Alternatively, the heat of 15 degrees above zero is a little oppressive. Gawd, make up your mind, Chicago - is this winter or is this WINTER? This whole not having to calculate how many minutes away from death I am the second I step outside is frankly a little dull.

Because the only thing more exciting than going to the grocery store on the corner one block away is going to the grocery store on the corner one block away and being able to legitimately ask, "Will I die doing this?"

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

Matters of the Heart... Burn.

Want to hear about my decidedly un-glamorous problem? Of course you do. I have been experiencing icky, icky heartburn pretty consistently for the last three weeks or so. First of all, I am appalled whenever I suffer an ailment like this because I consider heartburn to be an old person's health issue and I am a young lithe 26. And second, I am very particular and am really kind of insulted when I experience certain indignities, like, I'm just too pretty to have heartburn, do math, or have to do something really icky like go to the Currency Exchange.

Obvs, it's either stress or diet-related (or both, I suppose, but I generally don't feel stressed) and tragically, the only thing I know I consume consistently on a daily basis is... coffee. And omg, I refuse to believe or accept that coffee might be the culprit. On the other hand, I've been so afraid to trigger the heartburn that instead of cutting the coffee I've stopped eating anything even remotely offensive (plain bagel with cream cheese? too risky) and have inadvertently dropped a few pounds. On the other hand, this isn't completely a bad thing because you can't be too rich or too skinny, right? On the other hand, I'm not one to ignore blatant health problems and I can't live the rest of my life popping Tums, right? How pedestrian.

Anyway, ew. Any advice?

Whee!

Helloooo! No time for real posting because I'm packing for Indianapolis and then Dallas for a whole week, but I just thought you'd like to know that things are tops and I'm generally Winning at Life.

After I return, it's a blog clean-up and logo design and real posts about real fashion and style and nifty neato things of all pleasant varieties. Aces.

And gawd, it's finally summer in Chicago and at our house, it's always the *fourth of July baby, and we're fixin to grab it by the booboo! With 15 days of vacation left to use before the end of the year, I think I'm set to have myself a rockin' little time.

Things at the top of my list: summer sandals, a real novel, and a blender to make some fruity summer drinks.

*We have an absolutely enormous window-pane sized wooden tear-off "calendar" from the set of 1776 hanging in the office, and naturally, it says it's July 4. You know why, don't you, history lovers?