EvY at HomE

CHICAGO. That's right the city that was the backdrop for While You Were Sleeping and My Best Friend's Wedding will be our fourth of July hot spot this year. We're definitely gonna try to hit up a Cubs game and do some sight seeing. If you've been to Chicago, where shall we go and what should we do?

For the past few years I've wanted a certain coffee table for the office and then a few weeks ago I saw this image on design*sponge: It's a blue dot rectangle coffee table and if it looks familiar it's because Jenna Lyons has the desk version of it in her offices at J. Crew. It. Is. Perfect. There's a Blu Dot Store near work and I might check it out in person and see if it's as perfect as I imagine.  The office makeover is slowly coming together. The rug arrived on Thursday, paint is purchased, the new cover for the sofa is on it's way from Sweden. The part I'm hating on is the freaking curtain and hardware situation. I am just clueless about curtain coverage. What I need more than anything though is a weekend. This one will be full of family as Matt's cousin Bryan marries a lovely Latin lady. Not that I'm complaining. Woohoo. Hope your weekends are full of family. Nothing else matters.

The first party outdoors of course happened a day when the weather could have been a little warmer... but at least it didn't rain which it did the next day. Whew. Nothing like rain on an outdoor event, am I right Matt?  This was the first event I've done where things were done as a "group". We had a conference call about what the shower theme would be and who would do what in terms of food, favors, and decorations. I volunteered our house thinking no one would take me up on the offer but they did which put a lot of responsibility on me since it's my house and I volunteered to make the food. One girl bought the cokes, tater tots and root beer for floats, one lived out of state so she couldn't do anything, one had to work and couldn't come help us so me and another one did all of the setting up the night before and the day of. It's weird working with a group of girls and arranging things with girls because girls try to be so f****** polite and don...

The hardest thing about working on the outside of the house is the lack of instant gratification. Also, writing about and blogging about backyard makeovers are SO BORING until the big reveal where you are like wow that looks incredible, can't wait to hang out there! I know because when I read other people's makeovers for their backyard it sounds SO dang boring and I just skip everything. And instead of boring you guys with thoughts on the process, how about pictures of pretty outdoor spaces instead? I won't be boring you with photos until there's major strides. Sunset Magazine is amazing isn't it? Nothing like the west.

I haven't spoken much about the drive to work have I?  Since we've moved we've gone from an hour and a half drive each way to a half hour drive each way. If there's no traffic, we're talking about 20 minutes to get to work. We turn right at the Ikea, left past the 5 freeway, right where Nickelodeon overflow offices are, stay as the street curves past Warner Brothers, continue past Universal Studios, go over the hill, take the 101 south, exit by the capitol records building and the office is on the right. It's a neat little drive. We kept talking about how our lives were gonna change once we moved up here and believe me they have. When I get home, I'm no longer extremely exhausted. I have enough energy to make a meal or do something around the house and still be able to shower, watch a TV show, and cuddle with pets. And in the mornings I often have thoughts of "hmm, I would have been in traffic for an hour by now instead of just getting up."...

Recently two things happened that caused me to think about being a lady: 1) I went to a bridal shower. Not the one at our house that one was nice. 2) I watched the pilot episode of Mad Men again (for the third time). 3) I hosted a bridal shower. The bridal shower thing was odd because it hit me, as those sort of things always hit me, that I neither wanted to go to it because I hate bridal showers and baby showers and because if I have to go to them, I want to be as completely feminist and out of place as possible. The invitation and overall vibe called for a certain "proper lady" type of attire. It wasn't specified (actually we were specifically told we couldn't wear shoes in the house which infuriated me to no end but that's another story for another time) to wear a certain type of attire but the invitation was very specific about the type of event it was and what that would mean dress code wise. Which I just couldn't do. Under normal circumstances I ...

Ah yeah, the Portland hipster bathroom. Here's some goodies I think may work in there. The dark navy to black walls: must have. It's a tiny tiny boring bathroom, it needs some fun on the walls. Nothing her is very specific, I'm just trying to make an overall vibe. The only thing I own here is the toilet brush which Matt specifically told me not to buy and I fully ignored him. Sorry honey. Loveyou!

I knew Boston was special when Ali decided to move there but visiting Boston on the 4th of July in 2010 was unbelievable.  It also started the tradition of visiting a different US city every 4th of July but Boston really set the bar. Hearing the declaration of independence read at the site where it had been read to colonists in 1776 and having lunch where George Washington had lunch, you can only imagine. Every person I told that I was visiting Boston said "YOU WILL LOVE IT". And they were right. Boston, we love you and we're with you as you're hurting.