Field Notes From The Marge: April 2026

Margaret Bowen
Apr 29
2 min read

Hi Friends!

April felt like being out in the world again.

A lot of moving around, a lot of conversations, and a lot of showing up in different spaces — which is honestly one of my favorite parts of what I do.

Here’s the April edition of Field Notes.

Field Notes: Work Shenanigans

(Real Estate, Community & Being Out There)

April had a strong mix of real estate and industry involvement.

One of my buyers closed on a condo in Belvidere! My listing at 2823 Ridgeway stayed active this month, and I’ve been having fun sharing it — putting together videos, getting it in front of people, and doing the work to get the right eyes on it.

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/625a63_3ccc3e4d8dd147698f36030631ed1a2f/1080p/mp4/file.mp4

I had a lot of fun putting this video together. If you want to see more of my work, check out “Field Notes From The Xennial Broker.” https://www.tiktok.com/@xennialbroker

I also made it to several industry events:

The Tri-County awards dinner, celebrating the top producers across Jo Daviess, Carroll, and Stephenson counties.

HomeQuest’s A Network Thing, a quarterly networking event for real estate professionals put together with Leigh Rodebaugh from Compeer Financial and myself.

Capital Conference, where Illinois REALTORS® gather to meet with representatives to advocate for private property rights.

All very different, but all reminders that this business is built on relationships and staying connected beyond just transactions.

Some of it is formal, some of it is just conversations in a room — but it all matters.

Field Notes: Marge Shenanigans

(People, Places & Everything Else)

April also had a lot of life in it.

I had a quick stretch of pet sitting with Rufus (my most photogenic client), which was a nice reset and a reminder that I will always have one foot in the animal world no matter what else I’m doing.

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/625a63_63efa2b4615f41d18f310b77ea082b5d/1080p/mp4/file.mp4

There was also some wandering — an adult (boozy) book fair in Beloit and a massive geek meet in Monroe. Both very different vibes, both equally entertaining.

And for this month’s entry in the Bowen Year of Shenanigans, I took a trip with my dad — which, at the end of the day, is really what that whole idea is about. Time, memories, and not putting those things off.