Hotlanta, Here I Come!

Busy, busy, busy..... So a short one today, mainly to ensure I do not have an extreme lack of blog posts this week! 

We were gone last weekend, returned to Chicago on Monday, late afternoon, and now I am off to Atlanta this afternoon for work!

Want to see what I am up to?  Check out the Clear Ultra Shea Concert Series featuring Elle Varner, and follow them on their mini tour.  Last week, we kicked of the concert series in D.C. 

Next up: Atlanta, tomorrow night.... 

If you are in the ATL, be sure to see what all of the hype is about tomorrow as Elle will be in your hood participating in all kinds of activities - interviews, in-studios and a Facebook chat at 1pm EST! 

.....until next time!

Friday Favorites

• Olivia's Wedding Palooza - I am heading back to my hometown this weekend to celebrate with one of my closest friends.  She will be tying the knot on Sunday!  Downside?  I am standing up in the wedding.....next to an actual super model.  Blah!

• Get Yo' Hair Did - I love having my hair done.  In any capacity - a trim, a shampoo, someone brushing it, you name it.....  I love it.  If I could have access to one celebrity lifestyle item on the daily, it would be a hair and make-up team!  Ahhh, to dream.  So in short, I am really looking forward to having my hair done on Sunday!

• Cleaning Out The Fridge - B has been out of town all week, and we will also be out of town all weekend, so I invited a friend over last night and had my way with some pinterest recipes I had been meaning to try.  It was the perfect exercise in cleaning out the veggies and various food items that would have otherwise gone bad over the weekend!

• CAA Football - LOVE these guys.  They are so nice - they sent me two tickets to the MNF game here in Chicago (Bears vs. Lions) as "thanks" for the recent deal we closed with Megatron!  Best. Agents. Ever!

• Bathroom Completion - I had to include this, because I previously expressed my irritation earlier this week, in addition to how excited I was that the end was near.  So, you probably remember that it was supposed to be finalized today, right?  Well, it was not.  Of course, the glass was scratched when it arrived from the manufacturer!  FML.  So now, the new installation date is Tuesday.  Fingers crossed, everyone, please!

Tuesday Thought Dump

It has already been one of those  weeks.  So much going on, a lot of nonsense arising on the daily, lots to stress about with upcoming work projects, etc.  So a perfect time for a vent session/thought dump!

The pit of my job?  Dropping everything to tend to high maintenance clients' unnecessary needs.  This afternoon I was asked by a client to drop everything I have going on this week and fly to D.C. on Thursday morning for an event we have been working on for months.  MONTHS.  Make no mistake, it is not the fact that I was asked to attend, that is my job.  It is what I do.  I am happy to oblige.  It is the fact that we have been speaking daily for months and this thought never entered their mind until the 11th hour, despite the multiple mentions of this exact service on my end.  UGH!

Remodeling.  The bathroom looks stellar, but.....I want my damn glass door installed already.  Everything is half finished and it is driving me insane.  We still need to paint, have the glass door enclosure installed (which is happening on Friday, thank God!) and get all of the little details like the toilet paper holder, towel racks, etc. back in order.

Wedding details.  The. Worst. Thing. Ever.  I need my dress shortened, which is fine, took it to the seamstress and they are dealing with it.  Or so I thought.... I now have to go back in today with my shoes to make sure it is the right length.  Admittedly, this is my fault, I should have known this was coming and it makes complete sense.  Except for the fact that I have no idea what shoes I am wearing.... F!

Another pit of my job....Clients who think they know how to do my job better than I do, yet they are CLUELESS.  Suuuuuuure, you want to draft an LOI and ALSO do an offer and then long-form agreement because you think it will be more efficient, despite my telling you it will create about 15 extra unnecessary steps?  BRILLIANT.


...........seriously, is it Friday yet?!

Space Jam

So, I have to be honest here... I had no idea this little thing called the Space Jump (or Red Bull Stratos project) was even happening yesterday.  Sundays are football days in my household, so when my parents called and asked if I was watching the live feed from the jump, I thought they were nuts.  WHY?  Why would I be watching that over The NFL Today on CBS? 

