oh hey

Greetings, internet!

Yes I am still alive.

Life got a liiiiittle crazy over the summer and the craziness never really stopped, and since I'm an "all or nothing" type of person and it's hard for me to commit less than 100% to an endeavor, this blog kind of fell off the plate. But I want to bring it back! Can you believe I've been blogging here for four years now? Me neither. I'm scared to click back and see what I used to post about.

I'm going to kick off my blog revival with a reverse timeline of the past five months' highlights, beginning from last weekend, because why not? So settle in and get ready for a long catching-up.

Ben's birthday was this past Sunday the 3rd, so naturally we celebrated with a costume party! I was a My Little Pony and Ben was a brony. If you don't know what a brony is, I highly recommend educating yourself via this video. We busted out the wedding silver, ate Pinterest cupcakes, drank a huge jar of caramel apple cider punch, and a tree was in attendance. Ben also got an extra hour to celebrate his day, which might be the best gift ever. Sorry solar system and ancient Romans, but I think 25 hour days should be AT LEAST a monthly thing.

All summer I was in a pretty deep creative slump, but now that the air is getting crispy and cool I'm ramping up the Etsy shop again! I'm hoping to boost my inventory in time for the holidays, but this dang full time job keeps getting in my way. I did celebrate a small/huge milestone recently by hitting 100 sales! I posted a celebratory coupon code on my shop facebook page, and (shhhhhh) it will never expire. My tip for anyone contemplating opening an Etsy shop is to just do it. Tip number two: the more work, love, stress, and joy you put into it, the more sales and amazing customers you will get back. I love when the universe works out like that.

In August I made a commitment to my personal health and joined the Tone it Up community, which is a fitness and nutrition program. I have no words that can fully describe it, but it has really changed my outlook on life, connected me with hundreds of amazing women around the world, and boosted my self confidence by a million levels. I've become addicted to eating clean (aka almost no food from a box), working out, and documenting it all on Instagram! You can follow me if you want, but expect to see lots of sweaty workout selfies and strange foreign cult-like hashtags. I'm @joyofanna.

On October 6th Ben and I celebrated our first anniversary with a mini-vacation to Madison, WI. We ate copious amounts of delicious Midwestern food, drank beer with some cute dogs, and went apple picking at a tiny little roadside farm. Everyone keeps asking if we saved some of our wedding cake, and to that I say are you crazy??? Who wants freezer burned cake?? We got ourselves some fresh cake, and then realized that it's really hard to split a whole cake between two people. Good thing I'm doing that healthy living program the other 95% of the time...

This is just a random collage of things that make me happy. Our weekly date night, low humidity hair days, my sister moving back to the States after 2 years abroad, and Monet at the Art Institute.

When life gets extra crazy and stressful I try to make an effort to relax and re-connect with the outdoors. I LOVED seeing a gorgeous wintry sunrise (and coyote!) on a recent visit home. One thing I really miss while living in Chicago is being able to see the sunrise and sunset, since we're stuck in a first floor apartment in the city. Also, dahlias and cone flowers are two of my favorite late summer blooms. And I came up close and personal to a great blue heron! I feel very lucky to work in Lincoln Park, the most gorgeous little part of Chicago. I would go crazy here without my green space!

 And wayyyy back in June we made a trip to the breathtaking Black Hills of South Dakota to watch two of our good friends tie the knot and smash cake into each others' faces. We also saw lots of buffalo and rock formations carved both by nature and by humans. I sure do miss the mountains.

Well I think that about covers it! And now my eyes are glazing over from staring at a screen for an hour, which I think is the sign to hit publish and go to bed.

I'm planning on making blogging a weekly event in my life, so I will see you again soon!

Love, Anna

palm trees and lily pond, and summer vacation

This week is the official beginning of Ben's summer vacation, and therefore I feel like I should be on summer vacation too! Well, I'm only really jealous at 6 am...but having a month and a half of paid time off is still not enough for me to ever consider becoming a teacher!

This June is flying by, just like all the other months of this year. At the beginning of the summer it always seems like the season is endless and big enough to hold tons of bucket list activities as well as lazy weekends at home. But every year without fail, the weekends fill up before I can even finish planning everything I want to accomplish, and I spend the weekdays recovering from mini-excursions!

