oh hey there!

my mom recently sent me this photo of my grandparents (my dad's parents) standing behind their bar at my dad's childhood home. i love this photo so much! it doesn't have anything to do with the rest of this post, but i wanted to share it here. it's awesome to see that they took their beer as seriously as we do :)

so, that was quite the blogging break, huh? i wanted to stop by and let you all know that i am still alive and well :) blogging has definitely taken a backseat these past several weeks, between moving/settling in to the new place, decorating, and a new workout schedule... so i apologize for that. to be honest, i have found time to post here and there the past couple weeks, but then laziness takes over. yikes...

i'm so happy to be settled into our condo. we are finishing up decorating the main rooms, and it's really coming together nicely. i never really felt comfortable inviting people over to my old apartment b/c it was always a disaster, and i have been longing to have people over to a place that i truly love. we haven't had a proper housewarming yet, but i'm sure it will happen very soon.

this is the first time that i have moved in with a significant other, actually chester's first time as well, and it's been wonderful. we still have/make time to do our own things, but it's so nice to see him on a daily basis, and not have to "plan" when to hang out. i'm happy to report that the transition went/is going smoothly :)

i thought it might be easier to format the rest of this post like my other currently posts, so here's what i've been up to currently:

reading: a half priced books recently opened up near my work, and it has been the best thing ever! the store is huge, and they have a great selection of new releases out. i picked up "reconstructing amelia", and i really like it so far. i also need to start "the fault in our stars" soon too!

watching: i got totally immersed in true detective this winter. damn! that show is so good! i was really impressed with the season overall, and i did really like the ending. i think i'm going to rewatch it again with chester. i also finished season 2 of house of cards. holy crap that show is amazing! the second season definitely had me covering my mouth in disbelief of what just happened. it. is. so. good. game of thrones comes back soon! thank goodness, b/c i'm running out of good shows to watch. scandal is back, which is good news, and in the meantime i've been catching up on damages via netflix.

loving: the grand budapest hotel!!! chester and i went to see it last night and i loved every minute of it. it was more suspenseful and a tad darker than pervious wes anderson movies (in my opinion), but it's easily one of my new favorites. if you'e a fan of his films, please check it out!

looking forward to: stout fest 2014 at goose island this saturday. last year's stout fest was our first year, and we had a lot of fun. this year my sister and her bf are joining us, so it'll be a good time.
aaaand we secured tickets to dark lord day at 3 floyds in april! i cannot wait to go back this year. hopefully the weather warms up a bit by then. this winter has been just awful!

thinking about: so i'm quickly approaching my 30th, yes MY 30th, birthday in the middle of may. i'm not as freaked out as i thought i'd be, haha. usually i am all about doing something big for my birthday, and oddly enough, this is the first year where i haven't put much thought into it. i just want to hang out at a chill bar with good friends. something low key for sure. so we'll see what i come up with.

hope you all have a great weekend!

orange county trip

this past weekend chester and i escaped the snow and frigid temps & visited our good friends in orange county. it was a perfect getaway, and i miss that weather so much right about now! oh, btw, chester and i got the condo we wanted! we signed a year lease the night before our flight, so that was a big weight lifted off of our shoulders. now i'm spending my free time packing, even though it feels like i'm not really making a dent :/ 

so anyway, tonight i needed a break from packing, and wanted to share some photos from the weekend:

we were excited to visit our favorite restaurant in costa mesa, and we also stopped by our favorite brewery, the bruery. it was a great trip! we already can't wait to go back.

hope you all have a good weekend! i'm crossing my fingers that the snowy forecast won't be as bad as they say. wish us chicago/suburb dwellers luck! haha.

a look at what i do for a living.

i totally meant to post this video with my currently post yesterday, and it slipped my mind when i published. i've noticed that i don't really talk about my job too much on this blog. for those of you who don't know, i'm a digital media designer at culture22. the video department (ben, brian, kevin & myself), recently finished up our 2014 reel, and i think it looks pretty damn awesome. check it out!

