Listy McListerson

t-shirt: Old Navy
cardi: Target
skinnies: Forever 21
boots: gifted (but they're also from Old Navy)
necklace: Etsy
I'm feeling list-y, so here's what's happening in my world lately/in my head today:

1. It's migraine week! Hooray! Not.

2. It's also "newsletter that takes a huge amount of my energy during the workday" week. As you can guess, numbers 1 and 2 do not mix well.

3. I recently decided to quit one of my regular freelance gigs. It was a really tough decision, as it's my longest-running partnership; I've been with this website for more than four years. I'm still kind of second-guessing myself about the decision, to be honest, but I keep telling myself that I need to stop stretching myself to thin and focus on the things I enjoy most: writing about fashion, shopping, weddings and the occasional "random" topic for a regional magazine, and this blog of course. Priorities! Learning to say no! These are important things.

4. I'm not very good at quitting things.

5. Matt and I are going to see Phantom of the Opera tomorrow! Sorry to bury the first non-complain-y thing so far down on this list. Anyway, we used gift certificates his parents got us for Christmas, so we snagged a couple of awesome orchestra-level seats. I'm stoked!

6. We're also planning a sweet bouldering trip! I don't like to discuss out-of-town trips on the blog before we go on them because safety, obviously, but there will be a recap coming up at some point...

7. Speaking of climbing, I took a massive lead fall at the gym last night and I can't stop thinking about it. (If you're not familiar with terms, here's a quick breakdown of bouldering vs. top-roping vs. leading.) I was demonstrating my lead-climbing ability to the rock wall manager (so I can do it with any staff person belaying me later). I was about 30 or 35 feet up, ready to clip in to a quickdraw at my chest level, about five or six feet above the last draw I had clipped in to...and the manager told me to take a practice fall. This means letting go. On purpose. And falling. On purpose. Given my position, I was guaranteed to fall at least 10-12 feet. I've taken practice falls before, but never with that much distance. And letting go is always a scary and difficult thing. You basically have to override your survival instinct (because falling from a decent height is very anti-survival, I'm told) and trust that the person belaying you will catch you. As it happens, the person belaying me had a bit of slack on the line, so I wound up falling something like 15 feet. It doesn't sound like much, but when you're freefalling and being caught just by a harness around your waist/thighs, it's really freaking scary. I may or may not have screamed loud enough to distract the basketball players on the court next to the wall. It may or may not have echoed in the resulting dead silence for a moment. Still...I kind of want to do it again.

8. I feel like I should say something about this outfit. Er...I like stripes. And comfy cardigans. And skinny jeans. And tall boots. I think I need more tall boots. (Then again, who doesn't?)