The End is Near…Good-bye Chicago

I can’t believe I’m to the last week and even to the last few days of living in Chicago. It honestly seems so unreal, and this week has flown by! I guess I will back up a little and say that I had a great time with my family during Thanksgiving weekend. We went out and did so many things, I can’t even begin to list them. I will say I was very thankful that they were here and got to see a little bit of my life here—plus, I then wasn’t alone on Thanksgiving. :) I will say to anyone thinking about visiting to go see Dirty Dancing the musical because it is absolutely amazing! I believe it’s only here through February, so take advantage of it!


This week has been incredible seeing a lot of my friends in the Chicago area and also reconnecting with the CS students because many times I only see them on Wednesdays. We had a great time at Greektown for our final dinner with the flaming cheese—this sounds weird, I realize. I somehow was nominated for “Most likely to work over 32 hours in a week”, and I’m not sure what I think of that nomination but thanks, I guess, to whoever did nominate me. :) I also had my holiday party for work this week and had a fantastic time! It was a bittersweet event saying goodbye to my friends and board members, but it’s nice to know I’ll be missed. I plan to keep in contact with as many as possible.


I’m at the end now, so I guess there’s a few things to say to the upcoming spring CS students. First of all, I feel very sorry for you guys coming in January because it will be miserably cold. We are just now getting into icy cold conditions, so good luck with that! As spring approaches you will definitely want to consider a raincoat and an umbrella as well as some sort of boots or shoes to tromp through the flooded Red Line station. Trust me, my first day of work I was totally unprepared, and it poured all day. If you are looking to go anywhere, go to transitchicago.com and find directions there. It hasn’t steered me wrong yet! Make sure you act like a tourist for at least one weekend and get out and see all those touristy spots because you will regret it if you don’t. Overall, have a great time, get out to as many restaurants as possible, enjoy the nightlife, and meet new people. Don’t stay in one area, even though I have to say I spent a lot of time in Wrigleyville. :) There are a ton of places to go, and meeting local people is the best way to figure out all those hidden spots they don’t tell the tourists about! To my friends and family in Iowa: I will be seeing you all very very soon! :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

I am seriously shocked that I have less than two weeks left in Chicago, and I’m even more shocked that I am graduating in that same time period. It all seems very unreal, but I’m so excited to see what’s going to happen from there! I still don’t know for sure what I’m doing upon graduation, but I’m getting there slowly. You probably won’t get a big announcement in this blog as to what I’ll be doing, but I’m sure most of you will hear fairly soon after I make my decision!

I have many upcoming things to do, but I’ve done quite a bit recently as well. There’s something to be said for going back to the beginning and allowing yourself to be a tourist again. :) Last Friday night, Jen, Mandi, and I went to Millennium Park to see the skating rink. I felt like I was in a movie—like the new version of Miracle on 34th Street where they watch the skaters on the ice rink. It’s all very holiday and wintry. The girls and I took quite a few pictures and also attempted to take pictures of “the bean”. I’m not actually sure what this giant figure is, but it really does look like a shiny bean. Mandi wanted to make sure she had a picture of it before she left Chicago! After awhile, we realized how cold we were. My hands were in pain, and Mandi couldn’t feel hers at that point; we decided that was probably our cue to get inside somewhere.

The Lights Festival was also last weekend on Michigan Avenue. My friend, Emily, and I were supposed to volunteer for this. However, we couldn’t find our block captain, and we looked everywhere. It was kind of a bizarre situation, so we’re sorry that we weren’t there to volunteer! It was really cool walking up and down Michigan Avenue and seeing all the lights. I went back later for the parade and got to see Santa at the end. :) All the kids were so excited; it made me feel like a kid again. I guess between being a tourist and a child this past weekend, I was just a whole new person!
I only had a couple days of work this week and no class, which is great. My parents are coming for the weekend, so I’m definitely looking forward to showing them around Chicago. At least it isn’t supposed to snow or anything—should be a beautiful weekend! When they leave, they’re taking all my stuff, so I’ll be back to living out of a suitcase. I think I can probably handle that for a week. :) My Holiday Party for work is next week as well, so things are winding up fast. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone—enjoy the turkey!

Winter Has Arrived

I should’ve known that there was no way my time would get less crazy here. Things have been really good and busy though. I have a ton to look forward to, but I’ve been having a great time as well. I won’t claim that everything’s perfect as work because that would be a lie, but it’s like a real job, so at least I’m getting real experience. Not everything always goes as it should, but once again, that’s real life. We’ve been really busy with finishing up the directory, getting ready for our Holiday Party as well as our monthly mixer. On top of that I’ve been working on the newsletter and have everything to the graphic designer. We were on a really tight time schedule for that, but I managed to get everything together on time. The people I needed things from were extremely helpful, and I was excited that I sold as much advertising as I did!

