Randi with an i

A morning and evening skincare regimen for summer. A great routine to help combo skin stay nice in the sun.

Current summer skincare routine

June 19, 2017 Randi

I have, admittedly, somewhat of a spotty track record with skincare.

All through my late teens and early 20’s, I slept in my makeup. And — even as recently as last year — if I ran out of face cleanser or couldn’t fit my moisturizer in my TSA-approved baggie of liquids, I’d just swap out my body soap and hand cream. Cringe.

I’ve been genetically blessed with mostly-clear skin. I have a pale freckly complexion that doesn’t break out much at all aside from the inevitable that-time-of-the-month zit, so I’ve always been able to get away with treating my skin like straight garbage.

But now that 30 is on the horizon (gulp), I’ve been trying to take a more active role in putting together an actual skincare regimen. As it turns out, it’s kinda hard to do! I’m planning on writing a post about how you can develop a skincare routine starting from scratch, but for now, I’m just going to share my current lineup.

Business cards: Design tips (and cute cases)

June 14, 2017 Randi

It’s actually somewhat embarrassing to admit this, but — for roughly a year and a half of my post-graduate adult life — I didn’t have business cards.

Whoops.

My last job had cards printed for me, and I relied exclusively on those for about three years. I used my personal cellphone for everything, so that number was printed on them. I wasn’t freelancing or side hustling at all back then, so my work-provided cards filled every need I had.

But, when I took my new job in early 2015, it did not come with pretty printed business cards right off the bat. Also, I had started freelancing and had joined a few professional organizations — which basically exist only for networking purposes.

And so, after putting it off month after month and scribbling my Twitter handle down on scrap paper (sorry everyone), I finally got around to designing my own personal business cards and having them printed.

And then, ironically enough, my job presented me with a case of 1,000 business cards two months later. Sigh.

However, I think it’s important to have more than one business card design — more on that later. So, right now, I have three different card options: My company-provided cards, and two different personal business card designs.

Designing both of my personal business cards was surprisingly hard! Picking a design, deciding what contact information I wanted to include… the process was a little more nitpick-y than I thought it would be. It took a few weeks of designing, editing, proofing and consulting to get them how I wanted them, but I’m really pleased with how they turned out.

Here are a few tips I picked up along the way.

Reflecting on high school graduation, 10 years later

June 11, 2017 Randi2 comments

It’s been an emotional graduation season this year.

I’m a few years removed from college at this point, so I usually forget all about graduation season. At least, until I’m trying to grab dinner during an early summer weekend and the waitlist is hours long and the restaurant is filled with smiling teens and 20-somethings. Then I remember.

But this year’s a little different. Not only did my little sister graduate from college, but I’m also celebrating two notable anniversaries this year: It’s been 10 years (!!!) since I graduated high school, and five years since I walked across the stage from undergrad.

While I want to say I can’t believe it’s already been a decade since I left high school with the rest of the class of 2007, it really does feel like so long ago. It’s been a whirlwind 10 years and I’ve changed so much. The change isn’t really noticeable day-to-day — or even year-to-year. But, when I look back at High School Randi dressed in a canary red cap and gown, nervously tottering across a gymnasium stage, a decade’s worth of change is glaringly obvious.

In a lot of ways, I’m still pretty unsure of myself. I work in an unstable industry, and I’m far from being “settled down” in that American Dream White Picket Fence kind of way… although, to be honest, that’s not what I want right now, and even though High School Randi didn’t exactly have a 10-year plan for her life, I think she’d be pretty content with where Grown Up Randi is at right now.

Pinned butterfly wall art

May 30, 2017 Randi2 comments

When you don’t eat meat and one of your good friends is a taxidermist, the jokes practically write themselves.

But, jokes aside, my friend Mickey is a taxidermist by trade. I’ve been friends with this girl since high school, when we both obsessed over things like UnderOath, pyramid-studded belts and Vans sneakers together.

I’ve always felt kind of bad, because I really wanted to support her career, but also I didn’t really want to gut and stuff a dead rat. You know, normal friendship dilemmas.

So, I got super stoked when I found out that she was offering a not-quite-as-gruesome class at the recent Pilsen Renegade Craft Fair pop-up: Butterfly pinning!

