1) The sound of sirens in the middle of the night can be like a soothing sort of white noise.
2) Taking the train to the airport is actually really easy, as long as your bags are reasonably sized.
3) Rick is about a thousand times better at parallel parking than I could ever hope to be. And this is not some stereotypical "girls can't parallel park" thing... but I really can't parallel park... the fact that I'm a girl has nothing to do with it...
4) It's quite a challenge to cook in a tiny kitchen with two curious cats underfoot... and on the counter... and in the sink... and on the stove...
5) Starbucks Via coffee is awesome...
6) But walking to Starbucks or Argo Tea is even MORE awesome.
7) The 40-degree weather we had yesterday was "actually pretty nice," according to the guy who took our order at Argo. This leads me to believe that I was perfectly justified in buying a second winter coat at North Face -- apparently "real" winter hasn't even started yet...
8) The smaller the residence, the louder the dishwasher. Seriously, that thing is crazy loud. I'm in a chair ten feet away from the TV, and I can't even hear what's going on.
9) It's very convenient to have a grocery store downstairs, especially when you lug home four bags of groceries and immediately remember five items you forgot to buy...
10) You don't realize how often you use a garbage disposal until you have a kitchen without one.
11) I really, really, really can't wait to have a bigger place so I can get the cats' litter box out of my bathroom... :)
Monday, November 29, 2010
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Happy Thanksgiving!
Is everyone ready to eat way too much and then sit in front of a TV for hours?? Good! :)
Stuff I am thankful for:
*Family and friends -- this year, I'm especially thankful for my second-favorite-possibly-adopted brother Eric and my beautiful new sister-in-law.
*A move that went about as smoothly as possible, even with: only a week to pack for three different destinations (Vegas, a temporary apartment, and a storage facility); an awesome wedding to attend; a car that was packed too full and had to be completely reorganized and resulted in a few things being left behind; days of too little sleep and too much coffee (what?!? There's no such thing! :)); and a mom who was in the ER and at the hospital for tests the day before the cats were scheduled to be flown up to Chicago.
*And I'm thankful that mom made it to Chicago with the cats and is feeling better! (And hopefully will KEEP feeling better over the next few weeks!) And she made pie today!! :)
*Coffee, chocolate, and gelato (it seems like I've been eating a lot of gelato lately...)
*An almost absolute assurance of snow this year, with a definite possibility of a white Christmas.
*The excitement of a new city and new places to explore.
*Road trips, purple sweaters, online shopping, giant coffee mugs, lip balm, the sound of the ocean (especially when lying on a beach in Hawaii), multi-colored pens, sugarless gum, cool hotels, music, spicy food (and Cholula hot sauce to make previously un-spicy food spicy), sleeping in, hot chocolate with marshmallows, and lists of random thoughts...
*And finally, I'm thankful that no REAL Muppets were harmed in the creation of the pillow that was on our hotel room bed in Las Vegas:
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!!
Stuff I am thankful for:
*Family and friends -- this year, I'm especially thankful for my second-favorite-possibly-adopted brother Eric and my beautiful new sister-in-law.
*A move that went about as smoothly as possible, even with: only a week to pack for three different destinations (Vegas, a temporary apartment, and a storage facility); an awesome wedding to attend; a car that was packed too full and had to be completely reorganized and resulted in a few things being left behind; days of too little sleep and too much coffee (what?!? There's no such thing! :)); and a mom who was in the ER and at the hospital for tests the day before the cats were scheduled to be flown up to Chicago.
*And I'm thankful that mom made it to Chicago with the cats and is feeling better! (And hopefully will KEEP feeling better over the next few weeks!) And she made pie today!! :)
*Coffee, chocolate, and gelato (it seems like I've been eating a lot of gelato lately...)
*An almost absolute assurance of snow this year, with a definite possibility of a white Christmas.
*The excitement of a new city and new places to explore.
*Road trips, purple sweaters, online shopping, giant coffee mugs, lip balm, the sound of the ocean (especially when lying on a beach in Hawaii), multi-colored pens, sugarless gum, cool hotels, music, spicy food (and Cholula hot sauce to make previously un-spicy food spicy), sleeping in, hot chocolate with marshmallows, and lists of random thoughts...
*And finally, I'm thankful that no REAL Muppets were harmed in the creation of the pillow that was on our hotel room bed in Las Vegas:
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!!
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Back in Austin... with random pictures!
It seems like every time I'm at my parents' house, I end up finding pictures I'd forgotten were taken. Which means, of course, that some of them are bound to find their way onto the blog. In lieu of pictures of Steve and Faisal dancing together at Eric's wedding (which I am sooooo tempted to post... but I won't, because at least half of that couple would like to maintain his professional image... :)), I present some other random (less embarassing) stuff:
And finally, I have to include some pictures of sweet little Kiko, who went to kitty heaven to visit Allegro last week -- in fact, it sounded like Kiko was suffering from the same recurring strokes that afflicted Allegro in her last year of life. So they'll have plenty to talk about in between heaven-mouse chases and feasts of tuna and naps on fluffy cloud pillows...
Friday, November 19, 2010
Settling in...
It has been a crazy few weeks -- packing, movers, more packing, Eric's wedding, more packing, driving a thousand miles, unloading the car at our new place, UNpacking, trying to get settled... and in a couple days we'll be flying back to Austin for Thanksgiving. Yup. I am officially wiped out...
Moving in was a bit easier than I expected -- we took care of parking in about two minutes, got the keys to our place without much trouble, and borrowed a luggage cart to haul our stuff from the car up to the 20th floor. It only took three trips to unload everything, and once we had, it was painfully obvious how small our new apartment was. I mean, all we brought was what could fit into a CAR, and yet it still took up tons of space in the apartment. But after a couple days of unpacking and rearranging and creatively using random empty areas, I seem to be managing the clutter rather effectively. For now. We still have a few boxes of clothing and bathroom items back at mom and dad's house, and we're hoping to mail them up here when we're in Austin next week. The problem, of course, is that just about every available space in this apartment is already occupied with something... so I'm afraid the "uncluttered" look won't last very long...
