Mornin' 9:09 AM

Hi All!

I think I'm finally ready to reveal my exciting news. A few weeks ago, my family and I put an offer on a lovely, spacious condo in a gorgeous part of Chicago. After a lot of back-and-forth, around 10pm one night, they accepted our offer. Looks like I'm making a move at the end of June! I couldn't be more thrilled! It's less than a mile from Wrigley field (for fun), right down the street from a ton of wallet-draining boutiques (for sanity), and surrounded by a ton of delicious and diverse restaurants (for happiness). The condo was previously owned by a young couple who recently had a baby and want to move to the burbs. The condo is spacious enough for me and my roommate (who happens to be my sister (squealing in excitement)), but probably a little tight for a bustling new family and pup! But, it's been really well kept-up. We're going to have to put some money into changing the carpet (hopefully into hardwood!), re-painting the place (I'm not the blood-red bathroom type), and getting new appliances, but I'm literally bouncing off the walls with excitement.

A few reasons why I've been dying to have my own place?
1. I love to entertain. I want to have a ton of dinner parties (and of course party parties!), Cubs pregames, girls' nights. I love the feeling before people start coming over. Putting out appetizers, a few good bottles of wine, mood music (HA! To be completely honest, my life has never been like this before. I only hosted crazy ragers in college with excessive amounts of beer and cheap liquor). I can't wait to have more "mature" get togethers, or whatever adults call them these days.
2. I have been looking at design blogs since I moved to Chicago 6 months ago, and can finally use all the eye-candy ideas I've gathered. It's going to be a blast!
3. I will no longer have an absurdly long commute = more time to do things I love (like use my Groupon at that Yoga/Pilates place on Chicago!), eat out, go to concerts, plays, go on a bike ride on the lakeshore!
4. I can have my boyfriend and friends visit anytime they want, and not have to worry about bothering my parents.
5. I get to live with my sister (there she is!). We get along great and I know we're going to have an amazing time together. Seriously, this is what dreams (and TV shows) are made of.

I'm so excited to share my good news with everyone! Cheers to starting a new and exciting phase in life, friends!

Your condo-owning friend,
A

Gorgeous 11:33 AM

I swear this the last post about clothes for a long long time...

It's a pretty sunny day in Chicago, finally. I've been working out but I had a pretty unhealthy lunch (thanks for the information, right?). I can't concentrate, so I'd like to share these mouth-watering dresses with you.

I love the cut of these. Especially the first two. And the patterns are so delicate. God, I want them. If only I had $800 to spare. Swoon. And nude shoes to elongate the legs? Does a 5'11 model really need those? Come on now. Hot, though!

Good News! 1:04 PM

So I have some great news. But I've been told not to share it yet. Everything is not "set in stone," but we're all about 99% positive it'll work out in our favor. But, due to my bubbling excitement, I've found it really hard to concentrate on these last few days. I need the weekend so I can devote all my attention to the good things that are happening and just bask. Knock on wood, of course. We all spend so much time dwelling on the terrible things that we can change. So why not take a few days off and enjoy the times in your life when things are going your way? I just spent an amazing graduation weekend with my boyfriend's family and our friends, I love my job, I've been pretty happy lately, so... I'm going to brag about it. This is my blog afterall. Plus I'm sure there will be enough negativity time and time again.

So I've been perusing a number of interior design blogs to get my creative juices flowing. I am no pro at making an empty space beautiful, but my mom is. She, although she'd never admit, is sort of a creative genius. If she blogged (I've set up blogs for her a million times to no avail), I would read religiously. She's an unbelievable cook, has a great fashion sense (I literally hate shopping without her), and beautiful things (on sale) just find her! I hope I can grow up to be like my mom (and not just for her stylishness). But regardless, I'm trying to cultivate some design knacks of my own. And where better to go than to your favorite blogs! Check out these amazing and design-inspiring blogs!

Design*Sponge











No Accounting for Taste





























Duh.... Apartment Therapy












And of course, Anthropologie - I know it's not a blog, but it's exquisite. And will be very close by, very soon.













Ahh, lovely. I will have to share my secret soon, but hopefully these provide a clue! :)

Until then,
A

Book Rec! 2:29 PM

I'm reading this book right now, a recommendation of my bright, literature-inclined, author of an uncle, called The Art of Racing in the Rain. It was a New York Times bestseller, which sometimes (frankly) mitigates my desire to read given novels, but this one has earned its marks. It's a poignant, heart-wrenching, but overall inspiring story told from the POV of (get this...) a guy's dog, Enzo. I haven't read any of Garth Stein's novels before, but would definitely consider it after this one. I have about 50 pages left, so I can't give an absolute review... But this "half-way-through" recommendation should more than suffice.