Hi hey hello! It’s me, here with your quarterly roundup of everything going on in my uneventful life.
LIFE
Whoa. I feel like I don’t have to let a lot of word vomit out here because I’ve been doing a really great job at updating my blog this year! Crazy.
I recently took inventory of my life, my calendar app and my mental state and realized that I was stretched so incredibly thin that it wasn’t healthy. I made the really big decision to drop my highest-paying freelance clients and — while I’m now stressed about money — I’m way less stressed about my schedule. Trade offs, I guess? No point in having money if a stress ulcer kills you before you can enjoy it, however!
With that said! I might not have money, but I now have time to invest a little more into the things that bring me joy. I’m now a permanent instructor at North Loft Yoga and I’m looking forward to attending my first book club meeting in roughly six months next week!
I have a little bit more time to dedicate to my board position at Association for Women Journalists-Chicago now, and in addition to my weekly volunteering at Heartland Alliance as an ESL teacher, I have time once again to volunteer monthly at 826CHI’s writing workshops! I spent Friday morning working with second graders on a field trip and ugh, guys, those kids are so cute that for a second, I forgot that I blithely waved away a third of my total income in one afternoon.
FRIENDS + FAMILY
Weeelll, my work bestie Kasondra got engaged!
I’m only slightly offended since she “proposed” to me (with a foil “ring” from our bottle of champagne) first at the Eiffel Tower when we went to Paris together a few years ago.
But no, I’m honestly so happy for her and her fiancé Brian, and I can’t wait until their wedding!
FOOD + DINING
In an effort to save $$$ bc of that decision to quit the jobs that paid my fun money, I’ve been living almost exclusively on Trader Joe’s microwave meals and packed lunches. So adulty of me!
I haven’t been to brunch in five months. I don’t know who I am anymore.
However, I did get a chance to deviate from my normal diet of Cheesie’s, Jet’s Pizza and Chipotle to try a few new-to-me places, including…
- A delicious tuna bowl at Pokéworks in the Loop
- Falafel and hummus at Oasis Cafe on Jeweler’s Row
- Cocktail flights at Kumiko in West Loop
- Margaritas and quesadillas at Pub 626 in Roger’s Park
- Channa Masala at Hema’s Kitchen on Devon
- Sashimi with gochujang sauce from Joong Boo Market in Avondale
This past month, I got most of the Trib’s web team on the Ritual food app train.
If you don’t use Ritual, you should totally sign up. It’s a food order app that lets you skip the line by ordering via your phone and then picking up in person. You collect rewards points, which can be used for food discounts.
Ritual is soooo good with discounts, in fact, that pretty much the entire web team had a weeks’ worth of lunch completely for free earlier this month.
When you sign up, you get $5 in credits. Ritual recently held “Dollar Fest” where a ton of restaurants in the Loop offered $1 meals. You could use the deal five times — and you could apply your credit.
Math says that’s free lunch for a week.
Legit lunch, too! I had Freshii bowls and that poké bowl above. $1 each. No joke.
So, if you don’t use Ritual, sign up! Disclaimer: The link that gets you your $5 credit also gets me a $5 credit so we can share the love.
WORK
Guys it took four years, but I have a bio page on the Chicago Tribune website! Yay! All my work is in one place and I got to reference ranch dressing so, as you can tell, I am a very. serious. journalist.
And… my “From the Midway” podcast miniseries about the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair is a Lisagor Award finalist! My coworker Colleen and I produced this little passion project last summer, mostly during off-the-clock hours, and I’m so excited to see it getting a little bit of love from Chicago’s Society of Professional Journalists chapter!
Other than that, work has been pretty routine over the last few months, which is more than welcome after a turbulent 2018. We’re preparing a schedule change that will definitely affect my day-to-day life, which I’m on the fence about. I’m not entirely sure what my hours will look like, but I think I’ll be moving into a role with more normal hours. I’ll miss my three-day weekends, but it’ll be nice to be on the same schedule as a lot of my friends, I’m sure.
The only other mildly interesting thing I have to offer you is this fun little piece on March Madness memes I put together last week.
Because as much as I love sports, basketball is the one sport I cannot get into. So if I do #sports #content, you’d better believe it will be memes.
TRAVEL
So far this year, I’ve taken two trips! One was an… interesting(?) trip to San Francisco (OK after twice in a calendar year, I’ve learned my lesson: Do not take trips to visit guys you date) and the other was a mind-blowingly amazing trip to Tulum, Mexico (…after twice in a calendar year, I’ve learned my lesson: ALWAYS TRAVEL SOLO).
In terms of trips coming up — I have very few planned… because IT’S ALMOST SUMMER IN CHICAGO. There’s no point in leaving this glorious city as soon as the temps hit 70 degrees, so I’ll be enjoying eeeverrryyyy patio, rooftop, park and street festival in this city soon enough, no international flights needed.
Although, I will likely be heading to Maine with my mom sometime in the next few months for our now-annual mother-daughter trip.
SHOPPING (PST! AFFILIATE LINKS.)
The temps are rising and I’m beyond ready to ditch my Timbs and wear my Birks for about 80 percent of my waking hours. On yoga teaching days, I’ve been living in my favorite leggings, sports bras and tank tops paired with my lightweight puffer jacket.
On newsroom days, I’ve been easing back into my spring uniform of flats + skinny jeans + tank top + blazer — which I wear to work a good three days a week. Since it’s still pretty chilly outside, my trench gets repeated wear.
I’ve got a few things on my wishlist this season, including these black leather loafers, a pair of my favorite leggings… but in olive and not black, these pants in black (which look great for travel!), this crossbody, this circle skirt, this simple linen shirt and this dainty choker necklace.
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So, that’s it! The past few days of warm weather (coupled with Opening Day!) have made me so excited for spring and summer. I can’t wait to get out of my apartment and fall back in love with Chicago the same way I do every single May.
Catch ya later!
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