Reliving Chicago Through My Nose

Does anybody else find that their nose is a pathway to the past? That certain smells just flood you with memories? My nose is very sensitive and just as music, a smell can transport me any place at any time. This morning, as I was getting ready for work, I sprayed myself with one of my 32 different perfumes and I was instantly brought back to my tiny little apartment on LaSalle St. in downtown Chicago. It was where I first discovered Ralph Lauren Romance, as I was browsing the fragrance section of the Marshal Field’s store, and to smell it to this day still brings me back to that first year and a half.

I remembered the way my apartment smelled just after I would spray it and how it would still remain in the air long after I returned home from work. I was reminded of 6:00am bedtimes and walks home with Monkey at 3:00 in the morning. It reminded me of a duck shower curtain, and a bathroom so small I had to leave the door open to comb my hair. I remembered a futon for a couch and an open window that filled my tiny apartment with the sounds of sirens and taxi horns and a distant subway train in the background. I heard my very last land line phone ringing with sales calls and the noise my wrought iron bed would make as I first crawled into heaven.

I saw my tiny vintage mid-rise apartment and the doorman whose name I’ll never forget. I saw my rooftop observation deck and the way Lake Michigan looked from 14 stories in the air. I saw hardwood floors, and stark white walls, and a 3 month long roommate sleeping in the living room. I saw a year’s worth of heartache, a new best friend being made, and four walls that we’d laugh at and say “If only they could talk”.

Awww, I miss that city. Thank you Ralph Lauren!

I Will Call Him Eernie, and he Will Be Mine

I want a bulldog please. A fat, slobbery, lazy, wrinkly but cuddly and adorable in that oh so ugly way, bulldog. And I’m going to name him Eernie (I haven’t quite figured out how I’d like to spell his name yet). Oh, and I stole that name. I totally didn’t come up with it. But it’s cute right?! I mean tough, because bulldogs are tough, not cute.

But mine will be cute.

Unfortunatley Eernie is going to cost me about $3000, and my current financial situation just doesn’t leave much room for that kind of expense. BUT, my 25th birthday is coming up and that’s a pretty big milestone! So I think all of my friends and family should get together and pitch in, and buy me Eernie.

Thank you.

A Nothing Post

My gosh do I have a hard time keeping up with this stupid blog. What is one supposed to write about when absolutely NOTHING out of the ordinary happens to them? I suppose at that point I could begin analyzing the everyday mundane: wake up, go to work, eat breakfast…but I’m not good at that. The mundane in my life is just that, mundane. I don’t have that unique talent of making even the most boring of task seem interesting and funny. I suppose you could consider it the “non-writer” in me. Or that I’m just not funny. That could be it too.

Seriously though (as if I made a joke), not much has been going on. In all honesty the thing I look forward to most these days is my weekly trip to New Berlin where I get to prance around in high heels and shake my goodies to a metal chair while laughing at how not sexy I can make a stripper move look. I think it’s the lankiness of my body stature. It doesn’t fit well on a chair. I think I’m more cut out for the pole. I’ll have to try that next.

Oh yeah, and keeping with the fitness theme, I did manage to bust out a 2 mile run and a 5 mile walk last week, that was fun! I wish the 5 miles had been a run, but I’ll work on that. I figured a 5 mile walk was pretty darn good considering the only exercise I have consistently managed to participate in since the marathon in 2004 is the walk up and down the stairs to my bedroom every morning. Someday I’ll be able to run 26.2 miles again. My knee may not agree with that statement, but to that I say “shush knee, who asked you”.

This weekend I have some fun wedding stuff to attend to, and then hopefully a night in Chicago with my friend Katie, so maybe at the end of it all I’ll have something interesting to post about. If not, maybe I’ll come back anyways to let you all know what I had for breakfast and maybe turn it into some elaborate story about how my Corn Pops somehow altered my course of life! Don’t count on it though. We all know only Lucky Charms has the ability to that =)

I'm a Social Outcast

I hate coming to work the day after American Idol. In fact, I hate any social interaction anywhere the day after American Idol. Actually, I hate the day after Grays Anatomy as well. Why? Because I don’t watch these shows and as a result, I am left out of many conversations! It’s irritating when the first thing out of many people’s mouth’s when you enter the office is: “Did you watch Gray’s last night?” or “Aren’t you annoyed that Sanjaya is STILL on Idol?!” My response to both of these questions is always, “no” and I have to laugh at the looks of horror I receive when people realize what I freak I am. Yes, that’s right people, last night I chose to do some work, converse with Tara, and eat some food instead of watching American Idol…banish me now.

I realize I could probably invest in some Ti-Vo, record these beloved shows, and watch them when I have absolutely nothing better to do with my time, but then I would just be succumbing to peer pressure, and my 5th grade science teacher told me that was bad…and that I would die. Crazy nuns!

Plus, if any of you remember the episode where Rachel from F.R.I.E.N.D.S. takes up smoking simply so she can join in company gossip…nothing good comes from it. At least, I don’t think anything does, so I vow to stick to my guns, and not watch these shows. Maybe they should just bring back Pop Up Video and we can all watch that instead.

Lap Dancing - Class Number One

Let’s talk a little bit about lap dancing:

IT’S HARD!

Hmmm…okay let me go back and explain a little bit, before the play on words get a bit out of control here. On Thursday evening, my two good friends and I signed up for what we thought would be a fun excuse to get together and catch up once a week. It turned out to be one of the hardest workouts I’ve experienced in a very long time. In fact, as I’m typing this out…I’m STILL sore, and it’s four days after the fact!

When the idea of taking a lap dancing class was brought up, my thoughts instantly returned to the belly dancing classes I took about a year ago. Although the workout wasn’t exactly mind blowing, I did learn a few cool hip moves out of the deal, so all in all it wasn’t a total bust! I figured a lap dancing class would offer me much the same experience: not an amazing workout, but something to talk about none-the-less.

Fast forward to Thursday.

Jayne and I arrived to the Miss Pole studio in New Berlin within minutes of each other and soon after, a slightly flustered Erin arrived just as the class was about to begin. We quickly got our “good to see you” hugs in and took our place on the carpeted floor of the studio amidst 6 other soon to be strippers…and a few metal poles (for the pole dancing classes). Our instructor started us off with a few stretches and then the workout began: floor pulses, chair squats, leg lifts, stomach rolls! I have to admit it’s a little uncomfortable to perform sexy moves in front of a group of complete strangers, and it took us all a little while to get over our shyness with each other as we pulsed on the ground. For the first few minutes of the class there was a lot more giggling than actual working out. We warmed up to each other pretty quickly though and soon we were straddling our chairs like we’d been doing this for years. We learned a few routines on our chairs, practiced our “sexy walk” and by the end of the class we were feeling both unbelievably sore, yet pretty damn sexy.

I am so excited for next week’s class. It’s both awesome girl bonding and fat burning all combined into a perfect one hour session. I highly recommend this class. It’s a unique alternative to the typical workout routine, and what girl couldn’t use a few new sexy moves to spice things up every once in a while!