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Links (mostly from my Twitter):

Dating for 30-something men is apparently hard. (But in my personal experience, men seem to delay adulthood for so long that all the mature women find commitment without them.)

I love the idea of OMGYES, a site that talks about taboo topics — like female sexual pleasure — and explores them further.

Amy Schumer met her boyfriend on Tinder for famous people. For when regular swiping is just too peasant.

I love this photo series that shows segregation on the CTA Red Line. I live on the north side, so I commute this way every day, but I don’t think I’ve ever stayed on a train south of Jackson.

In 21 states, there isn’t a single newspaper with a reporter dedicated to a Congress beat. Ouch.

My friend Amanda over at Windy City Cosmo wrote an Elite Daily piece about dating!

There’s a taco cleanse diet. Anyone want to join me?

Someone went on a Tinder date with Pharma Bro Martin Shkreli (presumably for science) and wrote about the experience.

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And my week highlights?

• A trip to Florida! I’m on the plane back to O’Hare right now, so stay tuned for a post detailing my adventures. Universal Studios, pizza in Tampa and a trip to the Gulf were all on the agenda.
• Finishing “Everybody Rise” by Stephanie Clifford. It was an OK book, but nothing too special.
• Getting the Chicago Tribune’s Snapchat up and running. Add us! We’re at chicagotribune.

To keep up with this stuff as it happens, you can follow me on Instagram and on Snapchat at randimshaffer!

How was your week? What are you looking forward to? Let me know in the comments!

Week highlights!

• New Year’s Eve! I celebrated at Lincoln Park’s Racine Plumbing with some of my favorite journalism friends and some friends from out of town.
• Post-NYE brunch at Andersonville’s Bongo Room. I had pretzel pancakes with salted caramel white chocolate sauce. So good!
• Making bath bombs with some of my work ladies. We used this instruction guide and each picked our own essential oils. I used rose and eucalyptus, and I’m already looking forward to using them! I packaged them in pretty mason jars next to my essential jar I keep stocked with bath salts.
• A corgi sighting! I absolutely love corgis, so when I saw this guy outside of a Whole Foods, I got really, really excited.
• Brunch at Tweet in Uptown for eggs benedict!
• A work meeting at Ghirardelli. My boss is super cool, so instead of meeting in a conference room, the Chicago Tribune’s social team meets over ice cream! Or, in our case, salted caramel hot chocolate.
• Snow! We didn’t have any for Christmas, so I was overjoyed when it started sticking this week.

I’m going on a mini-vacation next weekend, so I’m really excited for that! What have you been up to lately? Let me know in the comments.

I hope everybody had the best Christmas!

No links this week because I’m on the train back to Chicago and Amtrak has theeee slowest wifi ever, but here’s a quick update of my week highlights!

• The Academy Is… in concert! One of my high school best friends, Mickey, and I snagged tickets to see William Beckett and company at the House of Blues. They performed Almost Here from beginning to end, and it was everything I could have asked for and more.
• Star Wars! I finally saw it. I was so busy with work and friends visiting that I didn’t get a chance to see it right away, but I did manage to sneak out of the house during Christmas to see it.
• Watching the Grinch three times.
• Christmas with my family. I love opening presents, but I love watching people open the presents I got them even more. I received so many things I love, including pearl earrings, a gold monogrammed coffee mug, a gorgeous gold Kate Spade bangle, a new Kate Spade tote, bath bombs and a cozy fleece blanket.

You can keep up with this stuff as it happens if you follow me on Instagram, or on Snapchat at randimshaffer.

How was your Christmas? Let me know in the comments!

Hey guys!

No links this week because it has been absolutely crazy. I’ve been so busy, but in the best possible way!

Side note: I will forever and always use my blog as my personal online journal, because even though I love posting my outfits, photos, recipes and general blog-ish lifestyle tidbits — my blog still remains the best way for my family to keep up-to-date with my adventures.

Not only did my mom and sister swing by town for a much-anticipated weekend shopping trip, but one of my best friends from college — Kelly — was also in town this weekend! So, there was so much going on!

• Dinner at Old Town Pour House in, well, Old Town with coworkers…
• …followed by drinks at Old Town’s The VIG with the same coworkers.
• Shooting a collaboration with Closet Barcode — stay tuned!
• Reading Gillian Flynn’s Dark Places. It was really, really good! I meant to tackle it chapter-by-chapter on the L to-and-from work, but… well. It’s Gillian Flynn. So I accidentally stayed up until 1 a.m. and knocked the whole thing out.
• Lunch and dinner at 676 Restaurant & Bar — the restaurant at my mom and sister’s hotel. I had the margarita flatbread and the risotto and both were amazing…
• …followed by shopping along Michigan Avenue! My mom took me to do some early Christmas shopping so I didn’t have to worry about fitting things on the train back from Michigan. I picked up this gorgeous Kate Spade tote and these mixing bowls from Crate & Barrel. Because when you’re an adult, you ask for kitchen supplies for the holidays…
• …followed by a showing of Potted Potter at Broadway Playhouse downtown in River North.
• Drinks at the Billy Goat Tavern in River North with my coworkers. This is the Tribune’s go-to watering hole.
• Brunch at Kanela Breakfast Club in Lakeview. I had a waffle topped with Nutella, crushed graham crackers, chocolate syrup and toasted marshmallows. So good!
• Dinner at Glaze Teriyaki in Lakeview with Kelly…
• …followed by drinks at Lakeview’s Wilde Bar and Restaurant…
• …followed by drinks at Lakeview’s DryHop Brewery, where some coworkers joined us.
• Finishing up Christmas shopping!
• And the usual 40-plus hours a week at the Tribune’s social media desk. Love my job.