Important side note: No butterflies were killed during the making of this project. That would be sad. This little guy died naturally at a butterfly farm.

This craft takes two sessions to make, because the butterfly needs to be moist when you spread it, and then dry when you mount it. I did the first part of the project at Renegade, and then Mickey came over and helped me finish it up a few weeks later.

I’m totally in love with how this framed specimen turned out!

Oh, and the best part? She also sells these kits in her Etsy store (affiliate link), so you can actually buy your supplies and do this at home! No worries — the directions are included.

DIY floral grapevine wreath for spring

May 25, 2017 Randi

An interesting fact about my little Chicago apartment: it’s only my second ever apartment to offer a front door closed off to the general public. You need two keys to get to it: a building key, and a unit key.

All but one of my college apartments and houses had outdoor-accessible doors. This meant that anything you left by the front door — doormats, shoes, shovels, ~~half-finished bottles of pomegranate Burnett’s~~, seasonal decor, mail — would end up stolen.

So, one of the things I love about #aptwithani is the hallway-facing front door, because it means I can decorate it for each season with a beautiful wreath, without having to worry quite so much about it disappearing.

Interior design tips for small spaces + a sneak peek of my Chicago apartment

May 17, 2017 Randi

Yesterday marked my two-year anniversary in Chicago. Where has the time gone? It doesn’t feel like it’s been two years since I packed my boxes into a U-Haul and moved into my little apartment.

Oh, my little apartment.

There are so many things I love about the city, but real estate is not one of them.

You know what I’m talking about — the impossibly tiny closet-sized units that come with all the perks of big city living.

Seriously. Sitcoms are filled with totally unrealistic expectations of big-city apartment living.

I’m looking at you, Carrie Bradshaw.

To my little sister on her graduation day

May 12, 2017 Randi

Excuse me while I take a second to gush over here. My baby sister is a college graduate! Kelly picked up her bachelor’s degree in human biology from Michigan State University’s College of Natural Science this past weekend, and I’m so excited for her. She’s one of the smartest and most caring people I know, and I can’t wait to see how she changes the biomedical field for the better.

I wanted to take a minute to heap tons of praise on her because she’s brilliant and amazing, and even though the two of us are as different as night and day, I couldn’t possibly love her any more than I do.

Breaking my foot and being forced to slow down

May 7, 2017 Randi2 comments

So guys, I broke my foot.

Mezcal vs. tequila: Cinco de Mayo cocktails

May 2, 2017 Randi1 comment

Happy early Cinco de Mayo, all!

I’ve almost always had a reason to celebrate on May 5 — but never really for the actual Mexican holiday. First, May 5 is my college friend Danielle’s birthday, so of course, we just had to celebrate it all throughout undergrad.

Second? my bachelor’s degree commencement ceremony was held on May 5, so I capped off my college career with a non-Cinco-themed party (there was a bounce house involved, though) for the occasion.

Then, work and grad school happened, and who really has time for themed parties and get togethers when you’re trying to be a functioning adult? OK, maybe those of you who have your sh!t together, but certainly not me for the last several years.

So, when Jennie invited me to make Cinco de Mayo cocktails with Katie, Jess, Maya and Sarah to celebrate the date at her apartment, I was super excited to join in and actually celebrate the holiday for the first time since high school.

I took Spanish classes all the way from middle school through college, and while I sadly can’t remember much of the language, I do remember a lot of the lessons about Mexico’s history, culture and celebrations. I know there’s always a fine line between appropriating and honoring another culture, and I think cuisine and cocktails are a great way to keep things tasteful — both figuratively and literally.

Life lately

April 30, 2017 Randi

I’m so. glad. spring weather is kinda sorta almost here on some days but also absent on others.

Regardless, writing my bi-monthly life overview is like pulling teeth during the winter. I’ll sit here and rack my brain trying to think of something — literally, anything — notable that I’ve done over the past few month, and the only two things that come to mind are “Netflix binge” and “comfy fleece pants.”

So, thank God that spring has arrived and I miraculously have the desire to leave my couch again, thus sparing you from an excruciatingly boring life update comprised entirely of soup recipes and legging reviews.