a family and the kids had the opportunity to see some new parts of the country that they have not seen before. We saw family and dear friends along the way and created some great memories. There were the typical sibling squabbles and arguing and good ole "are we there yet?!" question but all in all I think we would all agree that it was one of our best trips thus far as a family. 

And boom = school started late last week and we officially have an 8th grader, 6th grader and a 1st grader. It's also the first year that all three of them are in full day school. Wow! Bittersweet. 

Cheers to the long weekend ahead! 

xo - d2 

Some of my latest faves: 

• Cannot say enough great things about the house we stayed in on the Cape. Plenty of room for the 5 of us to spread out. Loved the history of the house and the fact that the owners kept the original sink and pump in the house for decoration/conversation. 
• Some faves from our stay on the Cape: Four Seas Ice Cream (favorite flavors: mocha chip and coffee oreo crunch); Crisp Flatbread (yum = caliente pizza - garlic-fennel sausage pizza w/ roasted peppers and banana peppers) in Osterville; day trip to Nantucket (biked around and hit Jettes Beach); lunch at the beach in Harwich (kids had special fluffernutter sandwiches made w/ love by my aunt); the drive back from Wellfleet to Centerville on 6A (scenic drive); misty afternoon spent at the cape cod chips factory (fun little self-guided tour!); lobster dinner and visit w/ our friends from hingham. 
• Favorite adventures front/back end of road trip = staying in Brooklyn w/ our dear friends; seeing the Statue of Liberty; seeing my youngest sister for a moment in NYC (enough time to give her a big hug and a brief catch up); awesome overnight stay on the canadian side of niagara falls (hornblower cruise w/ fireworks was fab!); grilled stickies from the Ye Olde College Diner in State College, PA. 
• Can't get this article out of my head = Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation? 
• Chicago's 25 Most Iconic Burgers - gotta say that the burger from Au Cheval is pretty amazing! 
• Clare V. has wallpaper (didn't realize that!). 
• Here's a list of ways to help out people affected by Hurricane Harvey. 
• Started the book Quiet (the power of introverts in a world that can't stop talking) by Susan Cain to understand one of my 3 kiddos before. Just learned they have a kid version. 
• Summer is coming to an end but I'm still drawn to this simple tank top. 
• I decided that it's time I step it up and become more mindful of my summer feet. I've slowly said goodbye for now to my many pairs of havaiana slim flip flops (that have zero arch support). I bought these birkenstocks in silver. These two-tone ones are cute! The graceful orchid color is fun too. And so is the metallic violet! 
• Lastly, here's an awesome Beautycounter Labor Day Weekend promo that includes one of my faves = the face oils! Spend $150+ and you can pick a face oil of your choice. My favorite = No. 2 plumping! 411 on face oils. 

My Latest Obsessions

A little Valentine's Day Action last month

Date w/ my two guys at Duck Inn

"Masking" around

Happy Friday AND St. Patrick's Day! Cheers to a great weekend. Hope you all are wearing your green! We watched our local St. P's Day parade a few weeks ago but the kids remembered their green this morning. We are in countdown mode until Spring break! We get to see JuJu and Grandpa T very soon in AZ. Super excited for a change of scenery and some warmer temps.

Some of my latest faves:

• I thought this was a great article = What Teens Need Most from their Parents. 
• SUPER pumped to check out this new spot in Milwaukee's Bay View = Kinn Guesthouse. And I think next time we're up there we're going to stay there vs our beloved Iron Horse Hotel. Try something new!
• We enjoyed Duck Inn a few weeks ago. And it looks like a fun spot to head back to in the summer. 
• Love this ruffled shirt. Pretty off the shoulder top. 
• Good stuff = 5 Creative ways to Bring More Kindness to the Home. 
• Looking forward to this Target collab w/ Victoria Beckham on 4/9! Loving the dresses for little girls. 
• Completely in love w/ this friend's local house on one of my favorite design sites Design Sponge. Bravo for being featured! And check out the home owner/designer's own design site = Home Ec. And nice too that local Reuse Depot was mentioned. And since we're talking local check out another local fave via instagram = @salvagegirlchicago. 
• Stunning wedding of a beautiful gal I grew up w/ = love everything about these pics! 
• Bravo Ben Affleck. 
• Loved the book Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls. It's being made into a movie! And guess what other book is being made into a movie = Rebecca Skloot's The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. I had the pleasure of seeing Rebecca Skloot speak in person a few years back. 
• This cool lego tape is making the rounds. 
• We haven't seen the movie Moonlight yet. On the list. Loved reading this article on the breakout star Ashton Sanders (and he went to Chicago's DePaul University). 
• Loving Beautycounter's new BC+ line. The masks = the best! We all tried them! 
• 6 words you should say to your child today = great read. 
• Appreciate the mission behind the company Bright Endeavors = opportunities for young moms and their kids. Found my candle at one of my favorite local little shops = Two Story Farmhouse.  

