Well, we're about 8 hours away from the new decade - crazy to think that it's almost 2010!
This year has been a great one - I became a home-owner and a "mommy" to Otis. I haven't made a job change (about the first time in my 8 working years - a nice change), but have thoroughly enjoyed growing in my current role & coaching my team - AND have good things coming on the horizon. I've grown in my culinary abilities through various classes and lots of practice. I've maintained some great friendships and have created some new ones. I joined a book club and have stuck with it! I've managed to lose a little bit of weight and am living a fairly healthy lifestyle. No fabulous dating stories in 2009, but lots of funny 'encounters' - and again, possibly good things on the horizon. All in all, it's been a really good year.
Here I come 2010! May this year be even better than the last!
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Thursday, December 17, 2009
How to Make an American Quilt
My grandma is an amazing quilter. For as long as I can remember, she has constantly been working on quilting projects - queen size quilts for all of my aunts & uncles, baby quilts for every new grandchild and great-grandchild and all kinds of wall hangings.
At Thanksgiving time last year, I asked Grandma if she would be willing to make a quilt for me (I figured I better not wait until I get married or have a baby to get my own quilt!!) - of course, Grandma gracioulsy obliged.
I picked out a pattern that I really liked (named "Mocha Java") and picked out my general color scheme - browns, tans and turquoise.
One year later and my beautiful quilt is complete - I could not have imagined that it would be this amazing. But, it's made my Grandma, so why would I expect anything less? I love it and it will serve as a wonderful memory of her in the years to come.
At Thanksgiving time last year, I asked Grandma if she would be willing to make a quilt for me (I figured I better not wait until I get married or have a baby to get my own quilt!!) - of course, Grandma gracioulsy obliged.
I picked out a pattern that I really liked (named "Mocha Java") and picked out my general color scheme - browns, tans and turquoise.
One year later and my beautiful quilt is complete - I could not have imagined that it would be this amazing. But, it's made my Grandma, so why would I expect anything less? I love it and it will serve as a wonderful memory of her in the years to come.
Domino Effect
Domino effects are so intriguing to me - especially when you can predict when they will happen and how they will happen.
The other day, it was announced that my VP, Karen, will be leaving the Sears Apparel team and will be taking a VP-GMM role with the Tools team. This was a shocker! I was very sad to hear that she would no longer be my "boss" - but was very happy for her. And so begins the domino effect!
The first domino to shift was my direct boss, Tom. Tom will be serving as the "interim" VP of Inventory for Apparel. He cracked me up when he said that he will be like the "Bruce" of Sears Apparel (alluding to our two-year "interim" CEO). Oh, Tom, I'm not sure you're really like Bruce!
While it hasn't been officially announced yet, it's most likely that Tom will get the nod for the VP role. Which means that another domino will need to fall in order to fill his director position in Women's Apparel. My prediction is that Mary, the director of Center Core will fill Tom's slot (and Tom confirmed this in so many words today). Domino number two.
With Mary's position left vacant, there will be a need for a director on that team. Tom unofficially confirmed that this will be me! This was my hope, as I've finally felt in the past few months that I'm ready to take on a director role - and Center Core will be a good place to start as it's a much smaller team (15 people) vs. RTW (30 people). And, it will be good to get away from the craziness that I know as RTW. Domino number three.
And finally, with my position potentially open, there will be a need to back fill the role of Strategic Development Manager. And, Tiffany will finally get her wish and will become SDM for RTW. Domino number four.
I can only imagine how the dominoes might keep on falling if Tiffany's position is filled and so on and so forth. Fascinating!
The other day, it was announced that my VP, Karen, will be leaving the Sears Apparel team and will be taking a VP-GMM role with the Tools team. This was a shocker! I was very sad to hear that she would no longer be my "boss" - but was very happy for her. And so begins the domino effect!
The first domino to shift was my direct boss, Tom. Tom will be serving as the "interim" VP of Inventory for Apparel. He cracked me up when he said that he will be like the "Bruce" of Sears Apparel (alluding to our two-year "interim" CEO). Oh, Tom, I'm not sure you're really like Bruce!
While it hasn't been officially announced yet, it's most likely that Tom will get the nod for the VP role. Which means that another domino will need to fall in order to fill his director position in Women's Apparel. My prediction is that Mary, the director of Center Core will fill Tom's slot (and Tom confirmed this in so many words today). Domino number two.
With Mary's position left vacant, there will be a need for a director on that team. Tom unofficially confirmed that this will be me! This was my hope, as I've finally felt in the past few months that I'm ready to take on a director role - and Center Core will be a good place to start as it's a much smaller team (15 people) vs. RTW (30 people). And, it will be good to get away from the craziness that I know as RTW. Domino number three.
