I’ve been feeling discouraged a lot lately, so right now, I’m going to dwell on good things.

1. On Saturday, Jen and I went to LUSH so she could get presents for her mom for Mother’s Day. That day also happened to be an EVENT, and if one RSVPs to the event, one gets extra goodies. One also gets extra goodies for spending $50 or more on products. Jen did both, and SHE GAVE ALL THE FREEBIES TO ME! This means I have a whole stash of bath bombs, bath melts, soaps, all sorts of good stuff. Plus, the girl who works there is totally awesome and gave us extra freebies so Jen could have some too, but Jen gave most of them to me.

Bath bombs are not terribly expensive, but they are extravagent for me. So to make them last, I take a hammer and a screwdriver and break them in half, so I can get more than one use out of one. Tonight, I used the Golden Slumbers one. Those are chock full of lavender, chamomile, and neroli blossoms. I was literally falling asleep in the bathtub. I had to get out sooner than I would have liked. I love LUSH products because I can use the 1/2 bath bomb, get out of the tub and have no need for lotions or anything. And the bombs are cool because they always put neat stuff in the water. My favorite so far is the Champagne Supernova, with all the glitter!

If people ask me for a Christmas list, I am telling them:
– gift cards to LUSH
– gift cards to Borders or Amazon
– Wii games!

I’m totally relaxed now and would be in bed, except that I’m hungry. Going to try to satisfy myself with a small bowl of cereal, but I’m really craving something savory, like beef Ramon noodles (insanely cheap at ALDI) or spaghetti.

Also on Saturday, Jen and I walked around Water Tower Place and a bit on Michigan Ave. I took this picture of her when we were waiting on the bus back home:

Jen!!

I took this picture of myself before Jen got to my place:

Fierce!

2. Sunday, Adam and I went over to Jeff and fynixsoul‘s place for makeovers and photographs. We missed a few turns and I got really cranky and vowed I was never driving there again. (Fortunately, they live very close to the Red Line, so I can take the train to visit them from now on.) But on to the pictures. One would think, with as much ANTM that I watch, that I’d KNOW how to work it (ha), but I totally can’t. I was made up all goth and stuff, so I’m excited to see how those pictures turned out. I can honestly say I’ve never worn that much makeup ever, and I’ve never looked that way before. If I’m not too frightened of the photos, I’ll post some once I get copies.

3. Last night, Adam and I went to Mike and Jill’s place for dinner and a movie. Long train ride up north. (I refused to take the car this time.) Mike and Jill live in an awesome “vibrant” neighborhood. Their place is lovely, and they fed us this really great pizza. THAT is the savory taste I’m now craving, I’m afraid. :O We watched Bridget Jones’s Diary. It was my first time ever seeing it. It was cute. I loved listening to everyone talk.

On the way home on the train, an announcement came on that the train was only going on the L tracks and that the subway was down for renovation. On top of that, the train turned into a slow train. We got home in a fairly decent amount of time, though, but it was tiring because the train wasn’t just going. It kept speeding slightly then slowing down, then going then braking. That is wearing on the body. Still, we got home earlier than normal because we were able to transfer at an earlier stop in the Loop.

The whole way home, I was TOTALLY craving an ice cream bar. I bought some at ALDI–Nestle Crunch Ice Cream Bar knock-offs. They’re SOO tasty. So, while waiting for the 2nd train, this girl comes waltzing down there with an ice cream bar! All the stores I’d seen were closed, so I was like “Oh great, that’s all I need to see! How did she even get that??” Adam seemed amused by that even though he was craving a big glass of orange juice. I was happy to get home and gobble down an ice cream bar.

4. ROSA (meimeigui) WILL BE HERE FRIDAY!!! It’s gonna be a bootie-shakin’ weekend! YAY!!!!

5. In less than a month, Aidan will be here for the summer. Getting back into mommy mode will be strange, and it’ll definitely be strange here, out of context. However, we have lots to keep him busy when he gets sick of us. And I think he’ll LOVE the Wii. I want to get him the Spongebob game for Wii. Although his latest kick has been Dumbo of all things! So, he can watch DVDs, play computer games, play Wii, go on walks, see downtown (he really wants to see Cloud Gate aka the big bean), etc. And he’s free on the trains and buses. 🙂

6. ALDI is the best thing ever. The sheer amount of food Adam and I brought home the other day would have been way more in a traditional grocery store. It is so nice to have that low-cost option here. I love ALDI. Also, I am less likely to blow money on convenience foods at ALDI. I buy things that we need to actually prepare. And I decided to eat more salads. Tonight for dinner, I had chicken and spinach salad. Yummy.

Of course, now I’m hungry as all bananas, but that has less to do with what I had for dinner and more with the fact that I didn’t eat much today at all. When I am feeling down, I feel guilty about eating. It’s stupid, but there you go.

OK, I am falling asleep, and I actually have a lot of freelance work to do tomorrow. I’m sad that my Adobe 8 professional trial has just about run out. I really liked using that program. Now I have to resort to putting all my suggested changes in a separate email. I totally don’t have $500 to shell out for that program!

But, this is supposed to be a positive post. So POSITIVITY ABOUNDS. Now, if I can only pound that into my very being and core, I’d be happy.

Night.