Five minutes of miscellany.

Badly in need of a mental break from year-end close, so here's a quick five-minute'r: 

- Grabbed coffee at the campus Starbucks this morning and overheard the following exchange: 

"Who was that DJ that died?" "Avicii. It rhymes with ceviche."

I laughed VERY hard. 

- It's peach season and I can't get enough of it. While I've been eating them plain for lunch daily this week thanks to a generous boss who shares her tree's bounty with our team every day, I'm thinking this weekend will have to include a remake of this salad, this cherry-peach cobbler (we had something similar at Café Latté in St. Paul on Monday), or maybe just the biggest and ripest, grilled, with a little mascarpone and balsamic (a winning combo). 

- I'm having a crisis of music taste, and it's Nicki Minaj's fault. Her collab with Jason DeRulo, "Goodbye," is an updated riff on the iconic Italian love song "Con Te Partiro." At first, I hated/was appalled by it. Then I started begrudgingly kind of being into it. Now it's become a total earworm and I've had it stuck in my head for a couple days. (Other recent loves: ODESZA and just about everything on this Spotify playlist.) 

- I need new jeans, and Gap has ONCE AGAIN discontinued my preferred fit (high rise, skinny, ultra-dark denim). I ordered a trial pair from J.Crew Factory but I'm very frustrated with the current denim trend of faded/destroyed/mom-jean etc. Not my deal. 

- Watched "To All The Boys I've Loved Before" on Netflix and it was super charming. Definitely planning to take a break from my Philippa Gregory binge to read the trilogy - it's young-adult, so it should be a quick, fun breeze. 

- As Dave and I prep to move in October, I've gone on a bit of an interior decorating spree (who's surprised? Nobody? Okay...). Recent purchases: this Pottery Barn chesterfield in the most gorgeous gray-blue, which has fulfilled every dream of my heart for the last five years, and this fun masculine-meets-feminine end table. Up next? A nice, neutral ivory area rug, some kind of wall organization system, and maybe something like this to store the obscene 76 bottles of wine currently in my collection...oh dear. 

- In the Twitterverse lately: thanks to the seven friends who felt the need to retweet the nasty-af photo of the spider that escaped from the Philadelphia Insectarium. Ancillary note: why is an insectarium even a thing? No thanks. Additionally, I love the speculation around "The Lodestar Op-Ed," as I'm dubbing it - can't wait for the eventual political thriller that will for sure come out of this insane White House. Finally, the Nike-burning that ensued post-Kaepernick ad is pathetic and hilarious. I always laugh (in horror) when I stumble into some sort of ultra-conservative Twitter hole - for the spelling mistakes and complete absurdity. 

Happy Thursday, campers! Almost the weekend! 

Inventory: August 2018

Making: the most absurdly complex workbook of everything I need to achieve at work, take care of at home, and plan ahead for pre-move in the next 42 days.

Cooking: hahahaha nothing lately because Dave has been doing it all. We totally didn’t have pizza rolls for dinner last night, guys.

Drinking: a Starbucks nitro cold brew, which has become my vice (my team keeps giving me Starbucks cards and I don’t hate it at all).

Reading: my way through Philippa Gregory’s Plantagenet/Tudor novels in chronological order, instead of the order they were published in – NERD alert!

Wanting: a puppy!! So badly!! It’s getting urgent!!

Looking: forward to checking out City Beer’s reopening tomorrow night!

Playing: Wordscapes, an addictive word-unscramble phone game that I am extremely good at.

Listening: at work, to the Ring Cycle all day as an excuse to not talk to anyone and just get work done; elsewhere, to Odesza’s “A Moment Apart” album on loop.

Wishing: for a puppy!!

Enjoying: our Tavour membership – Dave and I get monthly crates of craft beer from all over the country/world, and this month’s shipment just came yesterday. So fun to try new ones! (Who AM I?!)

Waiting: anxiously for Thursday – so, so ready for a long weekend at home with my whole Schwegfam and my best friends!

Liking: many, many photos of puppies!! (Can you sense a theme developing??)

Wondering: why USPS sucks at updating delivery statuses.

Hoping: that it’s a nice weekend weather-wise in Minnesota so we can get on the lakes and go to the State Fair!

Marveling: at the ridiculous number of Dave selfies in my phone - and at the sheer variety of facial expressions of which he's capable. 

Needing: a whole kitchen’s worth of stuff before we move in October!

