How to Spend a Weekend in Chicago (On the Cheap!)

This past weekend Loverboy and I headed to the Windy City for a few days. We got some cheap flights and thought, why not? And thanks to the awesome suggestions from Instagram/Facebook, we had a pretty great time. So I wanted to share some of what we did and saw with all of you... as kind of a pay it forward, ya' know? :)

We stayed at an Airbnb about 20 minutes outside of the city. We love Airbnb as an affordable (and adorable) option! Click here for a $20 credit!

Of course we had to check out the bean! A classic Chicago sight.

Going on a Thursday afternoon was a good idea! We also went on Saturday to meet up with some friends and it was way crazier!

We frequented Intelligentsia Coffee a couple times... my coffee loving hubby was in heaven!

The Field Museum was my favorite of the three we got into with our Science Museum of MN membership. $70 for the membership and you get into the Field Museum, Adler Planetarium, and Museum of Science & Industry. SUCH a deal, as it's $70 for two tickets into the Field museum alone!

Visiting Eataly was such a wonderful experience! It's a large building filled with all kinds of Italian foods... cheese, bread, wine, pizza, pasta, meat, fish, and more! They have a Nutella bar, as well as gelato and other sweets. 

Stan's Donuts may have been the winner of the trip. Brian and I both agreed that the nutella and banana pocket donut was one of the best we've ever had!

Plus, they had cute floors! :)

The other big winner was Nando's Peri-Peri. We went there for lunch one day and I was head over heels for the place.

We got to sit in swinging baskets. All the details were so cute!

And the food was delicious!

Brian loved the Museum of Science and Industry! This giant train model was amazing.

We spent our last evening at the Navy Pier. It was beautiful and sunny and we got to experience our first taste of Chicago deep dish pizza at Giordano's. Yum!

To see more of our adventures from Chicago, check out my Instagram!

3 Tips for Renters

Happy Friday, friends! Today I want to share with you three things I've learned from renting. A lot of people in our life stage are renting, and it can sometimes feel like a drag to not be able to do exactly what you want with your place, but there are definitely ways around that, and even bonuses to renting as well!

1. Put stuff on those walls!
Nothing says "renter" like empty walls. So one of the quickest and easiest ways to make your rental feel like home is to hang stuff up! It's super easy to take down when you move, and there's not a whole lot (if any) repair work before you leave. Photos, paintings, prints, and other various wall hangings can do wonders to an otherwise empty or disorganized feeling space. You can share stories through your wall hangings. You can convey style and mood. You can create a color scheme or a theme. Wall hangings are important, people. Need some inspiration? In case you missed it, awhile back I posted about 5 ways to fill your walls. I'd say that's a pretty good place to start. ;)

2. Embrace the awkward
Pretty much anytime you rent, you're going to have something about the place you don't love. That's probably true of when you buy too—but then you can just demolish, re-finish, or otherwise completely change that little bit of awkward going on. But when you're renting, your best bet is to embrace it.

Check out the creepy sweet angel shelf going on in our bathroom... once paired with a little bud vase in similar colors it's not quite so weird. And see that cut-out in our kitchen? Yeah, it's a window into the second bedroom. Why is it there?? We have no idea [although I speculate it was to pass food through to a prisoner, buttttt....]. So we put up some scrapbook paper and use it as a shelf for cookbooks. Boom. Awkward embraced.

3. Become friends with your neighbors!
Okay, so this tip obviously doesn't have anything to do with decorating, but it has tons to do with making your apartment/rental feel homey! The great thing about rentals, is that they are often apartment complexes or duplexes, or if you're like us, a four-plex! This means you're living super close to at least a few other people, if not a whole building of them. I think this is the perfect time to practice making friends, since seeing someone in the hallway is much easier than walking across the street and knocking on someone's front door.

And take it from me, becoming friends with your neighbors can be so much fun! We just had our upstairs neighbors over for a game night last night and we had a blast [hey K&M if you're reading this!]. The best part? You don't have to bundle up and brave the cold to hang out! :)

What tips and tricks have you learned from renting? 

5 Tips for Planning a Wedding [on a budget, in a time-crunch, or otherwise]

Loverboy and I were engaged for 5 1/2 months, which in some circles is pretty average, or even plenty of time, but in many other circles it's short. And we were certainly on a "tighter-than-average" budget. So I feel like I'm at least a little bit qualified to write on the subject of planning a wedding... on a budget, in a time-crunch, or otherwise. Here are 5 lessons I learned while planning mine.



1. To-do lists are your friend.
And that being said, Google Docs is your friend. [I ranted about it here.] But seriously, wedding planning would have been a billion times harder without shared docs. Thank you google. Right away I made a to-do list for every month, and as the wedding approached I started doing weekly to-do lists, and finally in the last week or two I made daily to-do lists. This helped my brain soooo much in that I get super distracted when there's a lot to get done. However, with my time-specific to-do lists, I had just a few things to focus on at a time. In my book, to-do lists are a MUST for wedding planning, which might be obvious, but doing it in time increments was really helpful for us.





2. Stick within a budget.
There are three main ways we stuck within our budget. All we did was borrow, cheat, and skip. Let me explain ...

