the other day

the other day i was wandering on the coolest street (in my opinion) in chi-town: rush street. and at the end of rush street is a beautiful prize: anthropologie. and let me tell you, when i go into anthropologie, all i feel is joy. one, i think i love every article of matter they sell. two, i also think it's the material heaven on earth. three, huge props go to belize carleo hamilton for introducing me to this beautiful place.

a little insight into me, jessica...i have this obsession with unique paper. i love hand-made, unique, beautiful paper. all kinds of it. this includes cards. my mom gives me a cute pack of cards in my stocking every christmas. maybe this all stems from my love of literature and writing and art, but i truly love cool paper. anyway, anthropologie has a fabulous selection of unique cards, journals, notebooks, and the best coffe table books that i hope to own someday (my favorite is "paris interiors").

to make things even better at the end of rush street, barnes and noble is anthro's neighbor. premeditated placement? i think so. i can spend hours in barnes and noble. just give me books and hot chocolate and i'm a happy camper. and to really put the cherry on top of my day, i treated myself to a stop in ghiradelli's on the way home.

don't get me wrong - i am so grateful for a lot of things in life. especially my husband, the gospel, and this awesome experience we're having of being all by ourselves in a new city. but, i am also grateful for the little things that bring a smile to my face. thanks anthropologie.

a niece on the way

my brother geoff and his gorgeous wife akasha announced that a little girl is on the way in december. i am seriously excited to spoil her and buy her cute outfits. plus, how could they not have beautiful children? look at them! nate and i are excited to meet our little niece.

beach day

saturday equals beach day. funtivities included reading, nate studying with his gmat book, sleeping, lounging around, jess trying to darken her ghostly skin color, a picnic of course, and enjoying the ice cold water of lake michigan. we skipped the hot dog eating contest and decided not to walk on hot coals.

batman and wicked

the last couple days of our lives have consisted of this:

we loved this movie. we saw it at the imax - can't go wrong with an imax movie. the fact that most of it was filmed in chicago made it even cooler to watch. we recognized a lot of the city.

thanks to nate's brother and sister (who got us awesome tickets), we got to see wicked. the talent was amazing!

pumpkin joy

i am a lover...of all things sweet. unfortunately, this love affair is not always in my favor. however, if i had to pick the best combinations on earth, they would be: chocolate and mint...and...chocolate and pumpkin. don't even think for a second that pumpkin is a "fall" thing. whatever! it's good year round.
so today i had to make treats for a get together tonight. you know what i made? yep, pumpkin chocolate chip muffins. i always feel healthier making something with "muffin" in the name, when really...muffin just defines the object...not the fat content. but feel good about making "muffins" instead of "donuts" or "cookies." i thought i would share this fabulous recipe so that you too can taste this delicious combination of perfection.

1/3 cup shortening or oil
1 1/3 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup pumpkin
1 2/3 cup flour
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground cloves (i skip this sometimes)
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/3 cup water
3/4 cup chocolate chips

cream shortening and sugar. add eggs and pumpkin and beat well. add dry ingredients and water. add chocolate chips. filler lined muffin tins 2/3 full and bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

*one time i thought the amount of chocolate chips was wimpy and added more. big mistake. even for a girl who adores chocolate, they were a little too chocolatey. stick with the 3/4 cup and you'll be happy. enjoy!

The Office (for my friend Matthew)

Well, this is what I have to look forward to every morning, my awesome cubicle. I take a train to work at around 7:30 am and walk underground to my 80 story building. Unfortunately Aon only occupies the first 20 floors and my group is on the 10th floor but we still have a cool view. Shout out to my brother Beau for getting me a stupendous mug.

Yup, they even gave me a name tag. It was blank for the first two weeks, now I feel super important. Being an intern is not just about salary, we get personalized name tags -- can't put a price tag on that...

This is me slaving away at around 6:30 pm on a Friday. Jess came to meet me for a concert and the place was empty so we took some blogging pictures. But I spend most of my day on Microsoft Excel and Powerpoint. The cool thing is that I get to meet with the top executives of the company. I don't say a whole lot in the meetings but it is good experience.

This is Intern Row. There are four interns on the row. Only one other intern works with me but they are pretty cool guys. They all think I am crazy for being married, but they are jealous that I get my lunch made for me and have dinner to come home to everyday.
I have such a good wife.

the bean

chris martin, you just made my life better

have you heard coldplay's viva la vida? i listen to it everyday...love those cellos...wish i'd learned to play the cello. AND, making me love this album even more, this is one of my favorite Delacroix paintings - it is HUGE in real life.

memories

got this from the lovely jenna vela and thought it was a fun idea...

As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember! 2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments.

good one

every meal i make is an experiment. tonight i tried a fried rice recipe, which turned out fabulous except for o.n.e. thing...i accidentally made enough to feed a family of 20. I forgot that rice e x p a n d s when cooked. the recipe called for 3 cups of cooked rice, but i made three cups of uncooked rice...that means we ended up with TWELVE cups of fried rice. we now have work lunches for the rest of the week. good one jessica.

lions and tigers and bears oh my

today we ventured out to the lincoln park zoo in north chi-town.
we saw lots of great things, including:
a smart chimpanzee grandpa
tarzan's father
arabian camels
shere khan from jungle book
a lizard whose face looks like voldemort (seriously. look at it.)
a mad rhino
a cheesy tourist
turtles cuddling or mating...we weren't sure
and last but not least, simba's mom

nate's sunglasses are lost, so he wore mine :) really nate?

favorite quotes from the zoo:
a kid standing next to me at the seal habitat: "mom that is the skinniest polar bear i've ever seen!"
"honey, that is a seal"
"woah that is the biggest seal i've ever seen!"
a kid at the camel habitat: "that one is shakin his tail featha"

i love him

the other day, i dared nate to eat a huge hunk of watermelon in four bites. these pictures are evidence that he is one determined boy and he definitely enjoyed that watermelon. i am so in love with this crazy, immature, wise, intelligent, math-minded, sincere, and loving boy. since we are sticking to a specific budget, i only buy the necessities when i go grocery shopping, but if nate is with me, he'll throw in my favorite kind of ice cream or my other favorite - san pelligrino. he spoils me. being married is fun, but being married to nate is REALLY fun.

happiness

we currently are loving...

caprese (nate's favorite appetizer)


the beauty that is air conditioning


and watching these movies

...just to name a few.

independence

to celebrate our americana, nate and i watched rudy and the pursuit of happiness as an ode to the american dream that we are still grasping for. we checked out the neighborhood picnic and ate good old american food. we love independence. hope everyone else had a great day off!

yes please

i could really settle into chicago living...in one of these pads. i took myself on an architectural tour of our neighborhood today. talk about beautiful homes. these pictures do not do them justice.

one of my personal favorites

seconds

we liked the taste of chicago so much the first time that we went back for seconds. i mean who couldn't love indulging themselves in fattening, delicious food (with the exception of roasted corn)? this time we tried italian style french fries, funnel cake, and went back for some more of that amazing corn. mmmmmm.