Culture22 - 2014 Experience Reel from Culture22 on Vimeo.

currently

hey everyone! i'm sorry that i haven't been around at all this month. my blogging goal for 2014 is off to a rough start. but i have been pretty busy recently. chester and i are moving in together in mid-february (yay!) and we have been looking for places to rent all month. i think we have a place secured, but we will know for sure later on today. fingers crossed! i can't wait to be in a new place! i've been in my current apartment for 3 years now, so i'm ready for a change. i have started collecting boxes, and began the purging & packing process, but i really need to kick it up a notch.

anyway, just wanted to fill you guys in on the craziness. on to the currently post:

reading: in my last currently post, i talked about how much i loved the husband's secret by liane moriarty. after i finished it, i decided to check out another book by moriarty and downloaded the last anniversary. i loved it as well! i really like moriarty's characters, and how attached you feel to them over the course of a book. i would definitely recommend both of these books!

watching: so i'm really into true detective on hbo. it's only 3 episodes in, but this kind of show is right up my alley. i absolutely love it. my coworker just sent me these episode recaps, and there is already a ton of info that i failed to notice from watching each episode when it airs. i'm still watching girls, although i'm still not totally in love with it. and i'm really excited that the following is back! i have yet to watch last night's episode though. i'm still loving the mindy project, and almost screamed with excitement at the end of the last episode… if you watch, you know what i'm talking about! eek! i recently started watching damages on netflix, and i'm hooked. i'm a few episodes in to the 2nd season, and i'm happy that there are 5 seasons of that show. 

listening to: Did YHTN put out their best of 2013 mix (part 1 & part 2) recently, so i've been enjoying that a lot. i always look forward to kaelah's things i love thursday post each week, and last week she included this AMAZING playlist from the thought catalog: the 18 best 90s pop songs you forgot existed. holy crap you guys! this list is amazing! i loved ALL of these songs back in the day! if you want to take a listen on spotify, i created this playlist. 

excited about: visiting our friends in orange county this weekend! chester found amazingly low fares out there for this weekend, so we quickly snatched those up last november. we fly on on thursday and fly back monday evening. the timing couldn't be more perfect, since we are in the second wave of the polar vortex or whatever here in the chicagoland area. seriously, i'm used to the midwest winters being shitty, but we have been lucky the past few winters and this one is really testing my patience. it will be nice to have a long weekend with really decent weather. oh, and i'm excited about moving in with chester of course :)

loving: believe it or not, i'm really into cooking a lot of my work lunches and snacks lately. i know this is pretty normal for a lot of you that are eating clean, but it's a little new for me. even though i try to stay healthy, i usually always went out to buy my lunches. i love to roast veggies, they taste so good that way! my favorites are roasted brussels sprouts, green beans, zucchini and edamame. i want to try roasted cauliflower soon too.

thanks for sticking around guys! i probably won't post much, if at all, until we move in to our new place. after that's all done, i will get into a better blogging schedule. in the meantime, keep up with me on instagram :)

happy new year! and a look back...

hey everyone! sorry it's been quite a bit since i posted here. i got pretty wrapped up with christmas shopping and prepping for the holidays, and work was pretty busy, too. now that things are slowing down, i hope to get some more posts up soon.

i hope you all had a great holiday season! i was able to hang out in rockford with my family for several days over christmas, and spent some time with chester's family as well. new years eve was a quiet one for him and i, as we decided to stay in and relax. the weather around the chicago land area was a big factor, and we are still getting a ton of snow!

