Archive for the ‘hobbies’ Category

want, volume 2

Saturday, November 15th, 2008

vera wang bagToday at Kohls on my quest for jeans that fit (yay for curvy Levis!), I saw something that made me stop and take a look:  Vera Wang hand bags.

I love purses.  At any given time, I try to keep my collection to less than ten, but it’s hard.  I have to admit, I can’t tell the difference between a vuitton or a or a spade, and I will likely never own a ‘real’ purse.  My vera wang green bagpurses all come from Target, Penneys or Kohls.

But back to the purses!  They are a little larger than I’m used to, but they are oh-so pretty.  I’m considering saving up my allowance to buy my first over-$50 purse.  Or maybe I’ll just wait for a crazy-sale day …

want

Saturday, November 15th, 2008

So yesterday, as I was avoiding work by seeing what google reader had for me, I came across this gem from thinkgeek.comorigami post-it notes

Ingenious.  They have combined my love for office supplies with my love for origami!  What will they think of next?

nobody wants to bail me out

Wednesday, November 12th, 2008

3 years ago, the husband and I took the plunge and bought a house.  It was 2005, and housing was booming.  Lenders were willing to loan ridiculous amounts of money.  In fact, they scoffed at the “modest” amount of money the husband and I requested.  They offered to loan us twice as much, but we declined; we knew how much money we made, we knew how much other debt we had, and we knew what kind of lifestyle we wanted to maintain.

And so we got a loan we could afford.  We took a risk with an ARM, but even in a worst-case scenario, we knew we’d be able to afford the payments.

Silly us!  If we had over-extended ourselves, we’d be able to renegotiate our loan terms.  Instead of being stuck with a loan for twice as much as what our foreclosing neighbor is selling her house for, we might be able to get our principal reduced.  Or get our ARM converted to a standard loan.

But, alas, we were responsible.  And so there is no help for us.

entirely too bony

Monday, October 13th, 2008

On the flight to L.A., I read a book.  And in the process, I managed to bruise my left jutty-out pelvic bone with my left elbow.  For whatever reason, it seemed like a good idea to rest my bony elbow on my bony self to prop up my book.  (That wasn’t even that good, btw.  The third Odd Thomas book is not one of Mr. Koontz finer works.)

5 hours later, I had a most tender hip.

Excuse me, I think I need to go eat a sandwich …

vacation!

Wednesday, October 8th, 2008

Woohoo!  Time for vacation #3 of the year.  :-) 

This trip takes us to the left coast and blizzcon.  I know, I know, we went to blizzcon last year, but the husband really wanted to see the diablo III unveiling.  And well, I’m not exactly complaining.  :-)

Yikes, I just consulted weather.com, and anaheim is 93 degrees right now.  The weekend forecast calls for 50 to 80 degree weather - let’s hope that holds true.

Vacations one and two of the year didn’t involve planes, so this’ll be our first flight with checked bag fees.  For the first bag!  Seriously unfair.  Needless to say, I’ve been consulting the tsa rules, and I think we’re now compliant with the 3-1-1.  So we - and every other person on the plane - can take our bags carry-on and fight over the limited overhead space.  I’m not much of a fighter, but the husband can be imposing when he wants to be, so I think we’ll be ok. 

I’ll get pics up of this year’s convention, and the husband will likely blog about all the game-ey stuff.  Me, I’m looking forward to my polar bear mount (my Venym is currently riding a chicken - a CHICKEN!!!  They put FIRE PONIES in the game, and then they force some characters to ride chickens).  Ooh, and the candy booth, if it’s back.  I sure could use a pound of fudge …

sweaters and boots

Thursday, October 2nd, 2008

I love this weather!  Time to break out the sweaters and boots.  And the jackets!  Can’t forget the jackets.

happy, happy day!

Monday, September 8th, 2008

I came home from work this evening to behold a most wondrous sight:

No paper taped to the living room floor.  No plastic up the stairs!  Or the hall or master bedroom!  As I rounded the corner into the bathroom, I held my breath and hoped against all hope that I would see something that would make me a very happy woman.

