News from Morganland

Hey y'all! Man...I'm really getting bad at this. Obviously I've been slacking. Per usual, there's MUCHO to report, so I'll keep it short-ish.

It's December. So first of all...WHAT? Second of all, Greg juts finished his 3rd semester of Grad school, which we're all super proud of! It was definitely a challenging semester (which I can attest to since I intentionally AVOIDED the combination of the classes he took this semester), but he made it & with great success! I am winding up a short consulting role I took on with Beta Theta Pi fraternity, which thankfully has evolved into a full time job! I will officially be the Assistant Director of Leadership & Education as of January 1, 2013 & I have committed to staying with the fraternity through their convention in 2014. Greg & I are obviously thrilled & so looking forward to a long, healthy relationship with Beta Theta Pi. I'll be working from home most of the time, but will travel to Oxford, OH (among other places) to do my face-to-face work a few times a month. This working from home has its benefits...not the least of which is flexibility in our geographic location. I hear Florida is nice this time (& every time) of year.

In other news, Lilah & Sadie are brilliant & amazing & we're (still) totally smitten. Frances Bee, my not-so-small business dream is really picking up steam. We've got some exciting plans for Frances Bee that will likely unfold in the next 18-ish months, but for now, we are grateful for our clients & looking forward to many more!

We hosted our 3rd annual (although it was our 2nd hosting gig) Gypsgiving this year. We had a full house, adding some new faces, Rich, Charlene, Ashley & Chris, and enjoying some old favorites, Justin & Coop. Per usual, we all made our best dishes, and there was an overabundance of wine and desserts. Two days later we did the Ugly Sweater 5K. It was a little less 5K run & a little more 5K stroll...

We're headed home to Florida to celebrate Christmas with my parents and the rest of our sweet family of friends, especially our favorite little elf, Ella Mae. She's celebrating her very 1st little lady Christmas. Uncle Greg & I could NOT be more thrilled to be with her & all the rest of our St. Pete loves this holiday season. After all, it is our very first Christmas in Florida together. Hard to believe there's any more firsts! Speaking of what's hard to believe...this Friday, December 14th marks our 5th year together. Yes, we've only been married 9 months, but this thing has been a work in progress for 5 years. FIVE! It has been a blast and I can't wait to see what the next 5 years will bring!

That's all for me for now! Greg, Lilah, Sadie & I wish you & your family the very happiest holidays!

Merrily,
Meggo

Frances Bee

Only a few of you have been in on the story of Frances Bee from the beginning. Mostly because I'm a "fraidy cat", but also because the idea was (& still is) in development. But, last week, I had to take the leap.

More of you probably know that my Grandma's last day with us was October 17, 2011. She was brave, kind, gracious and hospitable, all the things I want to be, and values I want reflected in my business. So I thought, in honor of the original Frances B.I should take the risk & share the news of Frances Bee. 

If I haven't reached out to you personally or through one of the social media outlets that Frances Bee is now on, then you won't know what Frances Bee is about. Don't worry...I'll tell you. 

Frances Bee is a company that was born out of a hobby. I have always said that I'll never be rich because if I've got it, I spend it, & most of the time, I spend it on others. I truly LOVE gift giving. I can remember the year that this first took off for me. The day after Thanksgiving, from my brother's kitchen table, I sat down to make the first of many gift lists & set out to strategize how to do it all within my budget. Since then, I've been helping friends, family members, colleagues & co-workers as they search for gifts for the people in their lives. After many years of gift shopping for others purely for the love of it all, someone (now a special Frances Bee client) finally said to me "you know...you should charge a fee for this". And the idea was born.

Thanks to my sweet Grandma, I was finally able to put a name to an idea. I knew it had to be her namesake; what better name to give a company that is dedicated to celebrating others? She was the most accomplished hostess & helper. 

So now, Frances Bee is officially open for business. An idea born out of the things I love, revealed to me by the women I treasure most, dedicated to the service of others for the love of the act of giving.

I hope you'll share the news, join my client list & tell the story of Frances Bee. 

Happy Giving,

Megan 

(& Frances Bee)

Oops...It's Fall

Lilah & Sadie en route to PA!

