INSIDER TIP: Aliza Licht’s Leave Your Mark is an incredibly helpful book for any young professional in the entry stages of a career in communications.
I have a pretty big accomplishment to share with you guys.
Ready?
I’m currently holding an empty tube of ChapStick in my hand right now.
Great news if you thought finishing a tube of ChapStick was an impossible feat, because it’s totally do-able! Tubes of ChapStick are like hair ties and bobby pins. They always go missing. There are countless memes on the Internet about how seemingly rare it is to finish a tube of ChapStick.
But, there’s totally a trick to finishing a tube of ChapStick.
It pays to shop around.
OK, so it doesn’t literally pay, but you can save so much money it’s basically almost the same thing.
A few weeks ago, my company (the Chicago Tribune) had its annual awards ceremony (the Jones-Beck Awards, or just “the Becks” for short).
As strange as it is, I hadn’t ever been to a real work banquet/ company awards ceremony before — college doesn’t count. My last company was super small and only really gathered us together to tell us to work harder; not to celebrate our accomplishments.
So, I really had no clue what to wear.
And I also had an excuse for a shopping trip.
Hello!
I cannot believe how absolutely freezing it is in Chicago!
Like, seriously freezing. It’s negative two. And that’s before windchill is factored in. Brr. Taking two trains and walking back to my apartment in a jacket was miserable.
Next time I’ll remember to bring my parka on a Florida vacation, I guess.
But anyway, the freezing journey back to my apartment from O’Hare was totally worth it, because I got to go to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter!
There are very few things I love more than Harry Potter. Maybe puppies, the First Amendment, Chicago and my family?
That sounds about right. My Harry Potter tattoo would agree.
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Links (mostly from my Twitter):
Dating for 30-something men is apparently hard. (But in my personal experience, men seem to delay adulthood for so long that all the mature women find commitment without them.)
I love the idea of OMGYES, a site that talks about taboo topics — like female sexual pleasure — and explores them further.
Amy Schumer met her boyfriend on Tinder for famous people. For when regular swiping is just too peasant.
I love this photo series that shows segregation on the CTA Red Line. I live on the north side, so I commute this way every day, but I don’t think I’ve ever stayed on a train south of Jackson.
In 21 states, there isn’t a single newspaper with a reporter dedicated to a Congress beat. Ouch.
My friend Amanda over at Windy City Cosmo wrote an Elite Daily piece about dating!
There’s a taco cleanse diet. Anyone want to join me?
Someone went on a Tinder date with Pharma Bro Martin Shkreli (presumably for science) and wrote about the experience.
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And my week highlights?
- A trip to Florida! I’m on the plane back to O’Hare right now, so stay tuned for a post detailing my adventures. Universal Studios, pizza in Tampa and a trip to the Gulf were all on the agenda.
- Finishing “Everybody Rise” by Stephanie Clifford. It was an OK book, but nothing too special.
- Getting the Chicago Tribune’s Snapchat up and running. Add us! We’re at chicagotribune.
To keep up with this stuff as it happens, you can follow me on Instagram and on Snapchat at randimshaffer!
How was your week? What are you looking forward to? Let me know in the comments!
Week highlights!
- New Year’s Eve! I celebrated at Lincoln Park’s Racine Plumbing with some of my favorite journalism friends and some friends from out of town.
- Post-NYE brunch at Andersonville’s Bongo Room. I had pretzel pancakes with salted caramel white chocolate sauce. So good!
- Making bath bombs with some of my work ladies. We used this instruction guide and each picked our own essential oils. I used rose and eucalyptus, and I’m already looking forward to using them! I packaged them in pretty mason jars next to my essential jar I keep stocked with bath salts.
- A corgi sighting! I absolutely love corgis, so when I saw this guy outside of a Whole Foods, I got really, really excited.
- Brunch at Tweet in Uptown for eggs benedict!
- A work meeting at Ghirardelli. My boss is super cool, so instead of meeting in a conference room, the Chicago Tribune’s social team meets over ice cream! Or, in our case, salted caramel hot chocolate.
- Snow! We didn’t have any for Christmas, so I was overjoyed when it started sticking this week.
I’m going on a mini-vacation next weekend, so I’m really excited for that! What have you been up to lately? Let me know in the comments.
I hope everybody had the best Christmas!
No links this week because I’m on the train back to Chicago and Amtrak has theeee slowest wifi ever, but here’s a quick update of my week highlights!
- The Academy Is… in concert! One of my high school best friends, Mickey, and I snagged tickets to see William Beckett and company at the House of Blues. They performed Almost Here from beginning to end, and it was everything I could have asked for and more.
