domestic diva saturday

the title of this post may indicate that I spent my entire saturday sewing, cleaning, cooking, and arranging flowers. while this is most definitely not the case (I did work for 6.5 hours, after all), I both began and am ending my day with domestic-esque tasks. (does 'domestic' connote unpleasant? if so, then I must find another word to use, because my tasks have not been so.) I began the day with m. retrieving my clothes from his dryer *cute, eh?* and my folding them. after a bit of work and some coffee house time, I am patiently waiting for my cinnamon/almond/currant bread to rise so that I can put it in the oven and taste the results. (hopefully I proofed the yeast properly...such a fragile thing, yeast is.)

so, while my day has not been filled with domesticy bits, this little bread thing is sticking with me. I do hope that once I'm in my doctorate program that I remember to balance different aspects of my life. it is so easy to get wrapped up in the reading, the writing, the lectures that I sometimes miss simple joys like baking bread. I think I balanced life pretty well in london, but I'm not sure if that's an account of the education system or if that's a factor of more advanced degrees. obviously I won't have time to just loll about all day, but this is a bit of note to myself to take a break in the future and do things that I enjoy and do them for myself.

restaurant news you can use

at least, bits that are of some importance to me. (and both from gapers block, which I absolutely love. love love love.)

one - hue is closing! one of my favorite spots in chicago is closing...ack! supposedly, they are reopening elsewhere on division, but why, why I ask you, would they give up their space? it's just grand, especially the garden patio in the summer. I have taken so many people here, if hue closes for good, where will I go? (for chicagoans, the restaurant is closing on february 27, so there is a bit of time to still enjoy.)

two - according to a reviewer for gapers block, the milkshakes at chopper, a fast foody place a couple of blocks from my flat, are the bomb diggity. post-shamrock shake (having my first one of the season right now!), I'm all over this place. yum!

some kind of wonderful

isn't it grand when you realize that your life is at that state were things just feel wonderful? it's so obvious to many that not absolutely everything is in some realm of grandeur, but when enough of the bits of your life fall together just so, it feels like the blase bits are not worth thinking about.

lately, I've been in a somewhat fractured state of my life: feeling some highs and some lows; ever appreciating the present and yet making plans for a different kind of future. why is it once we begin to look ahead here becomes that much more of an enticing place to be?

this may not be a universal principle. it may just be something that seems to happen to me. just when I begin to get ready for a new phase, a time in my life when I require physically displacing myself from where I am, the space in which I exist gains some new shine, some new element that makes it more appealing to stay. now, I am talking about this in big, extreme terms; I am in the midst of appreciating a new person, a really good person, so such absolutes are not totally unexpected. but at what point does life come to some grey area, rather than black and white? and if doesn't reach a static state as such, is that because of uncontrollable elements or is that due to something that I do, unconsiously or otherwise?

the short of it: life is really good right now. I am in a weird state with where I am at work, but other than that and some minor irritation from not working out enough, I am really well. I am busy seeing a lot of my friends and doing a lot of fun things in this wonderful city. I'm dating someone who not only appreciates our time together but respects me as a total person, taking of the pleasantries with the rest of my backstory. and while I have made myself a bit overly socialized as of late, there is some kind of wonderful in knowing that dear friends near and far are there for it all. it's a very blessed space which I occupy.

you know it's been too long since you last blogged...

when you start feeling guilty in the same way about not mailing or ringing friends.

when the stories you accumulated in your head have been lost to time past.

when your website address doesn't trigger as usual when typing the first letter.

bad news bears folks. I've been a bit out of the internet community world in the last couple of weeks partly to work busy-ness, partly to lending my camera to my sister for her trip to ghana (and leaving me with no way to document the ordinary of chicago; I am looking forward to seeing her photos), and partly due to other bits, those bits being just wanting to sit about rather than write about. lame lame.

on a few quick notes before I snuggle into bed: chicago is finally having a bit of real winter weather (though no real snow); the steelers won the super bowl and I could only imagine ms. amy schier dancing about in her diva-esque way celebrating (congrats ames); there is nearly one month of waiting left before I find out what happens with the rest of my life (ph.d. application decisions; and yes, I know, not entirely the rest of my life...but significantly so); I'm having a bit of inner angst in experiencing something wonderful now and comparing it to something of the past and worrying of the outcome. in all, I'm going to try and flow a bit more and just be. appreciate the present. and just chill the f* out. too much worrying is no good for anyone, especially when I don't have the weather to run it all out.