Movember

Hi Friends!

Hope all is well with all of you! I am keeping very busy here in Chicago and get preparing to head back to California for a week on Monday! This blog is a little different, as I want to take a minute to tell you all about Movember.

For those of you who are not familiar, Movember is the month on November. A month when Mo Bros join together to raise awareness for Men's Health by growing mustache and Mo Sistas join these men in support.  We are raising awareness and funds for men's health but in particular prostate and testicular cancer.  

A few facts:
-The average life expectancy for men is five years fewer than women (presently 77 years old compared to 82).
-24% of men are less likely to go to the doctor compared to women.
-1 in 6 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in his lifetime.

Red Frog Events has joined together this year and created a friendly office competition to raise both funds and awareness throughout Movember.  I have pledged to be a Mo Sista, and I am cheering on the men as they try to keep their upper lip warm with a fuzzy little lip sweater. Although it would be rad to contribute in mustache growth- that is not possible. Instead I'm turning to you, friends. Please visit my MoSpace and donate to the cause. If you're not able to donate at this time, forward this along to your friends and spread the word about men's health.  

Knowledge is Power and Mustache is King.
Kaitlyn

The craziest frickin' month of my life!

This blog's title is a spin off of Warrior Dash's tag line, "The craziest frickin' day of your life!" And in all honesty, this past month has been completely and utterly insane and perfect in every way. Not only have I had the opportunity to travel to Connecticut, Massachusetts, Virginia and Louisiana, but I've worked in our Chicago office and fallen in love with this city. Check out the pictures below to see what I've really been up to!

Red Frog Swag on headed to WD Louisiana.

Swamp Tour LA!

Memory Maker in LA, Swamp Tour!

Tweeted to Cosmo's Louisiana's Hottest Bachelor,
Inviting him to Warrior Dash.  We promoted him.
America voted, and Ryan won!
 You're looking at America's Hottest Bachelor!
Dreams do come true :)

The Best Volunteers!

Mud. Sweat. Beer (Water).
Post WD Connecticut.

Doing work in the office! This features
3 top perks of working
 at RFE.
 New Reebok shoes,
 casual dress code & beer!

Mentor Bash! SNL Superfans! Da Bears!

My DJ days aren't over yet!
Helping DJ Paul Michaels with a homecoming!

Ace Ventura, Honey boo boo & Mario!
Wolf Pack does Chicago Halloween Bar Crawl!

The most incredible city. My home :)

The crazy life of an Intern!

Where do I even begin?  The past three weeks have been thrilling, amusing, fun, funny, challenging, exhausting, and overall incredible.  I couldn't think of any place I'd rather be right now (no offense Mom & Dad).  RFE has challenged me to think outside of the box and has put my learn by doing experience to the test.  The easiest way to show you my experience is through pictures. Stay tuned for more about my adventure with Red Frog.  I'll try my best to keep you all in the loop as I travel to Connecticut, Virginia, Louisiana and Florida!  If you'd like to know more details about what I'm doing at RFE or about my life in Chicago feel free to shoot me an email :)

RFE Warehouse day! We learned how to pack our semi-trucks & get our gator driving certification!

Male roommates... waiting outside my door judging my outfits before we went out.  They picked a solid outfit!

Promoting Farm to Fork, our latest event at a local fair! 

My shoes from setting up my first Warrior Dash in Minnesota! 

The bathtub in our hotel room after washing my shoes and our feet- my roommate Kourtney! 

Sweet new outfit.. Warrior Dash set-up on Friday before the race! New shoes & top...  Thanks Walmart!

Mama Mully Visits RFE! Such a great day!

My desk in the pond!

Interns night out! 

Thanks for all your support! Couldn't do it without you all!

Cheers!

Kait

PS... This is too good not to share: This is Matty on our way to site in MN.

Day One..

Bottom line. I work for THE most incredible company. RFE is everything I've hoped, dreamed, and wished for.  I don't know how else to explain it.  Thanks for all your love and support.

xoxo
-Kait

PS There are way too many forms of Kaitlyn that work at RFE.. They call me Mully :)

The Wolfpack.

Hello again friends!
When I last wrote, Cody and I were anxiously awaiting the arrival of our third and final roommate Jake.    We quickly helped him move in, said farewell to his parents, and there we were.  Just the three of us.

Jake's collection of Muscle Milk... I'll be pretty ripped by the end of the year :)

Cody and I had already indulged in Chicago style pizza the first weekend we met, so we felt it was only fair for pizza to be our first meal with Jake.  On the way to the EL we became the wolfpack. Basically the three best friends. I can't tell you exactly why this came about it, it just did.  After pizza we met some of our other intern friends at Uncle Fatty's, a rum tiki bar with a cover band.