Riff and Piva are adjusting, as well -- actually, Riff is doing great and is acting like his usual mischievous self... Piva is taking a bit longer to get back to "normal." She hides under the bed quite a bit (although I suppose I shouldn't assume she's hiding -- maybe she just really likes sleeping under the bed...). And even though I can't read cat minds, I'm fairly certain they're both wondering what happened to the rest of the house... in fact, I think they may be suspicious that we've shut them inside a large bedroom, and just outside that doorway at the end of the hall is a many-roomed abode with plenty of space to run. The first night we were here, I had our empty suitcases sitting in the hall across from a large hanging mirror. Riff jumped up onto the suitcases, looked over at the mirror, apparently thought something along the lines of "oh, THERE'S the rest of this place," and proceeded to lunge at the reflection... needless to say, I moved the suitcases...
My one complaint so far is that someone nearby in this building is a smoker, and the smoke travels through the air ducts and gets into our nice, smoke-free apartment. It's especially bad in the bathroom, from about 7 o'clock until midnight or so... whoever it is must get home from work and immediately light up, then chain smoke until bed... yuuuuuuuuck... But hopefully we won't be here for TOO long...
I do, however, love the fact that I can get to Whole Foods without even leaving my building, and today I found a Starbucks just down the block. I happen to know we're also within walking distance of Argo Tea, several Walgreens drugstores, Ghirardelli, and all the shops on Michigan Avenue. Ghirardelli is the most important, of course... :) I need to explore the neighborhood more, because I'm sure there are plenty of other shops and restaurants that I don't know about...
We're about to head out to meet my parents for dinner, but hopefully I'll be able to post a few pictures soon. I mean, I'm sure everyone wants the grand tour of my 600-square-feet of magnificent opulence...
Moving in was a bit easier than I expected -- we took care of parking in about two minutes, got the keys to our place without much trouble, and borrowed a luggage cart to haul our stuff from the car up to the 20th floor. It only took three trips to unload everything, and once we had, it was painfully obvious how small our new apartment was. I mean, all we brought was what could fit into a CAR, and yet it still took up tons of space in the apartment. But after a couple days of unpacking and rearranging and creatively using random empty areas, I seem to be managing the clutter rather effectively. For now. We still have a few boxes of clothing and bathroom items back at mom and dad's house, and we're hoping to mail them up here when we're in Austin next week. The problem, of course, is that just about every available space in this apartment is already occupied with something... so I'm afraid the "uncluttered" look won't last very long...
Riff and Piva are adjusting, as well -- actually, Riff is doing great and is acting like his usual mischievous self... Piva is taking a bit longer to get back to "normal." She hides under the bed quite a bit (although I suppose I shouldn't assume she's hiding -- maybe she just really likes sleeping under the bed...). And even though I can't read cat minds, I'm fairly certain they're both wondering what happened to the rest of the house... in fact, I think they may be suspicious that we've shut them inside a large bedroom, and just outside that doorway at the end of the hall is a many-roomed abode with plenty of space to run. The first night we were here, I had our empty suitcases sitting in the hall across from a large hanging mirror. Riff jumped up onto the suitcases, looked over at the mirror, apparently thought something along the lines of "oh, THERE'S the rest of this place," and proceeded to lunge at the reflection... needless to say, I moved the suitcases...
My one complaint so far is that someone nearby in this building is a smoker, and the smoke travels through the air ducts and gets into our nice, smoke-free apartment. It's especially bad in the bathroom, from about 7 o'clock until midnight or so... whoever it is must get home from work and immediately light up, then chain smoke until bed... yuuuuuuuuck... But hopefully we won't be here for TOO long...
I do, however, love the fact that I can get to Whole Foods without even leaving my building, and today I found a Starbucks just down the block. I happen to know we're also within walking distance of Argo Tea, several Walgreens drugstores, Ghirardelli, and all the shops on Michigan Avenue. Ghirardelli is the most important, of course... :) I need to explore the neighborhood more, because I'm sure there are plenty of other shops and restaurants that I don't know about...
We're about to head out to meet my parents for dinner, but hopefully I'll be able to post a few pictures soon. I mean, I'm sure everyone wants the grand tour of my 600-square-feet of magnificent opulence...
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Home sweet, uh, soon-to-be not home...
We're back in Austin for another, oh, 8 hours or so. I'm doing a quick load of laundry, and then heading straight to bed (it really FEELS like midnight right now, even though it's only 10 back in Vegas -- I think traveling by plane really saps my energy for some reason. But I guess that's good... I'm already reacclimated to the central time zone... :)). We'll hopefully be out of here by 7:30 or 7:45 tomorrow morning, and we'll see how far we get by tomorrow night...
I'm actually a little nervous about moving into the temporary apartment -- we haven't even SEEN the place yet, so I'm hoping it's okay. I mean, sure, it's only temporary... but I'd still like to be relatively comfortable in my temporarity (yes, I just made that word up). Temporarity comfortability. That's what I'm looking for...
And since the dryer just buzzed to inform me that my clothes are dry, I must go fold, pack, and get some sleep. I doubt I'll have a chance to post anything tomorrow, so -- see you in Chicago!!
I'm actually a little nervous about moving into the temporary apartment -- we haven't even SEEN the place yet, so I'm hoping it's okay. I mean, sure, it's only temporary... but I'd still like to be relatively comfortable in my temporarity (yes, I just made that word up). Temporarity comfortability. That's what I'm looking for...
And since the dryer just buzzed to inform me that my clothes are dry, I must go fold, pack, and get some sleep. I doubt I'll have a chance to post anything tomorrow, so -- see you in Chicago!!
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Wedding pics!
