Shirt: Ralph Lauren Non-Iron | Pants: J.Crew Minnie Pants | Shoes: Land’s End Leopard Loafers | Coat: Michael Kors Trench
I know tomorrow is Valentine’s Day and the Internet is filled with chocolates, hearts and roses. But today we’re going to talk about a very unromantic topic: A mouse. Specifically the one that’s in my apartment and terrorizing me. It’s horrible and gross and I’ve debated sharing it on the blog but here we are. If you want to skip the mouse talk, just scroll down after the next photo so we can chat about Galentine’s Day and how pink and leopard spots are meant to be.
When I first spotted this mouse, I just about jumped out of my skin. My heart definitely skipped a beat and I screamed bloody murder. I’ve lived in DC for 8 years and the only unwanted visitor I’ve ever had was a cockroach in my Glover Park apartment that I managed to kill by spraying it with Windex while yelling my lungs out. Inspiration for this tactic goes to My Big Fat Greek Wedding and having Windex within reach. It was an isolated incident and I moved on. I’ve lived in my current apartment for 3 years and have never had a problem with bugs or anything. And then I saw it.
I do not keep any food out and I wipe down my kitchen counter nightly after cleaning my dinner dishes. So having a mouse was a serious shock to the system. It’s definitely made me increasingly jumpy. I swear I see little movements out of the corner of my eye when I’m in my apartment, causing me to jerk my head around. It’s incredible I haven’t gotten whiplash from this whole thing.
My property manager has sent a pest control person multiple times and I’ve set up my own traps (I use the enclosed ones – much more humane than the sticky traps) but no go. This mouse is one smart cookie. After a week, I decided to reset the traps with fresh peanut butter and when I went to refill, there were teeth marks in the peanut butter!! The mouse managed to get the peanut butter in the trap without getting caught. What a brilliant monster.
My friends think this whole situation is hilarious and have affectionately dubbed him “Ralph.” I, on the other hand, cannot wait for him to be gone and to feel like I have my apartment back. Has anyone else dealt with this issue?? Any tips?? It’s just eeew*shudder*wwww!!!
Okay back to talking about happy things.
Last week and this week are going to be nonstop for me, thank goodness we have a 3-day weekend coming up. The weekend is when I get the bulk of my blog work done from shooting new content to scheduling posts and catching up on emails. But the weekend is also when I get to sleep in and take time to get myself aligned. With Galentine’s/Valentine’s Day coming up, I think it’s a good time to talk about the importance of self-care. Here is what I do on the weekends to make sure I’m taking care of myself:
- Get moving: I always make sure that I hit 10K steps each day on the weekend. Since I’m usually running errands on these days, it’s pretty easy to hit this goal without even realizing it. If I’m heading somewhere on the Metro and I have enough time, I’ll get off on the stop before mine to get in those extra steps. I also love being able to go to workout classes that I’m not able to get to during the work week, like Flywheel spin classes. You’ll work up a serious sweat!
- Sip something bubbly: I love carbonated drinks and IZZE gives me my fix without the guilt. My favorite flavor is IZZE Grapefruit, I always have a bottle to sip on when I’m in my apartment. I also love that I have a perfect excuse to use a colorful straw, it’s just a little touch that makes something simple feel special. And if you want to add some tequila to the grapefruit juice and turn it into a Paloma, you do you.
- Write in a notebook: After typing on a computer all week, my handwriting has gone south. I only write in cursive but after typing, my loopy cursive writing looks more like a scrawl. I have a few notebooks that I love writing in, whether it’s a stray thought for an upcoming blog post or a line from a podcast that struck me, I write it down. It’s therapeutic for me and I love flipping through my notebook(s) when I need a jolt of inspiration.
And now for the clothes.
Ralph Lauren non-iron shirts and J.Crew Minnie pants are two must-have staples for me. I mean, it really doesn’t get any better than a non-iron shirt. Ironing has to be one of my least favorite chores to do and I have to bribe myself with podcasts to bring myself to do it. So you can see the appeal for me. J.Crew Minnie pants are the absolute best. Take it for me, an avowed dress/skirt girl. These are my #1 favorite pants. They are incredibly figure-flattering and in case you don’t want to wear leggings, their black ones are a great substitute. I also love how comfy they are! P.S. J.Crew Factory sells the Minnie pants as “Winnie” and are exactly the same as the ones in the regular J.Crew store. Happy closet, happy bank account!
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Let’s Chat!
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Definitely have had this situation!! I keep my apartment as clean as possible & don’t leave food out either. They really are just looking for somewhere warm. Do a thorough walkthrough of your unit and look for any holes in the flooring/near your heating unit. Even the smallest ones can be the culprit. If you find them, clearly label and have your landlord send someone over to fill them with foam. They are very smart and never end up in the trap, but I have found that the foam helps since there’s no way to get in. *knocking on wood*
Thanks, Samantha! The pest control people have come several times to fill up any small holes and possible entrances, I’m seriously at my wit’s end because it seems like every nook and cranny has been plugged up at this point. I did some Googling and found that mice hate the smell of peppermint so I think the next course of action is dipping cotton balls in peppermint oil and placing them around where I’ve seen the mouse.
I am so, so sorry about your mouse problem! Last winter we had the same issue in our home (it’s an older house that we’ve been slowly remodeling, so I can’t say it was a huge surprise). But the biggest thing that I can tell you is that although not quite as humane the sticky traps do the job much better than any others. We would set traps & our mouse would steal the food without getting caught, time and time again. But once we set the sticky traps out we caught him in one night! Also, don’t do poison blocks! My parents had a mouse too at one time and they put out poison and the mouse died and they could only smell him…not find him. It was awful!
Good luck with your issue & I hope it gets fixed soon!
xoxo, SS
Southern And Style