Neurotic As Hell

May 9, 2016

How to (finally) start going to the gym.

A few weekends ago, I went to a baby shower. One of the baby shower games, because you can't go to a baby shower and not be forced to play baby shower games, involved cutting a piece of yarn to the size you thought the mother-to-be's belly was. Jokingly, I wrapped the yarn around my stomach and cut it to my exact size. I won. All of my weight goes to my stomach. OK, that's not true that all of my weight goes to my stomach, my weight also goes to my thighs and my arms and my face and my ass...

May 5, 2016

in Baby Shower, Chicago Life

April is the cruellest month.

Last time I checked in I told you that while my blogging has been down, my gym attendance has been up. I'm both happy and sad to report that that's still the case. I still have so many things I want to write about, so many half-written posts or unwritten ideas floating around the head. But I'm embracing this newfound dedication towards actually taking advantage of my gym membership. Honestly, I've also been kind of enjoying pretending like I don't have a blog (or three) to tend to. I love blogging, I love my blog, but it is a massive time suck....

April 19, 2016

in blog, blogging

That thing I call balance…

Back in January, I made a promise to myself that I was going to write two blog posts a week, every week, all year, no matter what. I needed to get back into writing. I needed to sit down and just do it already. I needed to push myself to have some discipline. For a while I was doing amazing with that goal, posting twice, every week, no matter what it took. There were times I'd spend my entire weekend at my laptop. There were nights I'd be up until 3am perfecting a post. There were days I'd wake up early...

April 4, 2016

in Apartment, fig tree, figs

First fig.

The sun had moved, just enough, to start flooding though my living room window again. It gave the whole room the same glow that made me fall in love with the apartment in the first place. My fig tree noticed too and started blooming to life again. Translucent lime sprouts, the first new growth I'd seen amongst the stale deep leaves that had held strong all winter, and something different, a little green bulb. My first fig was growing. I was growing a fig. Me, the girl with the blackest thumb you could imagine, was growing fruit. I knew it was too early in...

March 31, 2016

in Chicago Life

Like a March Twig.

Sometimes I step back and think, "where did the time go?" OK, so by sometimes I mean often, and by often I mean at least monthly, here, in this end-of-month blog-post recap. Every month I look back and think, "where did the month go?" "Where did the time go?" But this month I've been feeling it even more, not just thinking where did the time go from March 1 to March 31, but where did the time go between this time last year and today. I've been in my apartment, in my new neighborhood, for over a year now, and what do...

Pretty in Pink Bathroom - Owl Candle Holder

March 28, 2016

in Apartment, Bathroom, Bedroom, decorating, Dining Room, Hallway, Kitchen, Travel Souvenirs

All my owls.

I have my collection of owls from around the world. But those aren't the only owls in my apartment. Somehow that little souvenir collection that started in Thailand morphed into a running theme throughout all aspects of my apartment...

March 25, 2016

in Apartment, books, Hallway

Every book on my bookshelf.

I got rid of a lot of things before I left to travel. It was a nice feeling to purge everything unnecessary, everything unneeded, from my life. In the end I sold, threw out, or donated over two-thirds of my belongings. Still, I kept many things, a couple of boxes of books included. (Plus a few more boxes dedicated entirely to The Baby-Sitters Club...

My collection of Lonely Planet guidebooks.

March 22, 2016

in Apartment, Hallway

My bookcase.

I've had my bookcase forever. OK, not forever, but probably close to ten years. It's actually just from Target. For a few years in the mid 2000s they used to hold an annual "Global Bazaar" event featuring worldly-inspired limited-edition furniture and accessories. It's a hard-wood piece and, even though one of the sidebars is loose and falls out when I stuff too many books on the shelf, is pretty solid. It's another one of those pieces I can't imagine ever not having. It's pretty, it serves a purpose, and it serves that purpose well. The bookcase fits nicely into the little...

St. Patrick's Day Pudding Shots - frozen mint and vanilla cream pudding shots with crème de menthe, vanilla vodka, vanilla pudding, and cool whip

March 17, 2016

in alcohol, pudding shots, Recipes, St. Patrick's Day

St. Patrick’s Day Pudding Shots

If you ask me to bring food for something, I'll probably bring pudding. And that pudding will probably contain alcohol. And by probably I mean definitely. Just sayin. We're having a St. Patrick's Day pot luck today at work and my co-workers are bringing corned beef or cabbage or soda bread. My contribution is a box full of St. Patrick's Day pudding shots: bright-green mint-flavored alcoholic pudding shots made with crème de menthe, vanilla vodka, vanilla pudding, and cool whip and frozen so they're just like those creamy green Shamrock Shakes we all love this time of year. But more boozy. Obviously. I...

March 16, 2016

in alcohol, pudding shots, Pudding Shots, Recipes, St. Patrick's Day

Frozen St. Patrick’s Day Pudding Shots

This frozen St. Patrick's Day Pudding Shots recipe is made by combining vanilla pudding, crème de menthe, vanilla vodka, and cool whip. The frozen shots are a perfect alcoholic treat for St. Patty's Day or any day of the year! The green colored shot would also make a sweet addition to a Christmas celebration or serve in summer or spring when the frozen pudding shots would be a cooling dessert for the hot weather. Read the recipe below or get more learn more about these Shamrock Shake inspired shots here.[wpurp-searchable-recipe]Frozen St. Patrick's Day Pudding Shots - These frozen mint pudding shots made...

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