Huge "Phoneography" Giveaway

Hey, ladies! We're still in the process of moving into our new place, so today, I thought it would be fun to share a giveaway. I'll be back on Friday with first impressions of our new place and area!

---

It's time for the huge June group giveaway, and this time it's all about Phoneography! What's phoneography? Well it's photography you take with your phone! Get it? Phone + photography = phoneography. I don't know who coined the term, but it makes sense and there are even some great Instagram hashtags related to it. While I always recommend investing in a DSLR, I know what it's like to not be able to afford one, and your photography doesn't have to suffer just because you can't afford a huge investment right now. If you are a blogger, shop owner, Instagrammer, or just someone who wants to take better photos with your phone-there are things you can use to improve-and I (along with some other fabulous bloggers and creatives) joined Angie from My So-Called Chaos to bring one lucky winner a big pack of them!

Enter the June Phoneography Giveaway

This month we're giving away a big prize pack of goodies* that will help with taking better pictures from your phone. Giveaway is open worldwide** and ends at 12 a.m. MDT on July 12, 2016. Entering below means you agree to all terms and conditions within the Rafflecopter widget.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

*Prize inclusions depend on availability, may not be entirely as depicted in the photo (but will be similar). **International Winners will receive a cash prize of $150 due to shipping matters.

Chicago Travel: Wendella Lake Michigan Fireworks Cruise

On our last weekend in Chicago, Christopher and I checked off the last item on my one year in Chicago list: a fireworks cruise on Lake Michigan. On Wednesdays and Saturdays from Memorial Day to Labor Day, Chicago sets off fireworks from Navy Pier, and I thought the best way to see them would be from the water. Our cruise was actually on a Friday to coincide with the start of the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series.

Our cruise started at 8:30 p.m., just as the sunset was starting to set. Dusk was always my favorite part of the day in the city. The architecture looks absolutely stunning in that light.

As soon as we got on the boat, we headed towards Lake Michigan. The Wendella Fireworks Cruise isn’t heavily narrated, but the guide did explain the history of the Chicago River and the Chicago Harbor Lock, which was interesting (it involved a lawsuit by Missouri because Chicago had reversed its river and started dumping its waste into the Mississippi River!). The whole lock process takes about 10 minutes. I loved watching the water rise to account for the difference in depths between the Chicago River and Lake Michigan.

Once we got through the lock, we had about an hour until the start of the fireworks show, which we spent riding around and enjoying views of the Chicago skyline as the sun set.

The actual fireworks part of the cruise was spectacular. The fireworks are fired from a barge on Lake Michigan, so our boat was able to get insanely close to the action. It’s the closest I’ve ever been to a fireworks display (other than setting them off on our own, of course). While watching fireworks, I have a rule: enjoy them and don’t worry about taking photos. I have spent way too many times in the past trying to get the perfect shot and missing out on the show. Christopher did get some great shots for me to share with y’all, though.

After the fireworks were over, we were able to get through the locks quickly enough that our guide decided to do a mini tour of the architecture on the Chicago River. It was such a fun ending to a great two hours.

If you love fireworks and are in Chicago during the summer, I highly recommend doing a fireworks cruise.

Friday Favorites: First Week Home Highlights

Happy Friday, friends! I’ve had such a nice week relaxing at my parents’ house before the second part of our move. Here are some highlights from this week:

One. 
Christopher made it home late last night! Thank you for all of your prayers and positive thoughts. They barely made it ahead of all the severe weather on Wednesday, and I’m so glad they did because there were 11 tornadoes south of Chicago that night.

Two. 
No matter where we travel or live, there is nothing like my mama’s home cooking. It’s been a fun week being spoiled with mama’s cooking!

Three. 
It’s also been great to have a pool in the backyard. It helps both with the Texas heat and my pain! We had a pool in Chicago, but it was always busy, so it’s nice to have a pool to myself!

Four. 
I’m so excited to meet up with friends now that we’re back in town. Chris and I are having lunch with my former coworkers today, which will be super fun.

Five. 
I got Mom hooked on Food Network, and it’s been fun showing her some of my favorite shows. She loved cracking up at all the sabotages on Cutthroat Kitchen.

Linking up with Amanda, Karli, and the High Five for Friday girls.

Hope y'all have a wonderful weekend! 

Hello from Texas

Hey, everyone. I just wanted to write a quick note that I made it to Texas! We actually managed to make the whole drive in one day in a little over 13 hours. It was a long, hard day, but at least it meant we were done, and I could recover the next day. Christopher and his parents are leaving Chicago in the moving truck today (there is severe weather in the forecast for Chicago, so we would love your prayers and positive thoughts that they can leave before it starts).

Being back at my parents’ house after not stepping foot in Texas for over a year feels weird. In some ways, it feels like I never left. (Wasn't it just yesterday that I wrote a quick hello from Chicago?) On the other hand, it feels like I’ve been gone forever. It’s also going to take a while to get used to the heat again. It’s crazy how quickly my body adjusted to the beautiful Chicago summers!

We don’t move in to our new place until Tuesday, so it will be nice to have a few days to relax (even though Christopher does have to go to orientation) before part two of our moving madness. Thank you so much for all of your support as we make the transition back from Chicago to Dallas. I can’t wait to share more about our life here!

Five Things I Will Miss About Chicago

In November, I wrote a post about five (silly) things I missed about Texas. Now that my time in Chicago is coming to a close, I thought I would share five things I’ll miss about the city.

Lake Michigan
If you’ve been following along on my year in Chicago, you’re not surprised I have Lake Michigan as the top thing I’ll miss about Chicago. When we first moved here, I was amazed at how beautiful the lake was, and since we live in close walking distance, it became my place to go when I was stressed out.

Food
It makes me laugh that I was worried about how I was going to survive a year without Tex-Mex. It’s still obviously one of my favorite types of food, and I can’t wait to eat it once we get back to Texas, but the food in Chicago is nothing short of amazing. One of the future posts I’m most excited to write is my guide to restaurants in Chicago. I’ve tried so much delicious and unique food while we were here. On Wednesday, we tried Peruvian food for the first time at Tanta, and I wish we could go there all the time.

Walking everywhere
I won’t miss this as much now that I’m not feeling well, but I loved being able to walk everywhere in Chicago. We lived in a great area super close to the lake, museums, and fun restaurants. We were also on the same block as Target, so it was easy to grab any essentials! We are moving to one of the more walkable areas in Dallas, so hopefully we can ease back into having to drive all the time.

Our view
Like I said, I love where our building is located, and I’ve really enjoyed the view out of our balcony. The sunsets have also been truly amazing.

Exploring the Midwest
Our year in Chicago was also the first time we have spent a significant amount of time in the Midwest (except Missouri), and I really loved our day trips and the week we spent exploring Michigan and Wisconsin. I had a few more trips planned that we had to cancel because of my health, but it just means we have to come back and visit to do them!

It goes without saying I will miss all the wonderful people we met this year! The worst part of moving is having to say goodbye to great friends, but I am super excited to be close to family and old friends again! See you later, Chicago. Love you always.

Linking up with Amanda, Karli, and the High Five for Friday girls.

Hope y'all have a wonderful weekend!