I can't believe my little brother is married!! :) It was a great weekend with lots of family (my cousin Luke even flew in all the way from Switzerland!) and friends -- it was so nice to have everyone in the same place at the same time to celebrate with Eric and Rachel. We're about to head out to dinner, but here are a few pictures from last night:
Tomorrow we'll be flying back to Austin, and then bright and early Tuesday morning we'll be on the road (in a car that is packed as full of stuff as it can possibly be) to Chicago. If all goes well, we'll be pulling into our new home city sometime Wednesday afternoon, and attempting to get settled into our downsized apartment... this should be interesting... :)
Monday, November 08, 2010
Friday, November 05, 2010
Tired... sooooooo tired...
This week has FLOWN by -- I can't believe how quickly time passes when you have five million things to do and a finite amount of time to do them. I feel like I've accomplished a lot this week, but somehow I think I should feel more prepared for the next few weeks... as it is, I feel totally UNprepared. I still have things to pack, I still have laundry to do, I still have things to throw away... we still have furniture that, thankfully, some friends are taking off our hands tomorrow (although there's more where that came from... furniture? Anyone??).
But I definitely have figured out the pancake thing... in fact, I think it's safe to say that I've got mad pancake-making skillz...
So, if anyone wants a really great pancake breakfast, feel free to come visit me in Chicago. Because if I've learned one thing this week, it's how to make super good pancakes (and I managed to use up all our eggs and most of the bottle of syrup I had in the fridge... that was really my main motivation...).
My plans for tomorrow include more packing, more laundry, and drinking lots and lots of coffee. (But no pancakes, because, as I mentioned, I am now completely out of eggs.) But for now, I'm off to bed... hope everyone has a good weekend! :)
But I definitely have figured out the pancake thing... in fact, I think it's safe to say that I've got mad pancake-making skillz...
So, if anyone wants a really great pancake breakfast, feel free to come visit me in Chicago. Because if I've learned one thing this week, it's how to make super good pancakes (and I managed to use up all our eggs and most of the bottle of syrup I had in the fridge... that was really my main motivation...).
My plans for tomorrow include more packing, more laundry, and drinking lots and lots of coffee. (But no pancakes, because, as I mentioned, I am now completely out of eggs.) But for now, I'm off to bed... hope everyone has a good weekend! :)
Wednesday, November 03, 2010
Aaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh!! Part 3...
Been running around like crazy the last few days, but I'll take a quick break and jot down some random stuff:
Aaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh!!!! (Oh, wait -- I already said that... well, it's probably worth repeating... :)) It's starting to really hit me that I have less than a week until people are coming to pack up all our stuff and move it into storage, and I still have soooooooooo much to do. For some reason, I thought it would be easier to pack for a temporary apartment... I have managed to buy some new sheets and a blanket for the bed in the apartment (it's a queen and we have a king, so I didn't have any suitable bedding), which are now all washed and folded and ready to go... and I've packed some towels and a bunch of sweaters... and I've done about fifteen thousand loads of laundry... and I've started getting some stuff together in the kitchen and in the bathroom... but I've still got quite a lot of work to do before we're ready to go...
So who's excited to see the holiday drinks back at Starbucks?? I loooooove peppermint mochas and gingerbread lattes. Although I have to admit it seems a little too early to be reintroducing them -- if I'm remembering correctly, they waited until the week before Thanksgiving last year. That seems more appropriate... but I'm not going to complain, since I do love a decent peppermint mocha...
Why does it seem like all your stuff multiplies when you're about to move? I mean, really, how did I accumulate so many pens and unread magazines and random bottles of perfume? (Should I throw it all away? Or will I be doing a lot of writing and have plenty of time for light reading and need to constantly smell good once I'm in Chicago??)
I have been using my suddenly free weekday mornings to perfect my pancake recipe. I found a couple pancake recipes online a few weeks ago (including one on a food blog, whose author proclaimed the recipe to be "the best pancake recipe ever!!"), and tried them out one weekend -- they were HORRIBLE. The "best pancake recipe ever," in particular, was an eggy, chewy, culinary disaster, and I couldn't figure out why anyone would make it more than once (and I DID follow the recipe correctly, in case you're wondering... :)). So I've been experimenting with my OWN recipes -- each day they've been tasting better and better, and I think today's was ALMOST perfect. I added a few dashes of cinnamon to the batter, and it really made them quite tasty. I'm just hoping I can remember the proper amounts of ingredients I used -- I tend to not write down recipes... I'm one of those "I'll try a little of this and a little more of that" kind of cooks. Which, surprisingly, works out pretty well most of the time...
Okay, I should get back to work, lest I forget to do something important... By the way, I had a dream the other night that when we arrived at our temporary apartment in Chicago, I opened the refrigerator, and it was full of jars of olives. Like fifteen jars of olives. Nothing but olives. What does that mean??? (That means you have really weird dreams, Lisa... :)) Back to packing...
Aaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh!!!! (Oh, wait -- I already said that... well, it's probably worth repeating... :)) It's starting to really hit me that I have less than a week until people are coming to pack up all our stuff and move it into storage, and I still have soooooooooo much to do. For some reason, I thought it would be easier to pack for a temporary apartment... I have managed to buy some new sheets and a blanket for the bed in the apartment (it's a queen and we have a king, so I didn't have any suitable bedding), which are now all washed and folded and ready to go... and I've packed some towels and a bunch of sweaters... and I've done about fifteen thousand loads of laundry... and I've started getting some stuff together in the kitchen and in the bathroom... but I've still got quite a lot of work to do before we're ready to go...
So who's excited to see the holiday drinks back at Starbucks?? I loooooove peppermint mochas and gingerbread lattes. Although I have to admit it seems a little too early to be reintroducing them -- if I'm remembering correctly, they waited until the week before Thanksgiving last year. That seems more appropriate... but I'm not going to complain, since I do love a decent peppermint mocha...
