Lately, things around my house have been under construction.

The city of Chicago is repaving my street, my building is getting a new sidewalk and my apartment needs to have some touch up repairs done.

And then, on top of this, my wifi went out at 3 am on Sunday morning (don’t ask why I was up and online then to know that).

Fortunately, I was able to coordinate with the cable company to fix it on the same day some work was getting done on my apartment and now….wifi and I are back together.

I missed you so much baby!!

So for the three days I was without wifi/internet and I got to experience life in the wilderness.

I’m being dramatic, sort of.

Not having internet was actually kind of nice. I did a lot more reading and was able to actually detach myself from my phone and computer. Two things I seem to be very involved connected to.

I have a bad balance between online and offline, especially since my work focuses so much in social media, but I like the break sometimes because it gives me a chance to refocus.

But seriously, I’m glad wifi and I have been reunited :)

How is everyone else doing??

There are several moments when you know life will never be the same.

For example, studying overseas, buying your first house or going to college.

I have had another one of these moments. As of Friday,  I will refer to every day before then as BCL (Before Cleaning Lady).

The cleaning lady worked a miracle. MIRACLE.

You can eat off of every surface in any room in my apartment. No kidding.

I arrived home Friday, giddy with excitement and anticipation, and had to put my flowers down because what I saw made me weak in the knees.

WEAK.

And then did this.

My house was spotless. The kitchen gleamed and winked at me when light bounced off the freshly cleaned sink and stove. The microwave was cleaner than it has ever been. The bathroom toilet had a rich matte finish and the tub looked like it was brand new. Not even I have been able to get these items this clean.

But then, the best was to come.

Two words: HOTEL BED. *commence freakout*

Yes this is my bed. I’m getting a new bedding set soon

The cleaning lady washed and dried my sheets and remade my bed, laying the sheets as if I was in a hotel. No kidding, I wanted to roll around on it naked in pure joy.

Speaking of pure joy, after inspecting every part of the apartment and seeing how thoroughly clean it was, I felt a level of joy and happiness that I haven’t felt in months.

You can say that’s sad but it’s true.

The only drawback, my vacuum cleaner needs to be replaced so the carpet didn’t get as clean as it should have. But, that will be fixed for next time. My apartment looked so amazing that I was afraid to touch anything.

Literally, I’m counting down the days until she comes back.

How was your long weekend?

I am not a very neat or clean person. I like when my house is picked up and freshly cleaned but I will say that my deep clean skills are severely lacking. Sure, I scrub the tub and sink but the floors, vents and blinds? I’m lucky if I get to that once a season. If at all.

It’s sad.

So, to celebrate my promotion at work, I decided to move to the next frontier of city living: getting a cleaning lady.

I can’t have in-unit washer and dryer (yet) so this is the next best thing. And I’m so excited!

After hearing two coworkers gush about their shared cleaning lady, I nervously asked for her number, promptly waited two weeks to call and then did. Yep, I treated getting a cleaning lady like a date.

Saturday, she came over for a “meet and greet inspection” and I was SO nervous. Watching her scan over my apartment, I felt the need to clarify, “It doesn’t normally look like this,” or ” I plan to fix [insert item here] before you come back.”

The last time I was this nervous about someone seeing my apartment, it was because a boy was coming over. Seriously.

I’m more nervous for a cleaning lady to see my home than to have a guy come over to watch a movie. What?

She will only come once a month to deep clean but before she can clean, I did some “picking up” myself.

Yes, I spot cleaned/picked up before the cleaning lady comes. There is no logic to that.

But I’m actually giddy at the thought of my baseboards, vents, fans and any other nook and cranny getting cleaned.It’s the little things that make me happy.

She comes over tomorrow morning and I’m ready for her to change my life :)

Any big weekend plans for you guys?

I’ve watched Hoarders and thought, “thank god that’s not me.” But tonight, as I’m sitting in my apartment, I feel like I’m living in my own version of it.

My apartment is being painted today and tomorrow and it is currently a total disaster area. I hate it so much.

I am sitting on the one piece of furniture that isn’t covered by a tarp or stuff. And sitting here with just piles of stuff around me is making my anxiety hit an all-time high. It’s so messy, that I sat at work late tonight JUST BECAUSE. That is how bad I did not want to go home.

And as nice as the apartment looks half-painted, I cannot stop focusing on how much stuff I have.

My long-term platonic manfriend came over to help me move furniture last night (LOVE HIM) and even he said, “dude, you have a lot of…stuff.”

AND I DO. I fully blame moving in to a larger apartment because everything people stored for me, could now come here. And, living in an apartment, you don’t have a ton of extra storage so stuff just…collects and sits there.

Or you hide it (like me) in drawers, corners or other places. And then you move or paint or something happens and you’re confronted with all of this…stuff.

Painting is supposed to be done tomorrow (please for the love of god be done so I can have my home back!) and I plan to declutter and purge stuff from this place like crazy as I put things back together. And the control freak in me is panicking that we can’t get started now.

Friends have volunteered to help me get rid of stuff and I plan to take them up on it. I cannot wait to just unload stuff and start over. Time for a fresh start! Please let it be end of day Friday already, please.

Any big weekend plans? Have you ever been confronted with all of the “stuff” you have in your home or apartment?

Last night, I witnessed my own Christmas miracle. Not to be confused with my birthday miracle that happened when the free dryer magically re-appeared.

No, this is a legit gift from Santa and the other “big guy” above.

In fact, I’m so happy right now, that I want to scream it from the rooftop.

And I can do that, without having to take the stairs!!

Wait, what am I jabbering on about?

Oh just that my apartment building elevator is FIXED.

FINALLY!!!

*insert the sound of angels singing*

No sh*t, my elevator has been out of order since the end of August (one week after my birthday to be exact).

My building is five floors and I’m on the fourth, which means, my a** has been hauling up four flights of stairs one to three times a day since then.

I’ve done those stairs drunk, hungover, loaded down with laundry, carrying groceries and dragging suitcases. No kidding, it almost gave me a heart attack a few times.

But now, NO MORE.

Yes, I feel like my legs are like two blocks of steel and I can easily do short bursts of stairs in other buildings, but now, I’m ready to ride that elevator, all day long!

Sure, dragging groceries and suitcases sucks, but the worst part is making my friends take the stairs. No kidding, I haven’t had many people over since the elevator went out because I felt bad making them walk up the stairs. I’m not a walk-up kind of girl. Now, party at my place!!

I’m so happy right now.