Day 181 says hello!

Oh hey, Chicago! This post is late because we don't have the internets yet in our new place. But we're working on it. I got into the city late last night and after some birthday dessert with my new roomie, it was off to bed. Traveling is exhausting! Another post for today coming later tonight!

Day 181 just wants to go to sleep

I had a weird last couple days and want desperately to go to sleep. Then I realized I hadn't taken a photo today. With my last ounce of energy I took a picture of this crumpled up pile of pillows. If this turns out to be my worst/laziest photo during the 365, then so be it.

Day 180 says farewell

I had a great day last day in Seattle. My sister took off work and we spent our day hitting some of our favorite Seattle spots and enjoying the sunshine. Then I got to say goodbye to some very dear Seattle friends over bowling and drinks and crazy delicious fries. Such a good day. It's all very bittersweet. Starting tomorrow I'll be kicking off a new adventure in a new town... wish me luck! Here I come, Chicago...

Day 180 deserves a midnight snack

Without getting into details, I'll say that I had a long, weird and amusing day. In order to catch up on some work before going to bed, I thought I deserved some motivation in the form of a late night snack. M&Ms and Diet Dr. Pepper? Yes please!

A little of this, a little of that on Day 179

I'm a bit behind on my traditional rereading of the HP series before a movie comes out. I'm only halfway into book 3 with just about 2 weeks left! Eeek! But I made sure to schedule in some reading time today, even with all the little errands and things I have to do before I check out of Seattle. Changing addresses, canceling gym memberships, finish packing.... ya know, the little things. (Yeah you read that right, I'm not done packing yet. I'm working on it!).

ps. On an unrelated note. Please get yourselves to a theater and see Super 8 if you haven't already. I have a deep, dark fear of scary movies but this one was worth it.

Day 179 is sweet

These strawberry candies are one of my favorite types of hard candy. They are the ones with a little bit of a chewy center. Well, my mom bought me a whole bag of them - what a doll! The wrappers look semi-natural so they almost trick me into thinking they are healthy. But I know better. But I will still enjoy them.

Day 178 LOVES this stuff.

Oh hey there delicious scoop of blueberry ice cream, how YOU doin?? I've honestly never had blueberry ice cream before tonight. I've been on a strawberry ice cream kick since last summer after my nana took me to this farm in MA where they had cows in the fields in front of you, strawberry fields behind you and an ice cream counter right in the middle. So ya know... it was pretty fresh ice cream. And the "kids size" was, no joke, 3 whole scoops of ice cream in a waffle cone. Ridic. But tonight - I got wild and changed it up a bit. And my big gamble was worth it, for the blueberry exceeded my expectations. As you can see I'm taking this "it's officially summer" thing very seriously. Summer is when my I let my ice cream freak flag fly. I hope you all are doing the same.

Day 178, work it.

Last week I joined a gym, Retro Fitness. It's new, so it's really clean and surprisingly not too crowded. Plus they have a movie theater with exercise machines. Yesterday Kindergarten Cop was the advertised movie, but The Mask was playing instead. I nearly asked for a refund. Despite being out of shape, I'm feeling really good about easing back into regular exercise. Today was day four of working out. My friend and I were doing ab exercises and for a brief moment I felt like I was going to vomit - Biggest Loser style. But I was fine. I'm not that out of shape. Oh yeah, here I am stretching while lacing up my sneaks.

Day 177 stopped to smell the flowers

Move 1 of 2 = finished. FINISHED! Moving the sis into the new place was like the long, long marathon that never ended. The place still has a few boxes here and there that don't have a home just yet, but I just could really care less about those right now. Right now I'm all about resting up before I have to do this all over again with my stuff in Chicago in 4 days. 4 days!! That's the countdown for days left in Seattle. Yikes, where has the time gone?!

Here's a snap of the little flower decor we set up in the living room of her new apartment. It's the little touches that help make it feel like home, ya know?

