I had a very important task to accomplish this morning: procuring something to wear as Co-Producer and emcee of “Listen To Your Mother (Chicago)”. Fun, right? Not really, when you’re a person who 1. doesn’t regularly shop for clothing 2. hates to pay full price for clothing for herself, therefore spending the most time in the sale/clearance section 3. has definite ideas on what colors and styles have been both comfortable AND successful in the body flattery department, therefore limiting choices from the get-go You may remember my search for a red dress in Feburary 2011? Horrifying. I had a great attitude when I left, though, AND a strategy. I…
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Chicago Love
Ah, Chicago. You know *I* love it. You may even love it, too. I can tell you that Chris Pritchard loves it. Chris is a filmmaker who is working on a timelapse series called “Places in Time”. Lucky for me (and, let’s be honest, YOU), he chose Chicago as the first city in the series. I dare you to watch this and try not to fall in love–for the first time or all over again–with Chicago. I dare you. Places in Time: Chicago from Chris Pritchard on Vimeo. Read Chris’ notes on the film by clicking here.
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Vienna Beef = Hot Dog Heaven
I really don’t even know where to start. I was invited to the Vienna Beef Headquarters and Factory Store to be in the small (miniscule, actually: there were about eight of us!) blogger audience for a broadcasting of Chicagonista Live, with my Social RevUp partner MJ Tam, BBRadio hostess Beth Rosen, and the other two CL ladies, Nancy Loo (Big Tiny) and Duong Sheehan. The experience was set up to be really fun: we would meet some of the folks from Vienna Beef while enjoying some Chicago hot dogs (THE Chicago hot dogs, actually: Vienna Beef hot dogs were first introduced at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition, otherwise known as…
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Where’s The Beef?
Excuse the 80’s reminder about an entirely different brand altogether, but here it is. I visited the Mothership today. It’s late, though. I’ll be posting about this tomorrow. The only problem is, if you just show up here by clicking the home page, you won’t see it because although it’s not a review, it’ll be listed on my review page because it’s a “brand interaction” post. That being said, if you subscribe to my feed, like my Facebook page, or follow me on Twitter the post will be delivered to you hot, fresh, and full of a variety of great ingredients, much like a Chicago hot dog. Get some rest.…
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Green Thumb
I take joy from many things. Here are just a few of them: ~Family time ~Travel ~Writing ~Baking ~Eating ~Zumba Gardening, you’ll notice, is not on that partial list. It’s not even on the full list. That’s because I despise it. My total disdain for the activity was likely brought on by a combination of my couch potato tendencies as a kid (when all of my little friends were outside, I was inside practicing my Ubbi Dubbi skills) and the fact that my sister and I spent many weekends pulling weeds out of the landscaping around our house and especially under that godforsaken magnolia tree, whose lower branches were left…
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I Guess My Job Is Done. (Alternate Title: I Didn’t See THAT Coming!)
D is home for a four-day weekend, and he took a ride with me earlier today to run some errands. We made four stops and then I said, “I’m starting to feel like we might need an Icee before we go home.” Besides the fact that Icees aren’t our “normal” treat and that made the offer special in itself, D is a typical college student in that he would never, EVER turn down something like this. (I remember practically jumping for joy as a college student whenever my mom asked if I wanted to go to the store with her because I always came home with stuff I didn’t have…
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Finally, The Popularity of the Reality TV Genre Is Explained.
I’m turning on a dime today, switching gears and providing the reason why reality television is so popular. You’re welcome. But first, go back in time with me, will you? The road is long and winding. Billy Joel’s “My Life” came on the radio yesterday. Every time I hear that song I think of the early 80s Tom Hanks/Peter Scolari sitcom “Bosom Buddies”, because a version of “My Life” was used as the theme song: I adored that show. The premise is arguably ridiculous: two guys who dress in drag (and take on the names Buffy and Hildegard) in order to live in a women’s-only building, and everyone other than…
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Memory
The last couple of days has been really, really difficult for my family, my sister and me in particular. First, click here to read what’s been going on. My sister already wrote about it and I figure there’s no need for me to rehash it here. Seriously. Go read that before continuing. On our way home Monday, we were discussing how odd it is that M, our elderly loved one, has a hard time with her short-term memory (she asks the same questions over and over), but she can remember the strangest little things, like how her daughter-in-law always loved fruit compote, or this: When I graduated from high school…
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Vacation, Revisited.
It “only” took three months, but I finally developed the waterproof cameras we brought on our cruise in January. As is typical, the quality of the pictures isn’t all that fabulous, but the quality of the memories is beyond excellent. These are the best pictures from the bunch: they were taken on the day we left the cruise ship in favor of a smaller boat, to sail to a “snorkeling and beach party”. I pumped up the color in the picture of the fish: the snorkeling wasn’t as pretty (okay, or as dangerous!!) in Cozumel as it was on my trip to the Bahamas in 2006 so I gave it…
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House Party With The Glade® Home Style Studio!
It was a busy weekend! You already know that I absolutely adore spending time in the city. You also already know that I am usually pretty outgoing, so talking to people isn’t a problem. Working with the folks on the Glade® Expressions™ Happiair Tour this weekend meant combining two of my favorite things: the city and talking. (Seriously!) I was part of the Street Team (not the official name but it really makes me sound cool so I’m going with it), tweeting and Facebooking while passersby (and their noses) checked out the products that make up the new Glade® Expressions™ Collection. (The Collection features a Fragrance Mist and Oil Diffuser,…