Chi-Town Eats

There's so much to be said about the food here! We didn't eat a bad meal during our visit. Everything from the Chicago style hot dogs, deep dish pizza & italian beef sandwiches - everything was so satisfying. Here are a few places to try that are special to Chi-Town:

 Lou Malnati's deep dish pizza

 Al's Italian Beef

 Portillo's Chicago style hot dog

Portillo's chocolate cake shake

A Windy City Visit

10 years ago, I came to Chicago for the first time to celebrate my good friend's birthday and you can also say it was a bit of a graduation gift to myself. With one of those same friends, we came back to reconnect with a city we remember loving so much. It was just as we remembered (maybe even better than we remembered). The architecture, food and love for music this city has is unbelievable. If it weren't for the nasty winters, I would consider living here. Thanks for treating me well Chi-Town!

10 Years Ago Today

...I was starting my first year of college at my new apartment. I woke up, turned on the tv and saw the first plane fly into the World Trade Center. Shortly after, the second plane hit. It's a day I will never forget. Here's to the people that lost their lives, the people who were affected by it, those heroes that live on, the heroes that were lost and everyone I shared the day with. 9/11, I'll never forget.

Parking Lot Pimpin'

A few weeks ago, I decided to clear my place of every single unused treasure and head on over to the Berryessa Flea Market in San Jose to set up shop with a few friends. This has to be one of the biggest flea markets in Norther California and always an interesting past time if you're ever in the area.

I've always wanted to own my own shop and this is probably the closest I will get to it haha. Even if we had to wake up at the crack of dawn and schlep our once prized possessions out there, it was a ton of fun socializing, people-watching, negotiating and bringing home some extra money (and a lot less clutter). We plan on doing it at least one more time before the summer ends. Go clutter-free home and more room in my closet for fall apparel!

Pizzeria Delfina: Margherita Pizza

#21 Margherita pizza from Pizzeria Delfina
7x7 The Big Eat SF: 100 Things to Try Before You Die 2010
Mission District

If you love thin crust pizza, small restaurants, great service and simple quality food - this is your place. The margherita pizza was delicious, but I have to say - the best thing is the Arancini (fried risotto balls). I can't stop thinking about them and even though these aren't on the 7x7 100 list, if you have to try something here - it's that. Don't get me wrong, the pizza is good, but wasn't anything mind-blowing.

Hogwarts, Quidditch & Magic Spells

I held off on watching any Harry Potter movies for this one reason. I wanted to have the full experience of reading the books first and see what J.K. Rowling is all about. So far, so good! On to book #2 and somewhere in between I'll manage to watch the first movie. Cheers to all of the existing HP fans out there!

Konad Nail Art

Late in the game, but better late than never. Just discovered these weeks ago from one of my favorite (and nail obsessed) ladies, Valerie. Konad Nail Art is crazy cool. So many different things you can do. Here, I opted for polka dots. After Valerie helped me apply these via Konad nail stamps, I couldn't stop looking at them. I don't know if the nail craze is slowly fizzing out, but I LOVE it. Can't wait to try other designs and colors.

One of Life's Simple Pleasures

I've been keeping myself so incredibly busy lately that I've been missing out on one of life's (and one of my personal) simple pleasures - being home alone. There's something about having time to kick up your feet, relax and do things around the house that you've been putting off (not to mention, catch up on all of those shows piling up in your DVR). For me, alone time is essential. It allows you to fall in love with things that once brought you to a happy place all over again. On that note, I've decided to bring more of these moments back into my life no matter how busy I am.

Speaking of things that I've been putting off - I've been slacking on updating this blog due to the sched, but posts are in store...