Merry Chrismukkah.

I'm exhausted from my work week. Worst blogger ever. To keep it short and sweet, here is our tree! Doug and I purchased it at Home Depot. Believe it or not, it was an excellent overall experience! Very inexpensive, and they even helped us tie it to our car. First tree in the new apartment! We have decided that next year we are going to aim for a tree about 2 to 3 feet taller than this one!

Cheers!
Mish

We are a Family!

I'd love to incorporate photographs of my family into two walls of photos during the cocktail hour of my wedding. You are probably thinking that I'm going off into the deep end because I have distinct visions of what my wedding cocktail hour is going to look like, but tough.

I think that it's really important and interesting to highlight heritage, especially during your wedding. I have had this link bookmarked for a while, so I plan to go ahead and incorporate this into my "move-able" walls within the Terzo Piano Space of the Modern Wing. Did I mention that the contract holding the space for October 22, 2011 is officially in (as of this morning) and the space is ours! Woo! (I refuse to say "hootie hoo" like Carla from Top Chef but I almost did). That having been said, I think it's causing me to embark on this visualization overload to figure out how to bring the space to life now that I know it's ours for the special day.

I love the photos above. I obviously don't want it to be crazy busy (luckily, my family isn't that big) but I think that I have a collection of white Pottery Barn Frames that I think might be able to suffice for this purpose as well. The below photograph I found on theknot.com and realized that my frames I already own are similar. Might be a nice way to use something I already have and pull together some black and white photographs of my grandparents, and Doug's grandparents, too. Plus, if I need to order extra frames, I guess I know I would certainly use them again. I am planning to do a photo wall of about 20 frames in my entry hallway. This could be pretty cool! I'll keep you posted on how this project turns out. You know how long it takes to compile photos, so I want to start collecting them as soon as I can!

TGIF

This past Friday was a really good Friday. Schedule for Friday, December 3rd is below in addition to photos. This was certainly one to remember.

3:00pm-5:00pm: UNITED CENTER
5:30pm-7:00pm: PRE GAME PARTY @ my APT
7:30pm-3:00am: HOLIDAY work PARTY (actually 2:45 I was technically at Sarpino's Pizza & had fallen asleep on my purse. Classy).



United Center:
I am still freaking out right now from being able to stand on the United Center ice rink. We had a work related event there for our exchanges customers, and since I'm moving to a new team at work, and the team was well aware of my slight lifelong obsession with the Blackhawks, so I was lucky enough to be able to join!

Sitting on the bench was a one in a lifetime experience. I was actually nervously excited when we were walking through the hallway which lead us to the door to I was reminded, though, that the United Center is nothing without its fans. Seeing the venue empty was really strange, actually. No loud Blackhawks fans shouting or boozing. The fans really are everything to Chicago. I'd say we've got to be the most supportive fans of all Chicago sports in general (win or loose, our fans always cheer and booze). No wonder Denis Savard was so awesome to the people around him....the fans are a huge aid in keeping the Chicago NHL alive and blossoming. I even got to see Denis do one of his infamous "spin" moves (now adopted by Patrick Kane) in the scrimmage!


Holiday Party:
We went to an obscenely huge party at the Museum of Science and Industry. I was too drunk when I got there so of course I didn't take any photos of the museum, sorry for partying. I rushed home from the United Center, expensed a cab (I hope that was alright, I didn't really ask before doing so, oops), came home and threw on my dress while cleaning the house. A few of my favorite co-workers cam over for a pre-party. We drank so much and danced like maniacs before leaving for the party, we b-lined straight to the food (okay, fine, and the bar as well) right when we got there (after of course, going down 4 flights of stairs, checking our coats in, and then going all the way up an escalator into the party).

It was a really cool layout, but I don't think that it really worked for the group this year. I swear there were 1,000 people in attendance. Not ideal for getting trashed with co-workers! We ended up in this area of the museum completely boozed up that resembled a DJ table of sorts, but it was an interactive platform of lights that corresponded with beats. It's hard to describe. I think there were currents from the computerized screen below it that triggered certain pulses of light and a corresponding rhythm. Needless to say, it was awesome after all our drinking. We were like little kids. Gotta love museums for parties.

I wore a Kate Spade necklace with my black J Crew dress. Excellent and easy outfit. The necklace was my favorite! Perfect for a winter festive jewelry piece.

Got Floral?

I have recently been drawn to floral patterned items lately and am constantly reminded of one of my favorite co-workers, Kate, who can pull off anything floral better than anyone known to man. I think I would look semi ridiculous in delicate floral clothing because of my ahhem, "upper body physique" shall we say, so stick to accessories that are floral instead. I came across some gorgeous items lately that I just had to share. I think many of the below items would actually be really great gifts as well for the holiday season.


