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?

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.

I consider myself to be a pretty optimistic lady. I’m “glass half full” all the time, but lately I’ve been a bit more of a Debbie Downer.

Okay, maybe not THAT bad, but maybe a little bit of a Wallowing Winnie.

Here’s what’s brought this on:

• Pink eye. Woke up Thursday morning with it and have never had it before. Now I can’t wear eye makeup or contacts for a week. I’m really not digging for sympathy here, but this has taken a blow to my self esteem. I know I need to be au natural in the eyes but I feel embarrassed to have people see me. It’s tough
• Elevator. My building elevator has been out for more than five weeks and no one is telling us when it will be fixed. I hope my legs are like steel when it is fixed

But, I’m working through this little turn of bad karma and balancing out the negative with positives, such as:

• Working out. Even after a long day, I’m forcing myself to go and feeling better after. Great stress reliever
• Costume planning. Over the next two weekends, I have theme parties that I’m attending and I’ve been really scouring for some fun stuff for my costumes. I love a project :)
• Red lipstick. I never wear it but in prep for these parties, I treated myself to some, since that’s some of the only makeup I can wear right now. After sampling a few on Saturday, I found one that suits me and seeing my red lips in the store mirrors did make me smile

So that’s why I’ve been a little slow in posting lately. Once I get over this Debbie Downer/Wallowing Winnie hump, I will be back to being me, and being a little more regular in posts.

How is everyone else??

It’s better than going to a laundromat but it’s still a pain.

Until, someone in my building introduced me to…free dryer.

Yes, a dryer among our communal ones that didn’t require coins to work. You just had to jimmy the coin slider (sans coins) and it would work. So, for the last 2 years, I’ve only had to pay to wash clothes, never dry. That’s a dollar savings (which makes long-term economical sense).

Then, I was doing laundry last night in prep for Seattle when I realized a painful truth. Free dryer was gone. That b*tch sold out and now takes coins.

In a matter of 10 minutes, I went through all stages of grief, starting with denial. I don’t want to say I got rough with free dryer, but yeah, I Ike Turner’ed her around a bit in case she was holding out. But deep down I knew, free dryer was gone.

So now I have to make sure I have coins to wash AND dry. I know this falls under the #firstworldproblems scenario but still. When you get used to something like this, it is sad when you know those good days are gone.

Fingers crossed that whatever broke her to begin with, breaks again. Until then, I pour some detergent on the ground to honor you, free dryer. I’ll see you with dryer sheets in the big laundry room in the sky.

Oddly, the “hogger” I once wrote about is STILL obsessed with using that dryer. I think she knows something I don’t…for now.

Sigh. Do you have any fun, sad or commiserating stories about laundry rooms?

Since last week/weekend was crazy with travel, I was looking forward to a peaceful, lazy weekend. The kind of weekend where you’re in PJs until noon and do the “sniff test” to see if you actually need to shower. Usually, the answer is no.

And although I didn’t sleep in as much as I wanted, I did something else that kept me challenged and in PJs, decluttering. I LOVE the feeling of purging crap from my apartment. And because I only seem to really deep clean when company is coming in town, I was shocked at how much purging of crap I did this weekend.

Saturday morning, it started with the bathroom, where I filled up TWO plastic grocery bags of old product samples, product boxes and just…junk. I tend to be a hoarder with these things and once it’s out of sight, it’s out of mind, until I can barely find things in the bathroom drawers.

And once I finished the bathroom, I was possessed. I could not wait to declutter something else and throw out more junk. Drawers, bowls, magazines, nothing was safe. Then I was Enron-like shredding old bills because I couldn’t just toss them out. I could not be stopped! And now, my apartment looks so pretty and my place should be good for a while.

So when this decluttering mood comes around again, do you need help because I will do it. I take payment in hugs, baked good, beer, wine and general validation. But I warn you, I am brutal. I have no second thoughts in tossing and make a split second decision on keep or not keep. If you are okay with that, I am your woman.

So once I pried myself away from the apartment cleaning, I was hungry and met up with Liz downtown for a pizza, but not just any pizza, pizza with pork belly, kale and caramelized onions. Oh my goodness it was good.