Welp...the last time I posted I had big plans, and I was hopelessly ineffective at doing most of those things. Still no headboard, no curtains (yet), & no furniture changes have been made. But I'm ok with that. I did finish my books,  & I still want to take Sewing classes. More on that later.

 In the mean time, things have been dynamic as ever around here. We did lots of summer travelling, some for fun, some for family & some for work. We made a particularly bitter sweet trip back to Pennsylvania this summer to say goodbye to Greg's incredible Aunt Gail. She was funny, wise & bright & we're both better for having been loved and counseled by her.

C & T on their 2nd Chicago visit

There have been some other transitions in Morgan-land. I am now working for Beta Theta Pi Fraternity as an Instructional Design Consultant (writing curriculum) for an educational initiative they have. It's my favorite job & I'm so looking forward to the future with Beta. Greg's back to school, which isn't exactly fun, but it's already Fall break so that means he's approaching the half way point of the semester. It'll be Christmas break before we know it!

Backyard Baseball  with Bella & Jas

Speaking of Christmas, my favorite time of year has arrived so we're busy breaking out all of the Holiday decorations. It's hard to believe it'll be Halloween in just a few short weeks! We're planning on heading back over to our neighborhood's gathering to celebrate with the local kiddos. It's hard to believe that was one of our first "dates" with Rich & Charlene. We spend so much time with them now it's hard to remember a time before they were in our lives. In fact they'll be joining in on our 3rd annual Gypsy Thanksgiving here in Chicago. Coop's coming back for a visit & we're trying to recruit some more of our loves to join in the fun too. Fingers crossed! After that we'll head back to the sunshine state for a very Florida Christmas with the home team & the puppies Morgan! Can't wait!

Can't wait to celebrate this
nugget's first Christmas!

Obviously this update is totally lacking 'cause it's been MONTHS since I posted, but we've had a great summer & we're easing into an even better Fall.

Happy Sunday,
Meggo

PS - I missed all the farmers markets. Shoot.

Get Busy

Now that I got my homesickness off of my chest last night & the Chicago sun is shining & plans have been made to leave my house & enjoy this day, I'm ready to be optimistic & day dream a little about all of the projects & adventures I would L.O.V.E. to make time for! 

• DIY Headboard is the first thing I'd like to do...however, I'm pretty content (for now) with the situation we're working with (primarily, the gallery wall above our bed). Even though we've extended our lease until June 2013, my heart is already beginning to construct an exit strategy for this apartment & this city...I know it's a little premature, but I'm not sure constructing a custom headboard is such a good idea in an apartment we'll only be in for 1 more year. We'll see...
• The few little items on the To Do 2.0 list
• starting with no sew curtains for our bedroom. Greg recently put up the mini blinds that we bought for our room shortly after we moved in so now it's my turn to finish the window treatments. I already have the curtain rod & rings, so now i just need to pick out some fabric. I'm thinking maybe mustard yellow as an accent color? Greg's rooting for Navy. 
• Re-staining the dining room table was on the list...although I think our energies will be better spent staining the 2 extra chairs & the bench we bought to finish up our dining room. Refinishing the armoir was also on the list...although I'm feeling like I'll probably start looking for a replacement. The truth is, the one we've got "works", but it's not good quality. I think it's time for a re-purposed upgrade. 
• We also have a few pieces of furniture in our bedroom from my childhood bedroom that need an update. It's time to borrow the old electric sander & get to work. 
• Finally, we I'm going to start looking for a dresser for our bedroom. I'd like to get something like this & paint it a complimentary accent color. That'll depend on what happens with the curtains. I'd really like to organize our closet, & getting a great dresser would help. 
• Wedding "Art" & Photos Framed: Our marriage certificate created by brilliant blogger Design Editor & signed by all of our wedding guests is sitting in a shady spot in our living room & it breaks my heart every time I look at it. It needs a frame & a prominent spot in this house & every one after this one. That's gotta get done pronto! I'm guessing it'll take a custom framing job as will the large family photo we had printed for our hall way. We both REALLY love that photo & want it up immediamente. We also ordered a few prints that I'd like to incorporate into our gallery walls, which'll probably take a trip out to Ikea. Once that traveling husband of mine gets home we'll get on it! 
• Sewing lessons: I love to craft, create & do things myself. I bought myself a sewing machine a few years ago, and haven't used it once since we moved to Chicago. I am SUPER impatient, which is why I'm not a great seamstress. SO I think it's time for some sewing lessons to learn the right way to do it so I don't get frustrated & give up. I'd love to learn to quilt, & be able to sew some linens like crib sheets, bed skirts, duvet covers & pillow cases.  
• Tennis lessons: I have ALWAYS wanted to learn how to play tennis & they are being offered right in my very own neighborhood for beginnings. This is a SUMMER MUST. 
• I would REALLY love to take a Letterpress class, but they seem kind of pricey, so this line item might need to get held over to a future life. Or until somebody wants to do a more affordable clinic (hint hint: Paper Source). 
• Of course, I need to get BACK to the reading list. Sometimes I can't get enough, and sometimes my brain is just not in the mood. I'm almost done with 30 things every woman should have & should know by the time she's 30, which I have thoroughly enjoyed. I also started the Hunger Games, which is also great, but I've been distracted. 
• There's a couple other random crafties I want to try...
• Decorate some inexpensive dinner plates for serving. (Lyrics to wedding song? Some favorite quotes? Perhaps some holiday-specific quotables? We shall see...)
• A sunbathing towel for Ash Matty.
• Summer & Fall ribbon wreaths.

