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Filed under: Anne et Valentin, EVENTS!, Francis Klein, RES/REI, Theo

November Trunk Shows!!!

Written by on October 11th 2016

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It’s that magical time of year again! Trunk Show month at Eye Spy! Every Saturday in November! We’ve got all of our favorite lines scheduled to make an appearance! Check out the line up below!

Saturday, November 5th: Francis Klein

Dixie, Francis Klein’s daughter, is flying in from Paris with her bags full of their gorgeous and glittery new 2017 collection. Select  your favorite shape, stones & colors and have a custom sparkly pair made just for you! 

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Saturday, November 12th: Anne et Valentin

Anne et Valentin’s  Spring 2017 collection is full of pretty surprises. Easy to wear shapes are mixed with fantastic colors and materials. Anne et Valentin is doing what they do best – which is why they are always a favorite.

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Saturday, November 19th: Theo

Theo never disappoints, and this year is no exception! Bright colors and modern graphic shapes aplenty, the 2017 collection is full of fun and surprises! Their new asymmetrical EyeWitness series is a play on “connect the dots” and is certainly a Must See for anyone who is looking for something a bit out-of-the-ordinary. 

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Saturday, November 26th: Double-Header:
Res/Rei and Kirk & Kirk

Res/Rei is known for its superb quality and deceptively simple designs. Made in Italy, its craftsmanship really shines. Beautiful color combinations that are easy to wear, and soft shapes that flatter both men and women are the hallmark of Res/Rei.

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And last but not least…introducing Kirk & Kirk Kaleidoscope! Funky shapes and colors so good you might want to eat them, are what Kirk & Kirk are all about. We promise that if you try them on, you will want one, or two, or three for yourself!

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For a private showing on the Sunday following each show, call us at 773.477.2670 or email us at [optician at eyespyoptical.com] for an appointment. 

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Filed under: EVENTS!, Niloca

18th Birthday Bash & Niloca Trunk Show!

Written by on September 24th 2016

We are now officially old enough to VOTE!

Celebrate with us on Saturday, October 1st from 11-5pm with a Niloca Trunk Show…and register to vote! 

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Niloca’s designer will be here direct from Australia, with his entire collection of eyewear for unabashed, confident eyewear connoisseurs, who pave a path to the highest peak and shout from its summit, “HERE I AM WORLD, TAKE YOUR BEST SHOT!!”

iris the airstream_and niloca
We shot our most recent lookbook this past summer…
and captured some great shots with Niloca’s incredible designs along the shoreline of the Chicago River.

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This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see the Niloca collection, as the designer is touring the US and only stopping in a few cities, directly after the yearly eyewear show in Paris!

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But Wait, There’s More!
Did we mention that we will be registering voters *and*
awarding prizes & discounts if you cast your mock vote at Eye Spy?!?!

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We will have some lovely volunteers who will be happy to help you register to vote, which will be super-easy thanks to Rock The Vote but don’t worry, if you can’t make it, you can click on this handy dandy link and Register to Vote Here!!!

 

 

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Filed under: NEWS!, Niloca, Theo

Eye Spy our Newest Optician: Debbi!!!

Written by on September 20th 2016

You may have seen a new face around here lately…and that face belongs to our new optician, Debbi, the Glasses Guru. Debbi has over 17 years of experience and she sure knows her stuff! She is a wiz at adjustments – she will get your glasses sitting pretty on your face in no time – she hasn’t met a frame she could bend back into shape yet!

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We asked her a few questions so you could get to know her:

- How many glasses do you own?
1 optical and 1 sun! (She gave away all her sunnies – this lady has a heart of gold! But, don’t you worry, she will become a glasses addict in NO time!!)

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- Do you have a hobby?
I cook, swim, and love shopping – especially for kitchen wear (perhaps due to the fact that her mom has a catering business).

- There’s an EARTHQUAKE! and you can only save 3 things from the gaping hole forming under your apartment, what do you scoop up?
Photo albums, my journal, and of course, my prized possession – my beautiful, brick red KitchenAid mixer.

- What catches your eye at Eye Spy?
The neon yellow Niloca Clockwork frame….and the Theo Mille+26 in fluorescent red….as seen in the above photo:-)

- If you could be any mystical person/creature who/what would it be?
A unicorn with wings – they are so powerful and beautiful…and I could fly!

- Do you have a hidden talent?
I am a wiz at useless trivia…and don’t even get me started with old R&B!!!

