Life as a CSer by Lindsey, Fall 2008

Winter Has Arrived

noreply@blogger.com (CS) — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 22:09:00 +0000

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!

noreply@blogger.com (CS) — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 19:45:00 +0000

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?

noreply@blogger.com (CS) — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 17:00:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (CS) — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 16:52:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (CS) — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 13:42:00 +0000

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?

Fall is in the Air

noreply@blogger.com (CS) — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 15:00:00 +0000

Autumn has arrived in Chicago. I was fascinated by the colors of the leaves as I walked around Loyola Park in Rogers Park today with my practicum group. I found my mind wandering as Susan was describing the area and all that we needed to know. I guess I should back up and explain that practicum group is part of the Chicago Semester program. Everyone is split into small groups and have a neighborhood that they go visit a few times during the semester and then do a presentation on at the end. Today was our first official visit with our fearless leader, Susan. I really wasn’t sure what to think of going to such an unfamiliar neighborhood, but I was curious at the same time. It surprised me how relaxed I became just riding around in the van or walking out by the lake and hearing about the area. I think I’ve been under more stress than I even realized. The lake at Loyola Park was just so beautiful and so untouched that you couldn’t help but appreciate it.Better yet was the fact that I didn’t have to go back to work this afternoon because the official office move is tomorrow. Monday will come soon enough, and I will be unpacking boxes at our new office in the Merchandise Mart. :)

Nothing too out of the ordinary happened this week. Amy had a spaghetti dinner on Tuesday night for several of our friends. I had a couple girls come over for a movie night, so she expanded that to dinner and movie night. After that Marianne and I went to a bar called Joe’s for quarter beer night, which obviously caters to college students on that night! I met a few people who do promotions for the bar as well as other bars and clubs, so it was great talking to them more and learning more about the marketing/events line of work. We were slightly disappointed because we missed the LeAnn Rimes concert that had been there that night; she must have performed rather early because we weren’t there late by any means. At least we can say we were there the same night she was and that we saw the VIP area where she would have been at!

Wednesday and Thursday were very much typical days for me. Class and work on Wednesday and internship work on Thursday. Actually we did a lot of packing on Thursday and not much “normal” work. I have a nice series of tiny cuts on my hands from making boxes, packing them, and then taping them shut. We did see an interesting event on Thursday night though. We went to Redmoon Theater to see a play, and I don’t even know how to describe it. It had special effects, actors who didn’t speak, one actor who told the entire story, and puppets that mimicked the actors. Have I confused you entirely yet? Well, it confused me. It had to do with genetics and being careful what you wished for. I wasn’t a huge fan of it, but oddly enough, it still intrigued me. It probably isn’t anything I would go to on my own.

I’m so excited for a weekend to relax! I’m even more excited to be getting away next weekend to Indianapolis to see my family!! I’ll live until then and have a great time I’m sure. I’ll probably go to some of my normal weekend hangouts with the usual people up in Wrigleyville at some point. I think Amy and I are going to do some cooking at the apartment this weekend since we both have food in the tiny refrigerator. One thing that we have decided is that we are going to go get cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory tonight as our little treat. I’ve been told they have the pumpkin cheesecake is out as a seasonal thing, and I don’t want to miss it. We also might do some shopping this weekend just because we can. Oh, and when I say shopping, I mean mostly window shopping since we’re broke college students! :)

Week 5 and 96 Floors Later

noreply@blogger.com (CS) — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 14:31:00 +0000

I will fully admit that this week was not nearly as insane as last week, so there were actually nights when I came straight home from work and relaxed. Trust me, I was as shocked as you all are. Even though the craziness was less, we were still very busy in the office, but we were pretty much in the office all week rather than out talking to people and having meetings. So really I can’t say anything too exciting about that, just that I still do enjoy working with Sharon and Nicole.

Like I already mentioned, it has been a very relaxed week, but I’m definitely fine with that. I’ve decided that every once in awhile you need to come down from the insanity and know how to be still. Amy and I had several roommate movie nights this week, which is practically unheard of. We were thrilled to be able to watch Sex and the City the movie last night! It arrived on Wednesday, and we had to wait two days to watch it!

I was happy to find a place in the Merchandise Mart (where my office is moving next week) that has sushi to go. Even though this isn’t the greatest sushi like you can get at a restaurant, I have to say it isn’t bad. I was craving something other than the very little I had in my refrigerator, so I picked some up on my way home on Thursday. It was delicious! Now once again, it cannot replace actually going out for sushi, but it’s a temporary fix for those times during the week I don’t feel like spending much money. Actually, next Wednesday night I will probably do something like that again. I work at the Chicago Semester office from 6:00 to 10:00 PM that night with Jim, and we decided that sushi is in order for next week. There aren’t very many people that usually come that night anyway, so we figured we could at least have dinner. 