Is it weird that this list seems short to me? Now all I have to do is choose which one to start with...more on that later.

#ilovelists,

Meggo

Oh my...May!

I can hardly believe that the last time I blogged was before my parents arrived for my graduation. It can't have already been almost a month...right? WEIRD. Since then I've done some reflecting on what's happened, but I just didn't make time to sit down & jot down the details. For now, here's the readers digest  version (warning: it's still long).

After about a year and a half as a Sigma Chi Headquarters staffer, Greg & I decided it was time for me to move on.  Working at Sigma Chi was an incredible experience, one that I look forward to telling our children & grandchildren about.  I try to always publicly give thanks for the privilege that our lives have been, and having worked together for an organization that we both love is definitely something to be thankful for.  I've been drafting a post about my time at Sigma Chi, & I'm looking forward to finishing it up & sharing it...soon!

Of course, my parents arrived early last month to celebrate my graduation form Grad school. My departure from Sigma Chi coincided with my parents visit which allowed me to spend a great deal of time with them, which made us all really happy.  We got to take in a cubs game, take an architectural tour, and spend some good old fashioned family time together.  It was a great visit. As for the reason for their visit, my graduation, I still can't believe I did that.  My experiences in the masters program at Loyola University Chicago is one that I've also been reflecting on pretty regularly, and I really owe it to myself to commit those reflections to writing too. Again...soon!

What I can reflect on right now is the amazing graduation party that my family, friends & neighbors threw for me.  In typical Latch Morgan style, I had a "vision" for what that party would be like, which I'm sure felt overwhelming for Meghan, Greg, Charlene & Rich, but true to form, they created a day for me that was beyond my wildest dreams. It was so much fun & I felt truly celebrated. My graduation party was the punctuation on a long year-and-a-half-ish of celebrations in my honor, all of which I was incredibly grateful for. And I'll be even MORE grateful when I get to through the same number of celebrations for all of them...soon!

My parents 8 day visit ended up feeling like an 8 hour visit...always too short...but we had a great time. Naturally two days after they left, Greg hit the road for a work trip, but I had my trusty sidekick & best lady Coop by my side...for a little while.  As I'm sure you know Meghan had been planning to return to our hometown to begin a new chapter of her life, and the weekend after my parents left, Greg & I threw her a going away party.  I for surely do NOT mind 2 weekend bbq's in a row. A good time was definitely had by all! Of course, the celebration was bittersweet. Just a few days later Meghan & I hit the road at 4:30 AM to officially move her "back home". That road trip & the experience of sitting (physically & metaphorically) by my best lady's side as she headed off in her very own direction is also something I should spend some time thinking over. In contrast to my feelings on Sigma Chi & Loyola, my heart hasn't allowed my head to do a lot of reflecting on that transition...soon!

