3 Fall-ish Things I Can't Stop Thinking About

3 fall things I can't stop thinking about... And no, it's not pumpkin spice lattes. 

I'm finally ready to admit summer is donezo.

The trees are ablaze, nights temps are atumblin' into the 30s and nobody can seem to STFU about pumpkin flavored everything. I'll admit I'm like every basic broad in that I am obsessed with fall. It's the best time of year in Minnesota-- no bugs, beautiful colors, and fashion is all about sweaters/scarves/boots combos. This time of year makes me simultaneously want to get outside and do stuff (cause winter is coming!) and prepare my house and self for the next six month (cause winter is coming!).  

So with that in mind, here's the stuff I can't stop thinking about. 

1. This Article about Madewell. 

The interesting story behind one of my favorite brands. 

If I were rich and famous, I'd own every single thing from Madewell (especially for fall... best sweaters/scarves/boots! #PSL), which is precisely why I felt icky when I stumbled upon this article. 

Essentially, J.Crew bought the rights to the Madewell's name and logo-- a workwear company founded in 1937. The article intended to expose the fakey-fake of this "heritage" brand. J.Crew is using another entity's story as their own. 

I expected to agree with the piece. I didn't.

Madewell's former iteration lost touch with the market's trends/needs and shuttered. Nearly two decades later, J.Crew made the brand relevant again. I don't know how they secured the brand and logo, but they saw value in it and did it.

It's not unlike selling a property that's been in the family for generations.

Maybe it's a cabin that's too much work, too expensive or simply impractical to own. The property is sold and new owners take over.... and they change everything and it breaks your heart. Those emotions are totally understandable and normal.

But the fact of the matter is, you gave it up. Someone else saw potential in something you'd let go. They made it their own. It happens. Am I way off the mark here?

I understand current Madewell has nothing to do with the one founded in 1937 (a lot of brands do this... pssst Abercrombie & Fitch), but I think it's fine to build something new out of something old. I never assumed Madewell as it stands today has much to do with whatever they were doing in 1937; I mean, an alleged 80-year-old store just appearing out of nowhere in every American mall selling stylish womens clothing? C'mon, we all know that reeks of something fishy. They're making beautiful clothes that are in the spirit of the original company's workwear. I'm okay with that. 

Especially 'cause I want all of their clothes in my closet.  

2. This Box of Crackers from Trader Joe's.

Why can't I quit you, Pumpkin Cranberry Crisps?!

I bought these for my future sister-in-law's bachelorette party. We had so many other snacks that we never even opened them. I did, however, open them when I got home from the party and basically ate 80 percent of the box. I am so over the pumpkin flavored everything (it has jumped the shark!), but I can't stop and won't stop eating these. UGH.

3. Voluspa Candles

Voluspa = the best candles ever. 

As the temperatures dip, I'm obsessed with finding ways to make our place cozier. A Voluspa candle is easily my number one pick (well, after having the hubs bring our AC window units to the basement, but who wants to read about that?!). My future sister-in-law Shari introduced me to these a few year ago and I am hooked.

They don't come cheap ($26.95, to be exact), but they smell amazing, look gorgeous in your house and make a home cozier than drinking a pumpkin spiced latte while wearing Uggs, leggings and a comfy sweater while cuddling with a cat and watching The Bachelor. Not that I would know, because I have never done that. 

What's your biggest fall obsession?

And P.S. to further fuel your fall obsession, here's a post about one of the scariest things I did last October.

#259 - 263. 5 Things that Aren't Scary in Theory, but Still Freaked Me Out.

Exhibit A: Caring for houseplants. 

I'm often asked, "How do you come up with so many things that scare you?"

Easy. There is a lot of mundane shit that freaks me out. 

So many things, in fact, that I simply felt that devoting an entire post to many of them wasn't worth anyone's time. A montage on the other hand... well, that couldn't be more perfect. Here are five minor things that nearly did me in.

#259. Filling My Gas Tank.

