Inspiration from Hillary Clinton

"I think that relationships are at the core of any political system and economic system - any family - and I think we drifted away from understanding that in our country. The people-to-people level is critical. It is ironic, though - we can text with anybody in the world, we can have a videoconference with anybody in the world, but [there should be] an even higher premium on showing up and getting to know someone. Looking them in the eye, listening to them, trying to understand where they're coming from."

-Hillary Rodham Clinton, Glamour, September 2014

Chicago Air & Water Show

Last weekend was Chicago's 56th Annual Air & Water Show at North Avenue Beach. I hadn't been to this since middle school - and even then we watched from inside a condo - so I was excited to check this out.

It was the only night of the year besides the 4th of July Fireworks where the entire city comes out on the lakefront. Arriving shortly after the 10 a.m. start time, the lakefront was already packed. Speakers on the side of the path stream live emceeing from men inside the planes, who introduce what's going to happen in the air before you watch it. The announcers and planes were phenomenal, the weather was beautiful and all of it was entirely free. It felt like the city of Chicago was in the Hunger Games and that at any point of time, someone on the speakers could ask for a tribute.

If you missed it this year, I highly recommend it for the future. Check out some photos!

The crowd at the Fullerton Beach area

Planes over Lake Michigan

Two sets of planes, including the Blue Angels which returned

Two planes making a heart in the sky with a plane flying through as an arrow

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!