Rosie Glow Wellness

Mind body health for the deeply fabulous


by 6 Comments

Love List no. 12

If I could blog whilst romping in the sunshine, y’all would see a whole lot more of me this time of year. Has any bunny out there mastered beach-blogging? This type of writing would be way more seasonal if I could wear my new bikini, pictured below on Tay Swift, and sip coconut water/tequila/lime cocktails (both dehydrating and rehydrating!) out of a mason jar while waxing philosophical about LYFE.

Sometimes we’re twinzies. I’m still pissed that I can’t wear the cat headband that I bought and then saw her sporting in the music video for “22.”

Obv, I could go old school and use a notebook (NOT a Moleskin. Those people are THE WORST.) But then I can’t link to stuff/click on all of the things/overstimulate my brain in a big and beautiful way, you know? I feel like I’m at a disadvantage if I’m writing without my laptop. Is that what Ipads are for? I don’t know anything about technology because I’m too busy romping in the sunshine. YOLO! I also haven’t bothered to learn the proper usage of YOLO… because I’m too busy romping in the sunshine. There’s a lot of romping up in here. Should we maybe start a love list? I think so.

chanel-no-12

1. Clothing swaps/girl group-hangs. Went to one on Monday at the home of a fly lady I was sorely missing (holla, J. Yentz!), and came away with a trench coat and a Chi straightener. YOLO…? No? Ok.

Me times five.

2. Roasted asparagus. So I’ve been to four farmer’s markets this week… I have kind of a problem. We’ve still got a few weeks until said farmer’s markets are veritable cornucopias of berries and summer squash, so every booth is pimping out their asparagus. And I’m a sucker. I like mine doused in olive oil, salt and pepper; baked at 400° for half an hour or so, and topped with a heavy handed squeeze o’ lemon. Aw yeah. The tips get all crispy and delicious… total produce swoon.

Image courtesy of this blog.

3. Two INCREDIBLE musicians I saw live this week: Lady Lamb the Beekeeper and Xenia Rubinos. Both of them are powerfully talented and deeply humble despite their success… mega-inspirational! Plus they’re way cute:

Lady Lamb

Xenia

Fave Lady Lamb song: “Crane your neck.” Fave Xenia Rubinos song: “Ultima.” Spotify that sh*t asap!

4. Aforementioned romping/walking to work in the mornings. I do most of my thinking during this time. My headphones are conveniently broken, so I have an hour and a half every morning where I have nothing else to do but ponder, postulate and reflect… and stop for iced coffee and asparagus, of course. As fab as the Great Gatsby soundtrack is, I attribute the fact that I’ve mentally plotted out at least two chapters of my future book on these walks to not drowning out my ideas with Jay Z and Lana Del Ray. That said, the Emeli Sandé version of “Crazy in Love” is, like, SO good.

5. Bars. Soon enough, The Whistler will be my Cheers. I went last night with this crazy cat lady.  Why is it so enticing to spend all of my money on fancy booze and patio real estate when it’s nice outside? Also, how do I break my current habit of going out after work and not eating dinner until midnight/falling asleep in my salad bowl?

6. My fatalistic friend is back from Indiana/Columbia (?) and we can haunt our favorite bar again. Oh, mustachioed men, bouncers with God complexes, and ironic hip hop beats, I’ve missed you so. Cannot wait.

7. Noms Collective this weekend! I’m thinking of making a strawberry rhubarb pie, among other things. I love getting my girls together, especially when there’s vegan food and wine involved.

Like this.

8. Impending family vacay! See Tay Swift suit above. Family in general: mine is superb.

And there’s more to love, but I need to prepare for my silent trek to work. YOLO!(?!?!?!) What do you love this week? What do you have goin’ down this weekend? Do you have a secret trick to remaining plugged in in the great outdoors? Do you also love bourbon, asparagus and pie? Of course you do.

XOXO and Happy Friday!
Rose


by 4 Comments

Makin’ Sh*t and Takin’ Names

That’s my alternate blog title for the lovely Emma’s makethreesixtyfive… I’m totes ripping her off. Here are some things I made yesterday:

- After waking up, I made coffee with frothed almond milk. Made carrot lemon pineapple juice. Thought I ought to make something out of the pulp, so I made carrot cake breakfast bread based on this recipe (details to come!) Made the realization that I had nothing with which to gussy that sh*t up. Made sunflower coconut almond butter.