Not the station I was at, but also probably a weird place to refuel | Photo: BP bensinstasjon, Nøtterøy CC BY-SA 3.0 

Normally, this isn't scary. Yes, I drive a Jetta Sportwagen TDI, which runs on diesel. This isn't an issue in my regular life. If the gas station I'm at doesn't have diesel, I just drive across the street and typically that gas station has it.

However, recently I was driving to Madison, Wisconsin and was running low on fuel. I stopped at a BP off I-94. The only diesel pumps were behind the gas station, 100 percent designed for semis. 

These pumps don't look like regular pumps. No place to swipe your credit card; the nozzle (designed for big trucks) is too big to fit a regular ol' car tank. Gas will probably spray all over your hands. Truck drivers won't offer to help; they'll just look at you funny and maybe ask, "What kinda car is that there guy?"

After 20 minutes, I'd successfully filled my tank with 12 drips of gas. My hands smelled of diesel, I felt trucker eyeballs burning into the back of my head, and I was on the verge of tears. I said screw it and got back on the highway. It was stupid and I coasted into Madtown on fumes, but made it. I should've asked for help, but instead I freaked and fled. 

#260. Extra in A Video

My friend Maggie & I were heading to dinner and ran into another friend of mine, Matt Houchin. Matt is funny and kind of big deal on the Internet. Have you heard this hysterical Nickelback-inspired song? 

Anyhow, he was filming some sort of video which required three things:

1) An umbrella  2) A grown man in a blue spandex body suit  3) Two extras to hold the umbrella.

He asked Maggie & I if we'd be extras. Of course, we didn't really want to because it was awkward, but then we decided that wasn't a good enough reason to not help a friend out. 

So we did & it looked like this:

Video extras in Minneapolis, ft Matt Houchin & some guy in a blue spandex bodysuit. 

We had to act surprised when the guy in the blue spandex suit jumped on top of the umbrella. Maggie & I are not especially talented in the acting department, so I'm sure we look like absolute fools in the finished video (honestly, I think we're cutting room floor material). But we put ourselves out there and it was a little scary and a lot awkward. #heyeleanor

#261. Write a Letter to My Local Government

Maybe you've seen Nicole Curtiss' DIY show, Rehab Addict. If not, the gist: she finds historical, dilapidated homes scheduled to be demolished, buys them for pennies and restores them to their original grandeur. She happens to live in Minneapolis, so many of her restoration projects are in the Twin Cities. Recently, she tried to save this historic Healy home that was to be torn down to make room for this:

I guess 45+ neighbors are moving in soon! | Lander Group photo

And it's right down the street from our house.

Now, listen. I am not anti-new construction. I love a good apartment building with retail or decent restaurant, possibly with a pool I can sneak into mid-summer. However, there are literally dozens of these places popping up all over our neighborhood. Parking and traffic sucks more and more with each passing year. And if I have to see one more douchey MF ad campaign, written by "old professionals" who think they know what "young professionals" want, my brain is going to explode.

I know I sound old and cranky, but my neighborhood's charm is disappearing. It used to be cool here, now it's becoming filled with shiny but mediocre housing & businesses. So upon Nicole's urging, I wrote an email to the city council asking them to reconsider the teardown. I'd never done something like that before.

Despite lots of protest, the city decided to tear down the home. I received two responses from the city council-- one from council member Andrew Johnson who said he couldn't comment due to its "quasi-judicial nature"; another from council member Lisa Bender, who responded thoughtfully & explained why she'd voted for demolition. Though I disagreed, I appreciated her explanation. Still, I was proud of myself for writing them a letter. 

#262. Returned Meat to the Grocery Store

This pork stinks, give me my money back. 

I bought a pork tenderloin at the grocery store. When I opened the package, it literally smelled like death, farts, vomit and prison. No way I was eating that!

I always feel weird returning food to a grocery store. It's a time-consuming task usually involving a low-priced item and generally not worth the hassle. But this was kind of an expensive cut of meat, plus it seemed unsafe for human consumption & I thought they should know. They were super nice about taking it back, but less phased by the characteristics of the funky meat. 

I got a full refund, but their ho-hum attitude about the death meat made me never want to purchase protein there ever again. 

