I'm Really Bad at This

It's October 31 and I haven't written since the end of August. Ha. A lot has been happening. Let's start with recent and work backwards. Halloween was really fun. I dressed up as Flo from Progressive and it was a big hit. I only saw one other girl the whole night as Flo, and frankly, I think I was the better Flo. I had people coming up to me saying, I hate those commercials. And I was like, yeah, they're not my favorite, but thanks? For most of the month of October I was in Springfield working on the Food Channel holiday special and after 2 straight weeks of shooting and editing and working until the wee hours of the morning, we have a beautiful web-ready holiday special. I say web-ready because the idea was the get the one-hour special to a television syndicate and potentially sell advertising and have it run on TV. Well, that didn't happen because we were told it was written for the Internet and not TV. So, like I said, after hours and hours and hours of work, it just wasn't good enough. Maybe next year. So that happened. Before that I was in Boston for a week shooting a series of videos for Smith & Wollensky. HUGE success. Probably my best work yet and the client was really happy. I really liked Boston. Two of my friends from Springfield recently moved out there and love it. I could see myself living out there for sure. It's a great town. Ok, now fast forward. About a week ago, I found myself knee-deep in soybeans in Holcomb, Missouri. Yes, soybeans. Food Channel was hired to create a documentary on the farm to table experience with soybeans. So, we started with the harvest and will continue to shoot throughout the year in different states showing the journey, from planting to harvest, etc. It was quite the experience. I've never been on a farm like that before and it was eye-opening. I got to ride in one of the combines, chat with a 5th generation farmer and capture some beautiful footage. That'll be a year long project and I'm pretty excited to see how it grows. I'm going back to Springfield in a few days to prep for a meeting with a potential sponsor/partner/what ever you want to call it with (can't say just yet). We are going to NYC to meet with them and shoot some pilots. I am pretty excited about that. I've been to NYC in the spring and summer, but never fall. And fall is by far my favorite season. We might "get stuck" and stay for Thanksgiving. That's a whole week after we're there, but who knows. I'd totally do that. Plus, I would get to see the Macy's parade. And when will I be able to say, I celebrated Thanksgiving in NYC, on a whim, with some coworkers. I think it makes for a great story. Fall has definitely arrived in Chicago. I've started wearing my pea coat and thicker scarves. I like it. I just hope it's like this for a while and we don't jump in to the cold, grey, wet winter that is right around the corner. I'll be more prepared this winter and I know what to expect. I already started gathering more winter accessories including: a warm headband, leg warmers, a hat and some fingerless gloves. All at good prices of course. I'm traveling a lot and I love it. It takes some getting used to living out of a suitcase, but at least most of it has been at home in Springfield. Here's my traveling for the next few months: Springfield, NYC, Miami and soybean farms TBD. I'm excited and I say bring it on.

It's Been Even Longer

Alright, alright. I know I said I'd get more into the habit of writing a blog more often than once a month and still hasn't happened, so, here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to actually put it on my calendar in hopes that it reminds me to be inspired about something and write. Inspiration for today. A friend of mine and I are going to create a video version of her already existing blog, camillesdish.com. So yes, a vlog, This vlog will give me and her an excuse to go to all of the cool new Chicago happenings and eat really great food. The first thing we want to attend and "vlog" at will be a farmers market followed by Chicago Gourmet. Then, this vlog-show-thing will air on foodchannel.com as one of the shows on our new website. Yes, it's true, the Food Channel is getting a face-lift. This might sound a little mean, but 1992 called and they want their color-scheme and design back. Ok, glad to get that off my chest. Now, back to the vlog. I'm pretty pumped. I'll be sure to post stuff once we start...I say that...and I really mean it? Ok, ok, I'll try really hard to keep up with this. My life is cluttered with Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Flickr, Google+...wow, that's kind of embarrassing. Does that mean I'm too socially active? My mom always said I was a social butterfly and I totally believe it! Back to the above question, can you really be too social? I love meeting new people and doing new things, keeps life interesting, but sometimes I feel like I've left some old things in the dust. I guess it's all about balancing. Random tangent, que yoga. It's all about balance. And to balance out this week, I am going to go home and enjoy the BEAUTIFUL weather we are having, because frankly and unfortunately, it won't last. I mean, it would be totally awesome if it lasted through at least...November? Yeah, that would be nice. Have a fantastic weekend and I'm not making promises, but I'm going to try really hard to write again before September.

It's Been a While

As the title says, it's been a while. And I have a perfectly good reason...the number one reason why people don't work out and why people forget to call people back...I was busy. This is no lie though. In the last month, I got my boot off and I'm still a little nervous about running, so I probably will switch over to biking. I'm moving into a new apartment this weekend and I'm pretty excited about that. Let's see here...my parents bought me a badass DSLR, a Nikon D7000 to be exact. My grandfather was really into photography and so was my great-grandfather. My grandfather passed away this past Thanksgiving and instead of giving me money, my parents decided to get me a camera to remember him by. I got pretty choked up when they told me. And now, I haven't really let that camera out of my hands. Love you Gpa :)

I've been attending a few weekend Chicago festivals here and there. Coming up at the end of the month is Taste of Lincoln, which should be exciting and uber hot. I've also been going to the beach a lot, yes, Chicago has a beach. It's pretty nice, for a lake. I feel like the people that go to this beach were either on Jersey Shore or just obsess over it. GTL for life.