My weekends have been mellow so far, but I think that will change. Last weekend I hung out with Jennifer and went to Cheesecake Factory because we were both craving something sweet. We figured it was the best place to go for dessert (well, I’m sure there are a lot of good places in Chicago—this is probably relatively cheap!). Instead of hanging out and watching a movie the rest of the night as planned, I went to the Dugout instead to catch up with friends. It could be about the last time that I see a lot of them since I have so many things going on. This weekend I’m volunteering for the Michigan Avenue Lights Festival with my friend, Em, from Concierge Preferred. What can I say? She talked me into it. I’m sure more things will come up as the weekend gets closer, but I know that’s going to take quite a bit of my Saturday but should be fun! Em’s birthday party was last weekend, but I’m sad to say I missed the majority of it. We plan to make up for it in the next few weeks!


Winter has arrived in Chicago, and we have seen snowflakes but none sticking to the ground thus far, and I’m hoping it stays that way. I do a ton of walking in the city, so the idea of ice is not appealing. Amy and I celebrated winter by cutting snowflakes one night and hanging them in our room. I said they could stay inside the room as long as no snow was falling outside. I really can’t tell you how much I dislike winter! Still, I do like the holidays, so I’m excited to see Chicago all decked out for Christmas. The tree has arrived in front of the Hancock building, but as far as I’ve seen it’s not decorated yet.


As I’ve said, there’s a lot to look forward to yet here as well as when I get home. My parents are coming in a week, which will be great. I plan to show them as much of the city as I can in a few days. I also have the Holiday Party for work, which will be fun and then my good-bye lunch at work (my restaurant choice!). Oddly, I have things planned for when I get home as well, so hopefully the weather will be agreeable to get all this done! The time is going by so quickly!

And the blogs are back!

Several of you have gotten e-mail updates from me the past couple weeks as my blog hadn’t been updated in quite some time. I blame Annie and the fact that she thought she had to get married and take off for her honeymoon. :) But we’re so glad to have her back!

I don’t even know where to start with everything, so I might leave out some things unintentionally. I’ll back up to Halloween because it seems like a good place to start. I had a fantastic weekend out with friends from Chicago. My friend had a party at his bar, so I ended up hanging out there all night. I did dress up, believe it or not. I went as a flapper—a classy flapper to be clear! It was actually a really fun costume, but I have to say Chicago makes Halloween into a huge event. The El was packed with people in costume, and everyone was having a great time. I even went to a parade on Halsted and saw some very interesting costumes and characters—that’s the nicest way I can put it! It was a very fun night though.

More recently I have been swamped with work and can’t believe I have less than four weeks left in Chicago. I actually have less work time than that since I’ll get some days off for Thanksgiving. I’m very excited for my parents to come during Thanksgiving and check out the city. I even have a list started because I know as soon as they get here I’ll forget what I wanted to show them and then regret missing out on something. One of the highlights of that will be going to see Dirty Dancing the musical. Mom told me the other day she watched the movie to familiarize herself, once again, with the entire story. I have very high expectations for it!

Our last art event is this week, but I have to say I was a huge fan of last week’s opera, Margaret Garner. It was written by Toni Morrison, and it was nice actually being familiar with her work. I’ve read different things by her back in my literature classes at Central College. I know a lot people weren’t huge fans of this production, but I loved it, despite its disturbing story. It will be nice to be done with these events just for time purposes. The weather has definitely changed, so if I don’t have to get dressed up and travel to an event on Thursday night, I will be okay with that. Plus, I have plenty of events coming up for work anyway. I’m missing the State of the Ward event this Thursday, but next Wednesday is our monthly mixer at Stretch Run. Then the first week of December we have our Holiday Party, which I’m very excited for. My life will be a little less frenzied after the next few weeks are over. I have many deadlines to meet, but as I keep telling myself, it’s great experience.

I can’t believe I forgot to mention that I went to see the Bulls play last Friday night! They even won, and as I understand it, they aren’t necessarily the greatest team this year—sorry Chicago fans. Still, it was really cool seeing a NBA game since I can’t really say that I’ve seen one before. I ended up leaving a few minutes early due to the fact that I worked on Saturday morning, but it was still well worth the tickets! Once again, it’s just great saying that I’ve gotten to do all these things. I still wish I could have seen Wicked while I was here, but I think I’m about out of time. It seems like I’m booked the rest of the time that I’m here. That’s okay though because time flies when you’re having fun!

