Tag Archives: trunk show

Filed under: EVENTS!

Anne et Valentin June Pop-up!

Written by on May 22nd 2017

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The newest Anne et Valentin collection is incredible in scope, design and color. This is their strongest collection yet. They introduced so many fabulous new colors and new shapes that we went over-board when placing an order for the shop. On June 15th from 3-7pm, you will be able to see every shape and every color in their current and new collections. They have eyewear for men, women *and* kids.

This show is definitely not to be missed! Sneak a peek at some of the images below and see you there!

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CLARK

D-CIMAL

HELIUM BC75

M.4 H35

POLA 1766

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Filed under: EVENTS!, Theo

Crazy Colorful Theo Trunk Show!

Written by on April 29th 2017

Who loves Theo? You do! So join us for the most colorful Theo trunk show yet on May 20 from 12-5pm!

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Theo is really bringing it this year with all of the great new shapes and vibrant colors that eyewear lovers have come to expect! 

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From show stopping acetates and to interlocking metals, there really is something for everyone. Come try on all of the new shapes and colors and pick out one…or two…or three for yourself!

kamasutra white/gold

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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.

ANNE ET VALENTIN KODEX

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!, HEALTH!, Non-Profit of the Month, Theo

NPO of the Month: Peterson Garden Project!

Written by on May 27th 2016

Each month we donate a portion of sales at one of our events to a local non-profit organization that we admire. This month we are working with Peterson Garden Project and will be donating 3% of our sales from the Theo Trunk Show on June 4th! 

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In 2010, LaManda Joy started her first organic community garden in a vacant lot on Peterson Ave – a lot that in the 1940’s had been one of the many Victory Gardens that flourished throughout Chicago at the time. Since then, Peterson Garden Project has flourished and there are now community gardens all over Chicago, but what is even more important to LaManda is that her organization has taught hundreds of new gardeners how to grow nutritious food in their own neighborhoods.

Peterson Garden Project’s mission is to recruit, educate and inspire a new generation of gardeners who want to gain control of their food supply, grow their own produce organically, and make urban gardening the norm-not the exception. 

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 “Learning together in the garden, and kitchen, does much more than put fresh, nutritious food on the table. It helps build stronger communities, connect us to cultural heritage, improve public health and create a more sustainable, resilient city.”

Peterson Garden Project isn’t just about gardening:

  • Their community cooking school that offers classes and workshops about variety of ethnic cuisines and food cultures which draws upon the diverse backgrounds of the project’s membership. Check out their calendar for upcoming classes like Demystifying Masala: The Secret to Indian Spice Blends on June 2.
  • Grow2Give is their volunteer-run program that provides local food pantries and other organizations with donated produce grown in the gardens.
  • Senior/Senior, Kids in the Kitchen and Fresh Fridays are free programs geared at educating kids and seniors alike about nutrition and the joys of cooking.

Get Involved!

Go to a tea party! Peterson Garden Project is hosting a Mad Tea Party/fundraiser on June 12 at their Vedgewater Garden. Put on your finest or zaniest tea party attire and help keep the project going!

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Get your hands dirty! There are still plots available at some of their community gardens, so sign up, attend an orientation meeting and grow some delicious organic veggies of your own.

Try on some new specs! Come to our Theo Trunk Show on June 4th and pick up a beautiful new pair of glasses – 3% our sales will be donated to Peterson Garden Project!

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Peterson Garden Project continues to grow and there are plenty of ways to get involved – take a look at their Website, Facebook and Instagram to keep up with all of the latest gardening news!

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Filed under: CUSTOMER OF THE WEEK!, Theo

Green Cat-Eye Glasses for our Customer of the Week!

Written by on January 13th 2016

New Year, New Unique Glasses!

Get ready to do the wave (yes people still do that!) in celebration of Karen, our Customer of the Week! Karen’s new specs are winners and so is she!!!

Karen in her colorful green Theo eyeglasses frames

New Glasses, Oh JOY!!!

It is a new year and we are happy to ring it in with a face you may recognize.  Karen has been a customer for ten years and is now a two time Customer of the Week winner! (Last time she got a particularly cool pair of  Gentle Monster frames.)

eye spy optical glasses, gentle monster frames

Karen is one smart cookie. She is a a businesswoman – she is the Founder and Executive Director at the Chicago Mosaic School, a teacher  – check out all the amazing classes over at CMS – you need a new hobby right?!? – and an amazing mosaic artist who has shown internationally in Italy, Japan and France (just to name just a few.)

chicago mosaic art by Karen Ami

Onward, 2015

Don’t let her impressive resume intimidate you…she is full of sass and you will probably find yourself laughing your face off if you spend any time with her.

