I got home from Minnesota late Wednesday night. We had no food in the fridge so the next morning I woke up to Trader Joe’s and did a huge grocery store run. Grocery stores just so happen to be my favorite way to start my morning. Seems weird, but then again that’s exactly what I am.
When I first moved to Chicago, I’d walk a few miles to the grocery store and spend my sweet time browsing the aisles and exploring interesting food products. It was always one of my favorite slow ways to start the day after my workout. I should really do more of it.
Anyway this week I got the most amazing pumpernickel bread from TJ’s and made turkey sandwiches with basil, spinach, avocado, nutritional yeast (a new TJ’s item), turkey and dijon. I had been craving a really good turkey sandwich and this was certainly satisfying.
What else am I loving lately?
Plants:Â I’m officially becoming a plant lady and absolutely love my patio garden. We’ve even started to add a few to our home as well. Are there any other plants you would recommend for in the home?
The Handmaid’s Tale: If you haven’t watched this yet, it’s a MUST. I even downloaded Hulu just to order it.
Game of Thrones: I’ve literally been waiting an entire year for this SUNDAY! Is anyone else as excited as I am?
Bagels: I have been CRAVING bagels lately. I’m talkin’ about a pumpernickel bagel or everything bagel with veggie cream cheese. GIVE THE BAGELS to me. Does anyone know of any good bagel shops in Chicago? Not a huge Chicago Bagel Authority fan just because I don’t love steamed bagels. I prefer toasted.
Long walks with good music: Plenty of you always ask me where I get my music. Truth is, it’s a lot of exploration on Spotify and guess what?! You can follow me here on Spotify too and get access to all of my playlists.
Ghee butter. YES Ghee butter. Fourth and Heart were sweet enough to send me some of their products to try. They’re delicious. I love the sea salt ghee butter with my popcorn and also for cooking over medium eggs. We also love it the truffle ghee butter mixed with garlic to make our own garlic bread. It is TOO good.
Coconut Turmeric Theo clusters. THESE are so so good. Like absolutely addicting.
Wedding planning. I’m actually getting into it now, but also still feel overwhelmed with the entire process. Sometimes it seems to be going well, but then I realize I only have FOUR months to go and my heart races with all the little details. I know we’ll get there eventually! Also, how do you guys feel about day of coordinators? Yay or nay?
Other things I’m loving lately (food, clothes + good reads):
This delicious green bean salad. Inspiring me to make my own ASAP!
An adorable backpack for your weekends on-the-go
Really enjoyed reading this article about where our next salad might come from.
Have you tried socca before?
This dress and this romper are perfect for summertime events (even weddings!)
This skillet cheesy corn DIP. I need lots of chips for this madness.
Strawberry quinoa salad with SAFFRON. Omg, I bet this tastes amazing.
Shorts that will go with everything? Yes please!
Crushing HARD on this VEGAN chocolate pie.
How to take a detoxifying bath. The answer when you’re stressed.
This white, ruffled top to pair with your favorite denim!
Hope you guys have a GREAT weekend! Let me know what else you’re loving lately. xoxo!
It’s funny I am seeing so many more plants on IG and such that now I feel like I also need plants! I have this one corner in my office where I definitely think I need a large plant there.
Also, I would definitely get a day-of coordinator. It’s not something I did but kind of wish I would have to take the stress off of yourself and friends/family you would have recruited!
I agree with Ashley — hiring a day of coordinator was the one thing I would have done differently. I am a planner and a control freak, so I was convinced I wouldn’t need one, but that personality trait resulted in me obsessing a little too much the day of. I ended up worrying about too many little details and while it definitely didn’t ruin my wedding day by any means, I was more stressed about things than I should have been.
This is so good to know, especially because I’m so hands-on!
Right? I feel like the green thumb is contagious 😉 And so true – I will definitely be recruiting friends and family without one haha.
Totally agree on The Handmaid’s Tale. Can’t wait for season 2!
Same…SO excited!
I got married in May and had a day of coordinator and it was money well spent! It was so nice to be able to delegate all of the little details to someone else so I could just fully enjoy the day. I’m very type A and had so many spreadsheets to track things related to the wedding (guest list, decor instructions, etc) so I was super organized but there is still so much that has to be done on the actual day. We couldn’t get into our reception space until 12:30 on the day of the wedding so there’s no way my family could have done the decorating since family photos started at 3. I found a super reasonably priced day of coordinators so the cost was pretty minimal, luckily!
All of the little things add up I’m sure! Definitely good to know.
