Out On The Mezzanine

Moderately eventful handful of weeks. Let's sum up, in no particular order:

1. Had my wallet stolen. Dude just took it out of my purse. Brilliant. Lost everything.
a. Including my TX license, which I very begrudgingly replaced with an IL. Does this mean I'm no longer a Texan?
b. Was I ever actually a Texan?
c. Dude spent hundreds at Jewel-Osco on booze, probably, since what else are you going to drop a few hundred on. Not alfalfa sprouts or butternut squash, I'd venture, which really eats my muffin since there's a, like, 90% chance some bepimpled walking coma checked the perp's ID, uselessly.

2. Quit my job, visited home, started dog walking again. Infinitely more rewarding than merging and acquiring. Puppies vs. finance. You do the math. Figuratively, of course, all figurative.

3. Parents met fiancee's parents in one fell stressor here in Chicago. Butt clenched entire weekend, did not poop till Monday. All told, things went fine.

4. Perfume Posse clan hosted Chi-Cocoa Scentsation, which KPE staff attended with gusto despite the downpour. Fragrance wishlist has grown exponentially, am nervous about impending inebriated purchases. Check out pic of epic swag score below.

5. Hurricane Ike ripped 2 huge trees, roots and all, out of my parent's backyard. They have purchased a chainsaw for clean up, my butt is numb from nervousness. We were very lucky. For that I am grateful.

6. Went camping in Wisconsin for Labor Day, engaged in v. successful hot dog/cheese/condiment/chocolate experiments on the grill, engaged in wholly unsuccessful "beach" attempt. A sandstrip against a murky creek is different from a beach. Got myriad flora stuck between my Vibram toes.

Evidence:

Perfume bounty.

A forest tween my toes.


Pitch black camping snacks [we accept torch donations].


The ultimate meatsnack. Chicken apple brat stuffed with cherry calvados compote, topped with muenster, in our very own aluminum grilling basket creation. *

*Blueprints for this architectural wonder avail on request.

An Open Letter

Look, not for naught, another chapter has closed. Fin. Take what you can and don't look back. The story is not over. Nothing is definite. You're inclined to reflect willfully on the past but instead, stop and start again. Adhere.

Bring back confidence. Do not define your style by anything other than yourself, lest you misplace the meaning of style. Your five year old self will always be smarter, more adequately shameless.

You are not nearly so great as you think, but you are not so horrifying, either. Be a sponge, but know it's applications. There are no wrong choices. Your guilt is meaningless. Trust that, and yourself. You will fail at this. Keep trying.

People will come and go, but most importantly, they will come. You won't know when. It will work out, or it won't. Regardless, time will win. Go through every opening. Don't get lost. Do not be trapped by the lure of documentation or you will find yourself very far away looking down onto a tiny maze.

You will reach your goal, you will get smacked down, you will get back up. This is what to look out for when you think about Success. Tell the truth. Do it concisely. When it stops being fun, ask yourself why and fix it, and when you find yourself at the beginning of another new chapter, do it again.