Last weekend Ben and I drove to Indiana for an infamous tiki party at my aunt and uncle's house. This is their backyard--my uncle used to work in construction and built this enormous tiki bar himself, using an old telephone pole, a tap from a Dutch bar, and thatch from ornamental grasses in his yard! He's also obsessed with collecting palm trees, in case you can't tell from the photos.

And he is crazy-awesome in the way that only the Dutch can achieve.

As is my dad. Guess which one he is? Luckily he was wearing his "lounge trunks" in this photo, and not his pool Speedo's.

Ahhh, paradise. The weather was absolutely perfect all weekend, mostly sunny and low humidity in the mid-70's. A relaxed fun time (and lots of Heineken) was had by all!

I've spent the week so far trying to detox and regroup. I love seeing family, but hate being away from home all weekend because it's always a scramble to catch up on groceries and the boring things of life (ahem laundry)! On Monday I finally walked down to the Alfred Caldwell Lily Pond, which I've been meaning to check out ever since I started my new job since I've seen it featured so often in engagement shoots by our wedding photographer Christy :) It is literally an urban oasis of calm between the zoo and Lincoln Park Conservatory. I think I've found my new summer lunch spot!

Can you spot the bunny?

Zoomed in. I love bunnies! They are everywhere in Lincoln Park, probably destroying the vegetation, but they are so cute!

I never get tired of this view!

And of course I can't leave you without a couple of zoo animals...

Our polar bear who is usually shy and hiding behind the scenes,

And sleepy sand cat! (I die.) 

I hope you are having a great week so far! 

I also hope you're staying safe if you're in the path of the crazy storms that are rolling through Illinois right now. So far we haven't gotten much besides some showers and distant lightning here in the city, and that is fine with me!

recipe time: a cocktail and a muffin

Happy Friday!! Is it just me, or did this week crawl by??? The weather has been cool here, in the 60's and low 70's and it's hard to believe it's almost summer!

As promised by my last post, I've got a couple of delicious recipes for your weekend!

One is a summer cocktail and one is another banana muffin variation. I don't recommend eating them together...unless you're having a muffin for an afternoon snack :)

First up is my new favorite summer cocktail, the Pimm's cup! I recently discovered Pimm's No. 1, the British liqueur that tastes sort of like an extra herbal-y gin. It's not that great on its own, but mix it with some fruit and ginger ale or bubbly lemonade and it makes a delicious sweet and herbal punch! There are apparently a million different ways to make a Pimm's cup, but here's my current favorite:

Pimm's Cup (Anna's version)

Ingredients for one drink:

• 1.5 oz (one shot) Pimm's No. 1
• ginger ale
• cucumber
• mint
• lemon slices
• optional: strawberries, lime, any fruit you want!

Directions: Add a shot of Pimm's to a glass with fresh ice. Toss in sliced cucumber, mint leaves, a squeeze of lemon or lime, any other fruit you have, and fill to the top with ginger ale or lemon-lime soda. Stir to combine and enjoy! Super easy. You can also muddle (aka smash) the mint and fruit together in the glass before you add the ginger ale. If you're having friends over, it would be easy to make a large batch in a pitcher or punch bowl! Just combine amounts of ingredients until it tastes good to you!

Next up, here's an easy healthy muffin recipe to make the morning after your Pimm's party!

Banana-Cranberry Oat Muffins

Adapted from Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favorites

Makes 12 muffins

Ingredients:

• 1 cup white whole wheat flour (or unbleached white)
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 t. baking soda
• 1 t. baking powder
• 1/4 t. salt
• 1/2 t. cinnamon
• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1/3 cup dried cranberries
• 1 egg
• 2 T canola oil
• 2-3 mashed bananas
• 1/2 cup plain or vanilla yogurt
• 1/2 t. vanilla

Preheat oven to 400*F. Line a muffin tin with liners or grease with non-stick cooking spray.

In a large bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, rolled oats, and cranberries.

In a medium bowl, whisk the egg. Add oil, mashed bananas, yogurt, and vanilla.