Lou Malnatis Deep Dish Chicago Style Pizza

Fish Bowl Drinks at Uncle Fatty's!

After a night out, we couldn't resist trying out the 24 hour Diner Grill on our street!

After a crazy fun night, we decided that Friday we'd take the day off and do some chores.  We timed  our ride to work on the EL, set up new bank accounts, grocery shopped, and cooked family dinner.  The boys and I made an arrangement that I'll cook 4 nights a week if they the dishes. It was the first time I'd really used the kitchen and I was really excited about how the meal turned out.  Baked Garlic Brown Sugar Chicken, Twice Baked Potatoes (Weight Watchers 88 cal. recipe), & Mixed Green Salad.  We invited a few other interns over too!

YUM!

Cody, Danielle, Amanda & Jake!

Yesterday we spontaneously decided to scalp some tickets to the cubs game.  We got $70 seats for $20! We had a great time at the game and met some really cool people.  Of course the game was fairly boring, that'll happen when the two worst teams in baseball are playing.  

Wolfpack!

We agreed to join our new friends at the Cubby Bear for A drink.  It's funny how we say that when we know it'll turn into more than one drink.  

Cheers! 

The wolfpack stayed out for a few hours, power napped, and made it to an intern gathering last night.  This has been the most incredible three weeks.  I couldn't be happier with my roommates, apartment, new friends, Chicago, and the new job I start tomorrow!  Wish me luck!   

Happy Sunday Everyone!

xoxo

-Kait

PS The roommates have decided Kaitlyn is too formal- so Kait it is :)

Tourists v. Residents

The past three days have been a total whirlwind.  Cody, my roommate, got into town on Saturday so when I came back from Minni he was here & ready to take on the 312.  Sunday night we made a list of all the things we want to do before we start work on the 27th.  We've managed to check off most of our to dos and met some amazing people in the process. We will officially be residents of Chicago as soon as we finish off our touristy list!  Here are a few photos from our adventures :)

Chicago Skyline from the Lincoln Park Zoo.

 The zebra put himself in the corner. 

The best investment either of us have ever made; and yes we're fully aware these are intended to be used by women over the age of 70.

New friends and fellow interns at the bean!

Roy Lichtenstein exhibit @ The Art Institute.

A beautiful sunset on our way to happy hour!

Taco Tuesday Happy Hour!




RFE Interns and new friends @ Navy Pier for Fireworks!

A great firework show over the water!

Alright friends, time for me to get some sleep.  Jake moves in tomorrow so we'll have a fun filled weekend!  Now that I have internet at my apartment I'd love to skype :)

xoxo

-kait

It is a small small world...

So I escaped the city this weekend and traveled up to Minneapolis to celebrate Clara Mae's first birthday.  As a part of my graduation present, Zach and Darcie gave me a plane ticket to use any time I was living in Chicago. Because my work schedule is going to be crazy starting in a week, I took the opportunity to go see them just before my start date.  

Getting to O'hare is so simple from my apartment.  A quick bus ride, followed by a short train ride, before I knew it I was already through security.  Despite the delayed flight, traveling to Minni was easy peasy. It was not only great to see Zach, Darcie & Clara... Grandma Sunny and my mom joined us for the birthday festivities.  Of course I missed seeing the rest of my fam, but hopefully they'll be able to make it to the Windy City to visit soon.

Darcie out did herself with Clara's Hungry Hungry Caterpillar themed party.  Great food, company & fabulous decor.  The party was a hit! 

On Saturday Zach and Darcie went to a wedding and Grammie Gaby and myself got to babysit Clara Mae. Being the total party girl she is, Clara refused to take her afternoon nap both Friday and Saturday and we were faced with a little monster :)  Clara and Grammie went swimming and ate more mac and cheese than is normal for a tiny little thing.  Once we got her to bed we found out just how small the world is.

As you know I'm living with two guys I've never met.  I had to opportunity to meet Jake on Saturday.  He is moving from Minneapolis.  He stopped by our hotel to check out the happy hour with me.  After chatting and laughing about what we're getting ourselves into we started to talk about our families.  Turns out one of his brothers lives a few blocks from Zach! It got even smaller when he said he brothers are in the music business. When I talked to Zach on Sunday, he was in shock.  Not only did he know Jake's brothers... they're friends! Even more crazy is that when I was in Minneapolis this past March I met them!  Needless to say, I feel really comfortable with my new living situation.  

Welp, I'm off to the zoo with my intern friends! Enjoy your Monday everyone!!

xoxo

-Kait

PS I love this little girl more than anything... so happy I'm only a 50 minute flight away from her now!! Sorry Grammie Gaby, maybe you should head to the Midwest... I know Scrappy wouldn't be opposed! 

