Without Cake or Cars

That’s what my birthday was.

 

Don’t feel bad! This is a good thing!

 

First, let’s discuss the cakeless part. My roommate totally asked if I wanted to go do something like dinner or drinks or celebrate in any way. So don’t think I was feeling all “16 Candles” or anything. I said no and told her not to be ridiculous because she is already celebrating with me PLENTY over the next few days.

 

Plus, I had laundry to do. As much as I wish it would, it doesn’t do itself.

 

I also have a little fun race planned for tonight. And I wanted to look and do my best. The cake could wait for another day.

 

Would I turn some cake down after I cross the finish line? No. Just sayin’.

 

Instead, I opted for a nice, relaxed day with well-rounded meals.

 

Starting with a nice “well-done but not completely burnt” omelet.

 If you worry that I didn’t have sugar on my birthday, never fear! My dear friend Annie gave me this creme brulee-flavored coffee that made my entire kitchen smell like a sugar factory. Clearly she knows me too well because I loved this. And am happy this will continue to happen every morning for the next week or so.

 

After work, I came home to cook myself a solid dinner and get a few errands/chores taken care of.

An adult grilled cheese with mozzarella and asparagus- the asparagus makes it healthy.

 

Oh, and I did laundry. Because what self-respecting adult doesn’t do laundry on her birthday? I’m so boring.

 

But it’s ok. The main event of the night was my friend coming over. He bought my car and we made it official last night with the signing over of the title.

 After several months of “why do I still pay insurance on this thing that just sits there and depreciate all day while I’m hitting up public transit?”, I finally let go of my fears and let my baby go.

 

This is the car I’ve had since senior year of college and I’m sad to see it leave. I loved my lil’ Escape and we had many fabulous trips along I-55 while traveling back to Missouri for weddings and holidays and whatnot.

 

But now? No more car insurance. No worries about the battery dying due to non-use (my newest issue). No more paying the city for stickers and tags and gasoline. No more sitting in horrific traffic to and from work. Only public transit and walking.

 

Does this make me an official city girl now?

 

Hi. My name is Amy. I’m 27 years old. And I’m officially a proud resident of the city of Chicago. Nice to meet you.

 

Thank you everyone for all the birthday wishes via the blog and twitter and email. Even though I acted like a boring old woman, you made my day very special and it was very much appreciated. Much love!

More Randomness For The Files

1. I hate packing peanuts. They’re awful. Why not bubble wrap? It doesn’t make a mess and is fun to pop. It’s the obvious way to go. But packing peanuts? They make a mess of my work area. And when they’re not all over the place, they’re clinging to my pants, my top, or whatever else on my person. Much like my last boyfriend. I didn’t like it then and I don’t like it now. STOP WITH THE PACKING PEANUTS!

2. My college friend is coming tonight to stay with me through the weekend. He doesn’t care if my place is dirty (trust me- I’ve seen his and that would be highly hypocritical), but yet things needed to be done before his arrival. Laundry, cleaning, grocery shopping, etc. Which means the entirety of this week has been meticulously planned out.

Something I didn’t plan for? Cubs/Sox/Bulls/Blackhawks traffic. An extra 30-45 minutes spent on the interstate each night is really screwing this up.

It’s also screwing with my sanity, but at this point, that’s a non-issue.

3. My obsessively planned out week has left me with no time to watch the newest episodes of New Girl and Modern Family, along with a few others I don’t care to admit I tape on a weekly basis. This saddens me. #FirstWorldProblems

4. Another thing that saddens me? A zit on my cheek. Seriously. My cheek? GET OFF OF MY FACE.

Excuse me while I go drown it in zapzit.

5. Baking happened last night. We’ll discuss that later. But the sugar high may or may not have been the reasoning for nonsleep and the lackluster workout this morning. It was less than stellar, but I guess it’s better than hitting snooze and turning over. Which was an option I weighed heavily. 20 minutes on the stairmill and a 1-mile run before saying screw it and going home to finish out with a few circuits of No More Trouble Zones by Jillian.

So at least it was something (with weights!).

That means I can eat more baked goods, yes?

6. Last night also marked a momentous occasion. Remember how I talk about my parents supplying me with food from the garden back home? One of the things they hauled up was a big box of sweet potatoes. Each one being the size of my arm. Last night marked the end of those sweet potatoes.

Asparagus grilled cheese and sweet potatoes. I used a slice of Munster and some crumbled feta for the sandwich. Not sure if cheese experts would approve or not, but it's what I had on hand. And I liked it. So whatev.

It’s amazing I haven’t turned orange.Which is unfortunate. Because Pauly D is cute and I need to attract his attention somehow…

7. I have had the worst time trying to track down a copy of 50 Shades of Grey. Or at least a free copy (I’m looking at you, Chicago Public Library.) Apparently we all have dirty minds and need to read this book. Like now.

8. The phrase “This is my Friday!” really rubs me the wrong way. It was really only amusing the first 50 times I saw it as an update on facebook.

Ok, actually, it never really was.

However, if I were to consider using it, today would be a good day.

I think you know where I’m going with this.

Extended weekend. Holla’.