Day 177 is twisted

I bought this shirt today at Old Navy. I love clothes with interesting patterns, textures and prints. Not sure what these twisty looking loops are, but I like them. Plus, yellow can be such a fun color. I just might have to model it tomorrow!

Day 176 is a minimalist

So this is what I'll be living out of for the next week until I get to Chicago and am reunited with my belongings. Aren't you so jealous that you too don't get to live out of a suitcase for six days? I'm pretty surprised a week's worth of life fit in here, to be honest. I'm sure I forgot some things, but it's a bit too late for that now. Tonight is our last night in this apartment. Sadness. But new adventures await! Onward!

Day 176 in Asbury Park

This morning my friend Emily met me at Asbury Park. We relaxed on the beach for hours. It was amazing. The weather was beautiful and the water felt great. Plus we had the good fortune of missing the rain! Although, I now have the most splotchy sunburn I think I've ever had. Yikes. After lounging in the sun we drove over to Avon to buy baked goods from The Macaroon Shop. Yes, we literally went out of our way for their treats - and it was worth it. On our way back we stopped to check out a "Strawberry Festival" that turned out to be some weird church revival type thing. It felt like an alternate universe. But we made it out alive and back to Asbury Park to have dinner at the restaurant to the immediate left of the flag. I thought this rainbow flag was appropriate, given the recent ruling in New York! So, now I'm home, sunburnt, tired and ready for another beach day!

Day 175 gets nostalgic

I think I'll miss the fantastic little farmers market right by our apartment the most after I move. Not that there aren't more farmers markets in Chicago or in the sisters new hood, but I really grew to love this one. Actually tomorrow we'll be stopping by a new farmers market right down the street to scope it out and help fill an empty fridge with some goodies. I hope this one is just as fancy!

ps. This pic is of the little roasted corn hut in the farmers market parking lot. Corn Roasted Corn, kids! Or is it Corn, Roasted Corn. I always wonder.

Day 175 gets ready for the beach

Tomorrow morning I'm waking up bright and early to go to the beach! Asbury Park and maybe Belmar, to be exact. I couldn't be more excited, impending rain be damned. Packing-wise I got as far as my bathing suit, a change of clothes, and beach reading before I realized that I really just need a good night's sleep. Hopefully my day trip will also mean fun photo ops for Day 176!

Day 174 stands out a bit

Driving around in my sisters new hood today, we passed by this gorgeous piece of artwork. When you see it in real life, it's pretty intense. It doesn't match the neighborhood at all. Right after this is an entire street of Safeways and Walgreens and Farmers Market type spots. So this guy right here... he stands out a bit. Which is probably why I like it so much. Quirky Seattle at it's finest.

Day 174 waiting on the railroad

I have to pass train tracks on my route to work. Even though I'm rarely out at the same time, I tend to get stuck waiting either on my way home or out on an errand; in today's case, the latter. On my way to the bank I sat parked, waiting on the slowest-moving freight train of all time. I waited for nearly twenty minutes, in which time I made a list of the pros and cons of waiting for a freight train. Cons: worrying about not getting to the bank before it closed (I did make it), forgetting my phone at the office. Pros: reading fun graffiti ("whiskey," "bacon"), subsequently getting ideas for tags, remembering my camera.

Day 173 made it work!

Today was "get shit done" day. I packed, I weighed boxes, I survived a torturous customer service experience at the Renton Walmart (here on out to be known as the seventh circle of hell), had some strawberry ice cream and apparently - lived to tell the tale. Barely. Amidst this adventure, I found this curious snack. I had never seen this packaging before - most candy packaging sticks to reds, yellows and browns - but not this Zero bar. And can we please discuss what it actually is?? Sounds amazing. Has anyone ever had these before?? Or even seen them anywhere ever?? You must tell me so I can know if I made the right decision not to buy it!

Day 173 survived the fog

I'm scared! My friends and I went to the driving range again tonight. It was incredibly foggy on the course. This photo doesn't really do justice to the eerie scene. The mist kept rolling towards us. I was worried that I was about to star in a horror movie.

