This weekend...

This weekend I...

...Spent a lot of time out and about enjoying the city.  The weather was supposed to be sixty degrees and cloudy, but it ended up being a gorgeous seventy-five and sunny.  Jeff and I spent Saturday afternoon/evening wandering through Lincoln Park, visiting my favorite animal at the zoo, scoping out our wedding venue, hitting the rooftop at Lincoln Hotel, and splitting a bottle of vino and an amazing caprese salad at Topo Gigio.
...Got catfished by Yelp - tried to go to a restaurant that turned out just being someone's townhouse.  What can I say, they had some really good reviews ;)
...Maybe went on a segway tour of downtown and maybe loved it and maybe want to find seven thousand dollars in my back pocket so I can buy one for myself.  And also maybe learned that all of Lincoln Park is a giant graveyard?  Yuck.
...Had a yummy lunch with my mom, sister, aunt, and cousin up in Rodger's Park to celebrate Mother's Day, and in the process finally got to meet my cousin's pet tortoise.
...Told Jeff I was going out for happy hour with my co-workers, and didn't make it home until 11pm.  I blame the cocktails at Ceres Cafe.
...Went out to Revolution Brewing with Jeff's parents as a combination late birthday and Mother's Day celebration, and strongly considered just getting eighteen orders of wings.  So flipping good.

I hope you had a good one!

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Mint Oreo Brownies

A question I seem to be asking myself a lot lately, is why just eat one dessert, when I could stick two together (see, The Brookie).  This time, I managed to fit an entire bag of Mint Oreos into one batch of brownies.  Kristina FTW.

I fed these to my co-workers, and they basically inhaled the entire container.  They were described as "smelling like Thin Mints but tasting like so much more." One of the guys confessed to eating four or five of them himself.

Want to achieve this deliciousness yourself?  First buy a box Mint Oreos and a box of brownie mix.  If you're lazy, like me, buy the kind that comes with frosting.  If you aren't lazy, then good for you, and you're going to need to whip up some chocolate frosting.  Make the mix as directed, but only pour half of it into the pan, layer in half of your Oreos, and then add the rest of the mix on top.  Bake as directed and then let them cool completely.

Crush up the remaining Oreos.  Frost your brownies and then crumble the Oreos on the top.  Press the Oreos into the frosting a little bit so they stay.  Then try really hard not to eat all of the brownies yourself.

Happy Friday!

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Weekend Casual

Tee - JCrew (on sale!) / Jacket - F21 (similar) / Jeans - Gap / Shoes - Reebok / Necklace - YuniKelley (old, similar)

I feel like I rarely dress down these days, but whenever I get the chance I love pulling on a casual tee and some sneakers.  I wore this last weekend to run a couple of errands around town.  I decided to try the sneakers Miranda Kerr wears into the shower after seeing them featured a couple of places, and they are seriously so comfortable.  I have a bit of joint pain, and as soon as I slipped these babies on it went away.

Today's Jeff's birthday!! I can't celebrate with him today because of some work things, so I'm sending him off to celebrate with some of his man friends.  Instead, I surprised him yesterday after work with a funfetti cake (his favorite) and tickets to see James Taylor this summer.  Which I mean, really, is a bit of a present to myself as well ;)

One more day til the weekend people, we can do it!

Linking up with Little Friday

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What to Wear to a Wedding on a Budget

I've got a lot of weddings coming up (another friend just got engaged this weekend, yahoo!) so I've been looking to add another dress or two to my closet for this summer.  I hate spending a lot of money on fancy dresses since they won't get nearly as much wear as the clothes I wear day to day.  Here are a couple of my favorite dresses for wedding guests on a budget:

1 / 2 / 3

1 / 2 / 3

1 / 2 / 3

Looking for more guidance on what to wear to a wedding?  Check out my previous series, What to Wear to a Wedding, Church Wedding, Beach Wedding, and Hotel Wedding.

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Creative Professional

Dress - Old Navy / Blazer - Target (old, similar here and here) / Flats - Payless / Necklace - YuniKelley (similar) / Watch - Michael Kors (old, similar)

Sometimes when I get dressed up for work, I want to show that I'm a professional but also a creative.  To do so, I stick with classic shapes but add in some personality, like the floral print of this blazer and a fun necklace.  I got a new boss this week, so I wore this for his first day in the office to show him I mean business.  Of course it was about twenty degrees cooler that day (silly Spring) so I also wore tights.  There are 70's (!!!) in the forecast for the next two days so no more tights for this girl!

Linking up with Trend Spin Linkup, Stylish Tuesday and Friday's Fab Favorites

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This weekend...

This weekend I...

...Went to a Cubs game for Jeff's birthday with a big group, and actually saw my second win of the season.  Go Cubs go! Oh, and got to eat my first ballpark dog of the year ;)
...Came away nine dollars up from the Kentucky Derby, thanks for showing Danza!
...Accidentally went out for Mexican food when everyone else in the world was celebrating Cinco de Mayo.  Super crowded but the fish tacos were probably worth it :)
...Picked up a few (incredibly heavy) gifts for a couple of bridal showers & weddings coming up.
...Had the house to myself on Friday night, which means I watched about 12 episodes of various wedding shows on TLC.
...Finally made it to brunch at The Bongo Room and had a freaking amazing chorizo avocado omelette.
...Made a couple of important wedding decisions, it's starting to come together!

I hope you had a great one!

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The Kitchen

So, we have to buy a new fridge.  Ugh, I know, right?  I came downstairs a couple of weeks ago to go to work, and heard some dripping coming from the kitchen.  When I went in, there was water everywhere.  Just the water dispenser/ice maker was broken, so we turned off the water supply to it and haven't been having any problems.  But when someone came in to fix it, he said the fridge is so old (over 20 years!) that if he puts new parts into it, it will stress the existing parts and it's likely to completely stop working.

We've been talking about re-doing the kitchen for a while since it's so ninety's, and this might be just the push we need.  Especially since any normal size fridge is so not going to fit into the super skinny weird cutout meant for it.  I'm really feeling a bright white kitchen, with subway tiles and gray detailing.  Here's some of my inspiration:

Sources: 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8

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