Smelling: Jo Malone English Pear and Freesia perfume mixing oh-so-bizarrely with the Purell I’m dousing myself with every half hour – everyone at work is sick and I just cannot succumb pre-trip!

Wearing: the softest and coziest dress/sweater/scarf combo – perfect for variable Bay Area weather.

Following: every dog-related account on Instagram and Twitter – the thirst for a puppy is getting more serious by the day, friends. Stay tuned – 2019 IS The Year In Which Dave And Lizzie Get A Dog.

Noticing: how the people who bitch the most about being busy and stressed always seem to be the ones accomplishing the least amount of actual work…hmm ;)

Knowing: probably more than I should about office politics and transitions that are coming up.

Thinking: too much.

Bookmarking: wall-mount organization systems, neutral 8x10 area rugs, barstools, floor lamps, and bookshelves for the new apartment. All I’ve done lately is furniture shop.

Giggling: at the completely ridiculous antics of just about everyone on this season of “Bachelor In Paradise,” and at the plethora of dad jokes Nate, Margaret and I have been sending back and forth for a few weeks.

Feeling: honestly, at this point? Pretty tired and ready for it to be October already…

Summer break and a Safeway story.

Hi crew!

It’s been a while and a half, hasn’t it? I decided I was going to take a summer break, primarily because I did the Classic Lizzie Thing in which I totally overload myself with two classes, thirteen discrete projects at work, a slew of visitors in town every weekend, and a social life that has been nothing if not overcommitted. Oh and also trying to go to the gym regularly and get a new car (my lease was up) and plan out the NEXT several months of my life. So some things had to give, and my blog was one of them. Alas! Alors! Anyway!

I’m hopping back in with a happy little moment from yesterday, involving me being a scatterbrain and the world being kinder to me than I deserve. I’ve been a bit homesick lately, after a rough month or two in general, and it was such a great reality check.

It started with a Sunday afternoon trip to my local Safeway, which is generally a mistake. I’m actually coming to think that going to my local Safeway, period, is generally a mistake (someday I’ll tell you all of my passionate love for Trader Joe’s, oh dear). Sunday afternoons at my local Safeway are overcrowded, understaffed, and always frenetic, and I am never at my best when faced with that combination of circumstances. I was also post-gym and pool on this particular Safeway trip, which meant salty hair, minimal makeup, and a “weekend T-shirt” (my designation) of the variety that really shouldn’t see the light of day. This particular “weekend T-shirt” was a just-because gift from my mother with the old Dayton’s department store logo on it. This is relevant, I promise!

After gathering all my ingredients for coconut curry chicken meatballs, Mexican corn, and a week’s worth of salad lunches, I popped the prettiest bunch of perfect white hydrangeas into my cart on a whim. The checkout lines, per usual, were minimum five people deep, so I settled in and whipped my phone out to read while I waited. The guy behind me had different ideas, and struck up a conversation:

“You’re not from Minnesota, by any chance, are you?” he said. I goggled at him, completely dumbfounded. I hadn’t said anything, so the accent hadn’t given me away. I wasn’t wearing any sports gear or anything. So I affirmed, cautiously, “I am – how on earth did you know?”

“It’s your shirt,” he continued, “it’s the Dayton’s logo. I haven’t seen that forever.” And I laughed, and we started the most pleasant conversation about where we were from, how much we missed Minnesota, et cetera. He had just been home at a family cabin on the Whitefish Chain, and he hailed from a suburb right by mine. I was having so much fun chatting with him, in fact, that as I unloaded my cart I completely neglected to grab my hydrangeas out of the child seat basket.

So I got all rung out and the cashier had already started scanning my new friend’s items, and all of a sudden as I was wheeling my cart out of the lane I spotted my flowers. In typical Lizzie form, I spazzed, offered to go to the back of the line, offered to go put them back, and all the while the cashier and bag boy are looking at me like, “what the eff, lady,” which just made me more self-conscious and embarrassed.

My Edina guy, cool as a cucumber, swooped my flowers out of my cart and said, “Don’t worry about it, let me buy your flowers.” Guys, I could feel myself turning beet-red with mortification as I dug through my purse looking for cash to offer him and came up empty-handed. And again, he goes, “It’s no big deal, it’s just a nice thing to do – let me buy a fellow Minnesotan a bouquet, seriously.” And I’m simultaneously utterly charmed and incoherent, so there was much stumbling over words and profuse thanking and bumbling around like a dork.

