Wine in a Boot?! Yes, please.

This Saturday afternoon I did something outside my usual routine... left the apartment. Not only did I leave... my friends and I joined hundreds of Chicago families and tourists at the Christkindlmarket in Daley Plaza.

Perhaps Saturday at noon may not have been the best time to head to a tourist spot like that... but none-the-less... it helped me locate some of my missing Christmas cheer.

If you haven't experienced this event yet, I'd say check it out... even if it's just for the photo opps. Although I would recommend going after work if you want to avoid pushing through every family from the greater Chicago area. Daley Plaza transformed into a German Christmas village might be the closest thing to a Norman Rockwell photo that I'll experience this holiday season. It's complete with Weinerschnitzel, roasted nuts, authentic German ornaments, coo-coo clocks... and German hotdogs and pizza (?). What more does one need??

Of course, the main attraction (for us at least) was the hot wine presented to us in commemorative made-in-china German boots. Arm in arm, we fought our way through the crowds, cutting off strollers, old ladies and a man who barked at us to try this much-talked-about beverage and ease our martini hangovers. It's not a drink I would indulge in everyday... had interesting spices... but it smelled amazing and was definitely worth trying.

Other highlights included trying to decipher the reasoning behind the creepy angel on all the signage (why does she have stars on her boob?), checking out the city's Charlie Brown-like Christmas tree and listening to a trumpet group in leiderhosen (?) play holiday tunes.

Excellent Saturday decision. This was followed by a trip to the State Street Macy's... which apparently was under invasion by crazy holiday shoppers. I swear it was as packed as Halsted during the Gay Pride Parade. That was not such an excellent decision. Online shopping for me this year. For sure.

Anyone else find their holiday cheer this weekend? Was it in the form of Lifetime's 12 Men of Christmas, cookie making or eggnog?

Do tell...

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There's a Sale at the Clothes Shop

Yes, when writing that title I had the automated voice in my head of Mall Madness.

Anywho... so last night, I had some time to kill before my all-so-important bang trim appointment, so I sauntered on down to H&M in hopes that I might find a trendy outfit for this weekend's shenanigan's.

What I did find was a slew of ready-to-fall-apart outfits that I just couldn't bring myself to pay $35+ dollars for. BUT, all was not lost.

H&M rarely has sales... and I'm often scared to even look at the sales rack when they do... but yesterday, there was a sale worth looking. 50% off of all scarves, hats and gloves. And then, if you buy two items, you get 50% off the most expensive, and the other item FREE. So, although I did not get a fashionable item for the weekend... I did buy a scarf and gloves for $5. Holy great buy. And I'm sure they still made $4 from the sale.

Take that recessionistas...

Anyone else know of any good deals this weekend? On the holiday gift prowl....

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The Day the K Drive Died (Momentarily)

We felt the first hiccup of the Big Move to the Merchandise Mart today. It came unexpectedly and almost quietly. But it came... oh did it come.

Around noon, I get a call from my co-worker. The conversation goes a little something like:

Cool Co-worker: So... I was working on a few documents last night... I saved them in the K: (shared) drive, and they aren't there this morning.

Me: Did you call STS (IT)?

Cool Co-worker: I was just going to... but isn't that weird? It's like I didn't exist yesterday. I mean...they weren't that large of documents, but still. Weird, right?

Me: Definitely weird. Let me know what happens.

A couple hours pass, and then cool co-worker takes a turn to close-to-crazy co-worker... calling me...

On-the-verge-of-crazy Co-worker: (Crazy laughs) Hahahah

Me: Whaaat's going on?

On-the-verge-of-crazy Co-worker: Oh my gosh... a lot.

Me: Oh no... what happened?

On-the-verge-of-crazy Co-worker: So, as it turns out, all the documents I saved in the K drive yesterday are not there. None of them. You should check your stuff out... because the same thing happened to [insert other crazy co-worker's name].

If you want to drive a PR agency person mad... just mess with their shared drive. I watched myself quickly flip out, along with my co-workers, when realizing hours and hours of work was erased... and, more insanely, when I couldn't remember 1/2 the materials I worked on yesterday. I jump from project to project so many times throughout the day, I was forced to go through e-mail, my timesheet and anything else that could jog my memory.

So, in the age of media being social and whatnot... of course, as soon as I hung up after my frantic 911 call to IT, I immediately started Tweeting and Facebooking the chronicles of this saga. As did my witty mc. witterson co-workers.

