depaul, daley, doughnuts and dolphins.

this weekend involved several events because depaul just launched the many dreams - one mission capital campaign to raise funds for scholarships, faculty and campus expansion. my department is part of the office of advancement who is coordinating the campaign so we have been involved with the process. on thursday they did the big announcement with a big picnic on campus, friday i coordinated an event for consecutive donors and volunteers and saturday was the HUGEEEE gala! the event on friday was really great - a bunch of my wonderful student volunteers came and everyone really enjoyed themselves. i actually didn't have to do much on saturday - the crew had it all under control. i worked with the students a tiny bit but not much. so basically i got to enjoy one of our events - it was a welcome change. the event had many components included a theatrical performance, a depaul song, cocktails, dinner, speech from mayor daley (one of our famous alumni) and a dessert buffet - which included a doughnut machine-YUM! i got to spend a lot of time with my wonderful student volunteers before the end. i just love them. i feel so lucky to work with these outstanding students - they truly are depaul and remind me why my job rocks. then all the staff members working went to the university house which is a beautiful lincoln park town home that the president hosts out of town guests at. we got to take off our heels, chat and enjoy some wine. it was really nice! overall the launch was a huge success and i'm very proud to be part of this exciting time. i would STRONGLY encourage you to give to the campaign - even $1 makes a huge difference for us and depaul students.http://alumni.depaul.edu/campaign/Default.aspx DO IT!

as for the rest of my weekend - it was pretty nice! on friday night i got to meet my pal, ryann out for drinks. it was nice to catch up and watch the end of the hawks game. then on saturday during the day rob and i went to the bagel for brunch - it had been ages since we had gone for brunch so it was really great! then we shopped a bit for new glasses for him and possibly found some cool new frames. afterwards i went to the farmers market down the street and got some cheese and pretzel bread - love farmers markets! it felt really nice to not have any real plans until later that night. i felt like a normal person - not the crazy busy person i have been recently. i'm starting to learn how to just chill out and take the day as it comes and just do what i want. and today was just the absolute best! rob had suggested we have a picnic and go to the shedd with my new membership he got me. we went to whole foods and got some yummie lunch items to take to the lakefront. we found a perfect spot in the shade and got some amazing lake breezes. then we hit up the shedd. i just love it there. it's so pretty and i love the otters and dolphins and penguins - all of it! we had a really great time despite the horrible fantasea show which is their new dolphin, beluga whale, hawk and penguin show. skip it people. it felt great to get out and enjoy the outdoors and the city - it had been awhile! apparently it's full blown summer now because its supposed to be in the 80s all week! hope everyone enjoyed their weekends!