Why does it seem like all your stuff multiplies when you're about to move? I mean, really, how did I accumulate so many pens and unread magazines and random bottles of perfume? (Should I throw it all away? Or will I be doing a lot of writing and have plenty of time for light reading and need to constantly smell good once I'm in Chicago??)
I have been using my suddenly free weekday mornings to perfect my pancake recipe. I found a couple pancake recipes online a few weeks ago (including one on a food blog, whose author proclaimed the recipe to be "the best pancake recipe ever!!"), and tried them out one weekend -- they were HORRIBLE. The "best pancake recipe ever," in particular, was an eggy, chewy, culinary disaster, and I couldn't figure out why anyone would make it more than once (and I DID follow the recipe correctly, in case you're wondering... :)). So I've been experimenting with my OWN recipes -- each day they've been tasting better and better, and I think today's was ALMOST perfect. I added a few dashes of cinnamon to the batter, and it really made them quite tasty. I'm just hoping I can remember the proper amounts of ingredients I used -- I tend to not write down recipes... I'm one of those "I'll try a little of this and a little more of that" kind of cooks. Which, surprisingly, works out pretty well most of the time...
Okay, I should get back to work, lest I forget to do something important... By the way, I had a dream the other night that when we arrived at our temporary apartment in Chicago, I opened the refrigerator, and it was full of jars of olives. Like fifteen jars of olives. Nothing but olives. What does that mean??? (That means you have really weird dreams, Lisa... :)) Back to packing...
Sunday, October 31, 2010
And one more makes nine...
I just realized that if I threw in one more post this month, I'd be up to NINE posts for the month -- a record for this year! (That's pretty sad... :)) So here ya go:
Happy Halloween!!
And that's pretty much all I've got for now. But hey, I made it all fancy for ya and everything... I mean, it must've taken me 50 whole seconds to color every other letter of that phrase orange. I spare no effort for you guys. ;)
See you in November!
Happy Halloween!!
And that's pretty much all I've got for now. But hey, I made it all fancy for ya and everything... I mean, it must've taken me 50 whole seconds to color every other letter of that phrase orange. I spare no effort for you guys. ;)
See you in November!
Monday, October 25, 2010
Some random stuff...
Happy Monday, everyone! Normally I wouldn't be quite so chipper on a Monday, but this is my LAST WEEK of work!! (Oh my gosh, I just realized that in a week, I'll be able to sleep past 5:30 on Monday morning... I. Can. Not. Wait. :)) And then we will commence with the mad dash to pack up and move... the next few weeks are going to be veeeeery interesting...
Craziness abounds at the moment, so here are some random thoughts that I plucked from my discombobulated mind:
Hey, look at that -- I managed to post 8 times in a month again! Who's impressed? Anyone?? Anyone at all?? No? Just me, then? Okay...
So is it silly that since Rachel mentioned the Trader Joe's near our temporary apartment, that I'm even MORE excited to live there for a little while? 600 square feet? Ha! Bring it on... :) Seriously, I've wanted to visit a Trader Joe's for the longest time -- I read a bunch of healthy living/food blogs and people are constantly mentioning the various items they've bought at Trader Joe's. And I'm always like, "why can't we get one of those HERE??" What, because Whole Foods started in Austin, they've got a monopoly on the market market? (Yes, I DID say the "market market"...) By the way, a quick internet search for "Trader Joe's Austin" brought up a "petition to bring Trader Joe's to Austin." So I'm not the only person who wishes there was one in this city...
I just realized that I have yet to tell the harrowing tale of the Ugly Naked Tourist: When we were in Chicago last week, we stayed in a hotel with a view of the hotel across the street. The morning that we left, I noticed there was a meeting room on the third or fourth floor of the hotel, and a bunch of people were gathered around a conference table (looking rather bored, if you ask me). We went to breakfast, came back, and they were still there... an hour later, STILL there. I was starting to feel really sorry for these people stuck in the seemingly endless meeting. So right before we checked out, I decided to look out my window once more and see if they were still in the meeting. The rest went something like this:
Me (Running from window and covering my eyes): EEEEEEEWWWW... EWEWEWEWEWEWEW!!!
Rick thought perhaps the guy was under the impression that his window was tinted, but when I told Eric about it, he said it was probably some weirdo exhibitionist. Which, I think, makes it even worse, because apparently he was standing there HOPING some unsuspecting girl in the hotel across the street would notice him. Ughhh... ick...
And oh yeah, those people were STILL stuck in that meeting... :)
Craziness abounds at the moment, so here are some random thoughts that I plucked from my discombobulated mind:
Hey, look at that -- I managed to post 8 times in a month again! Who's impressed? Anyone?? Anyone at all?? No? Just me, then? Okay...
So is it silly that since Rachel mentioned the Trader Joe's near our temporary apartment, that I'm even MORE excited to live there for a little while? 600 square feet? Ha! Bring it on... :) Seriously, I've wanted to visit a Trader Joe's for the longest time -- I read a bunch of healthy living/food blogs and people are constantly mentioning the various items they've bought at Trader Joe's. And I'm always like, "why can't we get one of those HERE??" What, because Whole Foods started in Austin, they've got a monopoly on the market market? (Yes, I DID say the "market market"...) By the way, a quick internet search for "Trader Joe's Austin" brought up a "petition to bring Trader Joe's to Austin." So I'm not the only person who wishes there was one in this city...
I just realized that I have yet to tell the harrowing tale of the Ugly Naked Tourist: When we were in Chicago last week, we stayed in a hotel with a view of the hotel across the street. The morning that we left, I noticed there was a meeting room on the third or fourth floor of the hotel, and a bunch of people were gathered around a conference table (looking rather bored, if you ask me). We went to breakfast, came back, and they were still there... an hour later, STILL there. I was starting to feel really sorry for these people stuck in the seemingly endless meeting. So right before we checked out, I decided to look out my window once more and see if they were still in the meeting. The rest went something like this:
Now where was that conference room? The fourth floor? I think it's somewhere near that guy with the towel... wait... what is he doing with that towel? Wait, wait WAIT -- what's underneath the towel??? Is he... is that guy... no, don't move the towel! Don't move the towel!! Oh nononononononono...