These boots are made for walking.

Seriously though, these boots are made for walking.  I suppose I should make that a bit more specific.  These RAIN boots are made for walking. Although its still summertime, Chicago has had its fair share of weather.  Last weekend, my mom and I were out shopping for a bed and got caught in a crazy thunderstorm.  The other night I lost power in my apartment due to some "weather", and now today it has been pouring!

So during the first little rain I wore sandals like any Cali girl...

But don't worry, I've got the hang of it now and I might be confused as a lifetime Chicagoan...

I haven't let a little weather stop my adventuring.  Today I managed to find a Verizion store (my phone doesn't get service in my apartment) and was then forced into an antique store when the rain started to come down on my walk home. All my wandering has led me to discover a passion for unique items and old treasures.  Its a possibility that my semi-furnished apartment has a little to do with this discovery as well. I'm starting to think that if I don't land the job with RFE that I could a. go into interior decorating  b. be the next American Pickers/Pawn Star/ Storage War/ Barter King/ Extreme Garage Salers Star (I made that last show up, but I'm confident that Grandma Sunny, Aunt Alli & myself would  make a killing). But then again, I think I'd miss event planning too much :)

Speaking of Red Frog, my other intern friend, Laura and I were walking around downtown a few days ago and found ourselves on the RFE steps.  After debating if they were going to judge us based on our outfits, we decided to go in.  We figured its an active entertainment company with tree houses and no dress code that with our running shoes and and nike shorts we would fit right in.  We assumed correctly.  We were welcomed with open arms, got a tour of the second floor (something that isn't showed to you during the interview), and met the awesome receptionist who was in the middle of making a slideshow with our pictures for the full time frogs to get to know us before our arrival on August 27.  Needless to say our random stop on our journey was well worth it.  If you haven't checked out Red Frog Events yet, I highly suggest you visit their website. Click here :)


Remember how my last blog I said not to hesitate to contact me, I forgot to mention Skype!  Let me know if you want my Skype name. Just a bit ago I had a special treat :) Sorry Grammie Gaby, Clara Mae really wanted to see her Auntie today!

For those of you in California I'm sending cool thoughts your way! 

xoxo

-Kaitlyn

Hi, I'm new to the neighborhood.

It's been exactly one week since I've moved in. It seems like a total and complete whirlwind.  Who would have imagined that I was going to be packing up my life and heading to the midwest just a mere 6 weeks after my college graduation in California? I certainly didn't.  Don't get me wrong, the midwest has a lot to offer... corn, corn and more corn. Little did I know that Chicago was a magical place amongst all the flat corn fields.  And this wonderful city is my new home. In February I applied for an internship with Red Frog Events, an active entertainment event planning firm located in the heart of Chicago.  Although I was confident in myself and what I could offer the company, I was also realistic about obtaining the position (8,000 applicants are you kidding me?!?).  Maybe it was the follow up youtube video I sent of Scrappy (my dad) and I teaching the world to dougie that lead to RFE bringing me on board for a Fall 2012 internship. Or maybe it was passion for event planning.  Either way I'm here now :)

Since this week as been a little cray, I'll give you a quick run down of what I've been up to:

Friday, Saturday & Sunday...

• My mom and I shopped until we dropped (literally)

• Met one of my roommates, Cody (never even talked to him on the phone before we met... oh the internet)

• Had Chicago style pizza at Giordanos... YUM!

• And much much more!

This week...

• Spent time shopping for the apartment

• Walked ALL over the city

• Saw the fake beach (Lake Michigan is so enormous you can't see the other side... people here call it the beach, its no Newport Beach though)

• Met Laura- another intern and basically the same person as myself

• Met a few yopros ;) (Young Professionals... their attire is a suit during the week and boat shoes on the weekend, aka the most attractive way a man can dress)

• Built a dresser & a bench (if event planning doesn't work out I'm thinking of posting on craigslist that I can assemble furniture that was purchased at Target or Ikea)

It's been an insane week.  But being new to the neighborhood is actually pretty awesome. People are warm and welcoming & everyone wants to talk about my "big move".  Of course these folks are wonderful, but that doesn't mean they can replace my friends and family... so feel free to email, text, call, and more importantly send snail mail (its my favorite type of communication).  Miss you all!

xoxo

-Kait

P.S. You're probably wondering about the name of my blog.  Well Grandma Joyce has a special place in my heart and spent so much time in Chicago. Not only do I feel like I'm spending time near her old stomping grounds, but I've been doing a ton of walking and I'm genuinely really really happy here.  So I look at as I'm cruising down a joyous path.  Feel free to join me anytime.