A narcissist’s Thanksgiving

Posted on November 21, 2012 by carlieblissirwin

Yes, I had to Google how to spell “narcissist.” Guess what? I had it right! Am I the first person ever to try and chest-bump a computer screen? Maybe.

While I come down from that high, let’s talk about the real reason for this post. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. And thanks to one of those obnoxious trends on Facebook, we all know that everyone is thankful for their family, friends, health, pets, first world country amenities, Twilight, and Channing Tatum.

via

Of course I’m thankful for all the things that everyone else is thankful for. I’m not a sociopath. But I’ll just show my thankfulness to those things in my own way and use this blog for other purposes. Namely, proclaiming my awesomeness to all the land.

Instead of making a list of things I’m thankful for this year, I thought I’d make a list of things that should be thankful for me. Let’s get started:

1. Gatsby. He is an animal, and yet he lives a plush existence among humans inside our house. And I treat him like a king. A king, I tell you.

2. Gossip Girl. I think I might be the only person who still watches that show. XOXO, me.

3. Lindsay Lohan. I’m rooting for her! It’s about time we had a teen-actress-turned-trainwreck who actually turns herself around. Drew Barrymore was a long time ago, guys.

4. Will. I cleaned up some Gatsby puke in the hallway the other morning before he woke up that was right in his well-worn path from the bedroom to the bathroom.

5. Anyone who rides in my car in December. Because I just made the BEST Christmas CD ever!

6. Turkeys. I won’t be eating much of them tomorrow. I can’t bring myself to tear into something that still actually looks like a bird. I prefer meals that don’t have limbs or a ribcage.

7. Skinny jeans. I make them look gooood! (And by gooood, I mean satisfactory. I just felt like saying something really cocky.)

8. My parents. The most trouble I ever got in growing up was “talking to my neighbor” too much during Grandparents Day in kindergarten. I mean come on.

That’s all I can come up with right now, but as you can see, I’ve given many people and things a lot to be thankful for.

Hope everyone has a happy Thanksgiving! We’re heading to St. Louis this year, and I’m hoping for a visit to Ted Drewes to indulge in a pumpkin pie concrete. An ENTIRE piece of pumpkin pie. Blended with frozen custard. Talk about things to be thankful for!

Scent-cess!

Posted on November 13, 2012 by carlieblissirwin

It’s fall. The temperature’s dropping, then inexplicably rising for a freakishly warm couple of days, then dropping again–along with our spirits and our poorly-timed plans for “one last al fresco dinner out before it turns cold.”

It’s around this time of year that I get the urge to smell things. Things like pumpkins and cinnamon, cedar and burning leaves. It seems like all of the good smells come out in the fall. Summer is nice and all but steaming garbage bags and body odor are not scents that evoke the same kind of fondness. At least not for me.

So, once fall arrives, so does my quest to find the perfect seasonally-smelling candle. Because if I’m stuck inside, I might as well make it a full sensory experience.

Last week, my search efforts took me to Anthropologie. I find a lot of things take me there, actually. Namely, my addiction to their adorable clothes and lack of will power. (Peter pan collars? Chevron? Polka dots?? I’m only human!)

I learned one thing that day: Anthropologie sells a lot of candles. And it takes approximately 45 minutes to canvass both levels of the State Street store smelling all of them. And then re-smelling my favorites.

The nose bleed was worth it. (Yes, I’m exaggerating. No blood was shed. But I did implement a self-imposed sniffing hiatus for the rest of the day.) In the end, I found a real winner!

The Capri Blue Cracked Ice candle in Citrus Clove:

And it looks almost as pretty as it smells! Major score. I can only hope that it lasts until mid December, when my nose will shift gears towards all things pine, peppermint and gingerbread…

Waaay back in September…

Posted on November 8, 2012 by carlieblissirwin

We went to New York! And here’s a s#!tload of pictures:

It was a fantastic time. Even though it’s completely after the fact, I wanted to share these photos and some information about the places we went and what we did in case you’re planning on visiting this great city in the near future.

We stayed at the Carlton Hotel, which was really nice. Our room was tiny, but I think that’s par for the course in New York. We were right down the street from Madison Square Park, where we ate lunch at Shake Shack one day (YUM) and enjoyed paninis from Eataly (YUM again) another day. (One quick note about Eataly–they are planning on opening one in Chicago where ESPNZone used to be–I support this.)

We mostly wandered around the city, making stops at landmarks like Times Square, Central Park, MoMA and the Brooklyn Bridge. We also did a little shopping at stores we don’t have here in Chicago like Uniqlo and C. Wonder.

We visited the 9/11 memorial, which was actually really pretty and soothing–a fitting place to reflect on what happened there. Seeing all of the names etched on the memorial was a bit of a reality check, and we’re hoping to go back in the future once the museum is open.

And if you’re really interested, below is a quick list of other places we went. I’m hoping none of them sustained too much damage from Sandy last week.

Casellula Cheese and Wine Cafe–tiny adorable place, best mac & cheese I’ve had in a long time!

The Press Lounge–rooftop bar, not too pretentious, great views

Cafe Cluny–delicious food, romantic atmosphere

The Rusty Knot–super casual, nautical-themed bar right across from the river

Milk Bar–GO THERE. Get the crack pie. It’s called that for a reason.

Lupa–Mario Batali restaurant, amazing pork shoulder and pasta

The Spotted Pig–fun West Village bar/restaurant (also a Batali joint)

So those “I heart NY” shirts you see people wearing all over the place? I get it now.

I just blogged to say I love you

Posted on November 5, 2012 by carlieblissirwin

Hello! Remember me? Yes, I know I disappeared for about a month without any warning, but I’m back! I needed to give attention to some other projects and priorities. You understand, don’t you? Let’s just move forward and pretend it never happened.

To get my blogging legs back, I thought I’d just provide a little synopsis of some things that have happened over the past month:

I found out quinoa is delicious.
I ran a 5k wearing devil horns and a tail.
I made friends with a few new babies.
We booked a winter trip to Florida (can’t wait).
I decided to start plucking out my grey hairs.
I discovered a new favorite nail polish color.
I went to a bonfire party and was introduced to smores made with Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups (thanks Kelly!)
I got lost driving around a scary industrial corridor while being chased by a tornado (don’t ask)
I contributed to the fight against breast cancer by shopping, drinking and watching a fashion show at Saks
We toured some awesome architecture as part of the Chicago Architectural Foundation Open House and found new beautiful streets in the Gold Coast I never knew existed.
I finally went to Pops for Champagne (and have no idea why it took this long)
We had excellent meals at David Burke’s Primehouse, Chicago q, Honey, Cafe Selmarie, Cantina Laredo and 3rd Coast.
Lake Michigan got angry, but that was nothing compared to the stories we’ve been hearing from New York and New Jersey. I can feel a Red Cross donation coming on…
And our internet connection started sucking, so I am posting this from my phone. And I’m not happy about it.