Weekend in Chicago, New Hair + Life Lately

Heading back to school on Sunday means I'm packing in as much as I can to wrap up my month long winter break away from school. A lot of my friends have already gone back to school, so I went down to Chicago this weekend to see my brother and visit my best friend Lauren (same as New Years!). We had the most fun long weekend, and I'm excited to share it with all of you!

meet Lauren, she's so much cooler than me.

I went down to Chicago on Friday afternoon and we ended up having a lazier evening before picking up some cheese, crackers, and other stuff to make a cheese platter and meet up with some of Lauren's friends to go out. We wound up staying out until like 4 AM, setting the whole weekend into a late-morning, late-night cycle. It was so much fun.

like.... do you see that juiciness?

On Saturday we had a late start to the day and went to Eataly for a snack/breakfast (haha? 3pm arancini balls!), and then to Shake Shack right after to split a burger. Literally the whole weekend felt like a game to see how much food we ate... we ate a lot. 

shop my coat and similar jeans (borrowed from Lauren) and sneaks

shop the sunglasses and my phone case

We went to Nordstrom too where I fell in love with that pink mirror and Prada sunglasses (in my dreams). The pink mirror may or may not have sparked the idea to make my Instagram feed pink for the weekend. Should I keep the pink going??

Saturday night we met up with my brother and some more of Lauren's friends to celebrate one of her friend's birthdays! We went to brunch on Sunday, did some more exploring around Chicago, and then attempted to see a movie that ended up being sold out. So, you'll be shocked to hear that we ended up getting cupcakes, walking around in the snow, and venturing back to Lauren's to watch That Awkward Moment (kind of the best movie ever) and falling asleep early (aka, only midnight!). 

Monday was probably my favorite day. We went to the Revival Food Hall which is a really cool spot downtown Chicago with gorgeous design and a ton of aesthetically pleasing food options like a smoothie spot and Poke bowls and cafes with the prettiest pastries. Lauren and I both got the avocado mango smoothie bowl. It was probably the best smoothie bowl I have ever tasted, and I've had a lot!! It was so creamy and thick, and the toppings were spot on (granola, mangoes, goji berries, coconuts, etc.) yum!!

who else wishes their living room looked like that?!

We went to the Art Institute of Chicago afterward for a few hours and then to Restoration Hardware. Both are gorgeous of course and definitely sights to see in Chicago. RH has the most gorgeous cafe inside, but the wait was over an hour. 

We ended up going to our favorite spot for lunch, Lux Bar, and splitting the club sandwich, buffalo chicken salad, and truffle fries.

shop my sweater (now on sale!) and earrings

I came home late Monday night just in time for a haircut and color on Tuesday. I had never had my hair colored before, but I trusted in Jessica who reached out to me via Instagram to do some highlights around my face and balayage in the back to brighten up my hair! I love how it turned out. She is at Roots Salon, which is in Brookfield, Wisconsin. If you ever find yourself in the area you can mention my name for $20 off your service!

This entire winter break I have been spending the majority of my days at Paper Envy, where I used to work in high school but love going back to when I'm home from college. We make custom wedding invitations and stationery and I absolutely love going in for a few hours when I can. How gorgeous is this gold foil wedding suite?!

Yesterday I desperately needed a long run to recover from the weekend of non-stop eating, but kind of ruined it by getting popcorn at a matinee. My mom and I went to see The Greatest Showman, and it completely surpassed all expectations! I loved it and would totally recommend.

I also finally got up my What I Got for Christmas video yesterday! If you haven't yet seen it, you can find the video here or the whole blog post, video included, here.

What's new with you? Have you already gone back to school?? I feel like I'm the last one!

xoxo