Well, I’m definitely late to the party – but it’s officially August! The first day of the month I announced to all my co-workers that summer’s officially over, and while I was mostly joking, part of me feels like summer’s slipping through my hands as the countdown to fall is officially on. I’m a little heartbroken about it, but at least I get really excited about switching to my fall wardrobe – silver lining right there 😉

The past month was a whirlwind between busy weeks at work, enjoying Chicago summers and trying to attend a few fun events and relaxing in between.Here are a few highlights of my favorite moments of the past few weeks!  I finally made it to see Refinery 29’s 29 Rooms for work, and it was so cool to see the Chicago rooms life in-person (rather than just on Instagram!). It was awesome to see it from a brand activation standpoint (and made the think of all the brands I work on and what we would do for those), and I loved so many of the rooms. I think this flower room was my favorite of all 🙂  I’ve been trying to workout more on the weekends, so I’ve spent the past few Saturday’s playing beach volleyball at North Avenue beach with friends. I played in high school and was pretty good, but I’ve definitely become a little rusty over the past 10 years. It’s been fun to get back in the swing of things – and celebrate with a cocktail at Shore Club after a long day playing in the sand.      Nike Chicago was kind enough to send me to Lollapalooza last weekend, and I had such a blast reliving my wilder, music-festival days. I went with my friend Molly (who was equally clothed as I was walking around Grant Park!). While we might have felt kinda old compared to the mostly teenagers there (we lasted 5 minutes trying to watch Post Malone, and Molly had to google who that was…haha!), I loved seeing BORNS, Walk the Moon, Bruno Mars and more artists in my hometown. I have to say, if you’ve never seen Bruno Mars live, you are missing out! It was seriously one of the best shows I’ve ever seen live.   One of the highlights (literally and figuratively!) of the last few weeks was getting my hair done by the amazingly talented Michael Canalé of Canalé Hair Salon at his Chicago location! Michael has highlighted and taken care of the hair of celebs like Jennifer Aniston and Carolyn Murphy – and I was so excited for him to work his magic on my hair! It turned out amazing (and he did it in record time on a Sunday morning) and I loved getting to know him and his team. When he’s not creating new hair products, styling celebrities or opening more salons, he’s working on making documentaries about social issues – which is pretty amazing. I’ve been using some of his products, and I’m excited to share the results in the coming weeks! If you’re a Chicago blonde looking for an amazing highlight experience – Michael is your guy for sure! I also went back to Madison for a few days to spend some much needed time with my family, and spent the afternoon tuning up my bike and riding around my old stomping grounds. I’ve been meaning to bike more this summer, so I teamed up with Lyft to pledge to ditch my car starting August 10th for a month and only use car sharing, biking, walking or taking public transportation. We’ll see how it goes, but I’m excited to add a little more biking back into my every day routine! And of course, I have to give a little love to Chicago in the summer, because it’s just that amazing. The shimmer of the sun on buildings, people smiling around town, patio season, stoop sitting – I always wish that summer in Chicago could last forever. But as I said, summer’s officially over! (JK, we have at least a few more weeks before we need to all start panicking….)

Okay, on another note – here’s what I need your help with!

I’m headed to Toronto today (this morning!) and I’d love love love to know if you’ve been before! Any tips of favorite places to go or things to see? I’m visiting a friend so I’m sure we’ll have a few fun things to do, but would love you recommendations if you have them! xx