Anne et Valentin and Theo eyeglasses frames. Custom colorful handmade

Karen has a love for funky eyeglasses and with the help of her trusted friend and optician, Patsy the Spex Wrangler, she always manages to leave Eye Spy Optical with a frame that fits her personality to a T.

green cat-eye glasses

 

This gorgeous Theo Mille+12 is the newest addition to her eyewear collection. We think they are a perfect pair for her frame wardrobe. Theo makes bold and chunky acetate glasses that make a statement.  The Mille+12’s structured cat-eye shape is modern and has all the right angles – and the color of this frame is to die for!

If you see Karen out and about ask her for her secret to winning COTW twice and find out where she is headed next. We guarantee you will love her as much as we do!

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Filed under: NEWS!, Sabine Be., Unique Frame Lines

There’s A New Line We’d Like You To Meet!

Written by on November 13th 2015

We have some new frames to entice and delight you from a wonderful new (to us) designer. Let me introduce you to our newest collection of french eyeglasses, Sabine Be! But first, some background…

The Queen of Specs had been seeing photos of Sabine Be for a over a year….so, when she made her wishlist for the buying show in Paris, Sabine Be was at the top of the list! The Queen likes to carry independent, small, colorful lines that are designed by opticians. In addition, independent optical designers are so nice to work with…and the quality & workmanship is amazing.  Our appointment with Sabine Be was secured for the last day of the buying show. Each day that the Queen passed by the Sabine Be booth, she started drooling and the Specs Wrangler had to pull the Queen away!! Finally, the day arrived! And the clouds parted…..

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Are you in LOVE yet?  Everyone here at Eye Spy Optical have a bit of a crush, especially on this sassy little cat ear number.

Sabine grew up with a love of design, fashion and eyewear – both parents were involved in the optical world.  She knew she would grow up to be a designer of some sort.  So after years of work as an optician, Sabine started her own line of unique and colorful frames.

You may not know this but opticians make THE BEST eyewear designers. They pay attention to the little things –  what will fit well, what will look good, what will feel comfortable in a frame.  Sabine Be is comfortable and fun to wear.  She uses beautiful colors and pairs them with fun and easy to wear shapes.

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They are also beautifully made – Sabine has her frames made by hand at a small, well-known eyewear factory in France.  Detail and quality have served as her guides she has been recognized by the eyewear design world for her talents, she was recently nominated for the prestegious Grand Prix Silmo d’Or 2015 in Paris.

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We have a great selection of Sabine Be’s women’s and men’s frames as well as some fantastic accessories. Consider yourself warned…you may squeal with delight when you see them. :)

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Filed under: Anne et Valentin, EVENTS!, Mykita, Non-Profit of the Month, SpexWax, Theo

Non-Profit Org of the Month!

Written by on November 6th 2015

You may not know this but the Queen of Specs, Alissa, is a woman and a small business owner!!! Gasp! And all of the lovely folks workin’ at Eye Spy Optical these day are also women! So you might not be surprised to find out that Alissa is totally into supporting women’s businesses and issues. Each month we donate a portion of sales at one of our events to a local non-profit organization. This month we are excited to be working with Women Employed.

womenemployedWomen Employed is a fantastic organization and was founded in 1973 with the mission to “improve the economic status of women and remove barriers to economic equity.” They are focused on addressing issues that impact women in low paying jobs like paid sick-leave, fairness in the workplace, stable schedules, living wages etc. 

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This is a group of hard-working people who are dedicated to helping women succeed in life and removing major barriers that can get in the way of that.

Some of the awesome accomplishments that Women Employed have achieved in the last 5 years:

  • As the leading advocate for state-funded tuition assistance in Illinois, WE prevents deep cuts to those investments in the face of the state’s fiscal crisis.
  • WE leads a growing campaign to raise the minimum wage in Illinois and collaborates with national groups to win an increase at the federal level.
  • WE wins commitments from state leaders to implement “bridge programs” that help low-skilled adults advance to college-level courses in their chosen career fields.
  • WE works with community colleges across Illinois to improve support services that help students stay in school and graduate.

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Help us support Women Employed’s mission to assure that “All women are treated fairly in the workplace, are able to attain the skills they need for the jobs they want, and are respected for the work they do.”

