My Weekend in Instagrams: Trip to Chicago

4 days in Chicago is seemingly the amount of time it takes to suddenly fall behind on all else on the weekly agenda. Even with that being said -- was still worth the trip out :)  It felt like a short weekend. It flew. But it was enough time away from my everyday routine to return and realize it may be time to switch up my routine. As much as I love the area I'm in now...I also miss city life. Tall buildings, fast cars, swarms of new faces, new streets and corners, and in all of that, finding calm in the chaos. 

You know you're cousins when she makes you coconut pancakes for breakfast. <3

Next Door coffee.

Milk, honey, Darjeeling, and a new day...

Product placement. It's in your hood.

Tall buildings, tiny windows. Tall trees, tiny branches.

Downtown with my cousin Kristen.

Bistrot Zinc. Ici on mange bien.

Unicorns on the wall.

Three naked ladies.

If this is what the French eat...why are they so skinny?

A town home near the water.

Red light.

No crossing.

On the menu: octopus, scallops, whole olives, mushroom pizza, cheese, prosciutto platter.

Cheers.

Wildflower Chai with milk and honey. The end of the meal. The beginning of the night.

Cold skies.

Let it Flo. Brunch #1 with Chris-Tia Donaldson from TGIN. She's the greatest.

Brunch #2 with the fam.

My cousin Jamie and I. Before the onset of bottomless mimosas.

My first cronut.

Hanging light fixture - on my 'to make' list.

It Looks like My Mumsie was the Original Instagram

Face selfie. Feet selfie. 

#ThrowBack

DIY Paper Collage Journals

I'm a paper fiend. As well as a journal fiend. Have been journaling since I was 8 years old. I am now 23. With over 40 journals. Most written cover-to-almost-cover. For some reason I always leave several pages blank at the end of every journal. I would like to say there is a contemplative reason behind why. But the reason why is likely because I usually end up buying a new journal too soon...then can not be patient enough to finish the pages of the old one before moving on to the new one. 

This time around I thought I'd make my own. I was feeling slightly uninspired one day. On those days I usually venture outside...to wind up back inside in a familiar place...like Starbucks, or in this case, Barnes & Noble. Where I can people watch or meet and greet or participate in some retail therapy to take my mind off of things. When I'm in Barnes & Noble I usually end up wandering to the journals. It's like gravity. There may be other aisles, magazines, books, music, and/or Starbucks in between. But oftentimes, I end up at the journals. And sometimes, walk out with a new one. This time, I thought I'd be creative and save money at the same time and buy a journal filler (is that what they're called?) instead. To make my own cover. I even made one for Spinach Blog - to record my recipes which I am so bad at remembering to write down...New Year Resolution, maybe?

Today I will be happier than a bird with a french fry.

Sometimes happiness (for me...) begins with big messes...that become tiny treasures.