Weekend Rewind: Blogger Event, Brunch At Summer House Santa Monica + Drink Tasting At The Aviary

Happy Sunday my dudes! Hope everyone had a great weekend. I am coming off a jam-packed last couple of days and am beyond ready for sweats & the 5+ hours of Bachelor in Paradise I still need to catch up on. Before I get into hibernation mode for the night, I thought I would give this Weekend Rewind series another go…

In full honesty, my weeks are usually pretty boring and uneventful. I have about three weeks left on my current project (I work full time in tech consulting, in case you’re new around here!), and shit has been CRAZY. We’re trying to get a whole bunch of development work out the door before my team rolls off, so the pressure is on; you can definitely sense the tension in the air, and I’ll be the first to admit that I’m officially burnt out. The hours have been insane, the pace has been tough to keep up with over the last few months, and I feel like I barely have time to breathe during the week. Sooo yeah, pretty much M-F I’m at my client office trying my best to hustle and fix shit and not cry every five minutes. Kidding. Work toughened me up a looong time ago and it would take something spectacular to break me at this point (famous last words). That said, my weekends are really where it’s at, I’m not about to subject anyone to being forced into reading about my work woes, SO I’m gonna keep things fun and light and talk about all the things that made this week great 🙂

Thursday

Okay, cheating here slightly; let’s just pretend Thursday counts as the weekend. I find that planning fun things during the week is the key to not being miserable amidst 4 days of working and prevents you from only living for the weekend. Which I try my best not to do! Most of the events I go to through the blog fall on weeknights, and I try to take advantage of them as much as I can. I was so excited to get invited to the opening of the new Hampton Social location that just opened up in Chicago’s Streeterville neighborhood. You may know it as the super cute restaurant with the “Rosé All Day” neon pink sign, which everyone will be happy to know is featured at the new location as well. I’ve been to some pretty shwanky events in my day, but this opening party was LIT. It was open bar, and they were featuring about 10 different cocktails from their menu; I low key got super ~fun~ and had a passion fruit mojito, a glass of peach frosé, and their “Sea of Lavender” cocktail, which features rosé vodka, lemon, and lavender. Servers were passing around appetizer sized portions of dishes from the menu, including manhattan-style lobster rolls, shrimp tacos, sliders, and the most insane brussels sprouts with honey, chopped nuts, and some sort of creamy, savory sauce… Legit nothing makes me happier than when an event has bomb food. The new location is two stories, the top floor having an awesome patio with pretty cool city views. They had prosecco pong set up on the second floor, as well as bags/cornhole and cute little photo ops.

I went to the event with my friend Katy, who fun fact, is both a blogger friend and a “work” friend. I only realized we worked for the same consulting firm as me after we had become Insta friends; our company is so, so big, but when I noticed she had “tech consultant” in her bio I looked her up on our company’s People Page and low and behold there she was. Such a small world, especially since fashion blogging and tech consulting don’t exactly go hand in hand. She’s a blogger over at Out & About and features the most perfect work outfits, everything she wears is perfect for weekend wear too. Which for me is the biggest issue I have about buying work clothes. She’s the cutest, definitely go check her blog out!

Oh yeah, and we may or may not have shown up wearing the exact same BB Dakota plaid blazer… Lol. I swear to god at least 10 people had some sort of comment to say about it. We were quite popular.

Friday

Friday I worked from home, but very sadly had to work incredibly late. I get really bad barometric headaches (often when it rains or there are changes in weather it causes the barometric pressure to lower, which can create a difference in pressure between the air outside and the air in your sinuses, causing headaches for some people), and no amount of Advil or peppermint oil was enough to kick it. So, I suffered for the duration of the entire day. I did power through to have a nice late night dinner with my parents, then came home and worked on some designing for the blog, so not a total wash.

Saturday

Saturday was good to me. I had plans that I had legit been looking forward to for weeks, and it was the only thing powering me through my crazy week at work. The universe loves me sometimes and today was one of those days; it was 68 degrees, overcast, the ultimate cozy fall day, and I could not have been happier.

