Chicago Spotlight: Michelle Tan

Part of the fun of moving to a new neighborhood is discovering new stores. Yay new shops!!

On my shopping adventures I found a cute little shop called Michelle Tan. Then I found out that Michelle Tan was a real person, and she owned the shop and could often be found there. This is her next to one of her designs:

Michelle Tan the shop carries clothing by Michelle Tan herself and a few other local Chicago designers. I was rather gaga for this structured jacket. That collar made me swoon.
But for the more traditional types, this skirt would be PERFECT for work. Not to mention that fit isn't a problem since Michelle Tan will measure you and make a custom skirt just for you. And at super reasonable prices. This skirt was (I think, I have a terrible memory) $100 and the jacket was $250ish. Maybe. Don't quote me on that. I just remember thinking they were reasonable.


I, myself, decided to do something totally out of the norm for me and bought this vest. It adds such fun to a tank or a jacket or whatever. I foresee myself wearing it a lot. I've worn it twice already and gotten a bajillion compliments on it.

And to go with that whole custom thing, there was only one vest left in the store and it was a size small, which miraculously fit me everywhere except the belt around the waist, it didn't have as much hangy part as I wanted. So for at no extra cost, Ms. Tan made me a new belt.

I also picked up this dress, by one of the other designers carried in the store. I was looking for something casual and cute to wear around with BabyWP on our strolls that could also be thrown in the wash. This dress fit the bill. I love the applique! [I came back from one of those said strolls when this picture was taken, so please don't judge how gross and tired I look]
So if you're in the area, check out Michelle Tan at 1872 N. Damen.

This Chicago Spotlight was not compensated. All opinions are my own.

Chicago Spotlight: Saks Fifth Avenue Chicago 10022-Shoe & Brian Atwood

I had the great privilege of being invited to the media unveiling of Saks Fifth Avenue Chicago's newly remodeled shoe department.

They remodeled it to look like Saks New York's shoe salon

That one is so big it has its own zip code: 10022-shoe, hence the name of this one.

I'm not going to lie, they definitely needed the remodel. The old shoe department was so sad and dark, not where you want to head to try on sexy designer heels. But the new one is so bright and airy and full of new designers they didn't carry before. And you know how I feel, the more the merrier!

Of course we had to check out the fabulous Brian Atwood collection.
This one was my fave. Who doesn't need a little sparkle in her life?

Speaking of sparkle...

And then sexy shoe god, designer Brian Atwood arrived to cut the ribbon.
Seriously, the man is gorgeous. I was drooling all over the floor. It was a little embarassing.

Once the ribbon was cut, it was time to wander 10022-Shoe and check out all the yummy shoes.

Seriously *drool*

Then I learned that Brian Atwood has a less expensive line called B Brian Atwood. That was fun to learn about. All the yumminess for half the price!

And then I started checking out shoes that were on people's feet.

There was plenty of good shoe watching at the event.

And then I got to meet the very yummy, very sweet Brian Atwood. *swoon*

In between swooning I did manage to spit out a question for Mr. Atwood and asked what he thought was the must-have shoe for fall. To which he responded "My shoe with ostrich feathers. That's a wow shoe, when you walk in anywhere in those, people will notice." And then I, being EWP, gave him this look like he was insane. OSTRICH FEATHERS are the must-have shoe for fall???? Are you kidding me???! And then seeing the incredulousness on my face, he quickly followed up with "And, you know, a platform pump is always good to have." Yes, a platform pump is always good to have. Ostrich feathers.... not so much.
Thanks for inviting me to the event, Saks! It was a blast and you better believe I'll be spending a lot of time at 10022-Shoe :)

EWP Review: Girl & The Goat

A couple weeks ago I dined at Girl & The Goat. You know I love my Top Chef restaurants, so I had to go. I had been back in November, but was on a ridiculously restricted diet because of my pregnancy and evil gallstones. I basically had soup and that's about it. Not the best way to experience a restaurant. I was dying to get back and actually be able to eat this time around.

Being the in demand restaurant that it is, we booked 3 months in advance to get a weekend reservation. Finally the day of the ressie rolled around, so we packed ourselves and BabyWP up and met my good friend Laura and her husband at Girl & The Goat.

We showed up and the first thing we were smacked with was a giant haze of smoke. And, no, it was not the patrons. There's a smoking ban in Chicago, but no one told the kitchen it seems. The smoke was coming from the cooking, and y'all, it was thick.

The second thing we were smacked with was attitude. The host station was not pleased about the presence of BabyWP. Mind you this is a casual restaurant where it wouldn't be weird to bring a baby, they have high chairs for pete's sake, and there were other children there! And we had an early Sunday evening reservation on purpose, as that's a more appropriate time to bring your kid to a restaurant, at least in my opinion. But the host was super upset that we made a reservation for 4 people when we were in fact, in his opinion, five people because we had a baby. I told him that BabyWP wasn't going to sit in a high chair and we were just going to hold her through dinner. That didn't seem to mean anything to the host. He then told me we couldn't sit at the four-top they had set up for us, and we had to wait for a bigger table. He assured me it would only be a few minutes.