And finally, with my position potentially open, there will be a need to back fill the role of Strategic Development Manager. And, Tiffany will finally get her wish and will become SDM for RTW. Domino number four.
I can only imagine how the dominoes might keep on falling if Tiffany's position is filled and so on and so forth. Fascinating!
Bottles & Brushes
On Tuesday evening my friend, Cary, invited me (and five others) to participate in an evening of "Bottles & Brushes." I was so excited to join in the fun -because, I had recently discussed trying this out with my friends Catana & Leisa.
Bottles & Brushes was great - husband and wife team Stephanie and Adam (?) (I don't remember his name, but he was super cute) guided us through creating our masterpieces. We started by free sketching an outline of the Venice cathedral. Then, they guided us through how to mix our paints to get to the appropriate shades. And then we were off! We started with shades of blue and then progressed through the canvas. Two hours later and we had masterpieces that look exactly like Monet's orignal!
A shot of the artists hard at work!
Bottles & Brushes was great - husband and wife team Stephanie and Adam (?) (I don't remember his name, but he was super cute) guided us through creating our masterpieces. We started by free sketching an outline of the Venice cathedral. Then, they guided us through how to mix our paints to get to the appropriate shades. And then we were off! We started with shades of blue and then progressed through the canvas. Two hours later and we had masterpieces that look exactly like Monet's orignal!
A shot of the artists hard at work!
The finished product! I love how each of our paintings is just a little bit different!
My masterpiece proudly on display at home!
Monet's masterpiece - it looks just like mine!
Exit Comfort Zone
Last Friday, I exited my comfort zone and attended a Mac 'N Cheese Mingler. These minglers are a casual cocktail party of about 40 people (mixed genders, career backgrounds, ethnicities, etc) - but the kicker is, no one knows anyone else!
While I enjoy meeting new people and expanding my network of connections and friends, I'm not going to lie, it's a bit intimidating to meet 40 new people in one evening without having the "security blanket" of good friends by your side. While the first couple of minutes were a bit awkward, I quickly forgot that my new friends were complete strangers and easily fell into conversation and laughs with my fellow minglers.
Our host, Saya, did a great job of casually introducing ice breakers that facilitated the "get to know you" atmosphere. These ice breakers ranged from "20 Questions" (aka what famous person is on my back?) to "Find your Match" (alas, I did not find the Hammerstein to my Rodgers, so I paired up with Danielle, and HR manager for the Cubs) to "Who has the most interesting answer to this random question?" (most interesting answer to the question "what do you like to do alone for fun?" was from a guy named Adam who said he enjoyed going to Millennium Park alone with a bottle of wine and sitting down next to someone new - the room erupted in laughter!)
I had a great time and made a few "connections" - one with an Australian engineer turned organic farmer, Delia (we may go rock climbing in the future) and one with Anath, an Indian mechanical engineer that shares an appreciation for documentaries.
Thanks Saya for a great evening! And, thanks for helping me exit my comfort zone!
While I enjoy meeting new people and expanding my network of connections and friends, I'm not going to lie, it's a bit intimidating to meet 40 new people in one evening without having the "security blanket" of good friends by your side. While the first couple of minutes were a bit awkward, I quickly forgot that my new friends were complete strangers and easily fell into conversation and laughs with my fellow minglers.
Our host, Saya, did a great job of casually introducing ice breakers that facilitated the "get to know you" atmosphere. These ice breakers ranged from "20 Questions" (aka what famous person is on my back?) to "Find your Match" (alas, I did not find the Hammerstein to my Rodgers, so I paired up with Danielle, and HR manager for the Cubs) to "Who has the most interesting answer to this random question?" (most interesting answer to the question "what do you like to do alone for fun?" was from a guy named Adam who said he enjoyed going to Millennium Park alone with a bottle of wine and sitting down next to someone new - the room erupted in laughter!)
I had a great time and made a few "connections" - one with an Australian engineer turned organic farmer, Delia (we may go rock climbing in the future) and one with Anath, an Indian mechanical engineer that shares an appreciation for documentaries.
Thanks Saya for a great evening! And, thanks for helping me exit my comfort zone!
Down & Out with Stouts
On Wednesday, I went to a stout tasting at Lincolnwood Liquours with Tara, Dave, Bachman and Puccini. This liquor store is a hidden little gem that Tara & Dave found over Thanksgiving weekend - apparently, it opened recently and they host wine & beer tastings just about every week. Fun!
Wednesday's tasting comprised of 12 different stouts - some that I'd had before and some new finds. It was a great spread!
Some of my favorite new stouts of the evening were - Santa's Little Helper, Southern Tier's Oat Stout and Samuel Smith's Oatmeal Stout. Can't wait to crack these open over the holidays!
Some other beers that we didn't try on Wednesday, but that I had to pick up included: a double stout and a banana bread beer, along with a bottle of Dragon's Milk (a flavor that I tried for the first time at Dark Lord Day.)
