Anniversary Splurge May 21, 2009

My husband and I celebrated 4 years of marriage last week, so this past weekend we splurged a bit to celebrate.  We have been very good about not eating out much lately, so we felt it was ok if we spoiled ourselves this one weekend.  We went to a fancy steak and seafood restaurant and saw Wicked, the musical.  The dinner was delicious — I had fillet mignon and a fabulous martini composed of amaretto, vanilla vodka and pineapple juice.  Wicked was incredible — those ladies can SING!

Now don’t worry folks, I haven’t abandoned all financial sense for the sake of indulgence!  Since tickets to the musical were rather expensive, C and I made a pact not to get each other gifts this year — instead, the tickets were a joint gift to each other.  Also, since we knew it was going to be a pricey meal, we made sure to select a restaurant where we could get 4% back for my student loan through Upromise.  All in all it was a wonderful night, and I look forward to many more happy anniversaries with my husband.

New Harry Potter Trailer! November 15, 2008

The Leaky Cauldron just posted the new trailer for Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince!  This was my favorite book of the series so I am really really excited for the movie.

Check it out here!

Halloween Nostalgia October 28, 2008

This morning when I looked at the tv listings, I noticed that “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” is on tonight on abc 8/7 central.  It just made me smile as I remembered being a little kid and getting all excited about the cartoon holiday specials.  My favorite is still “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” with Burl Ives.

What was your favorite holiday special?

Books that I think I’d like to read October 26, 2008

After reading all these personal finance blogs for a few months, I’m really getting interested in learning more.  I’ve found myself spending a lot of time on Amazon and in Barnes and Noble looking at books on personal finance (and related topics).  From reading the blogs, I know that the best way to increase my personal wealth is to get the books from the library, rather than spending a lot of money on them!  So, once my move has calmed down and I finish reading Modern Girl’s Guide to Life, I would like to (literally) check out the following:

Rich Dad, Poor Dad

Your Money or Your Life

Ebay 101 (Now that I’ve mastered selling on Amazon, I’d like to try selling on Ebay)

Wishcraft: How to Get What You Really Want

Smart Women Finish Rich and/or Smart Couples Finish Rich

Bogleheads’ Guide to Investing

One Year to an Organized Life

Most of these books were suggested by the different blogs I read.  For those of you who have read these books, what is your opinion?  Should I add any others to the list, or not bother with some of these?

Good Deals at Bath and Body Works yesterday October 22, 2008

I went to the mall yesterday to return some clothing to the GAP, and ended up wandering around a bit looking for new tennis shoes.  I was unsuccessful on the shoe front, but I ended up scoring a great deal at Bath and Body Works.  I was just thinking to myself about all the stuff I’m going to need to buy when we move into our new house next week (toilet paper, hand soap, cleaning products, etc) when I passed Bath and Body and noticed that they were having a hand soap sale! 

Soaps were only $3 a bottle!  I love their soap, but I refuse to pay $4.50 a bottle for it. So I stocked up on 1 for each sink in my new house. (I was tempted to buy more, but then I remembered that on the day after Thanksgiving, they usually drop to $2 a bottle, so I will wait and really stock up in a month).  Then, when I went to ring up, the clerk informed me that they were giving out coupon books with any purchase, and that you could redeem the first coupon on the spot.  The first coupon was a free item, $13 value or less with any purchase!  She encouraged me to go nuts and find whatever I wanted.  Being the early Christmas shopper that I am, I checked my sister’s Christmas list, and picked out the $10 “Lambie” slippers she wanted. 

So, yesterday I bought 5 bottles of handsoap for $15, and saved an additional $10 off my christmas shopping budget!  I was also proud, because that was ALL I spent at the mall yesterday.  Though I was feeling really temped to get myself a treat (milkshakes at Johnny Rockets sounded so good), or buy another sweater at GAP, I managed to resist.

The Modern Girl’s Guide to Life: Ch. 2 & 3 October 21, 2008

Yesterday I read chapter 2, “Your Cheat Sheet for Fabulous Entertaining” and chapter 3, “Mod-Girl Etiquette.”  Chapter 2 was full of some great recipes that I can’t wait to try, and also a lot of fun tips for how to throw a great dinner party.  I particularly found the section on “How to make a martini Bond would kill for” interesting – I had no idea that the more expensive the vodka, the lower the impact of the hangover.

 

The ediquette chapter really took me by surprise.  I had expected a section on thank you notes and tipping, but I was pleasantly surprised that she also included the following:

- tips on gift wrapping and gift giving

- tips for effective party mingling (the section on ”how to remember names, and what to do if you forget” was of particular interest to me)

- how to sound smart at an art gallery opening and at the opera

- Wediquette (everything from the shower to the toast) – this was helpful as I am heading into my 4th term as bridesmaid and my 2nd term as “maid of honor” this spring.

