Five on Friday

This week felt exhausting for no particular reason, so I'm very excited it's Friday. 

Let's get into it!

ONE

Last week my dad and I went to see Anne Lamott speak at the People's Church of Chicago. The event was sponsored by Women and Children First (yay local, independent feminist bookstores!) and held at the church. The building was so gorgeous. I believe I read that it was originally founded in the 20s. The chairs seemed to be original (or at least super old if not from the 20s) and the leather was cracking on all the seat cushions. I just love that stuff. 

How gorgeous is the ceiling and the paintings on the wall?

I'm not overtly religious by any means, but I love, love, love the way Anne Lamott writes about faith. Her voice is so honest and vulnerable. She literally takes my breath away with her words, so when I heard she was going on tour to promote her latest book, I grabbed two tickets for my dad and I (he introduced me to her in the first place).

  

Also, her dreadlocks. Like come on. She's too good. 

  

After her Q&A and her reading, we stood in line to have her sign our books. Someone in her little entourage had brought those huge frosted bakery cookies for her and she was eating one when I got up to her, and she broke me off a piece and insisted I have some. 

"They're so good. They taste like childhood," she said. 

Who's refusing that? And then I took that very dramatic snapchat and sent it to everyone I know. 

My dad and I stopped at The Golden Nugget for a late-night dinner and got food that is definitely not on our diets. It was a fun and enlightening night, and I loved nothing more than experiencing it with the best guy. 

TWO

Cubs baseball, people. They're officially back!

 Last week a few girlfriend's and I met up at Chelsie's for dinner and to watch the Cubs. It happened to be the game when they did the ring ceremony. Love any reason to celebrate those Champions ;)

  

We picked up Portillos (though I always prefer Gene & Jude's) and headed over after work. It was so nice to catch up and laugh with my girlfriends on a regular old Wednesday night. And the Cubs just topped it off. Baseball is definitely my favorite sport and I love hearing the sounds of the game and the announcers in the background of whatever room I'm in. It's super nostalgic and reminds me of summer. 

THREE

I have a decently packed weekend starting with a trip to Scudiero's for lunch with my dad on Saturday. I'm SO excited. They finally reopened after doing a huge renovation after their sixty-year-old oven exploded last summer (no one was hurt, thank god) and I can't wait to see what they've done. 

  

(old vs. new)

I've seen pictures on Yelp and Facebook, but it's not like seeing it in person. Plus I'm interested to see if their new equipment will change the way their food tastes. Their pizza is SO good and their eggplant parmesan sandwich is my favorite eggplant ever. I won't even order it other places because I know it won't compare. Please go if you're ever in the area! They have an old-world Italian vibe going on and you can feel it when you're there. 

FOUR

In addition to my very exciting lunch plans on Saturday ;) I'm going with Sammy's parents (Sammy has to work this weekend) to his cousins' 13th birthday party at their house on Saturday night. I've been seeing a lot of Sammy's family lately and I've especially enjoyed being around his SIL while she's pregnant. 

And on Sunday, I have Chelsie's bridal shower! I've been asked to bring my "nice" camera and if I'll be the one who writes down which guest brought what gift. I, of course, said yes to both especially since I've been dramatically waiting my whole life to be the person who writes the list of which gift came from who. Such a dork, haha. 

My Rent the Runaway order should be arriving today and I'm anxious to try it on and see how it looks. Hopefully it fits!

I'm excited to spend the afternoon with all my girlfriends and all the women in Chelsie and Dan's life who are coming to celebrate them. I can't believe we're only two months out from the wedding. Absolutely crazy. 

FIVE

Also on the wedding front...

Getting so close to the wedding can only mean one other thing...bachelorette party is even closer! ;)

Chelsie's bachelorette party is over Memorial Day weekend and we're having a relaxed, wine tour-themed weekend. I had all the vendors (wine tour company, rental house) scheduled and paid for back in February, but now that we're getting closer, I've been spending a lot of time on Easy finishing up some little details. 

