The 2024 Skirts Awards
Welcome to the 2024 Skirts Awards, where I tell you my favorite and least favorite things about the year.
Rachelskirts
I love a well-placed semicolon.
Latest posts
Back to Basics
It’s time to dust off that LiveJournal, babyyy. We’re doing tag-a-friend blog questionnaires again, and I got tagged! This actually came at a great time for me because I’ve been halfway through my annual Skirts Awards post for two months now . . .
Planning My Year: 2024 Edition
My 2024 goals for the year and how I set them up (including links to external resources for more information).
The 2023 Skirts Awards
Welcome to the 2023 Skirts Awards, where I tell you my favorite and least favorite things about the year.
On Hate-Reading
I have been meaning to reply to this tweet for well over a year now: “Casual reminder to drop the books you are reading for pleasure but not enjoying. There are millions of books worth reading . . ."
Tiny Stories, Volume 2
I once told a former boyfriend that I wasn’t in the mood to smile and that pirates don’t smile anyway. He then edited the Wikipedia page for pirates to say that pirates should smile . . .
Learning to Thrive
In January, I started working with a new therapist. We paired up on Talkspace, an app I’ve used and loved for years. I had been taking a break from regular sessions with a previous therapist and wanted a fresh start with a new “safe space person" . . .
Giving Back
Last week, I was able to donate blood at a local place in Cincinnati, and during the check-in process, the staff confirmed that they provide blood for the hospital where my mom was treated before she died . . .
Call Me Irresponsible
In January, I came across something called “The Minimalism Game,” a month-long challenge to get rid of one item on the first day of the month, two items on the second day, three on the third, etc. By the end of the month, you’ve purged nearly 500 things . . .
Dream Jobs
When I left Tennessee, I resigned from two jobs, church and state: playing piano for my church and processing mountains of paperwork for the state department of transportation. I might end up looking for similar positions elsewhere in the country, or I may jet off to England . . .
Autumn Favorites
Last week, I moved from rural Tennessee to Cincinnati (another story for another time), and I am desperately waiting for the weather to cool off after a very warm and humid summer. I will miss all of the sunshine, but I am genuinely looking forward to cozy scarves and hot chocolate . . .
Tiny Stories, Volume 1
I will proudly tell anyone who asks that the first concert I ever attended was Sharon, Lois, and Bram . . .
The Dearest of Diaries
Exactly twenty years ago, on April 23, 2002, I wrote and published my very first post for my very first “online journal.” I was a sixteen-year-old high school sophomore who loved the idea of sharing about my everyday experiences . . .
Parking Lot Diaries
As I write this, I have been sitting in the parking lot of a CVS pharmacy for two hours and don't plan on moving anytime soon. In fact, two hours ago, I went inside the drugstore and shopped for some essentials to prepare . . .
What Will I Tell My Heart?
I don't know where to start, really. When I last wrote a blog post in October 2020, I was excited to share the small moments of joy, the weird stories that turn into inside jokes, the brief glimpses of normalcy that give us just enough hope to survive—even in the face of a brutal pandemic . . .
More to Say
I like sharing funny stories and sweet memories. That was true when I first started blogging in 2002, and it’s still true in the seemingly godforsaken year of 2020. I also like finding ways to learn from and grow from the uncomfortable stuff . . .
The 2019 Skirts Awards
The annual round-up of people and movies and songs and other things I loved (or loved to hate).
Truly Happy
My grandpa has severe dementia, so many of the things he says are repeated as part of a routine. (“We aren’t the first ones here!” is something he exclaims with genuine surprise every Sunday morning when we pull into the church parking lot.) . . .
Skirts with Pockets
Welcome to Skirts with Pockets, a weekly collection of the online articles, websites, and other links that I've loved and now want to share with you. Please excuse any stray candy wrappers that fall to the ground as I empty my virtual pockets.
Plucked from Obscurity
One Sunday in May, I had a date with myself to see Captain Marvel at the local theater after I wrapped up playing piano for my church. Because a girl can’t live on expensive movie theater candy alone, I stopped by one of the many fast food restaurants in town for a chicken salad on the way . . .
Homesick
This month marks three years since I left Chicago, and at some point, I might be able to articulate just how much I miss it. Every time I see a photo of a city skyline or scrape ice from the windshield of my car or feel a strong wind, my heart skips a beat.
Now with More Ghost
Welcome to the newly relaunched Rachelskirts.com! With any luck, you won't notice very many differences straightaway, but behind the scenes, everything has been rebuilt. The content is now being published by Ghost . . .
Letters from Home
The night before I left for Tennessee—moving out on my own for the first time—my dad gifted me a set of stationery and matching envelopes, so we could keep in touch by writing letters. Every week or two since then, he has faithfully sent me news from the home front . . .
The 2018 Skirts Awards
The annual round-up of people and movies and songs and other things I loved (or loved to hate).
Family Man
I'll be the first to admit that I don't know what a conventional political race is supposed to look like. For the first thirty years of my life, I lived in Illinois, where four of our most recent seven governors ended up in jail. Political ads there might as well skip to the point . . .
A Hot Mess of Hot Takes
Even though I haven't blogged regularly in a year or two, I still keep a running list of blog post ideas in OmniFocus—in the hopes that I can shame myself into writing, maybe? (I'm sorry, Brené Brown.) Some of the ideas will require many weeks of thoughtful drafting and editing . . .
Skirts with Pockets
Welcome to Skirts with Pockets, a weekly collection of the online articles, websites, and other links that I've loved and now want to share with you. Please excuse any stray candy wrappers that fall to the ground as I empty my virtual pockets . . .
