“Maladies / Remedies / Still These Allergies Remain”*
I have been suffering from the most severe allergy attack that I’ve ever had. I can’t even pinpoint when it started—all I know is that when the weather got progressively more beautiful, I got progressively phlegm-ier. My poor husband: he had a tough week at work and all he gets to hear when he comes home is my hacking and coughing. I think it’s bad enough to warrant a doctor’s visit; I’m afraid that it’ll turn into a sinus infection. I wish I could say it was only a cold, but this is much, much different than my average cold. I upgraded my allergy medicine to Zyrtec-D (had to sign! I swear I’m not running a meth lab, that’s in Chester’s Mill, ME!), and while it’s provided a bit more relief, it’s far from complete. I can’t believe what D.C.’s done to my allergies. At worst, I suffer from a stuffy head once in a while in Michigan. Here? OMGWTFLOLBBQ. I hope it gets better when we move out West.
Given my current state and the now-dismal weather, I’m seriously debating my run tomorrow at the St. Patrick’s Day 8K. I’m supposed to meet a friend for brunch, but the last thing I want is to be wet, hacking, and miserable while we’re trying to have a fun conversation. I don’t know how my system will react to some exercise—it may do me good and clear my passages—but I haven’t done so yet because I think a) the Zyrtec-D is tiring me out and 2) my chest kind of hurts. I don’t know if it’s from the coughing or something worse. I haven’t exercised since Tuesday, though, so I feel lazy. I would feel like a huge sloth if 1) my eating wasn’t so fucking awesome lately [seriously, I'm getting all my nutrients and needs and eating a healthy amount of calories and losing a bit of weight] and b) my clothes weren’t feeling looser. I plan to test it out with a gentle cardio session today, but I may have to call up my friend and let her know I’m too miserable to run.
In other news, IP and I continue our quest West. We’ve both been applying for jobs and hope for bites. I’ve also been applying to local jobs if they seem to fit my skill set or seem like an interesting thing to do while we run down our clock here. I also was able to successfully lobby for a raise at work—I’m still unsure about how much it is, but I’ve been told it’ll be substantially more than everyone else (my agitating for one woke the big bosses up to the fact that, hello, it’s been 25 months since I got one, and longer for others). I figure I can either stash the extra cash to help finance our move or increase the amount I pay on student loans. Either way, it’s nice to know I’ll be seeing a boost, even if the “substantially more” turns out to be minor.
Friday was a good way to end the week for me, though: my supervisor sent me home after I told him I was running downtown to pick up my race packet. He told me to just go home and “work from home.” Heh. I met IP at the Old Post Office Pavilion for lunch, then headed home. Because I’ve been searching for shoes since my work ones are falling apart (I mean literally—the soles are falling off of both my black and brown shoes at this point), I decided to hit DSW before heading home. I emerged with these:
Nine West Oh Dear
I loved these as soon as I saw them. I wanted wedges because I’m not much of a heel gal and flats have a tendency to mess up my arches. They were also available in a brown color, and ninewest.com proper has other colors. I’m going to keep an eye on them to see if they go down in price because they are super-cute and fit my feet well. They have them in yellow. Good god, I love yellow (partly because I look so good in it).
I then set off to search for some brown shoes. It occurred to me that I actually don’t wear brown all that much and that when I do, I wear it with pink. I don’t dress it up much because I find brown, well, bland. As I searched in vain for some comfortable, cute, brown or beige pumps, I started to think they may need some pizazz. Excuse the poor lighting of this photo, but I ended up with the Lifestride Meg:
Lifestride Meg
Hopefully these shoes will last me a good long while as the others did. I’m glad I hauled myself to DSW because online shoe ordering rarely goes well for me. And as I didn’t have to drag IP to DSW with me, I’m sure he’s happy I took the time to go on my own, too! ;)
Because my pants are running thin, I decided getting a pair wouldn’t hurt. I popped into New York and Company and ended up with these two pieces:
NY & Co 7th Avenue Bootcut Pants
NY & Co Madison Shirt
I could not resist the color on the shirt. With playoff season coming up, I have to wear my red (for the Wings, people, not the goddamn Caps—now let’s just hope that my poor Wings manage a playoff berth this year). The pants actually look demin-y, and I’m sure my big boss will go a bit nutty, but it’s a) not denim and 2) I’ll put them into a Friday rotation to begin. I figure it’s as close as a casual Friday as I’m going to get right now.
When I came home, in our mailbox was a coupon for $30 off a purchase of $75 or more (or, alternatively, $70 off of $150) from New York & Company beginning on Wednesday. Given how well their pants fit me and how my current crop is slowly dying, I might take them up on it.
Now I’m just waiting for wedding invites (we may be getting two this summer) so I can invest in this beauty:
The Limited Border Print Strapless Dress
Oh my. Where were you when I was looking for my rehearsal dinner dress last year, you wonderful, wonderful dress?
So that’s my frivolous update. Up next: a book list post. Promise I’ll go intellectual on you again.