Me: Nooooooo...
Rick: What's the matter?
Me: Uhh, is that guy standing in the window across the street naked???
Rick (after a cursory glance): Yup.
Rick thought perhaps the guy was under the impression that his window was tinted, but when I told Eric about it, he said it was probably some weirdo exhibitionist. Which, I think, makes it even worse, because apparently he was standing there HOPING some unsuspecting girl in the hotel across the street would notice him. Ughhh... ick...
And oh yeah, those people were STILL stuck in that meeting... :)
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Aaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh! Part 2...
(Random thought: I don't know WHAT is out in the Austin air today, but I am feeling extremely allergic to something right now... And a frantic search through my bag has turned up nothing but benadryl, which I can't take during the day because I'll fall asleep... Although if this keeps up for much longer, I may have to make an exception...)
Anyway, back to the subject that is taking up the majority of my brain space at the moment: moving to Chicago!! So far, it looks like the plan (what there IS of one) is to commence with the moving process right after Eric's wedding, which is going to make for an extremely busy couple of weeks. (Sheesh, Eric, couldn't you have gotten married at a time that was more convenient for me?? ;)) We've already signed a lease on a temporary apartment downtown, where we'll stay while we continue to condo-hunt and wait for our house here to sell. I'm reeeeaaaaallly hoping it will sell quickly. And I'm not just saying that because I'm anxious to get settled into a permanent residence (although I am), but also because our temporary apartment is about 600 square feet...
And honestly, I'm not sure I've EVER lived in a 600 square foot apartment. My first apartment was about 1000 sf, I think -- although it was a two-bedroom and I had a roommate. And when Rick and I were first married, I think our apartment was about 800 sf? Maybe 900? Anyway, this extreme, immediate downsizing should be interesting... The bedroom doesn't even have a door... which, I just realized, means I can't throw Riff out when he's being annoying in the middle of the night. Oh boy... this is going to be veeeeeery interesting...
The good thing is that this apartment is in a great location that we're already pretty familiar with, so I have my Argo Tea/Starbucks locations mapped out already. AND there's a Whole Foods in the building, so grocery shopping will be easy. And really, if you have groceries and coffee, what more do you need?? (Maybe a winter coat... yes, definitely a winter coat...)
I'm going between panic and excitement right now -- I mean, in less than a month, most of our stuff will be in storage, we'll be living in a tiny little downtown Chicago apartment, and a REAL winter will be unleashing its freezing cold fury upon us... and while I'm slightly freaking out over the planning that still needs to be done, I'm actually more excited than anything else. This is going to be a huge change for us, and I'm looking forward to seeing how it all unfolds...
That is, if anything CAN unfold in a 600 square foot apartment... :)
Anyway, back to the subject that is taking up the majority of my brain space at the moment: moving to Chicago!! So far, it looks like the plan (what there IS of one) is to commence with the moving process right after Eric's wedding, which is going to make for an extremely busy couple of weeks. (Sheesh, Eric, couldn't you have gotten married at a time that was more convenient for me?? ;)) We've already signed a lease on a temporary apartment downtown, where we'll stay while we continue to condo-hunt and wait for our house here to sell. I'm reeeeaaaaallly hoping it will sell quickly. And I'm not just saying that because I'm anxious to get settled into a permanent residence (although I am), but also because our temporary apartment is about 600 square feet...
And honestly, I'm not sure I've EVER lived in a 600 square foot apartment. My first apartment was about 1000 sf, I think -- although it was a two-bedroom and I had a roommate. And when Rick and I were first married, I think our apartment was about 800 sf? Maybe 900? Anyway, this extreme, immediate downsizing should be interesting... The bedroom doesn't even have a door... which, I just realized, means I can't throw Riff out when he's being annoying in the middle of the night. Oh boy... this is going to be veeeeeery interesting...
The good thing is that this apartment is in a great location that we're already pretty familiar with, so I have my Argo Tea/Starbucks locations mapped out already. AND there's a Whole Foods in the building, so grocery shopping will be easy. And really, if you have groceries and coffee, what more do you need?? (Maybe a winter coat... yes, definitely a winter coat...)
I'm going between panic and excitement right now -- I mean, in less than a month, most of our stuff will be in storage, we'll be living in a tiny little downtown Chicago apartment, and a REAL winter will be unleashing its freezing cold fury upon us... and while I'm slightly freaking out over the planning that still needs to be done, I'm actually more excited than anything else. This is going to be a huge change for us, and I'm looking forward to seeing how it all unfolds...
That is, if anything CAN unfold in a 600 square foot apartment... :)
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Comfortability, revisited...
So Faisal, the Master Aficionado of Comfortability Extraordinaire (aka MACE... and yes, I DID spend several minutes coming up with an acronym), sent me a message last night to inform me of the fact that a baseball commentator had used the made-up word "comfortability" on the air, thus, apparently lending credence to its so-called "right" to be a real word. Much like Pinocchio wished to be a real boy, comfortability wishes to be a real word. (Shut up, Singing Cricket... you can wish upon all the stars you want... it won't change anything...)
Just a few weeks ago, my friend Nick posted something on his Facebook wall about how he'd heard a sports commentator use the made-up word "physicaling." It was used in the sentence, "Right now, South Carolina is just out physicaling Georgia." (Perhaps that should be hyphenated? Out-physicaling?) I only mention this to illustrate the fact that many sports commentators aren't exactly English-language experts. (Perhaps a few are, who knows. But they're certainly not the ones using "comfortability" and "physicaling." ;))
I, being a nerdy kinda girl, have many language pet peeves that probably roll right off the backs (or off the ears... or eyes, depending on the medium...) of most English-language speakers. Comfortability and physicaling aside, there are quite a few words that are commonly misused that tend to drive me crazy. (I suppose I shouldn't let such things bother me... :)) There are the easy-to-miss-one-letter-on-the-keyboard words like choose and chose and lose and loose (although I've seen them interchanged so frequently that I have to assume some people don't realize they're different words...); and then there are the "you should know which ones to use by now" words like then and than, your and you're, and there, their and they're. (Really, you should KNOW which ones to use by now...).
