when being far away stinks.

I miss this girl 

+

impromptu dance parties in the alley

=

all of her weird blurry poses.

Sigh. 

Seeesters are the bestest.

Ps... Ca-ute outfit post coming soon ;)

Smooches,

Hansie

Devon Street.

Chicago is such an incredible town.

With over 225 different neighborhoods, it's one of the most diverse city in the country.

One of my favorite things about living in Chicago is exploring all of its little nooks and crannies...

with Rach in town last weekend it was the perfect excuse for both of us to forget about school and explore this wonderful city!

Ahhh... Devon Street. 

This street on the north side of the city is known for it's Indian population. 

The food is amazing and the fabric soooooo beautiful.

We ate until we almost popped and then we roamed the streets "ooohing" and "ahhhing" over all of the prettiness Devon Street offers.

Next stop. India.

The Weekend in Review... blah blah blah

Guys, this weekend was fun... but blah blah blah...

I spent over 8 hours in Starbucks studying. Yea!

Had dinner with friends, movie with the Hubs...

It was good.

blah blah blah

But- the best part was not the stuff that got accomplished or the fun stuff I did.

The BEST part was the fact that I was given a free airplane ticket to use however I wanted!

(All thanks to my sweet sis-in-law! Thanks Fran!!!!)

Only catch?

 It had to be used by March 1st.

So this Thursday, my cute-as-a-button Rach-Cha-Cha is coming to Chicago to visit!

Hip hip hooraysies!!!



Idaho never felt so close!

-Hans

Ooooh... "I wanna dance with somebody!"

Racha-cha-cha and I were fortunate to grow up in a house that works through most of life's heavy problems by dancing our little hearts out.

Some of my saddest moments moments have been wrapped up in a little early 90's mix tape action and impromptu kitchen dance parties.

Then again, some of my happiest and silliest moments are wrapped up in the exact same stuff.

Often when such impromptu dance parties ensued Beyonce, Mariah and Ms. Houston would make an appearance. 

It's really not uncommon for Racha and I to be found dancing our little hearts out in our parent's living room to "Say my name" or belting out "I believe in you and me" during stop and go traffic.

Whitney managed to weave herself into some of our greatest memories and traditions and for that...

she will be missed.

"Winter Must Be Cold For Those With No Warm Memories"...

Phew! What a whirlwind Christmas Break!

So sorry to have left you guys for a week and a half...

In all of the festive hub bub and family wonderfulness
Rach and I just couldn't find it in ourselves to blog...
We were having too much fun eating fudge, sipping coffee and squishing these cheeks!

Yikes!

Be prepared for Christmas overload over the next couple of days!

We missed you!

Happy New Years Lovelies!

xoxo,

Hansie (& Rachey)

How to be... kind of a big deal.

This weekend Rachey Pooh and I headed home to spend a couple days with the fam...

We sipped coffee, ate chocolate, danced, and laughed... a lot...

We also spent time rockin' it.

Or- at least our little seester Ina did. 

Hello Warby Parker... Meet your newest model.

She kind of makes your frames. 

Like, for realz.

Happy Monday loves!

Smile with your eyes, always-

Hansie & Rachey Pooh.

5 for 5: A Birthday Giveaway + 5 Reasons This Week Was Wonderful!

There's a lot of reasons this week has been fabulous...


1. Double-cupped-QUAD-tall-2-pump-pumpkin spice-no room americanos. Puuuur-fection.

2. Red lips.
kind. of. obsessed.

3. One word: polyvore.
Have you heard of it yet? It's sweeping pinterest and the blog world...
And- it's kind of changing my life people.
Kind of.

4. It's official. I'm a winner!!!
Elz-a-bells held a little giveaway recently for opi's "You don't know Jacques"...
And I won! Hooray!!! So so so love this color!

5. And... The bestest thing about this week is today.. Because today is Rachey-Pooh's birthday!!!
Wahoo!!!! It's Rachey's birthday and we're going to celebrate!

I'll be mailing Rachey a birthday present and...
~~Dun dun dun~~
 One of you lucky readers will win a Rach inspired prezzie too!

Giveaway closed.
The Giveaway goods:

-1 tube of smokin' hot RED lipstick
-1 jar of oh-so-yummy nutella
-1 ettagrace mustard corsage

Want the Rachey Pooh Birthday Grab bag?!?!?

Here's how to enter:

Mandatory:
*Be a Public Follow of this blog

Bonus Entries:
*Follow us on twitter @ettagraceshop
*"Like" us on facebook
*Blog about this giveaway
*Tweet or post on facebook a "Happy Birthday" wish to Rachey Pooh with a link to this giveaway

**Make sure to leave a separate comment for each of your entries!**

Giveaway closes next Friday, September 23
(winner announced on Saturday the 24th)
Giveaway closed.

