I hope you have all been enjoying your holiday season!!
Just wanted to remind everyone that I'll be in Plainfield, IL over the weekend celebrating Christmas with my cousins, and then on to Long Prairie from the 24th-28th, and finally in Minneapolis from the 29th-30th. I'll be flying back to Chicago on the afternoon of the 30th.
I hope to see as many of you as possible while I'm in MN - I miss you all!
Monday, December 17, 2007
Good News, Bad News
Besides the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, I can't forget some of the highs and lows of life.
I'll start with the bad news first. My two best friends in Chicago broke up about a week and a half ago. This is very difficult as they've been dating for 4 years and I've known both of them about as long. While I'll remain friends with both of them, I do feel like I'm going through a divorce and am saddened to see them hurting so much. Needless to say, I've been carving out some time for both of them, so that is why I haven't had much time to email or call you all.
Now for the GOOD NEWS!!! My parents and I booked our Alaskan Cruise on the Holland America ms. Ryndam!!! Yay!!! Our cruise is from May 21-28. (Leila and Aaron, I'm bummed to be missing Memorial Day weekend....but this is what worked for my parents. I promise I'll make it up to Lake Holcombe this summer!!!). We are all very excited to see Alaska, but more importantly, to see Christopher. It should be a fabulous time!!
And PS - you are all still more than welcome to join us on the cruise!!
Other good news....my Grandma Zenner and cousin Meghan celebrated birthdays in the past 2 weeks. Jen, Rebecca, and Colleen also celebrated birthdays! Woo-hoo!
I hope your December has been filled with GOOD NEWS!!! Hugs!
I'll start with the bad news first. My two best friends in Chicago broke up about a week and a half ago. This is very difficult as they've been dating for 4 years and I've known both of them about as long. While I'll remain friends with both of them, I do feel like I'm going through a divorce and am saddened to see them hurting so much. Needless to say, I've been carving out some time for both of them, so that is why I haven't had much time to email or call you all.
Now for the GOOD NEWS!!! My parents and I booked our Alaskan Cruise on the Holland America ms. Ryndam!!! Yay!!! Our cruise is from May 21-28. (Leila and Aaron, I'm bummed to be missing Memorial Day weekend....but this is what worked for my parents. I promise I'll make it up to Lake Holcombe this summer!!!). We are all very excited to see Alaska, but more importantly, to see Christopher. It should be a fabulous time!!
And PS - you are all still more than welcome to join us on the cruise!!
Other good news....my Grandma Zenner and cousin Meghan celebrated birthdays in the past 2 weeks. Jen, Rebecca, and Colleen also celebrated birthdays! Woo-hoo!
I hope your December has been filled with GOOD NEWS!!! Hugs!
Holiday Parties
That has pretty much summed up the past 2 weeks - a lot of holiday parties.
I think my favorite holiday party was the CIMA Holiday Party. (CIMA is the Chicago Interactive Marketing Association). The party was held in a great location - Mpls folks, it was very similar to the Mill City Museum - and it was so fun to be chatting with someone, look up, and find another Chicago rep that I hadn't seen in months. It was like a reunion for me. That is one of the bad things about working at GM Planworks - all of my reps are based in Detroit, so I hardly ever get to work with my Chicago reps that I've gotten to know over the past 3-5 years. Oh well.
I have one more holiday party this week, and then I will be done. Thank goodness.
People, I have been working on my holiday cards....about half of them went out last week before the madness of parties, and the rest went out in the mail today. I have not forgotten about you this holiday season, and hope you are having a wonderful one!
I think my favorite holiday party was the CIMA Holiday Party. (CIMA is the Chicago Interactive Marketing Association). The party was held in a great location - Mpls folks, it was very similar to the Mill City Museum - and it was so fun to be chatting with someone, look up, and find another Chicago rep that I hadn't seen in months. It was like a reunion for me. That is one of the bad things about working at GM Planworks - all of my reps are based in Detroit, so I hardly ever get to work with my Chicago reps that I've gotten to know over the past 3-5 years. Oh well.
I have one more holiday party this week, and then I will be done. Thank goodness.