And then there's the Me vs. I Conundrum, which I've become even more acutely aware of since joining Facebook. People love to post pictures of themselves with their friends/family/dogs/whoever... and it is very rare that I see a correctly captioned photo. Almost everyone -- even people who are decent writers -- will caption a photo with something like, "my dog and I," or "Joe, John, Jimmy and I." It seems that, after years of hearing the "so-and-so and I" format (who didn't have an English teacher who drilled that into their head??), we've become too scared to use "so-and-so and ME," even when "me" is the proper word. You wouldn't say, "here's a picture of I..." You'd say, "here's a picture of me." In the same way, the proper way to caption a photo would be, "my dog and me" or "Joe, John, Jimmy and me." This is ME. Not, "this is I."
Okay, I'm getting too nerdy even for my own taste... I want to push myself into a locker and call myself "teacher's pet." I should obviously shut up now. Right after I let the MACE know how wrong he is... (And, by the way, I am hoping I didn't make any mistakes in this post... because no doubt someone... SOMEone... will feel compelled to point them out to me... :))
I'm off to post some Facebook pictures of my cat... and me...
Just a few weeks ago, my friend Nick posted something on his Facebook wall about how he'd heard a sports commentator use the made-up word "physicaling." It was used in the sentence, "Right now, South Carolina is just out physicaling Georgia." (Perhaps that should be hyphenated? Out-physicaling?) I only mention this to illustrate the fact that many sports commentators aren't exactly English-language experts. (Perhaps a few are, who knows. But they're certainly not the ones using "comfortability" and "physicaling." ;))
I, being a nerdy kinda girl, have many language pet peeves that probably roll right off the backs (or off the ears... or eyes, depending on the medium...) of most English-language speakers. Comfortability and physicaling aside, there are quite a few words that are commonly misused that tend to drive me crazy. (I suppose I shouldn't let such things bother me... :)) There are the easy-to-miss-one-letter-on-the-keyboard words like choose and chose and lose and loose (although I've seen them interchanged so frequently that I have to assume some people don't realize they're different words...); and then there are the "you should know which ones to use by now" words like then and than, your and you're, and there, their and they're. (Really, you should KNOW which ones to use by now...).
And then there's the Me vs. I Conundrum, which I've become even more acutely aware of since joining Facebook. People love to post pictures of themselves with their friends/family/dogs/whoever... and it is very rare that I see a correctly captioned photo. Almost everyone -- even people who are decent writers -- will caption a photo with something like, "my dog and I," or "Joe, John, Jimmy and I." It seems that, after years of hearing the "so-and-so and I" format (who didn't have an English teacher who drilled that into their head??), we've become too scared to use "so-and-so and ME," even when "me" is the proper word. You wouldn't say, "here's a picture of I..." You'd say, "here's a picture of me." In the same way, the proper way to caption a photo would be, "my dog and me" or "Joe, John, Jimmy and me." This is ME. Not, "this is I."
Okay, I'm getting too nerdy even for my own taste... I want to push myself into a locker and call myself "teacher's pet." I should obviously shut up now. Right after I let the MACE know how wrong he is... (And, by the way, I am hoping I didn't make any mistakes in this post... because no doubt someone... SOMEone... will feel compelled to point them out to me... :))
I'm off to post some Facebook pictures of my cat... and me...
Monday, October 18, 2010
Soon to return...
We're leaving Chicago this afternoon, after a much-too-quick condo-searching expedition. We also had the chance to hang out with Dave and Faisal this weekend -- I hadn't seen either one of them in... years? I think? A really, really long time, anyway. And I'm still amazed by how much food Dave manages to eat... I think he may have four stomachs... like a cow. Yeah. Dave MIGHT be part cow. Just sayin'... :) And we got a chance to see Faisal's new place in the city (getting to it was quite the adventure -- perhaps when I have more time I can describe our journey in detail), which has an AWESOME view and tons of light. As someone whose mood is directly affected by sunlight, I was impressed by the amount of luminosity. However, I didn't spend enough time there to comment on the comfortability... maybe another time...
We found a few condos we're very interested in, so now we have millions of little details to work out so we can figure out when/what to put an offer on. It seems to be complicated, judging from the phone calls Rick has been making this morning... but hopefully in another month or so, we'll have a solid plan in place...
I'm always sad to leave Chicago, but perhaps this time it'll be sliiiiightly easier to get on that plane back to Austin, since I know that the moment I get back home I'll be hard at work getting ready to move. (Cleaning... so much cleaning... so... much... cleaning...)
See you back in Austin....
We found a few condos we're very interested in, so now we have millions of little details to work out so we can figure out when/what to put an offer on. It seems to be complicated, judging from the phone calls Rick has been making this morning... but hopefully in another month or so, we'll have a solid plan in place...
I'm always sad to leave Chicago, but perhaps this time it'll be sliiiiightly easier to get on that plane back to Austin, since I know that the moment I get back home I'll be hard at work getting ready to move. (Cleaning... so much cleaning... so... much... cleaning...)
See you back in Austin....
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Aaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh!!
That would be the sound my brain is making right now, as it attempts to wrap itself around the inevitability of the busyness that abounds. We've got an impromptu condo-searching trip to Chicago planned for this weekend, which means I have to pack tonight... but we also have two realtors and possibly a mover (? I can't remember) coming by on Tuesday, Wednesday and possibly Thursday next week. Which means I also need to clean the house at the same time I'm packing, because I obviously can't clean it this weekend, and I won't have time on Tuesday before the realtor shows up. Fortunately, the house doesn't need to be immaculate at this point -- we're not actually showing it to people yet -- but it still needs to be presentable. I'd hate for a realtor to go into my closet and see the dozens of shoes thrown haphazardly on the floor, or to see all the junk mail that has piled up on my kitchen counter...