Day 172 will make it work

So I got hit with a swift dose of reality today. My sis helped me pack a few more boxes and for whatever reason, anxiety set in. I'm starting to realize how wild it is that just last year I was doing this exact same thing as I prepped to move to Seattle. I wish I could say moving gets easier each time you do it, but so far it hasn't. That sound the big roll of packing tape makes when you're putting a box together? Still makes me cringe. That realization that you have way too many pairs of jeans? Still real. The worry that every single dish you're packing will arrive in a million pieces? Overwhelming. I've got exactly one day to finalize my packing before I have to ship these boxes and I'm not so sure it's gonna get done in time. But in the words of the genius Mr. Gunn - "Make it work!". And so make it work, I shall.

Day 172 was ambushed!

After sitting in front of a computer for what seemed like two days straight (and surviving!), I desperately needed some fresh air. My mom and I went for a walk after dinner. I saw this pretty rose creeping out of someone's fence and decided to take a snapshot. But what is this? My goofy mother and her shadow puppets crept in my photo, much like that little rose out of the fence. The photo is better this way.

Day 171 has an ouchy

I had to make a return trip to the dentist today, where I saw this sign. It's so happy, right? Can we all agree that it's not the pain at the dentist that sucks, it's the noises. The drilling and the grinding and the suction... good god, the sounds are the worse! Thankfully this was quick. And now that it's been a few hours, the throbbing has gone down a bit and the area has stopped bleeding. Victory! But I do have to go back in a few weeks to get these pesky wisdom teeth out. That recovery isn't gonna be so easy...

Day 171 does her homework

Over the past several days I've learned a thing or two about my work habits: I hate deadlines and I'm a really slow writer. I am writing five city guides for work, nothing overly creative or time-consuming - or so I thought. I spent almost two hours this afternoon writing 250 words. That's bad, folks. Knowing how much I have to do by the close of tomorrow, I spent the entire evening researching and writing. The worst part? I'm nowhere near done. My brain is beyond fried and I desperately want to go to bed. I wish I could put this in as overtime...

Day 170 is rocking it

The concession stand line at the movies today was ridiculous. I waited 10 minutes to get a small soda. I didn't feel like playing angry birds and there wasn't enough internet for Words with Friends so I was bored. I did have my phone camera though, so obviously I took a few pics while waiting. This is my favorite. This kid was rocking those crocs like it was no ones business. He wore them, I heard him tell his Dad, because they were green just like the Green Lantern. Adorable, kid. I don't think the Green Lantern wore crocs, but I like where your heads at. Rock on.

Also, I don't think I realized how often the sis and I go to the movies on Sunday until this blog happened. What can I say? We like our movie days. :)

Day 170 is one of my favorites

My "Talk To Me" shirt is one of my two favorite t shirts. Maybe my other favorite will show up in another post someday. I'm not promising anything. This shirt is so comfortable. The fabric is really soft and thin from repeat washes. It's riddled with holes. Direct your attention to the sign for "p," for an example. Because of this I rarely wear it. Since I stole it from my dad years ago, I thought today would be an appropriate day to model it. Happy Father's Day dad, thanks for letting me help myself to your possessions!

Day 169 doesn't want this...

Yesterday's pic was an example of the type of treasures I enjoy finding. Today's pic... not so much. Phase 1 of moving the sis into her new place happened today. Before we even thought about unpacking anything, we decided that the kitchen needed to be cleaned more completely. We found things in that fridge that just... aren't... I can't even.... it was gross. So so gross. This is the most mild of the finds. It's an egg (I think). It was harder than brick and smelled like rotten eggs but times a million. You looked at it and the smell instantly consumed your nostrils. Yay moving! Good thing we kick ass as a cleaning crew. We had that kitchen smelling fresh and sparkling clean in just about an hour. Phew! But still sometimes, when I look at this pic, the smell haunts me. Does anyone know what this thing is??

