Thursday, May 29, 2014

What I am doing right now ...


Trying to pretend my pants fit. May is birthday month in my family and I've been living on a steady diet of cake and pie for the last three weeks.

Planning a very short trip to Portland next month and feeling only mildly guilty that my Google map consists of 90% drinking, 5% eating and 5% gardens.

Debating whether or not to rat out the people downstairs, who rented an apartment for the sole purpose of running a full time AirBnB. I'm trying to frame it as a philosophical opposition (full time AirBnBs limit available apartments in an already tight rental market) but really I'm mostly annoyed that they're making so much money off it and I'm also freaked out about bedbugs.

Reading Anne Lamott's Operating Instructions. No, I am absolutely not pregnant. I just like reading about people who spend as much time catastrophizing as I do.

Feeling frustrated because I have at least 5 solid posts ready to go but all my photos are trapped in my camera and I haven't had time to get them uploaded. Actually that's a lie, I guess, because I watched three back to back episodes of Grey's Anatomy last night (yes, I still watch it, I know the rest of you stopped 5 years ago and I don't care) when I could have been editing photos but I'm a month behind and I couldn't take it anymore (luckily I don't have to worry about spoilers, since you all stopped watching).

Wondering what I'm doing with my life, which I think is pretty standard in your early thirties. OR SO I TELL MYSELF.

Back shortly with actual posts, some of which might even be useful or informative. See you next week?



A photo of me taking a photo. Much to her disappointment, Circe didn't get to eat that cake.


61 comments:

  1. Totally hearing you on the midlife crisis front. Pass the cake, please!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I seriously wish I could send you some! My fridge AND freezer are crammed full and you'd think I'd get sick of eating it but I don't.

      Delete
  2. I still watch Grey's Anatomy and love every episode! :) Also, I'd totally rat out the neighbors because it would bother me for the same reasons.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yay! I think they did pretty well this season, actually. No idea why so many people gave up (okay, fine, it could have been that all singing episode they did a few seasons back - I won't blame anyone who jumped ship after that one).

      Delete
  3. oh, pants. we don't even have the birthday excuse; we've just been waging a two-person War on Cheese (a fruitless war if ever there was one. there is always more cheese).

    i am still pretty traumatized over the bedbug infestation that resulted from our management company using the apartment downstairs as a hostel (okay, and maybe from the hoarder upstairs also - hell's kitchen, i salute you). like you, i would be torn, but i think i would ultimately rat them out.

    can i pretend you're our portland scouts? we're out there for a wedding in july and i have no idea what else we'll do - though i know it'd better be AMAZING, as i totally flubbed ticket-buying and now the tickets out there from NYC are $350 *one way.* ye gods.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Keep fighting the good fight! That cheese needs to know who is boss.

      I've thought of you and the downstairs hostel, of course, because the bedbug thing is at the forefront of my mind, which is semi-silly, because obviously you can get them anywhere, but I feel like living above an illegal hotel is just tempting fate.

      I WILL SEND YOU MY GOOGLE MAP! + recommendations once I get back. It is a super short trip tacked onto a work conference nearby, but I'm still ridiculously excited. I don't think I've been on a trip that required a plane in two years. I need to get out more.

      Delete
    2. god i love how organized you are. and yes, get out more! come see us, we're totally bedbug free now!

      Delete
  4. Definitely with you on trying to figure out what to do with my life! Miss your posts.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I STILL WATCH GREY'S

    <3 <3 <3

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I was hoping you might! Does everyone else lack the compulsive need to stick with series no matter what?

      Delete
    2. I still watch Grey's too but sometimes I feel everyone's life in the cast would just be better if Meredith would die already...misery just surrounds her.

      Delete
    3. Yeah, I don't care about her one way or the other, actually. But if Sandra Oh leaves, I think I am out.

      Delete
    4. joe gave up on friday night lights a few episodes into the fourth season and it was like when ozzy osbourne bit the head off of a bat. i didn't know people did such things.

      Delete
    5. Non-compulsive people are just mysteries to me. What is going on inside their heads?

      Delete
  6. I would say that I've been experiencing a quarter life crisis for approximately 6 years. At this point I'm wondering if it will just carry me straight on through to my mid life crisis. Almost certainly yes.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I mean, you might as well just piggyback those crises, right? More efficient that way? That's what I'm telling myself.