Hugs and kisses and birthday wishes,
Hansie Bear

is it hot in here??? or is it just me?: Clothes Stealers

Hannah: whose idea was this anyway?

the high in chicago was 103 degrees yesterday... with the humidity it felt like 1,000,003 degrees...

now i'm all for summer scarf-ness... but with a heat index like that... ugh... i. die.

bad idea hannah. bad idea.

because of my lameness- i did not take any model shots working a summer scarf... because to be honest... all i would be wearing would be a summer scarf... and that's not modest. and i'm all- about- modesty.

so instead... you get model shots of me while on vacation in Turkey... I wore a scarf then... because i'm prepared like that... i knew they would come in handy one day. nice.

scarf: old navy... boyfriend t: target... capris: macys... flops: american eagle... cute silk scarf bag: greece.

Rachel: Well, I took some shots, because up until two days ago it felt more like Christmas than summer.
Why do I say Christmas and not winter?
Because we've been watching The Preachers Wife and listening to the Pandora Holiday music channel...It's helping to offset this weird weather.

Scarf: Vintage Kimono: Vintage Dress: Gap
Watch: Vintage Shoes: Thrifted Visulators: Warby Parker

Now it's your turn... link up lovelies! And while you're at it... hop on over here and link up too!

Next Week: Tie-dye

5 for 5: Hannah's 5 things she's bring to a deserted island...

And 5 reasons this week was wonderful....

1. Spending the 4th-ish with my fam (and these two seesters) in Idaho! Hip hip hooray!

2. A surprise mix tape CD from my beautiful Elz-a-Bells!

3. Watermelon frosties... whaaaaaaaat!!!??!?!?!

image and recipe here

4. The MOST perfect ice coffee recipe... thank you to a Mama... who loves David Lebovitz... who loves the "Pioneer Woman"... who created this little recipe... it alone will save moi about $50 a month on my Starbucks addiction... Yes!

image and recipe here

5. Went for a run on one of my lunch breaks and had my breath literally taken away (surprisingly not from the run) with this amazing sky! I was moved to tears by a God who is so big and creates such beauty! Incredible!

It's been a good week friends! 
Hope you have a sweet weekend... full of sunshine and relaxation... 
Make sure to try out those recipes and let me know what you think!


Love you mucho mucho-
Hansie

Freddo's biggest fear becomes reality... Clothes Stealers style.

So... Freddo (the Hubs of Hannah) is deathly afraid of waking up one day...

living in Id-er-ho...

driving a pickup

and rockin' all plaid...

Fortunately, the Hubs is off the hook this week...

As his lovely, humble and perfect wife...

I have willingly taken the burden on myself and am rockin' the plaid today... just for him...

And for Clothes Stealers.

plaid: american eagle- dress, jeans, sandals: target belt: h&m

Rachey* is "rockin'" it as well...

Tee: EttaGrace, Harem Pant: Vintage Mens western button down

Are you?

Make sure to grab the button on the left and "link up" with us today so we can see you "work it" in your plaid...

*In true clothes stealers style, Rachel-having no plaid shirt of her own stole her husbands. And with some strategic pinning she made an old short sleeve button down into some precarious and unreliable harem pants.

Complexes and Spectacles

You've all heard about my "homeschooler complex"... remember??

So... in reference to that... I'll be the first to admit that I'm not as hip as the other half of this blog... Rach is too cool for school... On the other hand... school sometimes is too cool for me... Ba-less my heart...

That said... I get that Rach can rock more hip/granola/artsy-fartsy/Portland-ish trends like no other... See here... But I'm ... well... I'm trying to rock it out in my own way...

So... let the unveil begin...

New glasses.

Purchased in China.

For $22!

Even if you don't dig the frames... you've got to dig the price... 2 hipster points for Hannah!

Hoorah!

xoxo- H to the annah...

yeah... I know... just lost 1 of those hipster points...

**Don't forget about the giveaway going on... you have until Sunday!

"I brought something back from China just for you" GIVEAWAY!!!

**This giveaway now closed!**

As most of you know, I recently took a trip to China (see here and here)to visit the Hubs extended fam... 

It was an incredible trip... blew my mind, transformed my world perspective and rocked my world...

In China I saw a lot of things I'd never seen before...

Ate a lot of things I'd never eaten before...

yup! that's Hubs eating a starfish on a stick! what!?!?!

and of course... shopped until I dropped!

And because I have the biggest friendship crush on all of you... I decided to bring you back some treats... so, in honor of China and in honor of Spring... Rach and I will be hosting a weekly giveaway each week for the entire month of May here on the blog! Wahoo!!! Go China! Go spring!!!

This week we're giving away this super fabulous, totally hip, ultra cool, throw-back slap bracelet watch! 

It's a deep pink and will pair perfectly with your fav spring outfit! Aren't you just so excited!??!?!

 Just slap it on and you're ready to go...

To enter the Giveaway you MUST:

- Be a follower of this blog and leave a comment letting us know you are.

For 1 extra entry:

- Update your facebook status with a link to this giveaway

- Tweet about this giveaway with a link

- Follow us on Bloglovin'

For 2 extra entries: 

-Get a friend to follow this blog and leave a comment letting us know you did!

Please leave separate comments for each additional entry you make!

Giveaway ends Sunday, May 8th at midnight!