The Princess and the Pea

That is what my week was like. The story of the Princess and the Pea. I had one pea in my week. Let me explain.

I had the greatest week of all time. That isn’t an exaggeration, which I know I am prone to. Here’s the calendar:

Monday: No work. President’s Day.
Tuesday: Started tutoring at a school in Chicago with people from work.
Wednesday: Lunch at Sable Kitchen. Dinner at Girl and the Goat. Bulls Game.
Thursday: South Pacific.
Friday: Dinner at Japonais. Shopping at West Elm.

This past week was Restaurant Week in Chicago. Tons of restaurants have prix fixe menus for lunch and dinner. Lunch for $22 and dinner for $33. It’s a great steal. Most of these restaurants are much more expensive on a regular night. Sable Kitchen and Japonais were both Restaurant Week outings. I ate like a champion. They were fantastic eating experiences.

Girl and the Goat is a restaurant I have been dying to go to since I set foot in the city. I finally got a chance on Wednesday and it did not disappoint. I had pig face and oysters and goat belly and scallops and a Left Hand milk stout dessert. My little heart could not have been happier.

The Bulls game was so great. My lack of attendance at NBA games this year has been hurting my soul. I miss my Thunder so very much. The Bulls were a great Eastern alternative. I even purchased a Bulls shirt. They will never replace the Thunder, but I do look pretty good in red.

Clearly my favorite Rogers and Hammerstein musical is Oklahoma, but South Pacific was so good! I forgot that I knew a lot of the songs. I also forgot how raunchy it is. Wash that man right out of my hair is always a good tune. Girl Power. I went to a restaurant before the musical that had $5 martinis. If that’s not a win I don’t know what is.

Japonais was so so so good. Wagyu beef carpaccio. Teriyaki lobster. Pumpkin cheesecake. Post that fantastic dinner and post thinking I left my keys at work. I went to West Elm, where I realized I could use my Pottery Barn and Williams Sonoma gift cards. I bought the prettiest floor lamp. I am thrilled!

But this is the part of the story where the Pea comes into play. I lost one of my most favorite earrings. Dangley silver guys. The one in my right ear fell out. I retraced my steps through the stores I had been to, but most of them were closed. And now after one of the greatest weeks, the thing I remember most is losing my earring. It’s the pea to my princess of a week.

It’s just a lame thing to be mad about, but they were the earrings that you put on and feel like you could take on the world. They were my favorites. They are gone. Or at least one half of them are gone. And I am sad. I am sad after that most fantastic of weeks, to have lost an earring that cost all of $6.

Sincerely,

At least I’m the Princess in this story.

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Notes on Trying.

It’s been a while. I get it. I’m sorry. And I know, of all days to come back begging for your love, Valentine’s Day seems so cliché. But you forgive me right, because secretly you missed me? I’ve missed you too. I’ve just needed to go on a slight hiatus for my own sanity. My sanity is restored for the most part, as much as one’s sanity can be restored. I’m not saying I’m here everyday. But I am saying I’m reevaluating the forward progress of the blog. I won’t be celebrating holidays every day, but I might be telling you stories or rants or general thoughts. So do with that what you will.

My silence was broken today due to my inability to keep my opinions on the topic of Trying to myself. Or my opinions on any topic to myself, but that is another story for another day. So let’s get down to business.

I love Valentine’s Day. I don’t understand why everyone has to throw  such a fit about Valentine’s. It’s one day. It’s flowers. It’s a post-it note even. It’s just not that hard. It just isn’t. It’s not hard to show a minute amount more love than usual.

There are always ALWAYS the excuses. “But I treat everyday like Valentine’s!” Do, you? Really? Name me the last time you wrote a card for your person. When, in the past 364 days, did you send flowers? Never, you didn’t? Then stop using that lame-ass excuse. That’s right, I said lame-ass.

Single people are just as much to blame. Their self loathing sends them into a spiral of inability on Valentine’s Day. Single people: GET OVER IT. You were single February 13th and you will, more than likely based on your horrible outlook on love and potential consumption of red wine this evening, be single on February 15th. February 14th is in no way a day that you are more aware of your singleness. You just wanted flowers. Or a card. Or a post it. Or anything really. Newsflash, you have friends. Have fun with your friends on Valentine’s Day. Cease with the self-loathing! My recently restored sanity will crumble if I have to hear you discuss the lack of doting in your life. Just try a small amount not to cry mascara tears and in turn buy your friends NBA themed Valentine’s, that’s what Tom Beard did.

So this brings me back to the topic at hand: Trying. It just isn’t that hard. It really isn’t. A post-it note takes 15 seconds to write and .344 to stick somewhere. If you are trying to tell me that you didn’t have 15.344 seconds to spare today, you seriously have to stop feeding your Tamagotchi so often.

It is not hard to try. It doesn’t take much effort and it is free, because let’s not kid ourselves, that’s the part of this you are the most angry about. Dollars. Alex built her boyfriend a fort, not unlike the one from The Holiday. She then got trapped in portions of her house because she built said fort at 3:00 in the afternoon, but she tried and it was free.

Here’s a list to help you take a step into the world of trying if you, like so many, find it unbearable.

1. Fort Building. Free. Cozy. Alex did it.
2. Post-its. Free. Multicolored. Only takes 15.344 seconds.
3. Text message. Unlimited data plan. 20 seconds. Less kind, but still it’s trying.

Those are free ones. Feel free to send an edible arrangement if you are willing to spend some doll hairs. To me. Feel free to send me an edible arrangement.

So there you go, silence broken. Opinions shared, and I say shared loosely.

Sincerely,

Trying: Not that hard, since always.