The Sarcastic Blonde

fashion, food, fitness + a dose of sarcastic gossip

Lifestyle, weekend recap

weekend recap

I headed south to visit my family this weekend and it was so nice to be home. 
I brought a treat for my future nephew from Chicago. 
 My sister made the most amazing dinner.
Ina Garten’s Meatballs with spaghetti.  I have NEVER tasted a meatball this great. 
 She also made the cutest dessert – mini oreo cheescakes! 
 We went and registered for my wedding china…. take one guess as to which direction this is going…. 

obviously I added these to the list as well. 
 checking out the chargers – monogram options for script/block, center/top of plate
 The Christmas china is a fortune – all of it is hand painted and the price sure as hell shows it.  I won’t be registering for any of these because of that, but hopefully over the years I can collect a few pieces because I just love it. 

Oh, and update from the book club front: 
The Interestings was awful.  Seriously Disappointing. 
anyone else read it? thoughts? 

I’m happy to be home and back to my devoted DVR.  He’s always so happy to see me. 
So many shows to catch up on – How I Met Your Mother, Big Bang Theory, Modern Family, Project Runway, Revenge, Homeland… the list goes on and on. 


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book club, Lifestyle

Mish Mash

I have a mish mash of topics for today to share. 
First of all, a delayed Monogram Monday.  I received an e-mail last week from a reader named Lauren and it made my day! 

 She is a southern transplant that recently moved to Chicago, and she and her friend have an incredible shop called Nico and Lala featuring customizable gifts, stationary, custom invitation, and event branding.  
 monograms in the envelope liner? yes, please! 

Obviously my heart when pitter-patter when I perused all of the amazing things they sell online, not to mention how incredible the custom invitations of theirs could be for upcoming showers and parties! With friends weddings coming up, a new set of stationary would be the perfect gift.
all photos via Nico + Lala

Their blog is also great – it features amazing parties and weddings on a regular basis.  So go check out their items – they are having a 20% off flash sale right now with code FLASH20! 

Next up: Book Club.

The last month or two I have been reading like crazy (well… everyday. For me that is crazy.  I normally stare at the television until my eyes cross.) 
“They” say (you know…. those people everyone always refers to but no one knows who the hell “they” are) using electronics before bed can mess with your head and mess with your sleep schedule, so I have been trying to avoid perusing blogs, instagram, and pinterest before bedtime.  

Instead, I shut off all the electronics by 9 and start reading.  {I feel like such a grown up. Does dumb crap like this make other people feel old? Like…. Making the bed in the morning? Who am I and why do I suddenly care about the damn pillows!?} 

okay sorry…. so the first edition of old lady book club: I try to alternate “chick books” with more mainstream “intellectual” novels so that my fiance and friends don’t judge me too much. 

The same author as Gone Girl (the greatest book ever). I found it creepy and disturbing, but I also was always interested to find out what would happen and how it would end.  A very quick read.  Her other book Dark Places is on the list of ones to read. 


Like most of Sophie Kinsella’s books, it is super cheesy and lighthearted, but sweet and funny too. It’s a quick read, probably because not many brain cells are required, but that makes me like it even more. 


I loved, loved, loved this book.  My future mother-in-law gave this to me and she always gives me the best books.  It takes place in the 40’s and has romance as well as history all mixed into one. Each chapter alternates from the present to eight years prior in the past.  It’s the perfect beach read – and a warning, it’ll leave you wanting to drink gin and tonic and smoke the whole time you read it, because they are doing it constantly. 


This is another one of the NYT Best-Sellers.  It was different than expected….. It tells the story of a few friends over the course of a few years.  It was not as good as I had hoped…. I kind of never understood what the point of the book was? 


In my opinion, do not read this.  Another NYT best-seller, but it was completely opposite of what I was expecting.  The review says it’s about “the impossible, haunting power of love – obsessive love, illicit love, fading love, maternal love.”  Umm…. right up my alley! But no.  Every other word is a curse word (and I don’t mean f-bombs or sh*t, or even the horrid c-word…. it was all kinds of bad language).  Each chapter is a story about losing love, and it was NOT the kind of sappy-crap I was looking for.  It was sad, yes, and I’m sure in a critically-acclaimed-writing-way it was well written, but it was truly filthy. No gracias. 


I love, love, loved The Devil Wears Prada and this did not disappoint either.  Like the first, it is a quick read, but it takes the characters down paths you don’t expect and it perfectly picks up where the last left off. 


