Crazy Chicago folk....Lakeview Polar Bear Club!

Went for a run today just at the right time as we got to witness the Lakeview Polar Bear Club Polar Plunge. It was insane! There must have been over 200 people there stripped down to their undies ready to plunge into Lake Michigan. All i can say is that they are very brave it must be below 0 in there!

A bit of history about the Lakeview Polar Bear Club...


The LPBC was born in late 2001 when Brian Marchal decided that  he wanted to join a polar bear club and jump in Lake Michigan.  Being new to Chicago he thought it might be a good way to meet a few people and have a good time.  Unfortunately, back in the Stone Age of 2001 most polar bear clubs didn't have websites and poor Brian couldn't find a club to join.  So he decided to convince a big group of his friends to go to the Lake on New Year's Day in 2002 and jump in the lake.  Turns out that Brian wasn't very persuasive.  Therefore, on January 1st, 2002 the humble beginnings of the LPBC were born when a group of 3 people jumped into Lake Michigan. 
A few weeks after the initial plunge Brian heard that one of his cousins needed a lung transplant.  The family did not have much money, but the Marchal family is pretty darn big.  The idea came to life of a polar plunge event to raise money for his cousin.  If they brought together all the family and friends they could raise enough money to significantly help out his cousin and their family.  Plans startedimmediately and on January 25th, 2003, the LPBC hosted their first charity fundraiser.
 Whether it is related to the loss of a job, an extreme medical condition, an accident, homelessness, or whatever the situation, everyone has someone in their life in need of help.  For the 2004 plunge it was decided to open the event up to all of our past donors and polar bears and let them nominate a family for the LPBC to provide support.  This was the year that the Lakeview Polar Bear Club truly started to take shape.  
The Lakeview Polar Bear Club has proved that a small group of people can make a difference.  With the conclusion of the 2010 event, the LPBC is proud to announce that we have raised over $81,000 to help out families in need.  Every penny that has been donated has been passed on to the families that truly need it.

Its cold!!!

I thought my stay in Russia 6 yrs ago was the coldest I would ever get...Chicago has proved me oh so wrong! It has been freezing over the last few weeks. Plus it always freaks me out when I see 0 degrees Fahrenheit as I work in Celsius...that’s -17 by the way!! I have no idea what the actual formula is for changing Fahrenheit into Celsius I just work on the fact that anything from 10 degrees Fahrenheit or less is not good! Hence when we had -10 Fahrenheit last week I panicked!!

Anyway I was walking home last night and noticed even the river has given into the cold! It actually looked really pretty.

Taken from the Du Sable Bridge (formally the Michigan Avenue Bridge)

Bears mania!

It's been nothing but Bears mania this week and I just love the way Chicago support their team. All of the buildings have been using blue and orange lights

Big Willy (a.k.a Willis Tower)

The Trump Tower

Me and Carrie headed over to Lincoln Park to watch the game and pretty much all bars were 1 in 1 out!!! We eventually found this cute little bar and with bloody marys in hand watched the game. Unfortunately I am a bad omen as the Bears lost 21-14 to the Green Bay Packers :-(

Very upset as I was hoping to support them at the Superbowl!

God bless American men!!! The Frats!

I have to start by thanking the American boys for providing me with content for this blog!

This week I officially discovered the meaning of 'Frat boy'...




Please note this is from Google Images and I do not know
these guys - for illustrational purposes only!!! LOL


Went out for a date this week with this guy. Not only did he not understand my accent (very frustrating) but after further conversation I uncovered that this guy lives with his 'bro's' from college and thinks making his bed is too much effort. In fact so much so that the last time he washed his bed sheets was around 6 mnths ago... 2 words... ewwww and gross!!

To top it all off he gave me the brush off - it got to 10.30pm and he says "its getting pretty late, I'm tired shall we wrap it up". Lets just say its the only time I was grateful for getting the brush off!!

A necessary experience I feel to helping me learn abut these types of guys...won't be making that error again anytime soon LOL!

Golden Globes. Best and Worst of the dresses!

Best Dressed...



How could you cheat on this!!!




Kills me to admit but she does look stunning



And the worst...




Rocky Horror Show??




How could Heidi get it so wrong!




Going for the barbie look??



First Week Back...

So been back a week now and have to say its been a tough week! I found it very hard to leave family and friends after such a lovely Christmas. Its very difficult to explain as people immediately assume that because you are in an amazing city with an amazing apartment life is easy...not always the case. I feel like the luckiest person ever to be able to have this experience but I have found it at times very lonely and going to be trying even harder to network and expand my group of friends this year - even when work is crazy busy.

So my first week I think the best way to round it up is...They say it comes in 3's...


1) Airport madness


It must have been a surprise for O Hare airport that people from outside of the US were arriving! My flight was amazing I actually got to sleep really well although wasn't impressed with the films and food choices! Then... I walk from the plane to get through immigration...BANG the queue was halfway around the airport! I waited 2 hrs to get through immigration. I wouldn't mind but when I actually got to the desk it was the shortest entry interview I have ever had.


2) Broken Screen
It only got worse. I got back to my apartment over 2 hrs later than planned to find that my laptop (a.k.a my life in a box) had broken - the screen has completely gone. Therefore my entire Monday was taken up with ringing around different places to see if they could fix my computer. In the end I went to Best Buy and bought a completely new laptop.

3) Realisation that men are indeed from Mars

Match.com man turned out to be a loser...aren't they all. I can't seem to find a guy who is able to to communicate their feelings like an adult human being! Is it too much to ask someone to just be honest! Anyway won't go into too many details but needless to say my guard is well and truly back up when it comes to men...unless of course Michael Bublé  becomes available and that is whole different story! And girls I am well and truly certain that men are the same no matter where you are!


Ending on a high!

After all that I thought the week was well and truly a right-off especially with Carrie out of town and the brief appearance of snow but as luck would have it I made a new friend - Molly -  who is sooo lovely and spent Friday with her and a group of her friends. We had so much fun and I introduced her to the wonders of Sambuca! Those wonders came back to haunt me today though! I have had the hangover from hell. Luckily a trip to Maccy D's and a home cooked spaghetti bolognaise brought me back down to earth (p.s one was dinner and one was lunch - no need to join USA Biggest Loser's just yet)

Looking forward to starting this week on a high and get back to healthy eating - boot camp at 8.30am tomorrow morning should do the trick! Wish me luck!