Dream Chasing: A Celebration of The Merry Hour's 2nd Birthday

Guest Post written by MH Attendee Lauren Garin

Where women convene to take steps in making their dreams come true.

The Merry Hour is truly a unique community that defies the standard "networking" event. They look to keep the groups small and the conversation (and wine) a-flowing!

I had the awesome opportunity to attend The Merry Hour's 2nd Birthday celebration. And they never disappoint! Held at The Neu Neu in the North Loop, the scene was set for a fabulous night with soft velvet chairs in brilliant colors placed in clusters throughout the space to a gorgeous balloon installation and soft florals everywhere.

We arrived a bit early and you could feel the slightly nervous/excited energy as we waited to enter the main space. I was excited about this event because I brought my mom, Christine. I grew up dancing and always had shows for her and my family to attend, but as I've grown up, there have been fewer and fewer events. She said to me, "Well since you don't have dance shows as often, I want to see you in your element. This networking thing is another passion of yours and I'd love to come see this other community you've created for yourself."

Once the clock struck 6 pm, we entered into the party space and were treated to curated swag bags, a live musician and of course...wine! (See a theme coming alive here?) The wine selection was brought to us by Pairs Well With, a local company owned by the fabulous Corin, who has all the insider knowledge on which libation to be sipping this summer.

With rosé in hand and the incredible food spread calling my name, the mingling began! The energy increased more and more as the night went on. There were women of all types of career backgrounds talking and laughing, even exchanging some business cards.

That is one thing I really loved about this event, the sense of community and wanting to help one another grow. You meet someone new and within 5 minutes they are connecting with you on your next big project or passing along the information to someone else who may be able to assist you with it.
Finding a safe place to share your dreams. Wow. I feel like that hasn't quite existed since elementary school when you could say things like "I want to change the world, own three unicorns and make everyday happy!" Then as you grow older you meet Life. Over and over again. Sometimes Life brings good, bad, and ugly, and sometimes it wants you to hide away those "childish" dreams of yours..... Whelp. Not here at The Merry Hour! Let's bring them out! Let's set goals! Let's help one another make this happen!

Being such a safe space for dream talk, my mom had a fun chance to share one of her lifelong dreams... My mom is an incredible human and with being a parent, she has put her personal dreams aside for the past 25 years. We got to talking with another wonderful Merry Hour guest and before you knew it my mom had her "homework" set in place to take one step in pursuing her dream. I have never seen her so ecstatic and pumped up about her own project! From stranger to hype woman in 10 minutes. Love these events and the women it brings together!

It was so special for myself to connect with so many awesome humans and geek out about my dreams and goals, but being able to see my mom get the fuel to get excited about hers, well that was the true highlight of the night.

The next Merry Hour event is July 10th, go buy your ticket right now and you will walk away, one step and one hype woman closer to those dreams of yours.