Last Friday night Jim and I, along with Dawn and Scott (our oldest friends, who reside in central Illinois), road-tripped to the First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre in Tinley Park to see Mötley Crüe perform on the Chicago stop of their final tour (or so they say). This post is not about the concert. This post is about what I learned that night. 1. I learned that it is really kind of stupid to drive from our home in the western suburbs down to Tinley Park on a Friday night. Traffic was ridiculous. That includes the traffic on the highway, the concert traffic we were in the first time when we…
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Women ARE Driving Excellence At The Chicago Auto Show!!
The city of Chicago has lots of February traditions (besides MORE SNOW, ugh). One of the biggies is the Chicago Auto Show, which will be held at McCormick Place and open to the public from February 8-17. The Chicago Auto Show is the largest auto show in North America and, because my feet have carried me around the one million square feet of display space that the show takes up in the North and South Exhibit Halls, I can reiterate that yeah, it’s HUGE. One of the special events going on is Women’s Day, which happens on Tuesday, February 11. Women get into the auto show that day for $6…
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“Young Frankenstein” At Drury Lane: Herr Doktor Is In!
I received two complimentary tickets to Drury Lane’s production of “Young Frankenstein” and although I wasn’t required to write about it, I know the folks there appreciate that I did! Pictures furnished by Drury Lane; all words and opinions are mine. It’s very hard for me to believe that “Young Frankenstein”, the movie written by (and starring) Gene Wilder and Mel Brooks, is forty years old this year. The movie is a classic, and still just as relevant and funny now in the 21st century as it was back in the day. I remember seeing the movie for the first time as a teenager back in the 80’s when my…
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If You Need Me, I’ll Be Learning How To Live With More Balance at Coca Cola’s Balanced Living Workshop…
I was compensated for my participation in Coca-Cola’s Balanced Living Workshop, but my thoughts and views are my own. I am constantly trying to search for balance in my life; if you’re a regular here, you already know that. I’m constantly juggling a bunch of different projects, my workouts and my family stuff, all while trying to weave a bunch of fun in there somewhere. (Making room for fun, I admit, is something at which I excel. Go figure.) Sometimes though, it’s important to get serious. Being a mom in my forties, I am busier than ever but also finally coming to the realization that taking care of myself really…
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The Greatest Show On Earth
Last night I went to the circus. My sister, J, and I headed out to take in the show and I realized it had been approximately thirty-five (ish) years since I had enjoyed a “real” circus, if you don’t count the much smaller-scale Shrine Circus that my father-in-law participated in when he was a clown named Jingles. (And I don’t.) Even that was about eighteen years ago. As the circus–the one known as “The Greatest Show On Earth’–started and seventeen-year-old J had the look on his face of being really impressed with the amazing acts (rather than the “I’m a teenager and I really don’t belong here” face), I suddenly…
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Chatting With Katie Cazorla About Nail Files Season 2!
I had so much fun on Wednesday. I know, you’re all like, “You seem to have fun all the time, Melisa! Geez!” Or something like that. But for real, I had so much fun on Wednesday because I got the opportunity to interview Katie Cazorla, owner of The Painted Nail salon in Los Angeles and the star of “Nail Files”, a reality tv show on the TV Guide network. When I received an invitation to interview Katie during her media tour stop in Chicago this week (to promote the second season of “Nail Files”), I couldn’t believe what a great fit this was. They approached me because of my blog,…
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#BBSummit12 In A Nutshell
After nearly a year of planning meetings, brainstorming sessions, countless emails, thousands of name badges (okay, 160 of ’em), and excessive sweating, the 2012 Brands and Bloggers Summit (#BBSummit12) came and went this past Saturday. After all the work that I put in alongside my Social RevUp partners MJ Tam and Dwana De LaCerna, I was looking forward to the beginning of the day just as much as I was looking forward to the end of the day (7:00 to be specific, which was the starting time of the after party). My brain is still swimming but I wanted to give you a recap of my favorite parts of #BBSummit12…
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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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Glade® Expressions™ Collection: It’s All About Being #Happiair!
I have a sensitive nose. This is a blessing and a curse. While I can smell a field of beautiful, purple lavender from a mile away, I can also tell when our kitchen trash needs to be taken out immediately because something in it is thisclose to spoiling and making an icky, bad smell waft through my house like a fast-moving thunderstorm. Trash cans aside, I love when my–or any–space smells nice. I am the person your realtor warned you about, the one who will look more kindly upon your newly-listed house if you bake cookies just before my walk-through. The smell of a new car makes me smile. I…
- 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!
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…