Never Ending List

You know that feeling when you wake up with a stomach bug and you spend as much time as you can fighting the nausea? You know you don’t feel well but you know you don’t want to throw up because you HATE throwing up. So instead, you pretend everything is fine.

In your mind, you’re focused on one thing and one thing only: you don’t feel right.

You don’t feel well, so you try to avoid sudden…

I started my dirty hair journey while people were talking about April showers bringing May flowers. What it brought me were less showers. It was a challenging time to try and fit in with all of the shower talk.

For all of my adult life, I have taken pride in maintaining my personal hygiene by showering and washing my hair at least once a day. There are a few reasons behind this. For one, I really like the idea of not smelling like hot garbage. For two, not having hair that looks like I dunked it in a 50 gallon drum of bacon grease is something I value dearly.

It turns out my daily hair washing practice…

6 ways your body is naturally telling you that you’re in ketosis

When I first started a ketogenic lifestyle in 2017, pee sticks were my low carb bread and high fat butter. For the first few weeks, they told me how well I was following my new way of eating and I always felt a level of accomplishment when my urine could make the little square sponge the darkest shade possible. Too much information? Cool. Not done yet. Around the 2 month mark of eating HFLC, my…

You know what they say about not going to bed angry? Well I guess it’s true because I barely slept. I got in a fight with my dog and lost sleep over it.

  My 4 year old dog and I had our first real fight last night. You know what they say about not going to bed angry? Well I guess it’s true because I barely slept. I got in a fight with my dog and lost sleep over it. I even tried to make amends this morning, but she’s “still working on trusting me again.” She refuses to leave her house, even with the enticing of treats and toys at this point. That…

If anyone is curious as to how my monthly challenges are going, and more specifically, my Sober March is going, please refer to photo below:

If you didn’t put A and B together yet, C = “Sober March has been put on hold.” In fact, I’m nursing a whiskey diet right now. There, there, my precious writing fuel.

February has been a whirlwind. I can say with confidence that I started my first week of minimization in February strong. The smaller, achievable goals I set in my first minimalism post were incredibly achievable and encouraged me to go above and beyond, but then my plans derailed from there.

I minimized the shit out of my closet, and yet it’s still full of clothes I find reasons not to wear.

I need to revisit the whole ~capsule wardrobe~ idea at least 4 more times. As much as I’d like to argue that things have changed for the better, the bed in my spare room is still filled with piles of clean clothing that I have no issue sifting through, but can’t possibly find the 20 minutes to put them away. At this point, the entire spare bedroom is now filled with clothes, boxes and piles of things I’ve determined I’m no longer in need of but have not found their new homes.

I want to make sure that I don’t discount my goal for February. The act of minimizing has been a welcomed, refreshing and empowering change. With that said, everything that has come along with it has subsequently been a significant challenge. I’ve already made one trip to donate 7 bags of clothes and accessories I no longer need, and yet there is so much more stuff mocking me with its presence that I haven’t gotten around to. I keep looking at all of the overpriced books I was required to purchase in college and have truly gone through it with them. Do they stay or do they go? For 98% of the last month, they were a definite go. But today, I looked at them again and they looked at me and somehow managed to convince me they belong on my shelf collecting dust for a bit longer before I get fed up with them again and cut the BFA umbilical cord. Soon.

My mom used to quote John Lennon; “Life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans.”

In this case, accurate. My seemingly lofty plans have taken a back-burner to the surprises that life has had to offer lately. I’m not mad. I’m actually really grateful for the changes and opportunities I’ve encountered. With that, I also have had to spend a lot of time forgiving myself for letting the other plans I was busy making fall through. I’ve had to cut myself some slack on the deadlines I gave me. This is a difficult thing for me to do as someone that has a perfectionistic outlook on all endeavors.

My therapist keeps telling me that it’s not about how many things you have on your plate, but how you manage them. Balance is not always my strong suit and neither is being forgiving of myself. Together, we wrote this mantra for me to repeat when I’m forgetting to be nice to me: accept support, embrace the unknown and trust yourself.

As I saunter my way into an unexpected Month 2 of Minimization, I share with you the 10 things I’ve learned during Month 1:

It gets worse before it gets better. You know how they say that you have to gain weight before you lose it? It’s the same…? Kind of. Let’s just say, shits gonna get messy and before it gets organized.

Your conscience will lie to you about what you need. Your conscience is emotional and it’s attached. It will tie memories to anything you touch so that it’s significantly harder to part with. Challenge it. Be reasonable with the questions you ask yourself. The three most important questions are:

Does this item add value to my life?

