Welcome to La La Lend. I know, I know, we normally focus on agents here, but our saucy world of real estate can only turn thanks to the lenders: They make the magic happen. They grease the wheel. That’s why they’re the theme of this month’s issue. It’s thanks to loan officers and mortgage brokers that I have so many parties to attend!
Fortunately, there were lots of parties during February. The biggest was probably the Super Bowl, and no, I did not have box seats like Taylor Swift — it looked like Thad Wong did, though. He posted a chummy pic from the game with my favorite “Schitt’s Creek” star, Dan Levy. And it seems like Dan is breaking into real estate himself, starring in the big ad for Homes.com. I watched that from the comfort of my living room couch as Thad jetted off to Christie’s International Real Estate’s annual conference in Atlanta. I hear it included a croquet match. La-di-da!
I did, however, have big Valentine’s Day plans. The Mainstreet Organization of REALTORS® kicked off the day with an economic forecast breakfast. And while I realize economics and romance don’t usually mix, it was a fun way to mingle before my hot date that night.
Speaking of hot dates … everyone was looking fine and fancy at Dream Town Real Estate’s casino night earlier in the month, on Feb. 2. The party took place at Salvage One, and the people raged till 1 a.m., playing craps, poker, blackjack, and roulette, and sipping on High Rollers — the event’s signature mojito cocktail. What can I say, I love high rollers.
On Feb. 7, Compass Chicago YP held its kickoff event at Botánico, a lovely, enclosed rooftop garden in Wicker Park. Sadly, I was unable to attend because the YP parties changed to a “members only” policy, but I hear it was a full house. Next time, I’m just going to crash.
As fun as February was, though, there’s a lot to look forward to in March. The Women’s Council of REALTORS® is holding its annual Titans of Industry brunch on March 7 which celebrates powerful women in the field … Maybe I’m one of them. Either way, there’s no better excuse for brunch. And the following week, on March 16, you can catch another powerful lady speaking at WCR’S Part Presidents dinner: Marci Sepulveda, our lovely publisher here at Chicago Agent magazine. She’s the event’s keynote speaker.
As we move onto March, we also need to say a few happy birthdays! On March 7, David Cieslak followed by birthday twins Katrina Schmitt and Landon Harper. Then, on March 11, Marci’s birthday! Yay! Sandesh Bilgi turns a year older on March 15. Then we have a whole string of March celebrations: Tammy Hajjar Miller on March 19, Mary Summerville on March 20, Melissa Archer-Wirtz on March 21 and Michelle Bobart on March 22. There’s no one for March 23, but birthday triplets on March 24 more than make up for it: Peter Moulton, Matt Laricy and Matt Silver. Now that’s a party. Finishing the month strong is Marissa Lanzito and Judy Greenberg, both on March 28, followed by Peter Olesker on March 29 and Deena Zimmerman on March 30. And we’ll squeeze in a few April babies, too: Andrea Geller, Kim Hay Keefe and Nick Libert, all on April 1, plus Cari Zweig-Driscoll on April 2 and Ellen Miller on April 3.