How was your weekend? Are you good at decluttering or need any help from a brutal declutterer like me?

This one has to do with the buzzer to my apartment.

For safety, there is a buzzer intercom at my building entry that goes to each tenant’s apartment. And of course, you should not buzz in people you do not know.

Apparently, the few regularly drunk coeds in my building and their friends forget about this.

For the last month, I’ve received regular calls to my apartment from the intercom between 3-5 a.m. on weekends from those drunk friends wanting to be let in. I answered the first time, panicked that a friend was in trouble and coming to my place for help.

What greeted me was a slurring guy asking to be let in because his friend passed out and wasn’t responding to the buzzer in his apartment. For about a minute, I thought this guy was kidding. He woke me up at 4 a.m. to be let in? I told him no and then hung up, immediately then fearing he would somehow guess my apartment number once let in and come over to kill me. So a random golf club joined me in bed that night. Although, I didn’t really sleep much after that from adrenaline and nerves.

The first time it happened, I let it slip, but now, it’s a regular occurrence and it’s making me crazy. I’m already a light sleeper/borderline insomniac, so to wake me up from the little restless sleep I get, I get ANGRY.

I’ve even stopped answering the phone, but still barely sleep after that. So, I’ve started disconnecting the buzzer phone at night and telling close friends that if they need to come over due to an emergency, to call my cell phone. That is my gauge if something is really wrong.

What about you? Has this happened in your apartment building?

Movie review: Yes, finally, I updated the review blog. This time, I’m reviewing No Strings Attached with Ashton and Natalie Portman

Yes, after a lovely fall, I woke up Saturday morning to the sound of a snowblower…which means SNOW!

Okay it was only about 1-2 inches (that’s what she said), but it was a gorgeous sight from my apartment and the street.

I was up at an unfair hour Saturday morning for an appointment but my walk in the snow felt really good. There was no one out (which was a little creepy) and the snow was crunching beneath my feet. It felt like a winter wonderland! In two months, I will be complaining about snow but for now, I love it. Even the snowflakes that stuck to my glasses, making the world spotty.

And after some snow frolicking, it was time for my annual first weekend in December tradition of putting up my tree!!

The tree lots have been up in Chicago for a while but my fake one just arrived in Chicago, with it’s faux realness on full display. And after the arduous task of putting it together and hooking up all the lights, my Charlie Brown-inspired tree was lookin’ good. One of my favorite things is coming home and having the tree lights on without any lamps. So soothing.

I’m also obsessed with my ornaments, so putting them up and arranging them properly was a task. But I’m happy with the result!

I think I’ll go to Macy’s next weekend and pick up a few new shiny ornaments for the tree because I love adding to my collection…and I have a Macy’s gift card. Win!

How was everyone else’s weekend? Did you put your tree or holiday decorations up?

Being the crazy planner that I am, I seem to always have something to do. Running errands, cleaning, catching up on blogs, newspapers, magazines, etc. There is ALWAYS something that I could be doing. I could run myself into the ground with little things to do. It’s my weakness and I don’t give myself enough time to relax.

Running around every weekend usually lasts for a few weeks and then something comes up and I force myself to be a shut-in.

I may fight it, but I love it.

And because last week was pretty crazy with Mexico, a long day of travel, getting caught up at work and of course, this f*cking cold that will NOT GO AWAY, this weekend I forced myself to be a shut-in

Okay that’s a lie, I was a semi shut-in because I did have a few things around my apartment to get done, but still, I was as shut-in.

When I go into this mode, I usually do the following things:

• Spend the majority of the day on the couch
• Clean out the DVR
• Read for several hours
• Enjoy peace and quiet
• Have shoe fashion shows
• Exfoliate
• Back up my hard drive (not a metaphor)
• Practice putting my hair in odd styles

Yes, that is my idea of a great weekend. Sure, I think about errands to run and things I could be doing to be productive, but seriously, sometimes you need to give yourself a break. Trust me, those things will always be there waiting to be done.

And as result of my lazy behavior this weekend, I’m pretty relaxed, and am now about to enter into deep mental prep for a short week. Serenity now.

What about you? Do you have shut-in weekends? And if so, what are they like?