And this coming week? There’s so much to look forward to! It’s Christmas, obviously, so I’ll be hitting up Chicago’s Christkindlemarket, heading to a concert at the House of Blues and then taking the train back to Michigan for the holiday.

What are your Christmas plans? Let me know in the comments!

This post contains affiliate links. For more information, please read my disclosure policy.

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Links (mostly from my Twitter);

Here’s a list of acceptable champagne brands when you’re straddling the line between Andre (too college) and Veuve Clicquot (hey I’m a journalist).

Here are the most popular Pinterest searches of the year, by country. Did your searches make the list? Mine definitely did.

My hood is getting a barcade!

Here are the best iPhone social network apps of all time. #spoileralert: Facebook is No. 1. Do you use any of the other apps?

Have you been reading the Humans of New York Syrian refugee stories? They have been making me bawl my eyes out. At work. No joke. President Obama commented on one of my favorite stories and it (of course) moved me to tears.

Columbia Journalism Review picked the best — and worst — journalistic pieces of the year.

I love everything about this Detroit Free Press A1.

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And my week highlights?

• I fiiiinally finished putting up my Christmas decorations. Hooray!
• My annual hot chocolate party! I had some of my favorite Chicago girlfriends over for a hot chocolate and waffle bar. (Here are photos from last year’s event.) We tried so many different combos of spiked hot cocoa. My favorite is caramel vodka with whipped cream and a caramel drizzle on top. We watched Christmas movies (The Grinch and Love Actually) and played Cards Against Humanity, gossiped and talked about books. It was a great night!
• Some online shopping. I can’t stop taking advantage of holiday sales! I picked up these fair isle socks and this blazer from J. Crew, and this sweater from J. Crew Factory. I also grabbed this skirt, this blazer and this blazer (!!!) from the Limited.
• Dinner at Wood in Lakeview for date night! It was so good!
• Drinks at Uptown’s Fat Cat.
• Mid-week drinks and appetizers downtown at The Commons Club with some of my Loop-working friends.
• Empire binge-watching. I started this last week, and cannot believe it took me so long to get into it! It’s filmed here in Chicago, so everyone here is crazy about it. I’m almost done with season two.
• Homemade Christmas Crack! I’ll get the recipe posted soon.

You can keep up with this stuff as it happens if you follow me on Instagram or on Snapchat at RandiMShaffer.

I’m looking forward to finishing up my Christmas shopping this coming week, and I’m really excited for some weekend visitors! My mom and sister are coming to Chicago this coming weekend to do some shopping — my mom has never stayed in Chicago for longer than a drop-off, pick-up or train transfer before! I’ll be staying in a hotel downtown with the two of them while they’re here. And then as soon as they leave, one of my best college friends will be in town on a flight layover! I’m so unbelievably excited.

How’s your holiday season going so far? Let me know in the comments!

This post contains affiliate links. For more information, please read my disclosure policy.

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Links (mostly from my Twitter):

Fifteen questions (and answers) about my favorite thing: glitter.

Lollapalooza is expanding to four days next year! I don’t think my liver will be able to handle it.

The front page of the New York Daily News was pretty… intense, after the San Bernardino shooting.

Parents are naming their kids after Instagram filters. Not gonna lie… I would probably do this.

I ran a round-up of my dozen most-worn this fall.

A lot of white millennials get financial help from their parents.

My friend Kayla is fighting Lyme disease! I donated to help with her treatment costs, and if you have a few dollars to spare, I’d ask you to do the same.

The iPhone might be getting rid of the headphone jack? I’m not so sure I like that idea.

There’s a Tumblr account dedicated to last messages sent and received. It’s so insightful. And also heartbreaking.

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And my week highlights?

I was still recovering from strep throat and ended up coming down with a cold. Yuck. So, my week was pretty slow. High points include:

• Dinner at Andersonville’s Little Bad Wolf, followed by…
• …drinks at Andersonville’s Hopleaf.
• Starting (and finishing) Empire season one. Do you watch it? It’s filmed in Chicago, so all my coworkers love it. It’s so good, and the soundtrack is flawless.
• Some awesome Cyber Monday deals, including this dress from Loft, this dress from Loft and these Kendra Scott earrings in green.
• Putting up my apartment’s Christmas decorations.
• Newsroom cake! The @chicagotribune Twitter reached 500,000 followers — making it the biggest media presence in Chicago. One of the editors brought cake for the web team to celebrate.

I’m looking forward to some holiday celebrations this coming week, and hopefully I’ll start feeling a bit better.

What’s on your agenda? Ready for the holidays? Let me know in the comments!

This post contains affiliate links. For more information, please read my disclosure policy.