Watery

The ceiling started leaking again on Tuesday, and then again today. Tuesday my landlord had sent me an e-mail to warn me that they were clearing snow in preparation for the mythical re-tarring to occur sometime later in the week and that the dripping might start again--though for the last time. Today, my only warning was an ominous dripping sound (and these days anything that slightly resembles that noise sends me into spasms, much like anything evoking a scritch or scrabble did during the height of the Mouse Wars) and some damp clothing in the closet. The Tuesday before that, the dripping had actually awakened us, at 5:40 a.m. We heard the drops splashing on the closet floor, but it turns out the pantry was flooding far worse. There's nothing quite like spending one's first hour of wakefulness removing all the contents of one's pantry onto the already meager surfaces remaining in the kitchen.

That day I started searching for apartments in earnest.

The good news is, we found one! We're planning to move weekend after next.

This weekend, we're going to be On A Boat! My dear friend M is getting married, and I'm thrilled to be heading out there to celebrate with her. Especially thrilling? 50 degree temperature gain. Oh, yes. I can't even communicate how ready I am to trade in views of endless snowbanks for ones of water and sand. Minneapolis has been more or less monochrome for the past two months, at least, so I am SO ready for some color (though not, of course, on my own skin!).

I can't wait!

Things That Are Awesome VIII

Things That Are Awesome VIII (the winter edition):

• Fleece sheets. Before David's parents bought us these for Christmas, I didn't even know they existed. I've had flannel sheets for years, but these blow those out of the water on the warmth front. They're basically very soft, thin fleece blankets, sewn into a standard sheet set configuration, and they are amazing. When they're pre-heated with the electric blanket, climbing between them is like curling up in a teddy bear's warm innards. Delightful.
• Smartwool muffler. This was another Christmas present, this one from my sister. It is the heaviest, nicest scarf I've ever owned--made of soft merino wool, and thick and "tall" enough that it sits structurally on my shoulders and covers my face (as you can see in the picture to the left; for the photo from this earlier post, I had pulled it down only for as long as it took to take the photo [promptly numbing everything below my eyes]). It is wonderful!
• Flannel neck-warmer. David's sister Becca made this for me for Christmas, and I've never gotten so many compliments on an accessory! I'm hoping she adds them to her Esty shop so that I can direct interested parties there. This picture doesn't actually show it all that well--but does show one of the Brand New People I met over Christmas (Brian and Liesl's!), and the lovely arm warmers David bought me. Since I wear the neck-warmer all the time, you'll probably see it soon in another picture, anyway.
• Winter pedicure! I've mentioned the hour-long, $15 pedicures at my local beauty school. The lovely warm soak and scrubbing felt extra-special yesterday, even though I had to put my Smartwool socks and big boots on and trudge back to the car through the snow. Those toes are coming out in two weeks, though, when we head to Orlando for Mandy's wedding! Saint Paul College is also where I get the sunscreen I mentioned last time, and this stuff:
• Pevonia Botanica Problematic Skin Care Cream. Oh, yes, my skin is problematic--or was, until I found this moisturizer (paired with CeraVe Hydrating Cleanser alternating with Pevonia's Phyto-Gel Cleanser). These products (except for the CeraVe, which I found myself) were all recommended by the aestheicians at SPC--where I can get them at approximately 25% or more off retail. Even so, they cost more than I've been used to paying for skin care products, but are so worth it for the results: namely, my skin looking and feeling the best it has in many, many years. Combined with periodic facials, they seem to actively calm and improve my skin (versus the treatments I've tried over the years, many of them dermatologist-prescribed, that aggressively dry or otherwise aggravate it in the name of controlling break-outs). I moisturize twice daily with the cream (over a drop or two of SkinCeuticals' Hydrating B-5 gel if I'm flaky [which can happen here in the winter!]; keeping my skin hydrated and calmed seems to work better for me than any other "treatments." Or maybe, after two decades of it, I've finally just (mostly) outgrown my acne; who knows.
• J Crew's winter sale. 40% off of all sale items with code MUSTHAVE. For real! The web store wasn't applying my discount, so I called customer service--and was given free shipping for my "trouble"! I got $265 worth of (originally-priced merchandise) for a fraction of that. Deal ends tomorrow, though, so hurry!
  

What are your Awesome Things this winter?

Sunscreen

It may seem silly to be discussing sunscreen in the middle of winter, but here in Mpls, anyway, the sun is shining (and reflecting off the snow everywhere), and the small amount of skin that's uncovered still needs to be protected.

As a pale person, with at least partially red hair, a tendency to freckle, and a familial history of skin cancer, I know that it's especially important for me to wear sunscreen daily. However, I haven't always been particularly good at it, mostly because said pale skin is also morbidly sensitive and tends to break out at the mere thought of new chemicals. I've tried any number of drugstore moisturizers with SPF, and last year, at the recommendation of my aesthetician,* sprung for SkinCeuticals' Ultimate Defense moisturizing sunscreen.

However, although that product was definitely superior to others I'd tried, I still felt like it left me looking and feeling somewhat greasy--and had a suspicion that it might be responsible for the stubborn whiteheads I couldn't quite clear up. I found myself not wearing it as consistently as I should, and so when I was back at the clinic this spring, I asked if they had any other recommendations.