When there was a commercial break, I figured I would turn it on to see what all of the fuss was about.  I was captivated.  This tiny capsule was transporting a human into space via what can only be described as a giant, oversized balloon.  WHAT. THE. HELL?  I had to watch.... 

 

I must say, it was quite boring for the first hour and a half as Felix Baumgartner was just floating up into the sky with no real activity.  Sure, there were multiple camera views, shots of the earth and what not, but...we have all been on a plane.  It just was not that exciting....

Once he hit about 90,000 feet, then it started to get more interesting.  You could start to see the curvature of the earth through the wide lens camera angles, and when they showed the camera view from the bottom of the capsule looking up, it was pitch black.  Space.  How cool is that?!

I found myself starting to fear for this guy's life when he surpassed the target jumping altitude of 120,000 feet and ground control was still in the process of attempting to trouble shoot an issue he was having with his heated visor.  Then, I started to feel bad for him, knowing that he might actually get all the way up there and not even be able to jump....or that he might get stuck in that capsule, just drifting off into space.  Later, I was informed that the capsule would be returning to earth in one piece and, worst case scenario, they would simply return the capsule to earth with Felix inside. 

Turns out, if you connect a parachute to any kind of object, you can just pretend to fly and then return to earth at your command.  This is of course a joke, but it does pose the question: why are there no parachutes available on commercial airliners?  SERIOUSLY?!

Finally, when Felix had floated above 128,000 feet, they began to go through the check list and deflate the giant balloon to start descending.  That check list was the most nerve racking part of all of this.  1/2 the time it was difficult to determine whether or not Felix was really paying attention, or if he was simply just saying, "yes, roger that," to get on with show...

When the door to the capsule finally did open and he stepped out onto the tiny ledge, standing on top of the world, that is when the stupidity of what was happening settled in.  This guy could totally die doing this.  F!  So, I kept watching. 

I continued to watch as Felix leaned over and began to tumble.  Actually, that is putting it lightly.  He was literally spinning out of control.  He was falling at upwards of 800 mph and, because the air is so thin at that altitude, it appeared as though he was plummeting faster than the speed of sound to his death. 

What was really kind of wild was when Felix did enter the earth's atmosphere again.  You saw him falling with no purpose, breaking the sound barrier, when all of a sudden - BOOM.  He regained total control and began free falling like sky divers tend to do.  It happened so quickly, it was almost unbelievable.

After that, everyone in ground control seemed a little bit more enthusiastic about what was happening.  Felix had broken multiple records, but he did fail to break the record for longest free fall.  Which, coincidentally enough, is held by the man who acted as Baumgartner's mentor throughout this mission.  I am sure Kittinger is secretly happy to have held on to one of the records!

As crazy as it was to watch all of this and comprehend that someone actually had this dream, saw it through.....and survived, even more insane was the fact that Felix landed so gracefully on the ground, on his feet, without falling down.     

Think about that for a minute....  About 5-10 minutes prior to landing on earth, you were sitting in a capsule, floating into space, on top of the world.  You then jumped, falling faster than the speed of sound.  Once the parachute opened, it was smooth sailing to the ground, despite receiving incorrect wind coordinates from those whose sole task was to get you back to earth safely and in one piece.  Finally, you landed on your feet, back to reality.

For the sake of science, I hope we were able to gather relevant data for the future of space travel and safety - or maybe even air travel altogether - which it does appear they were able to do.  Because if not, are we all bat shit crazy for contributing to this nonsense?!?!

Friday Favorites

In-home physicals - so crazy easy and convenient.  Obviously, it is no fun to have your blood drawn, but I have to say that when done from the comfort of your own couch, not so bad!  Turns out my hubby really stresses out about needles.  Not me, "cool as a cucumber" according to our lovely nurse.  Uh, thank you!  Also an added bonus - you know that juice cleanse I bitched about so much?  Lost 5 lbs....  I am sure it was water weight and it is back by now, but I was shocked.  B was down 8 pounds!  I think that scale the nurse is traveling with must be off by a few pounds?!


Food - SOLID food.  So very happy to have you re-introduced into my diet.  We are still eating healthy, but this weekend we will give ourselves a free pass to splurge a bit!  At least for one day.