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- Tell us something that most people don’t know about you.
I grew up on a farm with 30 dogs. (Whoa!!!)

Debbi is extremely patient, easy-going, and great at picking out spectacular specs…and we are sure you will think so too! Come by the store, say hi, and introduce yourself; She is excited to meet all of our fabulous customers:-)

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Filed under: NEWS!, Niloca, Theo

Eye Spy With My Little Eye…OUR NEW EYE DOC!!!

Written by on September 10th 2016

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Dr. Catherine Liu comes to us from Vegas and while she isn’t a fan of the cold weather, she does LOVE Chicago’s food scene. Her fav restaurants include Zaytune Mediterranean Grill, Pleasant House, Cafe Ba-Ba-Reeba and all the breakfast delights at Batter & Berries.

As a kid, she dreamed about becoming a basketball player, but as it turns out, there isn’t as much demand for 5’1.5″ pro players:-( She now imagines a life full of chickens, greyhound dogs, travel to far and distant lands and the perfect pair of teal glasses.

One of her most beloved places on the planet is a small farm in England where she attended a cooking school, lived an idyllic life picking veggies and became “one with the land.”

When we met Dr. Catherine this past summer, she was in-town to run a half marathon…and was able to swing by the shop beforehand. We were impressed by her knowledge and experience with a variety of speciality contact lenses. We were also happy to hear of her similar views on spending significant time with each patient in order to provide a comprehensive and thorough eye exam.

She is eager to meet our spectacular customers and provide an eye-opening exam experience! She has also fallen in love with the Theo and Nilcoa eyewear that we selected for her in the above pictures;-)

Feel free to read more about Dr. Catherine’s professional experience here, stop by to meet her on Thursdays and Saturdays …and schedule your next eye exam here!

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Filed under: Anne et Valentin, CUSTOMER OF THE WEEK!, FASHION!, Piero Massaro

Customers of the Week: Glasses for Two!

Written by on August 28th 2016

Couples in glasses are our absolute favorite…especially when they look as good in their frames as our Customer’s of the Week: Ron and Bonnie!

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Bonnie has been coming to Eye Spy Optical for all of her fabulous frames for a several years and when it was time for her sweetie to get a new frame, she was able to convince him to give Eye Spy a try! Patsy, the Specs Wrangler, helped him pick out an amazing Piero Massaro in the most amazing blue color – he really looks handsome!

Of course maybe it was her sexy new sunnies that convinced him – check her  out in her new Anne et Valentin Streep shades.

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Let’s get to know Ron and Bonnie!

  1. What do you do for a living? Ron is a social worker and I am now fully retired.
  2. How many glasses do you have? Ron had 3 pair of glasses and I have 4. All mine are from Eye Spy. 
  3. If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life, what would that food be? We’d both chose pasta as the one  food we’d eat for the rest of our lives. Pasta, Heart, Food, Red
  4. What is your beverage of choice?Our beverage of choice is wine – we’ve visited a number of wine areas in the States and Europe. The most intriguing one in the States was Walla Walla, Washington. 
  5. How long have you been wearing glasses? Ron has worn glasses since age 5 and I since about 10 years ago.
  6. Would you rather have a time machine that only goes back in time or a time machine that only goes forward in time? Ron would choose a time machine that goes backwards and I’d choose one that goes forward.
  7. What is your favorite place on earth? Our favorite place to visit is Paris!
  8. What is one book, movie or tv show you think everyone should know about? We think people should tune in to PBS for Inspector Morse or Last Tango in Halifax.
  9. What is podcasts do you listen to on the regular? Ron listens to The Moth and  I listen to Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me
  10.  What is your favorite thing about living in Chicago? We love Chicago for all its food, especially those with ethnic food, and cultural venues.

 

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Filed under: CUSTOMER OF THE WEEK!, FASHION!, HEALTH!, KIDS!

Customer Of The Week…Another Cute Kid With Glasses!

Written by on August 7th 2016

Three Cheers for Lake, our Customer of the Week!

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Lake’s mom brought her in for an eye exam with our amazing Eye Doctor. Lake was a teensy bit nervous, but our doctor is great with kids and made it really fun and easy. Lake found out that she was going to need glasses she couldn’t have been more thrilled! As it turns out, she was hoping that she would need them – she LOVES glasses :)

The Optical Oracle helped her try on kids frames until she found just the right one – a red metal frame that fit like a dream and made her feel like a million bucks!

