With a toddler and a baby at home, we are always looking for new things to do around the city. I look for classes that not only keep my busy toddler, Noah, engaged, but also learning. He’s at that age where I need to constantly keep him moving! When Lincoln Park Zoo reached out for us try their LEAP class, I knew we had to check it out.
Continue readingAs Noah is approaching 3 years old, I am trying to fill our days together with various activities. Especially as the weather gets cooler, finding things for us to do becomes limited. Toddlers have a lot of energy and I am trying to to keep up! He also is at the stage where he enjoys trying new things and learning about everything. “Mommy, what’s this?” is on repeat in our house! During the winter, I like him to be in a least one lesson a week and Lil’ Kickers is the perfect fit for a busy toddler. With 19 locations in just Illinois alone, there is a class and location perfect for all families.
I hate to admit it, but I love grocery shopping and meal planning. I don’t know what it is, maybe it just sets the tone for the week and helps us stay organized? Whatever it is, I do it weekly. Sometimes even on a Saturday night by myself? It’s like a night out right? Hah.
I will make a list of the meals first Monday through Friday and then list out all the ingredients needed for each meal. We have our weekly usual meals, but I try to add in a meatless monday meal, a meat focused one and usually ending with pizza on Friday nights.
One thing that helps meal planning go smoothly is grocery shopping, Some things I look for in a grocery store are: Continue reading
Chicago Gourmet weekend is now over and I have to say, it was perfect. The weather was amazing (last year was over 95 degrees) and being sober, I was really on the hunt for good food.
Chicago Gourmet is a foodie and wine event that Bon Appetit magazine sponsors every year at Millennium Park. It brings together renowned chefs, restaurants, wine and spirits. There are tastings, book signings, cooking demos, and wine and cocktail seminars throughout the event. It is truly a “foodie” experience.
This year extra special because I got invited to a pre-party with COUNTRY Financial with a demo from Chef Tony Priolo from Piccolo Sogno, which is literally my top 5 favorite restaurants in Chicago. They sponsored the Beer, Bourbon, and BBQ tent, which was one of the best parts. Live music, BBQ, cocktails, and lot’s of photo opportunities.
Like many Chicagoland residents, the traffic in the summer is outrageous. With all the increase in Ubers and Lyfts, I felt like these past few months have been even worse. For example, I was heading to the Western Suburbs this past July and my normal 45-50 minute commute turned into a 2 hour nightmare (I almost ran out of gas, but that’s a whole other story…). Traffic, parking, construction, and so on was driving me crazy.
I also was becoming too reliant on our car. We have so many forms of public transportation within steps of our home, why did I keep driving everywhere? I was spending so much money on parking and gas, but why? When Lyft asked me to join their #ditchwithlyft campaign, it was perfect timing. I knew it was time to ditch our car for the month and take more public transportation.
(Updated February 2019)
Let me first say that we don’t get out too much these days, but when we do decide to get out for a date night, we try to make it nice (who got that Housewife Dorinda reference?!). We get all dolled up, hit the town, and home by 9pm :). These restaurants below not only have incredible food, but the atmosphere make great date night spots or perfect of towners. So here are the places I would make dinner reservations right now in Chicago.
Although I might not be drinking much of Sangria these days, I have teamed up with the Sangria Festival on August 18th and 19th to giveaway two tickets! Fun right?!
Here’s what you need to do:
That’s it!
(must be over 21 years of age, live in the US to enter and giveaway is not affiliated with Instagram or WordPress).
The winner will be emailed tickets on Wednesday, August 1st.
Until next time,
Christine
Summer is flying by. I really can’t believe 4th of July is already over, it needs to slow down! I wanted to update my Chicago Summer Bucketlist (you can see the original post here.) and share some things we have been up to around the city. We’ve done a few things, but we have so, so much more to do! Many of the things listed are family friendly and a few for the adults only.
Summer in the Windy City is the absolute best and I know there are an endless amount of things to do. If there are any festivals or places I am missing, add them in the comments below and I will include them! Summertime Chi is like no other, so enjoy every moment.
When WGN Radio reached out and asked me to be apart of their Pride Parade this year, I was like SIGN ME UP! It’s one of my favorite days in Chicago. I have yet to miss a parade (except when I lived in NYC), the love, energy and vibe Chicago has on this day is incredible. 
Here it is! Our 5 year wedding anniversary is June 22nd and I can’t believe how much time has gone by. When I looked back at these photos, besides the tears and laughs, I couldn’t believe a few things. One, we were very, very skinny and looked a lot less tired, hah. Two, how excited we were to get married. We were just so happy to celebrate with our friends and family for one giant party! I still say our wedding was the best party we ever threw 🙂
