Sad Clown Saturday

"There can't be good living where there is not good drinking."

- Benjamin Franklin

Since I moved into my honey's place last year, I've been hellbent on making it feel like it's OUR place and not just his place that I moved into. Really it didn't take a lot of work- I generally like his style and the place was a good fit for us- but a few coats of paint here and there, new shower curtains, a bit of tchothckes strewn about and voila! Shared space.

The biggest struggle for us (i.e. me) is the dining room. I was able to rescue an old credenza from an estate sale years ago and this year, I spent a little dough on refinishing it. Staining it a little darker and going with a painted top (Sherwin Williams Rock Garden- a mid-grade forest green) really made it look cool and chic without feeling too formal. It makes a fantastic bar that actually holds nearly EVERYTHING we have, a mystery of the universe unto itself since our bar contains well over 50 bottles of various liquors plus mixers and other sundry items. I painted the walls a cool purple tone-- Benjamin Moore Amethyst Sky- and so far, that's just about it. Not cool at all, though it is on its way to being a lot cooler with the addition of a 32" flatscreen on the wall between the two windows. Hooray for having a TV on the main floor-- no more fighting over DVR time vs. PS3 time!

So, the major thing that we need in the place is window coverings. The two windows in the dining room face the next building and they're insulated with kitten fur as best as I can tell. So I called Eddie Z's Blinds because they were running a sale. The guy came out and the estimate was.....$450!!!! And that was WITH a BOGO deal they're running. Hence the title of this post. No honeycomb light-filtering blinds for me just yet apparently...I think I might head out to the Depot later and see what I can find. Until then, it's a Sad Clown Saturday.

See, I'm just like Oprah...

When the dog bites
When the bee stings
When I'm feeling sad
I simply remember my favorite things
And then I don't feel so bad
-The Sound of Music

I like to make people aware of "My Favorite Things".

Friday's Faves, in no particular order:

• Hours of real estate porn on HGTV. House Hunters, My First Place, Income Property, Bang for your Buck...I can't stop watching them. Luckily, Paul also has an interest in them (not to my current psychotic degree, unfortunately) so it's not bad for him. We have rather enjoyed heckling the gross yuppies who always seem to be spouting praise for granite counter tops, stainless steel appliances and the presence of a "man-cave". It's, sadly, also gotten me into another nesting kick.
  
• Hipster Puppies because they are adorable and hilarious.
• The Benjamin Moore website is amazing if you're worried about painting. Their Color Viewer is kind of awesome because you can really get an idea of what will work and what won't before diving into some ridiculous project.
• Restaurant Week in Chicago! Tonight we're headed to Seasons at the Four Seasons Hotel. Wednesday night, we did dinner at The Drawing Room at Le Passage. A-MAAAA-ZING. I will say that I didn't feel like I was hip enough for the space-- cool urban lounge feel-- but everything we imbibed and consumed was delish! Their cocktails rival The Violet Hour!
• The imminent possibility that I will soon be living in a 2 television household! We've been fighting over the set upstairs every weekend lately and with all of the videogames coming out in the next few months, I guess Paulo is taking pity on me. No more timeshare tv!
  

First Post!

"In an ideal world, we could be more impermeable. We would be unshaken whether we were ignored or noticed, admired or ridiculed. If someone praised us insincerely, we would not be unduly seduced. And if we had carried out a fair assessment of our strengths and decided upon our value, another's suggestion that we were inconsequential would not wound us. We would know our worth."
- Alain de Botton, Status Anxiety

I think I like the idea of starting off every post with a quote and this one is a good start. It's the sense of being safe in your own skin, knowing your limitations are set expressly by yourself and being able to turn off the voice that says, "You can't. You won't. You suck." That voice isn't yours: it's the voice of what you think everyone else will say. We need to silence that voice and really know our worth.

The main reason I included that quote was because, for a while now, people have told me I need a blog. I'd never really committed to writing one because I was afraid of how I'd fill the space, what people would say (and conversely, would it be ignored?), if I'd have the time, how many posts about my cat would the Internet be able to handle...excuses, excuses, excuses. Fill the space? I think I can deal with writing a short post every other day or at least when the spirit moved me. What will people say (or not!)? Screw 'em. This is for me and if you also happen to appreciate it, rock on! The time? Seriously, it's minutes a day. Multitudinous cat posts? I'm sure you'll find him at least half as charming as I do, but if not, suck it. He's super awesome.

Excuses have been running rampant in my life lately and I'm putting my foot down. I'm going to find an audience, find the time, and find my voice. And I'm pretty damn excited about it.

My biggest concern is this: what exactly am I going to write about? I know I'll end up talking about cooking and gardening since planting season is just around the corner. There will be at least a post or two a month about my Lokimonster because he is my goofy and beloved furbaby. If I read something interesting or see something on television that needs to be shared, I will. I love fashion and will likely try to do a quarterly look at trends. I'll probably end up bitching and moaning about working out since I'm planning on starting a actual workout regimen. AND....I'll likely start blogging about the eternal struggle to quit smoking. Ugh. I'm figuring that if I touch on at least one of those topics once in a while, I'll keep myself on the blogger wagon.

Alright, so real quick: I'm a Chicagoland native (Aurora, to be exact) living in the city with a handsome man and my kitten, working for a company I've been with for 5+ years. I'm an avid reader, television watcher, NPR listener, cynic and comedienne. My life is not so bad at all and it's only going to be getting better. :)

And for the record, these posts are not all going to be such long missives....just getting my sea legs as it were. Also THANKS ANGIE!!!