Go Meat!

I had lunch with a friend today up in Lincoln Square, a neighborhood a few miles north of me that was orginally a very German neighborhood. We ate at Cafe Selmarie which was great, but not the source of my excitement!

After lunch, I walked through the square and visited some of the boutiques up there. I used to spend every Saturday during football season up there because Sean would visit the German deli to buy brats for tailgating for all of the Bears home games. The place closed in 2007 and we've been going to Paulina Meat Market ever since.

Today, I saw a glorious sight! The old place has been completely remodeled and is now the home of Gene's Sausage Shop and Delicatessen. Check out these photos I found on Yelp.

The outside

The inside

TWO levels!
And the old market sign is part of the decor. Cool!

No words needed.

Is it wrong to be this excited about a meat market? If it is, well, I don't want to be right!

Friends & Family Event

How excited was I to get this email today? Does 30% off justify the cardigan sweater I want from Banana that I blogged about the other day? I think perhaps it does.

If you don't get these coupons, send me your email and I'll "invite" you to the event as one of my friends. Plus, you can designate for 5% of your purchase price to go to a charity. That's a good reason to shop, right?

Holiday Marketplace

You always know when the holidays are approaching! There are more and more catalogs in my mailbox. Additionally, I start to see advertisements for the variety of shows around the city.

1154 Lill (Design your own handbags. Yes, I have way too many of them!) is hosting a holiday market at their warehouse. The market will feature multiple Chicago artists/vendors including one of my favorites - OrangeBeautiful.

The Lill market is next Saturday, November 14th from 9am-5pm. Anyone want to join me?

Even more exciting is the One of a Kind show at the Merchandise Mart. I've gone to this for the past 4 years and it's always a great event. The show is December 3-6 and I'm trying to figure out where I'm going to snag free tickets. Usually, some of the vendors will send passes if you've attended and purchased from them in the past. This show is not to be missed! I can't wait!

Shopping Trip

Yesterday, I went shopping with my mom and sister. It wasn't a super successful trip, but I guess, I wasn't trying very hard. I really wanted to go to the Nordstrom sale, but the place was insane and I just didn't have patience for it. I'll have to go downtown one day next week.

Banana treated me well, not to mention I had a $15 off coupon. I got some nice wool pants for the new jobby-job. I know I haven't shared too much information about this. I was waiting for my background check to clear so I could receive the formal offer. That happened today! Funemployment is only going to be two weeks for me. Hooray!

 Martin Flannel Trouser

My sister was kind enough to buy me this shirt for my birthday. I've been admiring it but refuse to pay full price. BTW, it's priced higher online than it was in the store. I hate that!

Checkered Camper Shirt

I really, really want this sweater, but unfortunately, it's not on sale and there is NO WAY I'm paying that much money for a cardigan! It was super cute in navy - which of course, isn't available online. (I do hate you sometimes, Banana Republic!)

Boyfriend Cardigan

My most exciting purchase of all was two candles at Trousseau, the lingerie shop up the street from me, by A Scent of Scandal.

I'd never heard of these before but they have clever names that made me laugh. I bought "Suck It" - a blood orange scent and "Hot Mess" - described as spiced chai. Check out their website and see if you find them as amusing as I did.

Maggie Russo Photo

Check out the pictures over at Maggie Russo Photo. She took photos of our friends' daughter when she turned one. I love the pictures she just posted of the Frank family in the city.

I really want to take really cool shots like this when I am preggers someday. I'm calling Maggie to do them too!

Happy Birthday!

It's the Big 35 today. Eeek!

According to my "The Secret Language of Birthdays" book, Scorpios born on this day are:

• Fighters with stamina and endurance to hang in there, no matter what
• Highly competitive and don't like to lose
• Entertaining when they are in a good mood (which means things are going well for them)
• Bad enemies capable of verbally tearing an opponent apart

This makes me laugh...it's so true! So see everyone, it's not my fault.

The book also indicates that most November 3 people love to eat so they must balance their indulgences with exercise. Um, I have lunch plans at Sunda and dinner plans with the girls that include Mexican food and 1/2 price margaritas. Yikes! I guess I should get out of bed and try to convince myself to go to the gym.

Enjoy your day!