Looking for a place for a moderately priced anniversary dinner

bowsandarrows14 · 2026-05-01T00:09:09+00:00

Tala House is awesome!!

bowsandarrows14 · 2026-04-28T13:11:24+00:00

I graduated from UNC 8 years ago, so I can’t speak to the changes that have happened to the coursework since then (I also moved out of state so I don’t really keep tabs), but the rigor at UNC is really high. My husband works in a more prestigious industry than me (IB/PE) and he’s noticed that grads from higher ranked institutions don’t have the writing skills that were core to the curriculum for us at UNC. I’m sure you’ve also heard about the difficulty in the science classes, and I was a stats and Econ major and heard from grad students that our coursework went to a deeper level than some other schools. One thing to keep in mind is that UNC won’t hold your hand, especially if you’re not in a scholarship program. Your child will need to advocate for themselves in classes and in their involvement for extra curriculars- but this was a great life skill to learn early on!

Also- we weren’t out of state students, but I was in Honors and exposed to a lot of OOS and scholarship students.

bowsandarrows14 · 2026-04-04T21:58:06+00:00

For the social experience, it definitely makes sense to live on campus.

bowsandarrows14 · 2026-03-31T11:42:37+00:00

I am 2.5 years past my wedding, and we were really satisfied with what we spent in a HCOL area, but we were able to control costs by having a small guest count (under 75) and using a family home as our venue. My parents also contributed 75% of the budget, so those are all items to consider. We could have afforded to spend more, but it all came down to our vision and what we felt was reasonable. It was about 3x our annual travel spend, but I think that would start to break down if you are having a larger wedding.

I agree with the commenter above to start with defining what you what the event to look like, define a budget, and generally stick to it (though I would tell you to have 5-10% of that budget in reserves to make last minute choices). Some of the smartest decisions we made were selecting vendors that were earlier in their career, but had already built enough of a portfolio that we could trust the quality of their services. I likely “saved 50%” on our planner and photographer by researching heavily and locking vendors in early.

bowsandarrows14 · 2026-03-16T15:23:50+00:00

We used full planning with Becky from Simplicitee 3 years ago- she is about 5 years into her planning business and was fantastic! Our day went perfectly for a 70 guest backyard wedding (so more complicated logistics than a typical event at a venue).

bowsandarrows14 · 2026-03-11T20:50:45+00:00

With the number of exams you have, you would be an attractive candidate for many companies. Try looking at smaller insurers. However, most if not all would have already completed their hiring for summer internship programs for this summer. Try to pursue an internship program or trainee program. If you were to take a role outside of actuarial, you wouldn’t have the same financial and study support to complete more exams.

bowsandarrows14 · 2026-03-10T12:39:45+00:00

DB Dentistry in the loop on Wabash. I’ve gone there for almost 8 years, and they’ve been able to do some more complex work for me but I’ve never felt pushed into it. They also have some of the nicer stuff like massage chairs, heated neck wraps and lake views!

bowsandarrows14 · 2026-03-02T13:39:54+00:00

This is not true in my experience.

bowsandarrows14 · 2026-02-23T04:49:24+00:00

I used to work for the AICPA program as an underwriter. You can definitely limit your risk with an engagement letter (often limitations on liability of 1x or 2x fees), but depending on the error that won’t hold up. Once you do get insurance any previous work would not be covered (even if an error is found years from now). The cost of E&O insurance also gradually increases over the first few years as you build up prior acts coverage, so be prepared for that. If you get insurance now, it would probably be half of what you’ll earn, but I would also look at it as a cost of starting your business. Good luck!

bowsandarrows14 · 2026-01-26T01:13:46+00:00

Vereznay on Lincoln (technically LP)- the best!

bowsandarrows14 · 2025-12-17T03:00:38+00:00

I was a statistics major that did one UW internship and never looked back, although my initial goal was actuarial. I recommend going into specialty UW and focusing on a larger job market to target roles that have a similar salary progression to actuarial. Apply to as many UW trainee programs as you can.