Thursday night was our art event night, and we went to see David Dorfman dance. I don’t even know what to tell you about event because the majority of the time I was confused. I believe it was post-modern dance, and I know it was based on the story of John Brown from the Civil War. For those of you who don’t know, I believe Brown was the man who claimed God gave him instructions to fight slavery using violence. If you can picture that in dance with a lot of other things thrown in, you’ll understand what I went to see. They used audience participation, and not even five minutes into it my hotel roommate, Julie, and I got pulled on stage. Luckily, we just had to sit there and observe—not dance! It was a fun night though; for the most part I enjoyed the performance.

To cap the weekend off Amy and I made dinner when I got back from work last night. Then we met with Marianne and Brittany and walked to the Signature Room lounge on the 96th floor of the Hancock Building. We decided dinner was maybe out of our budget but that we could do drinks. I highly recommend for anyone to do this as we had a great time and a beautiful view! Our server even told us when people had moved, so we ended up right next to a window. The three girls had drinks, but I was craving something sweeter. I definitely had carrot cake, which was amazing (no offense, Mom—I love yours too!!) If you’re in Chicago you just can’t miss an opportunity like that, especially when the weather is so beautiful right now. I guarantee it was the highlight of my week, so now I’ll have to see what the rest of the weekend brings!

All Work and No Play...Or Not!

noreply@blogger.com (CS) — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 22:37:00 +0000

It has been such a crazy week—I probably say that every week though. This time it seems especially true because I worked extra hours at my internship and was constantly on the run. I think the only day I came straight home after work was Tuesday! I’m not complaining though because part of these after work activities are social calls. My internship definitely has been busy though. We’ve been troubleshooting on some things and trying to finish up other projects while new projects are coming in. It’s a never-ending process, and I have to say I admire Nicole and Sharon. The two of them do the work of at least ten people!

This week I went to some meetings with Nicole and did follow-ups with other people. We either had days where we were never in the office or days where we were all glued to our computer screens. There was nothing in between this week. We had our monthly mixer at Tiffani Kim Institute, which is a wellness spa in the River North area. Ai Japanese catered the event, so we ended up going to the restaurant for an after party when we got everything cleaned up. I was so excited to have my first sushi in Chicago! I can’t believe it’s been four weeks, and I’m only now having my first sushi. What is wrong with me!? We had a nice meal and great service and just got to catch up with some of our members and board members. The event went really well though minus a few problems that came up before it started. We pulled everything off though. Thanks to Erin, Kelly, and Amy for helping serve drinks! I love you girls for doing that last minute. I met a lot of great people and hopefully will be meeting up with some of them soon—professionally and socially.

This week’s art event was at the Shakespeare Theater at Navy Pier. We saw the play Amadeus, and I absolutely loved it! This is definitely an art form that I connect to well. The theater was beautiful, and the actors did a wonderful job. This was my first time at Navy Pier, so I can finally say I’ve been there. I think it’s one of those things you just have to see if you’re in Chicago; it’s wrong if you don’t.

As always I’m happy it’s the weekend! I went to Wrigleyville on Friday night with Nicole to meet a bunch of her friends, and we had a blast. They have nicknamed me Pledge or Intern, it just depends on who is referring to me. Apparently, they thought I should have been up there today as well. :) They were all great people, and we just enjoyed the fact that the weekend had finally arrived. On Saturday we had our progressive dinner for all Chicago Semester students and staff, and it was excellent! I have to admit that I didn’t participate in all the courses because I was full from lunch. It was definitely a good eating week though! I had breakfast at the Holiday Inn-Chicago Mart Plaza on Tuesday, Mr. Beef sandwiches on Friday, and Cheesecake Factory for lunch on Saturday. My Chicago dining experiences will continue. :) The big news is the Cubs clinched today! The city has gone wild!

Always Carry Your Umbrella

noreply@blogger.com (CS) — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 23:13:00 +0000

I’m sad to say that I don’t have a lot of exciting things to tell about this week because I think the reality of the working world has sunk in for all of us. This was the first week where we actually had four days of interning and one day of class, and it was a long and crazy week for most people I talked to. This week I already had deadlines to meet and many meetings to go to. Tuesday morning we had a board meeting, which meant Monday was preparation for that. On top of that the quarterly newsletter is launching hopefully next week as soon as we get some final information. I had three meetings on Thursday, and I got to do two of those on my own. It gave me a chance to explore the area and meet some great people. I still really enjoy my internship, but I definitely am seeing the downside of event planning with some things that have happened this week. We get through it together though, and it’s a great learning experience.

