Dining By Design and the rest of '09

Reflecting on Twenty Oh Nine. Oh what a year. I've blogged (although seldomly) about grand openings, Green Tie Ball, AKIRA Garden of Eden Fashion Show and more. I've worked with baseball legends Ron Kittle (White Sox, he was our hilarious "bouncer" at the Garrett Popcorn grand opening), and Fergie Jenkins (my client Lawry's The Prime Rib hosted a party to celebrate his Chicago Cubs jersey retirement). I had the privilege of publicizing the work of celebrity hair stylist George Gonzalez of George the Salon on an incredible campaign with Between Friends agency for Domestic Violence Awareness month in October.

In November, I worked with DIFFA Chicago (Design Industry Foundation Fighting AIDS) on Dining by Design- securing one of the best design/build companies in the business The Dobbins Group ,who joined forces with Vancouver's interior designer Jillian Harris, to create a fun "Man Glam" tablescape (pictured above in no particular order: Jillian & Ed, Vincent & Lonnie from Genuine Entertainment, D.C. and Alayna Crenshaw, Tom and Suzie Dobbins, Alex Vaysman & Lindsey Kirleis of The Dobbins Group).

Looking forward to all the excitement of the ever-evolving PR industry in 2010.
Happy Holidays!

Chicago Gateway Green, a nonprofit organization that seeks to sustainably beautify Chicago's gateways and communities, received some national attention as the beneficiary of the Victoria's Secret exclusive, invite-only VIP reception to mark the grand opening of its Michigan Avenue store. Hosted by the gorgeous "Angels," superskinny-supermodels, the evening was attended by Gateway Green supporters, city officials and even some of my client friends like restaurant designer Jillian Harris and folks from Garrett Popcorn Shops.

Garrett Popcorn Shops Magnificent Mile Grand Opening

October 15 marked the grand opening of Garrett Popcorn Shops' flagship store at 625 N. Michigan Avenue. It also happens to be Garrett's 60th Anniversary as a beloved Chicago brand. I started planning the celebratory activities surrounding these milestones back in July, and the results were "Magnificent." On Tuesday we had a private VIP reception at the store, co-hosted by Concierge Preferred magazine. We brought in Levi Restaurants to cater premium cocktails and finger food- including beef sliders served in Garrett wax paper bags out of Hawkers boxes. Here I am at the party with Alecia Dantico, director of social media for Garrett, and interactive media guru Amy Korin.

On Thursday we officially opened the doors to the public, and despite the pouring rain and cold temps, we had a line around the block for hours. We handed out blue Garrett Popcorn Shops ponchos (rain or shine, there's always a line!) and gave away prizes like free popcorn and 60th anniversary commemorative T-shirts reading "Love can be messy," and complete with orange CheeseCorn fingerprints.

Finally, on Saturday, we invited Mayor Daley, Alderman Brendan Reilly, John Chikow from Greater North Michigan Avenue Association, and more special friends for a ribbon-cutting ceremony and tour of the kitchen.

What a week! It is official- Garrett Popcorn Shops is finally back on the Magnificent Mile!

Green Tie Ball XVIII - Rhapsody in Green Raised Some $$Green

Green Tie Ball - Rhapsody in Green raised some serious Gs for Chicago Gateway Green and its mission to sustainably beautify our fine Windy City. This past Saturday a capacity crowd (sold out before doors even opened!) gathered at a green-glowing Chicago Illuminating Company. As usual, the crowd was movin' and shakin' with A-listers and celebs including the great Marcus Riley of NBC5 pictured with me here. There were many exciting points of the evening including Lifeway Foods placing the highest bid during the live auction - $37,500 for a Gateway Green Expressway Partnership!

TEAMiFIT/PHD Lifestyle Center Grand Opening

The TEAMiFIT/PHD Lifestyle Center grand opening was glorious last night! My pals Stacy Friedman from ABC7, Samantha Bryant from UrbanGirlFitness, and Sarah Vargo from Maven and I enjoyed vendors like Smashbox cosmetics, massages by Massage Envy, yummy healthy food bites and more. I also got to see a ZUMBA dance class in action and boy did it look like a blast.

