Thursday, April 30, 2009

Just Like Elton

I remember a few years ago Elton John, before he had his gig at Caesar's in Vegas, had some money problems. I think he was on the brink of bankruptcy and I remember it being printed in the papers that even through his money issues he was still spending up to $250,000 on fresh flowers a year for his home.

Everone at the time was astounded and wondered how anyone with bills stacking up could afford such a luxury. He was the butt of everyone's jokes on all the late shows. I remember thinking the same thing.....who spends money when they have none on flowers? They die after a week. Why waste money on them?

I recently, like in the past year or two, have come around on the flower issue. I buy fresh flowers for my house every week. Sometimes every other if I buy those cool wild flowers that dry out instead of stink and droop. I can't imagine my house without them. They are such a simple luxury. I'm not buying roses and orchids, but sunflowers and irises this week, or carnations and tulips, what ever is in season.

I can't justify the expense other than to say that when I come into the kitchen every morning and see them sitting in the window it makes the day feel a little bit more promising. When money is tight, like it is for me now, the flowers make me a little bit more optimistic about what the day might bring and if I can still afford the flowers then things can't be that bad.

I understand Elton completely now.

Oh and I'm ordering the dress tomorrow.

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Desperate for Luxury



I love, love, love, Betty Page Clothing . I have a few of their dresses already, but none as fierce as this one. It's the coolest little shop in the Miracle Mile shops at what used to be the Aladdin and is now Planet Hollywood in Vegas.

I stumbled upon their dresses this last weekend at one of my favorite little shops in Jerome AZ, the mining ghost town turned artist and biker community. I had no idea they were available other that in Vegas and online.

This dress is calling my name. It's an extravagant purchase to say the least. I mean how many places can this dress be appropriately worn? Not many and definitely not here in the arctic tundra. It would be pushing it to wear it to the 4th of July parade. It's not too much money....$116, but how many times will I be able to wear it and really I'm going to be 34 in a couple of months. Can I really pull it off for much longer?

If we were still taking bimonthly trips to Vegas, LA, San Diego, and Phoenix maybe I could get away with wearing it more often..... but a budget is a budget and this would be half my clothing allowance for the month. Is it worth it?

Almost.

Monday, April 27, 2009

The Insanity

I read Saturday morning in the paper that my new hang out---the library, was the scene of a drug bust Thursday afternoon. !!!! WTF !!!! Is that a normal thing?

I was just getting used to going there and getting past all the gross people who are hanging out out front, the weirdos who are taking classes on how to use Windows, and the dirty snot nosed children who are there for story hour and then this happens.

I guess that explains the gross people hanging out out front. They were just there to buy drugs, but will they really be gone now that they busted the kids that were dealing the stuff?

I'm not sure I am going to be able to get over this. I'm going to just have to buckle down and make more money so that I can start buying my books again. Or why don't they have a Netflix for books? Is there such a thing and I just don't know about it?

I was started to get a little miffed at the library anyway. It's all fine and dandy to go there with nothing in mind and just browse the aisles and see what you can find that is interesting, but if I was ever looking for something in particular it was either already checked out with a 2 month long waiting list, or not in the library, or was something vaguely similar that was printed pre-1970. I went thru my ever growing Amazon list and found only 2 books that were at the library and, you guessed it, they were already checked out.

I can say I gave it a good try, but I don't think I am a convert to the "awesomeness" of the library.

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Upturn to the Downturn?

I've gotten 2 phone calls this week for new projects. I will of course turn them down, but I thought that it was interesting that there are people out there who are finally getting loans to build. These were not commercial projects either. They were spec residential, small scale, but still residential.

Things might be looking up. I'm going to take it as a definite sign that things are done going down and going to finally turn up.

For me it's kind of bittersweet. I hate turning the stuff down because I want the money so badly. But I can't wait for that day in the not too distant future when I will be free and clear of everything architecture related. I've got 2 projects still out there in limbo that need to be finished and then I will be done.

What would just be icing on the cake would be if I could rent out my office and get out from underneath that payment. That will be the true sign of the upturn....when I can find someone who can afford the $800/month rent. That's right I had to talk to landlord down from the insane $1200 that I've been paying for the last 2 years. I finally made him realize that in this economy there is no one who is going to pay $1200 for 400 sq ft. I'm keeping my fingers crossed one renting it.