      Delete
  7. I'm with you on the pants. Combine that with the early/mid life crisis and I had inspiration to actually exercise. We'll see if that lasts.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I feel you. I'm finally getting back into my regular gym routine and I've been thrilled to discover that cake makes really good running fuel! (Also sad, because I realize that eating cake constantly isn't a great idea, but man, do I feel strong when I'm hopped up on sugar/flour/fat)

      Delete
  8. This is one of my favorite posts :) Sometimes I read blogs to escape real life, sometimes I read them to be reminded that my life is real.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My fave, too. You hit on so many key aspects of life right now, I'm laughing!

      Delete
  9. I think you should rat them out! Stuff like this is what makes cities/service industry challenge AirBnB, which is a great service! Boo!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, ironically, I am using AirBnB for our Portland trip, so I feel super hypocritical tattling on someone! I have no issue with the service when it's used the way it was designed and wouldn't have a problem AT ALL if one of my neighbors who actually lives in the building had a flexible work situation and needed to rent it out a few times a year when they were out of town. I get using it to help make your rent if you aren't going to be at home, I just think it's not cool to be using it as a full time unlicensed hotel.

      Delete
  10. Definitely tell on the neighbours. If they were living there and using it for air b&b some of the time that would be better - but am sure someone's lease forbids them from running a business like that.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, that is my big issue with it! They have basically zero investment in the building, since they aren't living there, ever, and they just filled the apartment with Ikea furniture. And they never bothered to introduce themselves or anything (which, awkwardly, led to me introducing myself to MULTIPLE AirBnB guests, before I figured out what was happening).

      Delete
  11. Eat at the Farm Cafe - SO GOOD. Loved this entry!

    I hear you about the cake! So much cake. My daughter turns 8 on Saturday, and we're all about cake! Two cakes at her birthday party with family on Sunday, and another cake for her friend party later that month. One homemade peanut butter cup and oreo ice cream cake, one vanilla cloud cake, and one banana cake with peanut butter filling, chocolate frosting, and chocolate ganache.

    And, my sister is getting married later this summer, so I have a dress that I have to fit into - after this, enough cake!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you - adding it to our map! It's actually pretty close to where we'll be staying!

      Banana cake with peanut butter filling sounds to die for!

      Delete
  12. I'm in my early 20's and constantly wondering what I'm doing with my life. Glad to hear I'm allowed to keep asking that question for at least the next 10 years. I'm about to head overseas for a few weeks which is obviously an excellent excuse to put off all life decisions until I return.

    I don't think I've ever commented on your blog, but I've been reading for years and I absolutely adore it. You write so well and you may or may not have inspired my last few kitchen purchases.

    Scarlett

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, hon!

      Oh, and I would say that it comes in waves. I was a wreck in my early 20s right after I graduated from college and then it settled down and now it seems like I'm gearing up again. So at least there are breaks!

      Delete
  13. You are magic. I appreciate this post, really and truly.
    also, fuck pants.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Haha, love this post! I keep meaning to post about things that I did months ago, but the photos are still held hostage on my camera too. Also, still loving greys! Ahhh! I did a mini marathon and finished off the season. Love it still!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I still have one episode left (I think) and I'm excited! They usually do a good job with cliffhanger finales.

      Delete
  15. Thank god you're back. I have missed this. Truly.

    ReplyDelete
  16. i pretty much get weirded out if i'm NOT asking myself every day what i'm doing with my life (also early 30s - so if there's at least 2 of us, it's totally standard :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yep, my unofficial survey says we are normal!

      Delete
    2. Me, three! Good god, this is beyond reassuring to hear. xx

      Delete
  17. I'm glad to hear others using Google maps to pin/plan trips (Philadelphia is the next one). I don't have a very type-a personality but friends still think it's a bit anal of me to make them. It also helps with bar hopping.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It is totally anal but so much better than having to try to Yelp for something decent when you've been walking all day and you're starving, right? I never set up an actual schedule but I like having pre-researched options to choose from.

      Delete
    2. Exactly! It helps me make the most of my trips because I'll know what is close to each other ahead of time so I'm not wasting any time.