Day 169 isn't very interesting

I bought this at a flea market this morning. It looks like a cute mini wallet, but it's actually a key holder. Fun story, huh? What can I say - I think I'm getting photographer's block.

Day 168 found the treasure!

You. Guys. Look what we found!! Probably the only good thing about packing is sometimes finding really cool stuff that you forgot you owned. Have I ever sat down this past year and thought "Man, I wish I could play Super Mario Brothers right now."? Actually, yes, I have. My favorite childhood memory was the summer between 4th and 5th grade, playing Nintendo games with my grandma, my sister and my cousin until 6 in the morning. We would play for hours and hours, never getting tired. My grandma would run down to make us popcorn and sandwiches and we'd stay up till all hours of the night playing. Then we'd sleep for a bit and get up and go to the pool for the rest of the afternoon. Best summer ever. This brought back all those great memories. What I'd give for my old Nintendo station today!

ps. This is what it looked like. Who remembers these?? Also did anyone ever play Bomberman or Zelda?? Other great childhood favorites. If anyone still has these, you are obligated to schedule a play session immediately.

Day 168 on the range

Tonight I had my first driving range experience. My friend and I decided to go after commiserating about our rough weeks over dinner. We thought it would be a great way to get out some aggression. And it was! I was pretty terrible, but it was really fun. That's all that matters, right? Snipes, which also has minigolf, is about five minutes from my house. I think I might have found my new favorite summer activity.

Day 167 is downsizing

The packing. It has begun. Well, my packing that is. So far it's been apartment stuff that will be going with the sis to her new place. But tonight I bit the bullet, made some boxes and rolled up my clothes like it was my job. I'm surprised to say I may just be moving to Chicago with 4 boxes and 2 suitcases. That's my current guess. My closet is 70% packed and I've only filled 1.5 boxes. I'm feeling very good about this packing light business. I guess after 3 moves to 3 different cities I'm finally getting good at this.

Day 167 had a dessert experience

This right here is one of the most delicious things I've ever eaten. It's a Cannoli Cupcake from Felix's Caketeria in Newtown. I went during my lunch break with my co-workers. Somehow I had enough self-control to wait until I got back to the office to devour my cupcake. The cake tasted like a sugar cookie - I don't know how this is even possible. The frosting was a rich yet light chocolate buttercream. It was topped with cannoli crust, chocolate chips, and chocolate drizzle. In case this doesn't sound amazing enough, there was a surprise filling. Any guesses? Hint: it's the part of the cannoli I haven't mentioned yet. Yep. It was filled with a perfect amount of cannoli cream. I'm still trying to process the amazing dessert experience I had. Afterwards I kind of felt like I was going to die, but it was totally worth it. I want to take everyone I know to Felix's to sample a treat for themselves.

Day 166 loves summer reading

All that traveling this past week left me with lots of time for reading. Something I used to only really do on subways and long greyhound rides. I loved having an excuse to get back into some books. So much so that I finished 3 books in 3 days. Winning! I truly recommend each of these. All are extraordinary in their own ways. Harry Potter needs no review I believe - just look at how well loved my copy is. The Help has been one I've been meaning to pick up for months and just finally got around to it. Worth it. I devoured this one in just about 6 hours. I may have to read it again cause I loved it that much. And Neverwhere by Gaiman absolutely blew me away from beginning to end. I hope you all pick up at least one of these at some point this summer!

Day 166 takes out the trash

This is the most spectacular piece of garbage I've ever seen. I passed this abandoned arcade game (Zaxxon, anyone??) on my drive to and from work, yesterday and today. Finally tonight I decided to stop and take a photo. My dear readers, this was a shady mission. The people throwing the game out live in this weird hippie commune type house. It doesn't look like any other house in the neighborhood and there are a bunch of abandoned cars in the yard. It looks like bad things happen there. I could've been abducted while taking this photo. All for the sake of art, am I right!? I wish you all could jump into the photo to experience the smell. It smelled like mildew and forgotten dreams. I'm very happy I risked my life to get a few snapshots before it gets collected tomorrow morning.

Day 165 feels so new

The sis and I had to take a quick, unexpected trip to her new apt tonight for a last walk through before we get to start moving her in. I was already in my pj's and none to happy about having to change and go on this errand, but we did get to check out her new hood a bit more, so all was not lost. The main street near her place has a ton of restaurants, some bars and shops, and this cute little theater. I've never heard of it and don't know what kinda shows are done here, but I like the name and choice of paint color for the building. This describes the vibe of her new neighborhood pretty well actually. Cool, young and something that stands out a little. All in all, a very awesome place to live I think.

Day 165 has a patriotic breakfast

I'm a big breakfast person. Eggs, pancakes, cereal - I love it all. I almost always eat breakfast before leaving the house. Sometimes I fall into a rut. My current rut isn't so bad, though. For the last few days I've been eating Cheerios with berries. Delicious! I could probably eat this for every meal - at least for the time being. I also just now noticed the red, white and blue-ness of my breakfast. Happy Unintentional Flag Day?

Day 164 has a good feeling about all this

I'm pretty sure I've done more traveling these past 3 months than I've done in the past few years of my life. I just spent 60 or so hours in Chicago, my soon to be new city. I slept maybe 10 hours total the past 3 days and am looking forward to catching up on some much needed zzzz's tonight. But before I get settled into bed - this is a shot from my lovely ride along Lake Shore Drive this morning as I headed to my first appointment of the day. The weather was divine, the city was gorgeous and the coffee was delicious. So it was all, ya know, kinda perfect.

Day 164 thinks she's fancy

Generally speaking, I'm a fan of ginger ale. I especially like the cranberry variety. For some reason, when I was younger I thought it was fancy. Like I was a fancy eight year old because I drank cranberry ginger ale. Don't let the sweatpants and frizzy hair fool you, Eight Year Old Katie is one fancy lady.

Day 163 is all over the place

Eeeeek, late post! Blogger fail! You guys - I don't feel good about this late post. I blame exhaustion and not so good internet in Chicago. Apologies all around. Sunday I had some chill time in the morning (chill time = hangover recovery time) to get some work done and do more Chicago exploring. Twas fun, fun! I know it's the last thing you're supposed to drink when recovering from a booze filled evening, but I needed coffee more than I needed to keep breathing, ya know? So coffee I got. It was 2pm by the time I was getting my "morning" coffee and it was worth the wait.

Day 163 bought the necessities

I went to Target this morning and bought these three items: a dress, Mad Men Season 4 DVD, and Essie nail polish in "master plan." Necessities, clearly. It was a more sophisticated shopping trip than my usual Target buys of soda cans and generic pain pills.

Day 162 got a tattoo

My friend had a tattoo party today. No, I did not get inked. I went for moral support, hand-holding, and food. I like the idea of getting a tattoo, but I'd rather wait and get something deeply meaningful. Though, there was a full back tattoo of an owl in one of the shop's books...

Day 162 had a bittersweet birthday

So I've been in Chicago for roughly 10 hours and am in love with this city all over again. One of my besties (and future roomie!) KGrahams is taking me around to some parties in the city and introducing me to new, awesome peeps. We had some amazingly rich chocolate cake from Bittersweet Bakery and while it didn't go so well with those margaritas we had at dinner, it was worth it.YUM. I mean really.. yum. I believe I just found my new fave sweet shop in Chicago.

Day 161, and so it begins...

The packing has officially begun here. My sister has jumped head first into packing up the living room tonight. I've taken the "stand back and watch" approach. It's working out well for me so far. I'm off to Chicago in the morning for the quickest of trips pre-move (for those of you who aren't in the know, I'm moving to Chicago in... 20 days!). I wish I could be here helping her pack up over the weekend, but I'll get my fair share of packing when I get back I'm sure. Oh, moving. I hate you so so so much.