As for the rest of the week, we didn’t get totally soaked any of the days. I decided to invest in a raincoat after last week though, and it’s definitely come in handy! Our art event was inside thankfully at the Museum of Contemporary Art, and on Wednesday during class we went to the Art Institute to have a guided tour of some of the exhibits. It’s great being able to get into some of these things that otherwise I probably wouldn’t know about or think about going to.

Last weekend I had a roommate weekend with Amy on Saturday and Sunday. I took her to the Cityscape Lounge on the fifteenth floor of the Holiday Inn Mart Plaza because we could each get a free martini. It had an amazing view, so we just hung out and caught up on life. You would think when you live with someone that you would actually see and talk to them—not always the case. Life is so hectic for both of us during the week. We also went to this great frozen yogurt place called Berry Chill. During the week I haven’t done a lot because I haven’t really been home at night because of work or class or whatever else comes up; I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again, there’s always something going on in Chicago.

Who knows what will go on this weekend. We went to Lincoln Park and Wrigleyville on Friday night to meet up with people my friends knew and had a great time just being out and knowing we didn’t have to get up for work in the morning. I’m definitely appreciating my weekends all that much more! I will say this, my mind has been elsewhere lately. A week ago my cousin had her first baby, Maddox Jackson Taylor, and he is absolutely perfect! It will probably be awhile before I see him, but until then I can just obsess over how cute he is in his pictures. THEN on top of that news, my brother got engaged just a few days, so I’m soon to have a wonderful sister-in-law as well!! I just had to share my fantastic news with everyone, even though it doesn’t really relate to Chicago. Don’t worry, Chicago, I haven’t forgotten about you. :)

The Circus of Chicago Life

noreply@blogger.com (CS) — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 23:28:00 +0000

I’ve just completed my second week in Chicago, which seems unreal. Most times I actually do feel as though I belong here, and I figure that’s a good thing. I mean there are still days when someone tells me to meet them at the corner of whatever and whatever, and I have to think which direction I need to go. I’m getting used to my apartment neighborhood as well as my internship neighborhood. I guess this would be a good point to actually tell what I’m doing this semester. I’m working with Sharon and Nicole at the River North Association, which is a chamber of commerce for the River North area basically. I have a feeling the entire semester will be a lot of learning, but I’m definitely learning a lot right now. There are programs I’m learning on the computer, and I just know I have to ask questions. I’m learning the files and where things are in the office as well as in the area. Nicole and I took a walking tour on Friday after a lunch meeting we had. I’ve met some of the board members and will meet most of the rest next week. I’ve talked to some on the phone or through e-mail, and everyone seems excited to have me on board. Granted, sometimes I feel like I make things harder rather than easier since I question so many things, but I’ll get the hang of it. In a little over a week we have our monthly mixer, so I’ll get to put my event planning skills to the test. Overall, I’m loving it, and Sharon and Nicole are wonderful women to work with.

I definitely got quite the learning experience on Thursday. You should always carry your umbrella with you in Chicago because you never know when it might rain. I actually did good and remembered it on Thursday since it was overcast in the morning. However, the windy city tends to hold up to its name, and umbrellas don’t always work well with wind. So on my way home from work, I was already wet when I got on the subway. Well, the subway kind of floods when it rains, so I was walking through puddles of water and then jammed between people on the subway and had a hard time getting off at my stop. On top of that I then stopped and talked to someone when I got off and just stood in the rain because at that point it didn’t even matter I was already soaked. The story gets better than that though. We had our first art event, the Zoppe Family Circus, in Pilsen to attend in the rain on Thursday night. Our directions weren’t wonderful, and we had to walk over a mile (at least it seemed that long) in the rain to the park where the circus was. Then we had to tromp through the mud and sit and freeze in the tent. We ran back to the train station after that and were just so excited to get home for the night. It was just ridiculous and miserable, which somehow made it laughable. People probably thought we were hysterical and in need of professional help.

I’ve done a lot of great things in the city this week actually. I went out to Naperville last weekend to go to the Gavin DeGraw concert, which was fantastic!!! Thanks to Kelly for hooking me up with a ticket! Then we attended the free Andrew Byrd (I think that’s the right spelling…) concert at Millennium Park on Wednesday night, and I also attended Wine Fest at Millennium Park on Friday night. There are some great events that I’m totally taking advantage of right now just because the weather is so nice, and you don’t want to miss them! Flutag (once again on the spelling) is also one of those crazy events that was quite entertaining. It was basically people from mostly the Midwest who designed “flying machines” to see how far they will fly when going off a ramp at North Avenue Beach. That’s probably not a good description, but feel free to look it up. It’s sponsored by Red Bull! It’s been a good week and weekend, and now I just need to stop enjoying myself so much and get some homework done. Great…

Hotel Allegro to Canterbury Court

noreply@blogger.com (CS) — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 16:47:00 +0000

Week one is pretty much over; we survived and are now going full force into the weekend. Today was move-in day, which didn’t end up being as crazy as I expected. Actually, the entire week was a lot calmer than I anticipated. I was preparing for major stress and getting lost time and time again. Guess what? I didn’t really experience either. The only time I semi got lost was on the way to one of my interviews. It’s kind of hard to explain, but needless to say I figured out which way I needed to go on the street after making a phone call to my interview site to get directions and say that I would be late. It has been a great week though; I had very positive interviews and met a lot of amazing people!