Enfuse Med Spa Sale - apparently I am a "preferred" client of theirs.  They hooked me up with a SUPER cheap deal on a new laser hair removal package.  I will now be getting my legs done.  Woohoo!


Birthdays Galore! - There are many that I have missed in posting (shout outs all around to the following: Nana - 76!  Travis - 30!  Randi - 32!  Aimee - 24!  George - 3!  Claire - 30!  And coming up on Sunday, Kari - 31!).  People really must prefer getting down over the winter time, so many fall babies! 


The G-Family Cancellation Policy - Nailed it.  That is what happened today when my husband cancelled our flights, hotel and car rental at the last minute for a previously scheduled trip in November.  Turns out, if you tell people that your wife is bed ridden from pregnancy and can no longer fly, hotels will banish their cancellation policies.  Noted.  And the airline was just dumb enough to change our flight times without our consent, so we weaseled our way out of that one too.  BOOM!

 

I Am Not Cut Out For Anorexia

So, that juice cleanse that I mentioned on Friday?  Worst. Idea. Ever. 

Turns out, my husband followed through 100%.  Until today, he had not consumed anything other than our juices and the allowed teas/water since Saturday night.  CRAZY!  I, on the other hand, cheated every day.  And by cheated, I mean I had a sweet potato for dinner on 2 of the 3 nights, because I was about ready to die. 

A colleague of mine is currently doing a 3-day cleanse as well and, I have to say, her juices taste like magic compared to those we had.  Ours, quite literally, tasted like dirt.  And earth.  And everything disgusting.  Those she had?  They taste like V8 Splash!  While I do not think I would ever do this again, if I did dare to venture down this path in the future, I would most definitely go with a different cleanse company.

Here is a look into our daily meal liquid consumption over the course of the past 3 days:

*Disclaimer: You must drink your 16 oz. juices every 2 hours throughout the course of the day until they are completed.

Green Lantern - You THINK it is going to be like a fun, green smoothie that has leafy greens, like spinach, hidden into the mixture.  FALSE!  Instead, this concoction combines romaine lettuce, spinach leaves, parsley, cucumber, celery stalks, green apples, lemon and ginger root.  Sound refreshing?  It is not....

Haute Lemonade - This was actually my favorite of the juices, but....that is relative.  This one is a lemonade with cayenne pepper. It CLAIMS to be naturally sweetened with organic agave nectar and grade A maple syrup, but I am not buying that nonsense.  There was NOTHING sweet about this!

Maroon Five - No, not the band with that handsome front man.  That would have gone down nice and smooth.  This was the WORST of all of the juices as it was a thick, maroon mixture of the following 5 ingredients: beet, carrot, apple, lemon, ginger.  I am gagging just thinking about it....

Repeat Green Lantern here.  Trust me, it is even harder to keep down the second time around.

Repeat Maroon Five here.  Remember when I said the Green Lantern was hard to keep down the second time around?  This one was kind of like that, but on steroids. 

Cashew Milk - I thought this one was going to be awesome.  I really like almond and coconut milks, so I was ready to take this one on as a nice relief to the other crappy flavors throughout the day.  They described it as a creamy, protein rich drink full of vitamin E.  LIES!  In reality, it tasted like feet.  I never even made it half way through one of these on any of the days.


You may be wondering what have I learned from this exercise?  Well, a few things:

1. I am not always full of great ideas.

2. No one should ever worry that I am capable of living with an eating disorder.

3. I really love food more than I realized.


My husband really got a kick out of all of this as it was my great idea and I have been begging him to do something like this with me for years.  We both went into this expecting me to be the one to stick with it and him being the one to cave and eat.  So for me to be the one unable to see it through entirely, well that was a little disheartening as I am terribly competitive.  I realize this was not a competition per se, but....let's be honest.  It kind of was.  And I lost.  MISERABLY.

What I was not prepared for was the fact that my blood sugar levels would drop SO low and I would just feel completely nauseous, dizzy, fatigued.  I know they warn you about those things, but I did not realize they would hit me so hard.  My husband had an easier go than I did with those elements.  I had headaches every day that just lingered as well.  Not fun.

