Video L♥ovin'

The styles. The dance. The music. I love absolutely EVERYTHING about this video, and hope you do too. Enjoy!

Pinterest L♥ovin'

via Style for Style

Come find me on Pinterest!

Chicago

via Glut with Guts

The view from the Shedd aquarium as the sun sets over our city really is hard to rival. Living in this city has it's ups and downs, as it is living anywhere else I suppose. This is my homage to summer, as I brace myself for the fall and winter to come.

Fatty Friday!

Happy Friday for my fatty foods loving friends! (or am I the only one?)

Keep your eyes peeled on the Chicagoist for my post on Snappy's Shrimp House later today!

When I first headed here, I'll admit I was nervous. I'm very much not a food snob, but the combination of "seafood" in Chicago at such reasonable prices coupled with a kind of non-descript store front had me on the fence whether or not to check it out. I'm SO GLAD I DID. It's fried seafood heaven (although their shrimp cocktail is no laughing matter), which is why after my massive meal here, I should probably ward off of deep fried anything for a while.

via Glut with Guts (Please ask permission for use

Read more!

Spotted: North Center

Spotted in the North Center neighborhood, a small sign no bigger than a square inch.

via Glut with Guts

I wish I were....

...a trendy Parisian kid.

via Haute Design

Monday Music

Morning, everyone! Some perfect Monday morning music to get the bones moving again for a busy weekend. Enjoy!

I love....

via Glut with Guts--A Horribly Cheesy Photo from SF

♥ Using obscure percentages ("I'm 84.7% certain it's option A")
♥ Using same method for microwave times ("Package says microwave for 1:30... let's make it for 1:37")
♥ Making wishes at 11:11 and 5:55, other times aren't as lucky
♥ Mooning... haha but not publicly.
♥ My chronic bitchface scowl (usually because it's well deserved)
♥ My ridiculously short last name, making hiding in the inter-webs so much easier

And they called it, puppy loveeee~~~~

via Glut with Guts

... I'm becoming a dog person at a rate quicker than single girls become "cat ladies". Oh my.

Ed. Note: I told him to smile, and he actually did! Isn't this guy adorable?

Monday Musing

via Gizmodo

New Favorites

New favorite free iPhone app: Panorama

via Glut with Guts--Art Institute Garden, Chicago

New favorite lunchtime hobby: sitting in the Art Institute's garden, watching unsuspecting patrons at the garden entrance get a surprise shower from the sprinkler system with a far reach. [insert evil smile here]

The Bane of My Existence

I was born here in the United States, but I don't think English was my first language. In fact, I had to be "tested" until 5th grade for English comprehension. Despite my fluency in English since entering kindergarten, at the beginning of each academic year I mortifyingly received that "special" pass from the principal's office requesting I stop by the ESL classroom. No tests ever really took place, since I walked into the room chatting like there was no tomorrow, praying not to be singled out.

Still. It kind of haunts me.

via Glut with Guts Instagram

Especially now that I'm a writing professional/editing aficionado. (Minus this blog--sorry for all the spelling and grammar errors, editorial gods!) Less now than before, but I remember beginning college entering these writing classes and turning red in the face as I asked friends and classmates for explanations of phrases. Yes, those damn euphemisms Americans love so much.

Now days, I don't find myself embarrassed to ask others these questions about certain euphemisms. I think most people pick these up as they're young, hearing these "common" phrases from families and friends, hardly remembering when they learned these.

I'm starting to see now what a blessing it is I don't know many of these. Not only does this help me be an objective writer, but it creates some great memories. I remember learning what "powder my nose" actually means from a childhood friend's rather graceful mother as she excused herself, hearing an ex-boyfriend regaling stories of friends "three sheets to the wind" the night before, and an angry professor exclaiming to never "darken their door" again for their support of unfair practices. Had I already been indoctrinated to the meaning of these phrases, would these small memories within time still exist? Most likely not.

What about you, dear reader? Any interesting quirks you hated as a kid, but appreciate much more now?

Milk Ads: Sexism or Well-played Humor?

via AdWeek

Everyone was/is up in arms about this recent slew of "got milk" ads (not to mention the endless parodies that quickly followed suit). I'm all about equal rights across all planes of thought, and an always advocate for RESPECT for all women.... but I find these hilarious. haha

I sent the photos to +1 including my message:

"Too bad I'm lactose intolerant. Sucks to be you. OH WELL."

HAHAHAHHA on a side note, ALL men should learn to listen to what women MEAN... not what they say.

I'm seriously in love.

I go to sleep thinking about him, and I wake excited to see him. I come home from work and all I want to do is give him a big hug!

Too bad he belongs to another....

....

...

..

.

NO I'm not a man stealer! I'm in love with this guy:

via Glut with Guts--MAX

I've been dog sitting for a friend and having so much fun! I love that I have an excuse to take long and frequent walks, even in the rain. Plus it's flattering that this guy (Max) follows me around EVERYWHERE.

And he is just so easy to please. I can hand him a big old ice cube and his day is made. His tail starts wagging like crazy and he clutches the cube with his paws, trying to prevent it from sliding around my wooden floors.

[Ed. Note: Clearly I'm not good at action shots.]