101_1380

101_1408

101_1410

101_1409

That’s what’s up.

-Made fun of this carrot:
101_1379

-I checked my OkCupid messages for a hot second and found myself repeatedly making this face:

Snapshot_20130502

“UR cute. Check out my pix! Be my lil spoon?”

- Made like a tree and…left. Wait, that doesn’t work in the past tense, does it? Made a mistake. Made a trip to the farmer’s market. Made conversation with a creeper THE ENTIRE MILE to the market. Made an excuse to cross the street. Made eyes at farmer’s market hotties. Made the connection that to them, I’M the creeper. WHATEVER, made exciting purchases:

101_1378

Made plans for these babies. Scroll down!

- Made pretzel-y shapes with my hot bod in yoga. Made all the boys stare in spin class (fine, they were staring because I fell off of my stationery bike. Again.)

- Made cartoony portraits of my favorite women. I hope to make said women smile today!

101_1407

My mom’s not really that tan… I just ran out of skin colored ink/white paint. Did you just get back from vacay, Ma?

- Made a date to discuss an upcoming Noms Collective dinner party with this girl. Need to make some very serious decisions.

- Made some headway on a few Food Tank articles. Check ‘em!

- Made peace with the fact that only half of my to-do list got crossed off. Then…

- Made butternut squash SOUP. Made carrot fries and roasted asparagus. Made dilly white bean avocado dip. And right now, I’m making a promise to get y’all some recipes soon. For now…

101_1387

101_1390

101_1392

Aw yeah!

- Made a mess of my kitchen.

- Planned to make a fool of myself, make up some fly dance moves on the spot, make use of my youth and resilience…make…out? Made the right choice: fell asleep watching Butter.

Thank you Emma! Sparkly soul sisters, what did you make yesterday? And don’t forget to show yo’ mama some love today!

XOXO,
Rose


by 4 Comments

Why blog?

Why Blog

Ohhhh Lovies! There was really nothing intentional about my recent absence – no healthy cobweb sweeping; no “internet cleanse;” and unlike some inspiring ladies, there was no impromptu adventure to the motherland of Gabriel Garcia Marquez. I simply didn’t have a whole lot to say. And rather than knead out forced, trite sounding gunk from some place more surface than soulful, I tend to hide. I’m pretty good at that: if I’m not directly in on the action, I’m usually thinking/writing about it from my creepster point of vantage. You understand.

So I want to talk blogging today. I’d like to rocket right into the why of this (or any) largely private space made public, predominantly because I’ve received a smidgen of opposition to it of late. It’s true. For every few soul sisters who Stumble Upon™ this site, there’s at least one would-be reader wondering “what is this chick ON?” And there are some who simply don’t understand the appeal of venting one’s spleen in a free to all forum. That’s cool. It’s not for everybody. But here’s why I do it:

1. It’s a writing outlet beyond my journal. I’m motivated to write better (and more often, although you wouldn’t know it from this week’s disappearing act) when I know people are going to read that sh*t. I’ve mentioned before that I write morning pages to clear out all of my floating brain effluvia, and my journal entries are more or less run on sentences about whatever melodrama afflicts me. On the blog, however, where I know that the words I write are forever immortalized on the internet for all to see; I try to utilize mY righting skiLLzzzzz a bit more than I would otherwise.

2. I have a deep, unsettling need to express myself. Constantly. No, I’m not van Gogh or Martha Graham or Childish Gambino (Love you D.G. Always and forever.) But I have sh*t to say. And instead of painting/ear amputation; dancing like no one’s watching; or acting/scripting 30 Rock/gangsta rapping (Seriously, D.G., you a star!), this is the medium I use to say it: the sh*t. Sh*t that is just as valid and worthy of being heard as anyone else’s. Certainly, there are people who don’t get it. Every so often, I hear from people who don’t like it. But there are also people who LOVE it and thank me, outright, for speaking my truth because it just so happens to be their truth as well. Those people make me remember why I thought it’d be so much fun to start a blog in the first place.

