So… The Biggest Loser. I am a Biggest Loser fan. Since day one, actually. My mention of the show probably won’t sit well with everyone: it usually doesn’t. I’ve participated in many debates over the years–in real life and on Facebook–about whether the show and the people behind it are “right” or “wrong”. It seems to me that there are just a few types of people, where viewing the show is concerned: 1. I have seen it and think it’s amazing and inspiring. 2. I have seen it and think it’s not only ridiculous but sends the wrong message. 3. I haven’t seen it. I am, of course, part of…
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103
I have a very important appointment here this morning, on the 103rd floor. More details later.
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Hey, Nineteen
THIS BABY? The one who HATED how grass felt on his feet that first spring? The one who used to chew on my dirty shoe laces whenever he could? IS NINETEEN TODAY. Despite a babyhood that left Jim and me wondering if we’d survive parenting him (the aversion to grass, the shoe lace-chewing, oh, and the fact that he cried for most of his first year if he wasn’t in the same personal space with me), THIS KID has grown into such a wonderful human being, way beyond our expectations (which, admittedly, were still pretty high even after that first year) and still pleasantly surprises us on a regular basis.…
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Sometimes It’s Hard To Wait For What’s Worth Waiting For.
We have worked really hard to teach our kids all about money and the importance of making good decisions with it, since they were old enough to know what money is. They know first hand that when you work hard for something, you appreciate it much more than if it were just handed to you. As a result, I’m proud to say that my kids have purchased their own iPods, computers, guitars, and cars. Well, car: only one so far. J has been talking about a car for a couple of years now, and naturally when he turned sixteen in February, he went into overdrive, so to speak. Suddenly the…
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Working For A Living
The events surrounding the release of my book weren’t the only big happenings around the Wells house last week. In fact, we had a couple more reasons to celebrate: both D and J found summer jobs! This development could’ve been some kind of miracle: I’ve read that this summer is supposed to be one of the worst summers ever for teenaged job-seekers. Thankfully, the rate of employment for teens in my house is booming. D got a full-time job at Jim’s company. The company has a program specifically for the student-aged offspring of employees. The program has been on hiatus for the past couple of years, so we hear (Jim…
- Amazing People, Best Thing Ever, Blessings, Chicken in the Car, Favorite Things, Food, Friends, Fun in Chicago, I've Got Mad Skillz, My Friends Have Mad Skillz, Proud Moments, Shameless Promotion, Something That Could Change Your Life, Spreading the Bloggie Love
My Official Book Launch: An Epic Celebration of All Things Chicago
I don’t even know where to start when it comes to summarizing my book launch event that occurred in the city on Tuesday night. I would love to tell you about everything, but I don’t want this post to be a novel and so I have to skip the fine points on: ~ all of the ideas I tossed around in my head starting about two months ago as this event was conceptualized ~ the great conversations (and epiphanies) I had with the ladies of my “Event Advisory Board” (I made up that name but it’s perfect), made up of friends who have experience with the ins and outs of…
- Chicken in the Car, Fun in Chicago, I've Got Mad Skillz, My Friends Have Mad Skillz, Proud Moments, Something That Could Change Your Life
Move Along, Nothing To See Here…
I know. It’s been a few days. Well, only four, but in the blogosphere, four days can seem like an eternity. In fact, I have lots to share but no time to share it at the moment. I met my publisher in person over the weekend when we drove down south (in a loaner Chevy Tahoe Hybrid from General Motors, thank you very much!) for my niece’s graduation: my publisher’s office is only about twenty minutes from my sister-in-law’s house. I got a great package from the United Kingdom, full of goodies that made me totally giddy. I got a great package from Cape Cod, containing something that made me…
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The Icing On The Cake
Late last week, J–who, until recently, was considering a Culinary Arts major in college (he decided that he’d rather go towards music/business, and be an excellent hobby cook instead!)–came to me and said, “Hey mom, would you be interested in helping me make a cake for H (his girlfriend) this weekend?” The question shocked me a little bit, because it’s been ages since we’ve had the time around here to even consider spending time in the kitchen, let alone together. I was thrilled that he asked me, and I vowed to make the time. I asked him what kind of cake he wanted to make, and he said he had…
- Best Thing Ever, I've Got Mad Skillz, My Friends Have Mad Skillz, My Kid Has Mad Skillz, Proud Moments
Welcome To My New Home!
EXCITING, right? I am in so in love with my new digs! I hope you feel comfortable too. Pull up a chair…can I get you a drink or anything? I want to thank my son D for taking my design and recreating it in Photoshop with sharper colors than I could get while just using the program I was using, and for making my funky little social media icon stars. I also owe a HUGE thanks to my friend Ri–who rocks–and is a total genius. She helped me immensely with all of the back-end web craziness and I couldn’t have done this without her. I have a few minor kinks…
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Hey! ANOTHER New Book About Chicago That Will Rock Your World!
As humans, we naturally seek out people who have things in common with us. Though differences make things interesting and I definitely wouldn’t want to spend much time with someone who is identical to me in every way, I enjoy discovering qualities in others that align with mine. Egotistical? Maybe. But you do it too, so don’t judge. (You DO, right?) It’s a warm and fuzzy thing to find that someone else shares my love of, say, the British royals. Or someone who understands my need to make to-do lists because they also make them. Or someone who also gets annoyed at parents who are afraid to say “no” to…