2007 in Review

I composed this back in January but didn't end up emailing it out. As it is mid-February, it's now or never for putting it up.


I began 2007 with throwing a New Year's Eve bash for 175 people, and ended it by moving into a new apartment. In between, I went to five new states and one new province, got two promotions, and went to an awful lot of open bars.

My travels this year kicked off with my first-ever trip to California, where my girlfriend Sara and I spent a weekend in L.A. driving her (future ex) boyfriend's Benz and brunching with the likes of Josh Hartnett, Diego Luna, and Philip Seymour Hoffman at the Chateau Marmont the morning of the Oscars. I also went on my inaugural visit to New England in August, where I spent a whirlwind three days going to Boston, Providence, RI, and through a tiny sliver of New Hampshire into Maine for their famous Lobster Festival. December saw my annual Leave-The-Country trek to Vancouver, also visiting Seattle (for the first time) and Portland (for the third time). I liked New England as much as I'd thought I would, given its dense history and cute houses, but I unexpectedly fell for Vancouver's glass skyscrapers and miniature ferries. I hope to go somewhere other than North America in 2008, as I have the past three years.

Job-wise, I stayed yet another year at the law firm from which I cannot seem to break away. After a culling of the firm saw 20% of the staff laid off, I was promoted from File Clerk to Project Assistant. Yeah, I'm not sure what that means, either. My 'fun' job of writing for Myopenbar took on more responsibility when I was asked to become Editor-in-Chief for the Chicago branch in February. I now oversee a staff of five writers and have become an event promotor, putting on three events (some with over 500 RSVPs). This was a launching pad for freelance writing for another events website, Going.com. I also continued volunteering at Hostelling International, taking groups of backpackers to free improv comedy.

Some of the highlights of the year included:

~kicking off January with a visit from my English flatmate Lucy -- her first time in the U.S. -- and hosting my other English pal Chet in the fall. Yes, I made both of them try Root Beer Floats. I also played hostess to friends from such exotic places as Missouri and Wisconsin.
~the craziest wedding I've ever been to. Everyone camped in tents on an organic farm in Michigan and danced around a 20-ft.-high wooden structure, throwing torches and watching it go up in flames. Fire spinners, Burning Man aficionados, silk climbers, people who said "You have good energy." Great times.
~flying above my farm in a two-seater airplane with my dad, the first time anyone in my family has flown with him.
~getting to hang out at the apartment of the director of the Museum of Contemporary Art with a friend, while he was on vacation, and looking at all the artwork and Greek & Roman glassware
~racing in the Chiditarod, Chicago's urban iditarod. Instead of dogs, people. Instead of sleds, shopping carts. It was also a food drive, bar crawl, and costume contest. My team went as "Paul Bunyan and the Lumberjills."
~getting to meet two of my best friends' newborn baby girls in Minnesota and Oregon. I didn't drop them, not once!
~taking my Swiss friend Stephan on my family's annual vacation to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. See my dad showing him how to chop wood here:
~bringing seven friends (from Sweden, Ohio, Switzerland, Pennsylvania, France and Illinois) on a roadtrip to Galena, in the most scenic part of the state. We even made a stop at the Mississippi.
~running into my second cousin in front of my apartment. This wouldn't be so unusual were it not that he lives nine months of the year in California and the summers in the Upper Peninsula. This is indicative of the alarming regularity with which I run into people here in the smallest 3-million-person city in the world.
~throwing "La Fete de Versailles" -- complete with a chocolate fountain, loads of champagne, and a pastel dress code. My future roommate and I dressed as versions of Marie Antoinette.

I finished off the year by moving out of my Wicker Park apartment, and on 2 Jan. I signed on a new place with my best Chicago girlfriend, Nora. I've already moved in, and am waiting for her and her two cats to arrive in the next few weeks. We've already begun to line up the parties we'll be throwing...

2008 will kick off with my annual February trip with my friend Sara, this time to Mardi Gras in New Orleans to see Allison, whom I met while studying abroad in Wales. Then, in June, I'll visit Northern California for the first time when I'm a bridesmaid at my friends Jen & Dieter's wedding in Yosemite. After two more Chicago weddings in the fall, I'll be upping sticks. I'll tell you where when it's more official.

If you haven't yet come to visit Chicago -- or it's been a while since you have -- you're encouraged to do so. You all know how I love having visitors!

Here's to a blessed 2008,
Theresa