Kicking off birthday month in Chicago

Beth (D&E alumna) and Mary (MT alumna) at Big Star

Hello! I am alive. I am surviving the chaotic balancing act that is Christina the individual with Christina the wife and mama the mother. During hectic times, I tend to go social media dark. Here is a glimpse into the light.

I have been busting my ass the pass six weeks trying to prove that I can do it all. Sacrifices include my twitching right eye, hating myself when I put work first, and spending "quality time" with my hubs while I work on my laptop in bed with ESPN on in the background. Such is life, and I'm certainly not the only one.

I find myself in Chicago during the kickoff of my birthday month! and I have the fortune of meeting up with five friends over five days. Mwah! I'm here for a trade show this weekend + Monday and then attempting to take "vacation" the rest of the week. Try, try again, I will continue to attempt. :)

Tonight, I met up with agency alumna from my past two Cleveland jobs in Bucktown. Fun! We tacoed it up at Big Star (super strong and cathartic margaritas), pretentioused it up at Violet Hour (goat cheese=yum and brandy=yuck) and caloried it up at Hot Chocolate (love those lusty Mexican hot chocolates).

The last time I was here, Mingus was in my belly and I was keeping him a secret. Now, I'm trying to sync my schedule so that I can Skype with him and his daddy #firstworldproblems (yes, I just used a hashtag not on twitter...get over it XOXO).

At the NACS show for convenience store execs, here are my favorite new products:

Lazy Larry Extreme Relaxation brownies are da bomb!

Pickle!

Perky Jerky! Holla!