oh lovely

The cherry blossoms are blooming in Chicago. It is March. Let me repeat that, because I didn't quite believe it the first time I wrote it: the cherry blossoms are blooming in Chicago in March. And the trees outside our front windows are turning green and I am so happy that the weather heard me back in February when I said, "You know what? I think I would like to have only one more month of this city in the cold and gray. Okay?"

Today

Look at what I found today at lunch!

*this was originally published 

on May 10, not sure

why it popped up again

under May 13...some internet

magic.

Ok, here we go...

The street behind my house. The great green is coming to Chicago! 

I am thankful

...for my health. I was in a serious bike accident 3 years ago--a woman opened her door into me and I was thrown through her driver's side window.  And next friday I'm finally going to an arbitration hearing regarding the case. Today I was thinking about a friend of ours who sustained a major head injury at this time last year. He basically has to relearn a lot of things, will probably live at home with his mother for a long time (if not the rest of his life), and he also had to undergo multiple skull/brain surgeries at the time of the accident to prevent his brain from swelling too much and killing him. As much as I am dreading this arbitration, I am forever grateful that I am here, now.

...that I have a fiancé as caring and wonderful as Lev. I know that I kvell about him on this blog, but he is the best thing that ever happened to me. Yesterday I was "very tired" (read: in a Bad Mood) the whole day and not only did he put up with me, but he made jokes, took me to Kmart (TV antenna=a Lizzy necessity), and cooked an amazing dinner. I'm unbelievably thankful that he is in my life.

...that I have a supportive, loving family. Not only do I have a stable and affectionate relationship with my mother and father, but I am doubly blessed with a wonderful stepfather, as well. Earlier I was having a genuine wedding/financially-motivated freak out and I spoke with my mother. She completely calmed me down, and pointed out that the wedding industry is built to make everybody feel poor! Yep, she said it and so did I!

...and, lastly, that it is SPRING in the Chi! (Well, sort of. We are getting there.) I snapped this proof-of-spring picture on my way home. You can barely see it, but there are leaf-buds on that there tree!

ten

Ten things that make me happy:

1. Lev's curly hair
2. The green leaf-buds on the tree outside my window at work--spring is here!
3. Spending 8.5 hours a day doing something I really enjoy. Job satisfaction, oh yeah!
4. Our new, so-incredibly-beautiful apartment that is around the corner from one of my close friends in Chicago
5. 116 days until Lev and I get married
6. The love and fierce devotion of my family--I know it's cliché, but seriously
7. My brother and I are getting married in the same summer
8. Muscle soreness--I'm getting into shape, good, tra-la
9. Lev's love of me lightly scratching his back when he's lying in bed
10. LEVY! duh! He makes me deliriously happy and I'd be lost without him!

expensive cotton

Today after I dropped Lev off at work I went to Target to pick up a bathmat--our tub drains painfully slowly and as a result it can be slick with soap if it isn't freshly washed. I'm not into scrubbing out the tub more than once a week, so that leaves six days where it is dangerously slippery. And I found out firsthand this morning how dangerous that can be when I slipped and fell while taking a shower. Just like those advertisements geared towards the elderly that warn the viewer about slipping in the tub, I totally spazzed and hurt my shoulder.

Solution? Bathmat. At Target. Just a bathmat. Yeah right! What is it about Target that makes you want to spend too much on total crap? I already admitted to Lev that I was attracted to "brightly colored things," and today proved to be no different. I walked in determined to purchase only a bathmat, and I walked out with a cloth decorative shower curtain ($15.99), four brightly colored cotton place mats ($6.99), two bath towels ($4.99 each), a mat for the kitchen sink ($4.99), two cereal bowls ($4.99 each) and, oh yeah, what I came there for--the bathmat. With tax I ended up spending over $60.

As I was hanging the shower curtain I realized that it was basically just a 72"x72" poly-cotton square of fabric. There is an awesome fabric warehouse RIGHT BY MY HOUSE, where I could have picked out a cooler square of fabric for way less money, sewn it myself, and felt a surge of pride every time I went into the bathroom. And that is when I realized that Target is the worst store ever, and that I will probably shop there for the rest of my life.

Oh and happy first day of spring! We made it!

New brightly colored placemats. Note lemons from failed fast

New shower curtain

perfect

today is a perfect Chicago day. Warm weather + too early in the season for all the bugs to have hatched = kitchen-door-wide-open-perfection.

secret weekend

Chicago is warm and sunny today, and to celebrate Lev and I went to the Adler Planetarium. We dropped the truck off in the morning (new brakes, oh boy...) and took the bus from the far NW corner of the city to the SE corner of the city, where the planetarium and the Field Museum are located. 

I'm attempting to do the master cleanse and this is my first day. We'll see how long it lasts.

Lev and me

Downtown, looking over the museum's lawn

The Chicago Field Museum

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.