Anyhow, to help clear my cluttered mind of random stuff I’m thinking about, I put together a lovely bulleted list of things on my mind, some more random than others.

• How long will it take once I arrive in Mexico to be on the beach with drink in hand? My guess? One hour (at the most)
• Is it possible to wear leggings as pants all the time and not look silly? I’m willing to try
• I’m totally obsessed with Boo the dog on Facebook. Seriously, I would steal that dog. I want one just like him (kidding?) The video of his “typical day” makes me scream with cuteness
• This week’s episode of Glee was so amazing. I’m letting myself download three (or four) songs…or maybe just all of them :)
• Daylight savings time is bringing me down. I love getting another hour of sleep, but dark at 5 p.m.? Really?
• Arielle asked me this weekend if everyone in the Midwest is obsessed with football. After seeing the crowds at the bar Sunday, I think she’s right
• Why is picking paint colors so difficult? I’m so indecisive with what colors to select for my living room/bedroom. I’m thinking off white and light gray but I cannot commit. Blerg
• I’m pretty much also stalking photos from the Breaking Dawn set in Brazil. I’ve got Twilight fever yet again!
• I need to get back in for a mani/pedi stat. I did my own last night and it was…well embarrassing
• I’m dying to try Temptu’s Under Eye Concealer. I have serious under eye circles

Also, THANK YOU everyone for the feedback on the dresses to wear to the wedding. Holy cow, I was truly blown away by the response it got!

The dresses I packed tonight are the Banana Republic purple/black dress, floral dress and pink NY & Co. one. The final pick will be a gametime decision, but I feel good about all of them thanks to you guys! I even laid out jewelry, purses and shoes. I will be glammed up in any of those dresses!

What’s on your mind lately?

Either way, woo for Friday!

As I’m easing back into a blogging groove again, I realized there are a few loose ends I wanted to revisit based on some recent blog posts.

Roomba

First up, Roomba. I tweeted last week that I haven’t run my beloved Roomba in almost a week. I think she fears that I’m mad at her or don’t love her any more. That could not be further from the truth. Mama J has just been busy! But I’m sure there is plenty of hair for her to pick up this weekend :)

In fact, I wanted to share a quick video I made a few weeks ago of my babies Roomba and Bubbles. I grabbed a photo of them together in my apartment and now I have physical proof of their interaction while Roomba cleans my apartment.

Yeah apparently they do NOT get a long. Roomba is one tough b*tch.

Glasses

So my contacts situation has not improved and lately, I’ve been wearing my glasses more. Sure, I’m still nervous about wearing them in public, but due to horrible eye itching and discomfort, I’ve had to get over that more and more. And, to my surprise, people come up and compliment me on them. Again, they may just be acting nice but it is helping the anxiety ease up :)

And to further help me get over my dislike of wearing my glasses in public, here is a slightly bad photo of me in them.

Cash Cab

Okay this isn’t in a previous post but I am obsessed with this show. I watch it at the gym sometimes and I cannot get enough. When I was in New York during BlogHer, I hoped every single cab I got in was Cash Cab. Tonight, Cash Cab did a bit on 30 Rock and it made me laugh and feel jealous that Tracy was “on” that show. I don’t want to brag but I think I would be awesome on it, especially if there are mostly movie/pop culture questions. Is anyone else obsessed with this show?

Anything random on your mind? Or do you have big plans for this weekend?

Movie Review: Sneak peek at Hillary Swank’s new movie Conviction. Is it that arresting? (bad pun)

Yes, while I watched the Wisconsin Badger game Saturday night, I decided to get Roomba plugged in, charged and put to work cleaning my floors. You don’t live for free in my house.

Turns out, I was a nervous wreck the entire time she was cleaning, causing me to stir and hmm and haw on the couch, even putting the game on mute for awhile so I could make sure she was still running and sucking up all the hair on my floor. Seriously, she picked up so much hair, it’s amazing I’m not bald.

I watched her putter around the dining room and kitchen before coming into the living room and doing some “serious” damage. Even though I picked up the floors, she got her hooks into a phone cord and pulled the phone off the table before spinning around and going into the living room, leaving me to pick up after her. Then, I ran in to the living room to see her dry humping my Wii Fit. So, I guess she’s a little self conscious, we all are.

