Hi, friends! Happiest of Saturdays to all of you. It’s only 10am and I’ve been awake since 5am, doing laundry, grabbing coffee and then got in a SoulCycle class. My usual Saturday morning routine. I started writing this post last night as a part of my “Friday Favorites” but then fell asleep too soon to finish it… So, here we are! But this time I’m taking it a different route… 

I have done “Friday Favorites” posts in the past but I figured that this summer, it’d be fun and exciting to do a summer series of weekly tidbits going on in my life and what I’m up to this summer. It’s crazy how every summer I remember so much but never write it down. Certain experiences and people stick with me and I can’t forget them, so I always think, why write it down? Last summer I kept a journal and wrote it in it almost every week but it definitely wasn’t anywhere near as thrilling or optimistic as I plan for this series to be. Before the summer flies by before my eyes, I want to capture it on my blog and let you in on some of my favorite (summer) moments/things/places/people/whatever and share the joy that I find through my summer adventures.

Okay, first and foremost. Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams on Southport in Chicago (and in Lincoln Park, Wicker Park and soon-to-be Old Town). It is hands down my favorite ice cream in the country aside from Mitchell’s Homemade in Cleveland. Something about those Ohio-based ice cream companies have me swooning. If you haven’t been yet – you must go.

Their ice cream is super rich and creamy, contains high quality dairy from grass-fed cows and Jeni Britton Bauer (the founder) creates the most out of this world, exquisite flavors. Also, she is a lady boss who I admire 150% and she has cotton candy pink hair that I seriously wish I could rock. Anyways, I had the bramble berry crisp and ndali estate vanilla bean but I have to say – the pistachio & honey will be my favorite flavor until the day I die.

While my friend Sam and I grabbed cones last Saturday afternoon, we ended up running into our friend, Alex, who lives in Los Angeles. SMALL WORLD. It was so exciting. Hands down one of the best parts about meeting people from all over the country through my blog is that when I meet them, it’s like we’re instant best friends.

Before and after we got Jeni’s, Sam and I basically spent the whole day together and whenever we do, I feel so productive, positive and optimistic like nothing can go wrong. I have this new mindset this summer where I wake up every single day feeling unbelievably grateful that I finally have a job I love going to and I don’t have to work in an office, restaurant or place with a strict dress code on the weekends. I don’t have to wake up at 6am to get on a train to host or scan someone’s groceries like I’ve done the past two summers.

Instead, I can spend my weekends with a friend, going to art festivals, grabbing coffee and ice cream cones and checking out cute little shops like this one above – U.S. Apothecary.

How grateful I am now for everything I’m able to do just goes to show the hard work always pays off and the trivial difficulties in life truly do not matter in the end.

The week was filled with a lot of SoulCycle as usual but I finally had a moment of realization where I’m wanting to slow down a bit, not go as intense with my workouts and just breathe. I also have begun a partnership with Barre3 and as someone who got into fitness classes FROM doing barre, I’m so happy to do them again – but this time in the comfort of my own home.

My roommate and I currently have no living room furniture and only yoga mats so it’s the perfect mini workout room.

If you’re a fan of barre and don’t ever have time to fit in a workout besides in your own home, I definitely recommend Barre3! You can sign up for a 15 day online trial here, too. I am seriously just waiting for the day that it comes to Chicago 🙂

Next on my list of weekly summer favorites and things that I got into was this event hosted by Beautycounter at The Dawson in Chicago’s West Town neighborhood. I went with my roommate, Kelsey, and Sam and honestly it was just such a nice, relaxing night. It was one of the first events I’ve been to where I truly did not know anyone besides the people I came with and it was a breath of fresh air.

For those of you who are unfamiliar, Beautycounter is a skincare, makeup and bath & body product company that focuses on empowering individuals to lead a healthier life by focusing on what they put onto their body and how it matters just as much as what goes into our bodies. They focus on bringing safer products into the hands of as many people as they can and by doing that, they even have a “never list” on their site of ingredients they never use. It’s incredible.

I started using their products last month and have seen incredible changes in my skin. Their charcoal cleansing bar is my jam and literally the only thing I wash my face with. You can shop the rest of their products (like their dew tinted skin moisturizer) here.

Finally, to end my week off on a hungry note… on Thursday I attended an event with Siggi’s Dairy called “Breakfast for Dinner”. It was a spread of my dreams! The group that attended was split up into 4 mini groups to make different dishes as part of a cooking class and after about an hour, the meals were prepared and we sat down at a long family style table to feast.

Apples with yogurt and granola, fluffy pancakes with berries, a shakshuka with ricotta and peppers that was TO DIE FOR, a flatbread with caramelized brussel sprouts and a fried egg, a kale salad with shaved coconut and yogurt parfaits for dessert.

It was the best! I wish I went to more events like that. But now it has my mind rolling of how I want to attend a cooking class. May (my best blogger friend) was there and we decided we’re going to do a sushi cooking class together once this summer. I mean really, how fun does that sound!?

And that’s it for my week!

But before I go, I want to share with you guys some other favorites from the past 7 days of my life that I’ve seen around the inter web:

1. My friend, Alexis, has been my blogger inspiration since day 1. Truly, she is a remarkable human being and I can’t wait to meet her one day – especially after reading THIS post on how eating intuitively helped her LIVE intuitively. We all could learn something from her!

2. Body suits are super trendy and honestly… I’ve never been a fan. HOWEVER, I am dying over this one from Wear Lively. I need it. And all of the palm tree patterned things out there.

3. Lou & Grey and Madewell are the only places I really buy “nice” clothes ever. And when I mean “nice” I mean not athletic apparel. I just recently purchased these linen shorts from LOFT and am hardcore crushing. They’re like pajama bottoms.

4. Another summer dress added to my closet because truly that’s all I wear during these 90º days.

5. I’ve been reading this book called How To Be Here and it’s such an inspiration. Also a nice little getaway from the daily connection to social media.

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Ok, now that’s really all. Hoping to spend the day outside and get in a nap! I hope you all have a splendid weekend.

xo

This blog post contains affiliate links but all thoughts and opinions are my own, as always! Thanks for supporting this Chickpea, friends.