Time and time again I get asked for my reccomendations for the best restaurants in Chicago, but I’ve never actually taken the time to do a FULL round-up of where I think people should visit on a trip to the Windy City. Well, that ends today! I have spent HOURS on this post to ensure ..read more

One of my frequently asked questions from readers with kids is, “what are the best baby and kid friendly restaurants in Chicago?!” And my answer is always that–good news–pretty much every restaurant (within reason) is kid-friendly at certain hours of the day. You don’t need to be chained to quote, “kid friendly” restaurants after you ..read more

Happy Tuesday! June and I flew home to visit Oregon yesterday, so I’m coming to you from the West Coast! (And I need about a million more cups of coffee.) I am excited to disconnect a bit over the next few days to spend time with my family who I haven’t seen since before Christmas ..read more

Our favorite Chicago romantic spots for dinner or cocktails, plus, a list of fun activities going on in the city ..read more

What perfect timing to refresh this post! ???? Chicago got SEVERAL inches of snow yesterday, and I thought "TODAY IS THE DAY" to give this much-requested blog post an update ..read more

The shipping deadlines to order online in time for Christmas have officially passed (which means my year is starting to wind down, and I'm SO excited about it). But luckily for all of us, there are still LOTS of great options when it comes to shopping here in Chicago! I'm rounding up my personal favorite local boutiques that are open for shopping in person or in-store pickup. These local shops are my go-to's any time of year, both for myself and for gifts of all kinds!  ..read more

Funny story. Talking to Kendall yesterday about how we wanted to start diving back into posting on the blog (it’ll probably be inconsistent for a while, I definitely want to take my time transitioning back into full time work and enjoy this sweet time with June!) I realized we had finished this post and intended ..read more

Are you on spring blossom watch where you live?  The trees haven’t started blooming here yet, but I know it’s just around the corner, and I feel like I’m waiting for them on pins and needles! I thought you might be feeling the same way, so I thought I would re-post the pretty photos I ..read more

I could think of nothing better to kick off your weekend plans than to hand over today's post to local Chicago writer, author, and GG reader, Jessica Mlinaric.  Jessica recently released her book, Secret Chicago: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure and she so generously sent me a copy. As soon as I started flipping through it, I said, "I HAVE GOT TO HAVE HER WRITE A BLOG POST!" and, luckily for us, she enthusiastically accepted!  ..read more

Our campsite at Ottowa Lake campground. (This is our Coleman blackout tent, which I have mixed feelings about. I love the blackout feature and it held up well in bad weather, but we kind of hated everything else about it. Zipper got permanently stuck the first time we used it, a learning curve for setup/takedown ..read more