Coming Attractions

This is a blog about journeys. 2015 was a year of change: professional, personal, geographic, and stylistic. I began exploring non-academic career options after eight years in political science. Jeff and I got engaged after five years together. I discovered the world of style blogs and Instagram, and was inspired to finally embrace things I’d never really felt I could wear: full skirts, petticoats, and brightly printed, cheery dresses. We left our lives in LA behind and moved to Chicago in September, after Jeff was offered a fantastic position out here. And after two crazy years of working as an adjunct professor, during which my health and fitness took a backseat to preparing far too many classes and grading far too many exams and papers, I decided it was time to get serious about self-care. As I envision it, this blog is a space for me to chart and share these journeys as they unfold.

I'll unfold like this flower, just you wait.

I’m excited to rediscover bits and pieces of myself that fell by the wayside as I pursued the PhD and belly-flopped into the Life of the Mind^tm.

Cooking is one of my absolute favorite activities in the world. There’s nothing I find more gratifying than watching the people I love enjoy something I prepared especially for them, and knowing that I made their day a little brighter. I also enjoy the act of cooking – the process of deciding what to make, going to the market, washing and chopping vegetables, and putting it all together is, for me, both engaging and relaxing (though if you saw me in the middle of preparing a complex menu when something goes wrong, you’d likely think I was the opposite of relaxed…)

But while cooking kept me relatively sane in grad school, my dishes were typically things like this:

Christmas 2015. 18 lbs of prime rib for 14 people. #howweroll

I’ve tried to stick to healthier fare since our move to the Land of Always Winter, and I intend to share some of my standby recipes here.

I make Greek salad at least once a week. And I've finally learned the secret to crispy salmon skin!

Also, while I’ve always been something of a clotheshorse, and a confirmed recreational shopper, this had fallen off my radar almost entirely by the time I finished my degree. Since moving to Chicago, though, I’ve had the time and energy to think about how I want to present myself to the world. I delight in seeing the lovely, creative outfits posted on the blogs I read, and reading how and why those bloggers do what they do. And I’m excited to chronicle my evolving style here as well! Here’s a partial sneak peek:

I’m a pack rat, both in digital and analog formats. My poor old iPhone 4S can’t take any more photos at the moment, because all sixteen measly GBs are jam-packed with things I don’t want to delete.

If you have a blog, what inspires you to write?

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