Weekend Roundup

No summer would be complete without a trip to Ravinia. For those of you who aren't familiar, Ravinia is a fabulous outdoor venue where you can bring your own food and wine and listen to live music under the stars. In my mind, it has all the elements of a perfect summer evening with friends. Saturday night, Lauren and I (along with the boys) made our annual trip. Good wine, great food and even better friends made for a perfect evening. Oh, we saw Chicago perform (so fitting!)

I also acquired a couple of new items for our living area. I love the texture this pillow gives to the room.

This is our new friend - not only is he charming, but he doubles as a vase. He lives on the bar for now.

Wednesday evening the boy and I had a little date night at The Southern. The truffle mac and cheese was bananas. The mixologists behind the bar were genius as well. Try the Southern Mule.

It was a beautiful late summer weekend in Chicago - hope you all had a lovely weekend as well!

The Kitchen

I know I've talked about my kitchen in past posts, but we really are getting very close to picking out tile for the back splash, and then some time after that, maybe even installing it. We've narrowed it down to two choices - white subway tile with grey grout or classic marble. We may even get crazy and take it all the way to the ceiling. Here is my inspiration.

The art of the bar cart

"At Society Social, we enthusiastically subscribe to living sparkly - as in vivacious, legendary, always ridiculous, and never for a second boring! We believe in following your heart and chasing your dreams, after all that's why we're here. We believe that life is a grand celebration, that means every day, and poppin' bottles is something we do with frightening regularity. It is this contagious joie de vivre and our tremendous love for a shared celebration that inspires every piece we create. We hope our handcrafted line from the colorful cocktail carts to our playful haute hostess attire induce frolic and merriment from our home to yours."

Society Social launched today! I just love that they are bringing back the art of the bar cart. Their stuff is stunning, so head on over and check it out.

Quartino

Ahem... let's get something straight. I am all for eating good food and staying healthy and one of my nightly goals is not to end up falling asleep on the couch with a half eaten mango pop in my hand while the Real Housewives reruns auto pay on Netflix. (happened) But, sometimes when The Boy is busy and the girls are in town, it's appropriate to throw caution to the wind and get crazy.... but, where to get crazy? I can't just roll 5 deep over to the bar for a pitcher and a $1 veggie burger, especially when one of my 5 is prego and another recently swore off food that has too many letters in the name... she refers to them as "long foods".

Enter Quartino.

This place is consistently good. They practically give away wine by the liter and the food is just so yum.

Yes, we ended our meal of pizza with little Italian doughnuts dipped in a dark chocolate sauce. Don't judge.

Also, please no judgment on this bathroom photo taken on my phone. The chair was just too gorgeous.

And how about this bar??

A mirror makeover

The mirror that lives on top of our bar used to be black. I was pretty bored with it, so I decided that before I begin the search for something new, I would try to give it a little makeover by spray painting it gold. If you live in Chicago, you cannot buy spray paint (apparently it's illegal, who knew??) So, off to the suburbs I went. I used the Valspar brand gold metallic. The trick, I learned, was to hold the spray paint can about a foot away from the surface for an even paint job. That, and tape, tape, tape - make sure every part of the mirror itself is completely covered. I think it turned out well, what do you think?

A new rug

Our front dining area needed a little something to define the space. I came across this rug a couple months back, but because it was such a great transitional piece and it was super affordable, it was on back order. So, I was pleasantly surprised Friday when I got home from work and found it sitting on my doorstep! Next project: painting a black-framed mirror GOLD! More to come on that...

Get it here

Even Hollywood approves

A "book club" get together

Last night I hosted book club. We use the term "book club" loosely as half the girls don't start the book, some don't finish it and some just don't show up! It's mostly an excuse to get together, have some cocktails and snacks and chat. The books seem to be more suggested reading options, rather than the basis of these girlie get-togethers.

I offered to host this month because I realized that it's now August (how did that happen??) and I have yet to entertain in my small but lovely urban outdoor space.

I needed to get rid of the mint that is growing like a crazy weed in my garden, so I made mojitos. All of the girls brought snacks and we even popped some champagne when the mojitos ran out!

Orange

{J Crew Schoolboy Blazer}

{via Pintrest}

I'm loving a pop of fiery orange right now. I've been seeing it more and more with Fall looks popping up and I can't get enough.

Check me out at Walking Around Where the Sidewalk Begins

Today you can find me over at Walking Around where the Sidewalk Begins. Sarah is doing a series on Summer Recipes and I chose to share my Arugula pesto spaghetti with slow roasted tomatoes. Check it out here!