When I was visiting Chicago in March for the fabulous Chicago Zine Fest, I made sure to spend a good chunk of my trip scouting out all the paper goodies the city had to offer. I definitely didn’t make it to everything, including the beloved Paper Source, but I really liked what I found!
Obviously I can’t help a trip to Target whenever I’m in the States. Their dollar bin stationery is amazing! This was literally the first place I went to in Chicago after I put my bags down at my friend’s place. I loaded up on cute sticky notes and pads of paper.
Later that day, I visited a shop called Greer in Old Town. Filled to the brim with notebooks and cards, it was a treasure to dig through! Greer seems to cater a lot to the wedding crowd, but that didn’t stop me from leaving with a pretty notebook and a tiny little magic lamp that I now keep at my desk as a good luck charm. And I would have left with a lot more if I could’ve afforded it. The owner was wonderfully chatty, which is a huge plus!
The next day, I got myself over to the Paper Doll, which is within walking distance from Wicker Park. As soon as I entered, a little pug came up to greet me! That should happen in more paper stores. The store was also full with goodies — they had more in terms of housewares, baby things and wrapping paper — and I left with a stationery set, some cards and a pin saying I was a friend of the pug’s.
Both Greer & Paper Doll were gorgeous, had amazing service and prime products! I’m already missing them and hope I can go back someday.