Frozen Lemonade

It is freezing today, literally!  There is ice everywhere and here I am grumbling about it.  Stepping carefully from my apartment to my car, grumbling.  Tip-toeing from my car to the bank, grumbling, even further to a voice lesson... etc.  'If I fall, I'm gonna sue everyone!'  I continue on like this stiffly looking down at the ground, balancing my weight on the balls of my feet, glancing up occasionally.   On my way to Green Grocer Chicago, I glance up and see a man in a black suit and long black coat with a brief case in his hand taking a running start to slide across the long patches of ice.  He does this repeatedly, and I laugh out loud and think, 'when life gives you lemons'...

How have you made the best out of bad situation?  I really want to know!  Please share in the comment section!

some things about me...

some days i go without combing my hair.

when people flip me off while driving, i like to counter with the peace sign.

i wear make-up just about every day, mostly to remind me that everyday is a special occasion.

i am passionately against using shampoo. (well, at least not on hair).

2 out of 3 of my house plants have died a slow and painful death.

i am not ashamed of my love for real simple magazine and other magazines that stay-at-home moms enjoy. 

i like to pray in my closet

investing in laser hair removal is in my 5 year plan.

i start Christmas shopping in september.

after i get out of the shower i wrap myself in a towel and hug myself for a bit.

i am obsessively early for appointments.

i will eat avocado on anything.

i'm actually ok with the recession.  (i'll blog on that later.)

i enjoy [talking to, hanging out with] little old men. 

i unplug everything if i'm leaving for more than 12 hours.

a whirlwind of change.

breathe....

i don't do well with change.  

but it's coming and this time i am holding onto the moment.  this very moment as i'm sitting in my bed in my very own apartment in chicago, in logan square.  i am happy, well rested and trying not to think about the coming months.

i decided to move to new york next fall.   so to start saving for that i need to get a roommate and a new place.  and though i know that this will be a good thing.  i'm already starting to mourn my solitude.  i really enjoy living alone, but it's impossible to save money when i am paying rent and utilities on my own.  

i am making a promise to be positive about this.  i love chicago, so i am committing to enjoy this year in this city and the people in it.  enjoying the time with my new roommate, and even the crazy kids that drive me insane.  see, i'm smiling. 

by the way, i can still change my mind about this.  just so you know. 

i prefer fall to autumn and soup to salad

it just makes more sense, leaves fall... and soup is warm.

this is the first year that i have appreciated the feeling i get during this season. being a lover of summer, it's always difficult for me to say farewell to the frivolity of longer, hotter days. but this year i almost welcome this transitional season. it's here now, making itself quite comfortable, settling in. it feels like the role of this fall is to act as a soothing segue into a more focused segment of the year... or of my life.

in chicago, it's pretty rare that we even experience fall temperatures, we simply go from hot to cold, quickly, without warning. this year the leaves slowly wilt and the temperature ebbs in time with them. i'm a seasonal eater so i'm pullin' out the pots and pans and gettin' warm and fuzzy in my tiny little kitchen. here is my recipe for broccoli soup.

cut red potatoes into squares and boil in water. in a skillet, saute an onion in olive oil.
add broccoli to the skillet. add softened potatoes to the pot and cover the
vegetables with vegetable broth. allow the vegetables to become tender and
then puree. add basil, salt and pepper to taste. serve with a little avacado
on ciabatta and you have a gorgeously green meal!

you can make the soup with out potatoes, i just added them...cuz.... well.... i'm a sucker for a red potato.

gratefulness

ahem, ahem

in an effort to keep from complaining about today i am going to list the things that i'm grateful for:

• katie shields, who is probably the only person that reads this. (thanks little lady katie)
  
• the really nice lady at the laundromat who watched Selena with me and folded with me.  even though it was her job to be washing people's clothes, it was still nice to pretend that we were spending quality time together. 
• christopher robin, who makes me feel like i am precious.
• adam who helped us when we needed gas.
• the woman at my church who just agreed to accompany me on my demo for free.
• that woman's husband who agreed to record it for free.
• real simple's september issue (thanks little lady katie)
• that little fake rose sitting in a wine glass on my shelf :). 
• all the little babies that are coming into the lives of my friends.
• avocado & fake cheese.

that's all... what are you thankful for?????? comment please!

violence is bubbling inside me...

i walk into barnes & nobles to buy a magazine.  i look over and see martha stewart "weddings"  and i want to punch it.  i don't know where this urge comes from. i walk down the aisle of books.  sports, fiction... i catch a glimpse of the section called "love and sex".  the covers of these books show couples in naked embraces, i don't really want to punch these books.  i kinda just wanna give them the finger.   

the pros and cons of living alone

i live alone, in a small studio.  i like it.  after having roommates (great ones, good ones and bad ones) for 5 years, it's nice.  some things, however, you don't actually know about yourself until you live alone.

• for one, sometimes i long to be touched so much, that i wanna snuggle up to the warm body sitting next to me on the bus.  and today i really wish i had someone to hug.  this also brings to my attention just how little we touch people outside of our homes.  besides the baby that i smother with kisses, no one at any of my jobs so much as pats me on the back.  it's been days since i had a real hug.  i don't think you should be allowed to go 24 hours without a hug, but maybe i'm just a sucker for physical affection. 
• also, i realize just how much i really enjoy nudity.
• another saddening realization is this; if i died no one would know for days. i'm not really morbid or depressed.  and i don't think that my sudden unannounced absence would go unnoticed.  i just think that my employers, who are the only people who see me everyday, would just think that i quit or something.  my friends would just think that i was just too busy to return their calls.
• scarily, i have noticed the comfort i have from having full control of what goes in my kitchen though!  i know that my refrigerator will not be contaminated animal products or by-products.  i know that the dishes in the sink are mine, and when the last time was that the sponges have been changed and sanitized.  that's nice, but i wonder if it will make me a controlling wife.  probably.  :(
• i spend hours in the bathroom, but i can do it with the door wide open.  
• sometimes i miss the delegation of cleaning tasks though.  sometimes i wonder how much a cleaning lady would charge to clean such a small space.  it's hard to to find the time to do some things.
• i have found comfort in knowing that i will only be awakened by myself, and not the chatter of others getting ready.  
•  i have also realized my degree of careless.  it's not incredibly high, but it is scary to come home and see the oven on, or the back door ajar.  and have no one to blame for such neglect
•  but when it comes down to it, i truly love the time i have to be by myself.  after working so hard it's nice to be in solitude.