A late Zenner Family Xmas in MT

I was so blessed to spend 10 days in MT with my family in January. We were all there over MLK weekend and celebrated a late Christmas together. It was wonderful. I was lucky enough to extend my stay and spend a week with Colter...and of course Annie and Shaun.

The big news for Christmas is that Annie is pregnant again. YAY! She has her c-section already scheduled for 8/16/10. We are all so excited and thankful! I for one cannot wait to be an Auntie again. Just another kiddo for me to spoil!

Here's a brief update on the family:
Mom and dad are doing well. I sure wish they could retire and move closer to their grandchildren. And also maybe travel a bit more. They've put in their dues....I don't think they should be working so hard.


Christopher and Dustin are reunited again. Christopher is actively looking for work....fingers crossed that he lands a great opportunity soon! If you're following his blog, you'll know that we all are praying like crazy that Dustin is soon relieved of all of his back pain. Poor guy. He should not have to deal with this!


Shaun and Annie are excited for the new addition to their family. Well, Ann could do without the pregnancy nausea, but you know what I mean. They are both enjoying their jobs and are close to celebrating the anniversary of their first year in their house.




So that brings us to Colter. He will be 3 in March and he's the smartest kid around. LOL Here are some of the things that stuck in my mind from my visit with him.

- He's learning his manners, and it was so precious for him to say "Kank You Auntie Nikki".
- He talks in the third person. "Colter go outside". It was like we were in a movie and he was narrating the story.
- He has a bit of a stutter with words staring with CO. So his name for example, comes out Co-Co-Co-Colter. And we heard this alot with him always talking in the third person. So precious.
- One day when I put him down for his nap, he looked at me and reached out his hands and said "Sweet Dreams Auntie Nikki". Are you serious?
- His other grandparents taught him a sound/call to make when he can't find people - think of that one lady from Top Chef who had a call. So instead of calling out for Shaun and Annie, he'll make his sound/call and wait for you to respond. It's so freakin cute.

Yay for Family!

Book Review: January 2010

Since I have a lot of readers that are book lovers, I thought I would start posting about the books I've read each month. With my time off, I was able to get through a few books in January.

1. The Space Between Us by Thrity Umrigar
A very real and modern day look at caste systems in India, and how even with the societal separation, the bonds of women can be quite close and similar.
I recommend this book.

2. The Help by Kathryn Stockett
Set in the 1960's in the South, three women give voice to their experiences as 1) a white woman, recently graduated from college, 2) a black woman hired to take care of white children, and 3) a very outspoken black woman hired as a maid while also providing for her family.
I highly recommend this book.

3. One, Two, Buckle My Shoe by Agatha Christie
Who doesn't love one of her books? And I read this entire book while flying from Missoula to Chicago. :-) I still didn't figure out the killer until it was being revealed to me. And somedays the easy read books are the best!
I recommend this book.

Happy reading!

33rd Birthday

I'm a little late in posting about my birthday, but I had a wonderful day! The celebration started Saturday night (Jan 9th) when I attended a Buddy Guy concert at his club here in Chicago. He does limited shows at his club, and I was one of the fortunate ones to attend.

You would never guess that Buddy Guy is 73. That man can wail on a guitar. AMAZING!!!

He was totally pimpin out the maroon velvet suit with pink ruffled shirt!!!

The celebration continued into Sunday morning and attending my friend Molly's ReGift Hen Brunch. Yes, the party was exactly as it sounds....all girls, bringing a hilarious gift we had to pass on to others, and of course much merriment with food and drink.

From there I had a small gathering at one of my favorite Irish pubs, The Kerryman. And then we thought we'd have just "1 more" at the Clark Street Ale House. We all know how that turned out. Starting with the first one of the day at 10am and then getting home at 11pm!

It was a fabulous start to a new year!! Happy Birthday to Me!!

it's official - job change

After another difficult year of work, and of me moaning and groaning just a little bit, it is now official that I am changing jobs. I brought in my resignation letter to Starcom today. It felt really good too. I'm definitely going to miss the friends that I've made, but it was definitely time for me to move on.

My last day at Starcom will be 1/15/10; at which time I will be boarding a plane headed to MT. We're having a late Zenner Family Christmas out at Shaun and Andrea's home - I cannot wait! I'll be out in MT for a week, will come back to Chicago for a week of down time and will start my new job on 2/2/10.

I'm going to the dark side....hahahaha. I'm going to go work for a website...well, actually an ad network. For those of you not familiar with the term "ad network", it's basically a sales firm that represents hundreds/thousands of sites and provides one platform to serve ads across all of those websites. In its basic form ad networks are areas for advertisers to buy audiences online, for example, a client may want to target Adults, Ages 25-54, who are NFL enthusiasts. We would typically use an ad network to help reach that target, along with placements on sites such as NFL.com, ESPN.com, etc. I'm going to a smaller type of ad network - they are what we call a vertical ad network. This means they are known for a specific type of content. The ad network that I'm going to work with is focused on the Outdoor space (i.e. Fishing, Hunting, Boating, Camping, etc).

