Top Five Favorite Things About My Life (Surveying The Last 14 Hours)

Are you ever snacking on something, know you dropped a piece of it, but can’t find said piece for the life of you? And deep down you kind of know it’s somewhere in your shirt? That just happened to me. One time in high school, I was getting ready for bed and a Cheerio fell out of my shirt. You know when I was eating Cheerios? About 14 hours before that moment. This has nothing to do with my post.

I was scratching my head all day today thinking about what to write. I thought I could get into a rant about how terrible the lighting is in the first season of The West Wing, but I thought I might lose a few of you on that one. (It’s seriously really bad. I don’t know if they’re being too literal with their recreation of the White House or what, but even when they’re filming a scene that takes place during the day, the characters’ faces are completely cloaked in shadow. What the hell?) I was tempted to discuss this story coming out of the Chicago Sun-Times today, about outspoken Reverend Michael Pfleger denouncing The Bachelor for its degradation of women. Referencing this past week’s episode as an example, Rev. Pfleger said “They fell and purposely bent over just so the bachelor could see most of their private parts.” They did?! If that’s what’s going on, I need to stop picking at my pilled sweaters during the show and start paying attention! I could have even written a piece solely based on a conversation I had today with a friend who shamed me out of thinking metallic Sperry’s are a good idea.

But nothing was really striking a chord with me. Although, now would be as good a time as any to tell you that, at the moment, my Netflix Que is dedicated almost entirely to The West Wing. With the exception of some newly released Oscar hopefuls (i.e. Beginners), The West Wing is the only DVD I am interested in receiving. I spend most of my life being 3-4 years behind trends, so it makes sense that I am now exploring this hit show years after one of my babysitters first recommended it. Anyway, I settled on simply sharing some highlights from the day. Lighthearted anecdotes. Simple pleasures. Like a bowl of chicken soup, but for the soul. Maybe that’s what I should call it! I swear it won’t be like those uber-depressing poems about drunk driving. Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul, I’m talking to you.

1. I washed my hair.

I am someone who lives by the notion that hair is only meant to be washed every other day. Especially with my type and texture of hair, grease doesn’t even come into play until at least the 36th hour. So on days like today, when I did wash my hair, and went through the extra pain-in-my-ass steps of combing, blow-drying, and flat-ironing, it just means that tomorrow morning I get to gift myself with an extra 20 minutes of sleep. Also, I happened to style my now grown out side bangs really well this morning. It only lasted for the 30 seconds I was standing completely still in front of the bathroom mirror, but I did it! And it felt great.

2. I temporarily employed myself as a children’s agent. 

I was like Michael J. Fox in Life With Mikey, except I didn’t find an underprivileged rapscallion conning people on the streets to take under my wing and turn into a star. I might have tried if it wasn’t so cold outside. The agency I work for does not have a children’s department, but when opportunities do come up for the little ones, we offer the auditions to the children of our adult actors. So that’s how I spent the better half of my morning. Tracking down birthdates, shuffling through photos, and assuring parents that if their kid choked at the audition, we would absolutely never consider them again. No, I’m kidding, of course. Come on. If Michael J. Fox didn’t give Angie Vega a chance, she never would have grown up to guest star on USA’s Fairly Legal.

3. I ate this sandwich:

Photo courtesy of hannahsbretzel.com.

I have wanted to go to Hannah’s Bretzel for almost a year now. I can’t remember where I first read about their sandwiches, but all I had to hear was “pretzel baguette” to know that this restaurant was everything I could hope for in a lunchtime treat. This past December when I decided to do a little shopping on State Street after work, I was not  five blocks from my office, when I saw–right in front of me, in all it’s mango chutney glory–a brand new Hannah’s Bretzel. I was on the phone with my boyfriend at the time, who was probably telling me about an opportunity that was about to change his life, when I immediately interrupted to tell him my good news. Hannah! Bretzel! Only five blocks from my office! Unfortunately, I had placed myself on a strict no-buying-lunch-at-work plan during the holiday season for budgetary reasons. So it wasn’t until today, when my boyfriend offered to take me out to lunch, that I was able to experience what all the fuss [I had made up in my head] was about. The turkey was fresh, the baguette was better than your best pretzel roll, and the pepper aioli gave it just the right amount of kick to send you over the edge. Find one in your area, or venture out of your neighborhood if you have to. It’s well worth it, if you can stand the way they pat themselves on the back all over the restaurant for using only organic products.

4. I wore my new snow boots without getting any new blisters.

This one makes it seem like now I’m reaching to come up with anything that was remotely great about today. Like one of those people who answers the question, “How was your day?” with, “Well other than the migraine I woke up with and the cold dinner I came home to, it was GREAT! THANKS FOR ASKING!” *Door slam* I hope these people only exist in 1970s sitcoms. Anyway, for real, I got these great snow boots for Christmas that are as warm as they are cute. The first day I wore them, I happened to be wearing jeans with a slight flare, so I had to awkwardly tuck them into the boots. Well apparently walking in heavy snow boots with crumpled denim rubbing against my bare skin causes a terrible amount of friction that blistered my ankles in six different places. I could barely make it from the train to my office. I fretted over the confrontation of trying to return boots that had been worn outside. I cringed at the thought of putting them on again. Even worse, I liked them too much to give them up. I decided to let my feet heel and luckily, in the meantime, Chicago was experiencing the mildest winter in my memory, so I didn’t need them anyway. You can imagine my delight today when I put them back on, this time wearing soft and boot friendly leggings, and discovered I was able to walk around the city with nary a limp. The blisters heal, the boots stay, and I avoid a potentially hostile trip to the Customer Service Department at Bloomingdales. Win-win-win.

5. I got to spend the evening watching my two favorite shows on TV.

There are few shows on the air anymore that really make me laugh. I’m talking rewind, let me see that three more times, laughing so hard when I think about it the next day I laugh out loud again. In fact, there are only two. 30 Rock and Parks and Recreation. I can’t get enough. The fact that 30 Rock is now in syndication, just means an end to settling on a re-run of Tabatha’s Salon Takeover during the 6:00 television hour, before primetime starts. I am a freak about keeping the DVR cleared of old programming, and I will die if last week’s episode of Parks and Rec when Leslie hosted a campaign kick-off party on an ice rink ever gets deleted. And you know what? I lied. I haven’t watched them. Because I’ve been writing this, so you can understand my push to wrap things up here. I offer my apologies with a treat:

Leslie’s Grand Entrance

They weren’t the top five things that have ever happened to me and it wasn’t the best day of my life. But sometimes you have to give credit where credit is due, and today that was newfound responsibilities at work and comfortable shoes. What were your top 5? Picking up your favorite cereal after work to have tomorrow for breakfast? Finally having enough time to catch up with Dance Moms on your DVR? That’s a good day.