Happy New Year, friends! I think of all of my lovely readers as my very best friends, since you invite me into your homes and offices twice a month. And you also let me get sloshed at your parties and never make me feel bad. For that, I love you and hope that you had a wonderful holiday season.

Welcome back to business! I’m sure you have lots of resolutions to ignore, but if you decide to follow a few, perhaps this issue can be of some assistance.

Those PERL Mortgage guys are dropping like flies. We lost another one this winter when Sharbel Shamoon got engaged at the 3 Arts Club. I’m happy for the guy, but I’m guessing a lot of folks out there are going to be pretty disappointed he’s off the market.

Looks like Baird & Warner contributed to the holiday feasting with their office cookie exchange on Dec. 20. Folks brought in cookies to share, and it’s rude not to try all of them, right?

Lots of Kevins spent their vacation in Mexico, including Kevin Binkley and Kevin van Eck, both from @properties. I’m sure they had a good time in the sun, but nothing beats escaping to one’s private island…

I’m wondering if Steph LoVerde got to take off for the holidays – I know she can’t bear to leave her pup at home unattended. Luckily the dog heads to doggy day care, and Steph can watch its every move via web cam from her desk. That could make international travel a bit difficult…

Speaking of pups, Realtors to the Rescue collected a hefty amount of donations for the cause. Shout out to all you folks who donated lightly used animal clothes, leashes, beds, towels, and wine/champagne corks. I’m still not sure what those corks were for.

I went to a number of holiday parties before skipping town for the holidays, but I’m not afraid to admit I can’t remember half of them. One of them I know I attended was the WCR Chicago 2017 installation event at LondonHouse on Dec. 15. I had to show up to see my girl Rebecca Thomson win the Chicago Elevate Leadership Award!

And I know I attended one of Sean Conlon’s holiday bashes, but I can’t remember if it was the Chicago party or the London party…who am I kidding? It was probably both. I’d never pass up an opportunity to sip on fancy drinks and graze elbows with “lords and ladies” at the exclusive 5 Hertford Street.

Here are some winter babies to celebrate in 2017: Leslie Struthers is the life of every party, but I’m sure she stood out at her own party in honor of her Jan. 2 birthday. Ted Guanero will party on Jan. 3. Kelly Price, Dana Shaut, Jim Pomposelli and Marc Churchill should all party together in the snow on Jan. 5, 6, and 7, respectively. Next up is Pam Albrecht, who follows them on Jan. 8. Gary Ouellette, JD Cortese, and Jennifer Peterson will all get older on lucky number 12, while Kevin Rocio, TJ Rubin and Maurice Hampton will celebrate another year on Friday the thirteenth. January 14 is a really big day, so have some extra shots in honor of Alex Zupancic, Camille Kearns Rudy, Jeff Baker, and Vince Milito. George Schulz will get to party on Jan. 15, and he may or may not invite Donna Griffin to join in honor of her Jan. 16 birthday.