This is my current read…. I’m in the beginning of it, but so far I like it.  I love books that span a length of time, past and present, and this is just that – friends from summer camp but in the present day. 

What are you all reading?
What should be next on the list? 
Was this enough rambling to annoy the crap out of you? 


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Lifestyle, weekend recap

Weekend Recap + Monogram Monday

Thursday night (we’ll just pretend that counts as the weekend)
 my friend and I tried Homeslice for the first time in Lincoln Park.  
It has an amazing back courtyard, and yes the El can get a little noisy, but the food and atmosphere make it completely worth it.  I can’t wait to go back. 

Dinner with friends Friday at her new place, with lots of wine, pizza, and girl talk. 
sorry – stole your photo, Al, mine sucked 🙂 

We ran errands downtown, and had a pitstop between stores at Quartinos for some sangria and fondue.
It also didn’t hurt that the al fresco dining made for incredible people watching while everyone stumbled home from Lollapalooza.
All of their food is seriously crack, but my latest obsession is this fondue. 
Kip used to live right next door, and it made me miss being in River North every weekend. 

I couldn’t be more obsessed with today’s Monogram Monday. 
I have always wanted one of the big Louis Vuitton carryall’s, but no way was that going to happen. 
At one point my friend knew a Chinese website that sold amazing fakes, but alas, when I went to pull the trigger it had already been shut down… 
So… While I was in NYC, my friend Natalie brought my attention to this bad boy. 
Not only is it the exact same size as those beauteous designer bags,
it has great pockets inside for all the knick-knacks, 
it is so inexpensive, and I ordered it with free monogramming and free shipping. 
Be still my monogram obsessed heart. 
ha, see what I did there. #loser 


if you aren’t already a follower, please follow! 
only one more to 300 🙂 


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Lifestyle, weekend recap

Monogram Monday

I had a lovely weekend, with nothing to show for it.
Not one single picture…. 
what has come over me!? 
I’ve just been wanting to use that gif for awhile,
so why not today? 
Greatest line ever.
I think we all have someone we wish we could say that to.  
Lord I miss that show! 
hahahahaha. 
I digress….. 

For today’s monogram monday,
something slightly different.
My friend mentioned something about still needing to pick out 
hardware for her new home, 
and if I had a new place with my name on it,
these would definitely be part of the plan: 
via The Nanz Company

monogramed hardware? 
Gimme Gimme! 
  
xoxo

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Lifestyle, weekend recap

Weekend Recap + Monogram Monday

Happy June!! 
I hope you all had a great weekend! 
Mine kicked off perfectly, with brunch at Southport Grocery.
 Saturday was beautiful in the morning, and then became a disgusting mess as the day went on.  We watched the hawks game at a friends place, but honestly I spent more time watching the vacant bakery that has been across the street for forever get torn down.  The guy that works that crane must make some serious bank.  He made something so difficult look so easy. It was gone in no time.  Sounds so stupid, but it really was mind blowing. 
Bleeding Heart Bakery
 The BHB in the center part of the sign up there…. 
I sent Kip down to ask the construction men for it.  It looks amazing. (of course I didn’t take a pic of it up close, whoops. and it’s really heavy so it is still in our friends garage).  I’m trying to figure out if we should paint it or how we should refinish it.  
I was lucky enough to eat at Quartino’s twice this weekend.  Last night was to celebrate this little lady’s birthday.  After the 9 million meals I have had there, I had no idea that they had cheese fondue on the menu.  It’s possibly even better than their tortellini. 

and now for Monogram Monday: 
With beach + pool weather finally here, 
these towels from Haymaket Designs are calling my name. 

literally. 

they have so many styles on their website.
along with a ton of other amazing monogram gifts. 

xoxo

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Lifestyle, wedding

errr…. wedding wednesday

this just feels so strange….. 
I’m so used to my wishlist wednesday! 
so today I am going to combine both…. 
because not being able to look at pretty dresses would drive me crazy.  

so for my first attempt at this, I’m going to keep it super general with some random samplings from weddings that I just find pretty and gorgeous 
…. and things I hope there will be at our wedding. 
and a video at the end. 

There will be cute food, and lots of it
There will be hydrangeas…

There will be monograms…
(“there will be monograms” is the biggest understatement of the year.
this bitch is going to go crazy). 

and there will be sparklers. 

and in the coming year,
there is finally the option of cute little white dresses! 
wa-hoo!! 





with the stress of the next year ahead,
I’m definitely going to need some of the below meds.
how am I supposed to compare? 

xoxo
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