• Review

    Cupcake Coma, Courtesy of Sprinkles

    You guys, I can’t even. Today I attended one of my favorite events ever. EVER. I was invited, you see, to enjoy cupcakes and champagne at Sprinkles Cupcakes in Chicago with the Founders (Candace and Charles Nelson). In the kitchen. Cupcakes? Yes, please. But seriously, I have been wanting to get to Sprinkles for a long time: I had been hearing the buzz about them for a few years, and in fact my go-to gift for friends’ birthdays a couple years back was a basket of Sprinkles Cupcake mixes, purchased at Williams-Sonoma. At that time, Sprinkles was only located in California. (You may have heard of them because Katie Holmes…

  • Amazing People,  Fun in Chicago,  Spreading the Bloggie Love

    #BBSummit11: Great Conference, Great #BlogHer11 Warmup!

    Over the weekend I attended the inaugural Midwest Moms Media Brands and Bloggers Summit, right here in Chicago. It was fantastic. Fantastic. BBSummit is a one-day conference meant to, as you can probably guess from its title, bring brands and bloggers together to talk about how we can all play in the same sandbox. It did that. The sold-out conference took place in one huge ballroom at the Doubletree Magnificent Mile, which was really nice. With 150 bloggers from all over the Midwest (and I think a couple flew in from other areas, too) seated at huge, round tables, we all experienced the same agenda all day. The sessions were:…

  • Contest,  Skydeck Chicago

    @SkydeckChicago Fast Pass Giveaway #1: Winner!

    I just picked (via random drawing) the winner of my first Fast Pass giveaway. She isn’t one of my blog readers so I won’t post her name here, but you can look at the event page to see it. For everyone else, no worries: I’ve got three more giveaways over the next few weeks and the prize pack might increase in size, so stay tuned!

  • Review

    Bristol Renaissance Faire: There’s An App For That!

    Okay, so…the Bristol Renaissance Faire. You already know from my multiple posts about them (as well as my videos!) that I love the heck out of those folks over there. I recently learned that there is an iPhone/iPad/iPod app (of course!) out there that can enhance your enjoyment of the Bristol Renaissance Faire. (What better way to enjoy the 16th century than to bring the 21st century along, right?) (No, seriously.) RenGuide, developed by Pocket Logic, LLC, is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or controlled by the Bristol Renaissance Faire but it seems to be quite amazing. It’s got an interactive map, schedules, merchant information, coupons, and even a language…

  • Skydeck Chicago

    Giveaway: @SkydeckChicago Fast Passes From #MelisaSkydeck!

    Hello there! It’s me, Skydeck Chicago Ambassador Melisa, with my first giveaway! I have a pair of Skydeck Chicago Fast Passes (value=$35 each) up for grabs. Fast Passes can get you express access to the elevators (and in turn, the Ledge!), and can come in really handy on busy days. How might someone win this pair of Fast Passes, you ask? Here are the details: 1. You get one entry by RSVPing “yes” to the Giveaway event I created, on Facebook. Click here for that. 2. You get an extra entry by leaving a comment on the event page, saying that you want to win the tickets. 3. You get…

  • Blessings

    A Power Outage Is A Great Time To Count Your Lucky Stars

    Due to a vicious 90-minute storm early on Monday morning, one that blew out as quickly as it blew in, more than 600,000 Chicagoland folks were left with no electricity, my family included. July power outages are no fun: we typically have temps in the high 80s/low 90s. No air conditioning? Ouch. When the power first went out, I figured that, due to the length of the storm, it would surely come back quickly. I was wrong. The power would be out for nearly 36 hours in total, for my family (there are still folks who are being told not to expect the return of their electricity for several more…

  • Amazing People,  Friends,  Fun in Chicago,  I've Got Mad Skillz,  Skydeck Chicago

    The Weekend We Smashed My Old Record To Bits

    As you no doubt recall from the last two posts, my endless tweeting, and possibly my Facebook statuses, Momofali and her lovely, funny, and super-cute daughter visited me this weekend. I issued a challenge to you, to take a stab at guessing how many attractions I could show the two of them in the course of 2 1/2 days. I even made a little contest out of it, and decided to do a random drawing from all of the comments for a mini Chicago souvenir prize pack. But more about that at the end of this post. (See how I did that? Now you have to look at my vacation…

  • Fun in Chicago,  Skydeck Chicago

    The Welcome Wall: A @SkydeckChicago Tip From #MelisaSkydeck

    As I’m in the middle of a fabulous (and busy!) weekend with Momofali, who is visiting from Ohio with her awesome daughter (did you put in your guess on my last post, so you can be eligible for my random drawing? And by the way, if you did guess already, it was probably too low), I just wanted to check in and give you a great “looks like it’s behind-the-scenes but it’s really not” tip about Skydeck Chicago, which was number one on our very busy agenda yesterday. With a little bit of advance planning–two days or more, to be exact–you can impress your friends and make them feel all…

  • Best Thing Ever,  Chicken in the Car,  Friends,  Fun in Chicago

    Chicken In The Car And the Car Won’t Go: The Live Action Version & Giveaway!

    Today is a very, very exciting day: one of my BFFs, Momofali, is coming to town with her daughter, let’s call her Daughterofmomo, for a girls’ weekend. I haven’t seen Momo since we were in New York City together for BlogHer last August, and I can barely contain myself regarding the fact that not only is she staying with me through Sunday, but I get to see her AGAIN in just a couple weeks, in San Diego (roomies!). In preparation for their visit, I asked Momo to have her daughter go through my book and jot down various attractions that she really wanted to see. What they came up with,…

  • Best Thing Ever,  Family Fun,  Fun in Chicago,  Skydeck Chicago

    My Official Title Is Skydeck Chicago Ambassador, But You Can Call Me #MelisaSkydeck

    Aaaaand we’re off! Today is the official beginning of the Skydeck Chicago Ambassador program. For the next two months, I will be serving, along with three other great ladies (Lisa, Christy, and Jen) as your source for information about all of the fun that can be had, 1353 feet high in the air above the great city of Chicago, at the Willis Tower (formerly the Sears Tower). First of all, if you’re just joining me, welcome! (In fact, even if you’re NOT just joining me, welcome!) You can read about my private, “behind-the-scenes” tour of Skydeck Chicago with General Manager Randy Stancik, along with how I finally conquered my fear…