What's in my Rocksbox?

Thanks to Biana for introducing me to the Rocksbox designer jewelry program where you can try out new pieces of jewelry and either buy them or return them for a new box of jewelry as many times as you want. I'm a sucker for pretty accessories so I decided to try it out and see what my Rocksbox stylist surprises me with.

They sent me the gold Sunburst bib necklace, Gumdrop earrings in Blush and Mixed metals Zara rings (set of 5). I love the pairing of this set.

I typically wear silver more often than gold pieces but I do like how these pieces look together and individually so I wore them out and about to work, happy hour and a few other occasions over the past two weeks as well as in Chicago last weekend.

Peplum Top: Forever 21 (similar) --- Lace Legging Pants: Express (similar, similar)

Dinner in Chicago with a dirty martini blocking the full view of my necklace. (typical)

Looking forward to getting my second box of goodies and hoping for some silver and colorful pieces to try out this time.

Let me know if you're interested in trying out Rocksbox and I can send you one free month of jewelry. You can read more how it works here.

Exploring Beautiful Chicago

What an amazing past few days spent in the Windy City. The people, the food, the sites and scenes. Everything was pretty fantastic and I'm so happy we finally got to experience everything Chicago has to offer. Being the typical blogger that I am, I took a million photos and there's just no way to include them all but I've created a few collages to ease the photo overload.  

Friday/Day 1:

- Arrived in Chicago around 1:30 pm

- Grabbed a quick lunch at Potbelly Sandwich Shop

- Met up with Kate and her husband at Plymouth Rooftop bar

- Toured the streets of downtown Chicago

- Checked out The Bean

- Hunkered down under a tent while it rained cats and dogs

- Got dressed for K's birthday dinner

- Grabbed a drink at The Signature Lounge on the 96th floor of the Hancock building and enjoyed the beautiful views of the city

- K's birthday dinner at Ditka's Restaurant

- Rooftop drinks at Vertigo Sky Lounge

- Late night drink at Miller's Pub

 Saturday/Day 2:

- Met up with Kate and Nikki at Giodarno's for some deep dish pizza. Had a blast chatting and meeting Nikki for the first time.

- Walked to meet up with the guys at Rock Bottom Rooftop bar

- Took an Uber taxi to the Navy Pier

- Walked around the Navy Pier and grabbed a drink from Margaritaville

- Architecture boat tour at 3:15 pm

- Went up in the Ferris Wheel at the pier. Got some beauitful views of the city.

- Drink ar Three Dots and a Dash. (Very strong Hawaiian drinks)

- Dinner at Cantina Lareda Mexican restaurant (amazing!)

- Drink at Elephant & Castle (hotel bar)

We took the Shoreline Architecture River Tour which I highly recommend to learn some history and view all the beautiful buildings and towers.

Sunday/Day 3:

- Brunch at Bridge House Tavern on the river (best brunch ever and $5 Bloody Marys)

- Took the train to Wrigleyville

- Gift shopping in Wrigleyville and quick drink at The Dugout bar

- Cubs vs Pirates game at 1:20 pm

- Bar hopping in Wrigleyville. We checked out Cubby Bear, Vines and Sluggers bars

- Dinner at Elephant & Castle (the restaurant at our hotel because we were exhausted)

Monday/ Day 4:

- Skydeck at the Sears/Willis Tower

- Shopping on State St.

- Lunch at Giordano's (so K could get some deep dish pizza)

- Drink at Dick's Last Resort on the river

- Explored Eataly Italian Marketplace

- Drink at Harry Carry's Italian Steakhouse

- More shopping and exploring downtown

- Drink at the Berghoff

- Headed back to hotel to pack bags & get dressed for dinner

- Last dinner in Chicago at The Purple Pig

 

Thanks to Steph @ Life According to Steph for recommending The Purple Pig and giving me some really great tips for the trip! I love tapas style food and everything we tried was nothing short of amazing. Some of the items we ordered: Tuscan Kale & Romaine Caesar Salad, Milk Braised Pork Shoulder, Eggplant Caponata with Goat Cheese and a few other things. Everything was excellent!

Tuesday/Day 5:

- Rush to airport for 10:40 am flight

- Last minute gift shopping in the airport

- Stopped by Garrett's popcorn shop for some Chicago style popcorn

I loved every minute of being in this beautiful city and it was a really nice break from work, blogging and everyday life. Until we meet again Chicago!

 

Packing for Chicago in Fall

So this is what I'm packing and isn't necessarily what you should pack since I have never actually been to Chicago in Fall/Autumn before. However, based on some research and weather.com predictions (and maybe some luck), I should be good with these picks. I pray for sunny days and comfortable nights with as little rain as possible. I figured an umbrella is still handy for both sunny and rainy days, especially as we plan to do a lot of site-seeing outdoors.

