Mr. Bill- the eternal optimist

Have you seen the most recent Mr. Bill commercial? It is hysterical, but I also think the underlying message is ultra important…

In the first scene of the commercial, Mr. Bill gets coffee spilled on him. His reaction: “Oooohhh! I always wanted brown shoes.”

In the second scene, Mr. Bill is working out on a treadmill at the gym, and when the speed picks up, he is thrown from the treadmill only to land on a stationary bike nearby. His reaction: “Oooohhh! Hey, a bike is available!”

In the third scene, Mr. Bill is wrapping up his day at the office, when a briefcase flips open, flinging Mr. Bill out the window and onto the windshield of a city bus. His reaction: “Oooohhh! Hey, the bus is right on time!”

From all of this, I take with me the idea that Mr. Bill is trying to remind us all that optimism is the way to go. Even in the darkest of hours…there is a silver lining to be recognized. Today I am going to remember that everything happens for a reason, and there is always a positive outlook to consider. In a world that can sometimes be very sad, there are still good things happening, and Mr. Bill is a reminder of that.

Spread the love, give a hug. BE POSITIVE!

On location in A-town

I have been in Antioch all weekend and am currently bloggin’ from my dad’s home office! Yesterday I went shopping for wedding dresses with my mom…and I picked one out!!! Tada!!! It is still crazy for me to wrap my head around that idea but yes, I have a wedding dress it is hanging up right next to me as we speak (er, type)!

I literally tried on…oh, about 100 dresses yesterday. No joke! I ended up buying a dress at Wedding Belles in Barrington, IL and I have to admit, they have a great selection and fantastic service (everything is off the rack so I literally left the store with the dress in hand). I am just in shock that I was able to find something so amazing in one day of shopping! Truth is, I can’t imagine their being a more perfect dress for me, and for this special occasion. I am on cloud nine!

Wedding plans are coming together and Fitz and I are getting really excited- it’s an emotional rollercoaster but this weekend has reminded me how fun it is too!

I need to dash as Fitz and I are headed to my Uncle Ed’s house for my cousin Alexandra’s graduation party. Thank you so much to my mom, who literally watched me try on every style of wedding dress ever made, and never complained, but rather made the day extremely memorable! I love you Mom and I appreciate all that you did to make this a special occasion for the both of us!

Also, a special thank you to my sister-in-law Jen who very thoughtfully made all of my bridal dress appointments, and has been nothing but helpful with ideas and tips since I announced my engagement. It’s days like that when you just have to sit back and marvel at how amazing your family is and how lucky you are to have them in your life.

When my mom and I went to lunch, we ended up at Barrington Country Bistro, which is the same place we dined when dress shopping for my brother and sister-in-law’s wedding. It was a very touching moment for us, and I felt it was a sign from above when I noticed wine by Ferrari-Carrano on the menu. More details on that to be unveiled in a later blog…

Much love,
Kelly Q

A Review in Photos: Poets and Pirates Concert

Fitz and I took his sister Becky to a concert at Soldier Field for her birthday and we saw Keith Urban and Kenny Chesney perform. Great company, great music…and a great time had by all.

I am not much of a country music fan, so to get me in the spirit Fitz bought me the sweet cowboy hat you see in the photos above a couple of months ago. I’m not gonna lie…I love it. And I loved the show!

A few other things- the whole crowd sang happy birthday to Nicole Kidman (who was very shy but radiant and happily smiling), and in the photo of Soldier Field you can see my tiny head in the bottom left corner.

Photos I took…that I love, Part Deux

Review: Sex and the City Movie

I’ll start with this- I am such a HUGE fan of the television show. I have all of the DVDs, and I relished the fact that there was a show in existence that depicted successful, smart, and fashionably conscious women.

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD. IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN THE MOVIE, DO NOT CONTINUE READING.

