I thought I’d have a little fun on a Monday morning to start the week off. While they may not have taught me how to calculate the payments on a 30 year fixed mortgage, these movies taught me (a little) something about business. This list started out as only 5 movies, but then my list grew to 21! I went with the middle of the road, so in no particular order, I give you 10 of my favorite business related movies.
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Here we are, April 1st. Signs of spring here in Chicago are everywhere, finally! Baseball season is right around the corner. Now we just need the warm weather. And in true Chicago fashion, there’s a chance of snow showers tomorrow.
I enjoy the mornings, sitting at the kitchen table enjoying a cup of coffee and reading a magazine. I like reading magazines. I have a few I receive digitally, and a good handful we receive in the mail each month. I always have people look at me funny when I tell them we receive 5 or 6 magazines a month at home. When they ask why so many, I tell them well, because I enjoy reading and I get them for free. They stop looking at me so funny when they find out I receive them for free.
I been using Reward Survey for years. Just with signing up and completing some surveys and profile information you could be eligible for credits that can be used on magazine subscriptions. They do have a limited selection of magazines but add new ones from time to time. For me, every Friday I receive an email with another survey to complete for a $20 credit towards magazines. The weekly surveys I complete are quick, literally just a couple minutes. If you’re interested, click the picture below.
Joe-
Just a random post about nothing in particular. I’ve found myself really digging the following things lately.
Green Tea
You see articles about the health benefits all over. Ranging from lowering your cholesterol to helping to prevent heart issues. The biggest comes from it’s antioxidants. I like two brands, Uncle Lee’s Teas (Walmart – $5/100) and Stash (about $15/100).
Google Play
I was a regular Pandora user, but the amount of ads which were coming up was starting to be a bit much. I know, that’s what I get for the free version. Google Play has commercials as well, but not nearly as many. And it seems like there are a wider range of preset channels to choose from. I turn GP on in the morning and just let it run all day. 
Exercise
I’ve been really watching my diet and trying to exercise more since about October/November last year. But since having more time, obviously I can find the time easier. I think it’s because I don’t feel as rushed, I’m enjoying it much more. I lift twice a week and do yoga twice a week. I don’t have much experience with yoga, but there’s no doubt it relaxes me. I’ve been doing the P90X2 yoga and love it! It kicks my ass!
*In full disclosure, the man in the pic below is not me. : )
Cooking
I admit, I was pretty spoiled when it came to having my meals made for me. I helped clean up though, so it’s kind of like I helped cook. Hmm, maybe not. Anyway, I’ve been trying my hand at making dinners. I think I’ve done pretty well. Not some two ingredient meals either, some pretty good ones. Earlier this week I made Chicken Parmesan that turned out awesome! I know chicken parm usually comes with more of a spaghetti noodle, but we had some leftover macaroni to use up – just explaining the pic below. Today, I’m doing my first repeat recipe, pesto salmon, mmm good stuff. Let’s see, I also made some home made Sloppy Me’s I call them. “Me” because I’m Joe. Creative, I know. No canned sauce for me, this was all homemade. Let’s see what else, there was General Tso chicken, corned beef and cabbage for St. Patrick’s day, chili mac & cheese, cajun shrimp alfredo pasta, And I have two soups I’ll be making over the next few days, broccoli cheddar, and minestrone.
Spring has sprung, and this post is for all of you who live in the Western Chicago suburbs. I spent a few hours this past weekend looking for free festivals and events coming up in the next three months. Now, obviously it’s up to you whether these events end up costing you anything since there are vendors selling food and other items. We are perfectly happy to bring our own food and just walk around the festivals window shopping.
April 30th & May 1st – Elmurst, IL
Art in the Park – Welcome spring at this free annual event that celebrates art and community. Browse fine art, craft & designer items at the 20th Annual Art in the Park. Featuring over 125 artists from across the Midwest, the event will also include music, food from local vendors and children’s activities.
