Meet Peachtree Place's Lucy Callahan

Lucy Callahan opened Peachtree Place in 1985 with the idea of bringing a little Southern charm to the North Shore of Chicago. My salesperson, Karen, will be visiting Northfield, Illinois for a trunk show tomorrow and Thurday (Sept. 15th and 16th) from 11am to 5:30 p.m. daily. To find out more about their city we took some local tips from Lucy.

Best Meal: We are right next door to The Happ Inn and love their Black 'n Blue Burger--not to mention the Salmon, Turkey and Beef Sliders...and they have outstanding drinks...

Best Dessert: Without a doubt the carrot cake at Jerry's--unlike any carrot cake you have ever known.

Favorite piece of architecture: The Tribune Tower with flying buttresses and spires--also 120 stones from important locations such as the Parthenon, the Pyramids, the Taj Mahal, the Alamo and the Great Wall of China are embedded in the facade.

Book I am reading now: The Tower, The Zoo and The Tortoise by Julia Stuart

Greatest aspect of my job: All the wonderful people I get to work with: The Peaches (all of us), our customers and our vendors and I have had this pleasure for 25 years!

Favorite Fall color: Any shade of purple, lavender or plum.

Favorite thing to do as a local: Get down to Lake Michigan in any way, shape or form. It is as blue as the Caribbean--did you know that?

Favorite piece of jewelry: EASY! The Madeleine Bangle in Emerald Quartz, Chrysophrase and Diamonds! I love, love, love it!

Hiking Crested Butte to Aspen

I traveled to Crested Butte in the middle of my summer journey and went hiking with friends Monica, Amy and Martyn--we hiked from Crested Butte to Aspen in about 8 hours--we hiked up to the top of West Maroon Bells which has an altitude of 12,490 feet. I am in healthy shape, but having only been in Crested Butte for 4 days, I had not acclimated to this altitude, thus was a bit out of breath at the top of this mountain! We dined in Aspen at Mezzaluna--I had yummy pasta and ate it all as I was starving after that hike. Then we drove back to Crested Butte through Kebler Pass.

If you are in or near Aspen, don't forget to stop by Elliott Yeary, one of our fabulous retailers!

The 28-mile unpaved road drive through Kebler Pass was a bit eerie but beautiful even in the dark--did you know that one of the earth's largest living organisms is the grove of Aspen trees at Kebler Pass? The Aspen tree forms large stands of genetically identical trees connected by a single underground root system. WOW!

I had no idea I would be riding ATVs (4-wheelers) for 6 hours with 2 guy friends of mine through the mountains of Crested Butte in the Cement Creek trail area--what exhilarating fun! During part of our journey, we raced around --above the tree line-- which here in the Rockies is about 11,500 feet. Here we are high-fiving after our first little run when the guys realized that I was actually a risk-taker ;)

Tabernash,CO and Devil's Thumb

Dinner outside at The Devil's Thumb Restaurant in Tabernash, CO (next to Winter Park) with my friends Clay, J., and Ali. I enjoyed yummy Rocky Mountain trout for dinner. And for an early birthday celebration (I will be 39 on August 23rd!), I blew out a candle and we shared a white chocolate bread pudding with caramel and vanilla bean ice cream

(the bread made from croissants)...I thought I wouldn't like it because I don't like white chocolate, but it was divine!

Ali and I in front of the gorgeous Rocky Mountains and the beautiful Colorado sky. Something else great about the Devil's Thumb Ranch, you can plan any type of event- weddings, meetings, and fun spa getaways with friends-on its 5000 acres.

Winter Park with Whitney and Friends

I am staying a week in Winter Park, CO with my best friend from childhood, Ali, her husband J, their 4-year old son, Sam, and a mutual friend from high school, Clay. My dog, Whitney, my friend Clay and I hiked up one of Winter Park's mountains to Sunspot to eat lunch during my time here--we both had yummy bison burgers and fries. It rained on us a little on the way back down, but we enjoyed it all, especially seeing how much fun Whitney had off the leash! She ran off for a few minutes, but Clay and I split up and found her, thank God!

After our hike, Whitney was soaking wet, so we put her in the back of my MINI Cooper--she actually stayed back there and seemed content in her little space. There happens to be a large annual gathering of MINI Cooper enthusiasts here in Winter Park--go to MINIs in the mountains for more info--it's occurring now, August 12-15th--there are about 325 MINIs in town right now--we saw 22 in a row this morning on the highway!!