Goals Update: May

Today is the last day of May.  That means that I have been back in Chicago for three months.  So far, my time back has affirmed that this was the best decision for me - and my mental health!  I miss some people back in DC dearly, but getting some closure on my past relationship and getting out of that house was the right thing to do.


Hopefully I can get rid of the house and be done with that for good soon!


As for the goals...


1. WORK ON MY 101 IN 1,001 LIST - I did a few of them.  Now looking at the list, I can see there are a few that I would like to tick off during the summer.  I may need to enlist a few friends to help with them, but it should be fun.  I need to make these a priority.

2. SAY "YES" MORE OFTEN - Brooke loves to remind me that I still regularly say 'no' to her... but I am trying.  Last week I went out to Dekalb on a Thursday.  That is progress people!!!  Little by little... I need to keep reminding myself that I should take a chance and try it.

3. SAVE, SAVE, SAVE - So far, so good.  Considering this is the first month that all the money that I would've paid to my mortgage went into savings, I'm feeling good.  Ideally, it would be nice to find an apartment that didn't require me to pay 2 months down (because that would essentially wipe most of my savings).  Having all this next month to chunk away big portions of my paycheck will be nice also.  It's been especially helpful that I've been making more than the minimum payments on my credit cards.

For the popcorn lovers...

You know I love pinterest.  LOVE it.

So the other day I saw this pin about making easy microwave popcorn in a paper bag.

Then, last week I saw on Natasha's blog that she "pin-busted" this pin.  Pin-busting is the new "it" thing apparently.  There are full blogs set up to demystifying all these tips and tricks shown on pinterest.

Anyways, given her endorsement, I thought I would give it a try.

And I have to say, as an air popped fan, this is amazing.  It pops quickly like microwave popcorn but tastes like air popped.  I put it in the bag dry, then once it's done popping, I drizzle with olive oil, salt and a bit of parmesan cheese.  DELICIOUS!  It's super easy for those times when you just want a small serving (or don't want to wait long enough for the air popper to work).

Melissa, I expect you to be trying this soon. :)

Memorial Weekend

I honestly don't know how most of last week went by without me posting anything.  Truth be told, I didn't have much to say.  Work was C-R-A-Z-Y last week so I was counting down the days until the long weekend.

Last week I spent a lot of time looking at apartments.  Two days in a row, my mom and I went out right after work and didn't get home until close to 8.  I actually found one that I liked and could have taken it.  Ultimately, I was too wishy-washy on it, so decided to let it pass.

Here I thought apartment hunting would be fun (sort of like house hunting).  Boy was I wrong!  I would love someone else to do it for me.  This weekend I have an appointment with a apartment searching company that I've heard really good things about.  Hopefully that will help.

This past weekend I did a whole lot of nothing.  Everyone was pretty much gone, so Samson and I spent a lot of time relaxing.  We took walks.  We took naps.  I grilled.  Truth be told, it went by way too fast.

I'm so thankful it's already Tuesday because I was fearing the residual backlash from last week at work. Hopefully I am wrong.

Inspired by Pinterest

This weeks nails are fairly simple. They will last until Friday and then I will have time to do something fun.

Inspired by this pin.  If I had neon yellow, I would've used it.

The weekends go by way too quickly.

Honestly... weekends fly by way too fast!

On Friday, after a crazy day at work, my mom and I went to see another apartment.  This one was definitely the best yet as far as the space and flexibility with Samson.  I didn't commit to it because I'm worried I may have a little buyers remorse.  It's a bit further west than I wanted to do, but we'll see.  The owner seems like she hasn't had a ton of offers, so I may be able to wait it out a week or so to look at some other things.

On Saturday, I spent the afternoon just baking and relaxing around the house.  It was just Samson and I home and I forgot how much I enjoyed that quiet time.  It reaffirms that even though living with Brooke would fun, I really just need my own space right now.

On Saturday night, I drove out to Oswego to have a sleepover with my girlfriends from grade school.  We had an absolute blast and I was exhausted most of Sunday.  I can't wait until our next get together.

Sunday, I headed home, showered and them mom and I met the Hales at the mall.  We had lunch and Kayla proceeded to dip her grilled cheese in ketchup.  She's just like her dad with the ketchup!  I managed to catch this video.  She jut loves ketchup.

I cannot believe that there is really only two weeks of May left.  I'm looking forward to having a long weekend.

We started summer hours at my office so now I'm getting up around the same time I used to get up while I was in MD.  Only good side is that I am getting home MUCH earlier.  Also, getting up earlier is totally worth it to be able to leave at 1:30 on Fridays.

The weather was GORGEOUS over the weekend (almost too hot on Sunday) and told is overcast and 60s.  This flip-flopping weather is so hard to dress for.  Thank God for my colored pants which keep me warm and still look very spring-like!

*sweater - JCrew, pants - Gap, shoes - Payless

Peach

I love these pants.  So cute and comfy!

Also, I don't know what's going on with the lighting in these pictures.  I'll have to work on that.

*pants - Gap, shirt - Nordstrom, shoes - Nordstrom BP

Apartment Hunting

This week, my mom and I went to look at an apartment* in Chicago.  It was the start of what I foresee being an endless cycle of apartment visits.

I forgot how much I hate apartment hunting.  It's painful with a large dog.

It's a delicate balance between what I want and what is going to be a good fit for me and Samson.

It also hasn't helped that coming from owning a 4 bedroom house, I have accumulated stuff... lots of stuff!  BIG stuff.

I'm praying that I will be able to find something that will fit what I need to have (and get rid of the rest) and a place that Samson will also be comfortable in.  Clearly, the two of us cannot live in a 500 sf studio.  That's just not realistic.

I'm thankful that my salary allows me to expand my options, but I do want to be conscious of my spending so I can continue to save money.

This is going to get interesting.


*The apartment was nice...  Fairly large but had NO closet space.  Also, it was a 5th floor walk-up.  Probably not the easiest for Samson and I.