3. More on those people… So do you remember when you were an angsty emo kid, listening to Dashboard Confessional and weeping softly into your boyfriend’s Nightmare Before Christmas hoodie because “no one understood you”? And now that you’re a grown up emo kid, you’re far less angsty, but even your nearest and dearest don’t always know where you’re coming from and they definitely can’t relate? Enter: THE INTERNET. Sliced bread can suck it, you guys, because the internet is the best invention…since toaster waffles, Idk. The internet provides an accessible meeting place for like-minds across the globe. It’s sort of like that famous baseball movie that I’ve never seen and probably never will: if you build it, they will come. So if you start writing a blog, after a while, those like-minds will find you. My mind is BLOWN whenever someone in Norway reaches out to say that they feel the same way about open relationships; or that they, too, have struggled with body image or boy crap or general growing pains, and they appreciate what I have to say. To all you like-minds, I appreciate YOU. I love the idea that by exhibiting my insides on this blog, I’m essentially building my own online community based on everything that matters to me. And beyond that, blogging has positively affected my real-life community, too. Mere acquaintances have discovered through reading Rosie Glow that we have similar values and now we’re besties. Old friends I’ve fallen out of touch with have chosen me, lucky me, as their crack spirit guide for veganism. You guys, I’m so lucky to have you. So, so lucky!

4. Sometimes what I have to say actually helps people, and that feels really neat. You heard me: neat. I still can’t get over this one.

So that’s why I do it. Haters can go back to their cat videos and proceed to have super sparkly days. YEAH. WHAT.

Fellow bloggers, why do you do it? Burlesque dancers, how ’bout you? Whoever you are, girl, why do you do what you do?!

Be back real soon. XOXO,
Rose


by 6 Comments

Love List no. 11

chanel-no-11

Who’s got time for intros? I’m just going to lay it on you, bunnies… you ready? Love list no. 11:

1. The Smoky Brit (with get this: smoked gin) at Province. The Summer’s Coming tequila drank at Province. Also, the homemade tortilla chips and salsa verde AT PROVINCE. I don’t usually even like tortilla chips, but OMGZ everything here is so delicious. AND it’s the only 100% LEED certified green restaurant in Chicago. And of course they don’t mind veganizing the paella for me! And the walls are pink and green and covered in framed artichoke tesselations!

Hello, mothership!

2. Speaking of motherships… dates with my mama. I got us box seats at the dress rehearsal of Oklahoma! yesterday (I have that power!) and the final chorus was so beautiful that I CRIED. Granted, I grew up on this musical and am aware that not everyone understands the charm of such highbrow works as “Cain’t say no” and “It’s a Scandal! It’s a Outrage!” but I love that sh*t. A++. 5 stars! 3 thumbs up! Dean Richards was there… he knows what’s up, right?

Buy tickets here

3. Lady Dates… with some really fly ladies who aren’t my mom. Real dates that accidentally turned into lady dates… what up Claire? Denim parties (?) and barbeques and 30 days of cocktails, oh my! And here’s Emma eating Costa Rican food!

Emma! Yucca fries with garlic oil! Birthday champagne!

Emma! Yucca fries with garlic oil! Birthday champagne!

4. The great outdoors. If you’ll recall, my number one goal for May was to soak up all. of. the. sunshine and, if I may, I’d like to give myself an A++, five stars, 3 thumbs up (!!!) grade here. I’ve walked to work every day this week, since the Wells street bridge is out anyway. To clarify, I live 6 miles from work, so it’s a hike. But it’s such a pleasant hike; littered with green things and birds and sh*t… and hot dads buying pastries. I mean…what more could a girl ask for?

This is real life.

I’ve been having SO much fun. I’ve been writing (like a motherf*cker). I’ve been exercising out in the elements like a CHAMP.  I’m sort of waiting for my body to remember that it has a hard time running on whiskey sodas and fried mushrooms but LET’S NOT THINK ABOUT THAT. Let’s think about the weekend, and er’thing we love! What are you grateful for this week?

