Reminding Myself Why I Love The City

So I was downtown today for work which seems to be happing more often than it used to. Melissa and I had a meeting with one of our Michigan Avenue clients so I left early to make sure that regardless of traffic I would for sure get there in time. The meeting was at 10:00 and I pulled off Congress Parkway at 9:00 (for anyone not in the city that would normally be at most 10-15 minutes away). As I turn onto Michigan things seem to be a little backed up and I just leave it to traffic in the city. Well as we continue to not move and my time is running out much faster than I would like I am forced off Michigan Avenue and onto State Street to keep going north. Melissa calls me and she is even further behind me (keep in mind we should both have been ridiculously early to this meeting). So I finally get around it and part at Millennium Park.

I come out of the parking garage beneath the park and it is a beautiful day . . . one of those days that just reminds me why I love the city. It was bright and sunny and warm outside and the park was just beautiful. I was ahead of Melissa so I took a minute to walk around. Actually when Melissa and I were done with our meeting we took a minute to walk through part of the park and there was music in the amphitheater and we walked through the Lurie Garden . . . all pretty cool.

In any case . . . as I got closer to the building that I was headed too for my meeting I discovered the reason behind the crazy traffic and detours. There was a fire in one of the buildings . . . not a big fire, but a fire none the less. And as everyone know a fire in Chicago requires at least:


15 fire trucks.


20 Police Cars


and 6 road closures. Oh the joy of the big city.

Very Exciting!!

I am not one to toot my own horn, but I am pretty excited about this. I do work at a couple locations along Michigan Avenue (The Magnificent Mile) and there is a competition every year with all of the "Gardens of the Magnificent Mile" and awards given. The top award requires an all but perfect score and is rarely given out. Two years ago we received this award for one of our sites and it was the first time in five years that it had been awarded. Then this year that same site was once again awarded the top honor. So for an award that is rarely handed out, I am so excited that we received it two out of three years. It really is a great statement about the awesome company that I work for and the fabulous team that I have. Really I couldn't be more proud of them. So I just had to share my proud moment with all of you.

It's Raining, It's Pouring . . . And It Won't Stop

I woke up yesterday morning to the sound of rain. I turned on the news knowing that the hurricane was supposed to hit Texas to see how things were going. As the morning progressed it just kept raining and I really didn't think anything of it until I looked outside and saw 2" of water covering my entire patio. And now a day and a half later it has finally stopped raining. The bucket on my patio that was empty now has 10+ inches of water in it. Having grown up in the what is considered desert this was crazy. There are parts of this country that get that much rain in a year. Anyway, I just thought that I would share. The pictures don't quite show just how crazy it was.

Random Weekend

It's Labor Day weekend. My real last weekend to relax before my fall season kicks in and my life gets busy again. But, my girls and I didn't make any plans ahead of time of what we should do this weekend. About mid week I started looking around and thought that it would be fun to go to Mammoth Caves in Kentucky . . . last minute that just didn't work out. So it got to be Friday and still no plans. So the girls got together and called me on Friday afternoon with our plans.

We were going to camp out in my backyard on Friday. And by camp, I mean fire, tent, the works . . . it just happened to include a tv in the tent to watch movies and air mattresses. And when we got up in the morning there was the shower complete with a hot breakfast . . . tons of fun. Saturday afternoon was completed with haircuts all around and swimming at the pool. Went to a community play in the evening and out to dinner after. Not a bad day for having no plans.

The weekend was completed today with a hike at Starved Rock State Park. I was talking with Molly last night and we needed something to do today. Starved Rock is only an hour away and I have never bothered going. So we went. Hiked pretty much the whole length of the trails and wore ourselves out pretty good.

For not having been hiking in quite a while . . . it was a little rough, but we did manage to have a good time. The weather was beautiful, hot and humid, and the trail was good. Sad that there wasn't much water and the waterfalls were less than exciting . . . we will just have to go again in the Spring.