I 100% blame my current #MadMen rewatch for my new enthusiasm around homemade cocktails. Despite drinking them all through college (Thank you, Sex & the City), I never learned how to make any myself. I also couldn’t tell you where or when I had my first Manhattan, but it’s been my favorite ever since and I always order it at restaurants (especially if they put their own spin on it).
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One of my favorite scenes from the series is the iconic Kodak Carousel presentation. As Don himself said in that speech, “Teddy told me that in Greek nostalgia literally means ‘the pain from an old wound.’ It’s a twinge in your heart, far more powerful than memory alone. This device isn’t a space ship. It’s a time machine. It goes backwards, forwards. Takes us to a place where we ache to go again. It’s not called ‘The Wheel.’ It’s called ‘The Carousel.’ It lets us travel the way a child travels. Around and around and back home again to a place where we know we are loved.”
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So cheers to better days when you could go to a crowded bar or restaurant with family or friends and order a drink and spend the night laughing and talking in close proximity with favorite people. May those days be sooner rather than later, but may we stay safe in the meantime.
#cocktails #cleveland #clevelandblogger #neolifestyle #clevelandbloggers #madmenquotes #madmenstyle #stayhome
I don’t know about the rest of you, but this has been a hard fucking week. Probably the hardest since March 16, which is when I started working from home.
But it’s not even as if anything is wrong. Everything is fine, I mean except for the whole world is on fire thing. Work is good and family is good and our new kitties are good, but I have zero motivation to do anything and feel tired and everyday just feels like a repeat of the day before and I feel like it’s all just starting to become too much.
Our state is starting to open back up but it’s scary because it feels too soon. But also, I miss seeing friends and family. But I also have zero desire to leave the house except for essentials and but and but and but.
And so much of this is bringing out some of my anxiety and OCD and depression. I can’t control what is happening outside, so my mind is freaking out and trying to find those things I can control. But that’s also exhausting and it’s just never ending.
So I’m going to focus on what I really can control in a healthy way, which includes continuing my Mad Men rewatch and learning to make different cocktails (which I am doing because of said Mad Men rewatch).
I have a lot of new followers so this seems like a good time to do an intro post 👋🏼 Hello, I’m Jill, a fat INTJ Slytherin Scorpio Enneagram 5 writer and blogger living in Cleveland. My three favorite words are All Day Breakfast.
I’ve written two memoirs: RUNNING WITH A POLICE ESCORT is about my experiences as a #slowrunner and READING BEHIND BARS is my prison librarian memoir. Currently I #amquerying a contemporary romance 😘😘 I enjoy writing about pop culture through a feminist lens and my essays have appeared in BUST, Tor, Bitch, and Cleveland Magazine among others and I (infrequently) blog about being fat positive and anti diet culture at The Year of the Phoenix.
Currently I work in communications for @overdrive_libs where I also cohost @probooknerds podcast.
I like: tattoos, cats, a well-made Manhattan, coffee, tacos, bacon, villains, tarot (follow me at @scorpioandthequill), rainy days, coffee, Cleveland, spinning (find me on Peloton at Jill_Grun), and did I mention coffee?
So welcome new friends!
#effyourbeautystandards #clevelandblogger #neohio #plussizeblogger #riotsnotdiets #antidietculture #dietculture #writersofinstagram #writingcommunity #writersofig
I’ve now been working from home for over two months and will be here for at least two more weeks. The last 8 weeks have been an exercise in making adjustments to my sacred space. This is the only room in the house with none of my husband’s things (although that’s because I spent an afternoon swapping out books on the bookcase in here.) My altar, as it were, was previously spread out over multiple smaller places, so last week I did some more rearranging to have it all on this bookcase (now home to many of my favorite books). There are my tarot cards and ALL THE CANDLES and crystals and tchotchkes and favorite Pop figures and even Snape’s wand. The cloth was one of my mom’s scarves.
Sure, it’s a lot of real estate to dedicate to my witchy corner, but that’s the thing about sacred spaces or “A room of one’s own,” as Virginia Woolf would say: we each get to decide how much time, space and energy we want to dedicate to ourselves. And if you have the real estate to truly focus on nourishing your soul and spirit, then give yourself permission to take up as much fucking space as you want. Even if that includes the entire set of Mad Men Funko pops.
The morning of @alynnybizzle’s wedding, she, @gillllllllllllly and I joined my dad at his gym. There, I took my first ever spin class and I both loved and hated it in that way that makes you feel both amazing but also omg what am I doing to my body.
Seven years later, I’ve taken spinning classes all over the city, at various studios and gyms. Those who read RUNNING WITH A POLICE ESCORT know I hate — absolutely hate — riding a bicycle and when I was younger my mom would have to bribe me to workout on my dad’s exercise bike.
But something about clipping in and spinning and indoor cycling with a killer soundtrack is different, and I love the way I feel at the end of a ride.
AND NOW I HAVE MY OWN BIKE. Over the years I did most of my spinning at @harnesscycle where I was introduced to incredible instructors who taught me that my body, no matter its size, can do incredible things on a bike. When Harness first put refurbished bikes on sale back in March, I missed my chance so when they had another sale I set my alarm clock to make sure I didn’t miss it 🤣 My bike arrived on Thursday and I’ve already used it twice alongside the @onepeloton app (find me there as @Jill_Grun!) and I can’t wait to dig into the virtual Harness classes.
And, despite the fact I haven’t taken a spin class in months, I was delighted to find my body is still all about those heavy climbs and standing sprints. Maybe not as fast or as heavy as it once was, but that just means I have a goal to work towards.
Some things really are just like riding a bike — even after all this time.
#spinning #onepeloton #peloton #indoorcycling #effyourbeautystandards #CLEblogger #fatgirlscan #plussizeblogger #clevelandblogger