Owned by renowned fitness guru Amy Leffel, TEAMiFIT (located in River North at 676 N. LaSalle) offers fun, affordable classes including fitness bootcamps designed for all fitness levels; Power Yoga, Strictly CORE and Strictly BUTT; dance cardio classes including OHH Snap!!, Yo Yo Get Funky, and ZUMBA featuring Latin rhythm. Workshops include a G.I. Jane inspired Armed and Dangerous, and Chair Movin’: chairs aren’t used just for sitting anymore! Their Get Fit Transformations are perfect for brides-to-be, or even folks looking to battle the impending holiday bulge.

Fitness is made fun for kids ages 8 and up with rhythm and movement class KidFIT Drums Alive, Turbokick, and much more. They also have group and party packages!

TEAMiFIT partners with P.H.D., Personal Health Design, Inc. in this unique lifestyle center. Directed by Dr. Robert Streisfeld aka Doc Rob, P.H.D. is a health education company consisting of qualified doctors, chefs, coaches and trainers, and offers a consumer resource and education center, as well as a production studio for health related media content. P.H.D. introduces the newest and most effective health products, therapies and information for today’s modern health and lifestyle for not only Chicagoans, but the Internet-based consumer as well.

Sign up for fitness classes and Personal Health Design at www.teamifit.com.

Supercalifragil-Cocktails Anyone?

This photo is an oldie but goodie from back in March of '09 when I served as PR account director for the Grand Opening, red carpet premiere of Disney's Mary Poppins. Television producer extradordinaire Cathy Vlahogiannis worked countless hours behind the scenes with me to help put together a "Practically Perfect" ABC7 190 North piece. In the words of my favorite A-Team member, "I love it when a plan comes together."

Gearing up for Green Tie Ball XVIII Sept. 26

If you missed the celeb poker tourney in July (where I'm pictured here in a B96 Stylz & Roman sandwich) to kick-off the Green Tie Ball XVIII on September 26 at Chicago Illuminating Company in the South Loop... well that's just too bad. But you can redeem the glory at the Green Tie Ball: Rhapsody In Green preview party hosted by the event's A-List executive committee at Rockit Bar on Thursday, September 10. Discounted tickets will be avail and all proceeds benefit my eco-fabulous client Chicago Gateway Green, which greens and beautifies the region's expressways and communities. Check out the green fashion feature on GTB's co-chair Ginger Zee in the September issue of Michigan Avenue magazine, it is a beaut.

Homescout Realty & Launch Events Hosted "Charitable Chicago" Networking

My clients Chicago real estate company Homescout Realty and young professionals event company Launch Events hosted "Networking on the Rocks: Charitable Chicago" sponsored by Chicago Scene magazine. The event was held in the classy Standard Club ballroom and we sold out of tickets at the door - complete capacity! Ten of Chicago's finest charitable orgs like Be Bright Pink, Jimmy Insulin, Chicago Gateway Green and Imerman Angels were on hand to engage with young pros on the importance of community involvement.

Photo caption: Samantha Crafton, Chicago Scene; Mindie Kaplan and MMM.

AKIRA & Imerman Angels Garden of Eden Fashion Show

My public relations campaign for the Akira & Imerman Angels "6th Annual Garden of Eden" fashion show is nearing completion. The support we received this year from the media is remarkable and provides such a boost to the Imerman Angels' mission of connecting cancer survivors with fighters for one-on-one support.

At the event, I fell in love with phenom Lee England Jr., a classically trained hip hop violinist; and my newly beloved Fabrice Calmels, principal dancer of the Joffrey Ballet, whose post-show performance with the equally stunning Valerie Robin was nothing short of jaw-dropping-spectacular. Must see Othello!

Thanks to our photog Ramiro Garcia for the pretty pics.