Top Notch Chicago

wednesday wishlist

2012-11-07T11:14:00.000-06:00

happy Wednesday!
xo,
meg and kath

music monday

2012-11-05T07:33:00.003-06:00

here's what we've listening to these past few weeks.
enjoy!

default by django django

breakers by local natives

clique by kanye west

flowers in your hair- the lumineers

die young-ke$ha

xo
meg and kath

top 5 friday

2012-09-28T07:57:00.001-05:00

top album

{not that we need to mention it again, we love mumford and sons, and their sophomore album is on repeat}

top memoir

{if you ever had a crush on jfk jr, idolized jackie o or are a romantic at heart, this is a must read for you. kath swooned through the entire novel (thanks sarah!)}

top "chick-flick" tv show

{loved everything about the pilot: boozy speech, spazzy first date, a "when harry meet sally" clip. perfection in 30 minutes}

top crewcut purchase

{american kids are obese=we can fit into crewcuts, can't complain}

top picture/video app

{make your own gif's with this awesome app bmc and friends found}

here's to being in prep heaven at the ryder cup this weekend!

xo,

meg and kath

supper club goes to davanti entoca

2012-09-27T12:24:00.000-05:00

the latest outing for our supper club was to davanti enoteca in little italy.

the restaurant was super cute and cozy with awesome decor. like most supper club outings we picked a bunch of different items and shared. with pizza, pasta, proscuitto, excellent wine list and amazing ragu, davanit entoca was a great pick.

go carb it up at davanti entoca,
xo,
kath and the supper clubbers

arm party

2012-09-27T12:22:00.001-05:00

{1. blue wrap watch+ spade bangle+ gold and leather bangle 2. gold bracelet watch+ j.crew bangles (similar style) 3. gold and leather watch + skinny dust bangle+ cobochon and crystal bracelet}

ain't no party like an arm party

xo,

meg and kath

wednesday wish list: the first men's edition

2012-09-26T11:16:00.000-05:00

top notch's favorite man about town, bill, has kindly created his first men's edition of wednesday wish list. enjoy!

{fall is here, strap your boots on and get ready.}

{be prepared.}

{a new pair of jeans for the start of the season.}

{school is in session, read something.}

{for when it needs to fit just right. J. Hilburn- custom, we can all (sort of) afford.}

can't wait to to be chatham neighbors!
xo,
bill (and meg and kath)

top 5 friday

2012-09-07T12:23:00.000-05:00

top tv return

{tuesdays just got better with the return of the biggest diva (with the biggest lips) on tv, jeff lewis}

top rebels

{taking a page out of her st. louis roots, kath forced meg to partake in some open container law breaking}

top dive bar

{meg helped celebrate a coworker's birthday at this chicago dive bar}

top plane/pool read

{to pass the time on a long flight, meg bought the second book of the divergent series}

top weekend getaway

{the day has come! we are off to vegas this evening... if em and calvin harris get married in the little white chapel on saturday, no one will be surprised}

djs, $lots, champagne and pools. our weekend will be aiiiight.

xo,

top notch

movies in the park

2012-09-06T09:57:00.000-05:00

{the first of many sister+cousin evenings}

movies in the park is a great summer activity in chicago and when grease came up on the schedule, we could not pass it up!

{meg looking like the fourth olsen sister}

{cousins 4 lyfe}

{sister sister}

but going with your sister and your cousin means seeing about a minute of the movie while talking, eating and sipping on vino for the rest of it. meg and kath's sister and cousin, sarah and honore, are bff's and the match makers of our friendship (you can basically thank them for this blog).

{everyone else watching the movie... while we gabbed the night away}

{blah blah bah- our neighbors were not happy}

{twinning- down to the green eco friendly bags}

sarah made pasta salad, meg and kath "baked" cookie bars and honore brought the wine and fiji water (typical). after picking up other treats, we made a large picnic space on the hill and enjoyed a lovely chicago summer evening.

{dessert!}

{top notch rebels... drinking and walking}

hope you got yourself some summa lovin' this past summer!
xo
meg and kath

wednesday wishlist: VEGAS

2012-09-05T12:34:00.001-05:00

{1. jacquard dress 2. wedges 3. zara clutches 4. NARS lipstick in schiap 5. chanel nailpolish 6. NARS duo orgasm+south beach 7. detailed collar peplum 8. leather mini skirt

the top notch crew and friends are off to vegas this weekend! here are our inspirations for outfits for the weekend (notice the absence of skin-tight dresses and sequins, so not top notch).

wish us luck at the black jack tables!

xo,

top notch

music monday: Write Me Back

2012-09-04T11:34:00.000-05:00

i know, i know...a lot of people have a huge problem with R.Kelly, his poor life decisions in the past and don't want to listen to his music anymore. which is fair, but per my father's suggestion i gave his new album, Write Me Back a whirl a couple of weeks ago and it's pretty much all i've been listening to since. this album is a little less Chocolate Factory and a little more Barry White. personally, i think it's the perfect thing to listen to while stuck at my desk all day. each song on the album is groovin by my (and my dad's) standards but below are a few of my new favorites!

