Recommendation Repository- I CANT WAIT!

Viewpoints-- where are you when I need you? You arent working fast enough!!!

This has been a busy week of referrals for me. Despite not having a voice (sick again!), I have passed along a lot of recommendations and referrals this week.

If only I had a single repository of all my reviews-- I could just send them to my site. Here's a snapshot of some of my recs from this week!

Recommendation #1- My bro. He and his wife Lucia are interested in buying a second home in Chicago. They want a downtown loft and needed recs on places to live, a good real estate agent as well as an inspection company. Since they have never owned a condo/loft before, they also needed some tips on what makes a good condo purchase. After hours of writing everything up, I realized that someone else could really benefit from this knowledge too. For example- read the board docs before buying, comb through for special assessments, ensure it is clear whether or not you can rent your unit. Also, can you have pets? As a former condo board member, I know a lot of the ins and outs. I plan to keep my notes and post them in essay form on Viewpoints when we are live. P.S. Elizabeth Ballis is THE agent in Chicago.

Recommendation #2- My visitors from Germany. My nanny's parents are here visiting for 2 weeks. They wanted to know the Top 10 places to visit while in Chicago. They especially wanted to check out authentically Chicago stuff. So, I made them my top 10 list. Of course it included places like the Art Institute of Chicago, Bahai Temple (only one in North America), Green Mill Jazz club, etc. To no surprise, my nanny wanted to send them to the outlet mall. I will keep this list too and post it when we are live!

Recommendation #3- A friend of a friend. A friend of a friend saw my holiday cards and asked the name of the photographer I used. I sent the info along but I also asked about her budget. There are a lot of fabulous photographers but many are more expensive than others. My high end pick would be Margaret Busk, owner of Garbo Productions. My middle of the road pick would be Portraits by Picasso. They do a really nice job and specialize in kids photos. Funny-- last year I took my son there for his birthday. Since his birthday is near Easter, they had bunnies and chicks in the studio. I dressed him adorable (of course!) and sat him down with a chick. Minutes later, he told me he was wet. Yes-- the chicks pooped on him! Needless to say, we had nude photos last year.

Well, those are 3 off the top of my head. I cant wait to write about those and more at Viewpoints. It will be very nice to have a single repository of all my favorites that I can simply direct people to. There's the added benefit that I really like to help people whether they are visitors from far away, family or friends of friends. If I have a good experience, I enjoy spreading the word!

How many recommendations have you passed along today?