A warm embrace for chaos; my life and this entry are no exception

As I was flipping through Self magazine (not my usual cup of tea; too self-helpy) waiting for my highlight appointment yesterday (looks great; thanks for asking), I came across an article entitled "Embrace the Chaos," which discussed the mental health benefits for busy women of "just letting go" of certain things like a messy house or missed appointments or social engagements, etc.

This was an appealing suggestion to me because:

NYC July 17-21, Columbia SC August 4-6, Cleveland OH August 8-10, Minneapolis MN August 11-12, Louisville KY August ?-?, Minneapolis August ?-?, El Paso September 5-9, Columbia SC September 14-19, Dallas TX September 19-21, Cancun September 28-October 2, La Jolla CA October 12-17 + work deadlines + Junior League obligations / my poor neglected boyfriend x OCD's with apartment-cleanliness and gym attendance = omg how am I ever going to make time for Target's latest Botkier launch much less *maintain the illusion of sanity... then my brain exploded and I died. I never was good at math.

So I'm going to follow their advice: embrace the chaos, forgive myself for a **messy apartment, keep a carry-on bag packed with the essentials and pray for some Zen. Who, btw, do you pray to for Zen? Jesus? Or, like, Buddha?

(Observation: Zen is much easier to obtain at my parents house, which is surrounded by a protective bubble from my obligations a thousand miles away, after a full moon and a desert rainstorm. Unfortunately, Zen collected here will undoubtedly be washed away once I arrive at O'Hare later this evening.)

On a separate note, I bought these incredible Jeffrey Campbell tall black leather boots yesterday - so tall they almost (almost!) go over the knee. Perhaps Zen can be obtained through shopping?

*Coffee

** Obvs I will be employing a cleaning service

Speaking of Lincoln Square...

...see it featured in Crain's Chicago Business

Fun fact: Alderman Schulter is the owner of Louie, the (in)famous marmalade tabby that haunts our neighborhood and courts Milly and River from the other side of the window. He is known for lounging on strangers' front porches and in their houses and otherwise making himself at home wherever he goes - he is a real Lincoln Square institution.

I heart Lincoln Square

My neighborhood is absolutely gorgeous right now - the huge trees lining my street are bright green and everyone has their lawns and porches filled with flowers and potted plants. I make myself take a few minutes every day just to look at everything and contemplete how pretty it is. My mind is usually racing with work and other thoughts and if I'm not careful, I can make it to the train or run my errands and back without ever lifting my eyes off the pavement in front of me - a crime this time of year in a city that's bleak and barren and essentially uninhabitable most of the time. I don't mean to say, of course, that I don't miss Texas, but this is why I still live here.

(I live in the lesser-known "Lincoln" neighborhood of Chicago: Lincoln Square. The Square is second, of course, to Lincoln Park - the trendy, busy neighborhood immediately north of downtown and crowded with the immediately-post-college set. I used to call Lincoln Park home, actually, when I was attending DePaul and didn't know any better. Granted, there were some beautiful parts of LP, and good restaurants and shopping, but I was over the scene - way over - in about two seconds. Too bad it took me two years to figure that out!)

My little pitch for Lincoln Square and an observation: life is good.

This isn't what it looks like!

Items in my shopping cart at Target:

• 2 liter bottle of Smirnoff
• 2 liter bottle of Clorox bleach
• String bikini
• Spanx
• Deodorant

The vodka is for our 4th of July party Bloody Mary bar, the bleach is for my whites (they were sold out of smaller bottles) but I think it just looked to the cashier like I was having a really bad day.