2013 was a great year, and i wanted to post a photo recap of my favorite memories from it. if 2014 is anything like this year (i feel like it's going to be even better!), i cannot wait!

as always, thanks for stopping by! hopefully your transition back into a normal schedule goes smoothly tomorrow. all i'm hoping for is to be able to drive out of my parking lot... this snow is insane!

until next time! xoxo

currently

reading: i just finished the husband's secret by liane moriarty & i LOVED it! i downloaded a sample of it on my iphone, and couldn't wait for the amazon order to come in, so i downloaded it on my phone/ipad. i usually prefer to read books in their original paper form, but when it's on my phone, i can sneak in a few chapters when i have unexpected downtime during my day. i went through this book pretty quickly, and it kept me guessing until the end. i highly recommend it!

watching: boardwalk empire!!! chester and i really liked this 4th season, and the finale last night was pretty crazy! sad at some parts, as usual, but i won't say anything else about it for those you haven't seen it yet. i'm also watching hostages, new girl, the mindy project, and scandal! i loved the last episode of scandal! so good.

listening to: various playlists on spotify, lorde's album on repeat, aaaaand some christmas music on 93.9 fm. i can't help it. it makes my road rage less severe, hahaha.

looking forward to: spending the thanksgiving holiday with my family back at my parents' house this weekend. hopefully scoring a decent amount of goose island's bourbon county stout on black friday. that's the only *outside the house* black friday shopping that i'm participating in. lots of reading. lots of crafting. :)

what have you been up to currently? i'd love to know!

current beauty loves of fall 2013

i always love when fellow bloggers post about their favorite skincare/makeup items. i'm not sure why i'm so interested in knowing what other people are using, but it's fun to discover new products and learn why they have become a favorite to someone. these are some beauty items that i'm loving right now:

1. real techniques expert face brush - i forget where i heard about this brush (surely a beauty vlogger), but i liked how it claims to create a flawless application with cream or liquid foundations. i have combination/oily skin (mostly oily), so i've always stuck to the powder foundations like bare minerals. and while i still love to use those, i have grown to love the rimmel bb cream (#4), and i really like using this brush to apply it. i am able to get a much smoother finish vs. using my fingers.

2. real techniques blush brush - after falling in love with the expert face brush, i decided to pick up this blush brush as well. it's really fluffy, and makes applying powder blushes super easy.

3. NYX studio perfect photo-loving primer - i really like smashbox's photo finish primer, but it's just a little too expensive to keep up with. this primer by NYX is really similar, and i usually pick it up when NYX products go on sale at ulta.

4. rimmel BB cream - so this BB cream claims to be a 9-1 miracle cream. i'm not really sure if i agree, and i don't find it to be mattifying, but i do love how it evens out my skin tone. i'm between light & medium, so i just mix them together before applying with the expert face brush (#1). once applied, i set it with powder to achieve more of a matte finish.

5. jordana twist & shine balm stain in "terra crave" - jordana products are very affordable, but unfortunately really hard to find in my area. i heard a lot of buzz about their new balm stains, and picked up "terra crave" when i spotted it at walgreens. it's a really beautiful color, and the stain lasts for a good while. not as long as the marker stains, but i love that these balm stains are really moisturizing.

6. rimmel stay matte pressed powder - i picked up the transparent shade and keep it in my purse for touch-ups during the day.

7 - 8. revlon colorstay lacquer lip balms in "coy" & "enticing" - these balms have been the latest craze in this style of lip color, and really hard to find. i picked up these at ulta not too long ago. the colors are gorgeous, "coy" being my favorite fall/winter lip color. at first i was a little disappointed that the color didn't last a long time on my lips, but after reading the packaging again, it didn't claim to be a balm stain, so i can't fault it for that. and they are really moisturizing.

9. blistex medicated lip balm - so this isn't a newly discovered product, but one that i repurchased with winter in full swing around here. i've always loved this balm, and keep some in my purse, at my work desk, and on my nightstand. it's perfect to apply with a stain, since those tend to be more drying than other lip products.

so that's what i've been loving in the world of beauty products! what have you been loving lately?

lately

well i've certainly gone a looooong time without blogging… as usual, it was an unexpected break, and while i had a lot of things i wanted to share, i never made the time to post about them. so here's an abbreviated version of what's been happening around here.

my college friend laura got married on october 19th and had a halloween themed wedding!!! it was so much fun, and everyone went all out on costumes. chester and i went as a bear and goldilocks, and i borrowed his bear coat to wear at work on halloween :) it was a big hit.

