I’m priveleged to be speaking at the Chicago Chapter of ISES Day of Education on February 2nd.  ISES, the International Special Event Society, the professional special events organization.  I’ll be giving a talk on how to make special events more sustainable, and learning a great deal from a large group of event professionals under one roof.

I don’t think I’ve met anyone who isn’t happy about saying goodbye to 2009.  It was a tough and challenging year.  But no matter how tough times have been, the New Year always feels optimistic to me, full of promise.  

I always have a renewed optimism this time of year.  A fresh start.  It doesn’t always serve me or the Kitchen, as I can turn into a nutcase racing to finish up projects before the big ball drops in Times Square.

But boy does it feel good to offload the big stuff. This week sees us finalizing our permanent financing for the Kitchen. (THANK YOU, Jim Eccher and Bob Briski of Old Second National Bank.) Our LEED certification is ready to submit, just waiting on some technical corrections from the USGBC.  We’ve started our search for a pr firm too.

How great is it to have a job where you have the honor of helping people celebrate for a living?  We have brides and grooms checking out our space for celebrations.  Some find us because they are interested in a sustainable space, others for the hip urban feel. 

We’re in a final review of our LEED certification.  We have already completed submission of credits we earned during the design stage.  This is the home stretch, the final review of our sustainable performance during the construction period.

The Logan Square Farmer’s Market has moved indoors for the winter.  Sundays 10am-2pm, now through March 28, 2010.  The market will be held in the lobby of the Congress Theatre, 2135 N Milwaukee Avenue.

We’re anxiously awaiting the opening of the Dill Pickle Food Coop right around the corner from our Kitchen on West Fullerton.  When it opens this fall, it will be Chicago’s only food coop!  It’s an amazing achievement, and with hundreds of members already (count us among them) it’s sure to be a smashing success.

You do not have to be a member to shop at this soon-to-be-very-cool grocery, but as a members’ owned grocery, you’ll find a thoughtfulness and care that makes for a great experience.

I’m embarrased to see it’s been about two months since the last blog post.  We’ve been working hard, learning how to operate the event venue and the shared kitchen.  It’s been a terrific learning curve, so much every day.  I know we get better each day at what we’re doing, and the event hosts, caterers and kitchen clients are working with us in developing practices that are awesome.