Renegade Craft Fair // Chicago

This weekend, I went to the Renegade Craft Fair for the second year in a row. I celebrated the anniversary of my first date with Kyla from House of Hipsters (remember last year?) and I coaxed Grace from The Big Reveal into coming to Chicago to join us, woohoo! I also found out that two girls from my bible study sneak downtown every year untethered by telling everyone they're going to a "craft fair," which sounds like a seriously repugnant way to spend a day. Genius. We totally bombed their date and I enjoyed every minute of their company, but to preserve their secret I will leave them unnamed here. Suffice to say, with gorgeous weather, great friends, and Instagram-candy abounding, I had the best time ever.

I can't wait to give you the scoop! (And unlike last year when I was, for the most part, so shy all I could do was sneak pictures and steal business cards and hope the makers didn't notice, I actually mustered the courage to TALK to these sweet people this year. Oh my goodness, shyness makes you miss out on the world! They were ALL so lovely. I felt like I left with a hundred new friends).

Now. Since I know you're all drooling over the wall hanging in that header photo, we'll just start with her- it's the 5-Strand Mobile by fail. Absolutely positively stunning, and her jewelry was equally perfect.

Also unlike last year, I knew better than to hope I'd get through this thing in two hours. Bound and determined to see every. last. booth, and in spite of certain distractions like Tacos-in-a-Bag, girl-crying on curbs, over-consumption of coffee, small bladders, and total lack of morning time-management, we made it to ALL of them, crossing the finish line at exactly 10 minutes after every maker had a well-deserved beer in hand. Due to this proud accomplishment and the ensuing brain glaze that comes from seeing too much good stuff in too short of a time, I can't chronicle the day with any sense of order like I did last time.

All that to say, here are pretty things I saw, in rapid succession and no particular order:

Loved the yummy stuff from The Good Hippie.

My money is on the Detroit Card Co. to be the next Anna Rifle Bond, especially for her "Be Kind" print and clever greeting cards.

{This year's Perfect Mani Award goes to Grace.}

Great styling and yummy smelling boy stuff at O'Douds.

Simple, graphic prints from Sean Mort (a really super nice guy).

Cute banners and pennants at Little Skunk Co. 

A charming flamingo print and zipper clutch at Louise Dean Design.

Whimsical animal prints by CW Drawings.

Candles should have cool labels and delicious smells. Check and check at Detroit Rose Candle Co.

I'm kicking myself for not buying these prints from Stay Home Club. 

This plywood art would look great in my boys' room. By Ply.

I was stopped in my tracks by the artwork on these tea towels, at my favorite booth of the fair: Yao Cheng Design. 

I felt like I could just swim in this Wisteria print.

I took way too many pictures of her booth but it was kinda like standing in a dream, so it had to be done.

Delicate gold jewelry and a fun wall hanging at Cities in Dust Jewelry.

This one was great fun- I found Aron, of Facture Goods, through our Instagram hashtag #foundforaged - so it was super cool to meet him and see his work in person.

Here was another great stop- Rebecca from Territory and Emily from Maya Mueble had piles of textiles and swoon-worthy home goods (such as this blanket, be still my heart). And they are like, THE sweetest women.

I could not resist coming home with this calendar for my daughter, from Hillary Bird Illustration.

Camping essentials like wood coasters and hipster pennants at Camp Hunt Co.

Cozy flannel scarves at Tucker & Scout. 

I snagged this Octopus Print by Repeater Printing, thinking it will be great against the navy walls in my guest room. The artist, Jason O'Grady, shared a booth with his brother and they were both awesome.

Grace and I were drawn in by the packaging on these soaps at Change Soap Co., but came away with a new BFF in creator/ designer Tina Ersig. She was so kind and fun (I'm sorry I'm saying that about all of them, but it's true!), and whatever oil (I think it was this one) she put on my hands is still making them soft days later.

Peg + Awl had GORGEOUS bags. In addition to their leather, I was obsessed with the canvas bags that came in a perfect indigo hue.

Cool maps and city-specific prints at Mr City Printing.

Should we talk about how badly I want both of these for the playroom? Probably not. Illustrated maps by Monorail Studio.

I have a slight dish towel problem, and have banned myself from buying any more. Like, ever. But oh this one...surely I should make an exception. Navy Chambray Criss-Cross by Little Minnow.

Marbled blue & white porcelain at Leah Ball. 

This guy. He was so dear! I am sad I didn't have his great smile in my camera roll at the end of the day. Is that weird? 419 Trading Co.

The darlings at FOUNT have my heart, as do their bags. I have the privilege of owning their Bellfield Tote, and the quality is outstanding.

And there you have it! A very condensed version of a shopping marathon so robust it was definitely the only exercise I'll need for at least the next 3 months.