Borrow. HUGE shout-out to all the amazing friends who lent us decorations for the wedding! We might not have had this wedding if it wasn't for your generosity! [Well, we would have had it, it just wouldn't have been as pretty!] So, moral of the story, be one of the last of your friends to get married so you can borrow their table cloths, jars, lanterns, candle holders, cake cutters, banners, etc! ;)

Cheat. We actually got quite a few of our decorations at the Dollar Tree! Who knew, right?? Well, now I guess the whole world does, but before that.... Anyways, we got our silver trays and gold frames for all a buck a pop! Does my heart good! We also got glow sticks in the dollar section at Michaels and all the white milk glass vases were thrifted for 50 cents to $1.50 each. Cha-ching!

Skip. There were a lot of things on my Pinterest board that were oh so darling, but I ended up deciding they would just take too much time or too much money. So instead of focusing on the cute things I wasn't able to do, I focused on the fun things I was! I capitalized on projects that were quick, simple, and cheap. My favorite.

3. Have a wedding coordinator.
The pastor we met with for premarital counseling could not stress it enough. And now that I'm an experienced married woman (ha!) I can't either! Our wedding coordinator was a friend from my post-college stint with the Navs, who also made our incredible cake and cupcakes (she's superwoman, I'm tellin' ya!). It was super magical not having to deal with problems or questions on the day-of and she also helped me think through tons of details in the planning process! The only qualifications she had was that she has been married before, attended and been in multiple weddings, helped another friend plan hers, and is super duper organized, efficient, and has an awesome take-charge way about her. So if you have a friend in your life like that, I'd say swipe her up for your wedding coordinator before someone else does! [But P.S. make sure she is honored in the role, not used!]

4. Don't sweat the small stuff.
This goes right along with my "skip" rule of sticking within a budget. Spending my time and energy on those simpler, big-impact items, like our ribbon backdrop and quote pallet was one of the best choices I made. Sure, I didn't really know how the centerpieces would turn out until we got to the barn the day before. BUT, I did know that I had a bunch of cute stuff that I liked and so I didn't sweat it. I knew it would turn out. Also, most people don't remember if your napkins perfectly matched your color scheme or if each vase had the same amount of flowers.

5. Do what you want.
Ultimately, it's your guys' day. Don't do something (or not do something) because of what someone else thinks. Yeah, having Mexican food at a barn wedding is kinda quirky... but guess what? Everyone loved it! If you feel like you really want something in your ceremony or reception that might not be the "norm," I say go for it! It's your one and only day to celebrate this union with all your friends and family, so why not make it memorable and special and oh-so-very-YOU!

And remember, it doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful.

//photos via Availeth Photography

Thrifting 101: Five Tips

I would say that about 90% of my closet is thrifted. Clothes, accessories, and all. I've been told that I have a knack for finding good deals and awesome finds, and people are always asking me how I do it. Well, I'm here to tell all you fine people that it's not much of a science, BUT lucky for you there are some simple tips you can follow to make your thrifting more successful!

Go on sale days.
My favorite place to thrift is Savers. It's not so classy that it's as expensive as shopping new but it also has a ton of gems. One of my favorite things about Savers is their sales! Every Monday the whole store is 25% off and on holidays that fall on Mondays (Labor Day, Memorial Day, Veterans Day, etc) their clothes, accessories, bed and bath, etc. are 50% off! If I can, I try and hit up their 50% sale days and get there right when they open since it can get super busy. Also, if you get there in the afternoon everything can be pretty picked over.

Have a plan.
Just like how most things in life go more smooth if you have a plan, it's always a good idea to have some kind of strategy in mind when you head out to go thrifting. What will you be looking for? If you have a short time what is the most important thing to look at? You can waste so much time just aimlessly wandering the aisles of thrift stores if you don't know what you are there for. [Which is fine, by the way, but only if you have the time for it!]

Try on a lot.
If you're going to succeed at thrifting, you're just going to have to accept the fact that you will need to try on A LOT of clothes. I pretty much go with quantity for the first round of trying things on, and if something looks even slightly interesting, I'll put it in my cart to try on. This is how you find those items that you might not have bought at an actual retail store. Plus, since everything is different brands they will fit differently so I usually look in sections that might be a little smaller or bigger than I normally wear. You never know what you might find since the sizing is done in the store and might be a little bit off.

Have a pattern.
Pretty much every time I go to Savers I always check out a few key areas. For me that's books, home goods, shoes, purses, and most recently, skirts. Oftentimes I won't even go through any of the shirts, pants, or other clothes if I'm just stopping in for a short trip. I just look at the things I'm most interested in and know I can find the best buys in.

Try out different things. 
I see thrifting as a way to try out different things that I might not choose otherwise. Go ahead! Try on that 70s style dress! Spot a leather fanny pack? Try it on! Some of my coolest finds were things that I wouldn't ever think I'd wear, but once I tried it, I liked it. Plus, it's all about confidence! Chances are, if you think you can rock it, then you can!

Bonus tip!
Sometimes thrift stores will give you a discount if you bring in donations! Check out if your local thrift shop offers this promotion... if so, it's a win-win! Spring cleaning to make room for more AND a sweeter deal! Happy thrifting!