One of my really good family friends was in town, so the two of us got a late brunch at Summer House Santa Monica. I’ve been a few times, but not in forever. Seriously every time I’ve called to try and make a res for brunch they’ve been booked solid. It was well worth the wait, and just as cute and delicious as I remember! They also have an unreal bakery counter which I somehow was able to restrain myself from…

My friend Ellie ordered the brussels sprouts salad with hash browns, and I got The Jalapeno Cruncher egg sandwich, which holy fucking shit was SO GOOD. I am by no means an egg sandwich kinda girl, but wow. Crispy fried egg, avo, tomato, mayo, jalapeno kettle chips and a buttery, toasted brioche bun. And a really sad side salad, but not the point. Highly recommend, this sammy was divine. We both got The Weekender cocktail, which was a super simple mix of gin, matcha, and lime.

Liquid Leggings (Aritzia) / Striped Skull Tee (Lauren Moshi) / Duster Coat (Aritzia) / Leather Sneakers (M. Gemi) / Bag (Louis Vuitton)

I took full advantage of the fact it was actually a bit chilly, and busted out my new Aritzia duster coat, paired with my fave new leggings, also Aritzia, and casual sneakers and a tee. I was feeling this look infinitely more than anything I’ve worn over the last few months, so safe to say I’m ready for some fall fits!

My best friend of almost 10 years just moved back from Dallas, where she was doing Teach For America. It’s been so, so good having her back; I joke that it feels like we’re back in high school, because we’re both living at home with our parents, 5 mins away from each other, and it’s the first time in like 6 years that we haven’t been living states apart. It’s the best. Saturday morning she took the LSAT, so we booked a super fun night at The Aviary to celebrate her taking her exam.

The Aviary, part of the notorious Alinea Group, features over the top crafted, experiential cocktails, and small bites. This was my second time going and it did not disappoint. You book your table and select your experience ahead of time; you can elect for the 7-course drink and full tasting menu, the 3-course drink progression experience, or order anything a la carte. We opted for the 3-course, so we each got plenty of cocktails to try, along with a ton of food.

Food: Fried dill pickles and a dill dipping sauce, which I’ve decided I strait up need at my wedding, and the Truffle Explosion, which was featured on Netflix Chef’s Table. It’s a cross between a ravioli and a soup dumpling; you’re instructed to pop the whole thing in your mouth and then sit back and involuntarily make mmmmmm noises. Mmmmm truffles.

Drinks (left): A herbal, spicy, bright and fresh cocktail featuring chareau, which is an aloe and cucumber liqueur, and some sort of ice cube that had spicy pepper juice in it, so as it melted, the drink got hotter. The super smart servers paired the drink with our order of fried dill pickles and the two complimented each other perfectly.

Food (right): The craziest salmon poke I’ve ever had. It was topped with a layer of frozen avocado and sesame seed dollops, with crispy rice, salmon, and other yummy flavors hidden underneath.

Drinks (left): The tropical, brightly colored drinks were pineapple juice based, and had these house made whiskey balls that you were instructed to stir around and try and pop. I found this drink to be a little one dimensional and on the sugary side; I could only stomach about half of it before I started getting a headache unfortunately.

Drinks (right): These were SO cool. They were a cereal inspired cocktail, so they tasted delicious, and they also had awesome presentation. The whiskey based drinks came in a bag filled with aromas, cinnamon, cloves, etc; when the waiter brought them over, he cut open the bag with scissors and instructed us to inhale the scent before drinking. Just the right amount of sweetness and the perfect drink to end the night.

Overall, as to be expected with The Alinea Group, the drinks and food were inventive and creative, and the entire experience was really special. I will definitely be going back some point in the future!

And that pretty much wraps up my weekend… Sunday has been a somewhat lazy day; I got a work out in, worked on the blog, and caught up on some shows. For sure going to get in a bit of journaling later and work on this exercise journal I’m beyond obsessed with, 52 Lists For Happiness, which is my favorite thing to do before bed on a Sunday night. It really helps make me feeling grounded and ready to take on the week ahead.

Thanks for reading beebs!