April 30th – May 15th – Lombard, IL
Lilac Time – Lilacia Park comes alive with fragrant blooming lilacs, not to mention tons of beautiful tulips. It’s not to be missed! (Note: The photo above was taken by me last year; we love packing a picnic lunch and spending a couple of hours in the park).
May 7th – Wheaton, IL
Go Fly a Kite – Go Fly a Kite is a free event held in Wheaton’s Graf Park that encourages the community to come out and enjoy spring and fly kites!
May 19th-22nd – Glen Ellyn, IL
Taste of Glen Ellyn – The Taste of Glen Ellyn is a Family Event featuring LIVE Entertainment, Great FOOD, COLD Beverages, Carnival Rides, The CRAFT Festival, and a Business EXPO.
May 21st – Carol Stream, IL
JustPlay! is exactly what its name suggests – it’s just about playing. It’s about forgetting about work, bills and stress, and just having fun! JustPlay! offers dozens of free activities to thousands of participants. All designed to encourage people of all ages and backgrounds to get active, have fun, try new activities and have a memorable weekend in the Chicago suburbs.
June 2nd-5th – Wheaton, IL
Taste of Wheaton – Free entertainment (music, performances), food booths, and an arts and crafts fair are the highlights of this festival.
I realize that technically it’s still summer, but once Labor Day has come and gone, all I can think about my favorite season, autumn. I enjoy the cool weather and activities that the fall season brings. Plus I just love decorating my home with leaves and pumpkins and tend to hit all the craft stores to find new decorations. Not to mention my favorite holiday, Halloween, is just around the corner. Needless to say, I get very excited this time of year!
Below I’ve shared some fun things to do around the Chicagoland area this season.
Apple picking tends to rank up there for fun fall activities, so a visit to Jonamac Orchard is a must. It’s a bit further west than some other apple-picking farms in the area but it’s the least expensive as well. They also have a pumpkin patch with very reasonable prices, and you can take a hayride out to the patch and back so you don’t break your back carrying your pumpkin. Here’s a list of other orchards in Illinois as well.
If it’s not fall until you’ve picked up a pumpkin, and you don’t want to walk through a field to get one, then Sonny Acres Farm in West Chicago is for you. Come mid-September, this place has everything – two walk-through haunted barns, amusement rides, a petting zoo, and my favorite, a haunted hayride. And of course there’s food. This is where I experienced my first walking taco, and their freshly made apple cider donuts cannot be missed! And finally, you can pick up fall and Halloween decor in their barn shop.
Morton Arboretum is a great place to visit in the fall because they decorate the grounds with scarecrows and offer a different kind of pumpkin patch – pumpkins made of glass which are available for purchase.
Speaking of scarecrows, one of the best fall festivals in the western burbs is St. Charles’ Scarecrow Festival. There’s plenty of things to see and do at this festival. Here’s some photos I took at last years’ festival.
As Halloween nears, The St. Charles Park District hosts their Gallery of Ghoulish Homes Tour. We love to prepare some hot chocolate and apple cider, hop in the car, and take in the decorated homes. Some even offer their own haunted yard/garage/house you can walk through for free. Note: as of this writing the 2015 tour information is not available. Please keep checking the park district’s site for addresses of participating homes.
If you’re looking for something a bit scarier, you’ll probably want to check out a haunted house or two. While Halloween is my favorite holiday, I don’t like extreme scares, so I can’t recommend any particular haunted houses. Therefore I leave you with an extensive list of Illinois haunted events.
What fun things do you like to do in the fall?
Many years ago my mom started a new Christmas Eve tradition called Crazy BINGO. Basically she’d wrap up some cheap gifts (candy, gag gifts, little trinkets) as well as one “grand prize” of $10-$20, and everyone would play BINGO (or more recently Uno Attack), picking out a gift when they won. The fun was trying to guess which package contained the best gift, and stealing it when you won as you had the option to take a new gift or take someone else’s (and then they could choose to do the same). The game play would end once everyone was in possession of a gift. Then the gifts would be opened and people were free to swap with one another. Of course no one ever swapped the main prize, especially when it was $20!
