I am really feeling this right now.....

Ski Trip!!!

Next Tuesday we will go to Mammoth!!! I am so excited because I got my first pair of snow pants!! every other time I have gone to the snow, I have made due with nylon warm up pants, not good when in a wet snow. The best part is my new pants were only $15 on EBay, with $10 shipping!!! I was about to spend $100 on some cute Big 5 pants, but was dissuaded. I just hope they fit. I am an 8 in the $100 ski pants, so I hope I am in this Obermeyer pair. No more wet butt, no more wet knees!!!! The best part is that they are cute too. These pants are nice and streamlined. They even have ankle gaiters in the legs. Can you beat $25??? No way! Now I am ready to hit the slopes!! Gabe just bought a snow onesie suit on EBay and I hope to copy his success. I should get my new pants at the end of the week, just in time for the trip. I will model them for you when they arrive. (I think I love Ebay, I will know for sure when my pants arrive)

Week One

I cleared out my bookshelf the other day. I found an old German textbook and decided to list it on Amazon instead of just donating it. I sold it for $30within the hour!! That is $30 toward the new entryway! I will try to sell other stuff to offset the costs of my changes. This will be great because I plan to get rid of a lot of stuff, and only buy a few key items!
______________________
Sold items: textbook
Income Total: $30

Purchased: 0
Purchased total: 0
______________________
Net: +$30

the Cure: week one

This little guy is gonna go!





There are quite a few tasks to complete for week one of the cure

• Read through to page 69
• Take the AT Quiz on pages 42-44 of the book.
• Take pictures of your home and upload them to our Flickr page
• Determine your budget: The Cure is not about money, it's about spending time getting to know your home. We'll be showing you to do it economically.
• Will you be doing the Deep Treatment or the One Room Remedy?: We recommend the Deep Treatment for first timers
• Start a style tray Use a tray, a scrapbook or a box to gather your clippings. If you've never done one before, we suggest taking your style tray off line for hands-on experience.
• Figure out where you'll be buying fresh flowers every week: We like Trader Joe's because we're there anyway buying food.
• Pick a day next week to visit your favorite home store: Even if it's out of your budget, it's a great place to pick up ideas.
• Start a list of things that bother you in your apartment that need to get fixed: On our list? We're replacing all our lightbulbs with CFL's as they burn out.
• Determine where you'll put your outbox: we keep ours by the front door.
• Figure out one item to put out on the street

-from Apartment Therapy LA Fall Cure

I have so far completed everything except starting my style tray and gone to a home store.
I have taken photos of my place and have posted them onto my Picasa photo page. My budget is $300, but I cannot buy anything big because I plan to move to San Diego in a year and I don't want to move a lot of stuff (and I have no money and my apartment is full so the point is to get rid of stuff). Since I am a first-timer, I will be dong the Deep-Treatment (although, I am not totally sure what this is yet). I will buy flowers at Trader Joe's or make my own arrangements from found plant material. The apartment is in great shape, except for the darned kitchen cabinet under the sink. The hinge is broken and needs to be replaced. I have designated an outbox (an old laundry basket that is also on its way out) it even has some trash that is ready to dump. I haven't put an item on the street but I have jumped the gun and done some "therapy".

I have already gone through my little bookshelf and removed 10" of magizines (to toss) and old books (to donate) and de-cluttered my nightstand. Now I have room for the new, unread books that were scattered about and when they are done, they too will go. I need to get the DH on reading his last couple of Michael Chriton novels so they can keep the others company in the bin. I have also listed my little art table on Craig's List. I am not that sad to see it go. It is lovely, but underused and therefore just taking up 10 sq ft in my little apartment. I can already visualize how nice the extra breathing room will be.

My answers to the quiz are as follows
Style
Favorite Actress: Scarlett Johannson, Claire Danes, Audrey Hepburn
Actor: Paul Newman, Liev Schreiber, Clive Owen, Collin Firth
Artist: Andy Warhol, Frank Loyd Wright, Monet, Picasso
Music: the best of everything, classic pops, pop, classic rock
Automobile: BMW Wagon, 1960's Mercedes
TV show: The Office, The Biggest Loser, Friends
Restaurants: Market, San Diego
Designer/Store: Michael Kors, Gap. classic, sporty, tailored, preppy
Personal History
Born: Toppennish
Grew Up: San Diego County, lived Bakersfield, Ventura, Berlin, San Luis Obispo
Role Model: Martha Stewart: business mogul, strong personality
Problem with my apt: too cluttered, difficult to keep tidy, not enough breathing room, no where to work
What I'd like to do more of in my apt: want to have more guests over
How I'd like my friends to describe my house: Cool (sophisticated), cozy, like a place they don't want to leave, warm and inviting

Hi all!
I have embarked on a new adventure. In an effort to make my home as lovely as possible, I am commiting to the 8 week Apartment Therapy home "cure". If you are unfamiliar with Apartment Therapy you should check out the awesome blog. It has a bunch of great ideas for people living in smaller homes.