      Delete
  18. I didn't start to wonder what I was doing with my life until my early forties - and then I realised out I was happy with the way things had turned out :) Don't give up cake - life is better with cake.

    www.myimportantnothings.org

    ReplyDelete
  19. I agree, pants are overrated. Now is the time for summer dresses, beautiful salads, and lots of cake. Every waking moment outside of lab I live in dresses and bike shorts, drinking soda water with lemon, eating way too many raspberries, and far too much ice cream. It's the good life, I tell you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, it's the lab that kills me! Otherwise I could theoretically avoid pants and just wait for things to balance out. Much harder to ignore when I'm zipping into increasingly tighter ones each day!

      Delete
  20. Your AirBNB feelings are not lost on me! I reached my wits end when a team of 13 volleyball players pulled up one weekend and a van of PAX attendees the next. The owner of the place lives in San Francisco (yes, I checked out the profile when I felt something was amiss) and owns multiple locations along the west coast. Despite loving and using the service myself, I didn't feel safe in my tiny apartment building with so many people filtering in and out the shared front door. Sigh. I felt like such a tattle tale when I called the city!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh my god, what a nightmare! That is really over the top. They at least should have put a cap on how many people could stay there!

      Delete
  21. I vote against tattling. If they aren't directly harming or disturbing you I think you should let it go. "Anything that's peaceful."

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sigh. This is why I'm still debating. So far it's been okay, but I do feel like I signed on to live in an apartment building, not an unregulated hotel. I know all my other neighbors, so it makes me uncomfortable to have no idea who is coming and going downstairs. BUT they are fully booked for the summer, so we're basically waiting a little bit to see how things shape up before we say anything. (I will note that it's illegal. AirBnB is a grey area in most cities, but the consensus seems to be that if you don't live in the apartment at all, it's a clear case of abuse of the system because you are straight up running an unlicensed hotel, not sharing your living space)

      Delete
  22. definitely rat those people out. that's 100% not cool for everyone involved (landlords, neighbors, etc) except themselves. and just because it's ok by airBnB standards, that doesn't mean it's cool with your building's owner. you're right… they're running it as a hotel, and the lease should stipulate who exactly lives/resides in that unit. it's one thing to rent it out on occasion, but it's entirely different to not even have it be their main place of residence.

    and i've convinced myself that not knowing what you're doing with your life is a smart person problem. it's the only way i can make myself feel somewhat normal about it at almost 35.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You are normal, we are normal. We'll just keep telling ourselves that.

      Delete
  23. aww haha you crack me up :) can't wait to see you next posts.

    ReplyDelete
  24. "Wondering what I'm doing with my life, which I think is pretty standard in your early thirties." That's what I'm currently doing so I hope it's pretty standard!

    ReplyDelete
  25. I'd totally rat out the neighbour - so not awesome, and most likely illegal. As for what am I doing with my life? That thought rears its head a lot, though a little less than when I was younger (phew). And thanks for the book rec!!

    ReplyDelete
  26. At the VERY least, you've inspired this 33 year old Brooklyn reader to: buy your tiny blender, and thus eat more salads, because I'm making more delicious dressings; read Kate Atkinson; and now finally tackle my credit card debt and create a budget so my boyfriend and I can actually pay for this damn land we are about to close on. So in my little universe, you are kind of a big deal.
    I might rat out the neighbor. And not because I'm in the hotel business. ;) There are legal and regulatory concerns unique to each market, so I would take the time to familiarize yourself with the laws, and then proceed from there. I wouldn't like it either. It really grinds my gears knowing that many people running this kind of operation don't report this income on their taxes. Ugh. Good luck.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Aw, thanks, Leanne! So glad you like the blender as well! I feel like a crazy person mentioning it all the time but it's literally our most used kitchen appliance and I feel like everyone should have one. Yay for tackling debt!

      Delete
  27. When you come to Portland eat at Luce and get cocktails at Angel Face!

    ReplyDelete
  28. I'm with you on the photos thing, I'm so behind on photo editing and blog posts (and blog reading as you can see since this is nearly a fortnight since you posted this!) I tend to get a week of great photo oppoutunities and great light and then work gets busy (workign full time 60 hour shifts does not make for an organised bloggin life!) and my camera gather dusts on the desk for a good few weeks!
    Hope you have a great trip :-)

    Charlotte xxx

    ReplyDelete

Trying captchas this time - better or worse than having to log in to comment? Let me know! Sorry for all the hoops but the spam has been terrible lately!