Earth to me!

Posted on March 16, 2012 by carlieblissirwin

Don’t you love Madewell? Of course you do. Who doesn’t? Look how cute:

For the past year or so, I’ve been somewhat obsessed with Madewell. But as far as I knew, there were no stores in Chicago. I’ve bought a few things online, but I’m old-fashioned and prefer to do most of my shopping in actual stores where I can be obsessively indecisive in public.

So here I was, getting ready to post an open letter to Madewell asking them to pleeeeease open a store in Chicago. I decided to do some quick research because, although it’s extremely rare, I am occasionally clueless and uninformed about things.

And then I found it – *record scratch!!* – there IS a store in Chicago! At Old Orchard mall in Skokie! And it’s been there since October! Whaaa??

Let’s just say I’ll be making a pilgrimage out to Skokie sometime soon, and it won’t be to visit the Holocaust Museum. But it might include a side trip to Barnaby’s. Because pizza is a priority in my life. Always.

Just another summer day in March

Posted on March 15, 2012 by carlieblissirwin

I’m short on things to post about right now, so how about some more sunny photos from the past couple days?

I took the first one on my walk home from work yesterday. The lakefront was full of warm-weather revelers. People were wearing bikinis. And swimming. In the lake!

The rest are from lunch today. I decided to go sit by the river and catch up on some blog reading on my phone.

Like my new watch? After waffling back and forth between these two, completely changing my mind, and then spending half an hour in front of the full-length mirror at Nordstrom debating the pros and cons of gold vs. silver with two sales women, I finally decided which one to get.

Fact: I am indecisive and lack spontaneity.

More important fact: I love my new watch.

So whatever!

It’s still March, right?

Posted on March 14, 2012 by carlieblissirwin

I’m seriously starting to question whether I’ve fallen into some sort of time warp…

Coming back to work today after lunch at the beach is maybe one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do.

Sage advice

Posted on March 13, 2012 by carlieblissirwin

(source)

Done and done.

Who is this Hester Browne? And when can we hang out?

A walk in the park

Posted on March 12, 2012 by carlieblissirwin

These photos are of our walk in the park yesterday.

You know what else is a walk in the park? This weather we’ve been having! Amiright?? Somebody pinch me!

My hair was completely destroyed by the humidity this morning, but I’m not even mad – I’m impressed. It’s March!

Look at this weather.com forecast:

It was colder than this last year in June.

And did you notice that it’s going to be 71 degrees on Saturday? On St. Patrick’s Day? In Chicago?? Now that’s a recipe for mayhem if I ever saw one…

You know you’re a yuppie when…

Posted on March 10, 2012 by carlieblissirwin

You spent Friday night sitting on your Crate & Barrel couch with your husband on the near north side of Chicago in yoga pants drinking a glass of red wine while watching Portlandia and snuggling with your tiny lap dog who is wearing a gingham bow tie.

Other yuppie-ish activities planned for this weekend include attending a baby shower, meeting friends for brunch and walking our tiny dog in the park.

How are you spending your weekend? 🙂

Flat feet

Posted on March 8, 2012 by carlieblissirwin

Lately, I’ve been daydreaming a lot about our upcoming trip to Italy. That, and Giordano’s thin crust pizza. Is it lunchtime yet?

When I imagine myself in Italy, I think about strolling along cobblestone streets, being awed by the cathedrals and ancient ruins, sipping chianti at an outdoor cafe, and gorging myself on gelato and freshly made pasta. It makes me feel happy and relaxed. (And holy cow, I’m soo hungry right now!)

BUT, when I imagine myself packing for the trip I feel STRESS. I am not a light packer. And let’s just say I have some shopping to do. (Will just read that and had a panic attack.)

One thing I absolutely need is a comfortable pair of flats to walk around in. Heels aren’t going to cut it on those cute cobblestone streets. And gym shoes are out of the question – I may be halfway to 60, but I’m not there yet.

Here are some of the flats I’m considering:

(Tom’s Ballet Flats)

(Lucky Brand Emmie Flats)

(Sam Edelman Baxton Flats)

Any opinons/suggestions? For those of you who have recently been to Europe, what shoes did you wear? And don’t worry ~~Mom~~, I’m bringing my Chucks for the days when we do a LOT of walking.

