Revisiting, Cleaning & Letting Go

Now that I've officially moved out of my house, my room is slowly turning more and more in to a legitimate guest room. My task for my trip home for Christmas was to clean the desk in my room.

I pretty much just continued piling things on and in it since I began college, so I knew cleaning it would be an interesting experience. Here are some of my favorite things I found:

Paintings from my senior year of high school.

This photo. 

I found this photo in a National Geographic while in high school & used to carry it around with me in one of my school folders. Whenever I was in a bad mood, I would look at it and feel better. I like to think this man if very content reading in his bamboo forest or whatever kind of tree it is. I don't know what there is about it, but this picture always makes me smile.

My name tag from the iHotel.

This was from the days when I wanted to be a wedding planner. I may not want to be one anymore, but I loved this job & it helped me save money for Italy.

My portfolio name tag & brainstorm book from ADV 452.

This was by far one of the most difficult classes I took in college, but also one of the best. Not only was it taught by a great professor, but it also showed me that I didn't want to be a creative. I did, however, learn that I really enjoy researching & helping come up with the big idea that helps build each brand & campaign. Without this, I wouldn't be at the job I love today.

All my old birthday cards.

Cards are important to me & I have a hard time throwing them away sometimes. This is one of my favorites I received from my friend Jacqueline for my 21st birthday.

My notes from classes in Italy.

Yet another thing I was having a hard time getting rid of. There was no reason for me to need pages and pages of notes about Italian movies & literature all written in Italian, but they were still hard to throw away. Even though it's been two years & I will forever have amazing memories from studying abroad, throwing away my notes was one of the final admittances that that part of my life is over.

My broken camera.

Another item I've been holding on to from studying abroad. This camera shattered while climbing the Duomo in Florence. We were almost to the top when my boyfriend at the time decided to take a route other than the stairs (aka he ran up the slope beside the stairs) & I freaked out. He jumped back on to the stairs but not before accidentally smacking the camera out of my hand. At the time, it was my most prized possession & time seemed to slow as I watched it bounce down the numerous stairs we had already climbed until it reached the last landing. Miraculously it worked for the rest of the day & didn't bite the dust until we were on the train back to Verona. 

This incident always reminds me of how unimportant even our most "prized possessions" are. I may have broken my camera, but I was still having an amazing time in Italy with someone important to me & not even breaking my beloved camera could ruin my day.

The card for the cruise I took.

This card was a big joke from the cruise Natalie & I took at the end of study abroad because every time you got back on the boat you had to show it to the workers who were constantly saying "Costa card, carta Costa." It probably isn't funny to anyone else, but Natalie & I always thought it was hilarious :)

Graduation money!

I somehow forgot to empty a few of my graduation cards & found a bunch of money :) #win

It was nice to remember so many great memories while going through the years of my life that had accumulated on my desk, but it was also really refreshing to let all the stuff go. I kept the items that really mean something to me (& I quickly stuffed the money in my wallet) and let the rest of it go.

I hope you find the time to go through an area that has become cluttered over time & find some memorable gems among the mess then let the rest of it go. It's a great way to start the new year.

Happy New Year!

My 23rd Birthday

Another birthday has come and gone, but this year's was truly great. I had been feeling a bit down this year that I was spending yet another year of holidays & my birthday as a single girl, but after chatting with my mom when I got home last Friday, I decided to focus on everyone who is in my life right now than who isn't. I may not have had a boyfriend to celebrate my birthday with this year, but I did have my amazing brother, Michael, to help me have a great day.

Michael & me on Christmas

He's moving to New Mexico in two weeks for a great internship, so he drove me back to Chicago to spend my birthday with me. It was so great to spend some time with him before he moves and it reminded me of how thoughtful & nice of a brother I have.

We started with dinner at Goose Island on the 27th to watch the Illini basketball game (they won in double overtime!) I got delicious veggie chili & Michael got the peanut butter burger. Yes, the peanut butter burger complete with a patty, bacon, fried bananas & peanut butter sauce. We also got free tastes of their Double B beer from on of the brewers & Michael got a flight of beer. Pere Jacques was definitely my favorite! It's ironic because Pere Jacques means Father Jack which is our dad's name...

My taste of Double B.

