Feeling Very Hipster

Maybe hipster's not the right word. Trendy? I don't know. In the past week-ish I have acquired a bike for transportation, an iPhone 4 (There's been much happy dancing.) and a yoga membership, so what does that make me? Cooler than two weeks ago? Probably.

In what Lee defines as my habit to "Name Any Purchase Over $100" (We should name the house!), meet Helen. Helen is named for Helen of Troy because they both have a gorgeous design that has led men (and women) to engage in expensive and obsessive behaviors. Please play Words with Friends with me. (I'm kmearley. You might also include a message letting me know who you are because stranger = danger.)

Have you noticed that as iPhones get smaller, they need bigger cases, and are now quite large? I have no idea what the actual size of my phone is because of her gigantic case. With the case, she is probably one of the bigger phones I've ever had, rivaling my first cell phone from 2000. (I've had a cell phone for the past decade. Wow.)

My bike does not have a name yet, but she's pretty sweet. She has taken me to work and back twice and we even went through the bank drive-through together. That was classy.

And special thanks to my dear husband for successfully attaching my basket (It was $15 (with coupon) from Michael's. Yay for not spending $50+ on one!) with a classy combination of zip ties and wood. I've questioned Lee's use of zip ties but it has held up well.

(Okay, I admit the zip ties were originally my idea but that was before I realized there are holes on the rack for screws, which seem sturdier than zip ties. But so far, so good.)

My First Craigslist Purchase

Since our house has an eat-in kitchen and dining room, I knew I'd be using the eat-in kitchen space for more cooking and storage space. Luckily I found the perfect island on Craigslist for $90. (It was listed at $100, so not too bad for my first "haggling" experience I guess.)

There's enough space for sitting, cooking and storing!

Decisions

I am not always a quick decision maker. I will go back and forth over decisions WAY more than necessary and more than most sane people can tolerate. There's been one choice I've been struggling with for about two months and I am coming to you all for help and guidance.

Charles my Nikon needs a bag.

I have selected bags in certain categories but can't select which category I should go with. The main goal is to make Charles as portable as possible because I love to have him with me. It's creepy the affection I have for him. Probably my most-loved piece of technology ever.

You should also know that I'm about as good as packing light as I am making decisions so I carry lots of things with me. (I'm that girl who always has the bobby pin, floss, hand lotion, pen, paper, etc. you need. It's an important service that I offer.) And you don't have to worry about me transporting camera accessories at this time. Once I get the handle shooting modes other than auto, I'll look into some lenses and crazy flash stuff.

Option 1: Fitted case

Pros: The camera and case would take up very little space and I could pretty much just put Charles in any bag and walk out the door.
Cons: I haven't been able to locate a case that fits my specific model, but models that are very similar to mine. While I really like the idea of the case being able to fit in my main bag, it would be nice if it could also function as a stand-alone case, which this doesn't do. I would always want to put it in another bag.

Option 2: The Three Million Dollar Home
Pros: There are several bags in this style, but Crumpler's Three Million Dollar Home had me once I saw their sweet site, excellent bag quality, and ridiculous amount of positive reviews. I think and hope that this could fit in a messenger (I might finally get that Bayan Hippo bag I've wanted for literally the past year.) or tote bag because I like to travel with one large-ish bag. It can also work as a stand-alone bag if I want it to on any given day.
Cons: There aren't really any cons, so much as there is the existence of other options that have pros. 

Option 3: The Five or Six Million Dollar Home
Pros: A camera messenger bag that could hold a camera and my wallet, lotion, floss, pen, paper, cell phone, lip gloss, iPod...
Cons: A little bulky in a way I find unattractive. Also, I was really hoping to not spend that much money on a camera bag (Yeah, yeah, Option 2 plus the new Bayan Hippo bag would be equal or greater than Option 3, but with Option 2 you get two bags instead of one!).

Option 4: Backpack
I'm just throwing this out there since real-life friend suggested it when this whole hullabaloo started, but this option just doesn't appeal to me. I rarely want to carry a backpack and those get expensive. I'd rather go messenger bag or tote route.

