People of the el: emo edition

Things I'm loving right now

So great for my at-home work ethic.  I love being able to put together my own radio station.



Keeping track of my food/calories/exercise has allowed me to lose as much as 4 pounds in one week. (I am aware that, generally, the first 5 pounds are water.)  It's great to keep track of your food intake from a nutritional standpoint, as well.



It's like free text messaging for your iPhone! In an effort to cut back on some of my expenses, I got rid of my unlimited text-messaging plan. This app has been a life-saver.  It also allows you to see when someone is typing a response.  It reminds me of my AOL-centered college days -- when you only knew where someone was if he or she left an away message.  (For that matter, you could also tell if he/she was out late based upon how long he/she was "idle.")  Ohhh college!



The "Classics" iPhone app.  It contains mostly pre-1923 books that have become public domain.  I've re-read Anne of Green Gables, The Prince, and a few other favorite childhood books.  It's great if you want to give reading books on your iPhone a test-drive.  I wasn't sure how well I would like reading books on my phone, since the screen is significantly smaller than that of most e-readers.  It's a great distraction.  It's also perfect when you're in a situation where you need to be pre-occupied by your phone to avoid awkward eye-contact and don't want to be seen checking facebook or don't have access to 3G service.  i.e. courtrooms, waiting rooms, trains, and your lunch hour :).



OPI's Bubble Bath
It's perfect for a simple, natural manicure.  I'm giving darker colors a rest with the hope that it will make spring come faster.  I'm ready to wear sundresses!

Our SPECTACULAR NEW PLATES from West Elm.  The artist, Frank Millero, drew this with one pen/brush stroke without looking at his surface.  The napkins and our wicker chargers complement them well.  I'll post a photo later this week. I feel as if West Elm has stepped up its game lately.  I'll gladly allow it to replace Crate and Barrel as my go-to room update store.





Thank you, Trader Joe's.  This tastes better than ice cream. I add a few chocolate chips and some granola for dessert.

Our upcoming road trips -- we're planning on visiting our families and seeing old friends in March.

What I'm reading now: Oprah: A Biography - My Preliminary Impressions

I'm not an Oprah fan.  Not by a longshot.  That's why I am enjoying this book.  I have long suspected that behind Oprah's facade of big-giving, big-loving, loud-talking, favorite-thing-naming, she's got issues.  Big ones. I don't fault her for that.  I fault her for hiding them so carefully.  She's not even good at hiding them because her secrets always seem to find her.  More than once, she has been forced to confront a demon from her past to prevent an ambush by the media.  More than once, she has confirmed the media's reports or suspicions.  I want to believe that she's entirely good and has always been incredibly selfless.  However, what I'm learning from her book is that she is at the center of a well-manufactured machine made up of public relations professionals and people prepared to use her resources to their fullest to accomplish her goals -- or to squelch dissent. 

More updates later as I continue to work my way through this 600+ page monstrosity.  

Movie review: Food Inc. (and my very left-leaning views on the importance of fresh, local food and sustainable nutrition for all)

What I eat and where it comes from has always mattered to me.  I became interested in the subject during college.  As part of one of my courses, I was required to watch Supersize Me.  I also read Fast Food Nation. It's a very eye-opening look at the formation of the fast food industry, it's growth, and the diminished quality of food that the fast-food epidemic has produced.  I loved this issue so much that I wrote my senior honors thesis on instant gratification and the philosophy of fast food.  For much of college, I had a slight reputation among my closest friends for being horrified by fast food.  (Huddle House western omelettes don't count, do they?)  I tried my best to avoid supporting entities that I felt perpetuated not only an obesity epidemic but also left families with few choices for cheap healthy food.  When a hamburger and French fries are cheaper than a crown of broccoli or a bag of oranges, we have problems.  There are many solutions, too many to take up in one post.  The most important thing about this film is that it makes you think long and hard about where your food comes from and how your food's production and quality is affected by market-demand.  The long and short of it is that you should care about where your food comes from and the effect that its production has on the environment.

Book Review: The Fountainhead

I highly recommend this book.  I am always looking for something new to read.  For a long time, I felt like this book was an unattainable goal.  It's incredibly long, rife with interconnected sub-plots, deep themes and complicated relationships.  It required me to think about the characters, their motivations, and their guiding philosophies.  I like books that demand a little engagement of me.  

As an English Literature/Philosophy double major, this book appealed to me on several different levels.  Ayn Rand's philosophy of objectivism, the ego, and individualism shines through the well-developed characters.  It's quite an undertaking -- nearly 800 pages -- but well worth the effort.  I'm not great at book summaries but both Sparknotes - The Fountainhead & Wikipedia - The Fountainhead have excellent analyses of the book and its characters.  

Trying something new

I always loved running outdoors in high school and college.  In Kentucky, I could run outdoors almost year round.  As an added bonus, my parents had a great assortment of fitness equipment for me to use whenever it was too cold or rainy to exercise outdoors.  During law school, I was a member of a fantastic gym in Indianapolis.  I probably went to the gym five or six times per week.  It was a great stress reliever.  Now that I'm in Chicago, I find it more difficult to go to the gym on a regular basis.  My gym is about a mile from our apartment.  When the weather is nice, I can walk there but I always rationalize that if I'm going to walk to the gym, I'd rather just take a long walk with my husband for twice as long.  That's another thing.  We are still very much newlyweds.  I love hanging out with my husband after work.  It's always hard to drag myself back out into the cold to catch the train, walk, or even drive to the gym.  I love my gym but I hate paying for a service that I use so infrequently.

SO during the winter months, I realized that there were several times that I wanted to work out but I was too cold/too tired/missed my husband too much to get out and go.  The motivation was there but the desire to freeze my tail off was not.  In order to prevent myself from throwing away a ton of money at the gym this year, I've decided to cancel my gym membership and get an upright exercise bicycle.  I would love a treadmill or elliptical machine but it makes more sense to get something a little more space-efficient and quiet for our apartment.  Plus, now that the weather is getting a nicer, I should be able to supplement my outdoor exercise with regular use of the exercise bicycle.

My parents have the same one at home and have had great luck with it.  I ordered mine last week, so it should be delivered TODAY! :)

Spring cleaning

In honor of spring, I decided to clean out my closet.  I struggle with keeping a balance of older classics, items that will eventually come back into style, and trendier pieces.  More recently, I've definitely had trouble dressing for the times in between work and formal events.  I wear suits to work almost every day.  Day to day, it's easier just to throw on skinny jeans and a sweater -- in the winter, at least.  During the spring and summer months, I wear lots of sundresses, shifts, and cropped pants or skirts.  I haven't quite gotten the knack of dressing for the winter months.  It's easier just to pile  on clothes until the cold can't reach me!!

Here is my closet before:

After -- much better: