With Halloween comes the dreaded influx of candy. It's everywhere. At home (my mom donated and my roommate brought some home from work) and at work (everywhere! candy! sweets! parties! food!). Yesterday was one of the first days of snacking on sugary treats all day: cookies, puppy chow, individually wrapped chocolates. And this is just as I am resolving to eat healthier, snack less, and reduce the amount of sugary goodies I eat each day.
Good timing, Erin.
(Stolen from Clink, adjusted for location)
Name: Erin
Age: 24
Job: Advertising
Neighborhood: Wicker Park
Who's your favorite Chicagoan, living or dead, real or fictional?
Ferris Bueller, Kanye West
What's the best meal you've eaten in Chicago?
sushi at Japonais
In one sentence, what do you actually do all day in your job?
study kids, kids cereal, and media
Where do you get your coffee?
Starbucks
What's the last thing you saw at the theater?
King Lear at the Goodman....incredibly good
Do you give money to panhandlers?
Never
What's your drink?
Lately I've been drinking a lot of wine, usually red. Usually making me get really goofy drunk, causing me to send weird confusing text messages, and giving me a nasty headache the next day (i.e., last night).
How often do you prepare your own meals?
Once or twice during the week, but usually depends on my schedule. My meals, however, are not usually difficult to prepare. Think pasta, think frozen fish, think homemade pizza.
What's your favorite medication?
I don't like medicine. Except aspirin. For those post-red wine binge headaches or when my knee acts all crazy.
What's hanging above your sofa?
Two evil eye paintings my roommate made. They aren't really my style.
How much is too much to spend on a haircut?
I don't spend more than $50. And I think that is too much.
When's bedtime?
Generally around 11, but lately it hasn't been so easy to fall asleep.
Brunch: pro or con?
Indifferent. There are a few brunch places in my hood, but I don't really do brunch.
What's your thread count?
Strangely enough, I have no idea.
What do you hate most about living in Chicago?
The poorly designed public transportation system. And the weather.
What's your brand of jeans?
I don't think I have one favorite. I love how my Rock & Republic's make my butt look.
When's the last time you drove a car?
A few weeks ago when I had to drive to Indiana for a career fair.
Who should be the next president?
If Barack Obama runs.....
Tribune or Sun-Times?
I read both, online. Actually, if I had to pick one, I'd choose the New York Times.
Cubs or Sox?
Sox, of course. Despite their poor performance this fall, I'm a South Side girl at heart and prefer the good guys in black.
What makes someone a Chicagoan?
They say pop, dislike the suburbs, and complain about the CTA/the mayor/the weather at all times. Oh, and they've got an awesome, undefeated football team.
It's a good thing baseball in Chicago turned out the way it did this fall. I don't think this city could handle two winning teams....someone might expect Michael Jordan to start playing basketball again.....
Now, do we think Brian Urlacher can sing? I think the team might have to start working on their song in time for February.
I'm stuffing my face and watching football. it's been the theme of the weekend. tonight, i'm consoling myself with a gigantic fudgy brownie and milk while I watch the Bears struggle against Arizona. (Rex Grossman, what are you doing?)
Yesterday, it was pure sloth. A and I didn't get out of bed all day. I didn't go further than upstairs to the kitchen to grab the leftover pizza from the night before which we ended up eating in bed. Sleep, football, sleep, football, talked to my mom, TBS, sleep, more TBS, some random late night tv, sleep. That was my Sunday.
At some point last night, I asked A if he was sick of me yet. it had been almost 36 straight hours together, just us - no one else around. No, he wasn't sick of me. And, in return, I wasn't sick of him. After drinking too much on Friday night, neither of us wanted to go out. We holed up in his apartment with movies and pizza, cuddling on the couch before moving to his bed. (Oh, I'm not supposed to tell anyone he cuddles.....he has a reputation to uphold, he says.)
We're taking things slowly, especially since both of us are so busy that we can't really get too serious now. I like the slowness, it gives me more time to fully enjoy our time together without getting too scared of what might go wrong. (And if taking it slow means spending 30+ hours in bed together, I can't complain).
I couldn't have said it better myself:
"We don't like the sound of this. Weather.com is reporting SNOW for Thursday and Friday, and we're pretty sure it isn't going to be any pretty soft and fluffy snowman-making snow either. Get ready for the slushy October snow. You know how it likes to play. It doesn't start falling from the sky until you have that five-block hike from the train to your apartment. Or it's sunny outside all morning, and as soon as you step out for lunch, bam! Snow comes out of nowhere. Or what about when you were in fourth grade and had a sleeveless Cleopatra costume all planned out for Halloween? But then fuckin' snow had to come in and make you wear a coat and hat on top of your gold satin dress.