In the morning, I went on a run then came back and ran some errands to grab some last minute items for the dinner brunch I was hosting. We were planning on going to the movies, but I was also freaking out about the completely bare wall in our dining room. I had been thinking a long time about what to do with the wall & I wanted to have it decorated before my birthday dinner. Thanks to a sudden burst of decorating creativity, I put together an idea and made my brother help me hang everything just 10 minutes before we were supposed to leave for the movie.

My wall "masterpiece".

After our quick decorating adventure, we left for the Music Box to see Strangers on a Train as part of their Alfred Hitchcock festival. I love the suspense of Hitchcock movies & this one did not disappoint! 

Since we were making waffles for my dinner brunch (brinner?), we originally planned on putting candles in a waffle for me to blow out. After a little more thought, however, we decided 23 candles in a waffles probably wasn't going to work out so well, so we headed to Sensational Bites to grab a cake. We ended up with a delicious 3-tiered chocolate cake with buttercream frosting and chocolate ganache. This cake truly was sensational & I would recommend the bakery to anyone in the Northern Lakeview area!

The delicious cake Michael bought me.

The waffles weren't the prettiest I've ever made, but they ended up being delicious & everyone seemed to enjoy them. Sadly I didn't grab a picture of everyone, but some of my closest friends from my sorority & Natalie P came over to help me celebrate. I'm so thankful to have so many friends already in a city I moved to just 6 months ago!

After dinner, my brother prepared my cake & I thought hard about what my wish would be. I was so determined to blow all my candles out, I actually almost lit my hair on fire...in the end, I didn't get them all, but I sure did try :)

Thank you to everyone who helped me celebrate my birthday, but a special thanks goes out to my amazing brother for making sure my birthday was truly a great one!

All Grown Up

Sorry for my disappearance from the blogosphere yet again, but I had another life changing/busy week. I moved in to my first "real world" apartment last weekend which was so much more exhausting than I thought it would be. Then I spent this week running around between different activities and a busy week at work. After sleeping in the past 2 mornings, I finally feel caught up and am truly settling in to my new place.

I would love to say I'll be able to write more, but I have a hunch that I won't really get a whole lot of time until I finish up work for the year. Maybe I'll try getting back to my original format of a short post about one thing to be thankful for rather than my long thankfulness dumps I've been doing lately :)

Anyways, here is what's been going on lately:

Bought this beautiful wreath over Thanksgiving for the front door of our apartment.

Moved in! Helloooo new room :)

Made this scarf/purse holder with my dad over Thanksgiving. It was so much fun using power tools with my dad in the garage and making this pretty & functional piece.

Had this beautiful walk to the L and a much shorter commute to work each morning.

Finally found the type of sparkly nail polish I'd been looking for for 3 weeks.

Peeled my first grapefruit. I couldn't eat the whole thing (it was so much bigger than I realized it would be!) and was a lot more difficult to eat than I expected, but it was still so delicious!

Christmas decorations invaded Chicago. Every bar and office building is decorated to the nines in addition to the beautiful trees on Michigan Avenue. Chicago really knows how to do Christmas right.

Had my first office Christmas party. I may have been the youngest person there but oh well, it was still fun. Oh, and we had these hilarious napkins :)

Bought a White Elephant gift that went over even better than I thought it would. I may have been at a "grown up" Christmas party but the remote control car was still the most popular gift.

Experienced all the Christmas decoration joy at Butch McGuire's. Direct quote "This place is so great! Look at all the Christmas joy!"

Made delicious waffles with Kathryn to celebrate our first real weekend in our apartment. Chocolate chip waffles with baked apples, honey & walnuts...yummm

Walked around TBOX (the 12 Bars of Xmas) since it was in our neighborhood. Everyone walking around with their boxes of cereal was hilarious & we found this lovely sidewalk art of crushed Froot Loops. 

It's hard to tell in this picture but Clark Street was packed with happy drunks decked out in holiday gear.

More costumes. I spy with my little eye Tony the Tiger :) Keeping with the cereal theme I guess.

Went for a run in the cold around the new neighborhood.

Found this beautiful door on Lakeshore during the run. Of course I had to stop to document it.

Continued settling in to the new place. Here is some of our holiday decor & yummy scented pinecones.

I honestly can't believe I live in a beautiful apartment in a neighborhood I love in Chicago. I know I have a lot more growing up to do, but it feels pretty good to be where I'm at right now. 