My Latest Obsessions

Fun family wedding

Happy Friday! So, it's Cate's Birthday today and we officially have a teenager in the house (and it's Inauguration Day). But hey, I would rather talk about the chocolate cake we'll be having tonight celebrating Cate's bday vs the latter.

CMC has requested a steak dinner tonight so we are heading to a local and old school steak house = Tom's Steak House. And tomorrow night we get to see a dear college friend of mine who is in town. Excited! A group of us is heading to Cold Storage for dinner.

Cheers to a fabulous weekend! And here's to hope and prayers for a peaceful transfer of presidential power.
XO - d2

Some of my latest faves...

• I saw La La Land w/ PFC and LOVED it! Thoughts?! Both Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone were awesome. 
• Who watched the season premiere of 'Homeland' last weekend?! WE did! Homeland's Director on What to Expect on Filming Season 6 in New York. 
• Exciting news = 'This is Us' was just renewed for season 2 and season 3. Pumped. I am behind though and need to catch up on the last two episodes. 'This is Us': 19 Heartbreaking Moments that Made Us Cry this Season So Far. 
• Thousands will be in D.C. to stand with Women. Here's how to stand with them from home. 
• Obama's Secret to Surviving the White House Years = Books. 
• The best restaurants to try for Chicago Restaurant Week. 
• Thinking ahead to Valentine's Day - some of my fave gift ideas from Beautycounter = Be Mine Valentine's Day Duo, Love & Luster Gift Set (on sale!) and The Jet Set (on sale!). Ummm, and guess who was just listed as one of the 20 growing companies that are going to be huge (and hiring now) = Beautycounter! 
• Some favorite V.Day cards = Let's Be Frank, You're a Fox, and Like Saturdays and Snooze Buttons, 
• Super helpful read = What Teens Need Most From Their Parents. 
• Some soup recipes I'm going to try this winter = Joy of Cooking's potato leek soup, crock pot sweet potato basil soup, sweet potato and apple soup, and roasted brussels sprouts and cauliflower soup. 
• Good read = The Importance of Showing Up. 
• So interesting = The 5 Craziest Hours of the White House. Absolutely loved this = the Bush sisters wrote the Obama Girls a Note. 
• Here's a pretty scalloped black top. Cute nautical tunic dress! 

My Latest Obsessions

Go Cubs!
Photo credit: Alma Veliky

Happy Friday! Countdown is on for the holidays. Some last minute shopping is on the list for the weekend along w/ some holiday parties. Fun!

Cheers to the last few weeks of 2016! Stay warm this weekend.

XO - d2

Some of my latest faves:

• This down loopner scarf is AH-MAZING. I live in it! I honestly wear it around the house I love it so much. Super cozy and warm. Perfect gift for that friend or sister that lives somewhere cold. 
• LOVE these fleece-lined fingerless mittens. I've had a few pairs over the years. They are the best. Can you tell it's been a little chilly here in Chicago?! 
• I have this Orla Kiely for Target Weekender Cosmetic bag in a different pattern. Love it. Would be a great gift for someone. 
• Sad = RIP Craig Sager. I was intrigued by the guy w/ the wild suits and the big smile. 
• Gotta say that the cleansing balm (along w/ the face oil) is my favorite Beautycounter product. It is saving my winter skin! LOVE using it as an overnight mask. Super hydrating. Check out all of the uses. Ummm, and how cool = BC was named one of the top 10 innovations that made women's lives better in 2016. Wahoo! 
• Super awesome = Rifle Paper Co. and Chatbooks collaborated. 
• I just finished PFC's 2017 calendar via Artifact Uprising. Love the brass calendar too but it's out of stock until 2017. Next year! 
• Movie on my list = Manchester by the Sea. Have you seen it yet?! Can't wait! 
• I'm fairly certain that PFC and I will be taking our annual winter weekend trip to Milwaukee. I think this year we are going to try the new Kinn micro-hotel in Bayview that are friends are opening in January. Looks really cool.  
• The books we loved in 2016. I'm getting ready to start the book Nightingale. Anyone read it yet? 
• I LOVE the new show This is Us. 19 heartbreaking moments that made us cry. It returns 1/10! 
• Super cool and pretty butterfly chair. 
• Perfect weekend sweatshirt. Looks cozy and warm. 
• Perfect timing for the holidays = how to raise kinder, less entitled kids (according to science). Next year I really want to try this for Christmas (from Glennon Melton) = 3 gifts. This would simplify things! Has anyone tried something similar? Would love to hear about it. 
• LOVE this brightening facial scrub from Acure.