The Modern Girl’s Guide to Life: Ch. 1 October 20, 2008

I started reading The Modern Girl’s Guide to Life by Jane Buckingham last night.  I had seen it on-line, and I finally ordered it (used) from Amazon.com a few months back. To quote from the back of the book, it is “A stylishly smart collection of practical advice for the busy modern woman.” 

Last night I read chapter 1: “The only thing you should ever fake . . . being a domestic goddess.”  It was basically a light-hearted but usefull discussion on basic cooking, cleaning, and laundry.  A lot of it I already knew, and I didn’t 100% agree with all of it, but there were many things I found useful. 

A few examples of things I didn’t know:

- How to tell if fruit is at its freshest when you buy it — I’d had a few guesses, but this was very helpful

- The correct internal temperatures for beef and chicken to avoid food poisoning (note: need to buy a meat thermometer)

- How to sew on a button (so that others can’t tell it ever fell off)

- How to fold a fitted sheet (and not have it look like a disaster)

- Some time-saving cleaning strategies

- The difference between single ply and double ply bedsheets — Apparently single ply is softer.

I bought this book to be more of a “reference” than a book to read for fun, but the writing style is so conversational and entertaining, that I think I will end up reading it cover to cover, and then setting it aside as a reference. It’s almost like reading a bunch of women’s magazines all condensed into one.

Could have, Should have, Would have . . . October 15, 2008

Do you ever dwell on the past?  I find that in times like now, when I am between jobs, and have a little too much free time on my hands, I end up thinking about past decisions and mistakes. A LOT.  From stupid things, like, in high school, why did I date the people I did?  Or big things, like why did I get an undergraduate degree in a field I didn’t enjoy?  I know that it is unproductive to obsess about things I cannot change, but I still find myself doing it, and most of the time it just depresses me.

When things like this happen, I try to take a deep breath and a step back.  I like my life. A LOT. I love my husband, we are still crazy in love and the best of friends.  I have a strong support system of family and friends, and financially, I’m doing pretty well.  The lack of a job is temporary and is partly by choice — if we hadn’t made the decision to move back to Virginia from Hawaii, I would still be working at my job there.  Every job hunt is an opportunity to further explore what I want to do with my life and to try new experiences, and to hopefully upgrade my salary.

But, sometimes, when I have a little too much time on my hands, I can’t help but think about things I might have done differently in my past.  I also worry that I don’t have my future figured out yet — particularly as far as my career path is concerned.  I just wish I could figure out a way to make this a productive activity.  If I’m going to constantly look back and wish things in my past were different, shouldn’t that tell me something about what direction I want to go in now?  Why can’t I see the bigger picture?

Food and Shopping: Today I was both good and bad. September 8, 2008

Good things I did today:

- went to a cardio-kickboxing class

- ate a sensible breakfast and lunch

- spent some much-needed quality time with my sister

- bought a new suit (I’ve been meaning to do this for months, and it was getting down to crunch time) As an added bonus, I got it 30% off at Banana Republic’s 30th Anniversary sale!

- bought a new purse (for less than $30 at Kohl’s) — this was also on my to do list

- showed my sister how to sell her used books on Amazon.com

- got a new pair of dress pants on clearance at BR for only $38.49 (also on my to do list)

- found a cute pair of jeans at the GAP, but decided to wait to purchase until they were on sale

- found a cute skirt at Kohl’s, but decided to wait for a better sale price

- shopped most of the day, but only made 1 unnecessary purchase

- burned some calories walking around the mall

-caught up on laundry, email, blog, and Facebook

 

Bad things I did today:

- ate a cookie dough blizzard (17 points – yikes!)

- ate an Arby’s roast beef & curly fries for dinner (I don’t even want to know how many weight watchers points that is!)

- bought a shirt (NOT on sale) that I totally DID NOT need at the GAP

- forgot to call and schedule an important appointment

- did not spend any time job hunting

 

To be fair, I was ambushed by the Arby’s — I’m staying at my sister’s house this week, and my brother-in-law had an extremely crappy day at work, so he blew his diet and brought home Arby’s for all of us.  I felt it would be rude to refuse to eat it, and that it would also make him feel worse if I pointed out how bad it was calorie-wise, so I did some sympathy eating.  Of course this was after I had gotten a blizzard (a major no-no food) at the mall and promised myself I would eat nothing but salad for dinner to make up for it . . . .

An Unexpected Gift! August 26, 2008

Today was my last day at my job in Hawaii.  Yesterday my coworkers took me out to lunch to say goodbye.  We went to this little Italian place, and my one co-worker had made me this fabulous fushia lei and then we all had chocolate cake back at the office.

It was really sad, I really like my current job, everyone is so friendly.  Apparently, they are even nicer than I even realized!  After lunch they gave me a card and a $70 gift certificate to Amazon.com!  I was astonished! I’ve only worked in the office for 7 months, so it amazed me that they would all chip in so generously.

Before I leave today I am sending out an email to thank everyone and to tell them how wonderful it was to work with them.  It’s so sad to leave a job you enjoy.