I picked up all items I need for the favors, several decorations, and I'll be getting some XXX items soon ;) I'm very blessed to work with an incredible designer who can literally create anything you ask her to, so she made the invitations, table signs, and other paper goods for me and they're so gorgeous. I ordered the invitations today and can't wait for them to ship!

Here's some inspiration I've been drawing from as I've been planning. 

Keeping in mind, my goal is 75% classy, 25% trashy/gross/immature because otherwise, what's the point? ;)

  

  

  

I love reading wedding related recaps, so if anyone has any bachelorette favorites they've read (or written!), please share! I think I have everything pretty much planned/picked out, but I'm always open for more ideas. 

*Linking up with April and Andrea

Five on Friday

Friday, Friday! This week has felt longer than usual with our bosses over in Italy for a book fair (and me, here, trying to prove I can hold down a fort), so I'm happy we've made it to the weekend.

I got some rando thoughts and opinions below (what else is new?), so, fair warning. 

-One-

This Sunday is my and Sammy's sister-in-law's first baby shower! Her momma is throwing her one and has kept everything (except the date, of course) a surprise for her. And since she's been in the dark, that means I have too, so I'm excited to see how all the little details come together. 

Since Sammy's mom is throwing her another shower next month, Sammy and I will give them our gift then, but I didn't want to go to this shower empty handed. Sammy's brother had mentioned adding a few Chicago Bears items to the registry, which is wife promptly removed haha. So I took it upon myself to make up a little sports themed gift to give them. 

  

I ended up finding a few cute things on Amazon (of course) that I've been hoarding for a few months now. I went with this cute board book, a Bears outfit, and little Bears "tennis shoes".

And while I'm not particularly fond of football, there is a sport I'm very fond of...

And since we're champions, this was necessary ;)

Sammy's family are all Sox fans (just my luck, right?), but his SIL and I are Cubs fans, so we made a promise to one another that when we each had kids, we'd make sure to buy them Cubs gear. 

Naturally the World Series onesie was the first purchase.

I also went with this book because it was one the baby can definitely grow into as it's more text heavy than some other "baby" books. I can't wait to read this to him or her so they can hear about the greatest place on earth.

I thought I was done, but the gift still felt a little incomplete (even though I swear Sammy and I have a plethora of stuff we're giving this baby at the next shower). I ended up finding this toy on Amazon for $20! And that one-click buy button makes it too damn easy. 

Can't wait to celebrate this baby and their parents this weekend!

-Two-

I mentioned in my last post that I've started to feel differently about weddings. Or rather, my personal opinions about my own wedding (when, where, how) as I've watched friends start to (and finish) planning their own. 

I always thought I would want this huge, glamorous event and I'd have all these binders and checklists to keep me organizing while planning. But after going to a planning session with my best friend and seeing the nitty gritty of wedding planning, I've decided to kind of go away from that. Not that I don't want a glamorous wedding, definitely do, I think it will just be a different kind of glamorous. I basically want to get married in a field, under a willow tree, and have our favorite neighborhood Italian place cater it, and we'll all eat and dance under a white tent. 

  

Despite having reservations about marriage and a wedding (even though I've been in a long term relationship for a decade), I've always had about 37 wedding boards. Like seriously, one for everything you could think of. Flowers, dresses, decor, random advice, rings, photography, shoes, vows, etc., (I know, crazy right?) About a month or so ago, I got kind of weird about it and made almost all of them "secret". All of a sudden there was something special to me about keeping them private with just myself, not that I think people are holding their breath to see my psychotic number of wedding boards. I only have a few left public, one being my ring board just in case a certain someone wants to take a look ;) I went through it last week and deleted every ring pin except for like two. That look exactly the same. Not subtle, at all. 

I guess all of this is to say that I feel like I'm getting way closer to being ready. Like feeling pretty "normal" about the whole thing which is a huge jump from where I used to be. And it feels really, really good. 