XOXO,
Rose


by 8 Comments

May Goals: All Fun, All The Time

You guys, from where I’m sitting (sunny desk, early morning), IT’S SUMMER. I always sort of hate it when bloggers discuss the weather, but the transition from Old Man Winter to Dewey-eyed Ingenue SPRING (spring/summer are the same in Chicago. Once you’ve made it, you’ve made it.), collectively carries with it such respires of relief and good reason to rejoice. Because we could all stand a little more rejoicing, amiright?

As such, my May goals—as opposed to allergen-free April—are all about soaking up the sunshine and being out amongst the twigs and sh*t. If you’ll recall, I cheated  on my last set of goals which were, in retrospect, not goals but rules. I don’t do particularly well with rules, even when they’re self  imposed. I prefer to operate within a floaty, amorphous blob of gentle guidelines. So, inspired in part by some really fab feedback via personal email on this post about perfectionism, and in part by the weird sparkly springtime behind my face occupying new territory in front of my face… I bring you May goals!

1. Have as much outdoor fun as humanly possible. Shrinebuilders on the patio at the Whistler are about as Into the Wild as this chick gets… and that totally counts.

Courtesy of The Whistler

If you have a patio, or even a really nice stoop: call me. I want to sit on it. If you want to bring green juices, a rare bottle of spf 110 and your vintage Vogue collection to the beach: call me. I’ll be there already.

2. Ditch the eliptical. I eliptical almost every day. It’s sort of my equivalent of meditating, as it’s real easy to go brainless while watching Justin Bieber music videos on your own personal gerbil wheel. But that hour or so every day is not an hour spent enjoying the bomb weather… so I’ve been walking to work. Sometimes from work.  And soon, so soon, my beloved Green City Market will open up on my work route and I will feel oh so charming roaming the city with a gluten free baguette, raspberry plum chia jam and micro greens in hand. And Tiny Greens guy always gives me free wheatgrass shots! What up, Tiny Greens guy? I hope your boss isn’t reading this…

nasturtiums-at-green-city-market

Courtesy of this blog.

3. In the sagacious words of Dear Sugar, “write like a motherf*cker.” I have a new project underway that I’m super excited about, but I’m keeping it under wraps until I’m totally sure that it’ll turn into something. Also, every girl needs secrets… and lawd knows you all know everything else about me.

Sugar says...

Sugar says…

That’s it. Really. Isn’t that the best set of goals EVER? I can totally do that. I was going to toy with budgeting or some similar grownup practice that I LOATHE… but then I was like, why? MAY IS GOING TO BE ALL FUN ALL THE TIME.

What are your goals for this month? I think it’s totally legitimate to declare that your goal is to stop making goals. Spill it, sister! And again… do you have a patio or stoop?!?!

XOXO,
Rose


by 7 Comments

Voltaire Was One Smart Dude: Thoughts On Perfectionism

Babygirls and Babyboys (don’t try to tell me that’s not a thing)!!! So, I’ve like really, really missed you all. A sh*t ton. I’ve been feeling a bit like a bad blogger. I was even going to film my very first vlog today as acknowledgement of my recent negligence. My shining visage, Jack Sparrow-style gesticulations and disgorged blobs of relative “wisdom” were to be the Rosie Glow equivalent of a dozen roses and a stuffed penguin from your boyfriend who forgot your birthday…or your name. But I would have needed to wash my hair if I was going to be forever immortalized on Youtube, and that just is not happening today. Yeah yeah… I bet your slacker boyfriend had an excuse, too.

However, because the brain works in miraculously twisty ways, my repentance and not-cute/clean-enough-for-even-internet-TV situation got me thinkin’: why do I insist upon presenting myself to the world as a perpetually cute/clean person who has it together even a little bit? And for once, this issue isn’t all about me. We ladies, especially, were lucky enough to be born into a world where we can be CEOs or neuroscientists or cardiothoracic surgeons/super models. We can do anything men can do but “we can do it in heels.” This cliché, on its own, ain’t so bad… y’all know I’m pro-girl power. It’s that we’re told we “can do anything/can be anyone” and we hear that we must “must do everything/be total babes in the process.”