Oh and thanks for the responses on who you are that are reading this........as if. I'm being sarcastic. No one identified themselves. What am I? your guilty pleasure?
That's cool. I guess it's just good to know you're out there.

Monday, April 20, 2009

Random Shit

That's right I said shit. I've been keeping contained for a while, trying to keep it clean and appeal to everyone, but I've decided that I need to let it out.

Today I wanted to write a few more things you may or not know about me. There are 10 of you out there. Ten regular people who I may or may not know who read this thing whenever I post something new. It would be nice if you would identify yourselves. I know who a couple of you are, but the rest are a mystery. So here it goes. This will be much like the 25 things from facebook, only I don't know how far I will go in numbers and these are more like dirty little secrets and not general knowledge.

1. My husband has a concealed carry gun permit. It's the hottest thing in the world when he carries his gun. He looks a little like James Bond and a little like a gangster. It's kind of cool that what we do is just a little bit dangerous and he needs the gun to protect us. Kind of like a cowboy.

2. I have really big boobs. Seriously I wear a 34DDD (or 34E)bra. I love them to death, but bras are terribly expensive when they are that big. I have to special order them online and they are usually around $100 a pop. The only thing I don't like about them is that whenever I get my picture taken and it's from the waist up, I look like I weigh about 160 lbs. I am very heavy on top and in photos if you don't get my tiny little legs in the picture it looks like I'm heavy all the way down. I only weigh 135lbs. The boobs just make me look heavier.

3. I am somewhat of a hermit. I am a very private person, but will tell anything and everything to you on this blog, on Facebook, Twitter, etc. I hate talking on the phone. I don't have any close friends who I speak to regularly face to face, but have several people who are friends that I only speak to online. I don't like dinner parties, playdates, or birthday parties. I like to hang out with people only on a 1-1basis and can't stand group situations. I love my children, but can't really stand anyone else's. Most people interpret all this as me being a bitch, but I'm the kind of person who likes to just hang out with my immediate family, read books, and watch movies. I just like to keep to myself.

4. I have a potty mouth. I have since I met my husband and I picked it up from him and I've never let it go. I swear a lot. My kids swear (even the 3 year old says WTF). I can't hide it any longer. Sometime when I'm writing it feels like it's not me since I'm not adding all the fucks, shits, and hells. There is also a fair amount of butt, fart and boobie running commentary and jokes in our house.

5. Between my husband and I, we have about $47,000 in credit card debt. I've been wanting to get that out there, but been reluctant. It's a great secret of mine. But in order to overcome it I have to admit to it. I pay over the minimums every month, but it still hangs over my head like black cloud. I would guess about 25% of that is us living beyond our means.....clothing and vacation stuff. But the rest is just normal stuff that with our erratic incomes sometimes we just don't have the cash to fix the septic system, pay for dental work, buy glasses, pay the property taxes, starting up the architectural firm, etc. There is some of that that we are still paying for from when the little one spent her first week of life in the NICU. That shit ain't cheap. I've recently come to the conclusion that we can't keep living like this .....hence my budget. We haven't really charged anythign new in like a year, so that balance is down from what it used to be. According to my calcualtions if we can just not use the cards anymore, at the rate we're going I should have them all paid off by Sept 2012!!

I think that's it for today. The little one is bugging me to come play with her, the laundry is calling my name, and the entire upstairs needs a good dusting.

Now that you all know a little bit more about me. Tell me who you are.

Lash Stilletto Review

I don't wear a lot of makeup. I'm a mascara and powder compact kind of gal. I usually wear the stuff in the pink and green tube. I can't remember the name of it. It's the best stuff on earth and I've never found anything that works better, lasts longer, washes off easier.

Then I saw the commercial for the Lash Stilletto. It is a cool commercial and a super cool name so I thought I'd give it a try knowing full well that it is impossible to beat the pink and green. So here is what I've found.......

It works just like they say it will. You just keep brushing it on your lashes over and over and over again and they will extend and look long and beautiful. There is no clumping and the brush does a good job of catching every single lash. My lashes looked fabulous.