People, I have been working on my holiday cards....about half of them went out last week before the madness of parties, and the rest went out in the mail today. I have not forgotten about you this holiday season, and hope you are having a wonderful one!
10th Annual Bad Santa Pub Crawl
I missed you all at the Bad Santa Pub Crawl this year! Once again, it did not disappoint. The afternoon started with a nice snow fall, that just set the scene for a holiday pub crawl. I set out from my apt with my to go cup of Guinness and walked up the 8 blocks to my friend Ken's home. That was the scene of the pre-party. I mean it's not bad enough that we're out drinking for a good 8 hours, we have to start earlier!
After a couple of beers at Ken's, the group of 15 people headed to the first bar on the crawl and we were met by about 15 more people. That was the story of the night, in each of the 4 bars we had about 40 people with us. That's pretty good considering the weather we had.
Here's a pic of the bartender at the last bar. We had a few kisses under the mistletoe!
After a couple of beers at Ken's, the group of 15 people headed to the first bar on the crawl and we were met by about 15 more people. That was the story of the night, in each of the 4 bars we had about 40 people with us. That's pretty good considering the weather we had.
Here's a pic of the bartender at the last bar. We had a few kisses under the mistletoe!
Hope to see you in Chicago next year for the Bad Santa Pub Crawl! Cheers!
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Shout-Out's!
So in the madness that was November for me, I need to send out some shout-out's for those near and dear that celebrated milestones.
First of all, to my parents who celebrated their 33rd Anniversary. Wow!! Congrats, mom and dad!!
Birthday props to my cousins - Evie, Rebecca, Colin and Grace. I hope you celebrated in style!
More birthday wishes to fabulous friends - Chad, Kerry, Linda and Eric. And an anniversary shout out to Joe and Michelle!
I hope you all enjoyed your special day!
First of all, to my parents who celebrated their 33rd Anniversary. Wow!! Congrats, mom and dad!!
Birthday props to my cousins - Evie, Rebecca, Colin and Grace. I hope you celebrated in style!
More birthday wishes to fabulous friends - Chad, Kerry, Linda and Eric. And an anniversary shout out to Joe and Michelle!
I hope you all enjoyed your special day!
What happened to November?
I really meant to keep up with this blogging, but November found me away from my new Chicago home. With traveling for work and personal reasons, along with the holidays approaching, I really haven't had much down time. But I'm still alive and kicking and doing fabulous!
I traveled to Detroit and NYC for work in the first two weeks of the month. Detroit - not much to say about it - but it was nice to meet some of my co-workers face to face. NYC was too short a trip, but again, I was able to meet some co-workers and also get out for a wonderful sushi meal and a few pints. Hopefully the next few months will find me in NYC a few more times.
Then I traveled to Orlando for 5 days for a wedding conference. It was so wonderful to see my MN wedding colleagues and to connect with new IL colleagues. There were some highlights from the conference, like meeting David Tutera and having a lot of laughs with friends, and the end result is that the conference has given me a push to kick the Chicago networking into gear. Unfortunately, this year's conference did not even compare to last year's conference. The hotel this year was affectionately referred to by everyone as Ghettoville, the customer service from the hotel staff was pathetic, and the conference content was lacking. It was quite a disappointment. This experience won't deter me from attending conference next year, but the association is definitely going to hear my point of view.
And my final travel of the month was back to MN for Thanksgiving. It was a wonderful long weekend with family and friends. I thank my Aunt Joan and Uncle Guy for hosting a fabulous Thanksgiving dinner, my parents for carting me between IA and MN, and to my second parents, Renee and Armand, for letting me crash with them the rest of the weekend. I hope you all were as blessed as I was to spend time with family and friends.
In case I did not talk with you beforehand, I hope you all had a very Happy Thanksgiving!
I traveled to Detroit and NYC for work in the first two weeks of the month. Detroit - not much to say about it - but it was nice to meet some of my co-workers face to face. NYC was too short a trip, but again, I was able to meet some co-workers and also get out for a wonderful sushi meal and a few pints. Hopefully the next few months will find me in NYC a few more times.
