This is me

The internet is a strange place. It's a place where you can seemingly find out anything about anyone. Anything, but really sometimes nothing. The internet is a place where you can seemly get to know someone, feel like their best friend, like you know them already without even talking face to face.

I don't know what you know about me, but let's consider this our first introduction.

Hi! I'm Alicia.

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I could go on and tell you a lot of different things about me. That I'm an artist, that I'm a mom, that I'm a wife and daughter. That I could eat pizza every day (and attempted to during my 9 months of pregnancy). That I absolutely adore fizzy drinks of any kind - my two favorites being seltzer and champagne. That I love personality tests, in particular the enneagram (7 here!) and the myers briggs is growing on me (ESFP). That I drink more than 3 cups of coffee before noon, and think about what I'm having for dinner by the middle of breakfast.

But you really wouldn't know me. You would know me...but really, you don't know me. So here are a few things...my secrets and beliefs....take them or leave them.

I believe street traffic is the soundtrack of a city, listening to the honking horns and people out all hours of the night as I go to sleep is like being lulled by the city’s heartbeat.

I watch my wedding video every year on our anniversary.

I believe in raising my children be cultured; because my idea of motherhood includes weekly sushi dates with my daughter.

I know my kryptonite in cleaning is boxes of photographs; once I start walking down memory lane it’s hard for me to stop.

I wear sunglasses when I'm on the subway; it the way I can be with nobody while being surrounded by everybody.

I secretly love that my husband and I have an unwritten rule that whoever cooks doesn't have to do the dishes. I always cook.

I believe christmas doesn’t start until your first Starbucks holiday drink; in college every Christmas my girlfriends and I hold off on our holiday drinks until we celebrate ‘Evergreen Saturday’ - gingerbread latte's at Starbucks, the lighting parade down Michigan Avenue, and our yearly pilgrimage through the closed off streets to Potbellys on State & Lake.

I believe the best piece of jewelry is the one passed down at least two generations.

I have a bon vivant spirit when it comes to eating out.

I think the best friends are the ones you laugh so hard you cry with.

I am really sentimental about the chapter of life I lived in Chicago - but that doesn't mean I don't love the chapter I'm living in right now.

I believe the best peace & quiet is found in the middle of a crowded coffee shop; the anonymity brings the best silence.

I own six seasons of Ina Garten's show The Barefoot Contessa...and watch them before I go to bed.

I have been known to not think twice about suggesting after dinner cupcakes and coffee in NYC...we lived two hours away and did this A LOT.

I love having a pot of coffee on all day.

I am, at my very core, a sentimental, nostalgic sap.

I believe life is too short not to surround yourself with happy people.

I totally think pearls are better than diamonds.

I believe in long layovers, its my best excuse to spend the afternoon in the Sky Lounge.

I love Spotify am a music junkie, and I have VERY eclectic taste...my favorite playlist right now is my "ME" list.

I sing and dance when I'm alone...the last song I wanted to get up and all out dance party solo on? Cosmic Girl by Jamiroquai.

I think a healthy happy hour rotation is the best excuse for date night 5 nights a week.

I believe in taking the expressway during rush hour, because there is no better view than the skyline when you’re stuck in traffic.

I can't stand waiting a whole week for the next episode of something so I wait a whole year until it comes out all together on iTunes so I can binge watch it in a week.

I hate planning things out. If you want to get us on your calendar, ask me the day before.

I love long walks down bustling streets like Michigan Avenue, State Street, 5th Avenue or Broadway - there is something just so therapeutic about pounding out the pavement, window shopping, and absorbing the energy of the city.

I like to say it's our anniversary when taking 6am flights with the hope of scoring free mimosas when the drink cart comes by.

I love my smile. Honest! I got made fun of so much for my squinty eyed smile growing up...but it just makes me want to smile even more.

I look at photos on my iPhone every day...I want to relive the memories I've captured through those little windows to the past. My favorite app? TIMEHOP.

I think no matter how hard city life can be - with every broken car window, parking ticket, and traffic jam - that a breathtaking view of a sparkling skyline makes all the hard parts fade away.

I'm tempted to tie this up into a nice bow. Blah blah blah something nice and flowery but you know what? This is me. Take it or leave it.