hiatus is OVER.

it's been almost two weeks since my last post because the last two weeks have included unheard of hours at the office. and fourteen solid hours a day at my desk without the spare time to get lunch or play with blogger going all XML (if you don't know what that means, it's very cool. if you do know, appreciate it with me: [sigh of relief goes here].

three big things have gone down in that time.
1. i went to michigan over labor day weekend with Betsy and Pam.

stayed at a lovely cabin

jumped in a pool

wandered around South Haven; shopped second-hand stores

came really close to getting some "new" vinyl

2. came back to Chicago and saw Pink Martini at the House of Blues - from an Opera box! and i finally made it to the Foundation Room, which was off the hook, as they say.

these peeps are my dad's favorite band ever. amazing live show

3. this one has no pictures associated to it... just cool news... i've been recruited by a couple of headhunters lately, and it's amazing because i'm in a really good position. i REALLY like my job, so i have the freedom to say things like i'll only leave for more money, or for full benefits, i only apply for full-time positions. it makes me sound all desired and hardball-playing being so frank, and it's really fun.

in that vein, i've also been doing some random work at wunderman for strategic planning. it's been mostly admin stuff, but whenever i find relevant links or articles i forward them around -- and suddenly last week i found out something i can't talk about yet, but there's a possibility of maybe, well, a career shift soon. i'm not getting my hopes up - like, do we remember the Target fiasco last february? my heart's not made to be broken, as the song goes, so i'm not gonna really try to believe in it yet... but it's like for the first time i've met someone whose job i actually want. when i was at Wunderman before and when i returned, both times i saw who i was working under and i didn't necessarily like where i was likely to move up towards. but i see what the Planning people's jobs are like, what they do and what they need to know, and we talk about living in lofts and dinner parties... it's all very attractive. i like the work and i like the team people as role models. so that's kind of a big deal to me... i'm excited. it also brings up the possibility of being hired full-time, which frankly makes me salivate.