Then I traveled to Orlando for 5 days for a wedding conference. It was so wonderful to see my MN wedding colleagues and to connect with new IL colleagues. There were some highlights from the conference, like meeting David Tutera and having a lot of laughs with friends, and the end result is that the conference has given me a push to kick the Chicago networking into gear. Unfortunately, this year's conference did not even compare to last year's conference. The hotel this year was affectionately referred to by everyone as Ghettoville, the customer service from the hotel staff was pathetic, and the conference content was lacking. It was quite a disappointment. This experience won't deter me from attending conference next year, but the association is definitely going to hear my point of view.
And my final travel of the month was back to MN for Thanksgiving. It was a wonderful long weekend with family and friends. I thank my Aunt Joan and Uncle Guy for hosting a fabulous Thanksgiving dinner, my parents for carting me between IA and MN, and to my second parents, Renee and Armand, for letting me crash with them the rest of the weekend. I hope you all were as blessed as I was to spend time with family and friends.
In case I did not talk with you beforehand, I hope you all had a very Happy Thanksgiving!
Saturday, November 3, 2007
A Like and Dislike of Chicago
I thought about naming the title as "My Love and Hatred for Chicago", but thought that may be a little harsh. I just wanted to share one of the likes and dislikes I have of Chicago in my first month of living here.
LIKE - walking out of work in the evening and smelling the chocolate factories. I'm not even a chocolate lover, but it is such a nice and welcoming treat. For those chocolate lovers, I'm sure your mouths are watering, as it is quite an aroma around downtown Chicago. It is such a contrast to walk out to a brisk, windy evening and smell freshly baked brownies. It makes me want to curl up by a fire.
DISLIKE - this city does not recycle. Seriously!?! I have been recycling since I was 8 years old, and I cannot tell you how painful it is for me to throw glass bottles, plastic containers, etc. in with the rest of my garbage. I am still dumb-founded as to how a city this large has gotten away without a proper recycling program. They have tried in the past, but the recycling containers were picked up by city sanitation and ended up in the landfills. They are slowly and painfully rolling out a recycling program, but it does not include apartment and condo complexes. I am still speechless about this, but won't be for long. I plan on writing city officials - I'm taking after you, Michelle! But this is utterly ridiculous in this day and age to not recycle. I miss my "green" Minnesota!!!
LIKE - walking out of work in the evening and smelling the chocolate factories. I'm not even a chocolate lover, but it is such a nice and welcoming treat. For those chocolate lovers, I'm sure your mouths are watering, as it is quite an aroma around downtown Chicago. It is such a contrast to walk out to a brisk, windy evening and smell freshly baked brownies. It makes me want to curl up by a fire.
DISLIKE - this city does not recycle. Seriously!?! I have been recycling since I was 8 years old, and I cannot tell you how painful it is for me to throw glass bottles, plastic containers, etc. in with the rest of my garbage. I am still dumb-founded as to how a city this large has gotten away without a proper recycling program. They have tried in the past, but the recycling containers were picked up by city sanitation and ended up in the landfills. They are slowly and painfully rolling out a recycling program, but it does not include apartment and condo complexes. I am still speechless about this, but won't be for long. I plan on writing city officials - I'm taking after you, Michelle! But this is utterly ridiculous in this day and age to not recycle. I miss my "green" Minnesota!!!
Monday, October 29, 2007
Happy Halloween
Ah, yet another week begins, and I feel a little out of touch with everyone. I can't believe how crazy the past 2 months have been. I hope this post finds you all well and in good fall spirits, and you've definitely been in my thoughts.
I've begun networking for my wedding business by attending the October meeting of the Illinois chapter of the ABC last week. I also found some time to meet with a wedding photographer. I know it's going to take some time, but there are definitely enough weddings here in Chicago to go around, so the professionals that I have met so far have been very cooperative. I'm very excited about the year ahead!
Speaking of weddings, I am gearing up for the ABC annual conference to be held in Orlando from the 11-13th of November. It will be very nice to see my colleagues from Premier Planning Services, as well as get up to speed on new trends for next year.
Unfortunately I missed my Halloween party this week. I ended up getting a late, hot project from work and had to stay at work late to finish it. Bummer. But there will be other Halloween's, and of course the holiday season is right around the corner. I hope you all had fun at your Halloween parties!