The down side is that it is not an all day mascara. If I put it on in the am, by 4:00 all of the long extended lash tips have broken off and are scattered around my eyes like black glitter. I don't think I am rubbing my eyes, the tips just fall off during normal wear and tear.

My recommendation for the Lash Stilletto is that you only put it on at night for going out. Maybe that's what it's for to begin with, but it is not an everyday allday kind of mascara. Great stuff, does what it says it will, but it rubs off like a temporary tattoo.

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Mix and Match

So it's the 16th and I'm already out of money for the month except for the gas category. I can drive anywhere. I just can't spend anything once I get there.

All the kids are growing out of the clothes I bought them just a couple of months ago, and the little one who just turned three has the luck to be the only girl with 2 older brothers which means she never gets any hand-me-downs, which means every season she has to have a boatload of new clothes. Fun? Yes. Expensive? Usually.

My favorite places to shop for her include: Target, Khols and Old Navy. All 3 of which usually have displays where anything on the tables are $4-6 each and you can mix and match a wide assortment of shirts, skirts, pants and shorts. They all go together, they are all cheap, somewhat cute, and so affordable. Even if you were color blind you couldn't go wrong picking an outfit from the display.

She always looks amazing and if you throw in a little flair to shake up the outfit a little she looks super cool. I am always amazed at this strange way to assemble an outfit and have often wondered why it can't be the same for women's clothes? I would love to be able to just walk up to a tiered display and pick out 4 shirts, 2 pairs of pants and a couple of skirts and some leggings and be good to go for a season.

I'm not sure if Old Navy and Target are supposed to work like this for the women's department. Their clothes are not cut well and have a poor fit, and the qualiity leaves much to be desired. But what if you could make a clothing line for women that really worked like the kids clothes? I wouldn't shop anywhere else.

Friday, April 10, 2009

Where are my Wednesdays?

Yea!!!!!

I forgot to mention that this week we are officially the owners of the west side of town territory for our shipping business.

Things are looking good in shipping. Dear husband has been out till 7:00 all week we have so much to deliver. Good for business and good for $$$, but lonely here and all the kids are complaining about dad not being home.

Things will eventually calm down when we can hire another employee hopefully by the mid to end of summer when we get the other 3 territories from the other seller.
Until then I'm on my own in pretty much everything that involves the kids and the house. It's not a fun job, but that's what we've got to do to make all the ends meet.

I miss our Wednesday lunch dates when he wasn't driving and all the kids were in school or daycare. I miss just hanging around the office with him all day and taking shopping trips together with him for birthdays and just for fun to Target or the toy store without the kids. We even could drive down to Sedona for lunch we had so much time to ourselves. But now with him driving I'm lucky if we see each other for an hour at night. He eats, showers, in is in bed by 9:00 just to get up at 4:30 and start the whole day over again.

It's amazing what we will do when times are tough and how life can change so much in just a few months time. I always keep in mind though that where there is an ebb, there will always be flow again. That's the one thing I know I can count on....change. This will only last a little while longer and then I can have my Wednesday lunch dates back with my husband again. I can't wait for that Wednesday.

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Priorities

I'm bored. It's 9:25 in the am and I'm already done with any important work for the day. The little one is bothering me to come watch Strawberry Shortcake with her. I try not to play with her until about 10:00 so that I set a routine where mommy works in the morning and she watches a video and has a snack and lets me get the important stuff done.

So now I have like maybe another 1/2 hour to hour to myself supposedly and I'm out of stuff to do. I don't want to get into anything big that involves drawing, coloring or design because I'll get lost in time and not come out of my office until my stomach starts growling. I have a couple of architectural projects I could be working on, but I'm waiting for a site plan. So I procrastinate and I'll end up watching Max and Ruby and getting nothing done all day.

