THE CITY

Thanks to my awesome redhead-dance-friend Briel for her hospitality and gift, I finally got to visit Chi Town. Shortly after arriving, I was in love. It had everything I wanted, bustling people, smiling friendly Midwestern faces, chilly fall weather, good food, and good arts culture. It really didn’t hurt that I got to spend time with one of my best friends who I hadn’t seen in 3 years. (Honestly, the fact that we hadn’t been on the same dance floor in 3 years just seems morally wrong).

We explored the city high and low and even weathered the rain to take a boat tour. Walking around sipping a pumpkin spice latte in the fall weather was perfection. Now if only I could find a job so I could just move there permanently. Anyone hiring?

Radom Realizations From the Past Week

• Grieving comes in a variety of emotions and you can't prepare yourself for when and how they will hit you.
• When you run into things, you might want to get your eyes checked. (literally)
• I really hate making appointments. For some reason they stress me out. (Yes, I'm aware that's not normal)
• I need to break down some walls.
• Boys can be more into drama than girls. Don't let them fool you, some of them crave it.
• One of the best feelings in the world is getting your hair washed.

Tech-Grannies

I'm sitting at Barnes & Noble trying to figure out how to blog about things I've had on my mind, but I'm distracted by these two adorable older ladies across the cafe. They are sitting beside each other with their laptops (one pink, the other purple) as the one teaches the other how to use instant messaging and skype. I can't help but smile. Good for you ladies! Way to stay young and keep up with the changes.

Funky Chicken

Day 2 of Diane's visit consisted of more food adventures. After both working all day, we met up with Sarah & Co. at LoLo's. LoLo's serves chicken and waffles. Yes, you read that right. Fried Chicken AND Waffles, together on one plate. Definitely not something I would have thought to put together, but I kudos to the ones that came up with that combo! (You go Southerners) To top it all off? Koolaid in a mason jar. (It's ok, you can re-read that sentence again, I'll wait...back? let's proceed). If you are in town, you should check it out if you are up for an adventure. You should probably get one of their shirts too. "Ghetto-Fabulous" and "Hood Rich" are my favorites.

We took a little stroll through old town to the Coach House. We had some drinks and then were joined by the Fiesta Bowl crew. And to top off a great night? Stopping at the gas station for ice cream on our walk home.

Day 3? Even better. It consisted of a whole day with Diane watching the Buckeye's at an OSU bar, taking a nice little nap and then scoring big time at Last Chance - a discount Nordstroms. I walked out with one of the hottest pairs of shoes ever while Diane scored a LAMB purse to die for. We celebrated our retail success with a dinner at Sauce for old time's sake before heading out for the night for a little two-stepping at Toby Keith's. Diane is practically a pro now.



Day 4 was cut short when Diane had to go to the airport, but we sent her off in style by cruising around with the top down. Please come back Diane. Life is way more fun when I have a beach babe around :)

Soap & Sushi

My beach babe friend from Florida came to visit and I'm already refusing to take her to the airport at the end of the weekend. Last night we talked non stop about all the updates in our life (and other's) while we roamed the mall. I introduced her to LUSH soap. If you have ever been in that store you know that we then spent an hour smelling everything and might have spent just a wee little bit more money than we planned. But when we left we had a bag of the yummiest products ever. (I mean we NEED soap, so it doesn't really count as splurge...unless you want us to be stinky. I think not.)

After Soap we were adventurous and decided to go for Sushi instead of our comfort zone of Mexican. So we sat down at RA, ordered mojitos and let the waitress school us in the way of ordering. We settled on a Lobstertail roll and Tootsie Maki. We had both tried sushi before and enjoyed it but had never explored beyond the California roll. Boy were we missing out.

I slept so well last night with a belly full of yummy sushi, knowing I'd take a delicious shower in the am, and pillowtalk with one of the coolest chicks ever. And this was just Day 1 :)

We're in a Recession, People!

I can't tell you how many times, I've heard this phrase uttered lately. The recession has almost become a fad. Good thing too, because I don't have any other choice but to but cool (Like really really cool. I should be voted Recession Queen or something). It's almost like I even started the fad of being broke and economical, but even I am having to find ways to cut back on my already minimal spending. I've never had "spending money" before, but it's down to counting pennies to pay all my bills and still be able to participate in society.

If you were to look at my banking statement, you'd see bills, bills, more bills, and coffee. My one splurge is a jolt of java to get me through my day. The actual liquid is good to keep me perky while I'm dealing with customers, but it's also the "treat" aspect. I would look forward to the afternoon to take a break from work, treat myself and to give me motivation to get through my day. Sometimes, I'd even bribe myself to go to work by telling myself I can stop and get coffee on the way.

When finances got tight, I cut back my visits to Starbucks. Things were still tight so I downgraded to Dunkin Donuts (not really a whole step down in quality, maybe a half-step, but about half the price).

And now it's time to get serious. I am making a valiant effort to (almost) eliminate coffee purchases from my banking statement. It's almost disheartening to give up my little splurge, but desperate times call for desperate measures. I gave myself an advance on coffee money, took myself to target, and bought a real coffee pot. I decided it was worth the extra $10.00 to upgrade to the programmable function. It's kinda like having a barista at Starbucks making the coffee for you, right? I grabbed the coffee filters, flavored coffee, and my coffee pot and headed home to set the alarm.

Sure enough bright and early in the morning, I'm awoken to the coffee pot doing it's magic. I thought I'd be joyous to wake up to the smell of hazelnut coffee, but I actually remember thinking to myself that maybe it wasn't a great idea to get the programmable option as it loudly brewed away. I guess it did it's trick of waking me up, but it still made me grouchy. I guess it doesn't matter what wakes you up, alarm clock, mom (back in the day), or coffee pot, it still gets on your bad side for a little bit. It's ok though, we make up as I stumble into the kitchen and get my first sip.

It's not the same as Starbucks or DD, but it will just have to do for awhile while I try and get by until I come up with a brilliant money making idea. Until then, I'll just continue being one of the cool kids in the recession club.

Not Your Typical Friday Night

I think it’s safe to say that I’m a pretty well rounded girl. I wouldn’t classify myself as a “princess” never have been, never will be. Not saying I’m not girly, because I definitely am, but I think it’s to a healthy level. On the other hand, I’ve never considered myself a tomboy, but am not afraid of dirt either.

I think my Friday night pretty much sums up my balance of interests. I decided to make it a low-key night so I prepped for my babysitting adventure (I’ll post more on that later) by baking cupcakes. As I was in the kitchen baking up some sweets, I was watching football. And then after cleaning up, I watched a little of Say Yes to the Dress. Football, cupcakes and dresses? Yeah, I think I’m well balanced. And speaking of football, shouldn’t I not be single since when given the chance to watch anything I want when alone, I choose ESPN? Just sayin…