Entries Tagged as 'google'

Paul & Kate’s Wedding

November 1st, 2011 · 6 Comments

On Saturday Paul Baker and Kate got married. The ceremony was at St. Vincent de Paul Church in the Lincoln Park neighborhood. I hadn’t been inside an old Catholic church for so long, and this one was gorgeous. Tons of stained glass and sculpture and carvings. The ceremony was about 45 minutes long, just short of the hour we’d expected. A Catholic wedding in less than an hour!? Wow! It was a beautiful ceremony, though, and didn’t really feel like that long.


Kate & Her Mom


Kate


Alden, a groomsman


Jessica, Alden, Rachelle

Outside the church everyone gathered and chatted. Paul and Kate had some photos taken at the church. Look how gorgeous Kate looks! Her hair was so vintage Hollywood, but still modern. And when she was walkign down the aisle and passed us, Jess and I couldn’t get over how gorgeous the back of her dress was. Between that and her hair, I apologize in advance for how many photos I took of her facing AWAY from me! Also, her mom made the bouquets for Kate and her bridesmaids and the boutonnieres for Paul and the groomsmen and table decorations at the reception. They were so unique. No flowers. Peacock feather accents. I loved them. Very subtley fall-like.

We caught up with some FeedBurner coworkers from back in the day. We had about two hours before the reception was to begin and were figuring out what to do. Eric and his wife were going to check into their downtown hotel. Jon was headed home to get his wife before the reception. Alden was a groomsman and had wedding duties to attend to. That left me, Jess, Dallas, Chris and Lisa. We dropped off Jess’s car and then Chris and Lisa were nice enough to drive us to Old Oak Tap for a drink and then to the reception. Side note: Jess and I had a delicious cocktail called The Champfleur, made with Champaigne and St. Germaine elderflower liqueur, that was so good!


Salvage One


Rachelle, Paul, Dallas


Kate


Salvage One


Jessica, Rachelle, Lisa


With LEGS and LIGHTS


Salvage One


Jessica, Kate, Lisa


Rachelle, Jessica, Kate, Lisa


Salvage One

The reception was at Salvage One, which is this amazing space filled with salvaged materials. Anything from a bowl to a stone column to couches and lamps and windows and bath tubs. Everything you could ever think of. This stuff is all for sale, but Salvage One is also an event space. I can’t think of a better business model: Let’s sell merchandise and on the off hours we’ll charge people to use the stuff that’s not sold yet!

Salvage One is so unique and gorgeous inside, though. I loved how it was not just one wide-open room. There were so many nooks and corners and different seating areas. When we arrived drinks and hors d’oeuvres were being served on the first floor. We ran into Paul right away and gave our congrats and talked to him about the ceremony and the party. He said that Kate had been to Salvage One years before with her uncle and knew then that she wanted to someday have her wedding there. Dallas and I spent some time just walking around. There’s so much to see. I wanted to redo my whole condo with vintage, antique things. Later on we talked with Kate, told her how gorgeous she looked. She told us about the things her mom made. And how she was wearing her grandmother’s jewelry. So nice. Oh, and see her shoes in the dragon photo? We learned later on during a toast/speech that those were the shoes Paul proposed with. He gave her the shoes for a gift and the ring was tied in the shoelaces. So awesome.


Rachelle & Alden checking out the reply cards


Masquerade masks & candy


Eric & Christine before dinner


Chris trying his mask on

After a while we were ushered to the second floor where there would be dinner and dancing. There weren’t seating assignments to pick up, but we were still greeted with a table of goodies. There were masquerade masks and later on Halloween candy, for Halloween weekend. Paul and Kate had a doodle area on their RSVP cards and they displayed all the cards with doodles. They also had a “wish tree” where people could leave wedding wishes and advice and then hang it on a small tree.


Food Stations


Mashed Potato Magic Bar


Pasta Station


Harvest Martini Salad Bar


Salad


Wedding cake


Cutting the Cake


Cutting the Cake

Paul and Kate coordinated a very unique wedding dinner. Instead of a meal served family style or a buffet, they had stations. There was a carving station, a pasta station, a salad bar, and a mashed potato bar. At each station, except the carving station, you could customize what you wanted. So, the potato bar had regular mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes and you could pick your toppings. At the salad bar you told the guy what you wanted and he mixed it up in a cocktail shaker and served it in a martini glass. Mashed potatoes were in a martini glass as well. At the pasta station you could choose from several kinds of pasta and pair different sauces and toppings. So fun. I never saw so many people excited for mashed potatoes.