That is why I’m kind of disappointed with the movie. Perhaps it was held to unreachable standards, or maybe I’m just too emotionally involved (Fitz would definitely think this is the case) and I personally have unreachable standards. Don’t get me wrong- there were parts I simply ADORED (the New Year’s Eve gathering, Charlotte’s little quirks and emotional outbursts, Miranda delivering one of the funniest lines of the film while shopping for a Halloween costume, Carrie’s shoes), but there were some scenes that were simply unrealistic for such a savvy group of women in their 40’s. I loved the show because it was about relationships and friendships…and love. The movie was more superficial- does everyone really end up insanely wealthy, forgiven, and clubbing in their 40’s and 50’s?! What made the tv show relateable was the fact that these women went through real-life issues: financial worries, infertility, breast cancer, illness in the family, etc. But yet they still saw the silver lining, and had friends to carry them through hard times. The movie didn’t have a real-life quality to it.

I understand that Director Michael Patrick King was trying to recapture the energy of the tv show, while at the same moving it along about four years but some of this felt…dull. There were some nice moments that made me smile, but others just left me feeling a tad bewildered.

I will say that the movie did not disappoint when it came to showcasing fashion in all of it’s stunning glory. And I am a woman who loves fashion and I can appreciate that. But devoting two and a half hours to that…well, I just needed more substance.

Kinda creepy

A few of my recent posts have contained photos, and when uploading photos to a blog post, you can choose the alignment (left, center, right, etc). If I am feeling a tad lazy, I don’t both center-aligning my photos (it takes a little extra work and I’m a tired gal at the end of the day).

So imagine my surprise when I checked my blog today and saw that recent photos have mysteriously become magically centered?! How?! Did someone hack in just to get all OCD on my alignment? Is there a blogging guardian angel that wants all things to be aesthetically pleasing?!

It’s kinda creepy if you ask me…sort of like that one time Fitz thought he saw a horse on his neighbor’s terrace.

Another beautiful part of the world…

My cousin Jessica and her new husband Adam just took a fabulous honeymoon to Thailand and Korea. Fitz and I attended their wedding right before we left for California. Above is a fantastic picture that was posted our family website, and was taken at Changdeaokgung Palace. Pretty remarkable, right?

I also liked the picture below as well- they viewed the reenactment of a traditional ceremony. So amazing! I want to go!

Movie night with the gals

Tonight I’m finally going to see Sex & the City, the Movie. I thought I would have seen it the minute it came out- turns out, I am one busy lady. I’ve also been vacationing and hanging out with Fitz a lot, given the amount of wedding planning that lay ahead, and we all know he’s not going to see that flick!

Anyway, I’m excited for it and I get to hang with the members of the culture club- Carla, Amber, and April. Good times.

Happy Tuesday! Movie review forthcoming…

P.S. Fitz is at the Washington Nationals game right now!

Not cool bro

I take the Blue Line El train to work everyday, and get off at the Clark/Lake stop in the Loop. Since the train runs underground, I have to walk up three flights of stairs and then take an escalator one floor up to get out the door and walk a few blocks to my office.

Well today started out like any other day…until I stepped on the escalator. First of all, you should know that during the morning rush, the escalator is packed to the gills and you are in close proximity to those around you. So as the escalator is making it’s slow progress, I noticed that something smells funny…actually it smells terrible. The guy standing in front of me, about six inches away, had AWFUL body odor!!!

Needless to say, it was the longest escalator ride of my life. Ugh, I was ready to pass out!

Cow-lee-fourn-yah

What I had for dinner

Hummus with pita chips
Small bits of potato salad
Mrs. Fields Macademia Nut Cookie
Couple pretzels
A glass of white wine

Can you tell I worked late?! HAHAHAAA!!!

A lil puppy

Okay, so I am obsessed with dogs. It’s true, I’ll admit it. Lately, I cannot get enough of the cute lil pups that I see running around the city. Fitz and I will be walking, riding bikes, driving in the car, or looking out a window, and if I see a dog, I start jumping up and down, shrieking for him to look. And on my walk home today I encountered my dream dog…a PUGGLE!!!