We LOVE it when kids get excited about their glasses and as you can see, Lake is beaming!

Let’s learn a little more about Lake!

  1. What is her favorite color? Aqua
  2. If she could be any animal, what would she be and why? Reindeer so I can fly (Here are 11 things you might not know about Reindeer!)
  3. What is her favorite thing to do in the summer time? Surf on vacation surf kid
  4. What is her favorite activity or subject at school? Reading
  5. How many siblings does she have? An older brother and younger brother
  6. If she were in a talent show, what would her talent be? Play guitar and dancingguitar-1424478_960_720

 

It is almost time for Chicagoland kids to head back to school and all kids entering school for the first time are required to get their eyes examined by an eye doctor. Our docs are low key and make it painless – your kids don’t even need to know their letters or numbers! So visit our website to schedule your little one’s appointment.

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Filed under: Anne et Valentin, Anni Shades, Caroline Abram, EVENTS!, February 31st, Francis Klein, Gentle Monster, Kaenon, Niloca, Oliver Goldsmith, Rapp, RES/REI, Rigards, Spectacular Sunglasses, Super, Theo, Thierry Lasry, Unique Frame Lines

August Sunglass (and more!) Sale

Written by on July 29th 2016

2015_sunglass_saleWe are getting ready for our AUGUST SUNGLASS SALE !! Once a year, we round up all of our sunglasses, and go a little bananas on the discounts. 

All sunglasses are on sale from the beginning to the very end of the month! Come by and take advantage of discounts from 10-75% off of almost every pair of sunglasses in the store. Yowza! Just to add to the crazy of the sale, we have also put a a few of our eyeglasses lines on sale for 25% to 75% off!

Come by and let us fit you with lovely sunnies to enjoy for the rest of the summer… and throughout the winter!

2016 Sunglass sale

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Filed under: EVENTS!, FASHION!, NEWS!

Eye Spy will be Poppin’ up at Randolph St. Market!

Written by on July 22nd 2016

Join us at Randolph St Market on Sunday, July 31st!

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Looking for something fun to do on you weekend? Love antiques and quirky treasures? Enjoy eating at food carts? Then get your butt over to Randolph St Market and enjoy a day of scavenging at Chicago’s best place to shop for vintage furniture, fashion, clothing, jewelry, antiques, art, indie designer & handbags and glasses!

Iris, the Airstream, will be poppin’ up at the Randolph St. Market again this year and she can’t wait to meet you!

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The Queen of Specs will be there to help you find your perfect pair of frames – selecting from a variety of fun and funky glasses and sunglasses.

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The fabulous Melissa Yen of Jo Snow will also be joining us for the market, serving up specialty snow cones to keep you cool! So make sure you stop by and get a treat!

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The Deets:

Randolph St. Market Festival

SHOP INDOORS & OUTDOORS
FROM 300+ VENDORS

JULY 31 -Sunday 10am-5pm
1340 W Washington Street, Chicago

$8 General Admission/Kids Under 12 Free

For more ticket info go to: http://www.randolphstreetmarket.com

Can’t wait to see you there!

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Filed under: Anne et Valentin, CUSTOMER OF THE WEEK!

Customer of the Week: Syrup Specialist!!!!

Written by on July 22nd 2016

Raise your glass because it is time to congratulate our newest Customer of the Week…Cheers Melissa!!!

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Melissa was on the hunt for a new frame and our very own Queen of Specs got right to work to help her find a frame that is just as fun as she is – an Anne et Valentin Kodex frame in the prettiest green and pink combo we have ever seen. Melissa loved the unique shape and the little details, and the Queen was in full agreement.

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Melissa is the beauty, brains and tastebuds behind Jo Snow Syrups, a delightful local line of natural syrups for spicing up your coffee, cocktails, snowcones…and really anything else that you could pour them on – we think they are especially lovely mixed with a little champagne :)

Her flavors are surprising and delightful…Blueberry Jasmine, Fig Vanilla Black Pepper, Grapefruit Rosemary…is your mouth watering yet?

We love Melissa and her syrups so much that we invited her to join us for our Anne et Valentin Trunk Show in May with a variety of boozy snow cones featuring hand-shaved ice, her delightful syrups, and a splash of alcohol and at our upcoming pop-up at the Randolph St. Market Festival on Sunday July 28th! 

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Let’s get to know Melissa!