As the week went on, I realized I was going to have to condense this blog as much as I could because it’s absolutely ridiculous how much we fit into five days; I can’t cover everything in writing. We had sessions on “getting to know you” for our group of students; this involved playing Annie’s famous mixer game (sorry, Annie, I can’t remember the awesome name you gave it!). I think the best part was the group dinners out in the city because you actually put your “skills” on how to get around the city to use and had some pretty fantastic dinners. The groups I was in had Thai food one night and Middle-Eastern another night, so I got to try some different things that I wouldn’t normally try or have had the opportunity to try.

That was pretty much the basis of the week—meetings and food and interviews. The exciting part started on day one when Amy and I made it downtown from O’Hare airport. We only had one mishap, and of course, it happened to me. I managed to smash my toe, but I’ll save you all the gory details. I will say that it will have to be bandaged for quite some time, but the employees at Hotel Allegro were very helpful in giving me band-aids when I arrived. Thank you! Downtown was overwhelming, but we were excited to find stores almost immediately. Some of our favorite stores have three levels, which is even better. My week became even more exciting when I discovered Michigan Avenue along with all the stores that I won’t be able to afford this semester. Oh well, maybe I’ll splurge before Christmas. :) Some of the cool events we did as a group this week were the River Boat Tour where we got some great pictures of the skyline, and on Friday night we went to the iO Theater, which was Shakespeare improv. We were quite entertained!

I had a great hotel roommate, Julie, who actually is from Pella, so we kind of knew each other from long ago, oddly enough. My apartment roommate is Amy from Central College; I know they tell you to room with someone you don’t know, but to anyone who is concerned, I promise I have met people from other colleges and haven’t been completely anti-social. I know everyone who knows me is shocked. :) Really, it’s been a great week, and I truly feel at home in the city for the most part. Our neighborhood seems very nice, and we like our cozy apartments. I’m pretty sure I have my internship set up but with the holiday weekend haven’t been able to get all my contacts made yet. For anyone considering this program, the interview process isn’t quite as overwhelming as it looks on paper, so definitely take advantage of this great opportunity! My roommate would be very upset if I didn’t share our big news of the day in closing, so here you go: we managed to get our TV set up with the rabbit ears and picked up all our favorite channels!! Yes, it’s the little things that make us happy.

Goodbye, Iowa. Hello, Chicago.

noreply@blogger.com (CS) — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 17:36:00 +0000

I’m shocked to realize that summer is ending as I sit here today writing my first of many updates to come. It’s raining, which is probably in my favor since it will force me to pack up my stuff and make one final “college” move. However, this won’t be like any other move. I won’t be moving back to Central College into the dorms or honor houses; instead, I will be moving into an apartment downtown Chicago in a week. It has seemed pretty unreal as I’ve thought about it off an on this summer, but slowly, reality is beginning to set in. Am I nervous? Of course. Am I thrilled beyond belief? You got it!

My name is Lindsey, and as I’ve already mentioned I’m a student at Central College in Pella, Iowa. My major is English, but I’m planning to intern in marketing/events. I grew up in a very small town about twenty minutes from Pella called Lynnville, so needless to say, the city will be a bit of a shock compared to my town of three hundred people. Chicago would be a huge change for any college student coming from a small town, but for me, it’s another rather large step toward graduation in December. I want to be in a city, and so whereas this is an experience through college, it’s also real world experience toward a job or career for me as I plan to move to a city (not completely sure where yet) as soon as this semester is over.

Today is the first day I’ve had off work, which means it is packing day. I’ve read all the information as to what to bring, what to expect during orientation, what to expect for arrival, etc., but I don’t think any of that can fully prepare you for the experience. I figure I will just think positively and say that everything will work its way out in some way! I’ve had an amazing summer with friends and family and have traveled to Florida, California, and Indiana twice. I somehow managed to take the time off work to do all this and still see my friends every weekend to do random things like karaoke…There was never a dull moment to say the least!

For now, I just have to finish saying my goodbyes to some of the greatest friends I will ever know and enjoy my last few days here. Part of me hates to leave, but a greater part of me is ecstatic to arrive in the Windy City! Goodbye, Iowa. Hello, Chicago…