luluinthecity

[luluinthecity]

Hi! Join Venmo with me to get paid and send money. Plus, earn $5 after you sign up and make a $5 minimum payment within 14 days. Download the app using my referral link: https://get.venmo.com/L6QKoVclJfb Terms apply: https://payp.al/ref

[luluinthecity]

My 31 Days of Horror list (October 2019)

Starfish (Amazon)

Tigers Are Not Afraid (Shudder)

Knife & Heart (Shudder)

Train To Busan (Shudder)

A Girl Walks Home…(Shudder)

We Are Still Here (Kanopy)

Prom Night (Shudder)

Slumber Party Massacre (Amazon)

Don't Hang Up (Shudder)

Spring (Shudder)

Annabelle Creation (DVD)

Love Witch (Kanopy)

Pet (Kanopy)

Goodnight Mommy (Amazon)

The Transfiguration (Shudder)

The Final Girls (DVD)

It Comes At Night (Amazon)

The Killing of a Sacred Deer (Amazon)

Summer of 84 (Shudder)

Black Christmas (Amazon)

Honeymoon (Hulu)

Sinister (Amazon)

Under The Shadow (Netflix)

The Woman (DVD)

Tragedy Girls (Hulu)

Green Room (Netflix) --- could not finish =(

Creep (Netflix)  --- could not finish, ugh

Suspiria (2018) (Amazon)

The Ritual (Netflix)

Malevolent (Netflix)

A Tale of Two Sisters (Kanopy)

Back-ups (in case I can’t make it through the above):

Gerald’s Game (Netflix)

The Perfection (Netflix)

Blue My Mind (Shudder)

Climax (Amazon)

The Lure (DVD)

As Above, So Below (Netflix)

The Monster (Netflix)

Awakening (Kanopy)

[luluinthecity]

#ghost in the shell

[luluinthecity]

Turn To You - Turn To You: Chapter Four (on Wattpad) https://my.w.tt/zXDtcuHkhV

 It's 1985. Dallas is on T.V., Madonna is dominating the airwaves and all Betsy wants is to stop having panic attacks, book a bigger gig for her band and get over her ex, Callie. And then there's Asha, who only wants to go to prom and be happy - which wouldn't be so hard if she could stop living in the shadow of her mother's misdeeds. When these two are thrust together, the connection is instant and surprising - but will their relationship survive their pasts?

#1980s #80sretro #girlxgirl #lesbian #lesbianfiction #lesbianromance #lgbtq #retro #teenfiction #yafiction #youngadult #teen-fiction #books #wattpad #amreading

[luluinthecity]

I'm trying out this site to post installments of my half-completed YA novella. If you're on WattPad, or even if you are not, check it out!

#1980s #80sretro #lgbtq #teenfiction #yafiction #youngadult #teen-fiction #books #wattpad #amreading

[luluinthecity]

RAIN Mindfulness - From Tara Brach

This is a helpful little Buddhist acronym for remembering how to stay mindful when difficult emotions and habitual Action Urges arise. If you can stop and follow through on this before engaging in one of your destructive habits (such as food, alcohol, perfectionism, etc), you can begin to break the cycle…

RAIN:

R: Recognise what is happening inside you

A: Allow life to be just as it is - no fighting it! (I find that RIDE The WAVE is helpful here)

I: Investigate with kindness what’s really going on inside you. What is it that you’re really craving or truly need in that moment? What is the emotion trying to get you to do?

N: Nurture or Non-identification. Tend to the deep need inside of you with Loving Kindness if needed (nurture) but more importantly, rest in the awareness of non-identification - you are not your emotions

There’s a lot of DBT in this one (Buddhism is where Marsha Linehan got so much of DBT from, after all) and I just find that at times when the emotions get too much (like this week from hell!), RAIN offers me that little bit of extra comfort I need. 

[luluinthecity]

[luluinthecity]

[luluinthecity]

[luluinthecity]

What would you do with 7 days?

It’s been ages since I’ve posted regularly but I am diving back in to tell you about my 7 Day experiment. The plan was to start June off with 7 Days of no coffee and no social media with the intention of seeing if it made a major difference. Initially, I thought about doing this for an entire month but I revised the plan. That seemed like too great of a leap and I wanted to start small. Here’s how it went:

Day One - June 1st - Friday: No coffee, but I did have a green tea. I started the day feeling headachy and drowsy. Also, not allowing myself to open my social media apps was excruciating at first. I felt sort of lonely like I was missing interacting with people, and it gave me pause. Is this the only way I interact with people on my days off? The bright side to not wasting all my time on social media, though, is that it forced me to do OTHER things! This sounds like a no-brainer, but it felt like the grandest epiphany. I made a (mediocre but edible) tofu scramble for breakfast, listened to a full podcast, meditated, got out and went to a movie, picked up dinner, came home and watched another movie, texted with a friend, read some poetry, showered and went to bed early -- because I was so tired without my latte. Everything has an upside! Once I got out of the apartment, I actually started to feel less antsy and glum. And then I crashed and got an actual full night’s sleep.