For dessert, they had a funnel cake station! You could choose whatever kinds of toppings you wanted for your own customized funnel cakes. There was also two different cheesecake shots, fruit and wedding cake.


FeedBurner reunion! Chris, Eric, Joe, Rachelle, Jessica, Jon, Alden and of course Kate & Paul

I know Paul from when I worked at FeedBurner.. and Google. Paul is still at Google, but only a few of us are left there. It was so fun to see some of my old friends from those FeedBurner days. A couple I see often, but it was fun to have a mini reunion of sorts. I mean, even just getting eight of us together is like getting a third of the whole company together!


Marveling for the 100th time over Kate’s hair & dress.


Alden & Chris’s Thriller zombie dance.


Taking a rest after a long night of dancing.


Rachelle, Jessica, Alden

I don’t know who Paul and Kate’s DJ was, but someone told me he once played with Moby? I don’t know if that was just a wedding rumor, but he was good. He had people dancing all night. Except for one song that I didn’t like and the wine made me tell Kate I didn’t like it. Oops. Otherwise I had so much fun dancing it up with Chris and Lisa and Jess and Alden. What a great party with so many fun and unique details. Congratulations to Kate and Paul and thanks for inviting us to share the day with you!

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Kate’s Bridal Shower

September 12th, 2011 · 1 Comment

On Saturday Jess and I went to Kate’s bridal shower. Kate is getting married to Paul Baker in October. We’ve know Paul for about 5 years, from our FeedBurner and Google days (Paul is still at Google), and we’ve known Kate for almost as long.

Similar to my bridal showers, Kate requested no games. We had lunch and visited. I’d met several of Paul and Kate’s friends before and Paul’s sister, Jen, a few times. It was nice to see them all again. At the end Kate opened gifts and Paul came in to join her for that. Jess and I were shocked to see Paul Baker wearing a blazer! What are we going to do when he’s in a tuxedo in October? Also funny – Paul’s sister got Kate a cookie press and decorating kit and said “well, you ARE going to be a Baker.” Yes, after the wedding we can finally officially called her “Kate Baker,” though we’ve been calling her that for some time now. Baker is just easier to say than her actual last name!

Can’t wait for the wedding in October. I think it will be a fun one!

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Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly by Anthony Bourdain

September 1st, 2011 · No Comments


finished 08.30.11

In 2004 I came across a copy of A Cook’s Tour by Anthony Bourdain. I loved the book. I’m sure I knew who Bourdain was before this time, but this my first solid memory. I think I’d heard of his popular book, Kitchen Confidential, but it was Cook’s Tour that I read.

Since that time I’ve become a big fan of Bourdain. Dallas and I watch No Reservations on TV all the time. Bourdain spoke at Google once and he was one of my favorite speakers I saw in my time there.

Anyway, I finally went back to the book that started it all, Kitchen Confidential. Actually, I got it on audiobook and listened while exercising. Bourdain reads the book, which is really cool. I thought this was a great book.

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Built in Chicago Launch Party

June 24th, 2011 · No Comments

Built in Chicago is a site that was created about 8 months ago and is a resource for digital professionals working and building great web and mobile businesses in Chicago. Last night I attended their launch party with Jess and Alden. Tribeca Flashpoint sponsored the event and it was held in their space at the Merchandise Mart. There was a $10 admission fee, but once you were in, it was all free drinks and snacks.

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The beer sponsor was Finch’s Beer Co. Ok. But made in Chicago? How have I never heard of them? I asked the servers and they said that Finch’s has only been in production for about 8 weeks and that it is based out of the Albany Park neighborhood. Interesting. I had two Golden Wing blond ales and Jess and Alden both had the Cut Throat pale ale. We all liked the beer and when I tweeted about it, Chuck declared that the blonde will be the beer of this summer.

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Ok. So, enough about the beer. The Built in Chicago event was basically a mixer. It reminded me of Tech Cocktail, but with more suits and more gray hair. A grown up Tech Cocktail? I mean, even Ron May showed up at the end (blerg!). I talked to people I knew from various stages of my “past lives” – Chicagoist, FeedBurner, Google – and also from past Tech Cocktail events. It was nice to see people I hadn’t seen for quite a while (Kevin – from Google & now heading up the Chicago Entrepreneurial Center , Sean – from Chicagoist, now at Have My Shift, Brad – from my Chicagoist days, now at Appolicious, and Blagica from all over? :) ) Also nice meet some new people, too.