Carefully combine the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, be careful not to over-stir.

Spoon into muffin tins and bake for 18-20 minutes.

Enjoy!

Do you have any fun weekend plans? Ben and I are road-tripping to Indiana for a family get-together at my aunt and uncle's house. We have several wedding anniversaries and birthdays to celebrate, and it's always a crazy fun time when the Dutch side of the family gets together at my uncle's backyard tiki bar :) 

See you next week!

life lately

Well hellooooo! How is June treating you so far? Three days in, I'm a fan.

My blog friend Blair is hosting a weekly link-up for "life lately" posts, and since those are the type of posts I normally do anyway since I am always trying to play catch up on the blog, here's this week's re-cap!
(If you have a blog, click here to join in!)

Sidenote: I will say that FINALLY getting a smartphone has made it so much easier to take photos throughout day to day life! Most of the following snapshots are straight from my new obsession Instagram.

Sidenote 2: Also, I noticed that most of my pictures fall into five broad categories: flowers, food and drinks, zoo animals, Etsy projects, and landscapes. I guess those are some of my favorite things!

First category: flowers!

one // Gorgeous tree outside my office. What is this type of white flowering tree? There are two kinds of common trees with white flowers around here: one that smells really bad and one that smells good. This one did not smell bad. Is it a type of pear tree?

two // A huge lilac bush/tree in my neighborhood.

three // Redbuds at the zoo! One of my favorites.

four // A stunning rosebush I pass on my morning runs. Seeing and smelling flowers makes it a lot easier to get up and out first thing in the morning! I'm trying to get in a routine, and this week's fitness obsession is Tone It Up for workout inspiration and healthy recipes!

Second category: food and drink. Noms.

five // Honey Nut Cheerio snack. I can't really eat cereal in the morning because I'll be hungry again in like half an hour, but I love eating it as a snack or dessert! Ben is obsessed with Honey Nut Cheerios. He's eaten them almost every day for basically his entire life. A huge box is always a staple in our house!

six // Okay, this picture deserves its own entire post. This is a loaded Pimm's cup cocktail, and it's my new favorite drink! Remind me to share the recipe!

seven // Sangria on the patio. It's still not quite consistently warm enough for outdoor dining but Ben and I gave it a shot the other weekend.

eight // Delicious banana-cranberry-oat muffins! Again, I should do a recipe post for these. If I can get my blogging act together.

Third category: zoo animals!! Everyone's fave.

nine // Okay so our zoo has an awesome meerkat exhibit, but they are the TUBBIEST meerkats ever!!! I am certain that they're being fed a balanced diet, but still. Adorable. They're the most curious zoo animals and will always run up and stare at you. There's also always one meerkat on "sentry" duty, standing on a boulder and surveying the territory.

ten // Humans in Lincoln Park. Hey, we're animals too.

eleven // My all time favorite zoo mammal--the fennec fox!! They only weigh around 3 pounds, and are a shy, nocturnal desert dweller. I want.

twelve // One of my favorite birds, the Black-necked stilt. Their legs are longer than their entire body.

 Fourth category: an assortment of Etsy projects and scenes from work.

thirteen // My current favorite scarf in the shop.

fourteen // A gorgeous view from an event I was working on Saturday. I have to work a lot of Saturdays since the zoo is open 365 days a year, but I don't even mind since the setting is so beautiful and fun.

fifteen // Farm in the zoo! I love this picture because it combines my two homes: rural Illinois and urban Chicago. Plus flowers :)

sixteen // A gorgeous custom wedding envelope liner design I've been working on!


And that's all for now! Thanks for hosting this link-up Blair!

What have you been up to lately?

Happy Memorial Day!

I'd like to say a big thanks to everyone who has served our country--past, present, or future!

We're having a chilly and grey Memorial Day here in Chicago but I'm trying to enjoy these last few days of cool weather before summer officially hits us. It's been nice to relax and enjoy a long weekend!

This morning I took Ben to the zoo to show him around for the first time (in his adult life). It was a lot of fun since I've gotten to know the animals a bit, and the crowds weren't too bad because of the cooler weather.