So I did what any normal, 27-year-old woman would do in that situation- I blocked off the side walk, nearly tackled the owner, and started blurting out puggle questions. The puggle owner was pretty nice and told me that her puggle is 2 years old, is very social and friendly, and (cutest of all) is named Charger. Once I got the info I needed, I decided I should let them continue their walk. I ran home in an effort to prevent myself from stealing lil Charger away forever.

Seeing this little puggle made my day!

Yesterday I also made a furry friend in my dad’s neighborhood in Antioch. A little terrier named Sam, who lives a couple doors down and looks just like Toto in the Wizard of Oz! He ran right over to me and before I could even reach down to pet him, he flipped onto his back as if requesting that I give him a superb belly rub. Naturally, I obliged. This was pretty cool because when us Haley kids were little ones, we had a ‘Toto’ dog named Sam.

What is it about dogs that just make you smile?

Aloha

Erin is in Hawaii! I received a call from her today and she is loving it (naturally- who DOESN’T like Hawaii?!). Since Erin asks me twelve times a day to update my blog, I figured I would include a special something for her today. She also calls me at the start of business (approx. 7:45am) and the end of business (approx. 5pm) every single day. So naturally I am a little lonely without those calls!

I’m juggling a ton of projects for work and my coordinator is out this whole week on vacation- so it is a bit chaotic here at the office. No worries though…the day has just flown by but I’m getting through it.

To ease stress and tension, and focus on the beautiful things in this life…let’s all escape for a minute into the stunning Hawaiian landscape:

Photo Credit: janruss via Flickr

WTF?! YAY!

Cashews, walnuts, pistachios, almonds. Translation: TOTALLY NUTS!

Yesterday I received a ridiculous amount of hits on my blog- a personal best! 124 hits in one day. 

Things like this still continue to blow my mind. However, I’m humbled, happy, and thrilled that people stop by here and enjoy what they see and read.

In typical catching-up news, I really enjoyed the events of this past weekend. Saturday morning Fitz and I took a golf lesson at Olympia Fields Country Club and it was fantastic! The golf pro, Billy, couldn’t have been nicer or more encouraging. He gave me some great insight regarding my grip and stance and I can’t wait to get out on the course next weekend and put my lesson to work. Billy also did some video analysis (via laptop) of my golf swing to illustrate his suggestions- and coolest of all, he actually works with some women on the LPGA and showed a side by side video comparison of what I’m doing correct vs. incorrect.

After our lesson, Fitz and I, along with his sister Becky, attended a country music concert at Soldier Field and had the priveledge of seeing Keith Urban and Kenny Chesney perform. The show was incredible, as was the energy of the crowd! A special surprise occurred when Keith announced it was his wife’s birthday (his wife being Nicole Kidman), and the massive video screen showed she was sitting backstage watching the show. The entire audience (approx. 50,000) sang happy birthday to her- she was very shy but looked radiant, as she is about seven months pregnant. UPDATE: Looks like the birthday shout-out got some press here on People Magazine’s website.

I’ve seen Keith Urban in concert before and I have to say that his energy and passion are inspiring! He looks like he’s having the time of his life on stage.

Today I visited with my dad in Antioch to talk wedding stuff and enjoy a delicious turkey burger- thanks Dad! A great weekend this was…and hopefully a great week ahead!

Cross town classic!

I just want to say congrats to the CUBBIES!

My beloved Cubs swept the White Sox in the cross town classic and I’m not gonna lie…I enjoyed every freakin’ minute of it. Back in 2005, I was in Italy when the White Sox won the World Series and I joked that I literally had to leave the country to avoid the pain that a White Sox victory would inflict on my emotional soul. Yes, it really is that deep. I’m not one of those people that roots for both teams because they are Chicago teams- I’m sorry but it’s just not like that!!!

Go Cubs!!!