Sunday, December 27, 2009

Year in Review

2009 was, as predicted, a big year for me. I'm married. I'm no longer a student. I'm a lawyer. I live in Chicago. I'm renting a car tomorrow, and not paying any special underage fee.

Of course, things never go exactly as you imagine they will, and 2009 is no exception. I didn't start my job in September, like I expected to. So while I'm a lawyer, I still have yet to actually, you know, practice law. This means, among other things, I continue to live more or less like a student, only with even more credit card debt. It also means I don't own a home. I am right now less financially stable than I have ever been.

Also in 2009, I lost two of my grandparents. I don't know what to say about that, except that Christmas is always harder when you've recently lost someone. I miss them both very much.

Also unexpected was the amount of travel I got to do. I saw parts of this country I wasn't sure I'd ever see, and I got a better tan than I've had since I was a little kid who basically lived at the local swim club. I hiked in some of the most beautiful places on earth and I ate some of the most delicious foods and I fell in love with my husband all over again.

It's also been a transformative year for those around me. My husband left his job in financial services, likely never to return again. My dad started a new career as a teacher, and has hit a few bumps in that road. My mom was finally diagnosed with anemia, and, with treatment, has become a real person again. My sister graduated from college, moved to the big city, got smacked around by the economy, and is in the process of moving home again.

All in all, it's been a really important year with the happiest happies and the saddest sads. I think I'll look back on it sort of wistfully some day, but for right now, it sort of just makes my stomach hurt to think about. I hope 2010 is nothing like it.

In keeping with the spirit of last year's new year post, I will immortalize some resolutions, most of which will look familiar.

1. I will value my health, meaning I will eat mindfully and exercise. I will consider this an investment in my health rather than a means to weight-loss.
2. I will work hard at my career, including being committed to pro bono work, but I will also be fully present at home when I am at home. No matter how many hours I feel I have to bill, I will bill them and then stop thinking about them.
3. I will do a better job of showing the people in my life how much I love them and how important they are to me.
4. I will not bring "throwaway" items into my house. I will stop buying cheap crap which I will just have to replace soon anyway and instead save up to buy something more worthwhile, substantial, and lasting.
5. I will take control of my finances. I will not, out of fear or disinterest, let my husband or fate make my decisions for me. I will be fiscally responsible, save for my future and pay down our debts as quickly as possible, but still have a little fun.

I'm not sure what will become of this blog in 2010. Kate Gets a Job is far less interesting to me than whatever it is we've been doing here for the last 7 months.

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

That was way harsh, Tai

So, as you either know about by now or absolutely won't care about once I tell you, Brittany Murphy died at the age of 32 this week. It's hard to say why I'm as upset about this as I am--celebrity deaths rarely affect me, and it's not as though I was a HUGE Brittany Murphy fan so that this just brings my world tumbling down.

Part of it is that she was in two of my most favorite movies of all time, and two that were pretty formative for me. The first of those, Clueless, was her breakout role and one of her best-known. She's fabulous in it.



The second is Drop Dead Gorgeous, where she plays Lisa Swenson, a misfit not totally unlike Tai, her character from Clueless. Sort of awkward, very sweet, always hilarious.



Both Clueless and Drop Dead Gorgeous were huge movies for me. They shaped my sense of humor, my sense of style, maybe even my sense of self the way that movies only can before you graduate from high school. And in both cases I related way more to the Brittany Murphy character than the pretty blonde protagonist (Alicia Silverstone and Kirsten Dunst, respectively). They're silly high school movies, but at the same time they're subversively funny and with great heart. One of them is almost always my go-to when I'm having a bad day and want to watch something fun.

As has been well documented across the internet, after those movies she got very blonde and very very thin and started playing more ingénue types. People speculated that she was doing a lot of drugs or developed anorexia. People have, of course, speculated that one or both of these things caused her death.

It just makes me sad that, whatever happened, the world lost such a great comic actress and such a part of my teenage life. It also breaks my heart and turns my stomach how the entertainment shows and magazines and blogs all assume it was drugs or disordered eating and, frankly, we don't know. We don't know her life or her husband or her medical history. Why can't we just remember fondly her bizarre, hilarious, snorting kind of giggle? Or at least keep our damn mouths shut until we actually KNOW something--anything?

Anyway, as Kevin Smith apparently tweeted, Brittany, I hope you're rolling with the homies somewhere nice. I'll miss you.

