Weekend Sovereignty

Rob is gone on his bachelor weekend to Northern Michigan, which means the apartment is my dominion and I have unconditional Krista-time.

The royal to-do list for the weekend:
1. Go for a bike ride/picnic with Gabby
What's exercise without the promise of food? I'm in charge of the picnic eats, so I'm thinking of making these two things that Martha says I should and this recipe I've been dying to try from Sprouted Kitchen.

Chicken Salad and Havarti Cheese Wrap (Martha)

Chickpea, Cherry Tomato, and Feta Salad (Martha)

Carrot Cake-wiches with Greek Yogurt (Sprouted Kitchen -- her photography is amazing)

2. End my summer sewing hiatus. Bridesmaid gift spoiler alert.
I'm making clutches as part of their gifts for being attendants. I just found some awesome fabric from JoAnn's (quelle surprise?!). Here's hoping they turn out...

3. Watch all of Mad Men Season II while drinking scotch
Rob likes to watch TV series in moderation, whereas I prefer to wait for the DVDs and watch the series all in one sitting. There's something wonderful about getting caught up in the story, not noticing that the sun went down, and later realizing that it's already 3am and, dammmit, you don't care.

Product placement works. Mad Men puts me in the mood to drink scotch and I plan to do just that. We only have Dewar's at the moment, but that will nobly fill the bill.

4. Get coffee from Julius Meinl and hit up the bookstore
I love Julius Meinl for the following reasons in descending order of importance: a) the founder is Bohemian, b) they have great packaging, and c) I like the taste of their coffee.



5. Sleep diagonally

Renting Pros and Cons (not an exhaustive list)

I go back and forth on my feelings on renting an apartment, but most of the time I love it. The lack of responsibility and the ability to just pick our stuff up and leave are big points in the 'pro' column. That kind of freedom is comforting in case of attack on the city of Chicago or the coming of the 2016 Olympics.

There's pressure to own because 'it's fiscally responsible' and 'paying rent is like flushing money down the toilet.' But how sweet can any deal really be when you also get a pile o' stress and sacrifice in the bargain. You are now a slave to you habitat, cleaning gutters, putting money into roof repair instead of going on vacation, and worrying about the condition of your wood floors.

Our back porch could fall off at any moment and a wooden window frame is rotting before our eyes in our bathroom, but my care for this is minimal to non-existent. I'm not going to get bids from contractors and have to take a day off of work to manage the project. I might shoot an email to my landlord if I remember. And that kind of apathy feels really, really good.

Why don't more people rent apartments for life?

Perhaps one day I will not be OK with decaying wood in my living space. My standard of living will inevitably rise. I may find another more perfect food than Bagel Bites. And these things are probably all positive personal growth.

But at this point in my life there's only one huge point in the 'con' column of apartment living, which is a lack of private outdoor space. Not a mow twice a week, pain in the ass lawn -- but space for a garden to hang out in with iced tea and maybe grow some veggies.

I found these nice, very non-rented gardens on the website of my favorite crazy robot lady.

this one is my favorite

not an outdoor garden, but still pretty and full of greenery