Posts

Put A #FlatRonnie On My Door At Work

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He joins the cast that includes a Dilbert or two and some other random web-weirdness.  This can't hurt my reputation around the office, right?  #FlatRonnie

Elmhurst 255 Apartments Going Up Fast

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Back in July, I took a photo of the demo on the site of the new massive apartment complex being built on the west side of York Street, just south of Panera.  The City of Elmhurst has been calling this the "Hahn Street Project" for years, but Morningstar, the developer, is calling it Elmhurst 255. That crane out front has been lifting sections of this development into place for the past few months and now it looks ( from the sketch in this pdf ) that at least this section of it has topped out.  Let's call it about half of the building is up.  The entire first floor, which will be retail and maybe parking(??), is up, but I think they're going to build a bit more out closer to the street/sidewalk area when it is done. 192 apartments.  Seems like a lot, right?  But, if it works, won't it be nice to have even more foot traffic for downtown?

My Clifton Strengthsfinder Signature Themes

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As part of my work with a new client, I - as well as my entire team - took a survey to help everyone understand each others themes of talent.  As you can see above, my #1 strength is positivity.   Yes....seriously...positivity.    Thought that was really interesting and something that Nat will tell you she doesn't agree with most of the time. This was a useful exercise and something I'm going to have to share with the team this week as I meet more and more people.  Placing it here so I can reference it and find it if I forget the order/importance when people ask me about it during my interactions with the client team over the coming weeks and months. Along with the delivery of my themes, I also received little snippets on each one.  There are tons of themes and while I only inspected the five that were selected for me, I think they reflect accurately how I fit into an organization and how I can best leverage my talents in building a team and delivering strong outcomes.

Sheldon and Leonard and Penny's Cheesecake Factory In Pasadena

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 That right there is the Cheesecake Factory in Old Town Pasadena.   CalTech is located in Pasadena.  That makes this the place that Penny from Big Bang works, right ? At least, that's what my father-in-law says.   So, of course, I couldn't walk by it without taking a photo.  Alas...while Pasadena was pretty great, we avoided this place and instead spent our lunchtime at Slater's 50/50 and had some very excellent Vampire Dip.

Silver Beach Pizza Upstairs Expansion Complete

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Just a bit over one year ago, I posted a photo of the new expansion at Silver Beach Pizza in St. Joseph Michigan here on the blog .  They were said to be adding 70 new seats to this place that is ALWAYS packed. On our trip earlier this year in January up to Coloma, we - of course - made a trip to St. Joe's for a little Garlic Greek goodness. While there, I took some time to peek up at the new upstairs addition.  It is a 21-and-older area, which...I'll be honest...I'm not sure what it means. As I said, this place is always packed.  Tuesday afternoon.  There's a wait.  Saturday night.  There's a wait.  So, the new 70 seats will certainly help, but I'm uncertain of the impact on us.  And..since this is *my* blog, this post needs to be about me, right? Well, since it is a 21-and-older section, that means we're not going up there.  We're only ever at Silver Beach Pizza with our kids, so we're not allowed.  But, I'm hoping that the hostesses at

Club 33 At Disneyland

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When we were at Disneyland, we made a stop in for lunch at one of the restaurants in New Orleans Square.  While waiting for our table, Nat and I took turns going to the bathroom while the other watched the kids.  Nat went first and when she came back, she pointed out that the infamous Club 33 door was on the way between where we were sitting and the bathrooms.  Of course, I had to investigate. Turns out, there isn't much there.  Just this ornate doorbell/intercom with the number '33' on it.  The story of the Club is of course, interesting.  And, while everyone's imagination goes wild all around the Disney Parks, this secret place that so few get to go ilicits so much ooo-ing-and-ahh-ing from the savvy Disney park visitor.  For everyone else...they probably walk by the non-descript door and not think twice about the shrimp cocktails and manhattans that are being consumed upstairs will the great unwashed devours our Monte Cristo sandwiches at the New Orleans Cafe.  

So Long, 830 Overlook Court East

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I wrote back in December about how my parents moved out of our home.  The only home I've ever known .  They moved in there - after building this place - in 1976 (I think.  Might have been 1975?  Either way...before I was born.). That's me and my three sisters along with my Mom and Dad taking one last photo in front of the 'house on the hill'.  My sister Vic wrote a very nice post on the Facebook about her memories that I can't top, but this milestone is hitting me with a long drip of melancholy.  It wasn't a full blast of sadness/memories when they sold and moved.  But now?  The idea that my parents have parted with their house keeps cropping up in my mind.  Perhaps it is because we're going through the house purchase/finding side of things ourselves.  Thinking that where ever we end up is going to be our 'forever house'.  This *was* my parents 'forever house'.  And it was a good one. The house holds many memories.  From holidays to wor

Beware The Valet Lane At The Ace Hotel Downtown Los Angeles

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If you're ever looking to risk your life when arriving at a hotel stay, then look no further than the Valet pull-up at the Ace Hotel in Downtown Los Angeles.  Or...DTLA as they're saying these days. I took that photo after getting out of the front seat of our rental car minivan while attempting to unbuckle one of the kids from their carseat in the back seat.  There's about 18 inches of space once the sliding door is open between the light grey area of pavement and the line of traffic on Broadway that zooms by at pretty decent speeds. The drivers on Broadway don't give much bother to you, so you're basically taking your life into your own hands when you're valet parking at the Ace Hotel in DTLA.

So Long, Plass Appliance In Downtown Elmhurst

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 If you head over to Downtown Elmhurst today, you'll find this enormous hole in the ground at the site of the old Plass Appliance building on York Street.  It appears that the plan for the "York Building" - which includes condos upstairs and retail on the first floor is moving forward fast. With the Plass building down, it sure does make that building that holds Nu Crepes look better/more accessible, right?  Hopefully, the design of the new York Building will make that walkway/alley a bit more pedestrian friendly.  That...plus the new garage back there should mean more foot traffic.

Found In My Old Trunk - Lemax Animated Saw Mill Building

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A week or so ago, we cleaned out the trunk of Nat's old Honda Accord, which has been sitting in the alley at Equation Boy/Man's house for the past 8 months.  It is being transitioned to a new owner who will be able to utilize the car and we couldn't be more happy for that.   But, one of the happy by-products of cleaning out the car and getting it ready for the new owner was discovering some long-lost treasures.  One of them was a bouncy horse that needs a few springs to get back operational. But another was this Lemax Animated and Exterior Lighted Saw Mill from Menards.  I must have bought this two Christmas'es ago.  Maybe it was post-Christmas when they go on sale?  I can't recall, but I know that I usually won't add a new building to Mantleburg unless it is either awesome or super cheap. Mantleburg didn't come out this year because of our housing situation but once we figure out where we're going to end up, I'm certain that we'll have a n