I was annoyed because I did not understand how we still couldn't sit at a four top, and especially worried about the delay. When you go out with a baby, careful planning of naptimes and bedtimes and feedings happen in preperation so dinner works out. We could handle a bit of delay, but not a giant one. But we were assured it'd just be a few minutes.

FORTY-FIVE minutes later, we were finally led to a table..... a four-top. Umm..... so we couldn't sit at a four-top because we had a baby, so you made us wait forty-five minutes ... for another four-top???? It defied explanation.

We sat down and tried to shrug off the wait, breathe through the smoke, and not think about the meltdown that was sure to happen mid-dinner as the delay would put us into bedtime before we got the check. There was food to eat, and great food can cure all ills.

Except this wasn't good food. It was mediocre. I mean, it was fine, but it wasn't anything I would go out of my way to eat again. Like Pirennial Virant, it was shared small plates. Unlike Pirennial Virant, I was not excited about anything I ate. There was goat, there was pasta, there was flatbread, there were scallops. And, frankly, it was all over-salted. The sugo was so salty it was inedible. No real restaurant should make such a glaring salting mistake.

And by the end of the meal, I could not see. The smokiness had made my, and my friend's, eyes sting very badly. As soon as I had my last bite, I told Mr. EWP I was going outside, with the baby, and get some air and would wait for him out there while he got the check. It was just that bad. My eyes literally stung for hours and hours after we left. It was bad.

So after a very lackluster evening, full of salty food and rude service, I give Girl & The Goat a Nine West rating of 2 out of 4 stars. It'd be fine for a random Tuesday night at the last minute when you didn't have anything else, but definitely not something worth waiting three months for.

Chicago Spotlight/EWP Review: Perennial Virant

I've decided to add a new feature to this here blog - little reviews and posts about local Chicago places. I've been doing it here and there, but now it'll be more official and part of the "Chicago Spotlight" series. It might be a local boutique or local eatery, but they'll get a spotlight shined upon them and get reviewed on the following EWP scale:
0 stars = Crocs
1 star = Payless
2 stars= Nine West
3 stars= Stuart Weitzman
4 stars= Christian Louboutin

As you can guess, everyone should be shooting for the coveted Louboutin rating :)

Today I'm reviewing a new restaurant. Yes, I normally talk fashion, but what's the fun in dressing up if you have nowhere to go?


A week ago I had the supreme pleasure of dining at Perennial Virant. [Isn't it cute?!]

My friend Foodiebia was visiting from California and I knew she would totally love the local, fresh menu as much as I would.

Perennial Virant is located across from Lincoln Park and the Green City Market. As a lover of farmer's markets and specifically the Green City Market, it was wonderful to see the produce from the market make its way across the street to the Perennial Virant menu. The menu changes daily, based on what is fresh and available. I LOVE this for several reasons: 1) I get bored with menus that don't change, 2) what could be better than tasting things at their very freshest instead of off-season and trucked in from places far away?, 3) I like being encouraged to show up to a restaurant repeatedly because they have new things for me each time.

The decor was fresh and streamlined. Simple, a little earthy, some tables to be shared with other groups, but not too close to them that you're weirded out that you're sitting with other people. We actually got a shared table and the only time I noticed that I was sharing was when I would peek over to see what they were eating.

The feel is casual and friendly. There were kids in attendance, the waiters all wore plaid (but in a cute hipster way, not a lumberjack way). The only complaint of mine was a person who was a little too friendly - the overenthusiastic water refill guy. He was just a little too much for me, interjecting jokes into our conversations. He was cute, but I wasn't in the mood for a full on press joking flirtation. But better an overly present water guy than one you can't ever find as you sit there parched. So if my only complaint is an overly friendly water guy, then this place is great.

And now let's get to the food. Perennial features small plates to share, so of course we ordered a million things. And every single thing was divine. Even the cheese plate, and I'm not a cheese person at all. But the cheese plate had these delicious Spanish almonds that had Foodiebia, Mr. EWP, and myself all swooning. And I don't even like almonds! We had short ribs, corn cakes, green beans, heirloom tomatoes with baked ricotta. All super delicious. But there were two standouts from the meal: 1) The beef loin. That was an incredible piece of meat. Mr. EWP is a meat guy, he's picky about his beef and he was drooling all over the table and basically fainted from the awesomeness of the beef. 2) The wings. Yes, a fancy restaurant that serves wings. Can you say EWP heaven? I'm a wing nut. I don't know why but I super super love chicken wings. But you can't really get them anywhere but a sports bar, but enter Perennial Virant and the most delicious barbecue wings of all time. They had been drenched in liquid smoke which really upped the flavor factor. I was literally licking my fingers and may or may not have considered ordering another round.

And lastly I have to show y'all the patio. Because it is adorable. If it hadn't been 95 degrees that day, I would've totally been sitting outside. I'll be there again soon I'm sure, I love me some outdoor dining. I'm seriously already thinking about when I can go back.

I give Perennial Virant an amazing Louboutin rating! (aka 4/4).

Look at that, a Louboutin right out of the gate for Chicago Spotlight. Wonder who'll be getting the EWP inspection next....