Do I have anything like this that serves the same purpose?

When is the last time I used this?

Once you’ve determined it’s time to part, you’ll be annoyed of its presence. The pile of GARBAGE — and by garbage, I mean shit, but also garbage — sitting in my spare room currently is the physical manifestation of my anxiety. It’s unmanaged, ugly and hard to understand what’s even going on. I’m so annoyed that I ever even had this junk in the first place and am ready for it to be gone. Living in the city without a car is an added challenge. I’d like to set up a pick-up with one of the many charities that offer the feature, but I’m stuck in purgatory of stuff and things.

Everything pictured is being donated.

You’ll begin to desire replacing the items you love with higher quality, trusty versions of the things you know and love. One step in this direction that I took was replacing my mismatched, plastic hangers in my closet with 50 matching black velvet hangers. The issue now is finding the perfect 50 items to keep in the closet. Now I’m forced into a prettier version of accountability in the closet department. 49 hangers are in use currently and I have 3 loads of unsorted laundry sitting on my bed. Maybe I just need to buy more hangers… okay, self, but it’s about quality not quantity. I am admittedly a work in progress. Todd also wanted me to announce that he replaced the coffee pot. At first, I was a little disappointed because the old coffee pot worked perfectly fine in my opinion, but now, our coffee doesn’t taste like acid. He wins.

You have a lot of stuff. Why have I kept every single eye shadow, hair product sample and make up brush that’s ever crossed my path? Why must I hold onto touristy mugs I never use and the veggie spiralizer I used once 2 years ago? Why does Lily tote around 14 different toy carcasses? The answer is who cares get rid of it. Even after making a huge pile of get rid of’s, I still have too much stuff. When in doubt, refer to the questions from lesson #2.

You’ll still have nothing to wear. I removed 70% of my closet and the pieces I never wore and yet, with a more cultivated closet, I still can’t find shit to wear each morning. I’ve begun a new mission into filling the blanks in the perfect capsule wardrobe. I just used to word perfect to describe it which means I’m starting ahead of myself. Keep it simple. For the love of dog, keep it simple.

It will take longer than you anticipate. I had this beautiful idea in my mind that by March, my life would be simple and so would all of the items in my wardrobe and the rest of my apartment. I’d be Pinterest perfect and people on Instagram would want to know me. I’d be the next @lifeinjeneral and everyone would be like, “Wow, @christineinchicago, you know how to contain and organize like it’s your job….. is it your job? Can I hire you and pay you to organize my life?” I can tell you with confidence that not a single person has thought that, but my expectations started there. Keep your expectations low. It’s a foolproof way to surprise and impress yourself when you exceed them. 

Celebrate the small wins.  I found a cute mug I received from someone from Christmas a few years ago while I was decluttering my kitchen. It had a C on it and I was impressed by the gift giving skills and how delicate I had chosen to be with it. Instead of parting with the cute mug I forgot I had, I decided to repurpose it and put the jewelry I should be wearing on display. My jewelry is by no means organized yet, but this was a small win in the organizing, repurposing and making my stuff aesthetically pleasing to the eye. Half the battle if you ask me.

Organization = peace of mind. Taking everything out of its place and giving it a newer, prettier home that’s pleasing to the eye is like a big hug from Santa Claus on a snow day. Don’t believe in Santa? Too bad. If you start organizing, he’s going to come and hug you and there’s nothing you can do about it because you’re gonna feel warm and fuzzy. Truly, I can’t think of anything quite as satisfying as seeing immediate results from hard work. That’s why people don’t like weight loss and dieting. It takes too long to see the results. Granted, they’re worth it in the end, but organization? You’re in control of those results and will start seeing them immediately. You control your future and it looks so good when it’s organized.

Before

During…

I might be taking longer to minimize to delay the month of sobriety. This could be a convenient excuse. I can’t decide. What I do know is that I get more sentimental about my possessions when I’ve had a few and then spend time sitting there, reminiscing on the memories. Pictures, text messages, laughs, tears. The whole shebang. Then I quietly put this item that adds no value to my life back where I found it to be annoyed of at a later, less tipsy date. Oh no, there could be a direct correlation between these two… I refuse to accept that. I may have been stretching for a 10th thing I learned.

I’ve learned a lot in the last month, and still have a lot more to learn. I didn’t realize how conscious I’d have to be to do this, which really should be what lesson #10 is. I suppose it is in so many words.