B

A

Since then I've been getting into the swing of things with my #newlife. After I left Sigma Chi I officially took over for Coop in her Nanny role with an incredibly kind family that she'd been working with for 2 years. They have 2 brilliant & hilarious children, Brendan who's almost 5 & Annika who just turned 2.  I already had a relationship with Kerri, Peter & their two nuggets by way of "Miss Meghan" but I've really enjoyed developing my own relationships with all of them and their super friendly dog Edson.  This new work is definitely a departure from my work at Sigma Chi & from the training I was getting at Loyola, but I'm getting lots more hugs & really enjoying the new work/life balance I'm beginning to strike.  I'm also especially excited about the flexibility that my new role offers...I'm getting to volunteer & do all of the leadership programs my little nerdy heart desires, which is EXACTLY what I need in my student-loving life. My first program of the summer is coming up just a little over a month from now.  I'll be helping facilitate Beta's Wooden Institute in Oxford & I can hardly wait! More to come on that...soon-ish!

Lady Baby E

Best Lady Pups

In the mean time I'm struggling with a pretty rockin' case of homesickness. As it turns out, even though we've spent the last year and a half celebrating our engagement, showers, school accomplishments, our wedding, the birth of sweet Ella Frederick, graduation, Coop's big move home, etc....immediately after we were done with all of that, I returned home to a city I'm kind of on the outs with, to a house that is empty (Greg's on the road...again) with almost all of my best friends back home.  I know "this too shall pass", and there'll be many-a-post on this blog about how incredible our Chicago lives will be this year, followed (I hope) by a post about how much I'll miss this city when we leave it, but for now, I miss my family, my friends & my husband. The bright side? The two cutest puppies in the world are here with me, happily cuddled on the couch & they like Law & Order reruns too. I'll be back on top, into some other DIY project, getting into some kind of trouble, bragging about what a lucky lady I am...soon!

Optomistically,
Meggo

Sunday Funday: Patio Edition

We've been pretty busy at the Morgan house lately...getting ready for my parents visit to Chicago. They'll be arriving on Tuesday (Yay!) so of course I've taken this as an opportunity to get motivated to clean, organize & tidy.  Of course it all started with the laundry (that I never put away) & spread to the living room closet (that is a complete disaster ALL of the time. It's where an unpredictable collection of things often goes to die) & because the seasons are turning, it ended in my closet, with my (prematurely) hanging up all of my sundresses & making a pile of things to return to the "winter clothes" box in our basement storage unit. Well you know the basement storage unit is ALSO a fiasco. Once we arrived at this disasterous intersection of unseasonal clothes & a mountain of nonsense in our storage closet, we decided that some time on Sunday we'd take on the task of re-organizing our storage. No small task.

On our way down to storage with a basket full of sweaters & an empty garden gnome box I remarked to Greg..."You know we could totally bring that craigs list table up here & dress it up a little & use it for deck dining & outdoor living"...& the rest as they say, was history.

Table Before

Like many craigslist finds tend to do, this little craigslist table came into our lives as a direct result of another craigslist table taking up residence in our new dining room. We hadn't had a dining room in any other apartment in Chicago, so when we moved into our new (back then) place, we wanted to add a formal dining room table, but of course you know I didn't want to spend a lot of money. So we got a good sized wood dining room table that came with two chairs that we found on craigslist & bought from a nice couple who were moving.  The chairs needed recovering, which we tackled back in September. But our little dining room table just wasn't complete without the addition of two more dining chairs. Afterall, what good is a dining room table if you can't ever invite people over for dinner? So in addition to a number of other things (that we have ACCOMPLISHED!) we added the acquisition of two more dining chairs to our to do list (which reminds me...I need to update that thing!)...I jumped back on Craigslist & found a table & 2 chairs for $20. TWENTY dollars. For 2 wood chairs & a seriously used but VERY cool little table. The chairs made their way up to our dining room right away (& later had to be repaired by our super handy, super nice neighbor because they were falling apart) but the table was banished to the basement until I had time to take on that project, "this summer" or "after school". Honestly, I completely forgot about it. Which is why I posted on freecycle YESTERDAY that I was in the market for a free, used, functional patio table that we could use for outdoor dining if anybody had one they were willing to give away for free. I forgot all about our little $10 nugget waiting patiently in the basement for it's big debut. So...we brought it upstairs & into the light this afternoon.

