10 essentials: megan

1. Everything about style makes me think of my mom. Fashion and decorating, beautiful fabrics—especially simple, elegant raw linen—I fell in love with pearls, Paris and Vogue because she’s shared her passions since I was young.

2. The stories you can read into candid photography. It’s great food for the imagination and I love the art form.

3. Riding to work on my Jamis hybrid bicycle. Chicago’s getting more and more biker friendly with new lanes every year—there’s even a bike station at Millenium Park.

4. Summer street festivals where we can be outside listening to bands, with good food and drink—all local. Favorites are the Green Music Festival, West Fest and Tour de Fat.

5. Making home-brewed beer after taking classes at Bev Art.

6. Keeping it simple in the kitchen. We use stemless wine glasses and cuatro appetizer plates as multi-purpose—they work great for everything.

7. Cooking Thanksgiving dinner—it’s my favorite holiday because I get to spend time with my large Irish family. We have a weigh-in and whoever gains the most wins the leftovers.

8. Hanging out with Monroe, who’s very sociable, at dog friendly cafes.

9. Organic—especially Seventh Generation cleaning products and organic baking.

10. How can you not buy a pair of TOMS shoes when you know a pair will be provided to a child in need? Bonus: the sustainable materials they use, new fun designs all the time, and they’re super comfortable!

Thanks to megan, product manager assistant, for this submission.