December snow, you're cool. But October snow, screw you." (Chicagoist)
School has taken over my life this past term. Taking more than one class a week is proving to be far more difficult than I expected, especially since one of those courses is Finance, something I have come to despise. I think I was predisposed to hating the class since I am not a math/numbers/accounting fan, but I hate it even more because there is so much work involved and the professor is kind of a jerk. Only three weeks to go until it's over (and I probably bomb the final). I've pretty much determined that this is the term when I break my all-A streak. Oh well.
My other class isn't so bad. It's about Leadership and it's primarily discussion based. There isn't that much work to do for the course and the best part of it is A is in the class with me. He is determined to graduate at the end of this term (in four weeks) so he is taking three classes right now. I have no idea how he is doing it. (Okay, I do know. He doesn't really sleep much. He stays up late writing papers and taking quizzes and turns assignments in a few days late). But since we are both so overwhelmed with school this term, we're finding it very difficult to spend any time together (and our class doesn't count).
So we've managed to be like college kids and study together. And I think it's working. I'm the disciplined one. I sit down and focus and get my assignment done. I manage my time effectively so that I can play when the work is over. A is not quite so disciplined. He procrastinates. He half-asses his work. But he also takes time to relax and step away from school when he needs to. Our studying together is effective since I can be the good influence on him, and we know that when our work is done we can really spend time together.
This weekend was no exception. We had to complete a midterm quiz online before our class on Saturday afternoon. A and I are sharing the book for the course so we had to do the quiz together. And since he has missed a couple classes for personal reasons, I am a lot closer to the material and have all the notes. A, who was housesitting for his friend for a few days this past week, picked me up Friday night and we went back to his friend's place to start the quiz. We started the quizzes late in the night (around 11pm) and didn't finish both of them until almost 4 (with a small break in between). Housesitting meant dogsitting as well so we had to keep taking the dog out and entertaining him so he wouldn't disturb the person taking the quiz. After we finished, we refilled our wine glasses and just talked in between bites of pita chips and artichoke dip. We talked a lot, and he even brought up the fact that he wants to take things slowly. He and I agree that going too fast can make the relationship fizzle out too fast; both of us have had this happen before. But then I lost my chance. He mentioned that his friend Amy asked about us, what our status was, and that she was surprised I hadn't brought it up to A. He said he was surprised as well. It's my awkwardness, my fear, that has caused me not to say anything and I lost my chance during the conversation to really ask him because we started talking about something else and it was gone.
But I've been thinking about it a lot, about what I want A and I to be. Now that it's on the table, I'm not really afraid to bring it up again and really have the conversation.
-I feel like I'm getting sick. I hate being sick. I hate thinking I'm about to be sick. I woke up this morning a bit stuffed up and not wanting to go to the gym. I made myself go. I felt better afterwards. But all day I was sneezing and sanitizing and sneezing. I treated myself to a Jamba Juice because those Berry Fulfillings always make me feel better when I'm sick. And I wanted an excuse to go outside. It was a beautiful 80+ degrees in Chicago on the third day of October. (And I attribute this oncoming sickness to the unseasonable weather. Bah).
-I am having to deal with a very abrasive coworker. I avoid her at all costs. But she needs something from me and I was gently forced into setting up a meeting with her tomorrow. Not looking forward to this....
-It's been three weeks since I found out about my promotion. And I still have NO idea where I'm going and what team I'll be on and I can't tell anyone at work and my raise still isn't effective and I totally need the money.
-I lost my keys. I'm hoping that I left them in my locker at the gym (because I made myself go). Unfortunately, I didn't discover they were missing until I was checking out at the grocery store and the cashier asked me for my Preferred Card. I dug and dug and dug until half my bag was emptied onto the floor and no keys. I gave up. Walked home, arms heavy with groceries yet fingers crossed that one of the roomies would be home. No such luck. I waited 25 minutes before a neighbor let me in and another 40 minutes until one of my roommates let me in. All this with six bags of groceries, almost entirely perishable. I felt like an idiot.
So it was a crummy day, made even crummier when all I wanted to do was go home, lounge around, make dinner, and watch Nip/Tuck. The whole lost key thing, however, totally soured my attitude and put me in a nasty mood. It took food and reality tv to get me out of my funk.
It was nothing like Monday. An uneventful day, for the most part, that began by waking up next to A. I need more of those....