The American Club

Posted on March 7, 2012 by carlieblissirwin

Last Friday, Will and I jaunted off for a last-minute weekend getaway to The American Club in Kohler, Wisconsin.

As you can see from the photos, it was a cozy, relaxing, indulgent trip to a snowy winter wonderland. As soon as we got there, it started snowing and never really stopped the entire weekend. Luckily, when the storm hit full-force, we were safely inside and watching it from our window while toasting with the complimentary champagne given to us at check-in (my kind of place!).

If I were to sum up the weekend in three words, they would be: Eat. Drink. Relax.

Does it get much better than that?

We did take a break from those three things on Saturday afternoon when we walked over to the Kohler Museum and Design Center. There, we learned about the history of the resort, which was originally built in the early 1900s as a village for workers at the Kohler factory. We also saw some pretty awesome sinks, toilets and bathtubs. My favorite part was walking through the luxury (non-functional) bathrooms, each one presented by a well-known designer. If I was a homeless person in Kohler (which probably doesn’t exist), I would visit the Design Center pretending to be a tourist and find somewhere to hide. Then, when they shut down the place for the day, I’d go relax in one of those incredible bathtubs all night long.

Is it weird that I think these things?

Anyway, since we were in Wisconsin after all, we also completely and utterly OD’ed on cheese. Cheese plate, cheese curds, beer cheese soup, cheese fondue – we ate it ALL. Within the course of 24 of hours. Now whenever I eat something without cheese in it, it feels wrong. I’m not sure if my digestive system will ever be the same. But it was so worth it.

I propose an Emily swap!

Posted on March 6, 2012 by carlieblissirwin

If you don’t watch The Bachelor, this post will not be of interest to you. Feel free to be on your merry way and delight in the fact that you are not a masochist.

If you do watch The Bachelor – how much do you love Emily?

This show is amazing in that it makes pretty much everyone involved look like petty, naive, love-obsessed idiots. Maybe because it’s based on the idea that two people are ready to get engaged after approximately four dates together – I don’t know.

But this season, Emily miraculously rose above the champagne-soaked gaggle and somehow appeared to be a smart, clever, level-headed, normal person. I’m not sure how she did it, but God bless her. Since I’m resigned to the fact that I can’t not watch this show, she might have been the only thing that kept me from bludgeoning myself to death with the remote. Thank you, Emily!

It seems to me that she would be an obvious choice for the next Bachelorette (Kacie B. isn’t that great, ok?), but there’s one big problem. They already chose someone else. Another Emily. An Emily whose lack of anything resembling a personality is offset by the fact that she is Barbie in human form.

And while Barbie Emily’s sob story about being a widow and single mom in her mid-twenties keeps me from saying anything bad about her (except for that personality dig above), I think everyone involved would benefit from an Emily swap!

If Smart Emily replaced Barbie Emily as the next Bachelorette, I really think we might have a chance to see one of these crazy relationships work out. Trista and Ryan were a loooong time ago, you guys. This show is killing me!

Image credit: ABC

Girl and the Goat

Posted on March 5, 2012 by carlieblissirwin

I love pig face!

And no, “pig face” is not an affectionate nickname I have for Will.

Last night, we went to Girl & the Goat for dinner. In addition to pig face, I also consumed some cute little duck tongues (crispy!), beef tongue (not quite as cute) and other strangely delicious items. For me, the key was not knowing what I was eating until it was fully digested. Consider my horizons broadened!

For those of you who don’t live in Chicago or watch foodie shows, Girl & the Goat is the West Loop restaurant owned by Stephanie Izard, the winner of Bravo’s Top Chef: Season 4. The girl can do amazing things with questionable parts of animals – I ate a duck’s tongue that actually looked like a duck’s tongue, and that says a lot!

As you can see, I didn’t get any good photos, but I got a few crappy ones. You’ll be happy to know that I remembered to bring my good camera when we went to Wisconsin over the weekend, so I actually have some pictures for that post that might be worth looking at.