I'm looking forward to going back to Lincolnwood Liquors sometime very soon!
Wednesday's tasting comprised of 12 different stouts - some that I'd had before and some new finds. It was a great spread!
Some of my favorite new stouts of the evening were - Santa's Little Helper, Southern Tier's Oat Stout and Samuel Smith's Oatmeal Stout. Can't wait to crack these open over the holidays!
Some other beers that we didn't try on Wednesday, but that I had to pick up included: a double stout and a banana bread beer, along with a bottle of Dragon's Milk (a flavor that I tried for the first time at Dark Lord Day.)
I'm looking forward to going back to Lincolnwood Liquors sometime very soon!
A Tale of Two Wreaths
Can anyone guess which wreath belongs to me (a semi-conservative 29-year-old single female)?
And which wreath belongs to Claudio and Alex my fab-u-lous gay neighbors (and who my boss Tom calls, Otis' guncles).
I'll let you be the judge!
Pose for the Camera! (or, how many shots does it take to get the perfect Christmas photo?)
It took no less than fifteen attempts to get the "perfect" shot of Otis for our Christmas card.
Here are some of the funnier shots!
AND....drum roll, please! The final shot! While not perfect, it will do!
Pumpkins Galore!
Who says that pumpkins are just for Halloween time? These past few weeks, I've gone on a bit of a pumpkin-spree with my cooking and baking endeavors!
My former sorority sister, Meghan, has a food blog and recently published a recipe for pumpkin scones - of course I had to try them out - and they were fabulous. They contained heavy cream, pumpkin puree and a touch of nutmeg & pumpkin pie spice. The glaze was made of confectioner's sugar, milk and pumpkin pie spice. Yum!!!
With some of the leftover pumpkin puree, I tried out a recipe for Pumpkin & Black Bean Soup. I was expecting the soup to have a very sweet & strong flavor from the pumpkin, but it actually turned out that it took most of its flavors from the savory & hearty black beans. I combined the soup with a scoop of brown rice, a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkling of shredded cheese. So good! And, it made such a large batch that I was able to freeze quite a few servings.
Next, I made a batch of Pumpkin Bread. This was a bit of a "cheat" because I used a mix from Trader's Joes - but, whatever, the mix is so good, why bother making it from scratch? For this particular morning, I topped the bread with a spread of pumpkin butter and, on the side, had a large cup of coffee with hazelnut cream.
My former sorority sister, Meghan, has a food blog and recently published a recipe for pumpkin scones - of course I had to try them out - and they were fabulous. They contained heavy cream, pumpkin puree and a touch of nutmeg & pumpkin pie spice. The glaze was made of confectioner's sugar, milk and pumpkin pie spice. Yum!!!
With some of the leftover pumpkin puree, I tried out a recipe for Pumpkin & Black Bean Soup. I was expecting the soup to have a very sweet & strong flavor from the pumpkin, but it actually turned out that it took most of its flavors from the savory & hearty black beans. I combined the soup with a scoop of brown rice, a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkling of shredded cheese. So good! And, it made such a large batch that I was able to freeze quite a few servings.
Next, I made a batch of Pumpkin Bread. This was a bit of a "cheat" because I used a mix from Trader's Joes - but, whatever, the mix is so good, why bother making it from scratch? For this particular morning, I topped the bread with a spread of pumpkin butter and, on the side, had a large cup of coffee with hazelnut cream.
One evening for dinner, I decided it was time to put to use the decorative pumpkin gourd that I'd received from Aunt MaryKay. (Don't worry, this was an edible gourd - function and design, can you get any better?) I roasted the pumpkin in the oven and then filled it with leftover Thanksgiving stuffing. On the side, I served brussels sprouts. For this dish, I tried out one of the Chopping Block's recipes - the brussels sprouts were glazed with a coating of dijon mustard, spicy maple syrup and chicken stock, and of course, included some onions & bacon. What a great dinner!
Finally, with the leftover seeds from my pumpkin gourd - I made a tasty snack of toasted, salted pumpkin seeds. They were so great. Otis tried a few, too - and he approved!
Finally, with the leftover seeds from my pumpkin gourd - I made a tasty snack of toasted, salted pumpkin seeds. They were so great. Otis tried a few, too - and he approved!
Monday, December 7, 2009
Snow!
Today was our first day this season of real snowfall! Accumulation was probably slightly under an inch of snow and it had pretty much stopped snowing by about 7:30 am - but still, it took me about 1.5 hours to drive to work! Ah, the craziness of winter has only begun!
The one fun thing about this morning, however, was seeing Mr. Otis' reaction to the snow. Surprisingly, he LOVES it! This could be a bad thing - I hope he's not expecting his normal leisurely walks when the sidewalks are filled with snow!
