Take a look at these.

Today is my actual b-day and I am writing this to you from a Chicago hotel room. I still look fabulous (I think), but my knees are starting to hurt - randomly - It’s funny how these things happen on the exact date of your birthday.

I have to speak on a panel shortly, but what’s most important, at this very moment, besides writing to all of you, is hydrating after all of the cosmos I had last night - early b-day celebration.

Anyway, I had promised to post where we’ll be this weekend and either I am getting old or there isn’t much out there that excites me. One thing is for sure - I am headed to Wild Indigo tonight for some drinks and then over to Octopus. I plan to take tomorrow off because I have Sunday brunch with my parents, aunts and such (don’t want to look in a way in front of them). Then of course Sunday night is the PARTAY -

So, if you are doing nothing tonight and want to grab a drink, I will be at Indigo around 9 -

bc

I know I had promised to keep the blog updated with things pertaining to the party next week, but I have unfortunately or fortunately, been travelling a lot.  As a matter of fact, while I write this, I am in a client meeting.

Nonetheless, I will get back to updating the site as of tomorrow (Friday) with detail.

I cannot wait to see you all on the 18th.

Beverly!

Every year, I say “This birthday will be a quiet one for me. No parties. Bla bla bla.” And then, something happens as the date gets closer. I get this abnormal urge and inclination to celebrate (drink). So, why should this year be any different.

This year, we’ll be celebrating my birthday with the Godfather of House, Frankie Knuckles! The party will be held at the Mod Club (722 College St W) on Sunday May 18th and the festivities will start at 10 pm.

Don’t forget to keep checking the BarbaraBottomApple blog, as I will be adding info about and for the evening here.

Anyway, looking forward to the party and hanging out with all of you! See you on the 18th

I know you are thinking , what is a newly entrenched entrepreneur doing going to Vegas - she can’t be making that much money. Yeah you’re probably right, but there is one thing I recognized very early on in life and that is ‘it is not all about work. You need to reward you when appropriate and for me (Barbara) the Vegas trip and its timing was appropriate.

The only challenge now is getting back into work - between the countless nights of partying with bottle service, the lavish dinners, limo rides, and lastly the 12 hour delayed flight - it’s hard to get back to normal!

Already, friends and readers have asked me to continue with the theme of ‘What’s It All About’ and explain how the heck I got here. What made take the leap and go out on my own? Well here, it goes…

Imagine, you’re in your very early 30’s, at the director level in your organization, 200 direct reports and making 160k a year. You’re not married and you have no children that need to eat away at your earnings. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, you have a condo with a roof top patio in the heart of downtown and you’re a stone throw away from the lakefront. Sounds nice right? Well, this was my world. However, amongst all the bright lights and martinis, my creative and ingenious juices were feeling stifled. I couldn’t handle working in an environment that wanted to exist in an aggressive industry, by doing only what was safe. Not saying that I had all of the answers, but I did realize that the company (my employer) and I had come to a stage where we no longer saw eye to eye.

Making the decision to leave wasn’t easy. To let you in on a little secret, I really toyed with leaving for a year and a half. Nevertheless, enough was enough and I finally did make that career (LIFE) change.

Now I run my own consultancy practice - helping traditional company’s e-enable their business. It hasn’t yet been a year, but trust me, even within the 9 months that have passed, a lot has happened. Between the embarrassing client meetings, horrendous travel for the sake of new business, the self-doubt, the empty bank account and the reduction of martinis, there has never been a dull moment. But we’ll have to talk about those adventures later.

I just had to share this - and it’s perfect to share here on Barbara Bottom Apple.

Given that many of my customers are from the print media world (newspapers and magazines) I subscribe to many industry organizations online news or email blasts, to keep current on what’s happening. Nonetheless, the excerpt below is from an email I received from a print related organization, as a part of their email blast campaign.

Beginning in February, a newsletter with research updates and new postings will be mailed to XXXX members and others who request it. If you are interested in receiving the print newsletter, please add your address to your profile on the site. Or you can email your current address to xxxxx. She can be reached at xxxxx

Note, when they say you can email your current address, they do not mean email address, they mean physical address. My question… if you have a website and already have my email address, why not just let me download the information.

Many of us have blogs for different reasons. Some, to keep others informed of the personal lives of our families, some to rave about things we’re passionate about and lastly, some to express our knowledge in an area we’re employed. The latter is I. However, each day, as I battle through the trials and tribulations of this ‘entrepreneurial thing’, I think, “someone needs to hear about the interestingly weird things that I encounter”, thus the birth of Barbara Bottom Apple!

I hope you enjoy!