Brunching, Threading and Mother Nature Taking Her Own Sweet Time

It's another one of those clusters of a blog title, huh? What can I say- since I've (only) been blogging about once a week lately, I've gotta cram certain key activities into singular blog posts, no matter how unrelated...

This weekend started out not looking so hot. It all started last Wednesday night, when I started feeling incredibly sick. Initially, I thought it was just the general fatigue my body's been experiencing for the past couple of months, thanks to my perpetual inability to sleep while on the road for work. Nope- Thursday morning I woke up with a full fledged stuffy nose, sore throat, cough, etc. etc. Because I tend to frown on Western medicine, I refuse to take anything, since I'm a fan of that whole letting Mother Nature take her course.

Yeah, Mother Nature's sure been taking her own sweet time. That hasn't stopped me from enjoying my weekend, however. You better believe that I'm not going to let some stuffiness and fever get in my way (well. To an extent.). I mean, I have my priorities and obligations...

And quite frankly, I HAD to get my eyebrows done this weekend! While I've been trying to upkeep with some standard tweeze-ing, it simply just does NOT compare to threading. Anyone who knows me at all knows I am slightly OB-SESSED with 1) eyebrow shaping and 2) threading. I feel like the obsession has only skyrocketed over the past year or so, since I've discovered one of THE best threaders in all the land (and trust me, coming from me, that is saying a LOT).

"My threading lady" in Lincoln Park only charges $7 for eyebrows!! Now do you see why I go as frequently as I do? I mean, I'm used to eyebrow waxing services that charge upwards of $20 per visit! You can clearly see why I feel NO guilt about taking full advantage of these $7 services on a regular basis (that's right- I go every 2-3 weeks... if you're an Indian girl, you'll understand why this frequency is needed... ah, sisterhood. Hahaha.).

This Saturday, I met up with a friend for brunch at Orange, right next door to my place (I picked the place... the fact that it happened to be right next door to my place was not exactly coincidental). You can't really go wrong with brunch at Orange- it's just so simply delicious. And talk about some fun brunching... Alma and I decided to splurge on Orange's signature "Frushi" to start off the brunching experience.


Have you heard of frushi? It's pretty obvious what it is from the pictures, right? Fruity flavored sushi (the purple one is blueberry flavored). Unique, right? It was actually quite tasty, I must admit. And who doesn't appreciate a unique component of a dining experience, really?

Anyway, as we were finishing up brunch, I mentioned that my afternoon plans consisted of, among other things, eyebrow threading. Needless to say, I was more than pleasantly surprised when Alma indicated she'd love to join in the merriment... I mean, you don't have to tell me TWICE. I advertise my threading lady to ALL the WORLD, and the fact that I now had a buddy to accompany me?? Well... you better believe I capitalized on Alma's photog abilities to snap some pictures of the whole threading experience if you will...



Doesn't it look so fun?!?!? So SIMPLE!! And my threading lady is just so AWESOME!!! She is the sweetest person EVER and always apologizes when she sees me tearing up (which, trust me, is natural). Seriously, getting my eyebrows threaded is one of my FAVORITE things EVER- I really think it's one of those things that can make any bad day all the better. It just opens your face on up and makes you just look so much more well-KEMPT, if you will!

Honestly, I wouldn't actively advertise this place if it wasn't so DARN GOOD. This lady is consistently AMAZING and I think my eyebrows could not look any better if they tried (if I do say so myself)... even random people at stores have complimented me on them!! And trust me, you KNOW that's all it takes to get me sailing to cloud nine and all that. Haha. Seriously, if you are in the Lincoln Park area (or hell, even if you're not, make the TRIP up- it's totally worth it!), you should visit the Century Mall and just look for an "eyebrow threading" shop. It's on the second floor right by Victoria's Secret.

I can 100% assure you- you will NOT be DISAPPOINTED.

Oh. That's all I've got. Hope it sufficed for this week!

How Mother Nature OWNED Us

I can't believe it's been over a week since my last update! Suffice it to say that there was NOT much going on last week - you better believe that with the onset of that Godawful heat wave, my activities were quite limited to those of the indoor, air-conditioned sort.

Let's just say- I do NOT do extreme weather conditions. I mean, wasn't it just yesterday that we had a blizzard of historical proportions come barreling along our way? I'm all about the four seasons but this is seriously taking the four seasons to all KINDS of extremes.

Anyway! Since I'm the epitome of all things sunshiney goodness (duh), I've taken it upon myself to focus on the bright side of this heat wave. A list, if you will... a list of...

