Tuesday, December 30, 2008

New Year's Eve-do you know what you are doing?


So here it is, New Year's eve is tomarrow and soon we will be on our way to 2009-how are you bringing in the New Year? I,for one will not be donning a fancy dress and going to a hotel or banquet hall, since I need to save up for the ultimate fancy dress and hall this coming summer. So I will be handing over my penny and hop on the redline to downtown. I will probably grab a bite to eat first at Giordano's for some deep dish pizza, a must if you are ever in town or if you got out of town guests you need to feed. Then I will be heading on over to Grant Park,where they will be having music starting at 10pm and fireworks at midnight. It's an easy way to ring in the New Year without breaking the bank. Over the years however,I did splurge on these two places and will give you my review on them:

Go to Soundbar if you are still looking for a place to celebrate-by now you are probably only going to get tickets that are $100 and up,but their buffet and drink package is actually pretty good. I had so much fun when I went back here a few years ago. I also went to the Palmer House Hilton which was a nice setting,but you waited forever for a drink and the buffet was merely cheese and crackers-not worth the $200 if you ask me. I may try the W Hotel next year as I hear it is one of the nicest place to celebrate if you want to do the hotel thing.

Navy Pier is also having something going on,they are having a formal event there but if you choose not to go you can always still check out their firework display,and the restaurants should still be open,a great place if you want to mingle with people.

Whatever you do,have fun and remember it's who you are with,and not the venue. Stay safe and if you happen to be in the city,take a cab or public transportation-it's only a penny if you ride it tomarrow! Happy New Year's!

Monday, December 29, 2008

I <3 House

Along with my love for Chicago(and among other things as you read my blog), House has got to be my favorite music of all time,although it all started with techno and dance.

During my early college years in undergrad was when I first got introduced to Tiesto,thanks to my international friends I made at the university,long before he became mainstream. As I got older,however,my taste changed,as I can no longer tolerate the fast thumping beats that radiated throughout the nightclubs(but Tiesto,you still rock,I loved you when I went to your concert back in 2005 at the Riviera).

It was during Grad school when I got really into House,and I didn't know that there are various types of house too-deep house, French House,San Fran House,etc etc. One of my favorite's is Dj Kaskade,who was born in Chicago but moved to San Francisco-his beats are smooth,mellow,and can still dance to,and he has been used for many remixes.

Currently I am listening to shoutcast radio's Digitally Imported,Deep House from New York City. I would highly recommend this station-I listen to this station while I am cleaning,while I am having a coffee with my fiance,while I am cooking,you name it.

Any dance music is great to me-Euro,some Techno,Dance,but overall, House is my favorite,and Chicago has some GREAT local djs-I highly suggest checking out Green Dolphin Street on Mondays for some great local house music,and don't forget to check out the back room where Chicago locals strut their stuff in a dance battle as the dj's spin their favorite house.

Friday, December 26, 2008

Year in review-the year of change.

I thought I'd do my year in review just a little early...2008 has definitely been not only a change in our political realm but in my personal life as well... about a year ago at this time I was single,jobless,and although I had finished my Master's degree,I still thought "what next?" I didn't know what direction my career and life would really take me... I said goodbye forever to 2007 and moved on excitably to 2008 thinking that "THIS year is THE year for change".

With a combination of taking advice from "The Secret", my former roomate's fab cousin who lives in Downtown Chicago, and ultimately, the Guy upstairs, I finally managed to have everything in place-I got a great job as a Medical Social Worker and was able to move back into the city,after two long grueling years in Northwest Indiana (sorry,you are a great place to take a break from the "city stressors" and my beloved family,but that is all), and the biggest change of all-I no longer am single,after many years of searching, I finally found the one-talk about a BIG change!

This year brought a lot of changes,and hopefully 2009 will be just as good,if not better,my life has only begun.

Monday, December 22, 2008

Christmas Work Party

I just got home about an hour ago from my company Christmas party...this year they held it at this cute cozy little Italian restaurant in the Northwest Suburbs called Pasta De La Arte.

I had a great Riesling from Germany along with chicken ravioli with pesto sauce and goat cheese-too exotic for me but wanted to try something different then the typical pasta with red sauce and mozzarella . I also had this great artichoke wrapped with thinly sliced prosciutto that was to die for as well.

I sat directly across from the boss and we all exchanged stories about what was "the craziest thing we have ever done"(I kept mine simple:walked the entire Michigan Ave on a hot July day) to "does your husband cook?" It was nice to see everyone out of their scrubs and white lab coats. All in all it was a good time.

Sunday, December 21, 2008

Colors...

No,it's not your eyes playing tricks on ya...I am playing around with the color scheme,I can't seem to get that maroonish color out of there,and want to use more colors in the purple family. Any advice would be much appreciated! In the meantime ,I am going to continue to figure this out.
Here is me inside the John Hancock Center,where they have their Holiday display going on. It was cute to see the minature toy trains zooming around the mini city that was constructed. Very cool.

My first blog post!

Welcome to my newly formed blog! I figure in these extreme temperatures that we are facing in the dead of winter here in Chicago,being cooped indoors all day has compelled me to finally go ahead and start experimenting with the world of blogging-I am so far a contributing blogger for Galsguide... So bear with me as I play around with this,it may seem raw at the beginning but it will get better I promise!