I knew my monthly goals were going to thwart at some point and I’m okay with that. Hopefully you’ll learn from my lessons learned. I’ll continue to share them as time passes. Also, if you’re good at getting rid of things, you’re invited over. Please take my stuff.

19 years ago, I reluctantly joined a club that many celebrities and even royalty are members of including Ellen Pompeo, Prince William, Charlize Theron, Prince Harry and let’s not forget Kanye West. Despite our greatest efforts, it continues to grow; we’re all members of the Dead Mother’s Club. I was nine. The first kid in my elementary school to lose a parent. Most days, I am okay. Hell, most…

After I began my first month of budgeting and publicly admitting that I’m terrible with money, I received messages from quite a few people in my life. My brother and sister-in-law invited me and Todd over for dinner to discuss how they budget and live under their means. Salmon was for dinner and for the first time, I actually didn’t hate it. Growing up in weird. Some of my friends sent me their…

It’s almost February and with a sigh of great relief, my month of financial focus is soon coming to a close. I still have a few January posts up my sleeve, including an interview with a real life Financial Advisor and a breakdown of what I learned during my first month of budgeting. Prepare for a lot of information! As I’m discovering, it’s important to plan the following month before it starts…

I’ll take you to my Etsy shop.

I’ve read through a number of blogs that give advice on painless ways to supplement income. In fact, if you search “side hustle” on Pinterest, you’ll be set with ideas for life. 100 ideas here. 1,000 side jobs to make you millions there. Okay, maybe not millions, but there are a some bloggers that have done very well for themselves and someday, I’d like to be one of them. I find comfort in…

Is anyone interested in purchasing any of my organs? My liver will be on discount this month.

Alright, it’s 2018! Time to be less of a POS or at least that’s the goal. As I briefly mentioned in my last post, I signed up for Mint so I could see all of my income and spending in one spot. What I’ve already discovered is that based on my spending in November and December, money is no object an I must have the same income as Oprah. Side note: Did you know Oprah’s birth name is Orpah? I saw…

so, so sad. needless to say, i haven’t gotten far past the denial stage of grieving and/or coming to terms with my credit card debt. on the upside, i took a step in the right direction… i linked all of my payment information to a mint account. now all of my guilt can be consolidated into one convenient app! beware if you’re considering using mint – it’s savage. i signed up and 22 minutes later it…

I know that in order to set and execute a single New Years Resolution, it must be simple.

When I was in my prime as an angst-filled youth, I wrote myself a note. It said that if I made it to 28, everything in life would fall into place. It promised all would be peachy and perfect, my issues would be minimal and I could eat ice cream for dinner without requiring 17 Tums and 2 subsequent hours on the toilet. I’m 28 now. While I find this memory predominantly cringeworthy — and lofty,…

Considering going keto? Start here.

Since I began a ketogenic diet in January, a number of people have messaged me asking what they need to do to get started. I had a small list and one piece of wisdom I could offer with confidence: “Eat fat.” Since that’s not exactly the most helpful, I put together something more substantial for the next person that asks me how to keto. Behold, my non-professional, non-medical-based, Ketogenic…

Fighting the Plague of Perfectionism

I’m officially a month into blogging regularly and hit my first bout of writer’s block. That’s not to say I don’t have ideas. In fact, I have a very long list of topics to write about. I’d display a screenshot to prove it, but David Blaine never reveals his tricks, so neither shall I. I had a bit of an emotional breakdown last week. When I say a bit, I mean, I showed up to work, went to fill up…

Disclaimer: This post definitely contains affiliate links and plenty of photos of my dog. Click them and enjoy. My first child was unplanned. The irony in that is that she herself had unplanned babies 2 months into bringing her home. For those of you who don’t know me personally, I didn’t have a human baby that had 2 more human babies at 2 months of age. I’m clearly talking about my poodle, and…

I figured it would be helpful to have a christineinchicago starting point, so here it is.

One of the greatest strengths we’re all equipped with is introspection. It increases mindfulness and builds your emotional maturity. I tend to take outward observations made by friends, coworkers, strangers and my dog, and store them in a spot to reflect on later. Welp, I reflected. I figured it may be helpful to have a christineinchicago starting point, so here it is – the post with the intended…

Congratulations! And no, this doesn’t mean we’re next.

I just received my very best friend, Elizabeth’s STD and couldn’t be more thrilled. I danced around my apartment when I got it singing I’ve Got the Golden Ticket as if I were Violet Beauregarde. I couldn’t be happier that it finally happened! Truly, my heart is warmed to the core. As I’m sure you were definitely assuming, it means nothing other than Save the Date. This year, Todd and I have…