They have created this new role with me in mind - Director of Research and Marketing. I'm going to rely on my past 10 years (whoa!) of advertising experience to help build up this ad network's presence across ad agencies/clients, provide input on sales presentations, standardize internal processes, etc. I definitely see this role evolving as the company realizes my skill set and once goals are accomplished. I know this role will be challenging, but I also know my time at ad agencies has come to an end, and this seemed like a natural fit into my advertising career.

Whew.

I definitely know how blessed I am to find a new opportunity like this in the economic times we're still experiencing. And I look forward to talking to you, dear readers, in the year ahead and how this was a great decision for my career.

Happy New Year!

A decade of NYE's

As I sat at home last night ringing in the new year of 2010 and a new decade, I had a chance to reflect on the past decade. Yes, it was a little unusual to find me home on a NYE, but after this past year it was exactly what I needed. This is my favorite time of year for 2 reasons - 1) college football bowl games - woo hoo!!! and 2) it's a time to reflect on the triumphs and difficulties of the previous year, learn from it and move forward into a new year and maybe even a new direction.

So I had this idea to blog about my past NYEs - enjoy!

2008 was a great year in that I gained a brother-in-law! After being away from my dear MN friends, I was reunited with them on 12.31.08 for a gathering at Scott and Jessica's home in Minneapolis. We had amazing food from the chefs and a serious rock band jam and wii battle.

Here are some photos from 12.31.08:

2007 was an amazing year - I became an aunt!! From the very first moment, my little nephew, Colter, stole my heart. And 2007 also brought me to my new home of Chicago - I could not be happier. I spent 12.31.07 with my new Chicago friends watching college football. Sadly, no photos from that gathering.

Traveling to the NYE party on 12.31.06 was a little tricky....very icy and snowy, but I did make it to Dawn and Helge's home in St. Michael. We had plenty of food, plenty to drink, and even a Texas Hold 'Em tourney. I have to say, I held my own pretty well.

Here is a photo from 12.31.06:

2005 was a great year in that I gained a sister-in-law! To celebrate the end of that year, I was with friends at the MN Music Cafe in St. Paul. Funny story here - I met my twin this night. Honest to God, this woman and I looked EXACTLY alike. It was a little freaky.

Here are some photos from 12.31.05:

It's always so fun to travel to a different city for NYE, and on 12.31.04, that is exactly what I did. I traveled to NYC, and not to see the ball drop, but to celebrate with friends in Brooklyn. It was a fabulous weekend spent in such an amazing city - I don't think I was in bed before 5am the entire time!

Here are some photos from 12.31.04:

"Nikki, we're going to New Orleans for NYE this year," says my friend Leila. "Really, ok, I'll book my ticket," is my reply. And that's what I did. I actually had my ticket booked and hotel booked before my friends did. The NYE celebration in New Orleans is probably my #1 celebration. It was because of the friends, the amazing atmosphere of that city for that holiday, and the events of that night. I can tell you the stories in person one day.

Here are some photos from 12.31.03:

For the life of me, I cannot remember what I did on 12.31.02. I cannot find any pictures of that NYE celebration. I'm sure I did something. My dear friends reading this blog, can you lend any insight?

We all decided to have a BIG NYE. So we paid the $50 or something to attend a NYE bash at the Marriott in downtown St. Paul. (I think it was the Marriott). We had a great group of friends to celebrate with and even met some new friends. hahaha For some odd reason I was obssessed with showing my stomach...don't ask.

Here are some photos from 12.31.01:

After a year of many tears and lessons, I was ready to party on 12.31.00. I hosted a NYE party at the home I was living at in NE Minneapolis and that was the night I was introduced to Goldshlager. Yeah, I don't really like to talk about that night because Goldshlager and I do not mix well.

Here are some photos from 12.31.00:

Y2K. Oooo, so scary. Well, my friends and I braved all the warnings and went out to Cabooze in Minneapolis to listen to Big John Dickerson perform. I remember sitting at our table and watching how every time zone was celebrating NYE on the TVs, and smirking to myself that nothing blew up, there was no madness and panic, everyone was just enjoying themselves.

Here are some photos from 12.31.99:

Who knew that the year 2000 would be one of the most difficult years of my life? But I survived that struggle and have appreciated every day and every year that has followed.

As I look at the struggles my family and friends are facing in 2010 (unemployment, health issues, fertility issues, unhappiness with a job or a relationship), I just pray that we all rely on each other and lean on each other for support. At the end of the day, this is the whole reason we're here.

My peace to you in 2010.