saturday morning

I'm sitting at our dining room table right now. I'm so glad it is not last week at this time; we did not even know what we were in for on Sunday. Lev and I are in agreement--we will never move again!

Last night I hung out with the lovely Bria, and she ended up cutting my mop. I learned that my hair had been looking rather rectangular, and to prevent this it is important to get my hair shaped regularly. We also discovered that it had been a year since she'd last cut it. Time flies, especially when you are a slob (meeeeeeeee????).

Today Lev and I are heading down to our old apartment to get the last odds and ends out and to clean. When I move out of a place I never want to go back, ever again, which could account for the many missed deposit returns on my part. But we are doing it! I'm manning up, so to speak, and getting my butt down there for some good old-fashioned mopping.

One hundred and seven days until we get married! Happy Saturday to all!

Today.

Pilsen Botanica

spring me along...

I'm supposed to be furiously drawing for this art show that I'm in the weekend after next and it seems like all of my skills have gone away. I have no ideas and even if I did my execution is off. I haven't been in the right frame of mind, and I know that's my ego talking, but seriously. I can't seem to get it together. I may have to just submit old stuff. Maybe this is the turning point, where I go from "creative person" to "fan of creative people." I don't want to relegate myself to fan status!

As of this Friday I am off for nine days. Lev and I are going to the planetarium on Tuesday and I am going to do some serious biz-casual shopping at good ol' H&M. I am not going to spend my time off on the couch, that is for certain. This is perfect timing really. The weather is starting to smile at spring and I can ride my bike to yoga class. I love this time of year.

And maybe I'll get out of my creativity funk and get some good ol' work done. Hello, last week of UIC...

Building on 18th and Ashland, Pilsen.

today, in pilsen

Today, in Pilsen.

Pilsen scene

the view from here

18th Street Park

Friday was awesomely warm and Lev was positive that we were done with winter. *BUT* this is Chicago (where we're never done with winter), and last night he came into bed and said, "It's gotten really cold and there's two inches of snow on the ground! What IS this?" It ain't over till it's over.

To fend off Lev's winter panic, today I'm making beef stew. While researching beef stew on the Internet (I abandoned all my cookbooks when I moved across the country...I regret this) I came across a "Cuisine of the Midwest" recipe trove. It was worse than I thought--like, I always joke that moving to Chicago from the west coast is a shock because once you get here the locals hand you a brick of cheese and say "Welcome to the Midwest." I mean, I can get down with the occasional macaroni and cheese, but these recipes? The main ingredients are Campbell's condensed cream of mushroom soup and mayonnaise. Apparently, a beef stew recipe is enough to make the Internet think that what I'm really looking for is more ways to ingest heavy cream. Hmmm...

Along those lines (i.e. crummy midwest foodstuffs), a really, really great thing happened Friday night, which is that Lev took me to the best grocery store I have ever been to in Chicago! Seriously. Great, organic produce, organic dry goods and, best of all, affordable. This is huge! Since we moved here from Portland we have been looking for an acceptable grocery store that is NOT whole foods. We live on the south side, which apparently makes things harder (?), but upon setting foot in La Casa Del Pueblo I decided that we are STAYING! Because as you may know, I semi-compulsively fantasize about moving--be it to a different neighborhood or a different city. It's been looking like we are going to remain here in Chicago, though, because of the (omigod let it be) hopeful job and because Lev is onto some brilliant job and school-related stuff as well. New York may be on hold.

And today while walking back from the store, I started seeing summer in my neighborhood. Warm reds, oranges and yellows. I took some photos, enjoy.

Pilsen Window

18th Street, Pilsen, Chicago

Los Libros Bookstore, Pilsen, Chicago

The New and Used Store, Pilsen, Chicago

Mini Mariachi, Pilsen, Chicago

Small Summer, Pilsen, Chicago

ten things

Ten things that make me happy.
1) Doing something stupid and having Lev tell me he's done the same thing (putting 8 scoops of coffee in the coffee maker without a coffee filter, anyone?)
2) Waking up before the alarm
3) Going to the movies alone and texting Lev my comments
4) The first warm days of spring
5) The first cold days of fall
6) A new job that I love (these fingers are firmly crossed)
7) Getting into clean sheets after a shower
8) When Lev calls me beautiful, unprompted (ha ha)
9) Toffee.
10) Good decisions, whatever they may be

here are some photos from today.

Pilsen, looking downtown

Pilsen, looking at the Pink Line

Pilsen, the road out

Pilsen Warehouse