The one fun thing about this morning, however, was seeing Mr. Otis' reaction to the snow. Surprisingly, he LOVES it! This could be a bad thing - I hope he's not expecting his normal leisurely walks when the sidewalks are filled with snow!
Girls will be Girls. Boys will be Boys.
I've been bugging my brother for Christmas gift ideas for the kids and finally got their list the other day.
For some reason (probably because I could picture Jenna and Adam proudly reciting these lists) - it made me laugh out loud. Adam is truly a boy's boy and Jenna, well, Jenna is a diva in training.
Now, I just need to go shopping and find some fabulous hair extensions!
> Date: Wed, 2 Dec 2009 18:31:46 -0800
> From: matataloin@yahoo.com
> Subject: Gift Ideas
> To: katielois@hotmail.com
> CC: katiehanson@earthlink.net
> Here are some ideas for us
> Adam
> - Tractors
> - Chopper for tractor
> - fences for barn/animals
> - toy animals for farm
> - Legos
> Jenna
> - Clothes shopping trip
> - Alive cub
> - fancy bracelets
> - hair extensions
> - necklaces
> - rings
For some reason (probably because I could picture Jenna and Adam proudly reciting these lists) - it made me laugh out loud. Adam is truly a boy's boy and Jenna, well, Jenna is a diva in training.
Now, I just need to go shopping and find some fabulous hair extensions!
> Date: Wed, 2 Dec 2009 18:31:46 -0800
> From: matataloin@yahoo.com
> Subject: Gift Ideas
> To: katielois@hotmail.com
> CC: katiehanson@earthlink.net
> Here are some ideas for us
> Adam
> - Tractors
> - Chopper for tractor
> - fences for barn/animals
> - toy animals for farm
> - Legos
> Jenna
> - Clothes shopping trip
> - Alive cub
> - fancy bracelets
> - hair extensions
> - necklaces
> - rings
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Cozy
Christmas decorations and tree are up.
The fire is burning.
Christmas movies are playing on the TV.
Otis is napping by my side.
Round two of Thanksgiving dinner has been prepared & consumed.
My perfect, cozy day.
The fire is burning.
Christmas movies are playing on the TV.
Otis is napping by my side.
Round two of Thanksgiving dinner has been prepared & consumed.
My perfect, cozy day.
Giving Thanks and Breaking Bread
This year for Thanksgiving dinner, I volunteered to be the bread baker. I made an arrangement of plain dinner rolls and also tried out a new recipe for Pumpkin Nutmeg Dinner rolls. Yum!
I also enjoyed the side entertainment of watching Otis guard the oven while the bread was baking!
I also enjoyed the side entertainment of watching Otis guard the oven while the bread was baking!
You are the Best Thing
I went to see Ray LaMontagne perform at the Auditorium Theatre on November 12th. This is the third time that I've seen Ray perform and everytime I see him, I love his music more and more!
At this performance, he performed covers of a Lucinda Williams song and Michael Bolton's song "To Love Somebody." The highlight of the night (for me), though, was hearing the original arrangement of "You are the Best Thing."
And that's what you are, Ray: the best thing!
At this performance, he performed covers of a Lucinda Williams song and Michael Bolton's song "To Love Somebody." The highlight of the night (for me), though, was hearing the original arrangement of "You are the Best Thing."
And that's what you are, Ray: the best thing!
Full Set List
Aching All The Time
Empty
Jolene
Loretta (Townes Van Zandt cover)
Hold You in My Arms
Sarah
Winter Birds
To Love Somebody (Bee Gees cover)
Let It Be
Shelter
Fruits of My Labor (Lucinda Williams cover)
You Are the Best Thing (Original Version)
Burn
Encore:
Trouble
All the Wild Horses
A New Friend
While back in Burlington for Thanksgiving, Otis and I paid a visit to Lindsay and Bentley. While it took a while for the two of them to warm up to each other, by the end of the evening they were fast friends!
Baking Bootcamp
In early November, I took a three day baking course at the Chopping Block. There were six of us in the class and in three days we all progressed from being baking novices to baking pros!
Each day we prepared lots of sweet goodies - from brioche to apple pie, croissants to chocolate tarts, the list was nearly endless!
Here are some pics of some of the more interesting & intricate projects!
Chocolate-Raspberry Tart
Each day we prepared lots of sweet goodies - from brioche to apple pie, croissants to chocolate tarts, the list was nearly endless!
Here are some pics of some of the more interesting & intricate projects!
Swan-shaped cream puffs
Chocolate Devil's Food Cake (with Caramel Ganache & Chocolate Buttercream) - decorated by yours truly!
Lemon-Lavendar Shortbread Cookies with Candied Lemon Peel
Chocolate-Raspberry Tart
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