#263. Secret Scary Thing.

I did something outside of my comfort zone that I pinky-swore I wouldn't write about, but I'm still taking credit for it. Hence, #263.

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PS Some other mundane stuff that made me lose it includes shopping here, buying and caring for houseplants (which are STILL alive-n-kickin'!) & doing this one thing many women my age do multiple times a day. What can I say? I'm your run of the mill wimp.

#258. I Avoided Doing This Super Easy Thing for Five Years (!)

Metro Transit. So easy, even I could do it. 

Her symptoms were serious, but vague. Check engine light on, tire pressure notification blinking. And then there was the fact that I'd been avoiding an oil change for a bit too long.

I had to bring the Jetta in for a check up. 

I dropped her off first thing in the morning. She was okay, but the mechanic needed to order a part that wouldn't arrive until the next day. Which was fine, but meant I was stranded at work. It was no big deal though. I could just take the bus home.

Except I've never done that before. 

I've bussed it downtown Minneapolis a lot of times, but in my real life, I walk, bike or drive most places. Sometimes I splurge and take a cab. Sometimes when I feel super fancy, I Uber. I weirdly felt very ballsy at the prospect of bussing home. 

Since I had no idea how to get from my office to my home, I Googled it. I was shocked at the results: Catch the 12 literally .5 blocks from my office. Ride for 15 minutes. Get off the bus literally 1.5 blocks from my house. 

I didn't even have to transfer! Why had I NEVER done this before?!

At 5:24pm, I walked to the bus stop. Two minutes later, I boarded the bus, taking the only seat available: next to the guy with super loud headphones who was, of course, sitting like this. 

I spent the next 18 minutes texting, buzzing around the Internet and just hanging out. All of a sudden, we were at my stop. I got off the bus, walked for three minutes and arrived at home. 

In total, it was about 25 minutes. 

So easy. And I could text and do all sorts of other things that I can't normally do when driving. 

Because I like to run errands after work, can park for free and it only takes me about 15 minutes to drive to the office regularly (plus, I think it would actually cost me more than driving), I don't see myself being a regular bus commuter. However, this experience did illuminate a few things:

1. How complacent we can get in our day to day lives. 

Honestly, how have I worked in this building for years and never even bothered to look up how I might get here by bus?! What else am I simply not seeing because I am so locked into my routine?!

2. I love the flexibility of driving, but feel more connected on public transportation. 

Sure, the ability to go wherever I want before or after work is nice. But it's also great not relying on a car. It's freeing. You see a lot of things you'd normally miss and feel more connected to your city and community. 

3. I could probably get away with not driving for awhile if I tried a little harder. 

Which is a Hey Eleanor challenge that's just around the corner! Yikes. Wanna pick me up?

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PS there's been a lot of car talk on this blog... surprising, since I know little to nothing about them. There was the time I bought one (and the time I talked about it in my first standup comedy set), the time I put air in my tires, the time I jump started my car. 

#257. I Battled an Animal in Hand-to-Hand Combat & Lost.

My nemesis. Image is not to scale... but basically, that is how big she was. 

There I was, working on my laptop at our dining room table when I froze. A wasp. A friggin wasp had the audacity to break into my house and try to make my afternoon a living hell. 

Sure, it wasn't doing anything. Not buzzing around, not noticing me, not doing anything except probably wondering why it couldn't get back outside. I, on the other hand, couldn't shake its presence from the forefront of my mind. I mean, have you ever read the best Onion article ever? Bees are scary!

Who can focus on a task when there's an insect with a tiny stinger in their presence? 

I needed to kill it.

I rolled up a magazine and silently approached the beast. My heart pounded. I inhaled deeply and WACK!  

I took a step back to see where the ol' whippersnapper had landed. Then, bzzzzzzzzz..... I missed the damn thing! Naturally, I screamed and ran outside, clutching my computer to my breast. I worked on my deck for thirty minutes before mustering the courage to go back inside. 