Gorgeous flowers. Great for a gift or for my wedding, hah. I'm having all white baby! Martha Stewart taught me this, of course. I'm very interested in flat, non fussy centerpieces. They are great gifts for hostesses especially if they are a neutral tone so they match everything. I only have white flowers in my house. A strange obsession of mine. Don't judge! Click here




Someone else could totally rock this dress. Not me. But I LOVE it.
J Crew factory (Weekends only). Click here
$58.00




Boscobel Travel Bag, Grove (available on the discount site "One Kings Lane" at the moment for only $89.00) Click here




Floral Jumble Scarf Anthropologie Click here

Verdant Acres Dinnerware, Anthropologie. Click here

Invitations, Martha Stewart (I like floral themed invitations for any event, not necessarily a wedding. I think they can be beautiful holiday and or birthday cards, too). Click here

I Feel the Need for Greens.

Just like in Top Gun when they "felt the need for speed," I needed some healthy vegetables to be added to my diet after a carbohydrate and wine heavy chunk of days. Doug and I made a delicious meal on Monday after Thanksgiving weekend. It literally took 15 minutes from start to finish. Exactly what you are looking for after a long weekend of eating and traveling (in Doug's case). I picked him up from the airport on Sunday night blasting Amy Grant Christmas (specifically Emanuel of course, my favorite) and was in a good mood about the holiday season upon us. I wanted to keep that happy streak going with some tasty food, so got the groceries covered ahead of time and planned out a few days prior. I wanted to have something healthy and light ready to go after work. It was exactly what I needed and I'll certainly make this recipe again! I loved the chickpeas with the fish. It was hearty yet light.

• 4 4-ounce pieces halibut
• kosher salt and black pepper
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
• 8 cups mixed greens
• 1 15-ounce can chickpeas, rinsed
• 1 avocado, sliced
• 1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced

Season the fish with ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Over medium heat on a skillet with some olive oil or cooking spray, let both sides cook. I recommend Whole Foods Halibut. Cook the fish, covered, until opaque throughout, 6 to 8 minutes. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk together the oil, lemon juice, mustard, cilantro, ½ teaspoon salt, and ⅛ teaspoon pepper. I also added in grain mustard too (about 1/2 a tablespoon) because I like the consistency of that. Toss the dressing with the mixed greens, chickpeas, avocado, and onion. Divide among plates, top with the fish, and pour yourself a glass of wine.

Enjoy!

Cheers,
Mish

Hatch!

We are thinking of hiring Hatch Show Print to create our wedding invitations. I'm personally excited that Doug mentioned this as an idea, since we are both willing to spend the extra time & effort (considering Hatch Show Prints is not only located in Tennessee but only accepts phone calls or faxes, it will certainly be additional effort than originally planned for invitation creation) for something a little bit more "us."

We certainly have a good deal of personality between the two of us. Doug is extremely dry and witty, and well, I'm just an extreme extrovert. I'm a type A Jew, and Doug is type B. We think, eat, and live differently, and therefore keep each others lives exciting & function well as a unit (most of the times! kidding kidding). That having been said, we need something unique, and fitting to our relationship and to our personalities. I think the invitation is a big deal & really does set the tone for the wedding. I got excited when I was reading their website (yes, they have a functioning website despite their low technology ways) and read that Hatch believes "THE WEDDING INVITATION IS SECOND IN IMPORTANCE ONLY TO THE WEDDING DRESS." Well, I couldn't agree more.

I plan to only use black and white tones in the wedding for the decor. I think funky letterpress in a artsy/vintage style could be a great look for us. Plus, we have artwork from this vendor in our home! So we know that we absolutely love it and it matches our home environment as well.

Next step is just learning how to fax again. Isn't that hilarious that they are super old school? It's charming, yes, but not super charming to a Blackberry obsessed person like myself. I need immediate responses or else I freak out a little. When I called their offices, a lady with a southern draw answered the phone and told me to fax over a piece of paper with information on who we are as a couple so she could add flair to our invitations and send over some options...um...via fax as well. I have put some samples of their press poster for everyone to have a look at, to see their style. It's very retro and I absolutely love it.

"If you follow music, art, and culture of the American South, sooner or later you're bound to run into the letters, images, and unmistakable "look" of Hatch Show Print. We're one of the oldest working letterpress print shops in America...."

Have a look at their site
I'll keep everyone posted on how they turn out!

Happy Faxing,
Mish

A Bit of A Chocoholic

Above photo pretty much sums up my life. I am constantly eating. I pretend that dark chocolate is healthy (which it is, technically, healthier than gummies or milk chocolate, but still candy after all which I sometimes overlook) so I usually always have some within arms reach. Example above showing Marc Jacobs tote complete with Raisinetes, that I sported to Michael Anthony Salon after work. I kept reaching my hand into my purse and pulling out chocolate. The lady doing my hair started cracking up. Sorry for partying. What can I say, this took place right after the bike ride of death referenced in the earlier blog post below and I was really hungry.

Here are my top Dark Chocolate "snacks" as I call them. I don't think they are meant to be snacks, but I eat them like they are going out of style. It's totally fine. I highly recommend the items below. They are the best.

1. Raisinetes
2. Hershey's Dark Chocolate Bites
3. York Peppermint Pattie Bites
4. Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate Covered Cranberry Bites
5. Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate Covered Edamame
6. Vosges Barcelona Bar (no, this one isn't dark chocolate)
7. Dark Chocolate Frango Mints