Congratulations to all the amazing artists and talented makers who carted their wares to Chicago and worked so hard to make this the grand day that it was- and, at the risk of sounding like Socality Barbie- for sharing a piece of yourselves- it is a brave thing to do.

weekend in the city

i really don't get to the heart of downtown chicago very often. i tell people it might as well be texas for all the hassle it can be to fight traffic from the 'burbs. but on saturday, a birthday party for this girl (so cool it had its own hashtag) enticed me, and ryan and i decided (half last-minute, half accidentally...long story, ask me sometime) to make a weekend of it in the city.

normally we're fastidious planners and this weekend was anything but fastidiously planned. we basically booked a hotel on priceline and then wandered from there. it was a ton of fun...truly perfect, and i thought i'd share some of the places & spaces we found.

first item on any perfect city weekend wishlist is a great hotel. you don't have much choice on priceline, but we didn't really care, and we ended up at the swissotel near michigan avenue and the trump and all that fancy stuff. i'd never heard of it, but it was pretty great!

it had crazy lights in the lobby...

and a spectacular view of the city from our room.

i forgot to tell you that our first stop was actually a target after dropping the kids off with my friend holly (awesome, amazing woman that she is) so that ryan could watch me agonize over whether or not to buy the half-off-in-stores-only altuzzara booties. i should also mention that siri gives terrible directions in the city, especially if you find yourself on lower wacker drive, a place i didn't know existed and never want to be again. think gotham. (true story, chicago is where they filmed batman. i totally get why now).

shortly after check-in, i got my first call from one of my children...our oldest (at age 8) was sad and missing mom. some kissy face pictures and emoji texting cheered him up.

he had never emoji-texted before. it escalated quickly. i'm not sure how alarmed i should be at the amount of bombs and guns he sent me.

we had dinner at morton's, which was very nice but felt a little stuffy, and also a little bizarre when the waitress took our picture and framed it in a happy anniversary frame. and yeah, waaaaay expensive. like, once every ten years expensive.

i was very curious to see how late i would sleep with blackout shades drawn and no kids to wake me up. i slept until 6:20 am. guess it takes a while to reset the mom clock or something. sheesh. morning light...

my darling husband got me a venti mocha and a chocolate croissant for breakfast. we had dubbed the weekend a belated getaway for our anniversary, but it's also ryan's birthday today, so we were celebrating two things. happy birthday ryan! this is a test to see if you're still reading.

i loved watching the city wake up. speaking of which, our waiter for brunch (at 12:30 pm) asked if we wanted a little more time to "wake up" before ordering. that was hilarious to me.

we left the hotel around 11, drove along lake shore drive and pulled over to watch the waves a minute. they were enormous! like ocean sized. the day was cloudy and sprinkly, but i loved how the clouds and light were soft and moody.

we then left the glittery side of town and spent the rest of the day over by wicker park. we stopped at unison, a new favorite store i found on my last trip downtown. ryan talked food with the sweet people manning the shop and i drooled over wool fall throws. we loved walking around wicker park, and ryan's biggest regret was skipping the opportunity to get one of these donuts.

we ate brunch at the carriage house. it was awesome, but i will warn you our portions were unreal small. if you're really hungry, order sides.

they served water in these great bottles, which i am sooo going to go find at hobby lobby or something for my next gathering. tons cuter than a typical pitcher. 

naturally i had to take a picture of their bathroom. confession time? i take tons of selfies in bathroom mirrors lately. i have no idea why.

after brunch, and after ryan's foodie conversation at unison, i thought i might have to just go on a food crawl for the rest of the day. but we decided to look through this post for some good shopping instead. it reminded me that salvage one has been on my bucket list for. ev. er. so we headed a couple miles away. surprisingly, street parking was quite available throughout the day, which was nice because we drove pretty much everywhere to avoid the chill and rain.

luckily, kyla had warned me the building didn't have very obvious signage, so we were prepared. a small sign on the door is all you can expect to see if you go:

most of the things in this store, like doors, windows, and hardware were pretty beat up (i guess that's why it's called architectural salvage) so they'd need some elbow grease. they had an incredible selection of giant letters and numbers, in case you're in the market for those. lots of mid-century furniture. old sinks and tubs that were virtually destroyed. the best part was really just seeing the space itself, which has become a popular chicago wedding venue. it was truly gorgeous, with treasures spanning three floors of goodness. when we came in, the guy behind the counter said to start at the top floor and work your way down. 

after all of this, we still had 4+ hours to kill before our party (dang hipster parties, starting at hours of the night that should be illegal for people our age!) so we went to a movie. seriously, there were so many moments during the weekend where i kept thinking, "what is this? where am i?" because it's so rare that we actually go to a movie or shop unencumbered by a stroller or wake up in the morning without little feet on our face. we saw kill the messenger with jeremy renner (i saw clips of it on the daily show and had really wanted to see it) and it was excellent. i think he's a great actor. attention marvel: DO the hawkeye movie.

finally, party time! the party was at the violet hour, which they say is a speakeasy. i thought that was just a gimmick until i experienced the crazy secrecy that surrounds this place. if you call, a real person doesn't answer. it's just a message with no option to leave one or reach a human. the door is completely camouflaged. i actually wouldn't have ever found it if i hadn't stalked the joint on instagram before heading over. there was a line that formed almost as soon as it opened, and i have no evidence those poor people ever got in. the whole bar was excessively dark (in a great way) and no one was standing. everyone had a seat, mainly in very high-backed groupings of cozy chairs. our hosts had booked a private event so we got to bypass the line and hang out in the back by the fireplace. it was really truly amazing, and i'd absolutely love to go back. 

this picture is actually from their instagram, because they don't allow cell phones in the place. whoa...see? crazy secrecy. all i got was a bathroom selfie. (this one's for you kyla).

and that was it! our chicago weekend. i left the glamour girl in the violet hour bathroom and we headed over to collect the kids first thing on sunday. i did really miss them. and then it was back to the suburban staples of life.

what did you guys do this weekend?