Obviously, I’m not the first to reflect on this phenomenon. And I doubt most people who know me would even consider me a perfectionist because perfectionism squelches creativity and, welp, I have purple hair today and earlier this morning, I finished a poem I’ve been working on FOREVER, entitled “My God is Fiona Apple.” HOWEVER… the aspiration to be perfect has been a nuanced self-sabotage technique of mine for as long as I can remember, and now that I know better, I’m constantly trying to squish my idealistic leanings. So sometimes I embrace messiness too much. Sometimes I spend so much time working myself into a tizzy over this or that that I don’t actually accomplish anything. Sometimes I’m a total vegetable and rather than amend the situation by, oh, getting off my butt… I sit around feeling bad about my vegetable-y-ness. I blame maladaptive perfectionism for past food issues. I blame it for the magnum opus I haven’t written, the roles I haven’t starred in, the baller jobs that haven’t been thrust upon me based upon my reputation as the best damn human to ever grace this planet— because if my efforts aren’t going to be perfect, why bother trying?

Like everything else, being as good as you can be and not getting stuck in the web of “perfect” is a balance. You know why Voltaire is a smart dude? Among other reasons, he said “perfect is the enemy of the good.” When we try to be perfect, set impossibly high standards for ourselves and inevitably fail, we feel so crappy we won’t even bother with “good.” We won’t settle for good so we end up with nothing… and there’s literally no crappier feeling than that.

I hear all the time that it would be boring if everyone were perfect. Eff that, you guys. Being perfect would be awesome. You would know exactly what kind of life you wanted and how to get it and nothing could stand in your way. But you can’t be perfect. You just can’t. In light of this, I have a suggestion for all of us: get freaking sloppy. Really try and really screw up. Let others in and show them just how imperfect you are. Prioritize the stuff you actually care about and stop wishing you were the type of person who actually used her planner and made her bed every day… can you tell I’m projecting?I will not tell you to dance like no one’s watching—I prefer to dance like everyone is watching. But love being you as you are right now because, in your own way, you’re perfect.

I truly appreciate you all sticking around and while I can’t promise to be the most consistent blogger of all time, I promise to be me. Totally wack and kind of dirty me. Smooches and utter pandemonium to all of you.

XOXO,
Rose


by 4 Comments

Friday Love List no. 10 and Holy Crap; HOW IS IT FRIDAY?!

Glowlets! (Pet name formula shamelessly burgled from this fine-ass dotgov.) I meant to post every day this week but, turns out, the week is OVER and I haven’t even begun to get my sh*t together. I’m a little perplexed, a lot pumped for the weekend—and given the stealth passage of time—majorly concerned that I’ll suddenly wake up tomorrow with a husband and a tangle of snotty little kids and be all WHO ARE YOU PEOPLE?!?! I WANT MY HIP BACHELORETTE PAD AND ALL OF MY TWENTY-SOMETHING NEUROSES BACK!!!

Before this week’s love list even officially starts; I’m grateful to be  25, single, broke but optimistic, and clueless but trying. Let’s slow it down from now on, shall we?!

chanel-no-10

1. Bonding. With alcohol. On alliterative tipple-theme days, i.e. Tequila Tuesday. That is all.

2. Coffee dates with mega-babes, including but not limited to this fly lady. My girl Emma (whose birthday is tomorrow! Karaoke! Karaoke!) is on a mission… Operation: Renegade Cats and Dogs. See, not only is Emma spectacularly hilarious and grounded and kind in life… she also paints. More specifically, she paints pictures of dogs and cats. Cats smoking. Cats on the toilet. I know I’ve waxed melodious about the joys of CatPaint…


…..Natasha, girl, you know what I’m sayin’! ANYWHO, Emma wants to sell her SUPERB works of domestic  pet-themed art at Renegade Craft Fair this summer and we can help! Here’s a super cute video with more info!

Emma's Kickstarter!

Lovely Emma’s Kickstarter!

3. Options. Deciding between Free Energy at Lincoln Hall, Soul Summit at Double Door… and Project Runway in my bed tonight. If it’s a nap at 8:15 p.m… is it really a nap?

Must revive. I promise to be back with so much more to love and all my usual dazzling mental prowess tomorrow. Happy weekend bunbuns!

XOXO,
Rose

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 49 other followers