we got to see the stanley cup! it made an appearance at a restaurant back in rockford, and my dad invited us girls along. unfortunately my sister couldn't make it, so chester came in her place.

at the beginning of november, we visited our friends denny and krystina in orange county for a super quick weekend trip. it went by way too fast, as it always does, but it was really fun. i'm kicking myself for not taking more photos, but sometimes it happens.

and lastly, the kelly family, along with our handsome dates, attended a family friend's wedding on november 9th.

sorry for being absent from this blog for so long! there have been posts i've wanted to draft up, so hopefully i can get a few up in the next week or so. thanks for stopping by!

trip to the zoo

last sunday, chester and i joined our friends for a trip to brookfield zoo. i can't even remember the last time i was at the zoo, and we had a perfect fall day for it. 

my favorites were probably the snow panthers, a mother and her little one, pictured above. ^

hope you all have a great weekend! my friend from college is getting married tomorrow, and get this.... it's a halloween themed wedding! be sure to follow me on instagram for some great photos.

lucy rose at schuba's tavern

lucy rose played an amazing show at schuba's tavern last night! chester and i were right up in front by the stage, and it was such an incredible experience. we were even lucky enough to chat with her a bit afterwards :D she is super sweet, and i cannot wait to see her again.

one of my favorite songs off her latest album is "gamble". she originally wasn't going to play it (i could actually see the set list and was bummed when it wasn't on there), but a girl in the crowd pleaded with lucy to play it, and she did! she sang it by herself, and was a little emotional towards the end, but it was so incredibly beautiful. if you haven't heard it yet, be sure to watch this version below.



hope you all are having a good week! it's almost friday :)

lately.

hello! i just wanted to share some photos of what i've been up to lately. pretty much a lot of beer events...

goose island's urban block party. way more organized (and fun) than their 25th anniversary party. many tasty BCS's were consumed.

goose island's oktoberfest. unfortunately i didn't take many photos at the event, but it was really fun! got to try some rare barrel aged stouts and i really liked bourbon county brand barley wine.

the whole family enjoying the new glarus oktoberfest in WI. the new glarus brewery has to be one of my favorites. there's a huge garden area where you can walk around, sample beer, and eat some awesome pizza. and the festival in downtown new glarus was pretty cool! we got some great souvenir glasses (pictured above). it was really nice for chester & i to spend the weekend with my parents, my sister and her boyfriend.

although the guys weren't super excited to stop anywhere on the way back to chicago, sarah and i thought it was necessary to swing by edwards apple orchard. sarah and i have been going to edwards every fall since we can remember, and it's always a good time. the place gets packed every single weekend, but we were able to swing by the store for some apples and the famous apple cider donuts (!!!), and get a few photos in pretty quick before they closed.

october is looking to be pretty busy, although we currently don't have any beer events to attend.... waaahhh. lol. but i'm super excited for all of the fall things! and halloween! damn, i just love halloween. haha.

hope you all are having a great week so far!

currently

enjoying the last beach day // our company canoe trip (video here) // belgian fest 2013 // flights at pig minds

soo, it's been quite a while since i was back here. sorry about that! i've kept pretty busy, enjoying the last bit of summer here before fulling embracing the fall. who am i kidding, i was ready for fall about a month ago, haha. i was so glad to finally enjoy a day at the beach this summer (right before labor day), and we had some awesomely hot weather for our annual c22 canoe trip. chester and i have been enjoying our beers on the weekends, and stopped by pig minds back home while visiting my parents last weekend. it's been a fun month or so! and here's what i've been up to more recently.

reading: i finally finished the spectacular now! although i wasn't blown away by the ending, i did like the book a lot. i'm curious to see how it translated to the movie screen. i have a few books to choose from to start reading now, but i'm always looking for suggestions if anyone has any!

watching: um, boardwalk empire! i am so excited that it's back! and i really liked this last season of the newsroom. i hope it comes back for a 3rd season. i'm glad that the mindy project and new girl are back as well. looks like there will be a lot of new shows premiering this fall, and i'll probably watch about 90% of them. haha.

