My awesome Friday the 13th

Friday the 13th was full of fun.The snow was enchanting on my morning walk to meet my car pool buddy!Fortunately the roads were clear and dry too! The plows were supremely efficient, which is so surprising to me, coming from Seattle. 

It was a co-worker's birthday yesterday, so I jumped some snow drifts to get to the bakery across the street from my work! (It must have been entertaining to see me bundled up and holding a huge cake box dodging huge snow piles crossing the street!)We got a passionfruit mousse cake, topped with whipped cream and blueberries. It was delicious and totally worth my morning snow hurdles. 

In the late afternoon, my best Chicago girlfriend, called me at work to ask me to be a bridesmaid! I'm really looking forward to her wedding. Mr. F and I hang out with the newly engaged couple almost every weekend and are so happy for them.

My company holiday party was also last night and the theme was "Hollywood Baby" at Cooper's Hawk Winery in Arlington Heights! My car pool buddy won second place and I won third place in the movie quotes trivia game. I also won one of the raffle prizes! (My prizes ended up being two wine club memberships to Cooper's Hawk winery, so I got to take home two bottles of wine!)There was fun dancing!I had a great time swing dancing with one of the docs.It was also a fantastic way to celebrate being done with the FDA audit at work!

This weekend, we're going to celebrate a friend's 29th birthday with Indian food and more dancing! Mr. F and I went to Lincoln Park for lunch. We went to Burger Bar and had these delectable gourmet burgers. I had the the High Hog, a BBQ pork burger with ham and bacon on top with white cheddar cheese and apple slaw.Mr. F got the Smokehouse burger that has a topping of brisket, white cheddar and country slaw. We both got truffle fries!

After a quick trip to Costco, we came home to this beautiful view!By the way, it's only one month until my birthday!!

Happy Weekend!

I'm going to be a bridesmaid this Fall!!

I just got asked to be a bridesmaid on Friday!!!!!!! I love wedding planning so this news, totally, made my day.


The bride got engaged on Sunday, so themes, colors and the venue have not been formalized yet. Here are some of the dresses I could imagine would work with the current ideas being thrown around:


J.Crew's Adrienne dress in silk taffeta (not in this color, perhaps the Pacific blue or a purple)

Source: jcrew.com via Emily on Pinterest

Anthropologie's Bursting Sweetshade

Source: anthropologie.com via Emily on Pinterest

I love BHLDN's Couplet dress and actually just bought because there was a 40% off all sale items! I also had a $50 gift gift card, so the dress ended up being only $26 with shipping!!

Source: bhldn.com via Emily on Pinterest

The bride to be loves J.Crew and Anthropologie, so I can't wait to see what the bridesmaids get to wear. I'm also very excited to go wedding dress shopping with her!!


Congrats to our best friends in Chicago!!

It's snowing in Chicago, heavily!

It started snowing at 10 am this morning and nearly an inch of snow per hour has fallen since then. My carpool buddy and I were lucky enough to leave work at 1pm to avoid terrible commute traffic. This is the first big snow of the season so traffic apparently gets pretty crazy.

This is my beautiful, snow covered walk home.

 It's normally only 5 blocks from where I'm dropped off, but I took a little detour to pick up some things for a friend who just got engaged!!!!First, I went to Paper Source, where I found Christmas cards and ornaments for 50% off. I also purchased some lovely vintage Valentine cards and some bride-to-be sticky notes. I may have also purchased a few bridal magazines.Four blocks from my house, I sent a text of this Jenny Yoo window display to my newly engaged friend and asked her if she'd like to visit this store soon! And then the real beauty hit me:My street is majestic in white. I couldn't stop taking pictures, even with the wind blowing snow in my face.The kitties were so happy that I got home early. They're both curled up on either side of me, as I blog.

This is the view from my window.

In an hour, I'm going to meet the bride-to-be at J.Crew to look at dresses and then have dinner. Mr. F gets back from his business trip later this evening too! I hope O'Hare doesn't delay him with all this snow. Fortunately, his flight is on time soooooo far! 

Happy January everyone!

I finally saw the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (the Swedish version)!

Tonight, Mr. F was out of town so I FINALLY watched the Swedish version of "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo". [He's not a fan of the trilogy like I am!] The movie took all of the best parts of the book and limited the boring parts, which made it even more amazing.

WARNING: I told my Mom that this was one of my favorite books and she read it, thinking she might enjoy it too. I should have warned her that this book would not be something she'd like, at all. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is very graphic and disturbing and I initially put it down after the first 100 pages. I continued reading it only after a friend urged me to read more about Lisbeth's story.  Now, I love the trilogy because of her childhood and who Lisbeth becomes.

