Sunday, November 30, 2008

Recap of Thanksgiving Trip to Naples

So I'm finally back from my Thanksgiving vacation to Naples Florida. We had a great time and we spent an entire week with my parents. Here's a quick list of the activities from this past week, in no particular order...

Playing tennis a couple times

Hanging out by the pool

Going fishing (I caught about six or seven fish altogether)

Making of the annual Apple Strudel

A sunset cruise on a catamaran near Marco Island

Black Friday shopping

Thanksgiving dinner with the family and Gene & Dianne and Gardner

Listening to a couple books on audiotape (I know... that's pretty lazy)

Taking pictures around my parents place

Going to the dog track


Below are a couple of my favorite pictures from the entire week. I've also put together a slide show which contained about 100 pictures. Click here to check out the slideshow.

As I'm writing this blog entry, the sad thing is I'm watching snow pouring down outside of my house. We're supposed to get about 3-6 inches of snow today. This is a pretty drastic change from enjoying weather which was in the 70s the entire week in Naples. It's good to be back in Chicago, but I miss the nice weather and lifestyle down in Naples.

Thanks to my mom and Dad for hosting us for the entire week. Another special shout out to David and Catherine and Joshua who made the trip extra fun. I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. Have a great week!





















Saturday, November 22, 2008

Chicago Avenue Salon

This morning I did a shoot for the girls at Chicago Avenue salon, which is where I get my hair cut. They were looking for a picture for their holiday greeting card. We started out at Lorraine's Diner which is just down the street from the salon. Lorraine was nice enough to let us use her diner for the shoot. Thanks Lorraine! After getting some shots in the Diner, we then had some fun with some outside shots of the girls walking down Chicago Avenue. Check out their amazing holiday sweaters and extra flair they have on. And don't forget about Max, who is the black lab leading the way. Enjoy the pics.

Steve






Saturday, November 15, 2008

update on things...

Hello everyone. Sorry it's been so long since my last blog post. Things have been going well but they have also been pretty busy. Last night Carolyn and I went to go see the movie W. Overall it was a pretty average movie, and some of the stereotypes/acting was a bit exaggerated, but nonetheless it was still pretty entertaining. The one thing that was on my mind about this movie was the following question... how can the president with the lowest approval rating in the history of the United States also have the highest approval rating in the history of the United States? It's pretty straightforward the reason why his approval rating was so high was directly related to 9/11. That's pretty clear when you look at the approval ratings by week. But it's still just makes me think... how can people be so behind someone (Bush's approval rating back in 2001 was around 90%) and then a couple years later have the completely opposite reaction. I often think about what his approval rating would be if the war in Iraq had gone smoother, if there were nuclear weapons discovered, or if the economy was in a great position. My guess is it would be somewhere in the 45-55% rating. We'll never know, but it sure interesting to think about how different scenarios would play out.

A quick shout out to my friend Kenny Kim who may have a chance to photograph the inauguration in Washington DC. If he gets to do it that would be a really cool event. Kenny... I'm really good at getting Starbucks and holding lenses so let me know if you need my help!

Tonight I'm going to the Bulls came with my brother David. I'm trying to be excited about the game but the Bulls have not been able to put together a great team in a really long time. I remember back when I was in high school and the Bulls were in the middle of their world championships. It was such a fun time to watch them. I remember when a Bulls ticket was the hottest ticket in town and average seats would go for $100-$200. Hopefully in the next couple years they will be able to turn things around.

I will do a quick puppy update for everyone. Last week Carolyn and I went to another breeder. We really liked what we saw and if everything works out (we're still waiting to see if the mom is pregnant) we're moving forward with this breeder.

That's all I have for now. I hope everyone has a great weekend.

Steve