Illinois Sunset

So right about last week I had received another rejection letter and had plans to go get my new Illinois license which ALSO did not work out well. There's a lot of paperwork (and FIVE forms of identification) that you need to have. So there may or may not have been a panic moment in the parking lot which resulted in me calling my mom and apologizing profusely to Viking Boyfriend. But when I stopped bemoaning my bad luck and poor research I looked up and this was here...

We chased the sunset all the way to Chipotle and had ourselves some tasty burritos, thus calming my bad mood. The Viking Boyfriend and I tried to make some queso which I couldn't take pictures of. It turned in to this curdled glue of a cheese that made me gag when it squished in to the trash can. Lesson learned: stick to the recipe. Hopefully we'll try it again soon and I'll have some delicious results to take pictures of.

Winter Booties

Sometimes I like to do this thing where I pretend that I have money. In these wild fantasies filled with eating out twice a week, being able to pay off my car, and spend more than fifty dollars on something without getting sweaty and calling my mom, I also imagine what I would wear. Today, when the snow is past my ankles and I my poor piggies are freezing, I imagined what kind of snow boots I would buy with my fantasy money...

Keeping it classic are the duck boots from Land's End. They're everyone's favorite snow boot and I have nostalgia attached to them since my mom used to wear them to take us out to play in the snow when we were little. I wore her boots around for a while in high school when I was really in to raiding my mother's closet for her "vintage" dolphin shorts and a tank top she had that I wore to shreds. In any case these boots would stand up to anything, including the snowpocolypse.

Who doesn't want to dress like the Queen I ask you? Because if you want to keep it "country manor" in the middle of Chi-Town then you need a pair of these babies.  Accessorize boots with a pack of adorable welsh corgis and a string of pearls and you're done! (I like the red color, it'll make you stand out waiting on the train platform)

And lastly, if you want a look that says "I eat raw meat and sleep in the snow" you need these bad boys. Nothing will speak louder about your abilities to track and kill your own food or about how you're not afraid to down some peyote and wander the prairies at night with a gun that has one bullet in it. A part of me resists liking these boots...and the other part just traded tobacco and a bag of beads for a wagon axle and some buffalo meat.

Which of my fantasy boots is your favorite?

You can buy them here, here, and here.

And so it begins...

Viking Boyfriend called me early to warn me of its coming, but there wasn't a spec of snow on the ground at 10:30am. It's now 2:30 and it looks like this...

It was a little weird walking around in 50 degree weather in January, but that's come to an end. It'll be snowing here the rest of the week. And according to the Chicagoist I'll have many more snows to look forward to. Snows like this one:

Ordinarily I'd be curled up in bed with hot tea and netflix (that isn't to say that I haven't been in my pj's all day), but it's opening night for the show I've been working on. I doubt a little snow will scare off a Chicago audience, so it should be a good turnout!

Picture via

Style Obsession

My two unlikely fashion inspirations for the week:

And there's always a little of me thrown in there

Pictures via

Five

It's that time of year again when I dread going outside with anything less than three layers on and curse the gods (and myself) for moving farther north! Although Christmas in Chicago was beautiful, I have a feeling that I'll love it even more when it's warm enough to go outside in a sun dress. These are five things that will be better when it's spring in Chicago:

1.) The deck off the back of the kitchen. Granted it faces an alley way, but I always imagine curling my feet under on a deck chair, drinking my coffee in the morning, browsing a magazine, or painting my toe nails. Not only that but I'll get to plant some pretty annuals in the two little flower boxes and that will really spruce things up.

2.) The brick wall that my bedroom windows face will have grown its ivy back, and my view will have more of an old world charm than look like the alley way that it is.

3.) After the ivy comes back, I look forward to ripping the plastic "saran wrap" off my windows and not live in fear of dashing out of bed and to the living room in the morning. Despite my many efforts my bedroom is still the coldest room in the house, and while it hasn't reached arctic temperatures I still hate throwing the covers off and making a run for it past my window. At least I'm getting some cardio in, right?

4.) The beach two blocks from my apartment will be the perfect place to spread out a towel, read a book, eat some cantaloupe, and continue watching people walk their dogs outdoors, but right now it's frigid and windy.

5.) Most of all, I'll be glad for a much easier commute come spring. Less bulky clothes, less things to lose: "where's my hat?! Did it fall off on the platform? Crap, phone's ringing, gotta take off my gloves. Where is my cta pass? I can't find my cta pass!" And so forth. Despite the fact that I adore my new winter jacket, I can't wait for the ease of a jeans and a t-shirt as opposed to the long underwear extravaganza that's happening now.

I'm sure I'll do another post like this one. It's too much fun imagining what the city will be like when it's warm out. What do you miss about spring?