As it happened, they did: another SkinCeuticals product, recently released, called Sheer Physical UV Defense. This sunscreen is hands-down the most amazing sunscreen I've ever tried--and in the running for most amazing skincare product generally. It's in a small bottle (TSA-approved!), and you shake it (hearing the little agitator ball rattle around, like in spray paint) before applying the liquid to your face in small sections. The "mattifying fluid" absorbs instantly and easily, leaving a beautifully smooth surface that's perfect whether or not you apply make up over it. My skin doesn't even seem to notice it's there, which is saying a lot. Best of all, because it's not in the least bit greasy and even seems to improve the look of my make up, I really do wear it every day.

It's definitely not a steal, but for me it's worth it knowing that my skin doesn't react to it and that I'll actually wear it daily, the way I'm supposed to. Especially if you have fussy skin and have been avoiding daily sunscreen for that reason, I highly recommend it!

*Really she's one of the instructors at Saint Paul College, where students give $15 facials as part of their curriculum, but I've been going for long enough that she recognizes me and talks to me about my skin and product suggestions.

Leak-y

Here is the quick version of this winter's installation of the Leak Saga, in bullets!

• Wednesday night (12/22), having attended an ill-advised but nonetheless enjoyable showing of Billy Elliot The Musical with a friend, and having found walking home from downtown to be quicker than waiting for a bus, I was beginning, at approximately midnight, to pack for the next morning's 6:30 flight when I noticed that the leak in my closet had gotten worse, soaking a section of clothing--including ones I'd wanted to take.

• It had started earlier in the afternoon, at which point I had called my landlord, who is used to me--and presumably every other tenant of his older properties--calling about this at least twice a year, generally around the time the precipitation changes forms (rain to snow to rain, etc.). I put down buckets and he said he'd send someone over.
• I flew to Seattle Thursday morning, with the unexpected drama of the terrifyingly long security line and attendant close call on making my flight erasing any thoughts of flooding.
• David flew in the next morning, Christmas Eve, and we had a fantastic holiday weekend with my family!
• David flew back on the red-eye Sunday night/Monday morning, and as he tells it, made it to the far corner of the bed, about to turn on the light (a pull-cord model in the middle of the room) when he felt the water through his socks.
• Apparently, the leak had worsened, overflowed the receptacles, and flooded the bedroom floor.
• He had planned to go into work that day, but instead found himself calling in, mopping up the mess, and moving all of the furniture except the bed frame (but including the mattress) into the next rooms.
• The leak had spread from the closet threshold and was apparently dripping into nearly the middle of the room.
• Thankfully, it didn't get the mattress at all. It also barely touched my books, thanks mostly to a watercolor pad sitting atop the bookshelf in that room, which acted as a sponge. We'd already moved a lot of the stuff in the closet out, and since the floor is so uneven, the under-bed storage was also spared.
• The floor, sadly, was pretty warped; each board now bows in the center, so although it's not visible except to close inspection, you can clearly feel the ridges when you walk on it.
• David camped out in the living room for the next few days, sleeping on the couch.
• At one point while I was in Walla Walla, the neighbor whose apartment is directly below mine texted me to mention that the flooding in his apartment had gotten worse, wondering about ours.
• When I called David, he was already at the apartment cleaning up again, having received the same message.
• The renewed flooding was apparently due to a thaw that swept the city, warming it up to a balmy 36 and causing a plague of ice dams.
• The flooding stopped due to a combination of the workmen clearing the ~2' of snow off the roof, breaking up the ice dams, putting down some tarps, and the weather cooling off again.
• When I got home a few days later, the mattress was propped against the living room windows, the bookshelf and two dressers were in the middle room, and my clothes were hanging all over the apartment.
• I spent the next week cleaning, organizing, moving the furniture back in, doing massive loads of laundry at the laundromat, and sorting through piles of papers that had either gotten wet or just turned up in the shuffle.
• Now everything feels pretty good!
• I saw my landlord today (we're on the third day of a new, and relatively very minor, saga of him replacing the light fixture in the bathroom [yet another pull-cord model, but this one mounted on a vertical surface, and the cord of which pulls out every 1.5 years and requires complete replacement]), and he assured me that hot tar in the spring would fix the problem for at least another year.
• I hope so, because even though David was sending me renters' applications to the complex down the street, I'd really rather not move before I leave town.*
• Here's hoping!

*Though it would be soooo nice to have more than three square feet of kitchen counter space... on-site laundry... a nice, reliable management company...

1/11/11

Last Tuesday, when I noticed that it was the 4th of January and that I hadn't blogged since the 4th of December, I resolved to post something. Needless to say, I failed to do so.

But anyway, I'm back! I guess sometimes a date is enough of a motivation.

I was in the Northwest for about 10 days over the holidays and had a really excellent time. I flew into and out of Seattle, but in between also got to visit W2 and Portland. Among other things, I got to hang out with old friends and family, meet two brand-new babies, see my favorite mountains, and cook and consume lots and lots of delicious food.

Now I'm back, where it's all the predictable old things (cold, snowy, sunny when it's not snowing) and also delightful new ones (fleece sheets! hot yoga in the WINTER!). It's getting late now, but speaking of things I came back to, next time remind me to tell you the Tale of The Leaking ("It's a Natural Disaster!") Roof. Good times.