  1. What do you do for a living? I am the chief syrup officer for Jo Snow Syrups. I make hand crafted, all natural syrups for coffee, cocktails, sodas & snow cones.  
  2.  How many glasses do you have? I currently have two pairs that I can actually see out of, plus sunglasses.  
  3.  What is your astrological sign? I’m a Leo. Madonna & I share the same birthday and Elvis died on my 11th birthday   15-08-16-madonna-birthday
  4.  If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life, what would that food be? Ok, this may be a strange answer, but goi cuon. They are fresh Vietnamese spring rolls that have rice noodles & veggies & pork or shrimp wrapped inside rice paper. They are usually served with a peanut sauce, but I like them dipped in nuc mum, a spicy fish sauce. The lemongrass tofu ones at Nhu Lan Bakery are my fave. They are so refreshing & light & healthy.  
  5. What is your beverage of choice? I love bubbles in any form, so I would have to say champagne, preferably a rose.  pink-champagne
  6. What is your secret talent? Hmmm…I have a super sniffer. I am able to smell things others cannot ,which is helpful if there is a gas leak, but not so pleasant in other cases. I also have a pretty darn good palate and can pick out ingredients in dishes pretty well.  
  7.  How long have you been wearing glasses? I’ve been wearing glasses since the first or second grade. And I think those styles are back in style now.  Scary!  
  8. Would you rather have a time machine that only goes back in time or a time machine that only goes forward in time? I think only backward in time. I would love to see my husband as a child. The pictures of him are so cute. I would want to see him interacting with others & see how he got some of his endearing & not so endearing habits!  I would also love to see what the city looked like a hundred years ago. I would like to see ancient civilizations & see how the continents used to be a giant land mass.  I think I would be afraid to see the future.   
  9. What is your guilty pleasure song? Sweet-Ballroom Blitz- I once had it as the outgoing message on my answering machine (remember those? Probably not)
  10. What is one book, movie or tv show you think everyone should know about? One of my favorite movies is Tampopo. It is a quirky movie about the quest to make the perfect bowl of ramen. It has many smaller stories happening within the main story. It’s just so much fun. I own it on VHS & DVD. We’ve also projected it on a screen & “cooked” the movie.  tampopo-noodle
  11. What is your favorite thing about living in Chicago? All the different kinds of food we can eat in all the different neighborhoods, Vietnamese, Thai, Indian, El Salvadorian, Polish, and Jamaican.

Melissa is the sweetest lady we know and if you haven’t yet, get yourself some of her sweet treats…you will be so glad you did!  You can find out more about her and her syrups, snow cones, and other delightful delectables at  her website Josnowsyrups.com.  Follow her on Instagram and Twitter @Josnowsyrups  and go like her page on Facebook – Jo Snow Syrups

 

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Filed under: EVENTS!

Lakeview Live Concerts on the Curb #2 – Electric Boogaloo!!!

Written by on July 22nd 2016

Get Your Boogie On…AGAIN!!!

Join Eye Spy Optical on Thursday, July 21 for Lakeview Live Concerts on the Curb!

Iris the Airstream pop-up

Iris the Airstream had a wonderful time at the June concert! She will be on vacaction in Wisconsin this year, but we will still have plenty of eyewear and sunglasses:-)

This fabulous event is being hosted by the Lakeveiw Chamber of Commerce, Chicago Music Exchange and Lagunitas Brewing Company and businesses up and down the block will be gettin’ their groove on to celebrate with sidewalk sales, pop-ups etc!

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The bands were great and there were tons of activities for the kiddos – including a GIANT Connect 4 board that you have to see to believe!
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And there was beer! Did we mention the beer? Lagunitas was pouring some of their best and most delicious beverages. You definitely won’t want to miss out on that!

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AND again….since Iris’s favorite season is summer, we will be giving all of our lovely customers 10% off any sunglasses purchase during the concert!

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Details Schmetails:

Who’s Playin’?

When are they Playin’? Thursday July 21st. Things will get started at 5:30pm and will wrap up at 8:30pm.

Where are they Playin’? The band will be set up at the corner of Paulina and Lincoln Ave, but there will be fun stuff going on up and down the street!

Could it possibly be free? YES!!!! The concert is free to any and all who get their butts on down here!

Where are my dancin’ shoes? I don’t know…but you better find them!

You can find more info about the concerts at www.concertsonthecurb.com and on their facebook page.

Stay tuned for info about August 18th’s event!

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