Soaking Up the Last of Fall

With just 5 days standing between now and Thanksgiving (my favorite holiday!), I've been trying to soak up what is left of fall this week. We've already had a couple 30 degree days here in Chicago, and I'm sure it won't be long before winter strikes with full force. Until then however, here are some fun fall things I'm thankful for.

Honeycrisp Apples

They may be a bit more expensive, but they are worth every pen! My favorite breakfast right now is a baked honeycrisp apple with cinnamon & nutmeg infused oatmeal & walnuts sprinkled on top.

Veggie chili from my favorite cafe

They were asking for soup suggestions last week so I put my two cents in, and they made me the most delicious vegetarian chili I've ever had! Full of veggies and beans and a nice, spicy kick. It also helps that the Artisan Cellar is on the main floor of the Mart (aka I don't have to go outside to enjoy it) and Natalie is always willing to join me for lunch when we eat there :) Thanks Artisan!

Keep Calm and Larry On

The British WWII slogan "Keep Calm and Carry On" is a popular mantra in our office as I'd assume it is in any office trying to wrap up business for the year. There have been many variations on the phrase..."Keep Calm and Eat a Cupcake" and "Keep Calm and Call Batman"...and my office added to the variations with this new classic "Keep Calm and Larry On." It's posted right outside the bathrooms, and I always chuckle when I see it.

Seeing this on my morning commute

Why is it that colorful leaves are always more beautiful in the morning sunlight? This was always my favorite time of year for morning runs for this reason and once even spent an entire 3 mile run discussing which colors were best with my running partner. I may not get the time to run in the mornings right now, but at least I have this beautiful view for my morning commute.

Mat Kearney at the House of Blues

Tickets I got for free. Standing room only on the main floor.  Just being in the House of Blues. My new roomie and a hilarious group of strangers to enjoy the show with. The video I took of one of my favorite songs (see above!). Singing and dancing right next to Mat Kearney when he jumped off stage into the audience. This show was amazing and the perfect reminder of how much I love live music.

Time to make homemade cards

With the chilly weather and sun going down earlier, there is more time indoors to read, watch movies, and make homemade cards.

I hope everyone has been enjoying these last few weeks of fall and takes a minute these next few days to think about everything your thankful for this Thanksgiving. 

I'm always the one who makes my family go around the table and say what we're thankful for. If you don't have someone in your family like that, here's your chance. What are you most thankful for this year?

Things Falling Into Place

Some days nothing seems to work out and other days every things does. This whole week has been full of things falling in to place and just feeling right.

Event #1: Meeting a friend of a friend who I had an instant connection with and is now my new roommate.

Event #2: Finding an apartment for rent a block away from our mutual friend and hoping it would be as good as we wanted it to be.

Event #3: Loving the apartment!

Ivy on the side of our building

There are few better things than meeting someone you have an instant connection with, and not only did I have one of those experiences this week, but I also found my first real apartment. The past few days have felt like a dream except better because it's real. I can't wait to move in and continue building my life here in Chicago.

"On State Street, that great street, I just want to say

They do things that they don’t do on Broadway

They have the time the time of their life

I say a man and he danced with his wife

In Chicago, my home town"

Long Time Gone

I have had every intention of writing for the past few weeks, but somehow, I never end up following through. I even have a written list at work and a Post It on my computer desktop of things to write about. This may sound strange, but I think it's because I have so much to be thankful for right now that I have a hard focusing on just one thing to write about. So today I'm not going to and share a few of the things I've been most thankful for lately.

Enjoying a truly beautiful fall day with friends. 

People who still write hand written letters. And even more, people who happily live with no technology.

Chalk boards & 90s pop songs.

Exploring new areas especially places you've walked by tons of times but never noticed. I found this gem while searching for fake blood for Halloween in random shops on Belmont.

Pre-wedding celebrations for Sara's upcoming wedding. And that my cupcake Chicago skyline worked out better than I thought it would :)

My squeaky ballet flats. Sometimes it's really annoying but sometimes it's really nice. They squeak most when I walk fast, so they force me to slow down...literally.

Butternut squash! Such a great fall flavor.

The onset of the holiday season.

Shake it Off by Florence + the Machine. I may or may not listen to the whole Ceremonials every morning while I get ready and then listen to Shake it Off about another 20 times throughout the day...

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That there are only 14 days until my all time favorite holiday! Thanksgiving of course :)

What have you been most thankful for this fall?