• Amazing People,  Confessions,  Do I Really Want My Readers To Know This?,  Friends,  My Friends Have Mad Skillz

    Friends First.

    September 3, 2015

    Momo and I met online seven years ago, at some point in 2008. (In Internet time that’s virtually 575 years ago.) We met in real life in June of 2009, when I helped bring a van full of meat to her house. (The Momo’s Meat Wagon story is here.) We’ve been close friends ever since. I became her contractor at BlogHer three years ago, and for every day of those three years I have been one half of a total Dream Team. I don’t think every pair of friends could have a successful work relationship, but we do. We have worked together seamlessly, with excellent communication and just the right…

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  • Amazing People,  Blessings,  Confessions,  Friends,  I've Got Mad Skillz,  Jim Has Mad Skillz,  My Friends Have Mad Skillz,  My Kid Has Mad Skillz

    Coping Skills For Mostly Happy People

    August 25, 2015

    I’m lucky in that I don’t have too many bad days. I’m constantly counting my blessings and I realize all the time that my life is pretty darn good. I am a completely normal human being though, which means that I’m not happy all the time. Life is a roller coaster: ups AND downs are part of the deal. Yesterday? Was a downer. Being a mostly happy person, I tend to freak people out when I’m having a bad day. It’s not that my friends think I cannot have a bad day (or am not allowed a bad day), but when I’m walking around living a 21st century Pollyanna life,…

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  • Amazing People,  Best Thing Ever,  Favorite Things,  Food,  Friends,  Fun in Chicago,  I've Got Mad Skillz,  My Friends Have Mad Skillz,  Skydeck Chicago,  Travels

    Life In The Fast Lane Surely Make You Lose Your Mind

    July 30, 2015

    It just hit me on Tuesday evening, right after I dropped Liz and her middle daughter off at the airport (how much I hate goodbyes could be a whole other post, ugh), how much I had done/accomplished/enjoyed in two weeks. It made me dizzy, and perhaps piled on more exhaustion, on top of my exhaustion. It also made me smile. The last two weeks of July just might have been the busiest two weeks of my entire life, but I’m not complaining. It was a blast. First there was the BlogHer conference in NYC. I went into it exhausted; the weeks leading up to conference weekend are crazed for our…

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  • Amazing People,  Favorite Things,  Friends,  Fun in Chicago

    Delayed Re-entry

    July 23, 2015

    What day is it again? *checks calendar* Ah yes, Thursday, July 23. Time flies when you’re having fun! This may be my most epic July ever. In fact, I don’t even have time to write an actual, well-thought-out post because I am about to get in my car and head up to Wisconsin for the day. The last couple of weeks have been crazy and fun, crazyfun. Last weekend was the eleventh annual BlogHer conference, in New York City. I say every year that BlogHer weekends are some of my favorite weekends ever ever ever, and this year was no different. In fact, the fun of it (and being around…

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  • Amazing People,  My Friends Have Mad Skillz,  Something That Could Change Your Life

    Invest In Others! Here’s Why.

    June 3, 2015

    About six weeks ago I wrote about my chance meeting with an old friend. We talked about how she wasn’t happy at work anymore and really preferred to get herself onto a different career path but had no idea how to get started. I offered to help her figure it out but, just as I predicted (sadly), I never heard from her. There are all kinds of reasons why people don’t reach out for help. Sometimes it simply seems easier to stay in the unhappy place than to get out. Instigating life changes is hard work. I would guess it’s almost always worth it, though. I was recently inspired by…

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