2017 Book Reviews
For the most part, I have given up on New Year's resolutions and have come to accept the fact that it doesn't help anyone if I get in the habit of lying to myself every December. But some primal part of me cannot let go of the idea that I want to read more books in the coming year . . .
Ice Cream for Dinner
I could write five chapters on Easter Sunday and the hilarity that ensued from beginning to end, but the best part was going out to get ice cream for dinner with my grandparents and my grandpa getting out of the car in his slippers (to the surprise and horror of my grandma) . . .
Skirts with Pockets
Welcome to Skirts with Pockets, a weekly collection of the online articles, websites, and other links that I've loved and now want to share with you. Please excuse any stray candy wrappers that fall to the ground as I empty my virtual pockets . . .
On Writing
A few weeks ago, I took a four-day class to learn more about the software that Tennessee state employees use for managing contracts, tracking items to be paid, paying estimates to contractors, etc. The software is complicated enough to warrant a 300-page manual . . .
Skirts with Pockets
Welcome to Skirts with Pockets, a weekly collection of the online articles, websites, and other links that I've loved and now want to share with you. Please excuse any stray candy wrappers that fall to the ground as I empty my virtual pockets . . .
The Girl at the Desk
I made it through the first half of The Girl on the Train book on Wednesday. I started reading during my lunch break and was immediately miffed that one of the main characters is named Rachel and makes up stories about the strangers she sees every day. I do this regularly . . .
Sunshine and Walks
"Tell me what to write," I said. "About sunshine and walks," he said. So here we are. I recently celebrated the first anniversary of moving to Tennessee and living on my own. This time last year, I was just starting to find a good rhythm with my grandparents . . .
Learning to Say No
Every August, I sign up to participate in VEDA (Vlog Every Day in August) as part of a wonderful community of YouTube friends. I never find the time to finish more than ten videos, but I sign up and do my best every year because I enjoy the opportunity to share in a crazy, creative adventure . . .
Hello from the Other Side
I live in rural Tennessee now. The scenery is beautiful, the people are almost too friendly, the pizza is terrible, and I'm pretty sure I made this exact same observation on Twitter shortly after moving here. Oops, yes . . .
Some Day When Spring Is Here
Over the weekend, I leased a new car—a white Kia Soul—with help from my wonderful parents. We have always named our cars in this family, but I was struggling to come up with a clever name for this one, in part because a white soul just seems doomed . . .
The Houses of Healing
It has been a long time since I felt like I had something to say, much less something worth saying. This post is really a preamble, to help me find my voice again. It is also the story of why I lost my voice in the first place . . .
A Conspiracy Unmasked
It is entirely by accident that I have taken to making annual jokes about Apple (the company I love to hate) and the Lord of the Rings trilogy (the books and films I love to love) on Twitter (the site I will eventually hate to love?) . . .
In the Still of the Night
There are exactly eighty-seven minutes left until midnight, the final eighty-seven minutes of my twenties. I hauled out my laptop to write about this from my bed, and I had to move a phone, a tablet, a Kindle, and a plate full of taco wrappers out of the way to make that happen . . .
Sludge the Cat
A pounding headache has been plaguing me for days, and I have decided to call it the "August hangover." (Awful things are less awful if they have adorable names.) I think I spent the entire last month checking things off a never-ending to-do list at work . . .
With a Song in My Heart
The final week of my twenties has arrived, and I am floating in a pool of nostalgia—Seventeen magazine in one hand, Capri Sun in the other, and my hair pulled back in a scünci. Part of that is because I spent the morning photographing my Teeny Beanie Babies . . .
Competitive Reading
Competitive reading is my new jam. It started in January, when one of my Goodreads book clubs decided to read through the first Harry Potter book together. The group is only made up of a dozen people, and I've always been one of the first to finish reading any of our assigned books . . .
A Teeny Tiny Moment
In December, my boyfriend took me to the Art Institute in Chicago to see a series of miniature rooms, many of which were decorated for the holidays. It's probably as weird as it sounds, but I had been looking forward to seeing the exhibit for weeks . . .
Concerning Hobbits
Last night, I went to the theater with my dad and brother and saw the final Hobbit movie. I legitimately don't know what I think of it, other than to say that I didn't hate it. It would be easy to get swept up in a rant about how pompous someone would have to be . . .
The 2014 Skirts Awards
The annual round-up of people and movies and songs and other things I loved (or loved to hate).
Fizzling Out
Tomorrow, I will compile the 2014 Skirts Awards and share my favorite books, movies, podcasts, TV shows, nicknames, quotes, inside jokes, and other useless trivia. It will be festive and fun and lovely. I will have all sorts of energy and maybe even shower and wear real clothes . . .
I'm Sorry, Boo
I heard a story about a friend of a friend of a friend, a story that he and his wife are fans of The Lord of the Rings and talk about it so frequently that they use acronyms for the sake of efficiency. The example that was shared with me: "Lodder-roddick" . . .
Giving Thanks
The #sitcomlife writers, who constantly threaten my quest for a boring existence, finally gave me a break today. I slept in, enjoyed breakfast in bed with my laptop and Sims 3, enjoyed lunch in bed with my laptop and Tumblr, and enjoyed dinner in bed . . .
Oh, the Humanity
Since this blog is at risk for becoming a completely unreadable puddle of happiness, I'm staging an intervention. Please allow me to complain about the cold weather, whine about the last-minute tasks that were added to my to-do list this morning . . .