For all of the complaining outlined above, I will say this: I successfully passed up cookies and treats in the office yesterday and brownies and cake today.  As the massive sweet tooth that I am, you would think that I would be feigning for a sugar fix.  I am not.  Instead, I am craving more salty foods - like chips and salsa.  So if nothing else, maybe this will help curb my sugar cravings long term?  God willing....

I have also noticed that I am, generally speaking, not as hungry today (now that I can eat food again).  I had the suggested oatmeal for breakfast today and a salad for lunch.  I am, of course, now fasting for the 4 hours prior to having my blood work done, but I do not really think I would be hungry even if it were just a normal day.  Maybe my stomach has shrunk after all?!

All in all, no I would not recommend doing something like this unless you are truly unhealthy and are doing it to jump start your healthier lifestyle.  As my husband and I are relatively healthy eaters to begin with (organic foods, fresh fruits and veggies daily, etc.), I do not know that this was really necessary for someone with our type of lifestyle.  Of course some weeks are worse than others (what can I say, I need that pizza and pasta in my life!), but overall, we live on proteins and veggies during the week and allow ourselves to cheat on the weekends.  As such, I believe the best "detox" for us would simply be eating clean and exercising. 

Lesson learned!

I Am A Collector of Children

I mentioned it last week as a Friday Favorite, but it seems as though my husband and I are in the business of collecting children in 2012.  My best friend and her husband asked us to be the God parents to their little one, Calvin Lewis, over the weekend.  Once again, we of course said "YES!"

As flattering as it was the first time, coming from my husband's sister, that was family.  I do not want to say it is expected, but it somewhat, kind of, is in a way.  Assuming the siblings are close, of course.  That being said, baby brother has given me no such love, so what do I know?!

To be asked by close friends who think highly enough of you and trust that you will provide unconditional love and support (among other things) to a child that is not your own, their child, well that is one of the highest compliments you can ever give someone.  Am I right?!  We really think so and feel blessed to have people in our lives who value us as the people that we are, and whom we do the same in return.

We are so very honored that anyone would ever consider us for this role.  So thank you very much, to those who chose us!

Friday Favorites

A looooong overdue Friday Favorites, that is!

• Becoming Parents - Well, sort of.  Do not get too excited, mother, we are not expecting.  We were asked this week to be the God parents to our little nephew, John Daniel Seelbach.  To which we obviously said yes!  We will be heading down to St. Louis the first weekend in November to make it official and all that jazz....

• Juice Cleanse - I cannot be totally sure that this is a favorite, but we bought a Groupon a few months back and we figured, might as well do it while it is still top of mind.  Plus, we have some blood work coming up next week, so might as well get all of those toxins out of our bodies while we still can!

• Life Insurance - Sort of goes hand in hand with the juice cleanse, I suppose, but we will be getting our physicals next week so we can get locked in to our life insurance rates.  Yikes!  On the plus side, they come to your house to do your check-up and blood work.  How convenient?!?!

• Remodeling - We are in the middle of remodeling our bathroom, which is super exciting!  What is not so exciting is that we only have one bathroom.  Wah, wah....  Our condo has looked more like a construction site this week than a home, but we are hoping to have everything wrapped up on Sunday.  Fingers crossed!

• Chicago Marathon Runners - Good for you guys!  The marathon is this weekend and our friend, Claire, is checking it off of her bucket list before she turns 30.....next Wednesday!

I Am Alive!

Wow, it has been awhile since I last posted.  Forgive me - I was in Madrid all last week and have been so slammed playing catch up this week that I have neglected the blogosphere!

Madrid was a good time - busy, but a good time nonetheless.  I cannot disclose the product details just yet, but I got to shoot with this guy for an upcoming 2013 product launch here in the U.S.  Be on the lookout come January!  I was able to snag some quick shots from the shoot here and there though:

My husband was able to travel with me, which was nice.  I did feel a bit guilty about how much I was working, but I was there for work after all.  Still, he was able to take in a lot of the museums and sights that he had not had the chance to see when we were there the last time.  And we did have a couple of days where we were able to enjoy the city and walk around.... 