I think layering might also be key with cardigans or lighter jackets but I'm not 100% sure what to expect especially for nighttime temperatures/winds considering it's called The Windy City. Any and all advice welcomed especially from Chi locals or those familiar with the weather around this time of year!

I can't wait to see you tomorrow, Chicago and I'll catch you next week friends!

Football Appetizers & Entertaining

It's certainly hard for calorie-counting around football season. Everyone knows pizza and beer are consumed in copious amounts during this time. I know we'll be attending a few football parties this season so I went on the hunt for some fun and festive appetizer, finger food and dessert recipes that I thought I would share.

Loaded Potato Dip via Eclectic Recipes.

Mac and Cheese Bites via Virtually Homemade.

Bacon Wrapped Jalapenos via Blog Chef.

Buffalo Chicken Bites via Eat Yourself Skinny.

Avocado & Grilled Corn Pico de Gallo via Yummy Life.

Sweet Heat Meatballs via Oh Bite it.

Football Cookies and Cream Dip via Get Creative Juice.



Nutella Chocolate Truffles via Just A Taste.

Football Whoopie Pies via The Cake Blog.

Long Weekend Lounging

The long weekend was perfectly relaxing. It was much needed to keep quiet before we head to Chicago this week for another long weekend vacation to celebrate K's birthday.

On Friday night, K and I went to dinner at High Tide Harry's. I wasn't impressed with the seafood and the service sucked but glad we at least got to try it out.

After dinner we stopped at a sports bar to hang out for a bit and ended up having these pineapple upside down cake shots which were really good. 

 On Saturday I caved and ended up giving K his birthday gifts early since we'll be rushing to the airport on his actual birthday this week. I think all (or at least most) men could do with a lifeproof case to protect their phones. You can find them at Marshall's for half the price.

I scored some beachy coach flip flips for $28. I think that's a steal and they're very comfortable.

On Sunday, we did some quick shopping for our upcoming trip and then went to a friend's pool party. The weather wasn't ideal but it cleared up and we had a good time hanging out with friends.

 

Monday was like my typical Sunday spent doing laundry, cooking, blogging and just lounging before another crazy work week. Hope you enjoyed the extra day away from work!

Joining Biana for Weekending.

Alex and Ani Labor Day Special

Shop Eco-friendly fashion from the Alex and Ani store online.

 via instagram

I'm so infatuated with these bangles at the moment. Check some more styles of Alex and Ani charmed arms I posted about last week here.

Let the Long Weekend Begin

I couldn't be more excited about this 3-day weekend. Labor day weekend last year was spent with friends at a beach condo lounging on Florida's west coast.  This year I've opted for a go-with-the-flow kind of weekend with hopefully lots of R&R.

 

So what's been going on with me this week? 

Well our bank account got compromised. That's always fun, right? On Sunday, I went online to check our balance to see what damage was done over the weekend and also figure out a budget for the upcoming week. I noticed a charge on our account that didn't look familiar but since K and I share the account, I don't always know what's being spent 100% of the time. K didn't seem to recognize the charge but I went along with my day thinking I was just going crazy and forgetting something. A few hours later, I signed back into my account so I can rack my brain a little more about this charge but instead I saw some more charges being racked up over the past few hours. We hadn't even left the house on Sunday. Something was definitely wrong because both of our cards were safely in our wallets! We called the bank to report the charges and found out someone an hour away was swiping our card away on a little shopping spree...that would be a fake card with our info. The most recent charge was $85 at a sushi restaurant but got declined because they had pretty much drained the account. This person has some f#ing nerve! Anyways, our bank was really helpful and worked with us and we should be getting back the money in a week or so. Thankfully! It's really quite scary how easily these people can just hijack your bank account and access your money.

On to some better things and joining Amanda and Lauren for their Friday Linkups.

Oh technology! Ordering lunch and paying the tab via an iPad at Carmel Cafe. This almost eliminates communicating with a server except for ordering drinks/water and the server running the food to your table. Not sure how I feel about technology replacing jobs but I do like seeing photos of menu items to help with the ordering process.

Outfits that transition from work to happy hour. I actually wore this several weeks ago when I met up with Kate and Pam for happy hour.

I caved and bought the Alex and Ani bracelet of the month. The seahorse bangle was calling my name and I wanted to get the $5 discount before they discontinued the offer. Having an A&A store a few blocks from my office is proving to be trouble.

Favorite funny: 
I am guilty of this and having zero patience on the road.

Happy hour beer is calling my name so 5pm needs to hurry it up! Two of my favorite beers this week are Sea Dog Blueberry and Kona Island Lager.

Enjoy the long weekend!!!