Finally, while watching the game, I saw her staring down my Apple wireless modem and that’s when the real fear ran through me. The thought of her taking out that wireless modem freaked me out because I have no idea if I can get it up and running again.

And in the heat of the moment, I tweeted this:

My neighbors think I am totally sane, yelling at my iRobot…that’s healthy.

Fortunately, Sunday when I ran her again (to get more hair, I know), I tried to take a video of her, because she’s beautiful, and she hid under a side table for 20 minutes. She’s camera shy, I get it.

So today, while she was charging, I got Bubbles out and got a photo of my babies.

Both are well behaved now but videos will be happening!

So the relationship with Roomba is off to a good start and she did a pretty good job cleaning up too. I can’t wait to run her again this week.

Also, it’s pretty much official now that I need a boyfriend. Badly.

What would you like to have a machine automatically clean in your place? Or does anyone else shed as much as I seem to? Please!

People helped her up but I felt bad and heard the guy next to me whisper to someone on the phone, “god this woman just took an ugly fall.”

So I got to thinking about what I call, “the uglies.”

Ugly fall – See example above. When a person bites it hard on the concrete.

Ugly cry – Full out sob fest, accompanied by red eyes and nose, snot running down your face and shaking from the sobs that wrack your body. Examples: Terms of Endearment, Up and Time Traveler’s Wife

Ugly eat - When the simple task of eating becomes more of an episode of Animal Planet, causing you to own it and not hide in shame while eating in public, or causing you to hide at your desk to enjoy your ugly eat in private. Examples: Ribs, Cheetos and cupcakes

Ugly shame – Your single or “home alone” activity that you embrace but do behind closed doors, blinds or rooms. Examples: eating food that falls on your boob or cleavage

I am guilty of ALL OF THESE, sometimes doing more than one in a single day.

The only one I’m actually embarrassed by is the ugly fall. I am very self conscious in public (sometimes) and I hate, more than anything, when I fall or trip over my feet in public. I feel people staring at me, laughing and pointing, or thinking “that poor girl” as they help me off the floor of the bus.

Maybe it’s because I like being independent and not relying on someone to help me all the time, so the thought of someone having to help me up is frustrating and socially crushing, but then again, when I bite it and do it well, someone better help me up.

What about you? Which case of the uglies do you find happens the most?

Review blog update: Hey! I’m updating this again after way too long of a delay. Today I’m talking about a facial cleanser/make up remover I love from Neutrogena.

The topic: moving. I hate moving. I hate it more than having my root canal done, more than my annual Pap and more than jeans/swimsuit shopping.

Moving is time consuming, expensive and stressful, especially when you work full-time on top of packing and searching for a new place.

But moving can be cathartic and a good reason to purge all the sh*t you hoard in your apartment and then forget about.

Anyhow, there is a 50/50 chance I have to move in September and I have no idea what to do.

Right now, I rent a condo from an owner who relocated and couldn’t sell the unit (yay housing crisis!) He told me yesterday that he’s willing to renew the lease but, after two years of living here, part of me is itching for a change.

That and I would like to decrease my rent payment. Rent in Chicago is manageable (compared to LA or NY) but it can still be expensive. One bedroom rents range from $900-$1200/month or more and although I’m in range, the thought of decreasing my rent $50-$100/month is really tempting. I know I could find something cheaper, but am I sacrificing a great place in the process?

Here are my current apartment pros and cons:

Pro:

• It’s huge (1,100 sq feet) and more than enough room for one person
• Equal size living, dining, bedroom and kitchen area (most apartments here have one small room)
• Open floor plan
• Close to express bus to work, bank and two grocery stores (trifecta!)

Con:

• Very thin walls, yes, I’ve written about this before
• Communal washer/dryer (the former of which was ruined by some d-bag that washed a rug. A**hat)
• Window AC unit only in the living room (aka, hotter than h*ll sometimes in the bedroom in summer)
• Nosy neighbors (sadly, Hot Neighbor has left)

Yeah, looking at this list, it’s pretty balanced right now.

I’m not UNHAPPY with where I live, but part of me wants to try something new. I would like to have better AC capabilities and, of course, maybe in-unit washer/dryer. I would give up one of my boobs to have that.