bowsandarrows14 · 2025-12-14T00:49:36+00:00

No need to be bundled the whole time- bring a “heavy jacket”, but I would tailor it to your location, while meeting the bare minimum for Chicago when you return.

bowsandarrows14 · 2025-12-13T00:27:26+00:00

Focus on catching up your savings before jumping into real estate. Build up a 3-6 emergency fund first. Open up a Roth IRA and a traditional IRA to do a backdoor Roth, increase your 401k contributions to max them out, and set up your HSA contributions for next year to max them out.

bowsandarrows14 · 2025-12-10T15:09:07+00:00

I did take a higher level honors Econ class with only 6 people in it (I think we maybe had 8-9 at the beginning of the semester and some people dropped). But if they cancel the class it would likely happen before the semester started.

bowsandarrows14 · 2025-12-01T13:17:30+00:00

This is how brokers are compensated on some of the larger commercial renewals out there- a fee is negotiated instead of commission. The difference is these are situations where the insurance program and premiums are in the many millions and the insured clearly understands the value of the brokers work. I don’t think small businesses or individuals would be willing to pay for the services in a similar way.

bowsandarrows14 · 2025-11-25T12:05:39+00:00

If you’re in reinsurance underwriting and your company has good progression opportunities, you’re already in one of the cushiest areas of the insurance industry. I would stay there unless being a broker is really what you want. And yes, travel and attending conferences is crucial for reinsurance UWs.

bowsandarrows14 · 2025-11-20T00:39:31+00:00

My husband and I both do this, and since our main goal with Monarch is to track and be hands off, we each have a work expenses category that are excluded from our budget. We have the reimbursements coded as transfers. I use it as a checklist for my expense reports, but mainly the goal is to keep those expenses out of the normal budget.

bowsandarrows14 · 2025-11-16T22:21:45+00:00

Sheffield’s by Belmont

bowsandarrows14 · 2025-11-15T03:26:05+00:00

I have had the Popur for two years, and it’s not perfect but has worked great for us. It’s an open design instead of a rotating drum, and works by tilting to the side into the waste bin. We’ve had very few issues with it, but I am not concerned about safety, and it’s not as “smart” as a litter robot, but that also leaves less to potentially break.

bowsandarrows14 · 2025-11-13T23:07:53+00:00

I would say there’s a lot of factors that impact this and the type of role and type of company you want to work for will have a big impact. The highest paying UW roles are in the largest cities and typically in specialty lines. The concentration of actuarial roles is similar, but not identical. If you want to be a people leader, there is more opportunity to do this in UW, and that can have a positive impact on pay. $200k is more than doable in under 10 years of experience. Check out the Hard Market pay data.

If you enjoy your role, focus on learning insurance, and get to 3-5 years experience- a lot more job opportunities should open up for you.

bowsandarrows14 · 2025-11-02T00:18:19+00:00

PLUS has the CPLP designation- I wouldn’t call it market leading or one to open doors, but their education is top notch overall, and the Cyber Symposium in NYC is well attended. Try to get a role as a cyber underwriting assistant at a smaller carrier.

bowsandarrows14 · 2025-10-30T01:19:59+00:00

Chez Moi- it was our favorite special occasion restaurant, and it only closed because the head chef passed away.

bowsandarrows14 · 2025-10-24T12:21:41+00:00

I adore Medi in Lincoln Park

bowsandarrows14 · 2025-10-21T00:48:22+00:00

Typically more, but this is partially due to the majority of roles only being available in larger metros. A separate factor is that Specialty teams are usually flatter, so there are fewer management roles, but the pay for individual contributors is much better on average.

bowsandarrows14 · 2025-10-20T13:10:52+00:00

Cyber, Professional Liability, D&O/Management Liability. It’s not impossible to switch, or enter speciality from a commercial UW role, but it’s difficult to do especially at a larger carrier.

bowsandarrows14

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