Our awesome Chicago realtor has some places lined up for us to see on Saturday. (By the way, if anyone is in the market for a place in Chicago, I HAVE to refer you to our realtor. She's like a Chicago Real Estate Superhero... she tromps through foot-high snowdrifts in boots with four-inch stiletto heels and maneuvers her SUV through the streets like an Indy driver... and then she double-parks and doesn't care who sees. She also finds EXACTLY the kinds of things you're looking for, so you don't waste any time seeing places you'd never think of buying. Oh, and I think she's a triathlete or something... because even though she's shorter than I am, I wouldn't want to make her mad if I met her in a dark alley...)
So tonight we're ordering pizza, throwing some stuff into suitcases, Windexing the bathroom mirrors and vacuuming the house. I should probably also throw out the junk mail and try to organize my shoes. And then some time between trying to remember to pack dental floss and showing my ID at the airport check-in counter, I have to sleep, make oatmeal and work for a few hours. But, if I emerge with my sanity intact, I shall be rewarded with Chicago rush-hour traffic on the way to the hotel... wait... that doesn't sound like a reward. Okay, if I survive THAT with my sanity intact, I shall be rewarded with Starbucks coffee in the shop next door to the hotel. Yeah, that sounds much more rewarding... :)
And can somebody tell me why I'm still writing when I have so much to do?? :)
Our awesome Chicago realtor has some places lined up for us to see on Saturday. (By the way, if anyone is in the market for a place in Chicago, I HAVE to refer you to our realtor. She's like a Chicago Real Estate Superhero... she tromps through foot-high snowdrifts in boots with four-inch stiletto heels and maneuvers her SUV through the streets like an Indy driver... and then she double-parks and doesn't care who sees. She also finds EXACTLY the kinds of things you're looking for, so you don't waste any time seeing places you'd never think of buying. Oh, and I think she's a triathlete or something... because even though she's shorter than I am, I wouldn't want to make her mad if I met her in a dark alley...)
So tonight we're ordering pizza, throwing some stuff into suitcases, Windexing the bathroom mirrors and vacuuming the house. I should probably also throw out the junk mail and try to organize my shoes. And then some time between trying to remember to pack dental floss and showing my ID at the airport check-in counter, I have to sleep, make oatmeal and work for a few hours. But, if I emerge with my sanity intact, I shall be rewarded with Chicago rush-hour traffic on the way to the hotel... wait... that doesn't sound like a reward. Okay, if I survive THAT with my sanity intact, I shall be rewarded with Starbucks coffee in the shop next door to the hotel. Yeah, that sounds much more rewarding... :)
And can somebody tell me why I'm still writing when I have so much to do?? :)
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
And THIS time, we mean it...
If you're one of the three or four people who've been reading my blog for a few years, you will recall that back in 2008, we were waiting anxiously to hear about a job in Chicago. And it was taking a long time. Like a REALLY long time. In fact, I wrote a day-by-day recap of the whole ordeal. Everything was held up in human resources, apparently... and I, being curious, delved deep into the jungles of Costa Rica to search for the person in charge of this slow-as-molasses department:
Just as I suspected. A tree sloth...
Well, recently, Rick and I got to experience round two of the Great Chicago Unknown. I kept it off the blog this time, since I know there are a few people where I work who read the blog now and then. And I believe it's generally frowned upon, when you're employed, to talk about how you hope to be leaving your job soon to move across the country.
But the cat's out of the bag and the dog's out of the grocery cart and the coffee has been poured out of the carafe (yeah, I have no idea where "the cat's out of the bag" came from -- why was the cat IN the bag to begin with???), so I can finally say this:
WE'RE MOVING TO CHICAGO!!!!!!
I shall return with more details soon... :)
Well, recently, Rick and I got to experience round two of the Great Chicago Unknown. I kept it off the blog this time, since I know there are a few people where I work who read the blog now and then. And I believe it's generally frowned upon, when you're employed, to talk about how you hope to be leaving your job soon to move across the country.
But the cat's out of the bag and the dog's out of the grocery cart and the coffee has been poured out of the carafe (yeah, I have no idea where "the cat's out of the bag" came from -- why was the cat IN the bag to begin with???), so I can finally say this:
WE'RE MOVING TO CHICAGO!!!!!!
I shall return with more details soon... :)
Wednesday, October 06, 2010
Crazy cat lady...
I told Eric I was going to blog about this to make him jealous, so here we go: I made butternut squash soup for dinner. Yuuuum. Although Eric should be happy to hear that it was NOT Basil Leaf butternut squash soup (which I think is more of a pear-sweetened soup with hints of cinnamon), but rather a savory, curried butternut squash soup, with black beans and garbanzos thrown in for good measure. I was surprised by how good it turned out, actually -- I didn't have a recipe, so I just kind of guessed at what might taste good. Fortunately, I made some good guesses. Even Rick (who gave me a, "did you put curry in this? I don't like curry..." when I gave him his bowl of soup) ate every last bit. (So I guess the curry wasn't THAT bad?? ;))
And on another topic entirely -- apparently I am the crazy cat lady. No, I haven't brought another cat home -- still only two little furballs in my house -- but I DO seem to keep taking pictures of them. But c'mon -- they're so photogenic:
Yes, I went for the black-and-white setting on my camera... the mood was not unlike that time I was arrested in Albania and had to pose for the mugshot:
Yeah, don't ask about THAT night... (No, really, don't ask, because I have no idea why Albania was the first country that popped into my head, OR why I'm having delusions of being arrested there... and can I just ask -- WHAT is going on with my hair??) Sigh... I seriously need some focus in my life so I can write about something coherent for a post or two... Although I'm definitely living up to my "random tangents" moniker. So I'll just take what I can get for now. :)
And on another topic entirely -- apparently I am the crazy cat lady. No, I haven't brought another cat home -- still only two little furballs in my house -- but I DO seem to keep taking pictures of them. But c'mon -- they're so photogenic:
Yes, I went for the black-and-white setting on my camera... the mood was not unlike that time I was arrested in Albania and had to pose for the mugshot:
Sunday, October 03, 2010
Brrrr... sort of...