Wasp: 1  //  Molly: 0

Eventually, I had to pee. I quietly tip-toed inside, scanning the space with my eyes. Once I'd successfully traversed the living room, I started getting my confidence back. I am a person. I can outsmart an insect! You can do this, Molly! You can make it to the bathroom even though there is a wasp somewhere!

There it is! There it is! Good god, don't you see it?!

There it was, on the ceiling next to our eyesore of a light fixture. Armed with a broom (makes way more sense than a rolled up magazine!), I took aim. SMASH! I pushed the bugger into the ceiling with all my might.

bzzzzzzzzzzz.

SHIT!  I screamed and ran into the bathroom.

Wasp: 2  //  Molly: 0 

I took an extra long time in the bathroom, organizing the medicine cabinet, putting the toilet paper on the correct way, etc. I had to stop this nonsense. I will not let a wasp get the best of me. I stretched out my hammies, splashed a little water on my face and headed back into battle.

Will you quit trying to ruin me already wasp?!

It didn't take me long to find my opponent. She perched lightly atop a stack of mail. I again opted for the magazine, except this time, I didn't curl it up. I left it flat. More surface area. I took a deep breath through my nose, slowly exhaling through my mouth. You know, like in a yoga class.

One..... two...... three..... KA-POW!

I am not too proud to admit that I missed that effer yet again. I bolted to the deck, shrieking at a window-shattering pitch. 

I spent the remainder of the afternoon working outside. I'd put that wasp through enough. Even though I weigh roughly 100000000 percent more than she, I was no match for her scrappy tactics. 

I never saw the wasp again. Maybe she got away. Maybe I delivered a fatal wound to her thorax. Maybe she's still in here somewhere. All I know is that for some stupid reason, I challenged a mere wasp to a duel and did not win.

It was a humbling day, my friends. 

P.S. This is not the first time I've freaked out over a dead (or not so dead animal). Here's a time that was funny (but gross), a time that was just disgusting (but necessary), a time that was so intense I cried and a time that broke my heart so badly, I cried for two weeks. 

Everyday Eleanor: I'm a Log Rolling World Champ

Log rolling ain't for sissies.

Lumberjacks are real. And no, I’m not talking about Paul Bunyan or plaid-clad, tallboy-swillin’ hipsters (not that there is anything wrong with that). I’m talking about Madison, Wisconsin-based Shana Verstegen, the four-time log rolling and two-time boom running world champion. Lumberjack athletics is quite possibly the most badass sport you never knew existed. I talk to Shana about competition, eating like a lumberjack and the scariest thing she’s ever done, on or off the log.

I’m from Stillwater, Minnesota, a town literally built by lumberjacks and yet I never knew you could still be one.

Well technically, I’m not a lumberjack, I’m a lumberjack athlete. As an athlete, we mimic what the lumberjacks did over 100 years ago. So if you actually put me in the woods with an axe or a chainsaw, I probably wouldn’t be very useful.

 How did you initially get into the sport?

There are lumberjack athlete programs all over the US and Canada. In Madison specifically, we’ve got a YMCA program. So when I was a kid taking swimming lessons at the YMCA, and I saw kids on the logs and I wanted to do it.

I was always afraid that if I got on the log, I’d “crotch” it or something.

Everyone things that log rolling is dangerous, but in fact, it’s one of the safest sports you can do. I have never seen anyone hit their head. You can sometimes bump your shin, but otherwise, if you fall off the log, you end up in the water. It’s also really low impact, because when you step on it, the log sinks into the water. We’ve had a lot of people with knee and leg injuries thrive in log rolling because it’s athletic without the impact.

You’re a four-time log rolling and two-time boom running world champion. How do you train for competition?

We train all year round. I spend most of the off-season strength training. Come spring, we start spending more time on the log… As the summer comes, I spend about an hour a day on the log, either by myself or with an opponent. I do a lot of running, hill sprints and stuff like that, but it gets more specific as we get into competition season.

Are you nervous before a competition? How do you get into the mindset?

They say there is sort of a bell curve for all sports. If you’re not nervous at all, you don’t perform well, but if you’re too nervous it’ll ruin your competition. It’s taken years to learn to manage that and I still don’t manage it all the time.

