Valentine’s Day decorations are already on the shelves, which means we are fully immersed in 2020. The holidays are over, and everyone is back to the grind, so what better time to talk about mortgages? I knew a mortgage broker once who had two giant poodles named Freddie and Fannie. True story. A few years later, he had twins that he named Mac and Mae. Okay, that part isn’t true, but I had you going. That’s pretty much all I have to say about lending, so let’s move on to the fun stuff.
How are those New Year’s resolutions coming along? I think I’ve mentioned that I don’t make resolutions, because I’m basically already living my best life. Why make a resolution if there is nothing to improve? That being said, I admire all you folks out there trying to make a change. Carrie Jo Little has resolved to get her workout in before 6 a.m., which is great for her! I try not to get out of bed before 9 a.m. if I can help it.
Windy City Rehab is in trouble again and the company has been told to stop work on a project in the Ukrainian Village. This is the second time they’ve been ordered to put down their hammers due to code violations. Not only must co-stars Alison Victoria Gramenos and Donovan Eckhardt stop work at a 3-flat on Augusta Boulevard, but they are also banned from applying for new building permits in the city of Chicago. Ouch.
Tommy Choi took a page out of my book in terms of leaving the city for the winter and posted a lovely beach shot from the Bahamas on Instagram. Be sure to comment on his tan if you see him around.
Sounds like the weed thing is getting mixed reviews. If you’re willing to wait in line for four hours, then it’s a success. But if you actually have a life and can’t stand in line for weed, then maybe it’s not working out so well for you.
Guys, I finally made my way back onto the event invite list! As we all know, I’ll attend the opening of an envelope, so add me to your list and you may see a mention of the tasty appetizers and free cocktails served at your event in my next column. On Jan. 6, the Guaranteed Rate folks rang in the new year the best way possible with GR Palooza at the House of Blues Chicago. I was still on my island, but basically everything I heard about the event I was told not to repeat.
On Jan. 9, CAR held their 2020 Market Outlook event at the Swissotel Chicago, which you can read more about on page 8. Valet parking cost about half as much as a ticket to the event, so I hope you carpooled. For those who needed even more outlooking on the future, West Suburban WCR held an economic outlook breakfast in Addison the next day. Nothing goes better with economics than pancakes.
Birthday time! Danny Lewis, Lissa Weinstein and Michael Golden can party together on their Jan. 21 birthday, or they can do their own thing. Honestly, it makes no difference to me. Christine Lutz gets wiser on Jan. 23, and Mike Opyd gets older on Jan. 24. Jan. 26 is another big day with John Milikin, Kevin Thornton, and Anthony Marinaccio celebrating. Then Patrick Bergner and Eileen Crosson will eat cake on Jan. 28, and Sheen Baker will be the toast of the town on Jan. 29. Wayne Paprocki and Margie Smigel share a Jan. 30 birthday, while Craig Achtzehn gets to share his big day with a groundhog on Feb. 2.