This afternoon our plans include grocery shopping and checking out the new Arrested Development season on Netflix. I've seen mixed/disappointing reviews...are you an AD fan? What do you think about the new episodes? 

I hope you're having a great weekend! I for one am ready for summer :)

my favorite time of year

Late May into early June has always been my favorite time of year. October is beautiful, December has the holidays, April is my birthday month, but there's something about the late spring that fills me with this unparalleled sense of inspiration and gratitude for just being alive. For most of my life it signaled the end of another school year, the transition into a new phase or internship or program, and saying goodbye to another group of friends or classmates, but two years out of my last graduation I can now enjoy the spring without that sense of loss or change. I love the first few days of 70 and 80 degree weather, the flowering trees, and the way that all the trees and plants blast into lush greenness that gets more and more impossibly intense with each new day. 

We're still playing teeter-totter with the weather gods here in Chicago and are back in the chilly 50's and 60's for the weekend after a brief teaser of heat and humidity, but it's only a matter of time before summer officially hits. The whole city is beginning to wake up and emerge from its winter cocoon. One of my favorite signs of spring in the city is how the restaurants throw open their windows and set up their sidewalk seating.

I'm kind of letting this spring wash over me and pass by without too much deep reflection, since I've been busy with my new job and Ben has been preoccupied with finishing up the school year, but I think in June I will go back to setting some mini-goals for myself and my shop.

I did list some new scarves today, so be sure to check them out! I like this lavender and black lace one.

Ben and I don't have any big plans for Memorial Day weekend, but that's ok since next month we're going to be travelling a lot. I actually have to work tomorrow because we're in the process of hiring a group of high school interns for the summer!

I hope you have an amazing and relaxing long weekend! Do you have any fun plans??

zoo cuteness: the sand cat

Meet my favorite animal at the zoo, the sand cat. Yup, cutest thing ever. It's the size of a small house cat and  easily makes you forget it's a wild animal.

(Warning: Don't Google Image search sand cat unless you want to waste two hours of your day crying from cuteness overload.)

The sand cat is the only feline that lives in the desert, and is found throughout northern Africa and Asia. It's a nocturnal species so it's usually sleeping in the hole in the fake tree trunk you can see in the photos, but on this particular day it was awake and running around its enclosure! It's the cat version of the fennec fox, and I want to take them both home with me.

May update

 

I really really really wish I could be one of those bloggers who writes a post every day (or at least several times a week), shares funny/interesting anecdotes about their lives, makes up weekly themes, and cultivates a community on their site. But blogging on a regular basis is just something I really struggle with!

Despite all my spurts of inspiration and good intentions, whenever life gets intense or busy I tend to ignore this space, probably because I'm an introvert and when I'm expending all my energy into the real world, I end up with nothing left to share with the internet.

Plus, blogging takes time and WORK! And thanks to my awesome new full time job, I'm still trying to work out a daily routine and figure out how to be most productive in the few hours of free time I get.

In the meantime, the days keep flying by! So far in May I have:

• Taken a quick trip home to visit my family and attend my best friend's Med School graduation open house
• Cooked lots of new recipes (just made this steak salad for dinner)
• Tried really hard to keep the Etsy shop alive
• Been pretty good with working out first thing in the morning
• Watched Gatsby (so good!!)
• Finished reading The Interestings for book club (kind of disappointing with annoying characters)
• Joined the rest of the Millennial generation by finally getting my first smartphone!!! (And instantly becoming obsessed with Instagram--I'm @annikalikes)
• Aaaand I don't even know what else. Is anyone else really bad at remembering things like what you did last weekend, or what you ate last night?

This was the view from Lincoln Park today. Gorgeous! We're finally starting to get some warmer weather, and the flowering trees are in full bloom. This is the time of year I'm super grateful that I don't have allergies!! 

And here are a few of the scarves I've added to my shop this month! My fabric stash is getting out of control (Ben calls it the pile of shame...yeah...) so I'm really trying to keep listing new styles as often as I can!

Time to relax. I hope you're having a great week so far!

how nice of you to show up, spring

And just like that, we've gone straight from winter to summer, Midwest-style. From the 40's to the 80's, although we're not out of the woods yet (according to Ben who refuses to take the plastic off our windows).

