iPhone storage tips

Have you ever tried taking a picture on your phone and received the pop-up, "There is not enough storage to take a photo."?

Are you at the point where you get reminders from your iPhone that you can see how to "Manage Storage" in your Settings?

Here are two quick tricks for you!

1. We think our storage is coming from photos & music, but that neglects all the picture messages (and sometimes even videos) sent in texts. I learned this the hard way, when I saw one day that "Messages" was taking up 4 MB of space and my 900 photos took up less space than that.
   
   SOLUTION: Within Messages, type "Video" and delete any videos in your texts. Then, delete the pictures you've sent to others, especially if they're saved elsewhere on your phone as they're taking up double the space!
2. Panoramic photos use up nearly 4-5 times the amount of storage space as one regular picture (I had some that were 15-16 MB, when usual photos are 2 MB!).
   
   SOLUTION: Delete all your panoramics to clear up infinitely more photo storage space. 

Good luck! 

Exploring the West Loop

For Irina's birthday last weekend, we did our own taste of Randolph and tried a myriad of restaurants and bars on our way to dining at Au Cheval, a popular burger restaurant. A restaurant that doesn't take reservations, the wait was 2 1/2 hours - so it gave us plenty of time to explore the West Loop while catching up with some hilarious friends!

We started with a beer at Pork Chop, and then the bartender recommended we go to Packing House. We got the dinner text from Au Cheval sooner than later, and tried a local brewery called Haymarket to end the night. What an evening!

Irina and I on the rooftop at Packing House

The infamous Au Cheval cheeseburger with bacon & an egg

Mason jars lining the bar at Pork Chop

Screensharing tool works wonders

When I started work, one of the department heads often scheduled meetings with a link to a site called Join.me. Without having to worry about the technological woes of call-ins, WebX's and video conference calls, Join.me is a screensharing tool that simply lets you share what's on your screen (the entire thing or just one window) with up to 10 users for free.

It was incredibly useful while working with a remote manager, and continues to be useful today. Whether I am helping a sister with a resume from 1,000 miles away, instant messaging someone within my own building about a presentation or on a conference call, Join.me saves a lot of explanation time by showing someone what you are discussing. Try it out!

A weekend in Lake Geneva

At the beginning of August, we went to Lake Geneva for Lexi's bachelorette party. Her family has a lake house up there, right downtown, so it was a peaceful weekend on a pontoon and outside of the city. I hadn't seen the lake since Fanari back in high school, so it was nice to see what a large, beautiful lake is just miles north of Chicago!

The group 

Some of the Mizzou girls

Lexi with a champagne sparkler toast at Carvetti's 

Generation Like

Check out this Frontline documentary titled Generation Like.

It's definitely geared toward people who work in marketing and market research, particularly with brands focused on acquiring young adults and children. Despite the media jargon, it still teaches you a lot about our generation and motivations online. Enjoy!

A poor example of humanizing the Internet

Sometimes, brands think they're being innovative by adding live chat features to their website. I was naive enough to give in and try one out on Citibank.com after some confusion while paying a bill. 

Below is my "conversation" with Alec. I rate it a 2 out of 10 (some brownie points for minor innovation), particularly because of feeling condescended by the last message. Oh well, it was worth a shot!

A Trip to Carnivale

The past few years, I've always driven past Carnivale off the 94 and wanted to eat there. It looks like a janky restaurant off the highway, but one of those places you have to try to say you've done it. The large two-story building is painted with rainbow colors on the outside, and I had no idea what the inside looked like. So naturally, Hannah, Eleni and I tried it on a weekday afternoon to check it out while we were on the west side.

The inside of Carnivale

Baked goat cheese, Ropa Vieja steak and Crab Cakes for apps

Carnivale ice cream cake and Berry Brazo Gitano desserts

It exceeded any and ALL expectations! We only did appetizers, drinks (ok, tequila) and dessert - but the food was all phenomenal. Highly recommended Chicago restaurant destination!