So guys, I broke my foot.
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.
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.
I’m just going to go ahead and say it. I absolutely loathe the everything-off-the-shoulder-and-covered-in-ruffles trend that seems to be going on for this spring and summer season. I hate it. Despise it. Want it doused in fire and scourged from the earth.
OK, so I’m being a little dramatic. But, every time I check any of my favorite stores, it seems like everything is either completely off-the-shoulder, one-shouldered or cold-shouldered. Or, it’s covered in ruffles. Or, it’s a combination of both trends.
I have a day job. It has a dress code. I like to be taken seriously. I like to wear my comfy bra, which has thick, sturdy straps. I already look half a decade younger than I actually am, and the frilly tiered bell sleeves and ruffled layers across the chest are just not gonna fly in my wardrobe.
Am I alone in this hatred? Maybe I’m just getting old. I’m definitely getting old.
Anyway, I’m trying to do some quick shopping to update my wardrobe a bit for the spring and summer, and finding work-appropriate blouses (with sleeves and minimal ruffling) is proving to be quite the challenge.
I figured I’d take a quick second to share a few of my finds. Yunno, just in case you’re in the same boat.
Or maybe you’re loving exposed shoulders and ruffles and you think I’m a total fun sucker. Either way.
Pst, affiliate links.
So, in somewhat exciting(ish) news, I recently had my first byline published in the Tribune!
In otherwise (non)exciting news, it was because I (attempted) to give up refined/added sugar for two weeks.
Spoiler alert: I was not fun to be around for those two weeks.
Before I started at the Tribune almost two years ago, I was a reporter for a small daily paper in a town of about 26,000. I was writing every day. But, when I got the opportunity to work on the digital team here at the Tribune, it was impossible to say no. My responsibilities switched from reporting and writing to curating and editing, and while I absolutely love what I do (it’s crazy that this job didn’t exist when I was in high school!), sometimes, I do miss sitting in front of a keyboard and letting my thoughts pour out for the community to read.
So, it was cool to have the opportunity to do that recently.
You guys, I took a biiiig plunge this year: I finally subscribed to Spotify Premium!
That means no more commercials, which means you all can stop judging me when you hand me the aux cord or ask me to DJ the pregame.
When I was in high school, I was really big into music. I spent hours listening to the best up-and-coming artists on Purevolume, changed the song on my MySpace out on a weekly basis and carried my totally hip fifth generation iPod Video everywhere. That thing was stocked with 32 gigs worth of pure Fueled by Ramen goodness.
But then, as high school ended and the interest in MySpace faded, things kind of changed. The local band bowling alley concerts were replaced with DJ-fueled nightclubs and music festivals stacked with headliners. I still enjoyed listening to music, but I wasn’t really passionate about discovering new artists or attending indie shows. I focused on attending classes over concerts, and on growing my career over my playlists.
It wasn’t until I moved to Chicago that I started listening to music a little bit more: While cleaning my apartment, while commuting on the L, etc. And, after being moved to a new desk in a foot-traffic-heavy part of the newsroom next to a noisy TV, I finally decided to go for the Spotify Premium subscription. As it turns out, a great playlist and a giant pair of closed-backs are a great way of deterring chatty coworkers who stroll past your desk when you’re in the middle of your workflow.
I know this is the 16th time I’ve said it and the 300th time you’ve heard it, but how freaking weird has this winter been here in Chicago?
We had a full blanket of snow for Christmas, a clear ground on Dec. 26, rain through January, sunny skies and 70-degree temperatures for February and now, midway through March, we’re down to 20- to 30-degree temperatures and inches of snowfall.
I was ready to ditch my parka and break out the sundresses last week, but then we ended up with two full-out blizzards and 20-degree temperatures.
Luckily, we’ll be back to 60-degree weather this weekend? I honestly don’t know how to dress most days. Thanks, Chicago.
But, anyway. I digress. Let’s stop talking about things that make us miserable (winter weather in the Midwest) and start talking about things that make us happy (successful resale store shopping trips).
Hello Chicago! I’m back from my weekend trip to Detroit and settling back into my work week here. I was switched to a Sunday through Wednesday 6 a.m. shift, so “settling” is a pretty strong word… especially since my new schedule started right along with Daylight Saving Time. I guess I wouldn’t say “settling” so much as “reluctantly getting pushed into.” But, it’s good to be back home, and hey! It’s my Friday.
My trip to Detroit was a whole big bag of emotions. I was pretty happy, because, well, I absolutely adore the Motor City, and it was so good to hang out with both Chicago friends and Metro Detroit friends for the weekend. But I was also pretty sad because the whole reason we went this time around was to say goodbye to an old friend: Joe, aka: the Joe Louis Arena.
After my prayers regarding my stolen passport went unanswered (unsurprisingly, it seems like God’s got quite a bit of other stuff he’s working on), I finally sucked it up and replaced my stolen passport.
I’d held off for the longest time on reporting my little blue book and it’s beautiful collection of stamps and airline stickers as stolen. I was really holding out that someone would return it to me after pilfering the collection of dollars, pounds and euros inside of it.
Sadly, that never happened. Apparently someone really, really wanted to hold on to that super unflattering photo of me that was taken by a 2010-era webcam. And, yunno, my entire international travel history and some potentially compromising personal information.
Since I didn’t want to run the risk of identity theft, I finally sucked it up, reported the document as stolen and corralled my documents together in order to get a replacement.
Hey hey!
I figured it was due time for another update. I try to do these every other month or so since I have family that keeps up with my life here (hi Mom!), but it’s winter… so life lately has been incredibly slow, and there hasn’t been too much going on. Except, yunno, watching Netflix and working. Regardless…