One part of my brain says, if the landlord won’t raise your rent and it’s ain’t broke, don’t fix it. But the other part says, cutting your rent by $100, saving $1,200/year is REALLY tempting.

So interwebs help me out, what would you do? Ask for a rent decrease? Move? Do you also hate moving?

The official countdown to San Fran/Napa has begun for me but before I start freaking out about the trip, I had a busy/productive weekend so that distracted me.

Incentive to clean

Seriously, visitors coming to town is the best incentive to clean. It makes me actually do it and be efficient, rather than dawdle and think I’ll do it another weekend. No! I have to do it then and it has to be spotless! I even spot clean the next morning after making breakfast. Who am I? Well, this weekend I had a visitor coming into town for Father’s Day and my bathroom, kitchen and living room were nightmares.

So I dedicated Friday (post storms) to cleaning…up after the storms and my apartment. Yes, it took time and yes, some of the dirt and amount of hair collected was scary, but it looks GORGEOUS after. The sight of a clean apartment is one of my favorite things.

Of course, if company had not been coming into town, the apartment would likely still be a pigsty :)

The Eagles, Keith Urban, Dixie Chicks!

Saturday my visitor and I also went to check out a concert marathon at Solider Field, including of Keith Urban, Dixie Chicks and The Eagles. I’ve never been to Soldier Field before, so me and my camera were ready!

I was felt horribly underdressed because I wasn’t sporting sunburn (Saturday was amazing weather in Chicago) and cowboy boots. Now I want a pair! But thousands of people turned out to hit the Miller/Bud Light and dance.

Keith Urban was good and even sang in the crowd! It’s also a fact that women love Keith Urban. Thousand were going CRAZY for him. I’m surprised he survived that crowd with his shirt.

I was pretty excited to see the Dixie Chicks and they didn’t disappoint. They even played Train’s Hey Soul Sister, which got me dancing around.

I’m not too familiar with The Eagles either but I recognized a ton of songs, thanks to growing up with their music. I remembered a lot more than I thought I would.

All and all, it was a gorgeous night to see outside and enjoy some music!

Random acts of online dating

Post concert, I decided to do some pre-vacation laundry, which meant that I was still awake but tired at 1 a.m. with my laundry done and a restless mind. So I started wandering around online and when I woke up this morning, I was a member of OkCupid.

No joke, I signed up for internet dating while tired and barely remembered doing it! I filled out the profile and everything! I’m still planning on going back to Match but this is free and probably a good way to ease back into it. So far, it’s…interesting.

How was everyone else’s weekend? Do you always clean before company comes over? Or are you seeing any concerts this summer?

First off, holy crap, I leave for NOLA on WEDNESDAY, like in three days! *insert mild freak out*

Moving on, I tend to get very stressed before traveling. The inner “planner” in me comes out and I run myself into a tizzy making sure things are ready, packed, clean and organized for when I get back so I can easily get myself re-acclimated.

I know, I’m probably making a big deal out of it but what can I say, I’m high strung :)

So to prep to travel to NOLA this week, I went a little insane this weekend getting stuff done around the house. Here’s what I accomplished:

• Cook for the few days in town so meals are easy
• Grocery shop for bare necessities
• Pick a recipe for next week
• Write out my grocery shopping list for next weekend
• Laundry
• Laying out clothes to pack
• Bringing out the suitcase
• Clean bathroom and kitchen (I half-a**ed the kitchen), dust living room
• Balance checkbook
• Pay bills
• Research restaurants and tourist activities in NOLA
• Pick out a Mother’s Day card to mail before I leave

Yeah, I was productive (to say the least). And oh my gosh my house is so pretty when it’s clean!

But before I surrendered to pre-travel prep, Friday, I went with co-workers to Hai Yen, a Vietnamese restaurant, in Uptown and had Vietnamese food for the first time ever.

And it was amazing. And I took no pictures. FAIL.

I can’t even recall everything we had but I know there was make-your-own spring rolls, amazing pork and pho and everything was absolutely delicious and so light that I didn’t feel heavy or weighed down after (which I do sometimes from fried food).

