abc's and XYZ's of the De Luna Family » work

56/365: Goodbye War room

Marie Montanez De Luna — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 05:43:58 +0000

X was back in school today having fully recovered from her Tuesday sickness. Similarly, I am back in the office with my team since we have a commitment to deliver our project by end of day today.

We have been in this war room for a solid two weeks now, working in close proximity with each other and generally doing awesome work. The timelines were tight (our proposal asked for 6 weeks) and the requirements had a lot of holes. Despite those though – the team did an amazing job completing the tasks on by our commited time. Today’s photo is dedicated to the team, and since we will be out of this war room by tomorrow, we are saying good bye to the space.

We're sorry to see you go, but we'd go crazy if we stay longer :)

Dear War Room,

We’re sorry to see you go, but we’d go crazy if we stay longer :)

Team

47/365: Back to the grind

Marie Montanez De Luna — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 04:59:03 +0000

I love long weekends, and today is the first day back from the long weekend. The problem with long weekends is that you get swamped on your first day back. And such is my day today.

It was also my birthday yesterday, and today, my team mates are treating me out to lunch. Got a photo of the whole team at the table (well, our server did), but I am not using that as photo of the day. Instead, I am using a boring photo of one of our rooms in the office.

"Splash"y Lounge

This room used to be a closet used by our IT to store spare keyboards, cables, etc. It’s a utility room. But then, the company started growing and room became sparse that the closet became a “war” room. We actually was just using this as a war room for one of our projects before a bigger one opened up and we moved there. Then, facilities came over, painted the room and this is the next incarnation of the room. It is now referred to as the Lounge and is a good place for an informal conversations and meetings. Don’t know that anyone actually has time to watch TV or play the Wii though. Hee.

The downside? It’s right beside the men’s rest room. “Splash” indeed :)

42/365: Last 2 minutes

Marie Montanez De Luna — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 05:38:15 +0000

Another back to back to back meeting day starting early in the morning with an interview and ending with a late meeting and drinks with our offshore leadership team. Got home almost at 10 pm, then had to tend to the girls. By the time I realize I haven’t taken a photo the whole day (even with my phone), it was almost too late!

Last 2 minutes

I had a couple of photos of this clock actually. No flash, with flash – but for some reason, I liked the version with the flash (removed all shadows). I was in Photoshop cropping it when I started playing around with the Levels, and though, hey – this is interesting. So, yes, my photo of the day today is a bit processed.

Another close call… I’m still amazed I haven’t slipped and am still going strong. I keep thinking one of these days I will slip.

34/365: San Francisco, here I come

Marie Montanez De Luna — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 05:53:10 +0000

Woke up really early today to fly out to San Francisco for our company’s Tech Summit. I am one of the presenters on Friday and we’re doing rehearsals with the whole team at the San Francisco offices today.

My flight boarded without issues but when we were about the push out of the gate, the captain informed us that the occular inspection showed that one of the doors was missing a hinge. The mechanics had to figure out what has to be done to fix it and took about 30-45 minutes to fix the issue. So, while the flight was almost an hour delayed, it was better than getting us bumped off other flights. From the airport, I checked into the hotel, so I can drop off my heavy jacket (which I don’t need here) and the suit case and walked to the office.

Hotel Palomar, San Francisco

This is a picture of my room for the next few days. Dinner was at Dosa, a Southern Indian restaurant, and while I had to return my food for a redo, the Lamb Chops were awesome. Wish I had time to take photos of downtown San Francisco, but I am wiped out.

22/365: Razorfish Holiday Party @ Salvage One

Marie Montanez De Luna — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 03:41:52 +0000

Tonight is Razorfish’s holiday party! Went with all my team mates, and since I live far far west in the suburbs, I had to go in my work clothes :( I was told this is the same place we had the holiday party last year, which I missed because I was on maternity leave. The place was huge! It had a lot of different chandeliers, that I actually think are for sale (I took a photo of one of them).

Flimsy Photo wall

Razorfishies @ Play

The main entertainment of the night is CRUX Capacitor, Razorfish’s own rock band! They were awesome! Thanks for all the fun Razorfish!

21/365: Bowling with the Krafties

Marie Montanez De Luna — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 03:31:15 +0000

Q4 over… projects all launched… Time to party! Went bowling at 10pin after work with all the team members working on the account. It was a fun night! I think I played 5 games, and should have stopped at 3. I had a great game, and I had the worst.game.ever! I should have stopped while I was ahead! :)

Food, Drinks and Bowling @ 10pin

Even though we were having fun, I had to find my photo of the day. This drink became a topic of conversation because we didn’t know what it was. Since it was laser bowling, the drink “glowed”. I just had to take it’s picture.

Glow in the dark vodka

11/365: Cheep Chicken Monday

Marie Montanez De Luna — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 05:48:17 +0000

It’s very rare that I don’t bring food for lunch, but today is one of those days. Had a lunch meeting that ended early, so I was able to leave the office and and actually spend some time outside. I grabbed my camera in case there are photos to take. Being in the West loop doesn’t really give one lots of options for lunch, specially if you want something quick to go. Today, the choice is Jewel. Between the office and Jewel, there’s the train tracks, the doggy park, and the chocolate factory. Prime choice of photo ops :)

Took some photos of all those but didn’t find any I like. I think I need to work on some confidence with the camera. Oftentimes, I find myself embarassed (?) and uncomfortable taking pictures in public places like grocery stores, theatres or train stations. I did take this photo today while picking something for lunch.

Cheep Chicken Monday

I always get chicken and hawaiian sweet rolls for lunch at Jewel, so this caught my attention. However, I really don’t think I can finish an 8 piece chicken myself. So, opted to get zing wings instead.

6/365: Happy Hour at Carnivale

Marie Montanez De Luna — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 05:32:03 +0000

Every so often, my colleagues and I get together after work to unwind and relieve some stress. Q4 has always been a busy time for us, and this year is no exception. With most of my teammates working over the holidays and a bunch of projects launching in the next few weeks — we are due one of these sessions… and today is the day.

Just two blocks from our office is Carnivale, an Authentic Nuevo Latino cuisine in Downtown Chicago. Since one of us has been boycotting Jeff’s Tap & Grill, this has been our go to hang out place after work. Being the finicky eater that I am, I always order the same stuff – a frozen (lime) margarita and Pollo Estilo Billy. It is a spice rubbed chicken breast that comes with papas fritas (aka french fries, which I ALWAYS forget, and have to ask every time) and a citrus butter sauce (mmmmm!)

Pollo Estilo Billy and Frozen Margaritas

Food, drinks and conversation with friends… a good way to end the work day!