1. love is

2. feelin' single

3. party jumpin'

4. Ignition (Remix), for good measure.

if you have some extra time don't watch Hollywood Exes starring Andrea Kelly (R. Kelly's ex wife), it's terrible.

thanks for the recommendation, dad!
xo,
meg

rent the runway

2012-08-30T11:09:00.000-05:00

the expensive combination of the love of designer dresses and a teacher's budget does not usually work out well but luckily for me there is rent the runway. i've been using this website since senior year of college when i had a fraternity formal in chicago. since then, this website has been my go-to when i have a wedding or big event to attend. in the three years that i have been a "member" i've only had one dress that didn't work out but thats what the backups are for! the chance to wear herve leger, tibi, lilly pulitzer, lela rose, roberto rodriguez and countless other designers for only fifty dollars is a luxury. every dress i've ever rented has a been a hit and i've received a million compliments (and who doesn't love getting complimented all night).

happy renting!

kath for top notch

wednesday wishlist: madewell

2012-08-29T12:49:00.001-05:00

{1. highgate pump 2. belted leather bomber 3. silk peplum 4. hankjobenhvn timeless sunglasses 5. happy socks! 6. short hunters 7. bow ring 8. silk cutaway skirt}

find your top wish at madewell !

xo
top notch

top 5 friday

2012-08-24T12:48:00.000-05:00

wednesday wishlist: j.crew

2012-08-22T11:23:00.001-05:00

{1.blythe blouses 2.leopard wedges 3. zigzag sequin dress 4. barbour hawkstone parka 5.snakeskin iphone case 6.invitation clutch 7. sequin colorblock sweater}

stay preppy
xo,
top notch

happy birthday webstar!

2012-08-20T12:59:00.000-05:00

it's a top notch holiday! the founder of our illustrious book club and our very own kate middleton look a-like turns 25! happy birthday webber!

{always pondering}

{make a wish princess katie!}

{birthday dinner at tango sur!}

{em and kath's "sorry we missed the biggest party of the year" present}

{librarian getting down!}

wills' present is in the mail,
xo,
top notch

music monday: gentlemen of the road

2012-08-20T07:59:00.001-05:00

this past saturday em and i drove out to dixon, illinois (the boyhood home of ronald reagan!) to go to the gentlemen of the road stopover.

after a two hour drive, multiple tollways and a some what sketchy bus ride from a random field parking lot, we arrived at the stopover site on the campus of dixon highschool (home of the dukes and duchesses!) next to rock river. with 312 cans in hand, our first stop was the swag stand to get the only long-sleeve option available, men's pullovers. while em and i like to think of ourselves as regular concert goers, we were in full on rookie-mode this saturday not bringing jackets or sweaters when the low was going to be 60 degrees.

{dawes were amazing on their own but when marcus mumford joined them, the crowd went wild}

from here we saw nathaniel rateliff, dawes, gogel bordelle (shocking how many middle aged women knew the lyrics to this motley crew of punk rockers) and of course mumford and sons. words do not describe how amazing mumford and sons were.

{no words.}

the set was so unreal that when they played "cave" in their encore, em and i hadn't even realized we had missed one our favorites. with a mix of old and new, song after song was a hit. to end the perfect evening, mumford had all of their friends come on stage and sing "with a little help from our friends"

our favorite new song they played was "lover of the light." while this video isn't from dixon, it is just as fabulous.

mind blown. hopefully the videos gave you a taste of what em and i will say was the best concert we have ever been too (and we have been to a lot of shows).

carey mulligan, you are one lucky lady.
xo,
em&kath

top 5 friday

2012-08-17T11:33:00.004-05:00

happy friday!

top shorts on boys

boys, do yourselves a favor and go buy every pair of chubbies. we love these shorts and any boy rocking the killer combo of chubbies+button down+boat shoes is top notch in our book.

{chubbies=babe status}

top love triangle

like everyone else, we love "newsroom." besides our girl crushes on mac and sloan, we can't get enough of the love triangle of don, jim and maggie. are you team don or team jim?