Now that I've written this all down and gained a bit of clarity, it seems like Option 2 is the clear winner, but feedback filled with personal anecdotes about transporting your large camera would be greatly appreciated!

Going Natural

Lately I've been on this natural/organic kick. I've tried this before because it seemed like the cool thing to do, but now I feel it is the right thing to do. And it hasn't turned out be as expensive as I thought it would it be (Although I still buy normal cheese, milk and some meats because that's just really expensive.).

There were several things that kind of happened at once to start this. Several of my friends had recently expressed their concern about where our food comes from and the things that go in it. Do you really need high fructose corn syrup in bread? No you don't. And my office had started going in together with a local CSA to get some fresh, local fruits and veggies. (This was also a great opportunity for us to learn what on earth chard is.) Then I saw the video bleow, which is awesome even if you don't like Star Wars.



In addition to health and environmental benefits, it is so much more fun to shop at healthy grocery stores. Don't get me wrong, I love a good trip to the Walmart, but I truly enjoy being in Whole Foods and Fresh Markets. Plus you can't beat their Sample Saturdays. No where else will the cashier flip through their mailer to find coupons for you. The employees always ask to help you find things or  share personal recommendations. It's amazing.

On Sunday I had bought a bag of honey crisp apples (AWESOME) from Fresh Market and had griped all the way home about the $8 I spent on them. (For four apples! Four huge apples, but still only four apples. I can get a whole sack of organic gala apples at Walmart for $3.96.) On Monday, I go to cut into the first one...and it's rotten. I even checked with a co-worker who is more produce knowledgeable and she told me to take it back. I called the store to make sure I could exchange it and they said it would not be a problem to bring it back.

"Not a problem" does even describe how amazing they were yesterday when I returned with my bad apple. They never even looked at my receipt. A cashier immediately came to my aid, walked me to their produce guide, everyone apologized (I mean, it happens, I understand.) and the produce guy walked me to the apples, helped me pick out a new one and gave me an extra. I'll pay $8 for apples if they come with that kind of service. And they really are the best apples ever.



I must say though, before you start to think I've become some kind of health nut, there are some things that I don't care how many chemicals are in them and I never will:

• Oreos
• Ice cream
• Velveeta cheese logs
• Candy, candy, candy
• Chef Boyardee
• Velveeta Shells and Cheese (The best mac and cheese ever.) 
• Eggo waffles (Although I do get the whole wheat kind.)
• Little Debbie Christmas trees and Valentine hearts
• Pillsbury crescent rolls
• Pillsbury cookies
• Chocolate
  

And there's probably several more...

Wine + Me + Silent Auction = My Football!

So last night, Lee and I went to this charity dinner and silent auction for one of his clients. (Lee does IT stuff that I don't understand. Have I mentioned that?) As we're getting in the car to leave for the event, I mention that we don't really have any money so we should keep the drinking and bidding to a minimum if at all. Lee comments that his boss said that bidding was fun and of course we should bid. Okay, whatever, we'll see.



Well everyone got two drink tickets and I'm a bit of a light-weight anyway and then there was free wine on the table and Christmas is coming up...

So we started by bidding on this mediocre piece of art but lose interest once it reached $20.

And then I find the autographed UK stuff. (GO CATS!) The Coach Cal autographed basketball and book were clearly my first choice, but that was a little pricey. I enjoyed bidding for the Coach Brooks football though and was surprised/excited/scared when I secured my Christmas present for $60.



For the rest of the evening I struggled with some buyer's remorse. I did just spend $60 on a football. I don't even know how to throw a football! (Ehh...this one is just for display anyway.) But as Lee often reminded me, I didn't buy a $60 football, I made a $60 donation for which I received a football. And it's a wonderful cause.

I am really excited about my football though. We can watch the games together. I can hold it and pace with it during intense football moments because Zoey dosen't like it when I get anxious and start pacing with her. 

Francesca's

Last night my good friend and I went shopping at Francesca's, a new boutique in Oxmoor Mall, and it was fabulous! They had a beautiful collection of dresses in all kinds of colors and beautiful patterns and all very reasonably priced. Their accessories and handbags are quite enchanting. I just Googled it and apparently it's a national chain, although it does have that unique-boutique feel which I love. I'm officially a big fan.