We will be donating a portion of our sales at our trunk shows this month, so stop in and check out our fabulous glasses and help suport a great Chicago oranization!

Learn more about them and ways that you can get involved by checking out their website and follow them on social media: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Flickr, Pinterest.

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Filed under: Anne et Valentin, EVENTS!, Mykita, SpexWax, Theo

November Trunk Shows!

Written by on October 28th 2015

2015 Nov Trunk Show Card_outline - Copy

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

Anne et Valentin  on November 7th 
Anne et Valentin single handedly manages to give you just the right amount of color and grace in each of their lovely frames! And while their creations are original, colorful and lively, they are, above all, objects that combine ergonomics, technical requirements, and respect for those who wear them.KROMA_1555 -

Spex Wax on November 14th 
Spex Wax is the ultimate upcycle: art for your face! Rescuing unplayable records, recrafting them with love and artistry that is the very core of Spex Wax. Come and choose from one of their brilliant styles. If for some reason you can’t manage to find your dream pair, you can have one designed for you! Each pair is totally swoon worthy, but don’t take my word for it, come and see for yourself.Spexwax (@spexwax) • Instagram photos and videos - Google Chrome_2015-10-24_17-26-01

THEO on November 21st 
Theo eyewear is a little bit like magic in the way that their frames are designed. If you are looking for metal or acetate they have got you covered in the smartest, dreamiest way possible. Their pairing of color and shape is on point. Don’t believe me? Come in and see every perfect pair in each incredible color. We will have booze and snacks to make your Saturday that much better.theo new

Mykita on November 28th  
Mykita has been ruling the the screwless hinge game since 2003! Laser cutting and the hand bending of each frame are just the start of Mykita’s effortless perfection. Clean lines and graceful shapes are where Mykita is at. Oh, and did we mention that they are dang near impossible to break?!MYKITA - FLORENTINE - Google Chrome_2015-10-24_17-25-14

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Filed under: EVENTS!

Anne et Valentin Party on Thursday, May 7th!

Written by on April 23rd 2015

We are putting the final touches on our plans for the Anne et Valentin trunk show! Here’s what’s going on:

Obviously, we will have all of the Anne et Valentin collection here!! Every single, perfectly-crafted frame in all of their glorious colors. Oh, and did we mention just how dreamy their sunglasses are for this season?! Le Sigh…

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We have got some other delectable things lined up for you! We will have an assortment of delicious savory hand pies from Pleasant House Bakery ! If you haven’t had one of these delicious pies from this Beverly bakery, then get your cute face in here and chow down on Thursday, May 7th! When you are finished with the savories, move on to our sweets from Flirty Cupcakes, which will surely give you the energy to pick out the dreamiest glasses in town…

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We will have crafted our own cocktails for the event as well, so after being fed and watered, you can pick out your favorite pairs from the lovely Anne et Valentin collection. And be sure to snag a pair of shades! After this winter, we all need to be outside as much as possible…so, that means we need sunglasses for all the margaritas we will be having on patios!

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Feel good about your purchase of simply spectacular eyewear; We are donating a percentage of our sales from the day to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Foundation :-)

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See you on Thursday, May 7th from 3-7pm, and bring your appetite!

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Filed under: EVENTS!, Theo

Go Green at our Theo Trunk Show on Saturday, April 18th!

Written by on March 20th 2015

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Well, it’s about that time….Spring is finally here and the new Theo collection is on its way to Eye Spy!
Come and check out all of the new colors and styles on Saturday, April 18th from 11-5pm!
We can’t wait! We will have sangrias and snacks to assist you with decision-making…no hanger in here!!!!mille+12 theo

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In celebration of Earth Day, if you ride your bike to Eye Spy, we will be giving 10% off  Rx lenses with the purchase of a frame from Eye Spy:-) In addition, we are working with Roscoe Village Bikes to properly fit your helmut from 11-12pm *and* West Town Bikes to give your bike a check-up for spring! Finally, if you recycle a pair of glasses with us that you purchased online, you will get $50 off  Rx lenses:-) One discount offer per customer, puhleeze.

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Whoops, we almost forgot the best part of all!?  We will have a Girl Scout Troop from Oscar Mayer Elementary School here selling Girls Scout COOKIES!!!! It might be your last chance of the season to scoop up some cookies!  So…. come check out the new dreamy Theo’s and satisfy your sweet tooth!

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   See you Saturday, April 18th from 11-5pm!

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