Holding Court

I just thought everyone should know what Chicago food court food looks like. Serious bussniess. After an interview and an errand I decided to break my rule: don't eat out by yorself. Save the money for when friends are going out so you don't have to turn them down. But I was so hungry and knew I had more perusing to do before I hopped the el back north, so had a delicious slab of chicken parm with garlic oil sauteed pasta (which later leaked all over the take-out bag and made the American Eagle smell like a pizza joint.)

Next I swung by the post office and mailed a now belated v-day prezzie for Mom and decided to get cute valentine's day stamps for the now belated cards I sent out. Do these look like valentine's day stamps to you? I think they say: "Come to my rockin' new year's eve party!" or "Hey all! It's my 8th birthday!" But they still made me smile!

Once home a valentine's day care package had arrived from Mom! I'll share the rad goodies tomorrow, but I immediatly plucked out the Excuse-Moi! glitter nail polish and adorned my ring finger. Since I have interviews tomorrow maybe it wasn't the most professional choice, but if they can't take a little "spread the love" guesture then bah-humbug! Or the Valentine's Day eqivilent: "it's just a Halmark holiday!"

Off the topic, I always thought Valentine's day was about celebrating the ones in your life that you love, not bemoaning your relationship status. Why can't it be like it was in elementary school when we gave each other valentines and candy and got to have a party?

So call your grandma, bake brownies and drink cheap wine! Celebrate whoever it is you love and loves you back, even if it's just you and the dog/cat/crazy neighbors yelling from downstairs for the evening...that's what I'll be doing...minus the fuzzy pets. 

Have any awesome plans this Valentine's Day?

Sunday

In between job interviews and the show that I'm house managing opening this week I still managed to get to season 2 of Downton Abbey (Downton Abbey Counter: 3 consecutive posts this week.) I'm obsessed. Even tried to get Roommate to start watching it so I would have someone to gab with...he politely declined.

I hope everyone enjoyed their weekend!

-K.K.

Image via

"Hot Box" and Other Lessons

Yesterday I woke up bright and early for an interview. Had some coffee from my special zoo coffee mug (thanks mom!) and caught the el to the loop

When you're on a train platform they have these things I like to call hot boxes* You press this button and heat lamps come on over your head and keep you warm like french fries. If you have a special friend with you in the hot box, feel free the make out with them without regard to others' personal space. If you are alone in the hot box, stare straight ahead, expressionless and emotionless and wait for the people making out behind you to go away.

After the interview I was feeling particularly chipper, so instead of transferring to the red line and going straight home, I decided to take the brown line all the way around the loop and get the scenic tour. At the Quincy station they have vintage posters every few feet, and a 1920s craftsman style vibe, and a whole hoard of pigeons that like to walk around like people which I thoroughly enjoyed.

We passed the river bridges which I couldn't manage to get a sweet picture of, but it did remind me that on St. Patrick's Day the city dyes the river green. It's my sole mission to get to the loop, Guinness in a coffee cup, and watch the  river go Irish. The snow was starting to sprinkle ever so slightly, then the flakes chubbed up and made the city look like a giant snow globe from far away.

I got off the el to run some errands and got to see what I assume to be a drug bust taking place right in the middle of the road. Then I got on the bus and watched a small child roll his Lemon Heads up and down his seat like they were Hot Wheels.

The morning adventures stopped there as I wanted nothing more than to go home, curl up with a peanut butter toast sandwich, and watch Downton Abbey (addicting I say!)

I hope everyone had an equally magical morning.

*Note: DO NOT ask where the "hot box" is on an el platform. You will most likely get dirty looks or unwanted attention from conspicuous persons.

Set Back

Today started at 5:45am. I couldn't find a parking spot last night so I parked in the school loading zone which meant waking up before the tots arrive and moving my vehicle. Luckily I have a few neighbors that have a really early commute so finding a space was only a 5 minute drive around the block. It wasn't too cold either, or maybe I was too sleepy to know it was cold. I briefly contemplated staying awake to watch the sun rise...

...but that romantic notion was quelled when I decided that I would treat myself with an extra hour of sleep. That's when everything went awry.

I woke up feeling like I did two weeks ago when I was too tired to do anything. I skipped writing in the morning and hung around in my sweats doing some work for my theatre job. Then I got a call from my Dad. Then another call for an interview. And then a call from my little brother.

So while all these calls were going on I slowly put on my "big girl pants" and started cleaning the apartment, writing my morning pages, writing out valentines, finishing Mama's valentine's present, and watching Downton Abbey. Each thing more productive than the last I tell you!

But despite the fact that my day closed out better than it started, tomorrow is going to be nuts. I might have to break my limited transit rule and take a whopping four rides on the el or bus tomorrow! Maybe I'll pretend that I have insta-gram and do a little photo tour of my day, wouldn't that be swell?

Also, if I were in Columbus, Ohio tomorrow, this is what I would be doing. There have been claims that it will make you poop your pants, and that's a heckuva bargain for a colon cleanse for only $5! But seriously, bring a date.

Picture via

Building Up

I'll refer to yesterday as a "building day". I got a lot of work done in terms of the hunt, but obviously not a ton to show for it yet. One of my most frequented job search websites does this fun thing now where it sends you a report on how many people applied for the same job you did, how many years of experience they have, and how high their education is. You would think that it's something you'd want to know, but once you see in in poppy colored pie graphs you almost wish you hadn't.

Today is a deep breath kind of day. I'm letting the sun in to my room, making a grilled colby-jack and apple sandwich and trying to accept that it won't be like this forever.

There will come a day when I look back on this time in my life with gratitude. I allowed myself to take a risk, I made some mistakes, and ultimately I hope I'll come out better for it. Deep breaths.

In case you're wondering, my grilled colby-jack and apple sandwich is not one of those mistakes, it's delicious, inspiration here.