I would 100 percent go back, it was that amazing.

I also sorted out last week’s Amazon order drama and was able to finally enjoy this movie, which I did twice:

I wrote a review about it here because absolutely love it. Sometimes, a good Victorian movie makes me very happy :)

What about everyone? How was your weekend? Was anyone else bitten by the cleaning bug?

Well, the weather sucked in Chicago this weekend. Nothing ruins a weekend like rain, clouds and fog. So I decided to do some of my favorite rainy day/weekend things around my house.

Okay I can’t really say that picking up the piles of clothes and papers in my apartment is fun but I did some general not-so-fun-but-necessary-stuff like:

• Pay my renter’s insurance (I know it’s necessary but I didn’t like writing that check)
• Fill out my passport paperwork and get my birth certificate together (yay! It’s here!)
• Book car and hotel reservations for my second big solo trip
• Create an itinerary/event flow for my NOLA, Vegas and yet-to-be-announced trip

I knew I was working in my field for too long when I made an event flow for my own personal vacations. But, when you have confirmation numbers, hotel details and addresses spread all over the place, it’s good to be organized :)

Yes, I love organizing things. It doesn’t really matter what.

And once this mature adult sh*t was over, I was ready to have a little spring dress fashion show. Just because it’s 40 degrees outside (Chicago! You’re killing me!!) that doesn’t mean I can’t try on my pre-spending freeze dresses and dream of warm weather.

My biggest challenge with dresses is the boob-area. I’m busty to begin with and some dresses make my D-cups look like Heidi Montags. I’m not so keen on that, which is why I mostly wear dark color dresses, to help keep it under control.

And so far, I’ve found two I’m pretty excited about (apologizes for the sucky photos, rain means no good light in my place):

Old Navy – $19.50

JCrew – $69.50

Oh yes, I’m dreaming of warm weather right now!

And finally, when it’s pouring outside, I love curling up on the couch with movies. And right now, I’m totally obsessed with the Wii Netflix feature. It syncs my instant Netflix queue to my Wii so I can watch movies on my TV anytime. Um, amazing. I have a little Arrested Development, 30 Rock, Office and several documentaries in my queue right now and the convenience is amazing. My only complaint? Not in HD so the resolution is good but not great. But again, convenient and I like that.

How was everyone else’s weekend? Are you Netflix Wii obsessed? Do you love spring dresses?

Movie review: Caught up with Jenny from the block and some HOT new many candy in The Back-Up Plan

But now that I’m an adult and living on my own, cleaning is the bane of my existence. I daydream about getting a Roomba (maybe even a DJ Roomba!) or one day, a cleaning person because I hate doing it that much.

And if I had to pick two rooms that I hate cleaning the most, it would be the bathroom or kitchen. Those are the bastard stepchildren of my apartment. I give them as much attention as I would to a rock stuck in my shoe.

Why should I have to clean those rooms? Shouldn’t they compete for my love and affection by self-cleaning? Maybe? Maybe…not.

After honing my skills as a master vacummer and duster, I hate getting on my hands and knees to scrub the floor or toilet. This is embarrassing to admit, but sometimes, I only know when it’s time to clean the toilet when I’m in between dry heaves after a night of drinking. When you’re waiting for that next wave, you have plenty of time to see the filth in hidden places.

I have to clean both rooms (actually my entire apartment) this weekend and I know I’ll leave them for last because I’ll magically be looking for an excuse not to do it. Like a meteor hitting my building or someone calling and asking if I want to meet up right away or John K showing up at my apartment declaring his love for me and taking me away on his private jet. DREAM!

But as much as I hate doing it, I love the way both rooms look when they are clean. Until the next day when somehow they get dirty again and I look at them and say…FAIL.

What room do you hate cleaning the most in your apartment/house? Or do you just really love cleaning…and want to come over to my house? I pay in baked goods and witty humor.

Anyhow, the weekends are usually pretty productive for me. I dedicate Saturday to running errands that I don’t get to during the week and usually, I get around the city pretty well, but the no car thing can slow me down.

