Quick Trip to NYC
Guess what?! I have a few minutes to tell you about my trip to New York - the short version: Flight was good, nice hotel, had some drinks at a neighborhood pub with Andy, Frank, & Jill (photos), got some grrrrreat food at a Landmarc resturant – best filet I’ve ever had in my life (Ding~!), more drinks, zzzzZZZZZ, little dizzy waking up at 7am, showerd in a tiny bathroom, walked down to McCall Pattern Company, had a great design meeting, got the full-on tour of all the inner workings (which was super fun and interesting), ran over to the SOL for a quick photo op, and headed back to Laguardia for a pretzel wrapped hot dog and some juice and a early flight back to Chi with Jill! Quick trip, quick story~haha!
CAD, Updates, MIA, Art Show, Condo, Broccoli Quiche
So, the Growing Up CAD show went really well and everyone had a great time. I’m glad Nick and Lee were able to come – we had a really fun night that night (except for the fact that I bumped my head really hard on Nate’s ceiling LOL) – you can see pictures from that night on my flickr set and you can also see the Chicago Art Department Photos here. Here’s cool shot of a couple checking out my piece. :) Bobby and I were really happy to have won one of the silent auctions and got to take home art from Jen Rosenthal. She was one of the original peeps in my Go Go Video class at CAD 3 years ago.
I’ve been a bit MIA lately – just have a lot going on. Doing artwork at home and selling it on etsy, planning a couple of art shows with a friend at work Nick Haas, working on some really huge projects at work that are taking up every bit of my patience, will power, and focus…in fact tonight I think I’ll be working from 7-10 on more designs that are due tomorrow. What’s fun and exciting is I get to go to New York for the design presentation in December…that will be a blast. :)
I absolutely cannot wait to go home for Thanksgiving and see my family and play with my nephew Alex and relax a bit – I’m hoping to get down to Delaware and visit with Jess and Josh for a night and celebrate their birthdays. Depends on if we have enough time to get down there and back without upsetting my family – it is the first time they’ve seen me in a LONG time. I definitely want to try and make it – I’d love to see you guys!
The condo is looking closer to finished now than I think I expected for November and that’s really exciting. :) We still have to wait until February to move in but some of the lower floors will be moving in in December/January. It’s gonna be so awesome to have our own place! yay!
I’m off to work or I’m never gonna get stuff finished for tomorrow! Hope everybody is doing great. And a big thanks to Kurt for the sweet a$$ brocolli quiche he made tonight. Yum in my tum! lol.
Growing Up CAD 2008!
I’m very excited for tonight’s fundraiser at Chicago Art Department – CAD turns 5 years old tonight! From 6PM-10PM at 1837 S. Halsted, Chicago, IL (google map) – there will be a live auction of 35 artist’s work (including mine), door prizes, a live band, food and drinks. It’s going to be a blast and I’m glad some peeps from Orbit will be able to make it. :) I donated a large collage/drawing to help raise money for their cause. The ultimate goal of CAD is to foster careers of blossoming artists and cultivate a welcome and unpretentious atmosphere to work and interact in. I love the people there and I hope we’re always friends. Come join me tonight and get inspired and have some fun. :)
Best Roommate Ever!
So Bobby and I got home from work today to the house smelling amazing! Walked in the kitchen and Kurt was like, “just in time!” and took the foil off of the dish he had just prepared – homeade enchiladas! Oh my goodness they were so good too. MMMMmmmmm. And on top of that he fed the kitties and bought them more food (that I forgot to get at the grocery two nights ago.) AND he did the dishes. AND he burnt me the new Q-Tip CD! Woo hoo! I win!
Chilly
I’m chilly. My toes and hands are cold and I’m inside the house! Boo to the newly cold and crappy weather season. Especially since I’ve decided running in 30 degrees or below weather is not an option for me – I don’t have the right clothing for it and no money to buy it right now. :( I think I might have to get back on the eliptical but I’m really not looking forward to it – I’ve decided its too boring to work out at the house… I do like the eliptical but its not like being in a gym – there’s nothing going on and less motivation to stay on it. As we speak I’m watching my favorite show The Biggest Loser and sitting on my butt…I think the cold weather is really messing with my attitude. I just want to be warm and cozy. Help!
Running, Sick, Happy Halloween
You heard it here folks…I’m still running. 2 days til I can say it’s been 2 months! ;) It’s October and I’m sick and it’s 36 degrees out and I am still running (big thank you to Melissa G’s playlist because this morning it got me through the cold without giving up.) Today was unusually hard…so I bet I’ll have to take the next couple of days off and drink lots of tea and eat lots of soup. Everybody send me your healthy good energy…send me the good vibes. haha.
