Last Weekend...

Bill and I spent last weekend in Chi-town.  We had a blast!  Let me share some of the things we did:

Friday night we saw rock legend Nick Lowe in concert. You may remember his big 1981 hit "Cruel to be Kind" (click here to see the video). I've been a big fan for many years, but this was the first time I've ever had to see him play live. It was a dream come true!

He played a great mix of his 80s hits and newer tunes but brought down the house with his versions of Elvis Costello's hits "What's So Funny 'Bout Peace Love and Understanding" and "Allison" (both of which Nick originally produced).  But I have to say that my favorite song of his is from the excellent At My Age album, and it's called "People Change."  Check out the audio here.

Saturday we headed over to Woodfield Mall. 

Bill told me it's the second largest mall in the USA, and after walking it, I believe him!  :-)  We had fun checking out all the stores.  Our favorite was Z Gallerie.  We're working on updating our living rom, and we got *tons* of great ideas from there.  Lots of clean lines, bright colors and unexpected accessories.  We're going to come up with something cool, I just know it!

I picked up some cute summer jewels at Aldo Accessories:

I'm loving the gold + bright color combos I'm seeing this spring.  And look how well these bracelets go with bright coral nail polish!

 

This art-deco inspired necklace is a cool addition to my jewelry box.  Aldo also sells a version with black stones, but the peachy-colored stones appeal to me more.  Strange, because I almost *always* go with black when I'm given an option.  Hmmm...maybe I'm growing up?  Nah!  ;-)

One of the other reasons for our trip was this:

Believe it or not, I've NEVER been to an Ikea store.  I've seen lots of cute decor ideas on Pinterest starring items from Ikea, but had never had the pleasure of seeing any first-hand. 

We stopped first at the cafe to get a drink.  I chose the Swedish Lingonberry drink.  Yum!

We didn't have a ton of time to poke around, but I still managed to find a couple of things I couldn't live without:  homemade popsicle molds and a fabric shade that I want to use somehow on my front door (more on that later, I hope).

I'm a happy camper!

Hope you had an equally fun weekend!