It is so frustrating. There is so much I want to do, and yet I feel so guilty with her in the other room trying to entertain herself as well as a 2 year old can. I keep trying to rationalize it all out and say that it's okay if it takes my business a little longer to get off the ground, but I'm impatient and broke and I don't like to watch TV and do puzzles and play outside all day. It is so hard to do both so I do both kind of half assed and don't feel good about either one. It's still 2 1/2 years until she goes to kindergarten full time and I'm not sure I'm willing to wait that long to be able to work more than 2 hours a day. UGHHHH

She is the most patient, easy to entertain little girl in the world so I can't complain about her wanting to play with me, I just wish that there were enough hours in the day so that I could play with her all day, teach her to read, teach her French and Spanish and the basics of classical architecture, have time to design, write, run the other businesses, start my new business, do homework with the boys when they get home from school, make an amazing dinner that does not involve a box and the toaster oven, give everyone baths, and still have energy enough to want to listen to my husband talk about his day when he gets home at 7 instead of just wanting to watch American Idol or House Hunters and tune everyone out while I sink in to the oblivion that is prime time TV.

Monday, April 6, 2009

Rug Patterns at Last




Here are a couple of things I am working on. THe first 1 I love, but have not decided on the color options yet. It's called crennelated. This one will have to be sent to Nepal to be made it's too much for my skills with the tufting gun.

The second one is a work in progress. It was inspired by some art I saw in an Art Deco book. There are going to be several other designs based on the circle with tiny circles. Again this one is way too intricate to be made by me. I'm thinking this one will be a purple/blue with a little gold. I'm still working on the colors.

Oh and I'm a little leary about posting too many more designs on the web. I've heard rug designers are wicked protective of their designs for fear of knock-offs. So.... these designs are copyright protected by me. Do not copy or I'll come after ya.

Friday, April 3, 2009

Pants are Overrated

I don't really like wearing jeans. They are too binding for someone like me who is thick around the middle after having 3 kids. They give my ever so sensitive skin a rash and just generally it is hard to find a good fit. After spending so much time around the house, sometimes only leaving to take the children to school, my love for pants has almost disappeared.

So I've been wearing jeans for years now almost exclusivly since moving to the arctic tundra of Northern Arizona. When we lived in LA I would rock dresses all the time, but here is just seems so unrealisitc and odd compared to everyone else wearing fleece and jeans. I would love to wear dresses and skirts everyday again and I have a whole closet full that I bought when wishfully thinking that the weather here would improve, but it's too windy and too cold here.

Lately I've actually gone so far as to wear maroon velour sweatpants all day and now I don't think I can go back to wearing jeans or any kind of pants fulltime again. I never really liked khaki pants for fear of looking like a park ranger. I don't do skinny jeans since my legs are so stick like to begin with. I can really rock a boot leg, but I just don't know if it's worth it anymore.

If I was to decide to just grin and bear it and go ahead and wear dresses and tights in the winter I would have to be careful due to our close location to Colorado City. We are their local shopping center and if I go out in a skirt that is a little too long and wear my hair in it's almost ever present bun, people will start to get the wrong idea about me.

Sometimes I wonder if I've just reached that point in my life where I just don't care what I look like anymore and that's why I don't want to wear pants anymore, but I think it's just that I generally like the feel of a skirt. I like to twirl. I like to wear pretty sandals and heels. I think my legs are gorgeous when shaved and I am a sucker for a pretty floral pattern.

Anyway the longer I stay at home, the more I am contemplating the total switch from pants to skirts. I just need to buy enough leggins and tights to get me through the long hard winters. It will be a process, but I think I'm going to try for that artsy bohemian look to go along with my new status as artist/designer. We'll see if I can pull it off.

Thursday, April 2, 2009

Budget Recap

Okay so the first month that I used a budget I went over by about $300. For a first try I don't think that's too bad. Of course where I went over was in the Dining Out, Household, and Clothing categories, but those amounts were very small last month. They were all about half of what I usually spend in those areas.

This month will not be much better. I am still on restricted budget figures due to.....TAXES. I've had to scrounge about $3500 out of this and last month to pay up to Uncle Sam. Don't get too concerned. We don't pay taxes the whole year except for a little out of my Salary for one of our businesses. Otherwise we just pay in April. It's always a scrounge, but I always find the money.

Overall I like the budget. After we get past tax month I should be able to bump up the category amounts and still save a little here and there for vacations and even stach a little away each month so that next April is not quite so tight come tax time.

Budget Budget Budget! If only I had been listening to all those books I read on personal finance and actually tried it before we would be rollin in the dough.