Source: impawards.com via Denise on Pinterest

Noomi Rapace is fascinating and intensely compelling, as Lisbeth Salander. I can't wait to see her in the new Sherlock Holmes movie, where I'm sure she plays a completely different character. Lisbeth's dragon tattoo is really intense and way bigger than I pictured when I read the book. It's probably also because the British version of the book, (which was the version I read), has a smaller dragon tattoo too.

Source: google.com via Jae on Pinterest

It's amazing to watch Lisbeth's transformation from a gothic, introverted creature to an intelligent, misunderstood and strange beauty. I didn't really understand how beautiful she was when I read the book. She's intriguing and powerful. I do think it's interesting that the movie chose to have Lisbeth given Mikael the Wennerstrom information instead of Henrik Vanger.

I cannot wait to see the American version of "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" with Rooney Mara and Daniel Craig. Hopefully, my cousin Katy, will see it with me soon!

Source: Uploaded by user via Amber on Pinterest

Our weekend foodie adventures

We went to brunch at Orange on Saturday!I love getting frushii and the pancake flights at Orange. We also had fresh pressed grapefruit juice! It was super foamy and delicious too. Bananas and Plantains were the special pancake flight this week! My favorite was the banana cupcake, featured in the lower right hand corner of the plate with pecans. 

They were all so delicious.The sunset on Saturday was pretty too. I absolutely love our view.Later Saturday night we went to the Farmhouse for dinner with Mr. F's cousin and Sammy.

Source: chicagobestrestaurants.info via Emily on Pinterest

We had cheese curds, mussels with sopressata, delicious grass-fed burgers, and fig bread pudding. There's a huge local beer selection too. We had an amazing experience and can't wait to go back!

Source: youreallyshouldbeeatingthis.tumblr.com via Emily on Pinterest

After dinner, we had our friends come over to play Rockband! We had a great time singing the night away.  Today, we were lazy and read all day. Mr. F made a delicious scramble with sopressata and green onions for brunch. We also got delicious Thai takeout for dinner! Now we're watching Footloose!

Source: Uploaded by user via Jasmine on Pinterest

It makes me want to dance more!

Source: imdb.com via Emily on Pinterest

We did interrupt the movie when we got a call from the in-laws and another call from a friend. We just heard the most exciting news! I promise to share it in the next few days, but I'm soo happy!!

TGIF and the Four Hour Body

Good morning! There's a beautiful sunrise this morning in Chicago! 

Wow, it was only a four day work week, but Mr. F and I are super tired just the same. The flu is going around, so I hope we don't get it. 


We're trying to be more diligent with the Four Hour Body diet suggestions since the holidays. Well, at least Mr F. is strictly following the diet. 
Five rules for cutting body fat: 1. Avoid "white" carbohydrates 2. Eat the same few meals over and over again [thankfully, Mr. F is an awesome cook and we have great leftovers]3. Don't drink calories 4. Don't eat fruit 5. Take one day off per week [yay for Saturdays!]
I'm a carb monster and eat unhealthy items at work. (When Dunkin Donuts are brought to work, how do you say no? Plus, when I do say I'm not hungry, my boss says I need the calories!) I am proud to say that I've worked out three times in the last four days, with kettlebells swings, turkish getups, lots of abdominal and other back/chest exercises.


We're also following the sleep suggestions in the Four Hour Body:
How to Fall Asleep Faster: * Focus on getting to sleep * 67ºF to 70ºF is the best room temperature to fall asleep [check!]* Eat a large fat-and protein-dominated meal 3 hours before bedtime [check!]* Use low light in the bedroom * Take a cold bath an hour before bed [Mr. F does this, I can't handle it]* Use a humidifier to generate cool mist [check!] I'm not sure if we're utilizing these tips to the fullest, but when we do, we do get a great night's sleep!


P.S. I love Saturdays.

Cute horse and pup video

I had to share this cute video of a French Bulldog and Mounted Police horse. Enjoy!

Rent the Runway vs. J.Crew

My work holiday party is next Friday. Yes, we're celebrating it in the New Year instead of at Christmas time. I think it's time I use Rent the Runway. I've been meaning rent a dress since I signed up in November 2009. I've always come up with an excuse, like wear something I already have, or buy a dress, instead.


Here's what I'm thinking of so far and I need your help. What should I choose?

HALSTON HERITAGE 

Confetti Dot Dress

Rental $85 Retail $595

Source: renttherunway.com via Emily on Pinterest

KATE SPADE NEW YORK

Mademoiselle Dress

• Rental $50
• Retail $395

Source: renttherunway.com via Emily on Pinterest

Or should I wear my J.Crew's Silk chiffon Sophia dress, hanging in the closet? I have this same dress but with tiny white polka dots.

Source: jcrew.com via Emily on Pinterest