Goodbye to the Extras.

And here I am… unemployed. After the intensity of my last job, it’s welcome in some ways, but the day I quit I had to say goodbye to certain things.

Nicely groomed eyebrows… Sorry, Benefit. I won’t be seeing you for a while. I do own a pair of tweezers and based on the chagrin of my friends and family, assume I do a horrible job maintaining them on my own.

Also, any future trips to the aesthetician will be put on hold, which, based on this photo and the zit between my brows, is a shame.

Pedicures, another bummer as my tootsies are some of the ugliest you’ll ever lay eyes on. Also, I refuse to buy nail polish unless I really, really love it, which means my toes will be messily donning OPI’s Hopelessly in Love for the next few months.

Yes, I realize they are hobbit feet.

Shopping for clothes at Madewell. Thank goodness I stocked up on a few excellent dresses in April (this and this being my faves), and thank goodness my sister is constantly adding to her closet from Aris (she let’s me borrow things sometimes, if I’m nice and promise not to eat Mexican food in them).

Buying books. Many trips to the Santa Monica Public Library are sure to fill my summer!

Gourmet cheese. It’s a bit of a problem, actually, my love and constant purchasing of this dairy delight, so maybe this would be a good time to wean myself? I know. Wean myself from cheese? Now I’ve resorted to crazy talk.

Eating out. There are a few restaurants I’ll make the occasional exception for (like The Curious Palate and China Beach Bistro and Gjelina and sometimes Don Antonio's (but only on dollar taco night)), though for the most part, it’s homemade meals from my kitchen of love. Which brings me to the list of things I can say ‘hello’ to now that I’ve got WAY more time on my hands (like an additional 60 hours a week extra)…

Writing!

Reading!

Cooking (and documenting it on Knife and Fork Adventures, naturally)!

Walking my dog, Moe (I’ve missed him quite a bit with all the working and such)!

Seeing my friends! Catching up with my friends! Laughing with my friends (I should mention how lucky I am to have such fabulous amigos)!

And most importantly, spending time with my love, Handsome K. Being simultaneously unemployed over the last couple weeks has taken me back to how easy-peasy things used to be before we graduated from college and were suddenly real adults. I didn’t realize how much I missed it, hanging out all the time with him. I’m grateful to have woken up to that fact and to be given this (hopefully) short grace period of what once was.