I’m not sure why this was such a monumental big deal to me. Maybe it’s that I’ve been a little cynical lately about humankind in general and Californians to be specific. This is not the sort of thing that happens here, and I realized that I took all of that very much for granted at home – the door-holding, the bag-carrying, the general demeanor of pleasantness and assiduity. It felt, for just a minute, like I was home and surrounded by people who cared, just a little bit, about making other people’s lives easier and happier and brighter. And that, in that moment, was not only nice, but kind of essential. So we said our goodbyes, and I headed to my car, smelling my hydrangeas all the way and feeling just a little more faith in the goodness of humanity.

miscellany

Cleaned out my phone photos during a 2am bout with insomnia last night and found a handful of little bits and pieces that don't really fit anywhere else...

- the prettiest brunch at Angelica's with Bita, Andrea and of course my favorite dog Leia

- Dave and I hosted our friends David and Meaghan for a cookout a few weeks ago, and Meaghan brought the most adorable cake - bonus? It was Funfetti. 

- Anything funny/British royal family related tends to get screenshot these days. 

- Spotted downtown en route to 21st Amendment. I'm a nerd, I laughed out loud. 

- The random Monday when Alpha Acid had the brewer's dogs in-house and I was in heaven. 

- I have too many products. Correction: *had. Massive bathroom cleanout was a good move, as was the post-cleanout bubble bath. 

- Once upon a time Drew ordered "the largest pizza" at our local pizza dive. It's two feet across, it's called the King Kong, and didn't fit through my car door. 

- On a higher-brow food note: I find myself at Terrain Café every other week or so now, mostly for the passionfruit Italian soda and the kale Caesar but also because their patio is so lovely. 

- a new vintage Kate Spade shot for my work computer's desktop background - seems appropriate for a lot of reasons. 

- My mom and I found Toppling Goliath at a random little restaurant in Sebastopol on our Sonoma trip last weekend, and I was utterly delighted...even moreso when the bartender, who also runs their beer program, sold me a spare bottle to bring home to my IPA-loving roommate. 

- Laughed my ass off, campers. 

- Seemed appropriate to dine on Rosé Street - well-placed street sign humor will always make me giggle. 

- After dropping my mom off at the airport on Monday, I took 280 to work and noted the "WOZ" vanity plate. Sped up accordingly and almost died when I spotted Steve Wozniak in the passenger seat. What a weird, weird place this is, campers. 

- Tuesday marked my one-year anniversary at Stanford, and I celebrated by working very very late and being very very busy. Things are absolutely insane here right now, and I mostly love it and am still so grateful for and excited about the chance to be here, learning and challenging myself every day.

- Things I studied in school that I have not used as an adult include but are not limited to the ability to map iambic pentameter, calculus, topography, any kind of dissection, and Platonic philosophy. Thing I did in school and used just last week: that effing fifth-grade science fair board. 

- California is so freaking weird. These are random goats "mowing" a hillside in a suburb. What the actual eff? 

- I have been VERY homesick this week, and a big part of it is missing my bff. Since we couldn't have beers in person together, I sent a Greetabl her way to be with her in spirit at least. Can't wait to see her hopefully soon! 

- And finally - we've been marathoning "Queer Eye" all week and I am beyond obsessed. Besotted. Enchanted. Addicted. I don't even know, it just makes me ridiculously happy and that's a wonderful thing. Also this is my new quote any time I get down on myself. Expect to hear it repeated ad infinitum, campers. 

HAPPY FRIDAY! 

Love letters to life.

Coming back from a glorious long weekend is never fun, campers. I know I usually save these mini-gratitude posts for Fridays, but who doesn't need a few bright spots to kick off a (short!) week?

- this former candle (she's a real hothead)...

- turned tiny precious succulent planter.

- the most stunning bougainvillea I've ever seen. Still taken aback on a legit daily basis that I get to live and work here. 

- campus's beautiful arcades and pathways that are so deserted they feel secret. 

- sneaking in a very early solo lunch at Anthropologie's Terrain...their kale Caesar goes perfectly with an hour of whatever's on my Kindle app (at the moment, "The Wedding Date" by Jasmine Guillory). 

- Couldn't stop laughing at this hilarious sign while volunteering in an elementary school last week...imagine how these poor California kids would handle Minnesota's black ice, ha!

- Newly obsessed with Maybelline's Super Stay Matte Ink liquid lipsticks, which have lasted me a solid twelve hours without reapplying, including through meals and drinks and various other wear and tear. 

- and finally, my new favorite morning coffee mug. Nothing like a little Minnesota nice to cut through my newfound California cool. 

Happy four-day week, my loves!