- Star Wars! I finally saw it. I was so busy with work and friends visiting that I didn’t get a chance to see it right away, but I did manage to sneak out of the house during Christmas to see it.
- Watching the Grinch three times.
- Christmas with my family. I love opening presents, but I love watching people open the presents I got them even more. I received so many things I love, including pearl earrings, a gold monogrammed coffee mug, a gorgeous gold Kate Spade bangle, a new Kate Spade tote, bath bombs and a cozy fleece blanket.
You can keep up with this stuff as it happens if you follow me on Instagram, or on Snapchat at randimshaffer.
How was your Christmas? Let me know in the comments!
I’m a pretty busy person. I think most of us are, though, so I’m not really one to talk about my busy-ness too often.
I mean, why talk about being busy when that time could be better spent getting things done?
One of the first things I look for in a retailer is the brand’s ability to cater to all aspects of my life — from cocktail parties, to sick days, to meetings with my boss, to brunch with my friends.
So, when Closet Barcode reached out about a collaboration, I took a few seconds to browse around the site.
I immediately knew I could make the online retailer work for me. There were several pieces that fit not only my personal aesthetic, but also my varietal lifestyle.
And, as an added bonus — Closet Barcode is a Michigan-based start-up that focuses on independent designers! As a former Michigan reporter that used to write about start-ups and independent designers, I knew I could definitely get behind Closet Barcode’s mission since it was something I was very familiar with.
Closet Barcode has a pretty unique selection of items, and I was really excited to see how I could tackle styling the catalog for the three main occasions in my life: Working, playing and relaxing.
Hey guys!
No links this week because it has been absolutely crazy. I’ve been so busy, but in the best possible way!
Side note: I will forever and always use my blog as my personal online journal, because even though I love posting my outfits, photos, recipes and general blog-ish lifestyle tidbits — my blog still remains the best way for my family to keep up-to-date with my adventures.
Not only did my mom and sister swing by town for a much-anticipated weekend shopping trip, but one of my best friends from college — Kelly — was also in town this weekend! So, there was so much going on!
- Dinner at Old Town Pour House in, well, Old Town with coworkers…
- …followed by drinks at Old Town’s The VIG with the same coworkers.
- Shooting a collaboration with Closet Barcode — stay tuned!
- Reading Gillian Flynn’s Dark Places. It was really, really good! I meant to tackle it chapter-by-chapter on the L to-and-from work, but… well. It’s Gillian Flynn. So I accidentally stayed up until 1 a.m. and knocked the whole thing out.
- Lunch and dinner at 676 Restaurant & Bar — the restaurant at my mom and sister’s hotel. I had the margarita flatbread and the risotto and both were amazing…
- …followed by shopping along Michigan Avenue! My mom took me to do some early Christmas shopping so I didn’t have to worry about fitting things on the train back from Michigan. I picked up this gorgeous Kate Spade tote and these mixing bowls from Crate & Barrel. Because when you’re an adult, you ask for kitchen supplies for the holidays…
- …followed by a showing of Potted Potter at Broadway Playhouse downtown in River North.
- Drinks at the Billy Goat Tavern in River North with my coworkers. This is the Tribune’s go-to watering hole.
- Brunch at Kanela Breakfast Club in Lakeview. I had a waffle topped with Nutella, crushed graham crackers, chocolate syrup and toasted marshmallows. So good!
- Dinner at Glaze Teriyaki in Lakeview with Kelly…
- …followed by drinks at Lakeview’s Wilde Bar and Restaurant…
- …followed by drinks at Lakeview’s DryHop Brewery, where some coworkers joined us.
- Finishing up Christmas shopping!
- And the usual 40-plus hours a week at the Tribune’s social media desk. Love my job.
And this coming week? There’s so much to look forward to! It’s Christmas, obviously, so I’ll be hitting up Chicago’s Christkindlemarket, heading to a concert at the House of Blues and then taking the train back to Michigan for the holiday.
What are your Christmas plans? Let me know in the comments!
This post contains affiliate links. For more information, please read my disclosure policy.
‘Tis the season for Christmas crack!
…no, not that crack. Although, I’m sure this is just as addicting.
Disclaimer: Not that I’d know because I’ve never actually tried crack.
I found this recipe on Pinterest (of course) a few years ago, and decided it looked easy enough to spontaneously try. Sweet-and-salty is my kryptonite (salted caramel anything is enough to get me to commit murder), so I figured I didn’t have much to lose.
Oh, I was right.
I love being right.
This stuff is absolutely delicious.
