Filed In: travel
weekly wander 01
photo credit we are the rhoads
Slowly but surely it’s beginning to feel like spring around here. There’s something in the air and I’m ready to explore and go on an adventure. I just keep thinking about packing my bags and taking a long road trip somewhere – great food, beautiful scenery, quirky boutiques, anywhere is good and everything is new. Here are a few things inspiring my wanderlust this week –
Traveler’s guide with an insider’s feel – Wildsam is a series of small books filled to the brim with information including interviews, hand-drawn maps, reflections and essays. Travel aficionados and natives will both love these little books which are equal parts travel guide and tribute. Wildsam has already released guides for Nashville, Austin and San Francisco and have plans to release four new field guides this year – Detroit and Brooklyn in the spring and another two in the fall.
Charming corner store – Amber Clohesy and her husband Ben run the neighborhood shop The Woodsfolk Family Store in Melbourne, Australia specializing in home goods and sweet gifts. The store stocks a wide range of products including locally handmade items such as dream catchers, cushions and tea towels, dozens of items from the US like greeting cards, leather goods, bags and camp stools and their entire line of products from their wholesale business Down to the Woods. I have a feeling I could spend hours in a shop like this.
Take me away – I love these photos taken by photographer Jennifer Chong from her recent trip to Argentina. Just looking at them makes me want to jet off to an exotic location. Iguazu Falls is high on my list of adventures the next time I find myself in South America. See more of Jennifer’s travels here.
let’s eat and drink | river west chicago
photo credit we are the barkers
I’m so proud of this city, and I loved living there so much that I thought I’d share some of my favorite spots with you – a guide if you ever visit Chicago or if you live here and want to try a few new places. Today I’m going to start with my old Chicago neighborhood – River West.
So, River West – it’s a tiny little neighborhood along Milwaukee from Grand to Chicago east of the Kennedy Expressway and west of the North Branch of the Chicago River and there are tons of fine dining and inexpensive cafes, wine bars and coffee shops. There’s an intersection at Grand, Milwaukee and Halsted with several great places – La Scarola, Iguana Cafe, Piccolo Sogno and The Dawson. River West also rubs elbows with some of the trendier neighborhoods in the city – Wicker Park, River North and the West Loop are all just a few blocks away. Let’s eat and drink –
kohler | wisconsin
Our weekend in Kohler consisted of long walks around the lake, steamy bowls of soup and Spotted Cows, ice skating followed by evening naps and long drawn out dinners. We spent Sunday morning getting pampered at the Kohler Waters Spa. I typically spend most of the winter season indoors avoiding the actual weather that comes with winter, but it felt so refreshing to change settings for a bit, get outdoors and explore a new place.
For Chicago folks who want to visit, the Village of Kohler is located on 419 Highland Drive in Kohler, Wisconsin about two hours north of Chicago and one hour north of Milwaukee.
photo credit kate zitzer
beach guide
Winter has settled in. It’s 16 degrees in Chicago today and this board has me dreaming of a beach vacation. I ‘d love to have the tie-dye tote, and seriously, how fun are those polka dotted sneakers? Also, don’t forget that beach print is on sale right now for $15. You can find it here.
Find these items – 1 Linda Farrow sunglasses 2 Shopbop blanket 3 Louise & Co denim shorts 4 Zara tie-dye shopper 5 Topshop nail polish 6 Rebecca Minkoff sunglasses pouch 7 J Crew hat 8 Madewell sneakers 9 Anthropologie journal 10 Forever 21 duffel bag 11 popsicle 12 River Island bikini bottoms 13 ModCloth earrings 14 Huffy bike 15 ModCloth straw hat 16 sandals 17 ASOS sunglasses