Recent Happenings

I just realized that I haven't shared a recent happenings post with you in a while... probably because I have been hibernating since the holidays and nothing interesting has happened recently. That's not completely true, but life really has slowed down considerably now that the holidays are over and the weather has been so hibernation-friendly for the past several weeks.

A few really fun things have happened lately though-- both on and offline-- and I wanted to share some of those with you today:

Have you heard about the Windy City Blogger Collective? A handful of my favorite local bloggers got together and created an amazing new network for bloggers here to connect with and learn from each other. Cool, right? I had the pleasure of guest blogging on their website the week it launched and took the opportunity to reflect on my blogging journey and finding my "voice" as a blogger. You can read it here: Write What You Love & Love What You Write.




And speaking of the WCBC, they hosted a great happy hour event last week at JIMMY. JIMMY is a "secret" bar inside the James Hotel. It's a tiny little lounge with amazing craft cocktails, dim lighting, and intimate seating. It's perfect for a date night, a girls' night out, or even low key drinks after work. Just enter Burke's Bacon Bar on Rush Street and walk straight through the "hidden" door on the back wall to make your way to this cool cocktail lounge!

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Recently, the Spice Panda Blog reached out to several Chicago bloggers and asked us to tell them about the best meal we ever ate in Chicago. It was tough to choose-- because there are so many good restaurants here-- but I so excited to be included! Check out my write-up on Lincoln Park's Balena here: “The Best Meal I Ever Ate In Chicago” – By The Food Bloggers You Love





In my 30 Before 30 list I told you that winning a cooking or recipe contest is one thing I wanted to accomplish. Well, as of my Q1 check-in I had won 3 (yay!)... and now you can add a fourth! I entered the Kenwood Vineyards Perfect Pasta Pairing Contest with a recipe for Pancetta Pasta with Peppers, Spinach & Smoked Mozzarella (you can find the recipe here) to pair with their Sauvignon Blanc.

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How pretty does my pasta recipe look as prepared by the Kenwood kitchens (above)?

Well, the pasta recipe won top honors for the Sauvignon Blanc category and the great folks at Kenwood sent me this amazing basket filled with pasta goodies. I didn't win the grand prize (a trip to Napa), but I will take the pasta basket!

Check out some of my other guest posts on the As Seen On page!