So, these two items were purchased (in part) with Christmas money/gift cards:
iPad Mini (purple case from Amazon, but I’ve also ordered this one in blue.) I love it…it’s the perfect size. And as an added bonus, I’ll stop trying to win one now.
bodhran (which I now need to, um, learn how to play…)
How was your Christmas? 🙂
Thanks to a Crowd Savings deal, I got two of the above t-shirts from BustedTees (Lone Pine Mall and Noah’s Arcade) for $10 plus shipping. Woo!
If you follow me on facebook, you might have seen me recently wondering about whether or not to buy this vintage dress. I bought it, and it arrived today. It is lovely, fits well (except for maybe some minor alterations in the bodice–it’s a tiny bit loose), and I am SO excited. 😀 It does smell faintly musty, so if anyone has any good advice about how to deal with that, I’d love to hear it!
I am now totally addicted to shopping for vintage (and retro-styled) items. Check out my Pretty Dresses board on Pinterest, if you are so inclined…
I might need to learn to sew…vintage dresses aren’t easy to find in my size (was everyone teeny tiny? or did everyone just use a girdle/corset to squeeze into teeny tiny dresses? Hrm. Anyway, there are lots of vintage patterns for sale on Etsy, but I have never been good at such things. Maybe time to try again?
Favorite outfit
I am certain I have no photos of myself in this…but lately, my favorite outfit is a pair of gray sweatpants and a navy blue hoodie.
Apart from that, I just bought this adorable little dress from Land’s End:
Er, I can’t seem to grab the image, so here’s a link.
I got in in navy blue, and last week, I wore it with a red cardigan. Very cute. 🙂
We bought a fancy-schmancy new oven. Flat cooktop, convection oven. Woohoo! The one that was left here when we moved in was just getting to be too unreliable. Sears was having a sale (and offering 12 months no interest), so we jumped on it.
It gets delivered Wednesday. Whee!
So, I bought this cute little black dress on overstock.com for supercheap, and of course, it doesn’t fit me…
It’s a medium, but it seems to be a juniors-sized medium. It’s fairly short, even on me, and WAY too small at the top. I was kind of falling out of it, so it would probably be best for someone with, um, a little less going on up there. 😉 If you can use it, or know someone who could, I’d prefer to give it away rather than send it back. (Really, it was that cheap.) Comment or send an email.
Lately, I’ve been making an effort to use more environmentally-friendly personal and cleaning products. Pictured above:
Method toilet bowl cleaner, Method fresh shower spray, Dr. Bronner’s liquid castile soap (almond), Burt’s Bees facial cleansing cream, raspberry and brazil nut conditioner, milk and honey body lotion, peppermint lip balm, and Nature’s Gate chardonnay moisturizer.
I’ve used the castile soap to make facial cleanser, hand soap, and body wash, all of which I’ve been very happy with. I have a recipe around here somewhere for the facial cleanser (it has honey and vegetable glycerine in it), and the hand soap and body wash are just castile soap diluted with water with a smidge of vegetable glycerine and a wee bit of essential oil (I used ginger).
I just made the switch to “natural” dishwashing liquid and dishwasher detergent. I have not yet managed it with laundry detergent…so expensive…but I plan to when I start working again.
Rand and I have also been making more of an effort to buy organic and/or local foods whenever possible. Luckily for us, Wegmans makes this very easy. (I love the local farmer’s markets, but we don’t make it to one every week.)
I recently saw a delivery truck for Akron Poultry Farms, and I intend to call and get on their delivery route soon. I was checking out the website, and they have lots of great stuff!
Anybody want to recommend any great products?
Sigh. I want an iPhone.
I am filled with envy as I watch my Canadian friends and acquaintances shout with glee over receiving their new iPhones.
The problem? I’m a Verizon customer. Stupid Steve Jobs and his stupid deal with AT&T. My contract is up in December…do I make the move?
This makes me a little sad, because I’ve been happy with Verizon since I first got my cell phone. Plus, a bunch of my family members are on Verizon, which means free in-network calls. Who has AT&T? Are you happy with their service?
The options, as I see them, are as follows:
1. When my “new every two” is available (in a couple weeks), I can get a wannabe iPhone from Verizon.
2. I can wait out my contract and switch to AT&T.
3. I can do nothing and wait until Apple breaks the contract with AT&T and offers the iPhone on other carriers.
What do you think? 🙂
So, I’m in the middle of writing my article for Toasted Cheese which needs to be ready to go up on the site, oh, Tuesday. Procrastination is bad. 😉
The weekend has been lazy and generally relaxing. This is a good thing. Rand and I talked about going out to a movie, but didn’t see anything that we wanted to go out for. We want to see Forgetting Sarah Marshall, but that isn’t out until next week. Ah well.
We found ourselves in possession of a wee bit of extra disposable cash, so we went out to eat several times this weekend. Yesterday, we went to May Jen, and I had the yumtastic ginger garlic chicken. And we have leftovers, which will probably be eaten tonight. Mmmm…leftovers.
We’re in the process of decluttering, and took a couple of boxes of CDs and DVDs to trade in. We spent way too much time doing that today! While we were in F.Y.E., I asked a salesperson what music was playing. It turned out to be a new release called Unfold by Marie Digby, which I just decided I need to buy on iTunes. (only 6.99, and I still had some credit left from a gift certificate Samantha gave me for Christmas. Yay, me!)
Rand bought the full Northern Exposure box set with his credit. We also traded in a bunch of CDs at Record Theater and bought a few new things with the credit (and we still have a bunch of credit left). Sadly, we have a small selection of stuff nobody wanted. Sniff.
I still have some photos from Rand’s birthday that I have yet to post…I treated him to dinner at Marinaccio’s, a place neither of us had ever been. We both enjoyed our meals very much. More on that soon. Besides the dinner, I (with contributions from both our parents) bought Rand a new iPod…he wanted one with more space. So guess who else gets a new (slightly used) iPod? 😉 Of course, now I have to go through the process of getting what I want onto the iPod. Oh, the trials.
I also have some photos of my pretty, shiny new earrings that people who follow me on twitter heard about yesterday. They will be posted soon.
Oh, and that long-term sub job I mentioned at the beginning of last week? I got it. Since it’s a shorter period of time than my other job (and in a different district), there are no benefits…but it is steady work, great experience, and a wee bit more money than I’d be making as just a day-to-day sub. I went in on Friday to shadow the teacher I’m filling in for and meet the kids and my soon-to-be coworkers. It seems like it’s going to be great, and I’m very happy to have the experience. This week is spring break, so I’ll be starting a week from tomorrow. 😀
More? I’m sure there is, but I should probably get back to work…hope you’re having an excellent weekend!
I have what some might call problem skin…it’s somewhat oily, but quickly dries out if I use products that are too harsh. I’ve spent most of my adult life bouncing around from product to product to find something I like.
I first encountered Clinique skin care products through my aunt, back when I was a teenager. I liked the products then, and she proceeded to buy them for me as gifts for many years. At some point, I got away from them…probably because of my financial situation. I also had issues with the soap, which then only came in bar form and would get all slimy and gross inside the soap holder.
Recently, at a friend’s house, I saw some Clinique products, and I was reminded how much I liked them. I did some quick research and found out that the soap now comes in a liquid pump. Joy! I promptly drove myself to Macy’s and purchased the 3-step system. (when you go into the store, a specialist will work with you to determine which formula best suits your skin.)
The best part is the Dramatically Different moisturizers. I use the gel, because my skin tends to be oily. It adds moisture without making my skin feel greasy. It’s amazing.
I’ve been using my new Clinique products for a week, and I’m not even remotely joking when I say my skin looks and feels better than it has in years.
No, Clinique is not paying me for this post. 😉