Some new tunes I've been into lately include: Zero 7, Washed Out, Cinema 23, Pinback and a few more.  Washed Out is playing in Chicago and I really want to go to the concert, I just don't know who I'd drag with me...the music I like is different than what most of my friends listen to...oh well.

Hoping to go to the Tasty Awards and Sundance this January. Fingers crossed. Well, I will try and update this blog on more of a week to week basis versus every other month. Sorry for the long entry, but I felt compelled to update you on my life :)

Have Boot Will Travel

Well, I finally managed to injure myself. I played sports for most of high school and never had a serious injury and then last week, it happened. I was running my normal run through Lincoln Park and about half way through my workout, I noticed that things weren't feeling too hot in my left ankle. I did the smart thing and ignored it thinking if I iced it and elevated it, I'd heal. One week went by and it was getting worse. I made a doctor's appointment and discovered that I strained my Achilles tendon. The doctor said that if I would've waited a little longer, I could have easily tore it and end up in a cast for 6 months waiting patiently for it to heal. No cast for me, but I do have this sweet medical boot. It's clunky and futuristic looking. It's not very foot-travel friendly, but it's better than crutches or a cast. There's a shop up the street from my apartment that has a local artist that paints on shirts and shoes custom to what you want...I'm wondering if I hobble up there that he could paint on my boot...that would be pretty sweet, then more people would stare. Haha. I have to wear this thing for a month, so I figured, why not blog about my experience. This is my first full day with the boot and I'll tell you what, it has not been fun. At least it's Friday and I have the weekend to keep it elevated. Should be fun!

My New Nickname

I've been working out of our Springfield office for the last week cranking out some videos for a new initiative. The First Person Initiative. You can check out the trailer on YouTube, just search First Person Cooking. Anywho, the FPI team includes: Cari, Brad, Kenny, Michael and myself. We sit in a room for at least 10 hours a day voicing our opinions about videos, what to create, what everything should look like, etc. Well, we also decided that we should all have nicknames. I've never really had anything too creative. Any nickname I've ever had always rhymed with Nehmer. Until today. This just shows you how nerdy I am. I am the "video team leader" and because of that and my love of editing, my new nickname is "Render." Now, for those of you who are familiar with what "render" means, you get why it works. And for those of you who don't, well, I have a really hard time explaining what "render" means in a video sense, so sorry :) Yes, that was a nice Tuesday afternoon entry. A lot has happened since my last entry. But, I don't feel like writing about it right now. Maybe later. If you're lucky :p Too many emoticons?

Being Irish for a Day

Last Saturday was the Chicago St. Patrick's Day Parade and celebration. Every year, the city of Chicago dyes the Chicago River bright green. The river is already normally green, but man, when they dye it for St. Pat's, it looks like toxic waste. I woke up early and me and my friend headed downtown, Busch Light in hand of course :) What, don't judge me. How often do you get to drink beer at 9am on a Saturday? Not often. Anyway, we followed the masses down to the river and watched as the green dye oozed out of somewhere and proceeded to begin the celebration of the Irish. Not only is the river dyed green, but the beer is too. We went to a hole-in-the-wall Irish pub in Lincoln Park and had some green beers. Green beer. Apparently, it's pretty easy to accomplish. You just put a few drops of green food coloring in a frosty mug (or in our case, plastic cups) and voila, green beer. After a few beers, we decided that we should probably eat. And being in Chicago, my friend wanted a Chicago-style hot dog, which apparently the style is called "dragged through the garden." We ate at this place called Firkin & Pheasant (a firkin is an English word for a 9-gallon keg/barrel of beer) and ordered a Chicago-style dog. This thing came out and it had to have been at least a foot long. It didn't even fit on the plate and as promised, dragged through the garden. It had tomatoes, pickles, the greenest relish I've ever seen, mustard, ketchup and housed between a huge bun. Everyone becomes Irish in Chicago in March. It's pretty crazy. I guess it's like the dedication in St. Louis to Mardi Gras. I wish the Italians had a holiday to celebrate like this...

The Staples of an Italian Pantry

I haven't gone grocery shopping in at least a month, maybe longer. I'm digging through my pantry and become extremely grateful that I'm Italian and my mother raised me to appreciate a few things that can make a perfect meal...or at least a delicious meal. First and foremost, no kitchen in general is not complete unless you have extra virgin olive oil (also known as EVOO--Racheal Ray). Heat some EVOO in a sautee pan. Next, you chop up some garlic and toast it in the EVOO. Once you garlic is browned, toss in some pasta (already cooked--I try and keep some in the fridge at all times). Sprinkle in some kosher salt and cracked black pepper. I like to finish it off with some basil or oregano. Now, if you're lucky, you'll have purchased some type of protein and stuck it in the freezer for a rainy day. I had shrimp. And some green beans. It turned out to be pretty delicious. So let's recap: EVOO, garlic, pasta, salt and pepper, basil and/or oregano. OH! My mom would give me the look if I didn't mention one last staple, SAUCE! For those of you who aren't familiar, sauce is Italian for tomato sauce, homemade if you can. I heart my heritage and love exploring what it has to offer.