I wonder what the penalty is for dog-napping......

The Wonders of Google Alerts

Thanks, Google Alerts! I'm learning something new about myself every day.

via Google Maps

Music Monday: Stalkers

Back before facebook making stalking acceptable, Jeremy Brett did it first.

Life in Chicago

Wanderlust: Europe

via Glut with Guts--My mark in Budapest

Last week, I went to the O'Hare International arrivals terminal to pick up a friend returning to the country. Being awake/at the airport on a Thursday at the ungodly hour of 3am was horrendous, but worth the wait, getting to see the faces of families and friends reunited after such a long distance apart.

I saw a mom run to her daughter, laden with a large backpacker's pack almost in tears seeing her mom. I saw nervous children cautious to approach grandparents, after what probably seems in their short lives, an entire lifetime apart. The flight, arriving from Central America, also meant there were plenty of stocky old men sauntering out in well worn wranglers, large ornate cowboy hats and friendly and familiar winkled smiles to match. No doubt, you could feel the immense ♥.

As the flight had been delayed I had a lot of time to reflect. While it was nice to see so many happy faces returning "home", I'd like to experience the foreign, the unknown again. Lately I've been feeling such great wanderlust, wanting another adventure, to take another risk, to feel alive again.

Missing the feeling of being abroad, reminiscing on my time in Budapest, Hungary.

via Glut with Guts--National Gallery of Budapest

via Glut with Guts--View of the Danube

via Glut with Guts--Buda Castle on an Amazingly Crisp Fall Day

via Glut with Guts--Budapest, Hungary

My life lately

via Glut with Guts (Instagram)

MY LIFE LATELY (aka what's in my purse):

- Quarterlife Crisis Journal (because this shit's going to be hilarious to read when I'm a wrinkled old hag)
- Marc Jacobs wallet ♥ (thanks, SHARX--ps. it's her bday today!)
- Stupid F21 Sunglasses (Figures the cheapest pair I own, NEVER BREAKS)
- Sharpie (the smell, the fine point writing... i love it)
- Binder Clip (I love these dudes, I use them to clip all sorts of stuff together, and use it to prop up my iPhone charger on my dresser. INGENIOUS!)
- Cannon Point-n-Shoot (b/c my Olympus faux-SLR is heavy, and I don't gots a man to carry it for me everywhere)
- Flip! (Still struggling to find a purpose for this one!)


HAPPY FRIDAY! (I'm spending mine celebrating Sharx and avoiding the sweaty hipsters of Lolla. ew.)

Wanderlust/Foodie Lust

These videos. BREAK. MY. HEART. Wishing this was my life, instead of being chained down.

MOVE from Rick Mereki on Vimeo.

EAT from Rick Mereki on Vimeo.

truth

Have you ever been in love? Horrible isn't it? It makes you so vulnerable. It opens your chest and it opens up your heart and it means that someone can get inside you and mess you up. You build up all these defenses, you build up a whole suit of armor, so that nothing can hurt you, then one stupid person, no different from any other stupid person, wanders into your stupid life...You give them a piece of you. They didn't ask for it. They did something dumb one day, like kiss you or smile at you, and then your life isn't your own anymore. Love takes hostages. It gets inside you. It eats you out and leaves you crying in the darkness, so simple a phrase like 'maybe we should be just friends' turns into a glass splinter working its way into your heart. It HURTS. Not just in the imagination. Not just in the mind. It's a soul-hurt, a real gets-inside-you-and-rips-you-apart pain. I hate love.

-Neil Gaiman

Wine Tour 2012

M and I are semi-partially-sorta-eligible for an "academically and spiritually enriching" (most importantly, all compensated) tour of France. If by some miserable misfortune we aren't selected, we have a back-up plan--we're going anyways (P-man doesn't know it yet, but he's coming along too).

Below is MY suggestion for our tour.

via Glut with Guts

Stop 1: Portugal--Vino Verde to refresh our wine tasting palate 
Stop 2: Madrid--Pay homage with some Rioja Sangria!
Stop 3: Bordeaux--Drinking buckets of red, Bordeaux of course~
Stop 4: Paris--Anything that goes with crusty croissants
Stop 5: Amsterdam--Don't be mistaken, this is a wine tour! Frühburgunder from Gelderland

This wouldn't be a blog for gluttons if we didn't include a culinary overview of pairings for our wine:

via Dom Lane--click for full page view!

Saving my pennies and dimes until then!

Friday Flowers

via Glut with Guts

Friday afternoon, I came home with my flowers from work and entered the extremely sunny kitchen in my apartment. The light was so pretty I thought I'd take a picture of them (myself included)!

I don't know how other bloggers do it. Even though I was all alone in my kitchen, I can't even explain how immensely awkward I felt to take a photo of myself. Hence why I'm just peeping out behind the flowers. haha. Props to those who are not as photo-self-contentious as I am.

Music Monday

Quarter Life Crisis

via Gala Darling

Currently feeling a "phase 4" hangover from an intensive weekend of "phase 1"-ing.

Happy Monday, y'all!

8.1.11

via Stylish THOUGHT

...winning at life would be nice.

Until then, #quarterlifecrisis much?

found on Gala Darling