In my imagination, I am unequivocally beautiful, charming, and talented, marred only by a cold heart and a biting sense of humor. I've spent the first thirty-seven years of my life aspiring to this Jane Austen-esque ideal, even though the everyday reality is much less romantic—a house littered with candy wrappers and bobby pins, a diet of cinnamon rolls and pizza, and a neurotic love affair with good-looking ampersands.
In 2016, I moved from Chicago to rural Tennessee to take care of my grandparents. My weekends are spent doing crossword puzzles with my grandma, driving her and my grandpa around town for errands, and getting rewarded with homemade baked goods as a reward. During the rest of the week, I get paid by both the church (they let me rock out on the piano) and the state (they let me shuffle papers), but most of my time is dedicated to watching Great British Bake-off and hanging out with Gus, my hedgehog.
Things You Will Find Here at Rachelskirts.com
I have mad skills in penmanship, playing piano, knowing exactly when to use a semicolon, organizing bookshelves, and befriending unfriendly cats. I write about all of those things—and whatever else interests me—here at Rachelskirts.com. Recently, my other interests have included books, technology, video games, office supplies, and that time I sneezed into a box of tissues.
New posts show up once every week or so, and if you really, really like me, you can subscribe via email or social media. If you're flat-out in love with me, you can also follow me on Twitter, Tumblr, Goodreads, and so many other sites.
Some Notes about Rachelskirts, the Lady
Well, first of all, I am indeed a lady. I even know how to curtsey and make my eyelashes flutter! I am also proficient at trash-talking during a baseball game (Go, Cubs!), eating grilled cheese sandwiches, and napping in a puddle of sunshine.
I grew up near Chicago with my dad, a computer programmer; my mom, a now-retired bookkeeper; and my younger brother, Adam, a legendary illustrator in the making. It is my dad's fault that I love math and technology. My mom is responsible for my love of shopping, logic puzzles, and organization. Adam has always inspired me to be more creative and to value really good story-telling (and really bad jokes). They have lovingly encouraged or tolerated all of my obsessions and quirks, and I wouldn't be where I am today without them.
My college years were spent in Texas, where I enjoyed the greatest of laughs and adventures with a posse of nerdy boys in Texas. They taught me to live joyfully and to love myself with reckless abandon. (The common theme here is to surround yourself with really great people.)
The rest of my twenties could be summed up as "a weird detour into abusive relationships and toxic work environments," but somewhere in there, I met a wonderful man (and kissed him a bunch), quit the bad job, and burned the bad bridges. Then I turned thirty, moved to a new state, re-learned the value of good friends and good family, adopted a hedgehog, and continued kissing the excellent boyfriend. The rest of the story is yet to come!
Speaking of Good Friends, Let's Talk!
If you are a friendly type person and would like to chat and/or send me pictures of hedgehogs in hats, please do not be afraid to say hello!
Email address: skirts@rachelskirts.com
Google Voice number: 847.462.4627
Twitter profile: www.twitter.com/rachelskirts
Colophon
This site is powered by Ghost (with comments by Discourse) and hosted by Digital Ocean. I designed the theme using Photoshop CC; I customized the theme and related CSS in Atom. Custom web fonts are provided by Google and Typekit.
All photographs are mine unless otherwise noted, taken with a Canon Rebel XS, Canon PowerShot 300 HS, or iPhone 13 Pro Max. Any editing of the photographs is done in Photoshop CC or Afterlight.
My videos are recorded on a Sony Handycam HDR-SR12, Canon PowerShot 300 HS, or iPhone 13 Pro Max. Many of my older videos were edited in Windows Movie Maker, but anything from 2011 onward is edited with iMovie.
Copyrights and Related Policies
Look, poppet. I love you. But all of the content on this site is copyrighted to me unless otherwise noted, and that means that you can't copy/paste it to your site. In fact, it means that you need to get my written permission before you can use my content anywhere else, and I will love you twice as much if you honor that.
Every single last bit of that glorious, copyrighted content here is my own opinion. My employers may or may not share my opinions. My family members may or may not share my opinions. Future me may or may not share opinions with past me. I hereby pledge to try my best to be good-natured and respectful in sharing my opinions; I ask that you do the same.
Sometimes, I promise things like cupcakes or doughnuts or bacon to people who read all the way to the end of a long entry or who give feedback when I ask for it. If you've made it to the end of this about page and would like me to buy you a cupcake, a doughnut, or a piece of bacon, let me know! Let's hang out and eat good food together.