{ya he does.}

wednesday wishlist: getting ready for fall

2012-08-15T11:51:00.001-05:00

{1. bubble necklace 2. bomber jacket 3. laptop bag 4. black skinny jeans 5. leather dress 6. iconic red lipstick 7. NARS fall nail collection }

music monday: after lolla edition

2012-08-14T12:01:00.001-05:00

after much anticipation, this year's lolla did not disappoint. minus the various run ins with people we were trying to avoid, lost flip flops, consuming water bottles full of cheap wine, trying to return tom coker's wallet to no avail, the storm evacuation on saturday and a painfully hungover trip back to grant park on sunday, we saw a ton of great bands and had a top notch weekend.

meg's pick

after begging and pleading (and maybe a handful of boring songs from jack white...we were surprised by this, too) i FINALLY got the crew to head over to Childish Gambino (possible better known as "Troy" from Community?) with me. everyone was very happy with this decision. he was really fun to see live and put on a great show!

em's pick

i've listened to the album over and over again, so i couldn't wait to get to of monsters and men on sunday. after a quick pit stop at j.cole our mini crew (we were down to the top notch crew + bridget) headed to our favorite tree lined stage. while their set was super quick, it was my favorite of the weekend. they are amazing live!

kath's pick

continuing the theme of loving sunday's shows, my top show of the weekend was miike snow. putting on an amazing show, the band rocked it out, got us dancing and was an excellent ending to a great weekend. i could listen to their albums over and over again and i will go see this band any chance i get!

top notch's collective fav

em has a new love in her life and it is swedish dj avicii. going into club-head mode, all three of us and our friends, danced saturday night away at the bud light stage.

see ya next year lolla!

top notch

book club: the orphan master's son

2012-08-09T10:01:00.000-05:00

good luck to the next host of book club, chris rocked it out last night. in keeping with the theme of this month's selection, the orphan master's son , everything was korean. we watched k-pop videos, took shots of korean whiskey and stuffed our faces with korean delicacies. after a quiz on the book and korean culture/history (the korean war is still going on ps), we watched an extremley interesting documentary: the vice guide to north korea.

{welcome to book club}

{the "dear leader" watched over the evening and would have approved}

{an array of korean alchohol}

{home made korean sushi}

{all the food was clearly enjoyed}

two peace signs way up for an excellent book club!

dreaming of being a k-pop star
xo,
top notch

p.s. enjoy our favorite k-pop video to get your thursday poppin'

wednesday wishlist

2012-08-08T13:10:00.000-05:00

{1. leather jacket, 2. monogram bracelets, 3. metal edge tote, 4. ankle boots, 5. blouse, 6. pleated mini}

...and back to you top notch

2012-08-08T09:30:00.000-05:00

{we're really sorry we've been MIA...but we've been having too much fun!}

{lawn chair backpack swag}

{maddie's ice skating party}

{family trip to nashville}

{anne and meg}

{family trip to ravinia}

{color coordinated fashionistas}

{baby nora! top notch's cutest fan!}

{casual today show interview..}

{2 hours later...it didn't take long for the fame to go to her head}

{kath's dream boat}

{top notch and co do lolla}

{and the best dancer award goes to...}

{kati's sister's wedding!!!! congrats kasey!}

{oopsies, princess katie got a tinjury (toe injury), she lost a lot of blood but has since had a full recovery}

{kath hanging in st. louis like a boss}

{party princess}

{trouble maker}

{cards v. cubs. go cubs!!}

{mud party at pitchfork}

{summer cocktail of choice}

{dodgeball kids at duffy's}

{happy fourth of july from top notch!}

{foster the people concert}

{night out at zellas}

{meg's sister on lawn chair duty}

{ms. c does girls on the run!}

{dodgeball crew 2012}

{cait's birthday celebration at barn&co}

{sunday mimosa time}

{mag taking meg on a wave runner ride}

{mags/anne/meg}

{brunch table cat nap}

{sorry face from meg, party face from kath. sorry for partying}

{here's to a happening fall!}

xo,

top notch

supper club does smoque

2012-07-12T14:49:00.000-05:00

for our latest supper club meeting em, a BBQ enthusiast, picked Smoque BBQ in Irving park. The restaurant is on the smaller side and you order and pay before you are seated. While the line out the door might seem annoying at first, you will quickly realize you need that time to make some tough menu decisions. Our group was split between st Louis style ribs, pulled pork and brisket. But, luckily someone noticed a "tasting" part of the menu: you can add a small (actually not small at all) potion of ribs, pulled pork, brisket or BBQ chicken to any platter. From there we had to decide between sides, all six of us picked macaroni cheese (amazing) and then either BBQ beans, fries or cornbread. Our platters were massive and most of us took some to go. Some how we found room for dessert though... Peach cobbler.

If you love BBQ then you must get yourself to Irving park and try Smoque for yourself!

xo,
top notch

the little white dress

2012-07-09T11:27:00.000-05:00

maybe think about ditching your little black dress this summer and wear one of these little white dresses to your next event!

xo,

top notch

music monday: duets edition

2012-07-02T11:08:00.000-05:00

for this july 2nd music monday we are rocking two duets we have come across. see what we are doing with the number two today... hope you enjoy both jams!
who by st vincent and david bryne

you've got the love- the xx remix with florence and the machine (we are stretching the "duet" theme a bit with this one...)

xo
top notch