That’s pretty much what my life is like right now and what has been going on. I’m definitely looking forward to the next few weeks here but also looking forward to seeing people back home! I’ll keep things updated from now until the end. Hopefully no snow will fall until that time has passed. :)

Who will get the 2016 Olympics?

I’m really starting to feel the push to do as many things as I can in Chicago before I leave in six weeks or so. It seems unreal that it’s going to be that soon, and then I’ll be flying back to Iowa for a short amount of time before taking the next step. For those of you who are wondering, I’m not really sure what that next step is yet. I hope to have things start coming together in the next few weeks though. Some days I think I’ve made up my mind as to where I want to live and what I want to do, but it turns out that it still changes from week to week and from day to day even. Regardless of what I end up doing, I know it doesn’t have to be permanent if I’m not completely convinced it’s what I want to do.

Well, enough about all my life confusion. :) Last weekend I had a blast with my wonderful college roommate, Amy! I was so excited to see her because it had been just way too long since we’d seen each other. Her wonderful parents, who I miss dearly, helped her out with a plane ticket, so she could see me. It honestly was the best weekend just to have her here and show her what my life is like in Chicago! We didn’t do a ton of things, but we tried to pack in as much as possible in a short few days. I took her to meet the people I work with and show her my office at the Merchandise Mart then brought her back to the apartment where we all chipped in and made dinner. We then went to meet up with friends of mine in Wrigleyville; I figured she needed a taste of something other than downtown and the Gold Coast. On Saturday we walked down Michigan Avenue and stopped at Water Tower Place Mall just because we could. I found this cute little tea place that I discovered in Indianapolis a couple of weeks ago called Teavana. So far I haven’t bought any tea there because I have so much I need to drink here already, but they have a chai tea that is amazing! The girls and I went to lunch at Corner Bakery and bought Garrett Popcorn to eat while we watched a movie in the afternoon. We ended the night by getting sushi at Ai Japanese and then having a martini at Cityscape Lounge because I wanted her to see the view from the 15th floor. The weekend was way too short!


This week has been good though, but we’ve been very busy. We’ve had a few changes in the office recently, but I know everything will work out fine. I’ve taken on a few more responsibilities, but that’s fine with me. I just keep telling myself it’s good experience! I was able to attend our 2016 Olympic Luncheon where a man came and spoke about the 2016 Olympics and how that could affect Chicago if the Olympics do come here. The event was held at the Wolf Point Ballroom at the Holiday Inn-Mart Plaza, and everything went really well. The food was amazing, and the presentation was very interesting. I learned a lot about the Olympic site selection, and everything that it entails. I was also able to catch up with some of the new members that I hadn’t seen since I had signed them up or since the last event in September. I think that has to be one of my favorite parts—just talking to people and networking.


I’m now to the weekend again, and it’s kind of a rainy weekend here in Chicago. I have several possibilities of things to do, but I’m not sure if they’re all going to fit into one weekend. I really do need to get a Halloween costume together, so I will keep you all informed on that venture…

For now, I’m just glad I have my raincoat and boots to get out and stay dry for the weekend!

Speed Networking Bowling

I thought that I was getting a bit of a lull in the Chicago life that I’m living right now, but I was completely wrong on that. This week has been crazy, and I think it was even more so because Monday was my student day off. This actually worked out perfect since I went away for the weekend to see my family in IndianapolisI know it’s not Chicago, but I will share a bit from the weekend since it was such a great time! I flew out early on Saturday morning, and my parents picked me up at the airport. It felt like it had been years since I had seen them, though in reality it’s only been six weeks or so. They liked the new hair color (for those of you who don’t know yet, I dyed it a bit darker brown with some red in it as well). :) It was one of those random things that Amy and I decided to do (to my hair—not hers!) about a week ago. We met up with my brother, Cale, and his fiance, Kari, at the townhouse. We then headed to Bloomington to Oliver Winery to meet Kari’s family for wine tasting. It was such a relaxing day, and we ended it by going for dinner at Rick’s Boatyard since it was such a nice evening.