-Three-

Well I start therapy next Saturday. Nice segue, huh? If you couldn't tell from my number two, I have a few things I could probably work through ;) 

I'm actually really excited about it and feel like it's a smart connection to make. I'm hoping to meet with her on an as-needed basis whenever things come up that I'd like to talk through. Especially with Sammy officially in the world of law enforcement, having a neutral party to reach out to if my concerns/worries start to feel overwhelming will be awesome. 

For me, therapy is an act of self-care which is so important for our well being. Plus being open about mental health is something I feel strongly about which is why I have no issue mentioning it here. 

I was excited to read in her bio that while she focuses on traditional cognitive therapy, she also incorporates solution-focused therapy and meditation into her sessions which was a huge draw for me. Also, I accidentally on purpose found her on Pinterest and I'd like to be bffs with her which is obviously a really healthy reaction ;)

Anyone have any awesome experiences going to therapy?

-Four-

Books, man. I love them so much and I'm unapologetically dramatic about it. But I haven't been reading nearly as much I should/want to. Last week I started See Me by Nicholas Sparks because I thought it would be a quick read and because I'm an idiot. It was so bad. I think people are constantly confusing the appeal of the movie adaptations with his actual writing talent. I know that sounds super mean, but it's just not good. So I decided I had to get back to being a little more filtered in my reading choices...

 This month I've made a goal to read at least four books and work back up from there. I've also made a goal to stop reading shitty books for the sole reason of finishing them.

On the middle grade/YA front:

Because (from left to right):

-This is a middle grade that came out in March and has been receiving a lot of lovely reviews. The young boy who is the protagonist is recording messages on his iPod to send up to space in his rocket, like Carl Sagan did with the Voyager Record, in hopes of connecting with extraterrestrial life. Heavier topics like an absent father and distant mother are woven subtly throughout. I haven't finished, but so far it's lovely and so funny in the most effortless way. Plus, look at that cover. I mean, come on.

-I think I'm last to jump on the Nicola Yoon train, who seems so charming. I recently heard they're making Everything, Everything into a movie so I knew I wanted to read before it came out. Her second book that came out last year has been consistently getting rave reviews, so I think it's time I check her out. 

-There's no explanation needed for this, but of course, I have one. They're also making this into a movie (Hugh Jackman signed on!) and as if I wasn't already embarrassed enough for having not read this yet, the movie announcement definitely pushed me to move this to the top of my to-read pile. I think Sherman Alexie is a literary genius, especially for a younger audience and I'm so glad they're making this into a movie because the more adaptations of his work out in the world the better. 

On the adult front: 

  

Because (from left to right):

-I actually received this ARC yesterday and finished it last night. I'll talk more about it in my review I'd like to do at the end of this month. The author began writing it as vignettes, so the "chapters" aren't really chapters as they're typically around 2-3 pages each. At first I kept reading because it seemed to be good research from a writing technique standpoint, but then the story sucked me in. It's pitched as Me Before You meets One Day, which I guess I agree with, but I didn't like either of those stories haha but I definitely enjoyed this. It also made me want to read Bridges of Madison County because it has a similar vibe and I remember the movie haunting me the first time I saw it. 

-I ordered this on Amazon because it seems like every other blog post I read mentions this author! And it seems pretty unanimous that this is her best book, so I grabbed it because I felt like I needed more adult (non-overly-literary) fiction in my life. 

Has anyone read any of these? What did you think?

-Five-

I got back on the Rent the Runway wagon. I've rented two dresses from there before and while I liked my experience renting from them, the dresses didn't end up looking like I wanted to. That's primarily because I chose dresses that weren't the most flattering option for my body type #classic but I think I nailed it this time around. 

I reserved two fancy skirts for two bridal showers I have at the end of this month: 

  

And a chiffon maxi dress for my SIL's baby shower in May:

I'm anxious to get them and try them on!

Has anyone had experience with their Unlimited Membership? The price tag seems a little heavy at first, but I became more intrigued as I kept thinking about it. If anyone has tried it, let me know!

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend! 

xo