I'm a Carnivore for Polyvore

I'm not sure that headline really makes sense. I mean, you can't eat Polyvore, but if you could I would. Anyway...

I just found my new most favorite site ever (for this week): Polyvore.

Polyvore allows users to create their own fashion spreads using clothes from stores across the price spectrum, from Forever 21 to Alexander McQueen. So while you're shopping for clothes and you click on a cute top, it will show you the other items that users have paired it with. Exactly what I've always wanted clothing websites to do! And of course, you can go in and pair things together to make an ensemble! There is so much to love here!!!

It's also a fabulous place to get ideas. For someone who can be a little retarded when it comes to color combinations and being creative with fashion (Which I'm working on because my clothes are very dull. Jeans and top everyday. One of three different pairs of earrings. My wedding bling. That's about it.) (Actually I can be pretty dull on most decor and fashion fronts, as I frequently discuss, most recently here.)

I've played around with it some (Okay, a lot.) and here's my first two creations! Ta da! They might not seem like much, but so much more fun than what I wear everyday!

Summer Shopping by KatieEarley featuring American Eagle Outfitters

Fun with Leggings by KatieEarley featuring KaTang shoulder bags

And of course, all items were priced under $50 because I'm budget friendly.

Now go forth and Polyvore! You can post your creations in comments!!

Penny Pinching

Lee and I have a monthly budget that we try to stick to. Normally, this works out fine, but lately it seems that something comes up and we always go over a little. We keep some extra in the checking account so this isn't necessarily a huge problem (yet) but towards the end of the month I always go into crazy-mode (One might say I stay in crazy-mode.) in an attempt to stay within the budget.

As of Sunday, we were exactly at budget for July. I'm determined to make it through the rest of the week without spending another penny! (In theory.) This month I feel like I've come up with some mildly special ways of stretching our current lack-of-dollar, so I thought I'd share.

• There was 1.5 things we really did need. Kitty litter and milk. Fortunately, I got a $15 rebate from the last time I bought Zoey's flea and tick medicine so that extra income has covered those extra costs covered!
• I have absolutely no eye makeup remover left, so I googled other options because I knew I had heard of some. I wound up using baby oil and it worked better than the stuff I was out of. Score!
• I had been craving chocolate but we were out of pre-packaged treats. I did have some chocolate-chip cookie ingredients though!
  
• I'm running low on breakfast bars so I'm bringing bread and jam and making toast and jelly at work. This is probably a fairly obvious solution, but I hadn't thought of it before so I felt clever.
• Also not ground-breaking, but as I was pouting about our lack of chips until I remembered that we have a lot of popcorn.

Ultimately, the moral of this story is: Really evaluate what's lying around because there is probably something that will work.

There are a few small things that might push us no more than $5 over but I think we did a good job this month! *pats self on back*

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rosscrawford1/ / CC BY 2.0

Randomly Found Internet Things

I was at AdRants today, one of my favorite blogs for doing "work research" and found a couple very interesting things.

I was very intrigued by the Tide Total Care commercial and it's promises, only to later by horrifically sticker-shocked when I went to go purchase it at Walmart. One should never be sticker-shocked in Walmart. Apparently though, it's just as good as another type of Tide at half the price, which works as well as the All Small and Mighty I've been using since college. Tide, you have lost my trust; Tim Gunn, never!

I watch The Bachelor and The Bachelorette, so on many levels I feel that I can't judge this. And I respect arranged marriages as a cultural institution as long as everyone's a willing participant and not 12. But arranged marriage realty TV? I'm not surprised it's on Fox and CBS.

Sarcasm + Cooking = Cooking for Assholes. Brilliant. (I don't think this had any relation to AdRants, but was found today.)

I Want!

William Britain, a company known for making toy soldiers, has popped up on my radar with their introduction of a Pride and Prejudice set.

Meet Elizabeth:
She is tolerable I suppose.

I am a little disappointed that the facade for these characters to mingle at is a pub/inn. Longbourn would have been the better choice.

These figures will be available to purchase in August, so yes, feel free to go ahead and order me some for my birthday or Christmas! Thanks! ;)


image: William Britain