Kaycie's Birthday Weekend

Last weekend we celebrated what I like to call Kaycie's Birthday Weekend. We spent Saturday morning shopping at Forever 21 then went to the Grand America for afternoon tea. What could be better than shopping and finger sandwiches, scones and lemon curd. Love it.
Then we drove to our hotel and waited for our show at Hale Center Theater to start. We saw Treasure Island and really liked it.
The next morning we woke up to a day filled with rain so we could not go to the Swap Meet. So Kaycie and I went to Petsmart and bought treats for the dogs.
Fun filled weekend.....I can't wait until next year!

Store I would like own

Every so often I have the crazy desire to open a pet boutique and sell cute animal related items. Last night I read about this cool pet store Orange Bone that only sells shelter and rescue puppies and older dogs along with pet treats and accessories. They were featured in the magazine I was reading because of their fantastic store design.....totally modern looking in all orange and white. I love it!

Rememeber to Visit This Store

I just found about this retail store in PA owned by the Anthropologie group of stores. It is called Terrain At Styers It is a nursery, cafe, landscape and home furnishing store. I love this! How can I get to PA on a work trip?

Photos from here.

Papa Bubble in NYC

This is a photo of a candy shop in NYC. I have never been there but I found this photo and I think those bottles are so cool and it would so fun to have a wall like that in my house filled with spices and flavorings.

More Anthropologie Honey Windows

Bee Update

Oh the little bees are growing up and they need more room so last week I built and painted new boxes to add to the top of the hives......yes yes I built them with my own two hands.

As they are growing up they are becoming more aggressive. Usually they are fun to watch as they fly in and out of the hive but every afternoon around 4 o'clock there are thousands of them flying in and out of the hive and circling around the hive. I have to admit that it scares me a little bit. I am not sure why they do this but it freaks me out and I think.....now why did I want bees?

Candy in the Windy City..........

Last week I made a quick trip to my favorite city..........

Chicago

 for the NCA Candy Show.  I found lots of inspiration for new products and a few new suppliers.

It was a successful show.

One of my favorite parts of Chicago is of course the food............

  We ate at a fabulous tapas bar  named 1492.   

I loved it.  It was so fun to try a new place.  We each ordered 4 plates and shared.  After dinner we walked up Michigan Avenue.  It was so beautiful the weather was perfect and all of the flower beds were filled with tulips and other beautiful flowers.  

The next night we had dinner at one of my favorite places in all of Chicago

The Weber Grill.  

This restaurant is owned by the Weber Grill company.  Most of the food is cooked on Weber Grills in an open kitchen that pass by as you walk to your table.  

I love open kitchens. 

This is one of the rare occasions where a hamburger sounds so good and it is usually the one hamburger I eat a year.  I was ready to order the same hamburger that I have ordered every year for the past at least 5 years when the server came around to take our orders she suggested the meatloaf.  I decided to step outside the box and tried the meatloaf........holy cow delightful!  

Across the street from my hotel was argo tea.  This is a tea cafe that I stopped in every morning before I went to the Candy Show and every night before I went back to my room.  

I tried a Chai Latte, Bubble Tea and Red Velvet Tea.  The Red Velvet was fantastic it was made with red tea, raspberry and white chocolate.   I have never tried bubble tea, I don't think it was my favorite......the black chewy pearls in it freaked me out.  I wish I would have been in Chicago a little bit long because there were a lot of other flavors I would have loved to try.....oh well next time I guess.