Day Two - June 2- Saturday: Woke up early still groggy and wondered if it was because I had survived over 24 hours without coffee. What wonders! Nevertheless, I pulled it together and since I was up so early, I had loads of time. This meant that after getting ready (and checking on a neighbor’s cat), I had time on my commute to drop into a Whole Foods and wander down by the lake a bit before I went into work. The morning was good, but the day at work went by like I was swimming through concrete. After making it through, I perked up long enough to make it to the Auditorium Theater. Pro Tip: If you are planning to go to a live performance by a legendary artist, maybe don’t choose that week to go off your usual amount of caffeine. On the bright side, I only drifted off a bit during the opening act for David Byrne. I was definitely wide awake for all of David Byrne, however, and the show was sensational!

Day Three - June 3 - Sunday: I was dragging a bit on Sunday, hitting a real slump and my tolerance for not having coffee was low - but I was in fairly relaxed and chipper spirits and even my energy boosted mid-day (I think just from having lunch and plenty of water). Who knew? It was like I didn’t really need coffee at all. After work, I went to see “A Quiet Place” and I think the adrenaline from watching that movie buoyed me through the remainder of the evening - no caffeine necessary.

Day Four - June 4th - Monday: The seasonal matcha at Sol Cafe off the Howard Red Line has become my favorite thing about NO COFFEE. Despite feeling tired, I had plans to meet an online friend IRL for the first time and didn’t cancel.  And it was great!

Day Five - June 5th- Tuesday: I made it through the longest day of the week! Back-to-back job shifts and still no coffee, only mildly-caffeinated teas. Plus, my urge to check social media has gone completely. When I open an app on my phone, it’s now my Simple Habit meditation app or my journal app (Penzu).

Day Six - June 6th - Wednesday: Woke up later, went to a play at Navy Pier. It felt strange not so post my pictures of my day anywhere, but I shared them with a few friends via text - which means that my exercise in awareness also became an exercise in trying to reach out to people more often. One thing I have realized is that there are other, more personal ways to stay in touch with the important people in your life other than using Facebook. They just take a little more effort.

Day Seven - June 7th - Thursday: Homestretch. Talked about my experiment with my therapist, who suggested that I try not using any apps on my phone - not just the social media ones - in times of waiting and boredom. Her suggestion was to use my mindfulness skills and stay in the moment, sitting with the discomfort of not doing anything and seeing what that’s like. Which may not sound very pleasant but might be worth it for the chance to make peace with unease.

And now that I am done, I still find myself without any major urge to use social media (although I am sure I will - I have photos to Instagram and I do love to scroll through tweets from all the bright, interesting folks I follow on Twitter *waves*).  I also have been craving matcha lattes instead of the espresso drinks that, to be truthful, actually leave me feeling jittery and give me indigestion. If I can, for a whole week, give up these things that feel crucial but really just make me miserable sometimes, then I can certainly cut back on them in a more permanent way. In their place, I can try and find real-life connection and maybe even make peace with moments that are difficult. It’s these realizations about myself and my “vices” that made this experiment a success.

#awareness #selfawareness #mindfulmovement #mindfulness

[luluinthecity]

Snapshots of a Monday morning. Snow outside my apartment building and books (etc.) piled in the circulation work room. Somebody buy me a drink! 🤨 #monday #snowinapril #librarylife #scenesfrommonday #librariesofinstagram #atleastnextweekisvacation (at Chicago, Illinois)

#librariesofinstagram #snowinapril #atleastnextweekisvacation #librarylife #monday #scenesfrommonday

[luluinthecity]

T W E N T Y G A Y T E E N

🌈 (JANUARY - MARCH) 🌈

[luluinthecity]

Emerged from the fog of a 2+ day migraine to this most perfect, beautiful, sunny day! #springtime #spring #winnemacpark #winnemacparkchicago #sunshine #sunlight #blueskies #grateful #itsanewdawnitsanewday #weather (at Winnemac Park)

#blueskies #sunlight #grateful #itsanewdawnitsanewday #spring #weather #winnemacparkchicago #winnemacpark #sunshine #springtime

[luluinthecity]

[luluinthecity]

A day around #Cleveland - & #PimtheGrim found a painting of a friend at the #clevelandmuseumofart, while I made my own digital #selfportrait. So that was fun. #cleveland #travelswithpim #travelingreaper #travelgram #clevelandgram #clevelandohio (at Cleveland, Ohio)

#travelgram #clevelandgram #cleveland #clevelandmuseumofart #clevelandohio #pimthegrim #travelingreaper #selfportrait #travelswithpim

[luluinthecity]

Angel Olsen’s show at the Riviera last night was phenomenal - I have no idea why I waited so long to see her in concert. She’s amazing! #chicagoconcerts #angelolsen #angelolsenmusic #rivieratheatre (at The Riviera Theatre)

#chicagoconcerts #angelolsen #rivieratheatre #angelolsenmusic

[luluinthecity]

#angelolsen (at The Riviera Theatre)

#angelolsen