Hi friends! Welcome to the first of its kind here on the blog – little weekly updates on what I’m up to! I decided this would be a good way to give you all a quick little cheat sheet on all the events that I find my way to each week as well as favorite pieces right now, where I want to head next, maybe some song choices. Since this is the first one we are all going to go in this blind together and we’ll see how they pan out. This is going to be a HUGE event update so this will probably be the longest of all these future posts but I figured why not get all the previous ones out of the way so we can start fresh, eh? So here’s what you missed on..GLEE…I mean, A Walk in the Pink Park!!

The first up is my Dallas trip! It was AMAZING!! Everyone was so friendly there and the sights were too cute. Post to come!

Next up is Shop Buzzed at Otto Mezzo! I went with a friend and the food was great there – sadly Otto Mezzo is closed now but it was great to see Kristi and Chloe again!! Not sure what I’m talking about? Here’s my most recent post on Shop Buzzed.

Right before my birthday I was able to attend a Cookies and Rosé event at By The Park Cookie Bakery where I met my new friends Alex of Sassy Confetti and Christine of The Chicago Good Life AND got to meet some influencers that I love on Instagram: Everything Erica and Erin of 312 Food!! Both were super sweet and gave great advice on Instagram and blogging. The cookie place is unfortunately closed as well so I’m hoping there will be another one of it’s kind opening soon! All the flavors were so unique and named after Chicago things like Lincoln Park.

After celebrating my 23rd (!!!) birthday the next night, I also made it a point to visit the Stranger Things Pop Up Bar in Logan Square before it left at the end of the month with my friend Maddie of Chicago Eat This. Needless to say, it did not disappoint. The decor was perfect – complete with Will’s fort in the woods to the AV Club room to the famous lit-up alphabet wall that the Demogorgon pops out of. I tried the “Eleven’s Eggos” maple bourbon slushie topped off with an actual mini eggo waffle and it was a little strong but still good!

I got to go to my first Chicagogrammers happy hour soon after at Joy District in River North, where I met Christine again as well as The Tipsy Housewife and got to meet my friend Maggie of Maggie O’Prep there as well as a few others. I had only been to Joy District once before at night but loved seeing all the possibilities this time around. There was such amazing food and drinks there: tuna cones, crab cakes, milk and cookie shots with rumchata, and even a s’mores bar! We had cute little spiked apple cider drinks with an apple cider donut on top as well as a champagne toast to top it off!

Speaking of meeting up with friends again, one of the ladies I met at the BFK Blogger Meetups (see previous post here), Ceta of Clark & Stone hosted a Veronica Beard Fashion Show with the designers themselves, the Veronicas! They talked about the collection as well as their “slash” movement of how people can be more than one thing in life like a dancer/accountant or mother/businesswoman. There was champagne flowing, snacks all around like crab cakes, sushi, etc. plus the runway with the collection was to die for with gorgeous prints and cute jackets. I hung out with Emma and Hannah of Sass and the City and got to meet some of my favorite bloggers Ali of Those White Walls  and Ashley of Sed Bona.

Since I had so much fun during the previous Chicagogrammers happy hour, I ended up going on the next Chicagogrammers happy hour at Yard House. Let me tell you, the food there was a DREAM! Tuna nachos with avocado, crispy cheese curds, chicken & pancakes, and an onion ring tower as well as some yummy red sangria and got to see my professor/blogger friend Ashley Hasty of Hasty Book List and I met some new friends here as well. Jordin of West Loop Soul, Alex of Gilded Gal, Amanda of Windy City Cosmo, Megan of The Domestic Diva MD and Jo of The Savvy Gourmand. I was lucky enough to win one of the photo contests for a gift card there so I will be back with updates!

The last few on the list were the Nando’s opening with Chance the Rapper (see post here), as well as a tour of Marina City Towers on the river (fun fact: a Steve McQueen movie was filmed here and the car drives off one of the floors). The views were INCREDIBLE – I was able to take shots from different units and the roof! Then I went to the Landmark West Loop Apartment Opening to see Hallie of Among Other Things and got to munch on some yummy appetizers from The Publican and saw some cute clothes from T&J Designs, an online boutique and Shop Sanem’s of Oak Park. The apartments were gorgeous – all of them had views of the Sears Tower and they were furnished like an Urban Outfitters. I couldn’t afford it but if I could I definitely would live there! To finish, Katie Boron and I went to the House of Vans sponsored Sauced Market pop up that featured all alternative shops like vintage clothing and jewelry. It was set up in a skate park and had food trucks as well as free Goose Island beer and Boxed Water.  Over the holidays, I made the trip out to Marco Island, Florida (recap to come!) and managed to tackle both Christkindlmarkts – the original in the Loop with Emma & Hannah and the new one in Wrigley with Katie!

Whew! Ok the long part is over, now a few highlights you’ll see on each post.

Local Spots I Checked Out: Pequod’s Pizza, Alice & Wonder, Sweet Mandy B’s, Dos Toros, S’mores Thursday’s at Saint Lou’s Assembly with Jordin (not pictured) & Maggie, Ramen Takeya with Jordin & Kendra of Chicago Food Hunter, Big Star Tacos, fab’rik, Same Day Cafe with Katie, Fleur, Aloha Poké, Scratch Goods, Little Goat & The Dessert Dealer with Jordin

Events I’m Looking Forward To: Holiday Trolley, Museum of Science and Industry Christmas Trees Around the World, Zoo Lights

Also some items I’m loving, but this is already getting long so we’ll postpone that to the next one!

See you in the next post!