I get super excited when all the flowering trees burst into their cotton candy colors. When we have a yard someday I am going to plant it full of magnolia trees. Did you know that all trees have flowers? It's true.

Here's proof. Those lime green puffs you see everywhere? They probably aren't leaves yet. These are maple flowers!

 I love when nature busts out the neon!

I had a great birthday weekend thanks to the warm weather. On Friday night Ben and I had a delicious mussels-and-frites dindin at The Bluebird and then wandered back to The Violet Hour for cocktails, which I'm now obsessed with despite its hipster pretentiousness. Pimm's Cup is my new fave drink mmmm. 

All weekend I felt extra blessed with lots of gifts and Etsy orders! Speaking of Etsy, I am all out of my most popular lace and won't be able to re-stock for 2 weeks or so. I'm going to take this opportunity to sew up all the new fabric I've been collecting, so stay tuned!  

I also can't wait to bust out this awesome vintage cake pan that my mom in law sent me. The pans are shaped like bulls-eyes so when you use different flavors/colors of batter and stack the layers it turns into a checkerboard pattern. I mean, who doesn't need a Magic Cake Pan?? I'm thinking that a rainbow cake needs to happen, every ring a different color.

Speaking of retro housewife accessories, here's a great article by Rachel on feminism, food, and the "new" domesticity.

And if you're thinking of buying your first home in this HGTV-crazed culture of ours, here's a don't-miss piece on what to do and what NOT to do, learned from Shay's heartbreaking experience.

And now it's time for ice cream and brownies. I made a pan of brownies for my birthday and Ben and I have been eating them every single night. It's a hard life...

oh hey it's my birthday

This has been a crazy week! I've hit the ground running with my new job at the zoo, and have traveled to a different CPS school every day this week to visit junior high classes who have been involved with a collaborative research program all year. They've been visiting the zoo to collect animal behavior data and now I have to teach them how to analyze the data and share it in chart/graph form. Let's just say that if you are a junior high teacher I THOROUGHLY admire your dedication...it is definitely the toughest age to handle! 

It's been eye opening to see so many of the Chicago Public Schools. Most of the buildings are gorgeous old citadels with tall ceilings and wood floors, some are classic "prison cell" concrete block construction, some are newly built with modern architecture. Some are situated in a grassy block in the middle of old classic neighborhoods, some are squeezed into the middle of a gritty urban neighborhood. Some of the kids are bright and well behaved, and some seem kind of hopeless. The atmosphere in each school is similar though--a positive space that tries its desperately to be a nurturing influence on the students, even if the teachers have to adopt a strict tough love facade.

So yeah, I'm relieved it's Friday, and can't believe that my birthday has snuck up on me! It's my golden birthday, 26 on the 26th. Last year I was freaking out about turning 25, but now I am definitely ready for this new year. 2013 has been great so far, and I'm excited to see what else happens!

To celebrate, I'm holding a flash sale in the shop! Use coupon code 26on26 to get 26% off your total order (including winter clearance items)! This would be an excellent opportunity to get that Mother's Day gift, just sayin...The offer is good all day today!

a weekend of celebrating

 (photos from Anna S. since I didn't bring a camera out all weekend!)

My three best girlfriends and I all have birthdays within a 10 day span in April, and we always make sure to celebrate in the biggest, most drawn-out way possible. This past weekend Anna (pronounced the "regular way" as opposed to my "European way") came to Chicago to celebrate her birthday last week and my early birthday which is this Friday!

We've been experiencing a WONDERFUL and unexpected string of sunny days here, so even though it was chilly over the weekend, walking around outside under a blue sky felt so amazing and care-free! We kicked things off with a mimosa brunch and just let things roll from there.

We ended up in Wicker Park most of the weekend, which I loved because there are so many great restaurants/bars/shops there that I've wanted to check out! Here's a list of where we went in case you're ever visiting Chicago and looking for recommendations:

The Fifty/50--We came here for brunch because their website says they offer unlimited bacon, but sadly they had changed the menu and no longer serve that. The rest of the food was tasty though. I had the breakfast lasagna, which was basically a melted pile of bacon, cheddar cheese, caramelized onions and tasted like a bacon cheeseburger, AKA amazing. This place is a sports bar and would definitely be good for dinner. Apparently their wings are delicious. I don't think we'll ever come back for brunch just because there are so many brunch places here, although the mimosa buckets came with adorable mini Prosecco bottles!

