• Food,  Friends,  Fun in Chicago,  I've Got Mad Skillz,  My Friends Have Mad Skillz,  My Sister Has Mad Skillz

    Chicago Food Swap: Almost Like Hanukkah!

    March 18, 2012

    Yesterday my sister and I drove to Forest Park so we could participate in the Chicago Food Swap. It was the second swap that co-organizers Vanessa and Emily have put on so far, but my first time going. Sadly, I missed the first one due to having other plans. I’ve been looking forward to this one for two months. Great news: it was fabulous! We had a great time. The way a food swap works (apparently this is huge in Los Angeles, by the way) is that everyone brings home-grown or homemade items, packaged so that people can pick them up and look at them. When you sign in, you…

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  • Food,  Friends,  My Friends Have Mad Skillz

    Cotton Candy Cure

    February 22, 2012

    I’m a pretty busy person, to put it mildly. If you’re a regular reader, you know this already. If you’re new (welcome!), just know that I don’t have idle time very often because I am always running in five or six different directions simultaneously, while juggling. It’s not often that I can just hang out, just for fun. Although events (planning and attending) are a big part of my life these days and I immensely enjoy seeing friends old and new at huge, noisy gatherings, the experience of a non-stop-laughing hang-out session with a friend or two has become almost totally foreign to me. Yesterday I was reminded how much…

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  • Fun in Chicago,  My Friends Have Mad Skillz,  Reflections on Parenting

    How Does Your Family Celebrate Valentine’s Day?

    February 14, 2012

    Today I thought I’d show you the first part of a video series I’m involved with (along with several of my beautiful Chicago blogger friends!), produced by MJ Tam for the Chicagonista Live show. The series is called “Our Voices” (#OurVoices). I love many things about this particular video, but my favorite is the Barbara Walters/Oprah-style lighting that worked miracles I’ve never seen before. I’m working on a way to have that light follow me around everywhere. Happy Valentine’s Day!

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  • Friends,  Fun in Chicago,  My Friends Have Mad Skillz

    Chicago Elevated’s Holiday Pedway Extravaganza: Too Fun!

    December 10, 2011

    Yesterday I hopped on the train with my friend Amy so that we could enjoy two great holiday activities in Chicago, the Chicago Elevated Holiday Pedway Extravaganza and the Christkindlmarket. I have been on a “regular” (non-holiday) tour of the pedway with Margaret before, but when she came up with the idea of a tour during which her guests could see some of the best holiday decorations in the city without setting foot outside, I was all in. For those of you who think I’m talking about a Segway tour, which is something Margaret gets all the time, let me clarify. The Pedway is a series of underground tunnels (like…

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  • Friends,  Fun in Chicago,  My Friends Have Mad Skillz,  Skydeck Chicago,  Working On My Fitness

    Yoga On (Okay, NEAR) The Ledge!

    August 15, 2011

    One of the privileges of being a Skydeck Chicago Ambassador this summer was the ability to come up with a one-of-a-kind event to put on in the space on the 103rd floor of Willis (formerly Sears) Tower. We ambassadors started with clean slates, and could basically present any idea we wanted to the PR team and management of Skydeck Chicago for approval. For me, incorporating a workout was a no-brainer, because I love fitness and especially because Skydeck Chicago has nothing to do with fitness. I thought that mixing up the two worlds would be interesting and fun. Of course, I couldn’t exactly arrange to teach a cycling class up…

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  • Best Thing Ever,  Friends,  My Friends Have Mad Skillz,  Too Funny To Ignore,  Travels

    On The Fringe

    August 12, 2011

    One of the most memorable pieces of my weekend in San Diego was the morning on which I took the ferry to Coronado Island along with Michelle, Sue, and Liz. We got up, made a stop at the Starbucks (conveniently located in the hotel) for those who needed cawfee (right, Liz?) and then headed to the marina. The ferry ride, which was all of six minutes, was beautiful. Skimming over the water from the hotel to Coronado was a little bit dreamy, the color of the water unbelievable. When we arrived on the other side, we walked up the pier towards the sidewalk…and that’s when we saw it. A surrey.…

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  • Amazing People,  Best Thing Ever,  Blessings,  Favorite Things,  Friends,  My Friends Have Mad Skillz,  Something That Could Change Your Life,  Spreading the Bloggie Love,  Too Funny To Ignore

    #BlogHer11: Third Time’s A Charm!

    August 11, 2011

    BlogHer ’11 was my third, and there was something magical about it for me (shut up). Okay, the first two times I attended BlogHer were pretty darn good too, but I had the most fun this year, perhaps partly because I didn’t overdo like I did last year. I don’t even know where to start with my recap so I just decided to spew randomness sprinkled with pictures. That’s organized enough, isn’t it? Favorite moments: (so many, and in no particular order!) 1. Lots of quality time with my favorite “really, really, really wish we were neighbors” Jersey girl, Liz. I luv huh. 2. Giggling with my roommates, especially each…

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  • Amazing People,  Best Thing Ever,  Blessings,  Chicken in the Car,  Favorite Things,  Food,  Friends,  Fun in Chicago,  I've Got Mad Skillz,  My Friends Have Mad Skillz,  Proud Moments,  Shameless Promotion,  Something That Could Change Your Life,  Spreading the Bloggie Love

    My Official Book Launch: An Epic Celebration of All Things Chicago

    May 26, 2011

    I don’t even know where to start when it comes to summarizing my book launch event that occurred in the city on Tuesday night. I would love to tell you about everything, but I don’t want this post to be a novel and so I have to skip the fine points on: ~ all of the ideas I tossed around in my head starting about two months ago as this event was conceptualized ~ the great conversations (and epiphanies) I had with the ladies of my “Event Advisory Board” (I made up that name but it’s perfect), made up of friends who have experience with the ins and outs of…

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  • Chicken in the Car,  Fun in Chicago,  I've Got Mad Skillz,  My Friends Have Mad Skillz,  Proud Moments,  Something That Could Change Your Life

    Move Along, Nothing To See Here…

    May 23, 2011

    I know. It’s been a few days. Well, only four, but in the blogosphere, four days can seem like an eternity. In fact, I have lots to share but no time to share it at the moment. I met my publisher in person over the weekend when we drove down south (in a loaner Chevy Tahoe Hybrid from General Motors, thank you very much!) for my niece’s graduation: my publisher’s office is only about twenty minutes from my sister-in-law’s house. I got a great package from the United Kingdom, full of goodies that made me totally giddy. I got a great package from Cape Cod, containing something that made me…

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  • Best Thing Ever,  I've Got Mad Skillz,  My Friends Have Mad Skillz,  My Kid Has Mad Skillz,  Proud Moments

    Welcome To My New Home!

    April 21, 2011

    EXCITING, right? I am in so in love with my new digs! I hope you feel comfortable too. Pull up a chair…can I get you a drink or anything? I want to thank my son D for taking my design and recreating it in Photoshop with sharper colors than I could get while just using the program I was using, and for making my funky little social media icon stars. I also owe a HUGE thanks to my friend Ri–who rocks–and is a total genius. She helped me immensely with all of the back-end web craziness and I couldn’t have done this without her. I have a few minor kinks…

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