Sunday Morning Bike Ride

On Sunday we rode our bikes to the park, and enjoyed a picnic of sandwiches and a cinnamon muffin from Deli Boutique. 

We walked our bikes over the bridge to the Lake Shore bike path.

We also saw our 7th (!!) pug of the weekend. Andrew took a super sneaky paparazzi-esque picture while on his bicycle!

The weather has been absolutely perfect for these kind of days. We are trying to enjoy them before it gets too cold, as I know it will!

Saturday Morning Rituals

 Some Saturday morning rituals

Lattes and pastries at Floriole's

Fresh fruits and veggies at the Green City Farmer's Market

Listening to this man play drums for all the kids at the park (He is AWESOME.)

Scenic walk back home

Things I will NOT be wearing this winter

When I was packing for my move to Chicago, I didn't have room for a lot of my winter clothes. My dad was already planning to fly to Madison for my cousin's wedding this summer, so I packed a bag of clothes for him to check on the plane and give to me when we met in Madison. It seemed like a brilliant plan...until the airport lost his luggage and clothes got shipped back to Virginia (my dad ended up buying a button down shirt from a Walmart-type store on the way to the wedding!).

My dad ended up repacking my clothes into boxes and shipping them to me. When the first package arrived this week, I was excited to break into my scarves and boots. THIS, however, is what I found:

-Pink Adidas backpack from 8th grade, containing my 8th grade algebra notes, a bouncy ball, half-finished "gimp" key chain, and unopened candy necklace.
-A blue polyester track jacket. The type a girl in drama club has to buy at Target to look cool because she doesn't play sports. Number "23," again not my number.
-Not one, but TWO, pairs of colorful Roo shoes. I thought these were so cool. The high top ones I actually bought for a clown costume when my best friend in high school made me take "Clown Class" with her. See above about how I wasn't on a cool sports team in 8th grade.
-Horrifying fuzzy scarf.

These are some things I will NOT be wearing this winter.

The best part though might have been the doodles in my algebra notes. I have self-diagnosed Restless Hand Syndrome, and I doodle in the margins of my notes to concentrate. I didn't realize it had started so early.

Good thing I clearly labeled that one as "sheep."

Thought this combined J and M was a sneaky way to disguise my middle school crush. SHAMED.

Anyway, I called my dad to inquire about all the odd stuff in the package, because I definitely did not pack it originally.

"Oh yeah," he said. "I had some extra room, so I looked for stuff that I thought was yours."

"But, daaad," I whined. "It's like my algebra notes from 8th grade! What am I supposed to do with it?"

"I guess it's time to do what you should have done in 9th grade: Throw it out."

Touche.

Labor Day Dune Hike

 Over Labor Day weekend, we soaked up one of the last hot days of summer at the Indiana Dunes State Park. It reminded me a little bit of Acadia National Park in Bar Harbor, Maine, though with a lake instead of the ocean and much smaller heights. (My Dad made fun of the highest summit at the Indiana Dunes. "Wow, a whopping 180 ft!" he said.)

For the record, it was actually a great workout. We were walking on the sand the whole time, so when there was a steep incline, you slid down half a step for every step you took. We walked for about two miles right along the lake front, and ended up walking about 7 miles total. We met a couple from Indiana who said they go camping at the park during the winter, and have had to shovel out their campsite in the past. Sounds totally crazy, but I bet the lake looks beautiful, so we might have to go back.

Andrew was happy because he got to wear his serious hiking boots. He also learned the value of a pony tail.

P.S. I just discovered this pretty song about the end of summer.

Apartment Tour: Living Room

Not to brag too much, but we probably have one of the nicest apartments two young twenty-somethings could have in the entire city, if not the US. It was built in the late 19th century, and our own-bedroom unit features gorgeous bay windows, high ceilings, a cozy fire place, stained glass windows, and a tiny balcony. We're so thrilled to get to call it home! Here is a little tour of our living room. Above is the view of the layout from the dining room.

Andrew and I both love large, framed wall hangings. We still have a pile of prints and paintings that we are trying to make room for! Above the mantle is a Hundertwasser from Andrew's grandparents' collection, a print of a Japanese painting I bought at the AIC gift store, and a nautical painting from Andrew's grandmother's house. Our collection of artwork is eclectic but classic, which is an aesthetic we love.

Keeping with the nautical theme, we have a burgee from the Beach Club Andrew sailed at as a kid and a ship's hull model. I am really fond of the burgee. The pillow Andrew actually made with two RRL handkerchiefs.

Coffee Table. Coasters are from Anthropologie.

 This isn't the best picture, but we have a beautiful desk, found at an estate sale, that gets lots of natural light from the windows.

I posted this before, but here again is our dresser bar complete with collegiate flag, duck decoys and a photo of Andrew's great grandfather who, trust me, looks super WASPy.

Some of my favorite details:

There's still so much art we need to hang up and some furniture upgrades that would be lovely, but I love this room so much.

Apartment Tour: Dining Room

So after some of this,

A few of these,

And three trips to Home Depot in 48 hours, we have a newly built, assembled and upholstered dining room set.

The dining room decor could use still some work, but I'm thrilled to have a real table and chairs! (We were previously using this awful set of Ikea chairs that I am pretty sure I called "the chairs of Satan" in a moment of desperation. Yeah, they were bad.)

Chicago Highlights

 View from Fullerton Beach

 Bikes on Chicago Ave., River North

 Picnickers at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion 

 The Jay Pritzker Pavilion at sundown

The Vertigo Sky Lounge