Hannah's Bretzel

We did some Christmas shopping downtown on Saturday and found a fun new place for lunch.  Hannah's Bretzel is a European-style sandwich place.  The sandwiches are served on either multi-grain baguettes or pretzel buns.  Everything is organic and delicious!

Royal Apothic Balmoral Rain

When my mom and I were downtown on Saturday we went to Anthropologie.  It was a lot of fun.  One thing that I found was this lovely perfume: Balmoral Rain by Royal Apothic.  Here's the description of the fragrance "fragrant orange and magnolia notes mingle with geranium, bay rose and muguet, above a mellow base of sandalwood and moss (FLORAL)."  Fancy.

The Southern--Mac & Cheese Store

If you're ever in Chicago and looking for something to eat that's not pizza or hot dogs, The Southern--Mac & Cheese Store is a fantastic option. They have about 12 different mac and cheese options - half are vegetarian. Delicious!

SmartWool

My other fabulous find at Nordstrom Rack downtown last week was a great new pair of slippers by SmartWool. My old leather moccasin pair from L.L. Bean finally wore out (after about 5 years)... I really like this new pair - it has a good grippy bottom, and you can wash them in the washing machine!

Magnolia Bakery

We discovered a fun new place when we were downtown on Friday: Magnolia Bakery. Apparently it's from New York, but this is what the Chicago location looks like. It's a really cute little place with fantastic cupcakes (kind of expensive, but fun for a special treat).

France Luxe Hair Barrettes

When I was downtown on Friday it was snowing and windy. My hair was a disaster, but I was not prepared! So I popped in Nordstrom Rack and bought a France Luxe barrette. Aren't these lovely? I got an oval one and a star-shaped one. Don't you love the Scottie dogs?

Archicenter

We were in Chicago on Saturday, and we had a chance to stop in the Archicenter. It's the home of the Chicago Architecture Foundation. They do walking tours and river tours, and they have a fabulous shop. It has lots of great books, posters, and quirky gifts like these skyscraper bookends.

Henri Bendel Candles

There's a C.O. Bigelow shop at Water Tower Place in Chicago, and it has lots of fabulous stuff. One thing that I thought was pretty ingenious was this travel candle by Henri Bendel. The scents are really fabulous, and they seem like a handy idea.

Storefronts

Shopping in Chicago was especially fascinating to me because of the great storefronts and window displays that I saw. This is the door to the Anthropologie store on Chicago Ave. The door handles are big and heavy, and the tile in front of the shop is beautiful.

The next three pictures are of the new AllSaints. It's a British shop that's new to Chicago. It's kind of hard to see, but the windows on both sides of the door (pic. 1) and the window above the door (pic. 2) are full of old Singer sewing machines. The third picture is from the inside looking back toward the entry. The whole setup is very industrial, and the store is often described as "edgy." (It's also expensive!)

Alexa Pulitzer

At one of the huge Anthropologie stores in Chicago, I saw these great mousepad notepads on clearance. They're by Alexa Pulitzer, and they are fabulous.

LUMA Merchandise

The Loyola University Museum of Art shop has some really great merchandise. I especially like these makeup bags (and wallets and luggage tags, etc.) that were made out of old exhibit banners. What a great way to recycle!

The Zoo

While I was in Chicago, I visited the Museum of Contemporary Art (it's free on Tuesdays and there's a farmer's market). I did not especially like any of the art, but I loved the shop! I saw some really cute bunny and squirrel banks by the Zoo from Capventure, a company based in Holland.

Friday Featured Art: Loyola University Museum of Art

While I was in Chicago, I visited the Loyola University Museum of Art (it's free on Tuesdays). They had an interesting exhibit on cloth. Their permanent collection includes a lot of religious art and is really fabulous. One piece from the collection is The Rest on the Flight into Egypt by Il Guercino, below.

Gap District Green

The gigantic Gap on Michigan Avenue actually has a lot of very nice things right now. This color is so beautiful in real life - they're calling it "district green," and it encompasses a variety of tops.

Urban Outfitters Tights

I spent last week in Chicago. My husband was at a workshop, so I hung out at a hotel and went shopping and museum hopping. A lot of the stores that I like to visit in Chicago are chain stores, but they're not ones that are anywhere near where I live! One place I went was a huge Urban Outfitters store. They have fabulous tights.

Sullivan Center

A week or so ago when we were downtown (on State Street), we passed the Sullivan Center. It's also known as the Carson, Pirie, Scott & Co. Building, designed by Louis Sullivan. It's pretty fantastic. I wish that they still designed such elaborate ornamentation for buildings.

Merz Apothecary

We were in Chicago Saturday night for a Chicago Symphony Orchestra concert. It was cold and rainy, but it was so much fun. Everyone was out doing their Christmas shopping. Macy's on State was especially busy (and festive!). They used to have a section called Merz Apothecary on the main level, but we found out that they've moved to a new location at the Palmer House. We liked the new space, and we bought some delightful fig and almond soap!

Thursday Text: John Ruskin

We spent the day in Chicago last Friday, and it was a lot of fun. One of the things that we did was peek in the lobby of the WGN Building. On the floor of the lobby, there is a beautifully lettered quote by John Ruskin that we really liked.

When we build let us think we build forever. Let it not be for present delight nor for present use alone. Let it be such work that our descendants will thank us for, and let us think, as we lay stone upon stone, that a time is to come when these stones will be held sacred because our hands have touched them, and that men will say, as they look upon the labor and wrought substance of them, "See! This our fathers did for us."

Chicago

My sister came to Illinois last night for a visit! So today we will be touring Chicago. The Magnificent Mile, the Art Institute, Oak Park, deep dish pizza, and Chicago dogs... It should be great!

The Nature of Diamonds

The Field Museum in Chicago is currently hosting an exhibit on diamonds. If you go to their web site, you can get all of the information and see some fascinating pictures.