OK, so it’s never really fun to return to work after a holiday.
Happy post-Fourth, by the way.
But, I’ve actually been kind of excited about heading in to work lately, and July 5 isn’t an exception.
Why so happy?
Well, I finally got my own cubicle in the newsroom!
It feels kind of weird to consider a trip to Detroit a “vacation,” or to consider it “traveling.” I grew up in the Ann Arbor area, about an hour away from Detroit, so I’ve been to the city plenty of times.
I even flirted with the idea of moving to Detroit after college. I applied for a few jobs downtown after undergrad — and again after grad school — but life had other plans for me, and I ended up taking a job over here in Chicago.
No qualms, though. Love this city and love my job.
I gave up my car when I moved here, which makes getting out of the city a little tricky sometimes. I realized it had been about a year and a half since my last trip to Detroit, so I pitched the idea to Mando. He was down, so we looked at the MLB calendar and picked a weekend that the Chicago White Sox played my Detroit Tigers for a visit.
I cannot believe summer is finally here.
It seems like just last week I was complaining that spring hadn’t made its appearance yet.
Oh, that actually was last week? Well. Never mind.
But regardless, it’s Memorial Day, which means it’s officially summer. Temps have topped 80, Chicago’s beaches are open and I’ve been eating froyo like it’s my job.
I’ve also given myself a sandal-ready pedicure, doused myself in self-tanner and started up a summer haircare routine.
I’m always the first to admit that I suck at all things hair-related. I usually wear my hair down and straight or up in a ponytail. I use shampoo, conditioner, heat protectant and dry shampoo in any given week and that’s about it. I have a love-hate relationship with my hair straightener.
So, when b. A Salon on Armitage reached out and asked if I’d like to collaborate and learn some more about haircare and styling, I was totally on board.
(Plus, there’s a discount code for products at the end of this post!)
Hey guys, it’s Pinterest craft time!
A short while ago, I shared the PDF file for the template I designed to use when I schedule out my posts for social media.
I also mentioned that I made the scheduler into a notepad, and said I’d share how.
So… here’s how!
I think one of the worst parts about being a chronically over-obsessive Type A person is never being satisfied with anything commercially available when it comes to office supplies and organizational tools. Finding planners and apps and tools to track and schedule my day has always been a huge, huge challenge. I’m really picky, and nothing ever really seems to suit my needs.
The other day, I set out to find a social media scheduling tool that I liked… and…
I couldn’t find one.
Color me totally not surprised.
I spent a good amount of time poking around for a template I liked, and after a few wasted hours, I just decided to go ahead and make my own!
When I first designed the scheduler, I was managing about seven Facebook accounts and two Twitter accounts, plus a slew of other accounts on other platforms. Then, a member of my team left and the workload got shifted around a bit, so now I’m down to two Facebook accounts and two Twitter accounts. So, I quickly redesigned the scheduler.
But, now I think it works perfectly for what I need it for!
Well, it’s been one year, to the day, since I moved to Chicago.
And so, it only feels right to pen a love letter to this amazing place I get to call home.
It’s been an absolutely crazy year, and I wouldn’t change it for anything.
Arigato hey!
So, way back when, I used to do a weekly wrap-up called Sundown Rundown, where I would post my weekly highlights: what I had done, what I had read, what I had bought, etc.
Then, life got a liiiittle crazy, and I didn’t have time for blogging. My posting frequency dropped down to twice a week. Then to once a week. Then it was just three months straight of weekly recap posts. Then I realized that was pointless (because really who cares amirite?) and so I just kind of stopped those.
Life is slooowwly starting to cut back on the chaos again (knock on wood), and so I’ve started to get back to blogging. To be honest, I’ve always kind of struggled a bit with finding a focus for my blog. Weekly recaps sometimes seem like a waste of time, Pinterest-optimized tutorials sometimes seem informal and affiliate link-laden posts are, frankly, annoying. But, this is a blog about my life. So when I lose focus, this site always comes back to, well, me.
Keeping my blog authentic, down-to-Earth and reflective of my personality is pretty important to me. So, I figured I’d give a quick(ish) recap of what’s been going on in my life lately.
Hello from PDT! EDT? CDT?
I’m feeling quite a bit jet lagged right now (I’m back in Central time after hitting up Pacific and Eastern all in a 24-hour span), but the complete-and-total exhaustion is totally worth it. I spent this past Friday and Saturday on the other side of the country in Seattle, and it was one of the most amazing trips I’ve ever taken — even though it was way shorter than I would have liked.
Rain, rain, go away.
During rainy days, I love to sit on my couch with a cup of tea and a book. But sometimes — like, yunno, work days — that can’t happen.
I’ve touched on it before, but one of the biggest transitions I faced moving from Mount Pleasant to Chicago was the stark change in commuting. In Mount Pleasant, I relied on my car to get me from A to B in five minutes. Now, I use the L. And I walk. A lot. A 45-minute trek to get five miles is not uncommon at all.
Getting caught in a sudden rainstorm in Mount Pleasant wasn’t such a big deal, since my car was always parked 20 yards away at most.
But getting caught in a rainstorm in Chicago? It was an entirely different story. Now, it’s not uncommon to walk through a downpour four to seven blocks to the L, or wait outside for 10 minutes at an unsheltered bus stop.
I initially figured my coated trench would work fine enough. After two hours of shopping and brunching during a drizzle last spring, my shirt and hair were both soaked through the coat, and it became very, very clear to me that rainwear was not something I could skimp on.
So… I went shopping!
I have never been a morning person.
In college, I worked at a bar. I routinely worked until 3 a.m. and had a 4 a.m. bedtime — an 11 a.m. wakeup call for noon classes. At my first post-grad job, I was routinely so late to my 9 a.m. starting time that my boss kind of just accepted it, and my morning start time slowly just shifted to 10 a.m.
Now, at the Tribune, I start my day shifts at 10 a.m., which isn’t too bad.
But (because nothing can ever be uncomplicated in a relationship between two journalists), my boyfriend Mando was recently switched from his afternoon shift to…
A 6 a.m. shift.
Major groans. SOS smoke signals. Pleading cries for help.
Because I spend a lot of time working (full time at the Trib, freelancing and blogging), it was really important to me that I have some free time to spend with Mando. So, the two of us worked out a schedule that would have me waking up at 5:30 a.m. during the week so I could put in some blogging and freelance hours while he was at the Tribune, and then I would have some free time at night once I finished up my eight-hour work day.
The only downside to the plan is the whole waking-up-before-6-a.m. part.
So, I’ve gotten pretty good at downing unhealthy levels of caffeine and figuring out other tips and tricks for getting on a morning schedule.
Trick one? Coffee. In a cute mug.
