all things fall

If you haven't figured it out yet, autumn is my favorite season. The air is the perfect temperature, (I could permanently live 45-60 degree weather) college football and hockey are back, you get to roast pumpkin seeds and carve jack-o-lanterns and the leaves are so beautiful that I believe they even rival those of the north east. On this Halloween, Christine and I are sitting at the apartment passing out candy to little kids from the neighborhood, watching scary movies and eating the "good Halloween candy"out of the bowl of candy (i.e. Reese's, Milky Ways, Dots and Salted Nut Rolls). Unfortunately, because tomorrow's a Tuesday, going out to parties isn't really on the agenda. This past weekend I did hit up a few parties with a few friends as the "rock" from rock, paper, scissors, which was a blast! 

I haven't been too keen on using my camera lately. It's been basically sitting on my counter collecting dust for a month, as well as a few pictures here and there. Now, I'm happy to say I'm back into documenting life with photos! Expect more in the future! I hope you like these fall shots!

Happy Halloween!

My beautiful pumpkin chiffon pie before it chilled in the fridge for a few hours!

Colorful leaves in north Chicago.

Egg's benedict at The Onion Cafe in Hastings, Minnesota a couple weeks back.

Downtown riverfront in Hastings, Minnesota.

Pumpkins and apples from Johnson's Organic Apple Orchard in Hastings.

The Hastings Road Bridge over the Mississippi.

Apple tasting at Saint Croix Vineyard/Apple Orchard in Stillwater, Minnesota.

Wine tasting at Saint Croix Vineyard.

Caramel corn and caramel apples infiltrating all the grocery stores in Chicago.

buh bye indian summer!

The REAL autumn is finally in the air in Chicago. The “80 degree Indian Summer” is out the window for good now and every day from now on ranges from 40-60 degrees. I felt incredibly lazy because of the dramatic temperature change this week and I would have happily stayed home under a few cozy blankets with some popcorn and the Blackhawks on my television screen had I not had some previous plans. October is breast cancer awareness month as most you of know, and tonight was one of the quarterly galas thrown by the American Cancer Society of Chicago to benefit breast cancer research. The cool fall air wasn’t enough to keep me from enjoying a girls night with my +1 and roomie, Christine! John had a game tonight so we decided to get all dolled up for a little quality time since she finally had a night off from working shifts at UCMC. 3 glasses of champagne and a bit of conversation later, we came home early to just chill out, relax and—yikes!—fill out some applications to transfer schools! Okay, I’ll admit it… I’m not thrilled with Loyola. It’s not what I expected for a variety of reasons, and I’m giving in already. I’m transferring to The University of Chicago Law School starting next semester! Overall, it was such a great night! Christine grew up around high society stuff in Connecticut, but she mercilessly mocks it, making it one hilarious event! She has the absolute best one liners!

It’s interesting how Chicago Society works. Go to one A-list gala and you’re suddenly invited to them all. The invitations don’t just come to John’s apartment anymore, they come to mine. All of a sudden people are coming up to me, calling me by name and talking like they’re known me for 10 years when I have no idea who they are. I’ve even gotten into the Sun Times society pages a few times. Toto, we’re not in Minnesota anymore.

Above: Embracing Wiz Khalifa’s Black and Yellow, I wore this beautiful Ralph Lauren one shoulder gown with a low side-bun and all gold jewelry and accessories. While chilly, I was complemented many times on this gorgeous black dress that fit me like a glove—I even heard two women talking about it in the bathroom!

seeing the light

Just when I think I’m not going to have an autumn cold…. Ugh. I hate colds more than anything, and I mean anything. I would personally rather be throwing up as opposed to having a stuffy nose for two weeks. I woke up yesterday with my head feeling like it weighed 100 pounds, my hearing depleted and my nose 100 percent clogged. When I get a cold, it’s a super cold. I’m talking every symptom you could possibly catch + a fever for two weeks. My day consisted of lots of dayquil and kleenex, mixed in with a few classes and thankfully, a massage. So this weekend (no class tomorrow!) consists of spending exuberant amounts of time at the United Center—HOCKEY’S BACK!—and sleeping every chance I get. I’ve also been going through water bottles like no one’s business. Since 10 this morning I’ve had about 13, trying to wash out the crap in my system. 

When you don’t feel great, you obviously don’t feel like dressing up much. Unfortunately, I feel like I constantly have to be on my toes and dressed well for class. I chose this loose fitting, softer ensemble today. The heels were a bad idea with my body swollen from my cold, so unfortunately, I had to switch at lunch to Marc Jacobs mouse flats. The Chloe bag is possibly one of my favorite things in my closet. I got it for my birthday, but haven’t gotten much use out of it since of its coloring and propensity to not go with the rest of my closet. I was pretty happy when I was actually able to pull it out today!

I’m heading to bed soon with nyquil, kleenex, a teddy bear and MY teddy bear ;) Here’s to hopefully feeling better in the morning

excuse you, m'am.

Can I just say how fun Chicago is? Don’t get me wrong, I love MSP, but there’s so much to do in Chicago! So many things to see, places to eat and parties to attend! Last night I partied it up at the Loyola Law Fundraiser/Benefit for Windy City Habitat for Humanity at the Elysian Chicago. Not only was it for a good cause, but I got to network like crazy with professors, PhD students and potential future employers! It’s crazy how competitive law is in this city, I actually got shoved out of the way by another student while talking to one of my profs because she wanted his attention. Can you believe that? Anyway, other than that unfortunate incident, the night went so well! I certainly hope my networking and studies will pay off! 


Above: The outfit I wore to the fundraiser! It’s not a gala, so a floor length dress isn’t really appropriate, but it was black tie, so I decided on this beautiful black and gold dress from Miu Miu and volumized straight hair, and everything else fell into place!

oh, autumn, how i love you!

Today I decided to turn all my stress and my Gopher’s embarassingly terrible loss into a creative outlet. I’ve been dying to start decorating for fall, and I finally had the chance to get crafty! I accomplished quite a bit, from baking a pumpkin chiffon pie and roasting the pumpkin seeds from the pumpkins Christine and I bought yesterday, to making a wreath from leaves and painting pumpkins with glitter. Autumn is my favorite season of the year for a variety of reasons, but the seasonal decorations are for sure the best! I’m on the lookout for more Halloween knick-knacks, (tasteful, of course) so if anyone knows of any cute stores in Chicago that might sell them, or any websites online, message me! Above are all the projects I worked on today: fall flowers in mason jars with ribbon tied around the them, caramel apples in a variety of flavors, pretty leaves tied around small candles, fall potpourri, a colorful fall wreath, pumpkin candle holders and glitter painted pumpkins!