I am loving the weather here today -- sunny, not a cloud in the sky, and the high was only about 75 degrees. In fact, when Rick and I headed out to the Domain around 11 this morning for brunch, it was almost (ALMOST) cold... it was definitely a bit chilly. I mean, maybe not like Montana "coat-and-scarf" chilly:
And definitely not Chicago "coat-scarf-hat-gloves-I-wish-I-had-something-to-cover-my-face" chilly:
(Chicago "I-wish-I-had-something-to-cover-my-face-I-guess-I'll-use-my-scarf" chilly:)
No, it was not THAT chilly here today... but it WAS close to long-sleeved shirt weather. In fact, for a few minutes this morning, as we walked around the Domain to waste some time before our table at the Steeping Room was ready, I was actually wishing I'd brought a sweater. (This wish dissipated once we'd walked a mile-long lap around the shopping center... I warmed up pretty quickly...)
The weather inspired me to buy some fall-scented candles on the way home, which are now lit and filling the air with waxy pumpkin pie/apple cider smells. I love when there's finally a detectable "change" in the seasons here...
Now I wonder what the odds are of a white Christmas this year? Hmmmm... I can hope... ;)
And definitely not Chicago "coat-scarf-hat-gloves-I-wish-I-had-something-to-cover-my-face" chilly:
(Chicago "I-wish-I-had-something-to-cover-my-face-I-guess-I'll-use-my-scarf" chilly:)
No, it was not THAT chilly here today... but it WAS close to long-sleeved shirt weather. In fact, for a few minutes this morning, as we walked around the Domain to waste some time before our table at the Steeping Room was ready, I was actually wishing I'd brought a sweater. (This wish dissipated once we'd walked a mile-long lap around the shopping center... I warmed up pretty quickly...)
The weather inspired me to buy some fall-scented candles on the way home, which are now lit and filling the air with waxy pumpkin pie/apple cider smells. I love when there's finally a detectable "change" in the seasons here...
Now I wonder what the odds are of a white Christmas this year? Hmmmm... I can hope... ;)
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Success... more or less...
It's September 30, which means: I need one more blog post to hit my goal of eight posts for the month! So here we go...
Um, apparently I overestimated my ability to extract worthy blog material from thin air... hold on just a second...
Yep, just as I suspected -- I'm gonna have to resort to my blog topic fall back: random thoughts... really SHORT random thoughts... (sorry, it's the best I can do right now... :))
1) Is tomorrow seriously October?? This year is going by too quickly...
2) We had a fire drill at work yesterday. It felt like being in grade school again. Except for the eardrum-poppingly loud alarm in the building. Like RIDICULOUSLY loud. I guess it's to make sure no one will even ATTEMPT to stay inside the building in the case of a real fire...
3) I actually saw a commercial today for Kmart layaway -- for Christmas. Sheesh -- you could at LEAST wait until Halloween. Who starts their Christmas shopping this early, anyway?? (And if you happen to be one of those people -- just shut up. I don't want to hear about how you have everything bought and wrapped by Halloween. ;))
4) Rick and I have discovered a way to keep the cats away from the blinds at night when we're trying to sleep -- a can of compressed air. They HATE the sound it makes -- in fact, ever since we figured out how much they hate the sound of hissing air, they've barely touched the blinds. We keep the can nearby as a deterrent... they dare not anger the Threatening Overlord of Pressurized Air...
5) Hey, tomorrow is Friday!!
6) Is anyone else disturbed by the Old Navy commercials with the mannequins? There's just something really weird about totally immobile "spokespeople"...
Okay, I know it wasn't much, but I DID manage to post eight times this month. Yay me. Sort of... :) Hope everyone has a good weekend!
Um, apparently I overestimated my ability to extract worthy blog material from thin air... hold on just a second...
Yep, just as I suspected -- I'm gonna have to resort to my blog topic fall back: random thoughts... really SHORT random thoughts... (sorry, it's the best I can do right now... :))
1) Is tomorrow seriously October?? This year is going by too quickly...
2) We had a fire drill at work yesterday. It felt like being in grade school again. Except for the eardrum-poppingly loud alarm in the building. Like RIDICULOUSLY loud. I guess it's to make sure no one will even ATTEMPT to stay inside the building in the case of a real fire...
3) I actually saw a commercial today for Kmart layaway -- for Christmas. Sheesh -- you could at LEAST wait until Halloween. Who starts their Christmas shopping this early, anyway?? (And if you happen to be one of those people -- just shut up. I don't want to hear about how you have everything bought and wrapped by Halloween. ;))
4) Rick and I have discovered a way to keep the cats away from the blinds at night when we're trying to sleep -- a can of compressed air. They HATE the sound it makes -- in fact, ever since we figured out how much they hate the sound of hissing air, they've barely touched the blinds. We keep the can nearby as a deterrent... they dare not anger the Threatening Overlord of Pressurized Air...
5) Hey, tomorrow is Friday!!
6) Is anyone else disturbed by the Old Navy commercials with the mannequins? There's just something really weird about totally immobile "spokespeople"...
Okay, I know it wasn't much, but I DID manage to post eight times this month. Yay me. Sort of... :) Hope everyone has a good weekend!
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Very random pictures...
Random Riff!
Random fall-colored bowls!
Hmmm... I guess there wasn't much to talk about today? :)
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