This tradition almost ended last year because my mom hasn’t been feeling well and didn’t want the hassle of finding the gifts. I happily took over because it’s one of the things I look most forward to every year. The main prize is now less than $20 as I don’t want to blow my holiday budget, but I’ve still been having a lot of fun finding interesting inexpensive items for this game. Dollar Tree, the One Spot at Target, and Five Below are all great places to snag some decent stuff without spending a lot. In all I spent under $20 this year to keep this tradition going. That includes the “grand” prize of a $5 Target gift card I scored for free during one of my epic shopping trips.
While I can’t share the items I purchased as of this writing since some of participants will likely be reading this, I can share with you a quick photo I took last night after wrapping them.
There are a total of eight gifts since we’re expecting eight people to be present for the game.
There’s a good chance I’ll have completely forgotten what’s in which package by the time Christmas Eve rolls around so I can enjoy the game just as much as everyone else. Or I can mess with everyone and covet the wrong gift in an attempt to throw them off the trail. Muhahahaha!
What fun traditions do you participate in during the holidays?
If you don’t have a ton of money to spend, or you just don’t care to spend too much money this holiday season, but you still want to have a little fun with your family and friends, I’ve got a few low-cost suggestions on ways to enjoy the holiday lights this year:
Cosley Zoo is a small zoo in Wheaton that waives its admission prices for the month of December so you can check out their Festival of Lights. Here’s a sampling of some of the lights when we visited in 2011.
Aurora offers the Festival of Lights which is a free drive-thru attraction.
In addition, if you do a little Googling you will often find lists of homes in your area known for going all out for Christmas. Put together an itinerary and take the kids on a drive to check out the lights. We like to make some hot cocoa ahead of time to sip on while we make our rounds.
Candy Cane Trail (Carol Stream) – This home goes all out every year at both Halloween (when it’s called Canyon Trail Cemetery) and Christmas, including music synced up with their decorations. It’s a must see!
Holiday Lights at Lilacia Park (Lombard) – This park boasts tons of lilacs and tulips in the spring but in winter it’s lit up to celebrate the season.
Illinois Tacky Light Tour – This is a new find for me, but it looks promising.
Feel free to share your tips in the comments for places to see holiday lights.
There are tons of articles out there about how you’ll be happier spending your money on experiences verses material items, and I couldn’t agree more. But… I also see the benefit of buying items that will enhance your experiences. For instance, I own a nice digital SLR camera and a few lenses as well as some other accessories. These were acquired over time and were not cheap. But I love capturing moments and being able to look at them later. I love having a physical (or digital, if you want to be technical) representation of the experiences I’ve enjoyed over the years. There’s just nothing like it in the world and to me that is priceless. Feel free to visit my photography website, Perfect Pixels.
This is why I can completely understand why someone who is barely making ends meet still owns a smartphone. Sure, it may be because their priorities are out of whack, but perhaps it’s because they are a parent, or pet owner, and they use that phone to capture moments with their loved ones. Smartphones these days not only take great photos but video too. Who can resist and all-in-device that can enhance their experiences?
Another example is games. I prefer board games, but this could apply to video games too (assuming you’re playing them with others and not alone). I love discovering and trying new board games. I don’t go overboard by any means, and almost always buy when there’s a sale, but I still end up picking up 1-2 “new” board games a year to add to our collection. As for video games, we try borrowing most games from the library first to try, and if it’s a game we really like and know we would like to play frequently, we’ll buy it once the price drops or there’s a good deal online.
Side note: Half Price Books sells used board games, many of which are in excellent condition. Even though they are technically used, I recently purchased a game where all the pieces were still in their original packaging. You could tell it had never been played. And they carry video games too, not to mention CDs, DVDs, and vinyl records.
I could go on and on but I think you get the message. So while I agree that if you have the choice between a new “toy” and going on a trip, you should choose the trip, that doesn’t mean buying that toy is necessarily a bad thing. I guess it just depends on whether that new toy will enhance your future experiences or not.