apple fest

For those of you who endured my 17-apple taste test way back when, you'll be happy to know that I attended Apple Fest in our neighborhood this weekend and walked away with zero apples (but a belly-ful of apple pie)...

hump day

Sushi date helps the week fly by!

p.s. I just downloaded the Blogger app so that hopefully I can post a little more frequently, and less lengthily (hooray for you!!!). We'll see how it goes!

counter special

When I was 10, I went to live with my grandparents in Fort Worth. I lived there on and off until I was 15. During those formative 5 years, I "studied" under my grandmother, heretofore known as The Most Frugal Person in the World, and I learned how rich people become rich: they never spend any money.

Grandmother was born in 1929, and the Depression made an indelible mark on her that would later manifest in the form of quirky practices like exclusively hand-washing clothes, scouting 10 garage sales a week, asking her banker to make all her personal photocopies, attending any and all grand openings (samples and raffles, duh!), and only grocery shopping with triple coupons. (In fact, she was an extreme couponer before extreme couponing was cool - if you need toothpaste, laundry detergent, or lipstick for the next 20 years, there's a stash in her garage with your name on it.) For 5 years, I was subjected to those rituals among many others, and I won't hesitate to say the word I most commonly associate with that time period is mortified.

Fast forward. By all accounts, I proceeded to grow up normally, paying full price for most things and always enjoying a good sale. But every once in a while...a little piece of the past flares up...and the next thing you know...I'm shopping at the bread outlet.

I imagine most of you don't know that bread outlets exist because your family wasn't hell-bent on making puberty as difficult for you as possible. If that's the case, they're exactly what they sound like: small storefronts, usually in not-so-awesome neighborhoods, that contain discounted bread from a major brand. The closer the bread is to its expiration, the cheaper it is. But most of it is anywhere from 3 days to a week away from expiring, and it's all 50% or more off.

The Most Frugal Person in the World used to buy all of our bread at the bread outlet. It was one of the few places I didn't absolutely hate going, because it meant I'd get some raisin bread out of it. However, I still managed to push my memory of the bread outlet waaaaay down, right next to consignment store $1 bag sales and forced contest entries at the public library.

Then recently I was running errands in a patchy area of town and saw a sign for Entenmann's Outlet, instinct took over, and I whipped into the parking lot. Could it be what I think it is???

As an adult, I understand that unless you buy the store brand, bread is freaking expensive. And between breakfast and daily sandwiches, we go through a lot. To make matters worse, I try to support our clients at work and (un)fortunately we have a upper-tier bread brand, so now Brian and I spend $4 for a loaf of bread, bread "thins," English muffins, etc. It's delicious but expensive. Not at the bread outlet though!!!!

I was pumped to find that this store actually carried our client's brand, which meant that I could have my bread and eat it too! It was just as I remembered: one-room, crappy signage, and rows and rows of all the types of bread you could want. 12-grain widepan. Onion hamburger rolls. Honey wheat English muffins. Bagel thins. Oh yeah - and for half the price or less. The best part is the counter special - one select product that sits by the register that's marked down to $.50. Did I buy perfectly good multi-grain English muffins for $.50 and then eat them every day for breakfast for over a week? You're damn right I did! Did I go back the next week, buy twice as much bread, and throw half of it in the freezer? Yessiree. Am I wondering if the excitement of the bread outlet is going to unleash all sorts of subliminal crazy? Absolutely. But when you get a month's worth of good bread for $7, it's hard to not think maybe a little crazy could go a long way.

a year in review

One year ago, we were unpacking boxes and reality was setting in: I was officially a Chicagoan. I literally can’t believe a year has passed since then! I still feel like a transplant in a lot of ways, but every once in a while something jumps out at me and I realize maybe I’m a little more settled than I think...

...Like how I’m not interested in driving basically ever (I just love the train/bus/biking way too much)...

...And then there are those Sharp As and Os that come out of my mouth when I least expect it (Sometimes I actively repeat words in my head afterwards in the non-Midwestern way just to make sure I still can)...

But I think the biggest change that’s occurred, aside from my making new friends, getting a new job, starting a new life with my new husband—you know, little things—was finally appreciating Fall, Winter, and Summer in their true forms. Sidenote: Texas pretty much owns Spring so let’s not worry about that one.

Fall

Ummmm September & October are freaking amazing. I’ve never seen trees turn like that. Of course by November it’s freezing BUT…for two glorious months you live in a giant vat of orange, yellow, and reds. And you play tennis and drink lattes and wear scarves and watch football and anything is possible.

Winter

The novelty of snow distracted me all the way into February. It's always so white! And boots are fun! And fires are warm!

Then I just got angry. Thank God it wasn’t just me—everyone was pissed off by April when it kept freezing and snowing and sleeting and raining and my favorite: freezing-snow-sleet raining. The worst part was, everywhere else in America (and by that I mean, in Texas) it was already on the verge of Summer. However. There’s something to be said for the fact that it snowed on Christmas and we could drive to a ski slope and we witnessed a blizzard and played in giant six-foot snowdrifts. There was certainly no confusing that I was, in fact, experiencing a real live winter.

Summer

And last but not least, sweet sweet Summer. The heat of Austin summers never really bothered me, but I still can officially say I’m a Chicago Summer Convert. Nevermind that Spring completely blew us off and went straight from 45 to 75 degrees. BUT THEN IT STAYED THERE. I think we had one week’s worth of 90-degree weather, and I played tennis on both of the hottest days so that means it was only fake hot. It was pretty sad not to spend time at the pool, but then again that’s because there were so many other awesome things to do outside like be outside all the time. I started a new gym membership and went about six times because I could just run outside instead. In the summer! Everything’s been so lush, and so breezy, and just…I can't say enough. All I can say is - this is totally what makes all eight million people stay put for the other nine months of the year. I get it.

I'm already excited to look back in another year and see the new changes we embarked on, see whether I feel like I can call the city home, and most importantly, see if anyone from Texas punched me in the face over a cAn of pOp. Here's to Chicago!