I got married last September and was worried that I didn’t have a day-of coordinator, but it turned out totally fine!! I give credit to our catering staff, though. They offered above-and-beyond service and acted as my day-of coordinator in addition to everything catering related (part of the reason I chose them, aside from their awesome food. When you’re assessing vendors, just something to pay attention to! I was surprised that several catering companies offered that kind of next-level service.
Oo this is very good to know, too! Thanks Ashley!
I love my birds of paradise plant! As well as pothos, jade, and my heart leaf philodendron. I have a bunch more but those are my favorites! Snake plants too are amazing for any space because they are so great with any light.
Awesome! These sounds gorgeous!
NYC Bagel Deli and the Bagel (a Jewish deli) are pretty good in Chicago!
Snake plants and my ZZ plants are pretty great indoors (don’t need much light or water). I’ve managed to keep mine alive and I have a pretty black thumb!
I’ll have to try those for my bagel-fix! Also “black thumb,” so funny. I’ll look into those plants too!
I am recently obsessed with plants, and would love to learn more about which ones are great in the home. Be careful, though — a LOT are toxic to dogs, and especially cats. ASPCA has plants listed on their website that show toxicity, I’ve found it super helpful!
YES I’ve taken note of the toxicity for my cat, too! Really smart to check.
I work with a wedding designer on the weekend and if your venue does not offer a coordinator I’d say to add one to your day of. They make sure everything runs smoothly and on time and that any hiccups are taken care of without your knowledge. Talk about stress relief so you can just enjoy your special day!
Very true! Stress relief will be key 🙂
100% get the day of coordinator! There will be a million little things that need to be done and checked on, none of which you should have to worry about. They also make sure everything is running on time and everyone is where they need to be. Totally worth it.
So good to know…timing will be crucial!
Yes to all the plants in the house! I live in an apartment and love having plants on our balcony + lots of plants in the apartment too! I so far have almost killed the succulents (thought those were supposed to be the easiest to take care off..) but have successfully kept all our other plants alive. I’ve also been loving bagels lately too! I used to not allow myself to eat them because I thought they were “too high” in carbs. Sad I used to think that, but I don’t anymore and have been loving the Dave’s killer bread everything bagels with some butter, spinach, turkey bacon, and an egg made into open faced bagel sandwich’s.
Plants are just the BEST! So strange about the succulents (thought they lived forever, too!) And yes, bagels = love. That bagel sandwich sounds incredible!
I got married in May and had a day-of coordinator and 110% recommend having one!! She put together a timeline and distributed it to all of our vendors and made copies for our families as well. She also helped with tasks the day of like set up and clean up which really helped. It was so, so nice not having to worry about a thing the day of!
Ah that sounds amazing! Definitely good to know.
I’m all about long walks with good music! Fun post!
Right?! So therapeutic! Thanks girl 🙂
hi!
will look for the pumpernickel bread at
TJs. also…check out Brobagels on North Ave. for incredible bagels, and their cream
cheese! just made a run there this morning for weekend brunch bagels and also purchased
two of their cream cheeses: carmelized onion and sriracha. sooo good!
🙂
If you find a good bagel place in Chicago, please post about it! I just moved here and we live a couple blocks from a Chicago Bagel Authority but I wasn’t a huge fan.
We’re not doing a day-of coordinator, but only because our venue staff is so hands on. If you decide not to go with one, definitely appoint a bridesmaid or other friend to be the “point person” for handling things as they come up so you aren’t stressing about details instead of enjoying things!
Huge BroBagel fan! It’s on North Ave in Wicker Park. Their everything bagel with veggie cc will not disappoint.
Huge yay to the wedding coordinator! She was such a stress reliever for us. She finalised all the little details with our vendors in the week or two leading up to the wedding day, plus made the entire timeline for the day of and ensured everyone was where they needed to be when they needed to be there. We didn’t feel comfortable asking a friend or family member to take something like this on, so the coordinator was worth every penny to us.
What does nutritional yeast add to dishes flavor-wise?
Definitely YES on the day-of coordinator. We used Shar at CityGirl – she took over about 60 days before our wedding, handled all logistics, confirmed contracts, developed timelines, and even made little timeline handouts I could give to my mom, MIL, and bridesmaids. It does add a little bit to the budget, but we saw Shar as our insurance policy on the day – for the amount of money we were spending on the wedding, having someone to make sure things ran smoothly, handle little issues that arose, and took the stress off of us and our parents was SO worth it.
So good to know, and I like the idea of an “insurance policy” on the day! Thanks for the tips!
First time on your blog! I was searching the Web and came across the chili recipe… I was on a website about protein and veggies and clicked on the chili and I was brought to your blog. We will have to try some of these recipes. How does one begin to even learn to cook healthier? Really enjoyed reading over your blog!