I like how Built in Chicago seems like more of an ongoing thing. Like, sure, they’ll have these face-to-face networking events occasionally, but you don’t just go away after that and see people at the next event. Built in Chicago is also a whole social networking site for like-minded interactive people in Chicago. I think it should be a bit easier to keep in the loop and keep in contact with people. Looking forward to seeing how this all evolves.

PS. At the end of the night Alden and I met up with Dallas at the Boiler Room and guess what kind of beer I noticed they had on tap? Finch’s! So I had another Golden Wing. Maybe this will be the beer of the summer.

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Radiators are not cheap

June 12th, 2011 · 1 Comment

So, back to that Jeep thing. On my drive to Milwaukee for the UPAF Ride for the Arts, the dash started dinging and lit up saying “check gauges.” I looked at all the gauges and noticed that the temperature gauge was all the way to the right, indicating as hot as it can be. I pulled over at the next exit that I could and pulled into a parking lot in an office park. As soon as I stopped the car smoke came billowing out of the hood area. I got out of the Jeep and looked down. Green fluid was flowing out. Lots of it. My parents were already at my brother’s house when I called up there and so my dad and my brother agreed to come down. I checked Google Maps on my phone and saw that there was an auto parts store nearby. I called them and they were open til 10 p.m. My hope was that my dad would come down, realize it was a hose or something easy, go to the parts store and fix it and we’d be on our way.

So, I camped out in the parking lot of this building.

And waited for my dad and my brother to drive down from Milwaukee. I realized that I wasn’t even out of the city of Chicago! I was at Cicero and Peterson, quite a ways north and west in the city, but still, in the city. So, I realized it would take them a while to come down. Luckily, I was not alone. I had this to keep me company:

I was bringing these Half Acre beers for my dad and my brother to try. They were still ice-cold and it was in the high 70s that evening, so I cracked one open and waited.

Then after a while I oriented myself using the web browser and maps on my phone. I realized I was right next to a Whole Foods, so I walked over to the store and killed some time there.

When my dad and brother arrived they took a look at the car. We realized that the leak was not in a hose, but was actually a leak from the radiator. I needed a tow. Well, little did we know that it would be SO HARD to get a tow. Some said they couldn’t get to me for hours, some said they’d call me back and didn’t, some said they were closed (!?), some didn’t answer their phone, some said they didn’t have a flatbed tow truck, which a few told me I needed. I was basically just going down lists of tow companies on Yelp and Google just trying to get anyone to come out.

Finally, I called a guy who said he didn’t have a flatbed but knew someone who did. I was rolling my eyes at this. I’d heard it before that night and it didn’t pan out, but when he gave me the number I called it and a guy said they could come out within 20 minutes and he actually did. I got my tow! For future reference, this was S&M Towing. They were great to work with did what they said, charged what they estimated, right to the dollar. Nothing shady. Also for future reference, the tow was $85 to hook up the car and $3.50 (I think) per mile after that. It came to about $103. Also, while we were waiting for the tow truck to arrive, I ran into that Whole Foods and bought us all slices of pizza and drinks. It was getting late, I’d been sitting in a hot parking lot forever, and we needed to eat.

My dad rode in the tow truck and chatted it up with the driver. My brother and I followed in my brother’s truck. We towed the Jeep to our regular service station, Nal’s. Dallas’s uncles are good friends with the owner, Al. Dallas has golfed with him before and stuff, but I’ve never met him. I should mention I also spent about a half hour or more calling all of Dallas’s uncles and Dallas, who was in Las Vegas, trying to get Al’s number and find out if I could tow to his shop and leave it. By then the shop was closed so I couldn’t ask them. Anyway, long story short, no one was answering their phone on a Saturday night. We ended up leaving the Jeep on a residential street just south of the shop, where there was no parking restrictions.

After leaving the Jeep, my dad and brother and I drove up to my brother’s house. We pulled in at about 11 p.m., about 5 hours later than I’d planned to arrive. By the time we went to bed it was almost midnight. So, yeh. Late night. And we had to get up at 6 a.m. to get ready for the bike ride! But it all worked out..

When Dallas got back from Las Vegas he brought the keys up to the shop and worked everything out with them. The repairs will end up costing a lot more than I’d have liked – about $600. Stinks! But hopefully nothing will go wrong again and we can stretch out the life of this car. It’s old, but still generally runs good. And $600 is less than a new car. If the Jeep keeps acting up, though, we may have to think about doing a trade in.

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