The weekend definitely revolved around wedding plans, but we got quite a few things decided, which is nice. I won’t go into too many details just in case it changes again! I had some mother-daughter bonding time at the mall on Sunday, which was fun. My mom and I always discuss how it’s weird that we don’t get to go shopping together anymore. I guess you could say it’s a favorite pasttime of ours. Kari’s family came over Sunday night for dinner that my mom and Cale made. I have to say the homemade food was fantastic since it’s rare for me to have time to cook at night. I really wasn’t ready to go back to Chicago on Monday morning. When we weren’t discussing wedding plans, we were talking about me moving into the townhouse in a couple months. I’m very much set on moving out there unless something drastically changes in the next two months!

I did survive the trip back and the initial sadness of leaving my family, and I’m once again enjoying Chicago. We had our speed networking bowling event at 10 Pin on Tuesday night, so I definitely got thrown back into the middle of things when I got here on Tuesday. It was a fantastic event, and I hope they can do it again and increase the number of people. Everyone seemed to really enjoy themselves, and we were pleased with how everything worked. I know it’s hard to picture, but trust me, it was a really cool thing to watch! I ended up meeting several new people and then went out with Nicole and some friends after. It definitely cheered me up and made me realize why I do love Chicago. Otherwise, I’m just keeping busy with work. I have several projects to work on, which I don’t mind at all. It’s nice to stay busy, even though at times it seems overwhelming!

I do have a lot of upcoming things as well. Next week I have another event, and I’m able to go thanks to my art professor who allowed me to miss class. We’re having a luncheon at the Holiday Inn Chicago-Mart Plaza, and a speaker from the 2016 Olympic committee is informing people of how the Olympics could affect the area businesses. It should be very interesting. Before any of that happens though, I have a busy weekend ahead since my college roommate, Amy, is coming into town! We are so excited to have her here and take her out around the city. It will definitely be a non-stop weekend. :)

From One Culture to the Next

This is probably the most rushed blog that I’ve written thus far. I think it’s because it’s just been kind of a nonstop week—well, that and because I’m leaving for Indianapolis on Saturday to see my family for the first time since I left. I realize that it really shouldn’t be that big of a deal because I haven’t been gone that long, but I have to say I’ve been a little jealous of everyone that have had parents and siblings here visiting or who have been home. This was kind of an unplanned trip too; I didn’t actually expect to see my parents until Thanksgiving. I’m ready for a little bit of a breather from the city though. I love it, but it’s time to take a short break. Plus, this Monday is our student day off!
Last weekend was busy—lots of different neighborhood visits, though they weren’t all for class. On Saturday I ended up going to Chinatown with Rachel and Amy just for the heck of it. Rachel actually has some background on Asian culture, so she could pick out some things that she knew weren’t really “authentic” to the culture. It was more fascinating having someone actually explain different parts of the neighborhood. Oddly enough, Chinatown isn’t just about China; there are some Japanese parts too. Regardless, we had a lot of fun and walked around checking out the little shops. Amy and Rachel found some things to buy, but I was more of a window shopper. I’ve been trying to become more of a window shopper since moving to Chicago; it’s definitely more affordable that way!

I ended the weekend on a less positive note when I somehow managed to catch the twenty-four hour flu bug; I did manage to go to work on Monday but only made it about three hours before returning home and to my bed. The rest of the week got much better though. :) Our office has officially moved to the Merchandise Mart, so we’re mostly unpacked. A lot of our boxes are gone, although we still have plenty stacked in the store room. It’s a pain that I don’t know where everything is anymore. I am thrilled to say I’ve brought in a couple of members this week and have gotten to give the “pitch” to them over the phone and through e-mail. We had a big push to get members in by the end of the week due to our directory coming out soon. I got some new projects to work on, and they are definitely more long term such as getting our database as up to date as possible, targeting new membership, and planning for our Holiday Party in December. There are definitely some exciting things coming up. :)

Our art event on Thursday night was wonderful at the Court Theater at University of Chicago campus. I have to say the commute wasn’t wonderful, and it made for a late night (wow, I sound old!). Still, the musical was wonderful; I honestly loved every part of it! I believe it was called Caroline, or Change, and it took place during the 1960s and all the changes that took place then. It was an excellent show—very well done.

I guess this means I’m off for another weekend, although this one won’t really be spent in Chicago. I do want to say how happy I was to hear from my aunt and grandparents both this week! I love the unexpected e-mails. :) It was also great talking to my cousin Abby while she was out on a walk with the oh-so-adorable Maddox. He has the cutest Cubs outfit from his Aunt Sarah. Maybe he’ll be a Cubs fan someday, though I know some people don’t want to admit they are right now! On to the next sport right…anybody a Bears fan?