listening to: i'm diggin the new september mixtape from Did YHTN. i've also created a fall playlist on spotify, if you'd like to check that out.

looking forward to: all of the things! chester and i are going to goose island's block party tomorrow. i'm really excited about trying some of the BCS's on tap. we're going to goose island again next friday for their oktoberfest, then we'll join my family up in wisconsin for the new glarus oktoberfest next saturday. stout season is going to start soon, so i'm sure chester and i will be going to a lot of beer events. we're seeing lucy rose at schubas on the 2nd. her album just became available in the U.S. this week. be sure to check it out if you haven't yet. we also just scored tickets to see william fitzsimmons at schubas in november! i cannot wait!

loving: trader joe's multiseed soy sauce rice cakes. yup. soy sauce! they are pretty tasty. i also found some roasted & salted marcona almonds at trader joe's that taste EXACTLY like the ones we ate in italy! whenever you ordered a drink they always brought you a bowl of chips or nuts, and those almonds are the best! i'm also loving the cooler weather we've been getting here. i need to start crocheting! aaaaand after 2 more payments, my honda fit is officially mine. just in time for christmas shopping. it's really perfect timing.

i hope you all have a great weekend! xoxo

california vacation

a couple weekends ago chester and i spent 4 lovely days in southern california - orange county & los angeles to be exact. our friends denny & krystina moved out to orange county in april of 2012, and we were really excited for them to show us around their "new" area. my good friend tim moved out to LA in july of 2012, and it was nice seeing his new 'hood too.

we checked out the thousand step beach in laguna, an awesome brewey (called the bruery) in the OC, the hollywood walk of fame in & the griffith observatory in LA (where we met up with another good friend Dan), and the elliott smith wall in silverlake. the wall had recently been touched up, and it was really cool to see.

we had such a fabulous time, and we are already planning our next trip out there! hopefully we can escape the midwest winter for a few days next year. :)

1,000 step beach in laguna // hollywood walk of fame // legit moscow mule // at the beach // at the griffith observatory

view from griffith observatory // driving in LA // krystina & i // chester & i with denny & tim

hot tubbing // elliot smith wall in silverlake // photo booth at the bruery tasting room

currently.

watching: the third season of the killing ended a few weeks ago, and i think i liked that season the best out of all three. i'm really loving this season of the newsroom too! the whole genoa storyline is fascinating to watch unfold. and i love how i like don so much after he and maggie split. after browsing hulu's suggestion on series i should watch, i started watching durham county. i'm liking it a lot so far, and i've noticed quite a few actor overlaps with the killing. there are only 3 seasons of the show, so i'll probably finish that up in time for boardwalk empire!!!! i cannot wait! chester and i have also been watching deadwood. he and his dad watched the series when it aired on hbo, so it came highly recommended. i'm diggin' it so far.

reading: so i ordered even more books since last posting a currently post, and i haven't finished anything yet, haha. i blame amazon now accepting my credit card points directly. i've started "island of lost girls", and while it's interesting, it's not as gripping as i was hoping it would be right off the bat. but i'm not giving up just yet. i'm also reading "the spectacular now" and i really like it so far. i'm hoping to finish it soon and see the movie before it's out of the theaters.

listening to: chester sent me this video of the staves's crypt session, and i was blown away. so i've been listening to them a lot, along with rosie june & folly and the hunter (first band that spotify suggested and i actually clicked on, haha). chester and i have tickets to see lucy rose in october, and i cannot wait to hear her sing this!

thinking about: just how incredible this summer has been. chester and i have been lucky enough to take a couple long weekend trips, and had some really fun times with our friends. plus, this summer was kicked off with the trip of a lifetime with my family. i've been so lucky to have had the time and resources to make this summer one for the books.

looking forward to: going to the beach with friends this weekend, hopefully getting one last pool day in before it closes, goose island's belgian fest & of course the renegade craft fair!

hope you all are having a great week! until next time...