LiBW is MOVING!

Living in Black and White is taking after its writer and moving to a swanky new address! I decided to join the Chicago Now blogger network and will continue with my posts at: http://www.chicagonow.com/living-black-white/. Very exciting! This site will stay live so you can check out old posts, but anything after this post will be at the new address. I hope you all make the transition with me and check out other amazing Chicago Now bloggers while you’re there. Thanks for all the support over the past year, it’s been a blast!

 

Acoustic Jams

Last night Chris and I went to an acoustic concert featuring the band Augustana at the venue Double Door in Wicker Park. We saw them play last year at Park West and absolutely fell in love with them. Chris was more familiar with them than I was – I basically just knew the Boston song. I now consider myself a seasoned fan, especially after hearing lead singer Dan Layus sing with only a guitar and keyboard (and the occasional harmonica) last night. His vocals are beautiful and the songs he writes are so inspiring. If you haven’t heard the song “Alive” (not yet officially released on an album yet, but you can find videos of it on YouTube.) you must immediately listen to it! I love how his music is all about his wife and kids and he always calls them out during his performances (yes, he’s taken ladies, a real shame, I know).  Here is a cell phone shot I took of Dan that captures his passion for music.

A Jewish girl’s first real Christmas

I am not much of a festive holiday person, in general. I like the holiday spirit for about 3 days and then purposely don’t turn on the radio after I’ve reached my limit of Christmas music. I always associated this non-festiveness with my lack of gift buying creativity and altogether annoyance with people turning religious holidays into Hallmark holidays, but now I am beginning to think my feelings are due in large part to the void I was feeling when it came to Christmas time. Sure, I have some great family memories of Hanukkah growing up (a present a night for 8 days!) but nothing beats a full out, no holds barred, Christmas extravaganza! This year I got to experience the whole sha-bang with my boyfriend’s family out in the Western Suburbs. Santa sure was good to us. He filled up my stockings with tons of goodies I would never splurge on such as colorful pens (I have an obsession with school supplies), fun nail polish, and a whole slew of drug store loot. Chris got my what every girl dreams of, a Tiffany Necklace (not a ring, calm down) and Chris’ parents and sister got me a whole gaggle of clothes and other fun girl stuff. Here are some pics:

Chris and I before the present opening began

 

Chris used painters tape and old pink wrapping paper he found in his parents’ basement 5 minutes before it was time to open presents. Yes, this giant box held only a tiny necklace.

 

Digging away

 

Chris’ dreams came true when he opened my gift (that he picked out), a light saber (not a life saver as one of my friends thought I said)

Hanukkah Dinner 2012 – Seafood Style

So we didn’t do the traditional latkes and brisket for Hanukkah this year, no sir. We did a 180 of that and had a delicious meal at the world famous, Bob Chinn’s in Wheeling. My parents, Chris and I had an amazing time munching on calamari, snow crab and insanely good desserts. I sorta missed the whole Jewish family time, but I can’t complain about the food or the company. This restaurant has been a staple in my family’s lives for many years so I was overjoyed to bring Chris there to celebrate the holiday season. Not only is the food insanely delicious, but it’s also one of the top grossing restaurants in the US which says a lot for how efficiently the business is run. If you haven’t been yet, you need to check it out. It’s worth the trek to the burbs, I promise!

Cookie Exchange

My office is currently in the midst of a massive COOKIE EXCHANGE. No later than 9:00 AM we all laid out our creations in the center of the office and began tasting everyone’s baked delights. Sure, this may seem extremely unhealthy and like a stomach ache waiting to happen, but it’s almost Christmas and there’s nothing like wrapping up last minute projects on an extreme sugar high.

And yes, I did bake. And yes, I did have supervision (thanks Chris). Below are my pumpkin cookies (from a box, but delicious nonetheless) and some snapshots of our table of sugar heaven.

These can’t be for real…

Someone please tell me this trend is not catching on to the mainstream. I don’t know about you, but not only to these look absolutely ridiculous, they seem to defy laws of gravity that allow bipedal beings to walk on two feet. I mean COME ON!

The Button Down Dilemma

Ok, there is nothing I love more (on other people) than a clean, crisp button down shirt. I unfortunately have been cursed with a body type that just does not take to the button down layout. I have a pretty short torso, really narrow shoulders, and not much give in the chest region if ya know what I mean . Because of this, I just opt to never try on or purchase button downs, until now. My recent obsession with j.crew has been taunting me lately with fun colors, prints and patters that I just couldn’t pass up. After Cyber Monday shopping and finding out all the j.crew factory button downs were 40% off, I gave in and bought a leopard top. I am wearing it today and so far, so good. It is loose enough to fit in all directions, but not so big I look like a little kid wearing my dad’s work shirt. I threw it on under a faux fur cream vest and feel very Rachel Zoe-esq. For all you button down avoiders out there – head on over to the j.crew Factory Site and enjoy a button down of your choice for $35.50 – you’ll thank me later!