And there it was!!  My brand new shower finally has a glassed-in enclosure.  As I looked inside the shower and saw a razor-blade (the flat kind, like what you’d use to get stuff off of glass), a drill-bit and a step stool, I almost opened the door to clear it all out so I could enjoy my first shower.  But then I noticed the note on the door:  do not open until 9/10.

So, it looks like it’ll be another 2 days before I can fully test out my bathroom.  I suppose it’s just as well; I do need to get some new towels.  The old ones just won’t do.

good thing it wasn’t knickers

Thursday, September 4th, 2008

In anticipation of my bathroom being finished, I looked online for the perfect floor mirror, and found it at shop.com for a reasonable price.  After some negotiation with the husband (’well, the OTHER one I like is $700 …’), I purchased it and then went about my other internet business.

Imagine my surprise when I logged into facebook to update my status to something else obnoxious about why my bathroom isn’t done, and found that my recent purchase was RIGHT THERE.  In facebook.  On the page where it tells you about all the things your friends are up to.  And it wanted to know if I wanted to inform all my friends about my purchase.  Oh, and did I want to automatically tell them all about all my shop.com purchases?

Um, no thanks.

Besides the fact that my facebook ‘friends’ don’t really care what I buy, it’s really kind of obnoxious.  Plus, I don’t want them all to know what terrible taste I have.  Or how cheap I am.  I reserve that honor for my real friends; that’s right, for the 6 people who read my blog.

success!

Saturday, August 23rd, 2008

The husband hates shopping for clothing.  With a passion.  He has never had to do it for himself; luckily, there have always been women in his life (grandmother, mother, girlfriends and now wife) who care deeply for him and want him to be clothed.

I have found a system that generally works - I buy 20 things online, they arrive at the house, the husband tries them on and picks what he likes, and then I return 15 things to the brick and mortar store.

But that doesn’t work so well with shoes.  Not only are 20 pairs of shoes more expensive than 20 t-shirts, but you often have to try on more than 20 pairs to find the one you like.  (Unless you’re me … then you try on 20 pairs of shoes and find 20 you like …)

So today I convinced the husband it would be a good day for shoe-shopping.  We are headed to the beach, and, well, he doesn’t have any beach-appropriate shoes.  His favorite pair is high-top hiking boots that involve a serious time-commitment to get on and off.  His other pair of shoes are black dress shoes that he only breaks out when he has to wear his suit. 

We went to several stores, with his mood souring at every one.  Everything was too expensive, or too uncomfortable, or took too long to get on and off.  He found a style he liked, but there were none in his size, so I made a mental note and decided I’d spend the next few weeks looking for a size 13 manly slide.

On our way out of the last store, however, he stumbled across the perfect beach shoe.  The size and color combination of his dreams wasn’t available, but that’s what the internet is for.

And so I have ordered his beach shoes, and they will arrive in plenty of time for our trip.

Now I just have to order 20 pairs of shorts, and we’ll be all set! 

it’s real! it’s real!

Friday, August 22nd, 2008

I just got the confirmation letter for my week in the outer banks!  And for those of you not privy the east coast wonder known as ‘obx,’ it’s just a region of the coast in north carolina.

I’ve never been to the outer banks, even though it seems everyone else in northern virginia has, and they have the ‘obx’ bumper sticker to prove it.  Now I will finally get my chance to visit this mysteriously superior beach.

I love beach towns!  I’m actually not really a swimmer, but I do enjoy dodging the waves as they hit my knees.  Or maybe waist, if the husband has convinced me to live on the edge.  :-)

Beach towns are always so relaxed.  And they have the best food!  Candy shops full of fudge and salt water taffy, ice cream shops, corn dogs, funnel cakes  - there’s a tasty surprise around every corner. 

And the fun little stores! Where else can you buy crazy hats, $2 t-shirts, voo-doo magic palm-reading crystals, kites, shotglasses with your name on them (well, not my name …) and 28 varieties of salt water taffy? 

OBX offers dolphin cruises, something you don’t find in the chilly waters of the Pacific Northwest.  As well as the Wright Brothers Memorial, and the tallest lighthouse in North America.

Now I just need to get busy on my spray-on tan!