That is until this weekend when I had out-of-town company and access to a car. We were unstoppable in making trips around the city. I even was diligent in logging into Foursquare to track everything. And here’s everywhere we went:

I was super tired at the end of it. And I was reminded that sensible shoes are necessary for this much walking. That’s right, everything from Nordstrom to Nordstrom was all walking. Normally, I will pick my footwear based on the amount of stops and walking I will have to do, but I was a little aspirational this time and wore my flat riding boots. Which are lovely but aren’t really made for this level of activity.

The lessons I learned: invest in Dr. Scholl’s insoles for the boots and/or wear the Uggs. Ouch.

And when I got home, I saw a passive aggressive note in the elevator. Okay maybe it’s not traditional passive aggressive but it definitely got my attention:

And the response says:

“Ellen it’s too bad there are people who steal. That being said, I would not leave my detergent in that room unattended for that reason. I hope you at least learned a lesson.”

I feel bad for Ellen, but sadly, I’ve had it happen to me too and learned my lesson that way.

How was everyone else’s weekend? Was it full of football, Grammy’s or SAG awards?

I have to say, the SAG fashion was much better than the Globes. By like, a lot. Most improved?  Tina Fey and Lea Michele from Glee. LOVED both of those dresses.

I couldn’t even pick a best dressed because I loved so many of the outfits!

And as I listened to the dry heaves and sound of someone’s stomach emptying, I thought: god I hate thin walls.

As a long-time apartment dweller, thin walls/floors/ceilings are probably my ultimate pet peeve.

If I could, I would live in an apartment that is surrounded by cement, blocking out sound from any neighbors above, next door or below me. I dream about that because right now, my paper thin walls drive me B-A-N-A-N-A-S.

Of course, when I rented this apartment, I didn’t know about the thin walls, thanks to a landlord who lied like a mofo. And when I realized how thin they were, I actually considered how I could shave my landlord’s head in the middle of the night, without him noticing.

So how thin are the walls/ceiling of my apartment? I can hear the woman living above me snoring, the guy living below me logging on to AOL (“You’ve got mail!”) at all hours and my non-hot next door neighbor fighting with her boyfriends, screaming, “you don’t respect me!” I can handle all of these things, but hearing someone throw up in the apartment next door? That’s just not cool, especially when I’m trying to keep from doing it myself.

But, it is better than my old Minneapolis apartment where a neighbor and her boyfriend would have sex like rabbits ALL THE TIME. It was super uncomfortable. Unfortunately, she was a screamer, fortunately, he didn’t last long ;)

What about you? What is your ultimate pet peeve about living in apartments? Or what is the funniest/worst thing you’ve heard one of your neighbors doing?

Remember to vote!! For me in the 20sb awards here! Mwah!

New movie review: It’s Complicated. And I may have used the words “John K” and “my lady bits” in the same sentence :)

Salad envy: Several of you commented on my healthy, delish salad that I made for dinner last night so I’ll be featuring it in an upcoming post!

It feels like Antarctica all the time.

I’m constantly cold with teeth chattering and trying to stay warm while wrapped in my big fuzzy robe and slippers. I don’t want to TMI on here, but having your nips constantly at full mast is super irritating. Those things could cut glass.

Basically, I hate being cold.

My Chicago apartment, where I don’t pay for heat, is a balmy, heavenly 75 degrees in the winter. I love it, especially when I come home to a warm apartment when it’s cold outside. I’m sure when the free heat days are over, I’ll be a 60-degree girl too but for now, welcome to tropical paradise!

Dad and I constantly argue about the thermostat temp. He tells me to put on (another) sweater or just dress warmer but once I get cold, I cannot warm up. Thank goodness for my heated mattress pad. I cannot live without it in winter and I never want to leave my nice warm bed.

So this time when I came home, I decided to plan ahead and bring cute, coordinated pj pants from Gap and Old Navy. If I’m going to struggle to stay warm, why not try to look cute doing it?

Yeah, it still doesn’t work and I’m still wrapped in the fetal position in my bathrobe trying to stay warm. Classy.

What about you? Do you prefer to be warm or cool in your home/apartment or when you sleep?

Bloggy birthday: Thank you everyone for the kind blog birthday wishes. My blog and I appreciate them :) I also owe a big thank you to Teena in Toronto for reminding me about the big day!