Day 161 & J

I have not prepared a meal for myself since Tuesday. Gross. Wednesday and Thursday I ate breakfast, lunch, and dinner with my co-workers at our seminar. This morning I wanted every extra minute of sleep I could get, so I had a (disgusting) muffin at the office. Also, I ran out of time to make lunch before I left so I devoured a salad for lunch. If you are still reading, I guess you find my daily eating habits more interesting than I do. For my late night dinner I'm making myself a PB & J. I'm a strawberry jam kind of girl. Did you know that about me? Now you do. And I'm kind of obsessed with this "natural" peanut butter. I'm a little wary of foods with too many ingredients on the label. Plus, it's made with honey! How can you go wrong?

Day 160 got stuck

There are some days when I have to drive my sister to work and it always requires me waking up at some ungodly early hour of the morning. Today she let me sleep in until 7:15. How generous. After I dropped her off I got stuck at this light for literally an eternity. I aged a year, I'm sure of it. Gray hairs and everything. With all this free time, I decided to take a picture or two. This hill, McClellan, is terrifying. When we first moved her and had to drive it every now and then, I would clench onto the door, close my eyes and try not to pee myself. Seriously. Scary, scary shit. I'm glad I was at the other end of it today and didn't have to drive it. Phew!

Day 160 can find me in the club

To cap off my seminar for work, we had dinner at the Union League in Philly. This place is pretty fancy and apparently didn't allow women in the club until the 1980's. I had to miss my improv class for dinner, but the food/wine (crab stuffed artichoke, Loch Duart salmon, waffles & cream) was really delicious so I can't complain too much. White wine. Also, for some reason the pictures I took of the flags in front of the building disappeared from my camera. So here's a statue of some dude holding a phallic-looking object.

I ate Day 159

There may or may not have been a brownie on this plate. And by "may or may not" I mean definitely was.  And I ate it. Then later when I went to put the dish in the sink... I ate another one. Whoa - this blog just turned into confessions of a food junky. You guys want some brownies? There's plenty and I'd love for someone to eat them before I eat them all. Kthanks.

Day 159 has it in the bag

I put in a nearly fourteen hour day today at a work seminar. I am beat! Here's a little glimpse into the contents of my purse (moleskin notebook, petty cash envelope, bra, keys...). It's maybe not the most organized I've ever been, but I sure was prepared!

Day 158 is summer lovin

I'll be working from home for the next few weeks. I know that seems like a walk in the park, but it's actually not quite as fantastic as you would think. I mean, don't get me wrong - it's fantastic, but it's not a whole day of vacationing, if you know what I mean. I still get up early, set a daily work schedule for myself and try to remember to schedule some time for things like exercise and stepping away from my computer for a few minutes. I got a ton of stuff done tonight, and decided a beer with dinner was well deserved. The sis and I are loving this summer ale. It's all kinds of yummy, and made this work from home day so much sweeter.

Day 158 sits back

I don't have anything particularly interesting or exciting to report today. The next few days are going to be really busy for me at work. So right now all I want to do is sit back and look at this gorgeous June sky.

Day 157 is a believer

It was about 6 months from when I got my first pair of Toms until now for my sister to get on board with the Toms goodness. It does take a hot second to get used to how they look on your feet. My dad likes to call them my "middle earth shoes", and there's some truth to that. They're all earthy and organic looking. I get the hesitation. But seriously ya'll - it's like giving your feets a hug with every step. So freaking comfy! And! Think of the children! Wow this post just got real linky. Oops. Anyway - this is how the sis decided to dry her shoes after washing them. I've definitely made a Toms convert out of this girl. So when are you guys getting on board already?

Day 157 is in my happy place

After dinner tonight I decided to treat myself to some water ice at Rita's. If you don't live in a state with a Rita's I feel bad for you because their water ice is delicious. Not only can you enjoy fun flavors like S'mores cream ice (like I got), but you can grab a soft pretzel (which I also got). This photo was taken on location in the Fundai because I couldn't wait to get home to enjoy my dessert!