FatPour Tapworks--After brunch we wandered in here because it was nearby and I'd wanted to check it out for a long time. Basically it's a huge and clean bar with like 50 taps. I wasn't blown away by the atmosphere and beer selection at the moment, although now I see they have one of my favorite west coast beers (Lost Coast Downtown Brown), Sierra Nevada Torpedo on draft, and a huge cider and Belgian selection if you're into that, so I'll give them some belated bonus points. I like Village Tap in Roscoe Village better in terms of local/unusual/seasonal tap selection and cozy atmosphere.

Buzz: Killer Espresso--So after hitting up two bars before 3 pm we were in desperate need of some caffeine so we stopped by Buzz: killer (how appropriate), which has a brand new interior and a million kinds of coffee to choose from. Definitely the place if you're a coffee snob.

Briciola--We came to this Italian restaurant for dinner and I'm a huge fan for three reasons:

1. Not only do they give you a bread basket, but they bring you complimentary bruschetta!

2. It's BYOB so you can save a fortune on wine.

3. Homemade pasta.

Need I say more? It was pretty cramped and crowded inside so I'd DEFINITELY make a reservation. Also, it seems to be located randomly in a residential area so parking is tough to find.

The Violet Hour--A pretentious, hidden "speakeasy" with an atmosphere that makes you lose track of all time and a ridiculously amazing cocktail list. All the drinks are $12 but you only need one and you get what you pay for...even the ice is carved to fit your glass and type of drink. ALMOST too cool for school but I definitely want to come back to try more of the drinks. Probably not for you if you don't like bitters (herbal liqueur) or expect constant attention from your server. Great place for a date night...if you have a larger group expect to wait in line to get in.

What did you do this weekend? Anything fun?

the worst week of 2013?

I think this Onion article pretty much sums it up.

Between everything ongoing in Boston, the Texas explosion, the general ridiculousness of Congress, the blizzards in the upper midwest, and much of northeastern Illinois underwater, this has hands down been the worst week of the year so far. I feel so fortunate that I haven't been directly impacted by any of the chaos.
Aaaand it just started to sleet outside.

Here's a sinkhole that swallowed 3 cars in Chicago and gave me a sinkhole nightmare

I love how the firefighters are just standing around laughing because there's no other reaction they can have.

Anyway, I'm going to turn things around by enjoying a super fun weekend with one of my best friends, who is visiting to celebrate our birthday week!

I hope you have a brighter weekend too (and if the sun is actually shining where you live, I am jealous!)

what we've been eating

First of all...holy thunderstorm flash flood deluge! Northeastern Illinois just got hit with an enormous two day storm system. The Chicago suburbs apparently got hit the worst, and if you live out there, I hope your basement and car are safe and dry! The city was pretty flooded too. On the way to work this morning I drove through some ponds so deep that my power steering wonked out for a scary minute. We've definitely made up for last year's drought by now!

I thought I'd share the recipes Ben and I have tried (and liked) this week. After years of striving, I've finally mastered the weekly meal plan so that all our meals are scheduled in advance and we can usually get all the groceries we need in one trip. This routine saves a lot of time and hassle, especially now that I'm working full time and can't run to the store on a random weekday morning anymore! 

On Saturday or Sunday (aka whichever day we run out of food), I'll go through my latest cooking magazines (Cooking Light and Rachael Ray are my favorites), blogs, my extensive cookbook collection, and Pinterest to find some yummy looking recipes to try. I rarely make the same thing more than once!

Here's what we ate this week:

Chicken Parmesan...

 ...that we paired with Greek Salad

Slowcooker Beer and Brown Sugar Kielbasa and Sauerkraut  

(delicious but your entire house will smell like sauerkraut, be warned)

Zucchini Mini Muffins 

(the batter was quite dry, I'd recommend adding some more milk or applesauce)

Have you tried any good recipes lately?