Okay, it’s officially hollerday sneezin’ here at MBIP and yesterday we kicked it off with a festive afternoon and evening! The day started off at CIBP to celebrate their newest issue of Art & Society, which features a really cool story...well, instead of me babbling on about it here in the first paragraph of this blog, let’s just go and start yesterday all over again through the miracle of these here interwebs and away we go...
Here we are at CIBP, Peoria’s publishing home of InterBusiness Issues, Art & Society and Peoria Progress. Let’s go in and take a look around inside.
Here’s the front foyer...where is everybody? Did they know I was coming and run out of the building?
Fear not, there’s living breathing people in the building! This is Jonathan Wright, who’s the Managing Editor here.
Jonathan gave me a little tour of the offices which includes group portraits of the 40 Leaders Under Forty and a caricature of his mom, Jan Wright, who is the President and Publisher here at CIBP.
And check out the Christmas tree, I think I see a present for me there!
A twelve pack of Budweiser, how did they know what to get me? And there’s also the latest issue of Art & Society. One of the reasons Jonathan decided to have a pizza party is because he wrote an article about myself and his father, David Wright in this issue.
Here’s the issue and you can read the article about myself and Jonathan’s father, “Full Circle with Marty and Dave, by clicking here. David Wright and I both started publishing our own independent magazines in the early ‘90’s here in Peoria. They were two totally different magazines and while David and I were definitely two people with different mindsets, it’s interesting to read about how in other ways we were just alike. Jonathan did a great job recreating this part of Peoria’s publishing history and I thank him for doing that! I’m also featured in the “Take 10” question and answer page and you can check that out right here.
And now, it’s time for a pizza party at CIBP! Here’s the group assembled for our luncheon party, clockwise from left: Samantha Foster, Nikki Cole, Tarryn Silver, Stevie Zvereva and Jonathan Wright. Samantha’s the Client Coordinator, Nikki is the Director of Business Development, Tarryn’s the Graphic Designer and Stevie is the Associate Editor. It was great to meet all of them, now let’s eat some pizza!
This was a fun lunch and it was a throwback to the old days of POP magazine when I used to bribe the drivers of Illinois News Service with a pizza lunch to get POP in the point of purchase displays at grocery stores. You can read about that in Jonathan’s article and if you’d like to pick up a print edition, here’s some locations where the magazine can be found. As you can see from the last picture, everybody had to get back to work...except for me!
Another fun article in the current Art & Society magazine is a history of Peoria’s magazines.
Jonathan wrote that article and he showed me some of the magazines he found while doing research for the article. There’s the first issue of Inter-Business Issues and below that is a classic typo that you can read about in the article! There’s also the first issue of Peoria Woman, Attitudes and Images, Potpourri and Numero. At the bottom is the current issue of iBi. Really fun to look at all these magazines and it brought back a ton of memories!
After three holiday beers, they all had to get back to work and I grabbed the twelve pack and some issues for the road. Thanks to Jonathan and all the gang at CIBP for a fun and festive holiday pizza lunch! I hope we can do it again next year! And check out the cover story written by MBIP Contributing Writer, Chip Joyce!
Then suddenly...it’s night time and we’re here in front of Jim’s Steak House. I love it when that happens! Since we’re here, we may as well go in and have a holiday dinner!
Obligatory elevator mirror shot!
I love this place, it reminds me of an old school New York type of steak house.
Wow, the dining room sure is sparkly and festive...
But I think we’ll sit here at the bar, I feel more at home here!
And this was certainly the right decision, because before you know it, here’s Karen the bartender serving up the first beer of the evening!
Danielle and Nick were also on duty this evening and they posed with Karen behind the bar for the MBIP roving camera!
There’s Santa behind the bar in between two autographed guitars.
A tiny little Christmas tree sits over on that corner of the bar.
Tables and booths are behind the bar in this dining area and as you can see, it’s quite the festive scene heretoo!
And here’s tonight’s special dining guest star, my friend Nathalie, who’s looking gorgeous as always! Always a treat to see Nathalie and hang out with her! And now it’s time for our first annual holiday dinner together!
For starters we got stuffed mushrooms and then I had the homemade chicken noodle soup and Nathalie got a salad. Nathalie said the salad was crispy and tasty and the soup was so good! Big chunks of tender chicken and creamy rich homemade noodles, a perfect start for our holiday dinner!
And now, time for the main course delivered by Karen!
I got the Cajun Ribeye with a twice baked potato and Nathalie got the Alaskan Halibut with broccoli. The food is always excellent at Jim’s and this dinner was no exception. Usually Nathalie doesn’t eat meat, but she couldn’t resist a taste of the Cajun Ribeye! It was so good! And I really loved the twice-baked potato, it comes topped with melted cheese and it’s amazing! What a great dinner!
And here’s the man responsible for this wonderful feast, Chef Todd! Great job with the meal, as always, Chef Todd, wonderful to see you again!
Nathalie and I plan on making this a yearly tradition, so we’ll see you in one year from now! Thanks to everyone at Jim’s for a great and festive evening! Cheers from Nathalie and I and we’ll see you all tomorrow!
Related Posts: Beers And A Photo Shoot @ 8 Bit Beercade—Plus, Week Number Five Of The MBIP Vs. Bartender 2015/2016 Armwrestling Tour! and Saturday Night @ Jim's Steak House.