The people who actually own the apartment we are renting are pretty crafty & it seems they're also do-it-yourselfers because while we were reorganizing the storage closet we found primer, grey paint (which is EXACTLY the color I had I mind), paintbrushes, paint pans, drop clothes & sandpaper. So we brought all of those goodies upstairs too, excited to take on our new project. But first, Greg had to put up the security netting that I bought for our deck. Lilah & Sadie are small & SUPER rascally, so I was concerned they'd get excited & try to squeeze through the railing on our 3rd floor balcony. So while Greg was putting up the netting, our neighbors came home & saw that we were busy working again, so they came up to visit us & the puppies. Rich had an electric sander (YES!) so Greg borrowed that & it really expedited the sanding process for the craigslist table.

While Greg was busy sanding the table, I was inside working on a little kitchen project...homemade cream sauce for some left over pasta that I had lingering from last week.  It was nice-ish out in Chicago today, so it seemed like a seafood & baked potato kind of day.  The longer I thought about what would really make for a yummy seafood dinner, the more I wished I had a jar of cream sauce to put on that couple-day-old pasta. So...I just made up some cream sauce from what I had in the fridge & Greg says it's his "second favorite dinner" that I've ever made...the first being chicken parm, which I could feed him every day & he'd never complain. So 2nd place to chicken parm is a pretty serious honor for my left-overs experiment. In case you're into cream sauce & all you've got is a bunch of nonsense in your fridge like I did...here's what I did:

• 3/4 cup of skim milk, 
• table spoon of cream cheese
• table spoon of sour cream, butter (3/4 cup maybe? I can't remember...I'll probably do less next time) 
• salt, pepper, garlic, parsley, italian seasoning & parmesan cheese (& whatever else you feel like)
• Left over onions & tomatoes that were formerly used for taco toppings
• 2 splashes of cheap white wine

Start with the butter, add the garlic, then the creams (milk, sour cream & cream cheese) then add in the seasonings, your left overs, veggies & wine. Once it boils, stir it up for a while, then put it on simmer till the rest of your food (in my case, scallops & baked potatoes) are done cooking, then mix in the pasta & whatever else with the sauce & impress the pants off of your dinner guests. Voila! I had already told Greg I was going to blog about the table make-over & while we were eating our dinner tonight he said "You should blog about this". His wish is (usually) my command. Enjoy!

After dinner we cleaned up & headed outside to put the primer on the table. Honestly, even after just primer on it, she's lookin' like a brand new girl. I'm really impressed with her! There's this one detail about the table that I particularly enjoy & it's these small little round dots that adorn each corner. Maybe in it's next life (perhaps in a future office of mine?) I'll paint those little nobs a different color to make them stand out. I just love them.

Even though the tables not even half way done yet I am SO excited about drinking coffee & eating dinner at our new (to us) patio table.  Greg said he could hear the fans at Wrigley tonight singing the Cubs victory song while he was sanding earlier...I mean, who doesn't love a little MLB action on their very own deck? Of course one of the big reasons we plan to spend so much time out on the patio is because of our sweet puppies, who simply must be outside as often as possible. I'm already scheming to add an outdoor friendly dog bed to the patio...MollyMutt is #mahfave. I can't wait!

Today was a super Sunday. I had SO much fun organizing & projecting & I can NOT wait to finish up that little table & drink my coffee outside on Wednesday morning.