Thursday, December 17, 2009

getting to know you, getting to know all about you

One of the best things, but also the most overwhelming thing, about the move to a new, large city is that there's so much to do. I've bought both new copies of Time Out since we've been here, and read a few guidebooks and whatnot (because that's the kind of nerd I am) but basically haven't done anything of real interest. It turns out getting to know a city just takes time. I try to remind myself that the first time I moved away from home, to a mid-size city, it took me nearly a year to really figure the city out. To get a favorite burger place. To know the best Thursday night happy hour. To know how long it ought to take you to get from point A to point B. To have a place to take parents in town. To have a place to take broke, arty friends in town. To understand where the hell the freeway loop crosses the freeway. And that city was about 1/5 the size of Chicago. Sigh.

Part of why I think it's taking me longer this time around is because a lot of what there is to do here is actually....go to this place and eat. Go to this other place and drink. And while, lord knows, those are two of my most favorite activities, they're also bad for my health and my wallet. We have thus far been really good about cooking delicious and more or less healthy meals at home, and so I haven't been out to a ton of good places yet. Maybe when I'm working and thus have the cashflow to go out and no time to cook?


I actually cooked this. I did not take this photo, though. (Though mine did look about as good.) Photo and recipe courtesy Pioneer Woman.

Another part of why it's taking me longer than it feels like it ought to is because it's cold. I mean, like I said before, it's not yet inhumanly cold-cold. Still, 30 degrees makes it unpleasant to just stroll around the neighborhood for a few hours, which I was able to do when I lived here for 3 months two summers ago. Somehow it feels like I knew the city a lot better then...where did all that knowledge go?

Ugh, in the middle of writing this, I got another call from an Unknown number, which I (who knows why) answered. I am 90% convinced whomever had this number before me was a drug dealer, and 100%convinced that, even if he wasn't, he was into some kind of shady business. I will be sooo glad when people finally get the message that BUDDY NO LONGER HAS THIS NUMBER. (Seriously, Buddy?? Does it get more stereotypical than that?)

Monday, December 14, 2009

in the spirit

I'm currently listening to some Christmas music (did you hear about the free! Holiday Sampler on iTunes? If not, now you have: go download it immediately.) and baking Christmas cookies, getting ready to wrap Christmas presents. I can't believe Christmas is next week. NEXT. WEEK. Where did 2009 go? So much happened and yet I still feel like it all just rushed past me like the streets rush past the window of the el. (See what I did there? CHICAGO REFERENCE!)

The hubs and I are doing the Christmas gauntlet yet again (7 days, 5 cities, 3 Christmases) despite swearing up and down last year was the last time. I don't know what to say about it except that, while I'm annoyed about driving all over God's creation, I'm also glad to have so many people worth going to see and who will be happy to have me. It's cases like this where I'm tempted to say "it is what it is" but when other people say that, I get irritated because, seriously, what does that even MEAN? In what way is that ever a valuable thing to say? So anyway, I will refrain from saying it myself.

It's been cold in Chicago, but not cold-cold, so I feel pretty lucky there. I'm just bracing myself for the onslaught of inhuman, unbelievable cold-cold. The city is still a bit overwhelming, but every time I start to feel like maybe we made a big mistake and I ought to just run back to mid-size cities for the rest of my life, something happens to make me really glad we're here.

I mean, really, what's not to love?

Saturday, December 5, 2009

making a list

We're in!!! The hubs and I officially now live in the Windy City and have an amazing, mostly unpacked apartment. With cable! And internet! (Though, don't even get me started, that was an ordeal and a half. Why is it that no cable company is even close to decent? I used to think cell phone companies were the worst, but no, cable are far, far worse. I think it's because they all have these regional monopolies so they know, as pissed off as you get, it's them or the dish. AND THE DISH DOESN'T WORK WHEN IT RAINS. Your options are (1) deal with them or (2) no TV when it rains. Ugh, they both suck.)

Anyway, everyone is asking for my Christmas list, and I'm polishing the real list up, but I'm trying to be reasonable in what I ask for. If money were no object, though, here are a few silly things I'd want Santa to put under my tree...

Round trip airfare to the destination of my choice. Better yet, TWO tickets, so the hubs could come too. There are a zillion places I'd like to see, and right now I actually have time to do it, but being as we're currently unemployed, we're a bit cash-strapped.

Front-row seats to one of Lady Gaga's Chicago shows. Nosebleeds may or may not be on my "real" list...


Frye Billy boots in Vintage Grey. Aren't they lovely? Wouldn't they go with EVERYTHING? And last forever, even in the yucky Chicago winters?


A real cashmere sweater. Because it seems like the kind of thing a real lady in a cold climate has. And man are they soft.


A really nice rug. Our new apartment has lovely hardwood floors, but I need a rug for my little tootsies. In our last apartment, we bought a cheapie and it was....cheap. It did not make the move with us.

So, back to my real list wherein I ask for things like shampoo and picture frames because that is what my life has come to. I am basically 97 years old.