We arrived on Sunday, early in the morning Madrid time.  It was perfect, because I really have no concept of time when I am on a plane for an extended period of time.  So as far as I knew, the plane ride was "overnight" and we had landed to a new day!  Once we got settled and checked in to our new digs for the week, we changed and immediately headed out for some cafe con leche!  It just tastes so much better in Spain....

And because I was starving (I do not deal well with airplane food - see For Fun page for proof), I was definitely craving some croquetas STAT!  I was in Spain, and could think of nothing better than a tinto de verano to wash it down with.  Ahh, two of my favorite things.....

Once we had our late morning snack, we were refueled and energized.  Ready to take on Madrid for the day!  I cannot express to you how much I love this city.  Having been there twice prior to this trip, it really has some sort of familiarity to me at this point.  I know my way around, where the landmarks are, etc.  Although, you would never know it from my husband.  He is ALL about the map.....

One thing we always do when we travel to any new (or old) destination is check out any hidden culinary gems that we may not otherwise stumble upon on our own.  How do we do this?  A few ways....  We always like to talk to locals whenever we can, and we also check out Best Thing I Ever Ate, but we really care most about what Anthony Bourdain has to say.  For Madrid, he recommended a handful of places.  Among them, a little gastropub called Le Cabrera.  Delicioso! 

The head chef at Le Cabrera was amazing.  A French guy who landed in Madrid a few years prior.  He really gave us his thoughts on some awesome local restaurants that we should check out.  Turns out, the hotel we were staying in had a pretty awesome Asian restaurant hidden in the very back of the main restaurant.  He was not lying.  Seriously....best Asian food I have ever had.  Who knew?!

Eating lunch in Spain is pretty much the equivalent of an early dinner in the U.S., so it worked out nicely for us timing wise on this first night as we had decided to brave the brutality of a bull fight.  Against my better judgement and animal lover instincts, I agreed.  I fully understand the cultural play and relevance the pageantry of bull fighting holds in Spain, but if I am being honest....for me, personally.....it was HORRIFIC.  I cried after the first fight, because I was so upset.... 

These poor, helpless animals....Yes, they are aggressive, giant beasts, but to watch them be poked and stabbed repeatedly as they seemingly play with the matadors is simply heartbreaking.  I use the word "play," because that is truly the best way to describe what they are doing.  It is so similar to the way a dog plays with its owner and you really get the sense that they legitimately think they are having fun, chasing the pink and red flags.

What you do not prepare yourself for is the fact that you find yourself inherently rooting for the bulls.  So when I was witness to one of the matadors being speared through the thigh by a bull's horn and lifted into the air, I felt even worse about what I was experiencing.  Because on some level, I did want the bulls to level the playing field in some way.  Of course, the inevitable still comes and nothing is really leveled at all.  But still....the bull in this match up definitely did not go down without a fight.

From Monday through Thursday, it was pretty much work, work, work for me; however, that is not to say it was an uneventful time in Madrid.  There was a big manifesto on Tuesday and Wednesday, resulting in a huge city-wide protest.  These protests happened to take place right outside of Madrid's Congress and Parliament buildings, which just so happen to be right next door and across the street from the hotel we were staying in. 

All access to the streets surrounding the hotel were barricaded and shut down.  The only way we were able to get to and from the hotel was by providing proof that we were staying there.  Talk about crazy!  The policia were shooting off rubber bullets into the crowds on both nights - yikes!

Once the shoot wrapped on Thursday afternoon, my husband and I were able to take one last stroll around the city and enjoyed some last minute tapas at another Anthony Bourdain recommended hole in the wall - Bodega de la Ardosa.  One of Madrid's oldest tapas bars, established in 1892!  The ambiance of this place is just perfect, much like their tortilla de patatas.  My mouth is watering just thinking about it!

All in all, a pretty exciting and fun trip, despite the fact that I was working during most of it!  When we headed out to the airport on Friday morning it was chilly and raining outside - a perfect departure day!  The return flight was 9 hours and 20 minutes, so we had loaded up our iPads with plenty of movies.  By time we landed, I had watched three!

I do love to travel and see the world, but man....when we touched the ground back in Chicago, it sure did feel great to be home.

Be sure to check out my For Fun page to view all of the pics from the trip!