The weekend was again quite enjoyable with my Saturday spent watching college football. I found a little piece of my heaven when I die...it's Joe's Sports Bar and Grill and there are too many TVs to count and on every Saturday in the fall they have EVERY college football game on. That is the best way to spend the day!
I did have a couple of humorous moments this past week....
My ABC meeting was in Schaumburg (suburb of Chicago), and I rented my Zip Car (LOVE that, by the way) and drove out there. On my way back into the city, I took a wrong turn onto the freeway (it's been known to happen), so I'm headed away from Chicago. I decide to take the next exit and turn around, but lo and behold there is a blasted Illinois toll at the exit. Of course it was a coin basket with no attendant, and I don't carry coins, so I stopped....looked around....and went through the toll to get back onto the freeway heading back into the city. I honestly reported this offense to Zip Car and they miraculously sent me a link to pay my toll online. Who knew!?!?! Meanwhile, I freaked out for a few days that the cops were going to hunt me down and hit me with a $100 fine for a freakin' $.50 toll. Ah, the joys of Chicago.
My other story also revolves around my Zip Car, but this time I was trying to find a Post Office to mail some packages. I looked online and found a few Post Office locations and decided to go to one.....it takes me 45 minutes to find a place to park on the street (they don't have parking lots) only to walk into the Post Office to realize that they don't mail things there...they are more of a distribution center, even though nothing on the website led me to believe otherwise. Seriously, when does it take someone an hour and 15 minutes to mail two packages? This was a clear sign to me that I should not own a car in Chicago.
And here's a look at the courtyard of my building. If you would like to see more pics of my new digs, let me know and I'll send you the snapfish link.
Otherwise, have a wonderful week - Happy Halloween!
Peace and love and a very special shout out to my dad who celebrated his birthday last week! If I can ever get a hold of the people, your present will be in the mail!!
Monday, October 22, 2007
Moving in...
Ah, my second full week in the new apartment, and all of the boxes have been cleared. Whew. I seriously do not plan on moving any time soon. So now comes the fun decorating part...hanging pictures, painting furniture, sewing curtains....it's a good thing I spent most of the summer watching HGTV and becoming a design expert!
Work continues to keep me busy, but I have to say that having 4 months off really changes one's attitude towards work and I don't mind that I've had a few long days here and there. The work is fun (sometimes a little frustrating with a ton of revisions), and it's exciting to work with a brand that has money to spend! The team is great to work with and very appreciative that I'm on board. I told them they're going to have to stop flattering me; otherwise I'm going to never be a humble person.
I'm slowly exploring the neighborhood by myself and with friends. Friday evening I spent with some rep friends shopping for Halloween costumes. I've decided to be a 1950's Hollywood Starlet. I'm re-using my bridesmaid's dress from Shannon's wedding (so perfect) and bought a few accessories to really glam it up. The party is this Thursday - so watch out! And yesterday I had my first visit from a MN friend....Linda was in town and we took a few hours to walk by the Lake. What a gorgeous weekend we had here in Chicago.
I have to give my birthday shout-out's for last week to my sister (in-law), Andrea, and to a wonderful friend, Aaron! Happy days!
I also have to send CONGRATULATIONS to Dawn and Helge on the arrival of Logan. I cannot wait to meet him!
Peace out.
Work continues to keep me busy, but I have to say that having 4 months off really changes one's attitude towards work and I don't mind that I've had a few long days here and there. The work is fun (sometimes a little frustrating with a ton of revisions), and it's exciting to work with a brand that has money to spend! The team is great to work with and very appreciative that I'm on board. I told them they're going to have to stop flattering me; otherwise I'm going to never be a humble person.
I'm slowly exploring the neighborhood by myself and with friends. Friday evening I spent with some rep friends shopping for Halloween costumes. I've decided to be a 1950's Hollywood Starlet. I'm re-using my bridesmaid's dress from Shannon's wedding (so perfect) and bought a few accessories to really glam it up. The party is this Thursday - so watch out! And yesterday I had my first visit from a MN friend....Linda was in town and we took a few hours to walk by the Lake. What a gorgeous weekend we had here in Chicago.