Crocs bake Birkenstocks look cool

Ok, I love shoes and all, and at the end of the summer I indulged in a pair of BIRKENSTOCKS!! I can hardly believe it. I know, I know, but they are comfy (worst reason ever to get something). But, at least they aren't Crocs! They remind me of my childhood when my brother and I had the funkiest colored Birenstocks. My grandma has had the samepair of white ones forever. Ahhh, my German family would understand. I do not think they are acceptable to wear to a job interview or a date, for that matter. They are the best sandals for puddling about the house, or walking to the mailbox. I am glad I got the shimmery lavender and not the brown suede that American seem to love in the Birkenstock Arizona. So there. I love my Birkinstocks and I will justify them by claiming how bad Crocs are.

single car householdom?

The husband and I are pretty set on becoming a single car household in the very near future. Ack!! This is sort of scary. How will I be able to take a spur of the moment cross country road trip without my own 5 seater sedan? We are planning on living in the great city of San Luis Obispo for at least another year so it shouldn't be too much of a logistical nightmare. SLO is great because it is only 3.5 miles from end to end and everything is centrally located (near out apartment). This will work out so well because I will save $300 and the at least $130 in gas it takes to make the 5 mile round trip to school each day, not to mention the wear and tear and maintenance for the vehicle.

We both have great bicycles, but the real reason we are both so excited to cut back on an entire car is the prospect of getting a 125cc gas powered scooter (or motorized cycle by California DMV standards). OOOH! (just popped in my head) our one car will be able to use the designated covered parking spot exclusively! Wow! between bus (free for me as a Cal Poly student), biking, and 90+mpg scooter and the one car, we should have no problem getting all of our business done.

This idea has been bubbling for quite some time, but now that one car is in the shop and gas prices are only at the beginning of their summer climb it has really cemented itself in our minds. Gabe already rides his bike to work 2 miles away a few times a week and we may make one or two trips a week each "out of town" (to the neighboring cities 10-15 miles away). So, less gas, insurance, maintenance, tires, washing, liability - how could we loose?
The best part it Gabe might end up selling his car to a coworker who wants something reasonable for his soon to be licensed daughter, so we would have the cash to get the scooter!

On the verge of canceling cable

Because of our acute addiction to all things television, Gabe and I are just one step away from canceling cable. That one step consists of calling up the company and getting the switch thrown.
I will further explain the reasons for this dramatic lifestyle change in upcoming installments, and I will chronicle our experiences in future posts.

Everyone should be freaking out about tax season right about now, April is fast upon us.

That is, unless you are a college student hoping to get some financial aid. Yeah, you should have already done your taxes prior to March 1st so that you could be considered for the most free or loan money possible. So I must thank FAFSA for pressuring me to file my income taxes early every year so that I don't have panic attacks in April. I had a panic attack in February because we had to pay an additional $1,000 in federal and state income taxes this year.

By the way, I must comment on the stupid FAFSA logo. It is a mortarboard with a USA flag image on it capping the "S", so your (the student's) studies are patriotic, get it? Ok, no more on the subject

SATC Movie!!

What to do with myself?

The university winter quarter is not ofically over, however it is for us landscape archirtorture students. (I just have to digitally submit 2 assignments by Monday!!) This is wonderful, right? I finally have time to do all of the things I had put off because I was too busy, like; getting the cars smoged, tuned up, washed and waxed (most of the deferred chores are auto related), getting a haircut, giving the apartment a thorough cleaning, washing the laundry, put away the last load of clean laundry, give myself a manicure, exercise, water the plants, and the list goes on. Oh well, I am off to finish those last school assignments so I wil be totally free for the next two weeks!

Have a cat? You need cat wigs!

Ok, I pilfered this idea from my new favorite blog The Unclutterer. It is the very end of the university quarter and I have no brainpower for my own unique posts.












Cat wigs are awesome! Now what fine feline wouldn't want such a great accessory? Kitty Wigs are my hot invention of the week. I need to come up with daily topics. Anyways, this would make a great birthday present for you cat, if you are crazy and do that sort of thing. Enjoy!

If I die before I wake....

The carbon monoxide detector went off this evening!!! Hurrah, all I need on this lovely St. Valentine's Day is th potential for a life threatening emergency!! Gabe and I opened the windows and hung out on the porch to not be in harm's way. Gabe called the fire department because if SLO city is anything like every single county engine, they will have a gas detector that will tell how much co is hanging around and possibly find the source. Well, the FD came and when good old Gabe asked about the detector the captain said that their detector only did fuels. He was also very awkard about explaining why theirs can't detect co. We got a weird vibe. Later we surmised the FD would assume too much liability if they detected co levels that were safe and the people ended up dying so they just keep their mouth's shut. However, the captain was pretty sure that ours was malfunctioning (and I doubt he is qualified to make such an assertion) and we should keep the windows cracked just in case, and not to stay here "if we don't feel comfortable,"which I am sure is their get of the hook statment. I am sure that baking, boiling, and roasting was the culprit - lots of gas burning with no ventilation and no open windows becasue it is a cold evening. I will be really pissed if I die of co poising tonight. If that is the case Alex can have my MacBook Pro and my mom can have my clothes- since she fits into them anyway. Oh well, I am sure I will see everyone safe and sound tomorrow or Monday.
Till then

Chain Email

Most chain emails I come across are a complete waste of time, but some are real gems! I was forwarded this one today from my mom.

"We all know that Moms love to dress up their kids. But when Dad is a graphic designer, anything is possible. It all started out with the innocent baby picture below...