Craftily,
Meggo

And many moooooooooore

Two Married People At The Fish Bar

The cherry on top of all of the great stuff that's been happening lately is that I had a birthday! Of course, much like its been throughout my entire academic life, my birthday fell right at the end of the semester. This was pretty unfortunate for my 21st birthday, because we all had finals & nobody wanted to celebrate, but in Grad school life, it turned out jussssst fine.  I had my last multicultural counseling class, which ended an hour early.  Greg had his last student development class, which didn't end early...So I went across the street to a little downtown bar, got a draft beer & cracked open my 1st fun read: The Hunger Games.  Once Greg was done, we headed back up to our neck of the woods & picked up our neighbors, Rich & Charlene to celebrate over dinner.  I could seriously eat seafood every day, & there was a place in our old neighborhood that I'd been really wanting to try, the Fish Bar.  It was DELISH! We had lobster bisque, crab cakes, fish tacos & some REAALLL yummy libations...Sweet Tea Vodka & a "Bourbon on Belmont" served in mason jars. And of course you know we had some key lime pie. It was all delicious. We've already decided that we'll be going back there to celebrate my parent's anniversary next month. They'll love it too.

Even though Greg's last day of his first year of Grad School (Go Babe!) was my birthday, I still had 1 last little class to go to before the end of my grad school life, and of naturally I had 2 meetings, a conference call & a "pre-graduation school friends party" last week too, so we were plenty busy even though things were winding down.  In spite of all the activity we were able to get a group together to go to my FAVORITE Sushi place ever for a little belated birthday celebration. This place is called Fresh & is literally across the street from the Fish Bar. They have the best Miso soup that was ever made by human hands & I could honestly eat there a few times a week & be totally content. Aaaaaand it's BYOB, which is always a hit here in Chicagoland. After everybody parted ways Greg & I stopped in a neighborhood bar for a night cap & I have to say, even though 27 is one of those years that's kind of inconsequential, this year's birthday celebration was perfect just getting together with some friends & keeping it low key.  I used to wonder about "grown ups" who didn't make a big deal about their birthday & think surely they were just saying how little they cared about their birthday because others would think they were silly for caring too much, but now I see why keylime pie & a table for 10 can be just as fun as a big birthday bash. It was truly the perfect 27th birthday celebration!

The Gang at Fresh

In my last post I speculated about what I'd do with all of this free time I have on my hands now that I don't have a wedding to plan or homework to do, and in light of my recent celebration I've been thinking maybe another project I can take on is actually getting a list of everyone's birthdays, anniversaries & the like together so that I can be better about sending celebratory wishes to the people we love. I always want to just sit down, once & for all, & "get organized" but then something inevitably gets in the way, so I'm going to add this to the list of things "to do" this summer (soon). I've seen a couple of helpful ideas to accomplish this goal, some more labor intensive than others. I saw this super cute family birthday board that could come in handy...although that feels more like a thing I'd buy if I owned my home...not sure my "all-in-one-room" Chicago home is cut out for this kind of display.  I do, however, appreciate that Treat (online greeting cards. YES!) has a feature where you can import your facebook friend's birthdays...which really does take care of most of the bunch.  And the best part about Treat is, once you important the birthdays, they send you a reminder & you can order a birthday card RIGHT. THERE. Don't even have to leave the office...I love it.  A little pricey, but SUPER convenient. They also send reminders for other card-worthy holidays like Mother's day, Valentine's day & the like.  I've also been using Google calendar LOTS lately, & I think that might also be a great way to keep track of everyone's big days, since I can just type it all in online & it automatically syncs with my iCal on my phone. Sometimes...I really do love technology. SOMEtimes.

Ok, I'm done talking about cards & birthdays. But I would like to make one final triumphant comment...because even I appreciate when I have my own act together...I have completed my special occasion greeting card & gift shopping for mother's day & a couple of other "special occasions" that are upcoming...& I'm 2 weeks ahead of the game. Don't mind if I do...

Last thing, I promise...I'm just thinking there are lots of things coming up that I don't want to forget to blog about (mostly for posterity's sake, but also for the 3 people that actually read this blog to keep up with our happenings), so I'm going to make a list (I LOVE LISTS!):
- Saying goodbye to Sigma Chi
- Cinco de Chicago
- My parents visit
- GRADUATION
I'm going to stop the list here because right after Graduation comes "Coop's going away party" & "The road back home" & I'm not ready to spend a lot of time thinking about what that experience will be like...but I am pretty pumped about thinking about our road trip to Florida. So...I'll stick with that for now.

All good things,
Meggo