I have to give my birthday shout-out's for last week to my sister (in-law), Andrea, and to a wonderful friend, Aaron! Happy days!
I also have to send CONGRATULATIONS to Dawn and Helge on the arrival of Logan. I cannot wait to meet him!
Peace out.
Monday, October 15, 2007
First Week in Chicago
I didn't think I would get into the blog scene because of my concern that potential wedding clients may find me, but I think I've found a way to stay under the radar. And because the majority of my family and friends are farther away now, I am blogging to keep you all posted on my adventures in Chicago.
I've been in Chicago for a week, and have had many of you asking how everything is going. The move went fine - it could have been better and it could have been worse. I'm still upset that I missed Dawn's birthday because of the slow movers, and also disappointed that I couldn't bring my plants, and that no one taught these guys how to pack heavy boxes. While everything arrived, there was some damage. I guess that's all part of the experience
My neighborhood and apartment are very much like my place in Uptown - which I LOVE. Apartment is in a vintage building, but in better condition then the one in Uptown...and larger. (I guess that makes me feel a little better in having to pay more for it). The neighborhood is bustling with all sorts of shops and restaurants, and I'm only 2.5 blocks from the Lake. I have not ventured out much (too much unpacking to do and football to watch), but am looking forward to more exploring in the weeks ahead. I promise to post pictures, but I have to find my camera charger...it's somewhere in my boxes. Darnit.
Any humorous stories? Well, my first night in the apartment I thought I would sleep on my air mattress...and in the middle of the night, I'm sleeping on the floor. Apparently the mattress sprung a leak. So in my sleepiness I become quite resourceful and grab my two suitcases (yes, one of them was the "coffin") and proceed to sleep on those. Hey, it was better than the wood floor!
My second night in the apartment I proceed to cook some food in the oven and set off the smoke alarm, seriously? Thankfully the building alarm did not go off, but mom and dad, sleep easy knowing my smoke alarm works.
Do I take these events as a sign? Nah, it's a great apartment and totally my style.
But don't even get me started on the bus system...I love it, but in the past week I've been on 3 buses that have had some malfunction of some sort. Hmmmm...and they're talking of fare increases and elimination of routes...welcome to Chicago mass transit!
Until we chat again - hugs, kisses, and good cheer to you all!
I've been in Chicago for a week, and have had many of you asking how everything is going. The move went fine - it could have been better and it could have been worse. I'm still upset that I missed Dawn's birthday because of the slow movers, and also disappointed that I couldn't bring my plants, and that no one taught these guys how to pack heavy boxes. While everything arrived, there was some damage. I guess that's all part of the experience
My neighborhood and apartment are very much like my place in Uptown - which I LOVE. Apartment is in a vintage building, but in better condition then the one in Uptown...and larger. (I guess that makes me feel a little better in having to pay more for it). The neighborhood is bustling with all sorts of shops and restaurants, and I'm only 2.5 blocks from the Lake. I have not ventured out much (too much unpacking to do and football to watch), but am looking forward to more exploring in the weeks ahead. I promise to post pictures, but I have to find my camera charger...it's somewhere in my boxes. Darnit.
Any humorous stories? Well, my first night in the apartment I thought I would sleep on my air mattress...and in the middle of the night, I'm sleeping on the floor. Apparently the mattress sprung a leak. So in my sleepiness I become quite resourceful and grab my two suitcases (yes, one of them was the "coffin") and proceed to sleep on those. Hey, it was better than the wood floor!
My second night in the apartment I proceed to cook some food in the oven and set off the smoke alarm, seriously? Thankfully the building alarm did not go off, but mom and dad, sleep easy knowing my smoke alarm works.
Do I take these events as a sign? Nah, it's a great apartment and totally my style.
But don't even get me started on the bus system...I love it, but in the past week I've been on 3 buses that have had some malfunction of some sort. Hmmmm...and they're talking of fare increases and elimination of routes...welcome to Chicago mass transit!
Until we chat again - hugs, kisses, and good cheer to you all!
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