How Mother Nature OWNED Us - Making Lemonade Outta Those Heat Wave-y Lemons

1. The SUN! - You know me, a victim of Seasonal Affective Disorder if ever there was one. I NEED some serious sunshine in my life and... well, I can safely say that last week certainly sufficed. That sun was beaming its little rays down on us all the livelong day. Even though I was too busy taking cover in the shade and, more likely, in air-conditioned hotspots, I still have to say that I liked LOOKING out at sunshiney goodness.

2. No running! - You know me! The picture of love and devotion for this fine pastime we call running. HA. Needless to say, some executive decisions about my running schedule were made by about 7:15 each morning last week, as I would watch Al Roker dutifully unveil his Heat Wave map and... well, GOD! That map has never SEEN so much RED! (Red=Heat Warning, just a friendly FYI) And, well, I couldn't put my health at risk for a run, now could I? I mean, what if I fainted? Or, heaven forbid, ended up puking out on a public street? Ew. Decision was MADE - nooo running!!!! Weeee!

3. Air conditioner CENTRAL - Since frugality is pretty much my middle name, I like to minimize my use of the air conditioner because... MAN, can it skyrocket your bills! Well... let's just say last week was the exception to THAT frugal little rule. You better believe that air conditioner was blasting its pretty little heart out and I had absolutely NO QUALMS about it. Nothing feels better than coming into a nice, frigidly air-conditioned space from the outdoors where you literally feel like the sunshine's rays are going to burn you alive... but I digress.

4. ...

Ummm. I honestly sat here for a good three minutes, trying to figure out another lemonade maker outta those heat wavey lemons we got dealt last week... but, well... nothing! Nada. Not a single positive thing more could be said about the strike of Mother Nature's wrath last week.

Oh, screw it. Screw lemons and lemonade! Screw me being the picture of sunshiney goodness! Mother Nature TOTALLY owned us last week... and it was GOD-Awful.

one word: COZY!!!!

ahhh!! cozy time!!!

with the holiday season in full swing, i find no better opportunity to maximize the use of my favorite word in the English language... COZY. that's right. i mean, just look at the word. all the simply delightful ideas that are conjured up with just the THOUGHT... fireplaces (preferably with a book and blanket), hot chocolate (with homemade marshmallows), couches (REMEMBER HOCKING HILLS?!! oh a** heaven... oh sigh. okay i need a moment), napping and, quite frankly, spooning (quite possibly the greatest definition of cozy if ever there was one...), baking extravaganzas, mindless television marathons (preferably with the sister... oh how she knows how to pick 'em... keeping up with the kardashians being the latest... journey shall we say...)... oh i could go on and on.

last week, however, i was greeted with something that i always associated with the epitome of coziness but hadnt experienced in a solid two and a half years... SNOW!!! oh gosh, just the thought...

well. actually. it was slightly disappointing. here i was, hearing right and left about the impending blizzard upon us... i couldn't keep myself from grinning from ear to ear (while, im not going to lie, most others around me were quite wary and kind of annoyed with the thought of an impending blizzard! i mean, i just didnt understand). so, you know me. im already a morning person. this morning, however, i gleefully arise with the eager anticipation of a traipse through the blankets of white (in my brand spanking new snow boots, no less!) to get to my bus stop... after all, the mere day before we'd received the wonderful preview of a slight dusting... no better way to welcome the holiday season in full gear! but what did i awaken to that fine morning after the prediction of blizzard amounts of snow and arctic chills?

rain. cold. dreary. rain. heck, the snow dusting from the day before had actually MELTED.

um. i KNOW, RIGHT?? crestfallen didnt even begin to describe the downward spiral of the emotional rollercoaster that morning.

oh chicago. what. a. tease.

needless to say, i am NOT holding out much hope for the wintry chills and snowy mounds predicted this week. heck, im bringing the flip flops back. taking a stand if ever there was one, thank you very much.

no worries. ive just decided to take matters into my own hands and just create the semblance of coziness (hey. if mother nature's not going to step up to the plate, SOMEone's gotta!)... ive got my two cozy songs for the season nice and lined up on my itunes (for reference: all i want for christiemas is you by miss mariah herself and baby it's cold outside by willie and norah), my cozy holiday activities lined out (this daley plaza christiemas marketplace better be darn impressive...), my cozy chai stocked, my cozy baking extravaganzaranzadanzas lined up, my cozy love actually viewings already in full swing (was it sad that i was all set to just rewind and watch it again after my viewing yesterday?... and that wasnt the first time i watched it this season...sigh. at least im shameless about advertising it), my cozy snow boots ready and waiting (for something other than rain...)... well, you get the idea.

ahh!! cozy time!!! how would YOU actively embrace such a concept?