As part of the Nintendo Brand Ambassador Program, Nintendo sent me Donkey Kong Country Returns for the Wii back in December. Look how they packaged it. So cute. The game was in a crate with a dozen foam bananas! Jess came over one day and we played. Fun game.
Tags:Chicago·donkey kong country returns·jessica·logan square·nintendo·wii
My coworker Ryan stopped by my desk this morning to wish me happy birthday and ask if I had lunch plans. I didn’t so at noon he and I went to Halsted Street Deli (222 N. LaSalle location is right by our office) and got some sandwiches. When I got back from lunch I had flowers on my desk from my mom and dad. Wow. This is the 9th year in a row that my parents have sent me birthday flowers! Awesome. At this point I feel like there’d be something wrong if they didn’t send them! Not that I don’t appreciate it. My birthday is probably the one time all year that I get fresh flowers.
I like the bouquet this year. Lots of purples and pink. There are several purple and yellow irises, which I love. We used to have a lot of them growing in our yard growing up, so they remind me of those.
So, I was writing an email to thank my mom for the flowers and snapping a few photos of them when my coworker Kelly walked up with another bouquet of flowers! What the?
Dallas doesn’t get me flowers for my birthday because he knows my parents do every year. Who could they be from? I opened the card: My Friends at Nintendo! They are too kind!
This bouquet is so totally different from the bouquet from my parents. Both are beautiful. The Nintendo one is more like fall colors.
Thanks to everyone who got me flowers for my birthday. Now my desk is the envy of all the girls in the office!
Birthday flowers from previous years:
- 2009
- 2008
- 2007
- 2006
- 2005
- 2004
- 2003
- 2002
Tags:birthday·Chicago·daisy·flowers·gerbera daisy·nintendo·river north·roundarch
Last week I hosted a movie-and-game-night-themed party at my house in conjunction with Nintendo and Netflix. As you’ve probably heard, Nintendo and Netflix now have a partnership that allows you to watch movies and TV shows streamed from Netflix on your Wii console.
The folks from Nintendo let me choose where to order food from and I chose Pizza Metro. I love the pizza there and I miss hanging out at the counter at 1 a.m. like Dallas and I used to when I lived nearby. The pizza came just in time, right before the guests. Nintendo also provided a lot of movie candy – think Junior Mints, Raisinettes, M&Ms, Dots and Twizzlers – as well as some really delicious movie popcorn.
We started off the party by eating and drinking wine, of course, and then I showed everyone how to stream Netflix through the Wii. Instead of watching a full-length movie, we watched some really early episodes of 30 Rock. It was a school night, afterall!
After that we played an epic game of Bags/Cornhole on the Wii. I chose this game because up to 16 people can play at one time, so we would all be able to play at once, without anyone sitting out. For the 8 of us, it went tournament style and lasted a lot longer than I was expecting, but it was fun. Kate was the big winner in that game. We also played a game called TV Show King, which I thought was a blast.
At the end of the night everyone got a gift from Nintendo – point cards (kind of like gift cards) for downloading free content for the Wii or Nintendo DS. Also, they had originally offered to give me a 3-month trial membership to Netflix so I could host the party. Since I already have a membership to Netflix and didn’t need the trial, I was able to give the trial to one of the party guests. Yay! Fun fun fun!
Last but not least, here two 30-second movies I made using my still camera and a Flip Video camera that Nintendo gave me to help me become my own movie maker. I also used Animoto to compile the movies and photographs together with music.
Disclosure: For this event Nintendo provided Nintendo 2,000 Points cards, a Flip video camera, as well as all the food and a free 3 month Netflix subscription.
Tags:animoto·bags·Chicago·cinnamon·cornhole·cory·flip video·jen·jessica·jill·kate·kristin·logan square·netflix·nintendo·pizza metro·tv show king·wii
Recently I was sent a Nintendo DSi XL as part of the Nintendo Enthusiasts program I have been a part of over the last few years. Lately the things I’ve been getting from the program have been really creatively packaged, which adds to the excitement of receiving them. The Nintendo DSi XL is a larger version of the Nintendo DSi. This is how the DSi XL looked while I was opening it:
If you want to see a size comparison, heres the Nintendo DSi and the Nintendo DSi XL.
If I still had a Nintendo DS Lite around here I’d line that up too, but my nieces are using them right now. It’s even smaller than the DSi.
The Nintendo DSi XL screen is much larger than the Nintendo DSi and the Nintendo DS Lite. Also there are games saved right on the hard drive. I’m getting back into Brain Age, which is a game I was addicted to when I first got the DS Lite a few years ago. And since the DSi XL has a camera on it, there are a lot more exercises in Brain Age that use the camera.
So over the years Nintendo has sent me a bunch of fun games for the DS (Lite/i/i XL) and hosted some fun parties – DS Lite, Wii, DSi. Here are a few especially creative things I’ve gotten in the last few months.
Like fistfuls of Lorac makeup and a Style Savvy game for the DS. My teenaged niece said this was a fun game to play.
And this? This was a fun package to receive in the office…..
…a 3 foot long dolphin! We joked how I should take it out of the box and ride home on the train with it at my side. Wouldn’t be the weirdest thing I ever saw on my commute. The dolphin came with the Wii game Endless Ocean: Blue World. I popped the game in a couple weekends ago. Fun.. beautiful graphics.
How about this:
A cooking package with a huge stock pot, an apron, a bamboo cutting board, the DS game America’s Test Kitchen: Let’s Get Cooking…. and…….. and?
ONION GOGGLES!
Have you ever heard of such a thing? We’ve used the stock pot a couple times and Dallas has played aroudn with the game. I should try to cook a multi-course meal just using the DSi game.. hm…. that’s another blog post, I think.
So, what’s in store next? Stay tuned!
And note, I am in the Nintendo Enthusiast program but I am not required to write about anything to do with it. Just thought this was some cool stuff lately.
Tags:nintendo·nintendo ds lite·nintendo dsi·nintendo dsi xl·wii
Over the summer, Paul Baker and Kate bought a condo in a high rise on Lake Shore Drive. On Saturday, they had a Housewarming/Halloween party. We were not required to dress up to attend the party. About half did and half didn’t. Paul and Kate did.
Kate and Paul, Lakeview East, Chicago
Paul is a jester and Kate is a killer bee. The knife is actually part of her costume, even though in this photo Paul is holding it.
Conan, their cat, chose not to dress up. He was looking very debonair and was very social during the party.
Conan, Lakeview East, Chicago
Dallas used to live in the building next to the one Paul and Kate live in, but I’d never been to a high rise on Lake Shore Drive. The views were amazing.
Montrose Harbor, Chicago
Chicago
We played Wii Sports Resort and somehow got stuck on the frisbee game where you throw the frisbee for the dog to catch. Alden and I were the big winners of that game.
Later on we played Rock Band, of course. It wouldn’t be a party at Paul Baker’s house without Rock Band! He has the Beatles version of the game, which allows you to have two singers. rachelleb and lisap were a singing force to be reckoned with!
Beatles Rock Band
Beatles Rock Band
Paul and Kate have a great home with beautiful views, and know how to throw a really fun party! Did I mention they got Portillo’s to cater? So yummy. Congratualations Paul and Kate (not plus 8)!
Chicago Sunset
Tags:alden·beatles rock band·Chicago·conan·dallas·halloween·housewarming·kate·lakeview east·nintendo·paul baker·rock band·wii·wii sports resort