What helps you get in the zone?

If I help with the kids’ competition, which I love to do, it reminds me why I am there. It’s for fun. It’s not about winning. It’s about making friends and having fun. Doing that before I compete puts my head in the right place.

Shana doing a boom run. She makes it look easy. Also, those abs.

When I think about what a lumberjack might eat, visions of pancake stacks, bacon & eggs (and maybe a steak, too) populate my mind.

There’s definitely plenty of bacon and pancakes and ice cream during the off-season. But during the summer, especially for the log rolling and the boom running, you have to be light. I eat lots of lean meats, vegetables and whole grains. Right now, people are into this whole no-carb, low-carb, paleo thing, but as an athlete, you need to have those good carbohydrates in your body.

I certainly admire your physical strength, but I admire your emotional strength more. Your mother was diagnosed with Huntington’s Disease when you were a kid. You had a 50-50 chance of inheriting it, but decided to forgo testing until recently. How did not knowing your fate affect how you lived your life?

I’m quite certain that I’ve lived life to the fullest. But that’s also how my parents raised me. My parents always encouraged me to do other activities, to be involved, to help out with charities, try new things. I sometimes wonder if this wasn’t in my life, if I would be the same way. I don’t know. My mom started showing symptoms when she was around 30 years old, so… there was this ticking clock in the back of my mind that would say, ‘you’ve got until 30. What can you do?’

You recently took the test to find out if you had the disease. It came back negative. Are you glad you waited to find out?

Yes. Now knowing the results, it would have been nice to know earlier… In not knowing, I always had this hope I could hold on to. That’s why I was so hesitant to be tested, because I realized that it might be the end of my hope.

Did you and your husband get married before you knew?

Yes. Peter, he’s just one amazing man. We’ve been friends since we were kids and so he’s seen my mom through various stages of the disease. He’s seen what my dad has had to go through to take care of her. The commitment and the risk that he took is unbelievable. He knew going into this that he might only have a few good years before taking on that caregiver role. We talked about it many times and I gave him any outs, but he wouldn’t have it. I was so grateful for that. He’s a pretty special human being.

What’s your advice for someone deciding to get tested for a genetic disease?

It’s a personal decision and you can’t let anyone make it for you. Believe it or not, only about 10 percent of people living at risk for Huntington’s get the test. When somebody first hears about Huntington’s, they usually say, “If there is a test, why don’t you take it?” I even had someone tell me that it was not fair to them. But it’s such a personal decision. Right now, we are living in a time where there is nothing you can do to stop the disease. I want people to know that there isn’t a right or wrong answer to what they do. It’s their lives.

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Follow Shana on Twitter. You can check out my other Everyday Eleanor interviews in the archives. You know you want to.

I want to hear your Everyday Eleanor story. Email me at heyeleanorproject@gmail.com.

107 Ways to Expand Your Comfort Zone.

What’s your biggest fear?

You’re probably thinking heights, your nudie pictures surfacing on the Internet or spiders. But what you probably aren’t aware of are all the little things in your everyday life that you avoid because they make you uncomfortable.

Silly stuff, like cooking seafood at home, watching a movie you heard is pretty intense, or inviting your neighbors over for a barbecue (for real, not just to be polite). 

For nearly a year, I’ve committed to doing something outside my comfort zone once a day.

It sounded adventurous. Plus, it was great blog fodder. I didn’t expect the enormous impact it would have on my life. The more you live outside your comfort zone, the more that zone expands. You can actually practice being afraid, which in turn makes you less scared and more open to new experiences.

It’s awesome.  

Fear is completely subjective. What might terrify you may be old hat to me and vice versa. However, I’ve discovered that every time I lean into my fears, I unearth new possibilities and expand my comfort zone in a way I never thought possible. And truly, no task is too small. I learned a hell of a lot more not wearing makeup for a week than I did skydiving. You should give it a try. Download my free ebook to help get you thinking about new and fun ways to challenge yourself. 107 ways, to be exact. 

Send me my free eBook, por favor!