As a highlight of the updates... and to help you understand the insanity of the day... here are a few of the Tweets:

• Dear K drive... I knew I placed too much faith in your saving abilities. Please bring back ALL my work from yesterday. Going insane...
• Can someone please explain to me why our company has so many IT problems? Honestly. #ChiBM
• Beloved #ChiBM peeps, the K drive has failed. Work done on the K drive yesterday: gone. All. Gone. #fail #fail #fail #fail#fail #fail #fail
• OMG #ChiBM It seems our beloved K drive might have failed us - files not there @dwendland
• Need to reach us at #ChiBM today? Write us a letter. Work here and need to save your work? Transcribe to paper.
• @SMKieras @ColleenHart This is utterly ridiculous. Carrier pigeons and smoke signals are more reliable. Morse code. Sonar. Whatever. #ChiBM

So, the best part of the day was at 5 p.m. when IT came down to one of my crazy co-workers with a print-out of all the Tweets from the day... asking if he knew of anyone else who was having these issues. Uhhh..... so the big man upstairs is actually listening to us. Brilliant. Good news is that we know someone is listening. And from what I hear it's a phantom Tweeter from the New York office... they are all listening.

Are they listening now?? I'm not taking any chances.

I love my job. I really do (thought I should add that in... just in case).

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Taking Back December

I've always loved the holidays. I was that kid that begged Dad to go get the Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving. I played with the nutcracker ornaments like they were Barbie dolls. I decorated the entire house the year I was going into surgery in December and thought I'd miss it. I listened to Mariah Carey Christmas cd starting in October.

I played Christmas songs on the piano all year round. I knew of and watched all the claymation videos... including Nester, the Donkey. You haven't seen them all until you've seen Nester. I didn't know the actual date of my birthday until I was about 10 years old. It was 5 days after Christmas. That's all the counted.

You get the picture. I was hopped up on holly. A ball of Christmas cheer. Perhaps this is why since moving to Chicago, December has been quite a lucky month for me. In fact, the only two guys that I've completely fallen for in Chicago were met at holiday parties. Completely sober, of course. Given both of the bar meetings, the longevity is pretty freaking impressive... or depressing. Depending on how you look at it.

Longevity being both are in some way still in my life. Don't get me wrong... these are clearly both great guys, and I wish only the best for the both of them... I mean... I do have excellent taste (and clearly so do they given those lovely photos above)... but for some reason, Monday night as December approached out of nowhere... I began to dread the nostalgia that this month could bring.

The only place it has brought me in years past is to January 1st AM... where I'm either reviewing embarrassing texts that I sent the night before... or just wondering why my Inbox is void of any midnight "Happy New Years" greetings from either #1 or #2. It's really just not the best feeling to start off the New Year. Trust me. The feeling of rejection stings just a little harder on New Years Eve and New Years Day.

So, to avoid that slit-your-wrist New Years day feeling... I've decided to take back December. To embrace all the fun that December holds... to spend these precious 31 days last days of 2o09 with those who have made my year memorable and amazing...and to leave #1 and #2 to the memories.

And in the meantime... I will be sure to avoid any potentials until St. Patty's Day. At least that way, if they become exs in the future... we might spread the nostalgia out amongst the year a bit. Why can't March be an Irish girl's lucky month for once???

Until then... Happy Holidays, all! Break out the spirits early... wear a little more sparkle than necessary or socially acceptable... and laugh too seconds too long (okay, make that three seconds). It's been a long and rough year. We all deserve it.

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If I worked at Sterling Cooper...

If we took ourselves back 40 years, and I was a Madman (women).... how my life would be in a different agency life:

• My back would kill every night from walking around in 4-inch high heels
• I would have a wet bar in my cubicle
• My cubicle would be an office... with my name plate
• Wait... back up... I would probably be the secretary on the outside of the name plated office...probably praying for the day I got pregnant so I didn't have to type up contracts... and retype them anytime there was a change...
• My bosses would call my landline at home... or, better yet, drop by unexpectedly to chat business. And this wouldn't seem out of the ordinary
• I would smoke. Because that is what they did... especially when drinking scotch at 9 a.m.
• My hair, or the O-zone, would never be the same after all the Aquanet I used every day

I think I'll take my little cubicle... and my flat shoes... and my actual title. How things change in a few decades...

What about you? What would you like to bring back from office life in the 60s? Tell on...

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Notable Quotables

"Think about those moments in your life that meant the most to you. Were you alone? Life is better when you share it with someone else. Everyone needs a co-pilot."

-"Up In the Air"

That's the next movie on my list... George Clooney, plus what sounds like a good script. I like it.

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Notable Quotables

"If you smile when no one else is around, you really mean it." Andy Rooney, journalist and commentator

What are you smiling about today?? Do tell...

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