Let see, what’s new? It’s winter, I’m running, oh and p.s. Kurt Cruse moved into our basement! Justin flew down to Tampa on Friday and drove back with him and Chloey the cat (who was very unhappy to meet us at first, but I think she might be getting used to us now. ) Kurt and Bobby have both been sick since the beginning of the weekend so I assume that’s where I got it…although it could be my co-workers…everyone is coughing and sneezing around here too. Bring on the Halls and Dayquil…maybe I can wipe this thing out before it gets too much worse.
This weekend – well, actually Thursday – the Halloween parties begin…and I’m not really a costume-dresser-upper…so hopefully I don’t bum people out at these parties. haha. My cousin’s wife Jen is having a costume party for her 30th birthday at Brownstone and then Friday I’m having dinner at Bridget’s place since Linnea is in town, but I’m stopping by another costume party at Chicago Art Department at some point that evening…so I can see the closing show for Night of the Living Artist – Halloween/Closing Party and drop of a piece of art that I’m donating to their annual fund raiser: Growing Up CAD. Should be fun and exhausting weekend!
What’s everybody else doing for Halloween?
Orbitz Go Go Green 5K
So this weekend Bobby, Jess Large, and I got up on Saturday morning and did the Orbitz Go Go Green 5K at the Peggy Notebaert Museum in the freezing cold and rain! It was fun though and I’m glad we went…good cause and some exercise to start the weekend off right. We just got the times back and they were:
68 ROBERT ARGEANTON 337 24:36 7:55
224 JESSICA LARGE 377 31:52 10:16
225 MICHELLE FIOCCA 336 31:52 10:16
This is actually 2 minutes slower than I did the last one but lets face it – it was freezing and raining in our faces! haha. I logged my time on my Nike+ widget though and it showed that Large and I were very consistent throughout the race so I’m glad we stayed at a good pace and didn’t walk at all. Go us! (I did forget to turn off my Nike+ so the down hill spiral at the end is me walking and waiting for the lady to take my chip off and walking to the snack table. haha) Anyway – good times had by all! Next Sunday is the Hot Chocolate 5K/15K that I’m running with Large. Lets see if we can beat our time! I think we might run the 5K and walk the rest. :)
Press on.
“Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education alone will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination along are omnipotent.”
This is a quote from my boss’s office – embroidered in a little frame. I’ve loved it since the day I started here…just wanted to share.
Playlist Help Requested…
I have tons of music – for which I love and adore but maybe overplayed to the point that it’s not working out for my morning run. Does anyone have a great “power” song that they like to workout to? I am going to try and compile a new playlist that is just super intense and upbeat and inspirational….this is totally doable. I heard Huey Lewis + The News in the car this morning and decided that one is the first one I’m putting on there, “I Need A New Drug” (Watch the YouTube Video)…I know it’s totally, um, Ghost Busters-esque…maybe I’m a sucker for the oldies. ;)
Anyway let me know what you guys suggest! And thanks in advance!
Bucktown 5K ;)
Today Bobby and I ran in the Bucktown 5K! It was fun and I think we both did good considering our short amount of training or a total lack thereof in Bobby’s case. We both had our Nike+ in our shoes and calibrated them with our ipods yesterday so that we could track our time/miles/calories (the reason my info there says I only ran 4.8K instead of 5 is – I think – because I calibrated it wrong last night. I have to fix it tomorrow or Tuesday morning when I run again.
Also I had a hard time shutting mine off because I didn’t have an armband (I’m not sure Nike has come out with an armband for the new ipod nano – this is the old one) – I was trying to grab it out of a zippered pocket and since it’s the first time I’ve used it I had to fumble with it for a bit…that could be part of my big dip in pace at the end of the race (I had already crossed the finish line and was walking to the food tent)…that is my hypothesis – who knows! ha!.
Anyway long story short – I did the 5K in 30 minutes and Bobby did it in 25 minutes (official times to come later on the website since we had time chips attached to our shoes for this race). We both are happy we did it and know we can do better if we continue to train. This Nike+ thing is super cool because I am able to set up a training schedule for my next 5K and track my progress and goals and calories burnt…its motivation for me, so I’m glad it exists. I am signing up for another race today – The Hot Chocolate 5K – it’s on November 2. Even if I do 30 minutes again I hope I can be more consistent and not struggle as much with my breathing. I want to be stronger.
As an added bonus we saw Sang-woo, Rich, and Mike at the race so we chatted for a bit and decided to walk over to Moonshine and have some breakfast. We walked home a little bit ago and my legs are super sore…ouch!