Moving In

It took me about 3 weeks to fully move in, mostly because I repainted my bedroom. Technically I am still trying to organize my clothes out of their packing containers but that will be over with in time. Everyone is moved in, my friends and I found a fourth roommate and my cats are also moved into the basement. So far life is going good. 

We have had some roommate debates about the decor and layout of the living room. Mostly one roommate wants everything her way which I was fine with until she wanted to put the loveseat into the dining room. That is just wrong. Luckily the loveseat didn't fit in the dining room so she moved it back. 

As far as the decorating goes it has all been coming together really nice. Especially since I don't really care how the main floor is decorated I just let everyone else figure that out. But for the basement I have been figuring out how I want to decorate it and my bohemian room is coming together very nicely. With the lovely turquoise wardrobe and cabinet and the tapestries not to mention the tufted violet bed that will be in there. It will look great!

My cats seem to be adjusting really well too. I hope they behave themselves in this new place. 

During our first 3 weeks at this new house we did have a little bit of drama happen. Someone in the neighborhood reported that more than 4 unrelated people lived at our location, which is not true. Luckily our landlords didn't hold it against us and they suspect it was the grumpy old man across the street. We have lovingly dubbed him Grand Torino. The fire department did their inspection and found nothing to be wrong with our living situation and now it is over. Since we cannot 100% verify that it was Grand Torino that made the report we can't confront him and honestly unless he actually confronts us I have no desire to speak to the grumpy man.

This is how I imagine Grand Torino

Finally Living in a House and how I got there

This week is a good week. After months of searching, hunting, attacking and failing. My roommates and I have managed to convince someone to rent to us. The best part is that it was our personalities that won them over! I have definitely learned over the years that when you are young it can be very hard to be able to rent anywhere without a co-signer or to even be considered because well you need a co-signer. Apartments are an easier route when first starting out. That's what I did. For anyone reading this and wanting a place to live just so you can party and avoid the cops well...this isn't the blog post for you sorry. 

If you are young, responsible and just want a decent place to live I totally understand. I've been there. Heck I'm still there in a sense.

Starting out I just needed a place that was cheap and would take me, my roommate and my two cats. (Renting when you have pets can be very difficult) Eventually I ended up living in an apartment complex I consider the Ghetto of the city I live in. It had no dishwasher, the kitchen was small, it was probably built in the 1920s for all I know and I could hear my neighbors from all sides at all times. It was an experience.

After that lovely time I tried to find me and my new roommates a place to live. We really wanted a townhouse. Unfortunately we got desperate and settled on another apartment complex. This one was nicer. It had 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. One of the roommates actually lived in the dining room. We actually got that apartment to be pretty homey.


Now I have new roommates, best friends of mine, and we are moving into a townhouse this week. It was hard but we didn't give up. We were lucky and were able to get this townhouse on Craigslist. Now when renting a place from Craigslist there is a big benefit less paperwork. Also you usually deal directly with the owner which is nice. When you go through the rental process with a realtor and a property management company it has a lot more paperwork, rules and stipulations. With the property management company they are usually less likely to rent to anyone that says they are a student, has a co-signer, or has a pet.


This week will be a busy one with moving but I couldn't be more excited!

Try to Get out of a Slump

Work has been going alright. It's been productive. I still feel like I am missing something. I have a job, a wonderful boyfriend and I am independent. What more could I want? Well for one I want to lose all this extra weight I have gained. I want to have a healthy lifestyle again. It would be nice to succeed at this new idea of crafting as a hobby. I've also signed up for soccer in the Fall. So I definitely should get in shape for that. I hope I don't make a fool out of myself with that one. With the extra pounds getting added on from this desk job I've really gotten into a slump self image wise. I need to get motivated, I need to work on myself, and I need to start NOW.

Go with the Flow

Life has been going really smoothly lately. I have really learned the power of a budget and the power of a salary. If you are living off day to day pay like a server or a retail worker I would definitely suggest you always save about 50% of what you make every day or week for your bills that are always there. Then remember to build an emergency fund...this is hard. I will absolutely admit that emergency funds take will power. It will help down the road though. 

As for salary pay if you are not making a lot for what you work a part-time gig or doing free-lance work (if you have a skill that lends itself to freelance work) can help a lot. Budgeting a salary is much easier to do too. Especially if you COOK FOR YOURSELF. 

Cooking for yourself can be hard to do because you are tired and you feel lazy. Trust me I lived off of take out or order in food for like a month. Wanna know what happened? I gained 15 pounds. Luckily I found CalorieCount.com and with just counting my calories I have lost 5 of those 15 pounds. I have also found that it is hard to cook for myself all the time. So usually I bring things in for breakfast and lunch and put them in the fridge at work. For breakfast I have been eating yogurt and a banana. Sometimes I have a small snack before lunch. Then for lunch I have a low cal microwave meal, lean pocket, light can of soup or I make myself a sandwich. IF the meal is a little too low cal I will bring a piece of fruit or even a pudding snack. 

Dinner lately has been the best. I decide what I am going to attempt making and go buy the ingredients. Lately I have found that arugula is a delicious low cal high vitamin ingredient and it is yummy too. Also goat cheese can be cooked into so many things. Stuffed mushrooms, cream sauce, or even baked and put on top of a pasta dish. So many endless possibilities to try.  

Going with the flow of life feels good right now. I have been in a good place and am just trying to stay there and get healthier while doing it. 

FALL has Arrived...Again!

A lot has happened to me lately. Aaron moved into his own place and soon Odin will be moving in with him. My job is going well and I now am the Marketing Coordinator for 2 clients. I still handle all of the Receptionist/Assistant duties until I get a 3rd client. Which is fine my clients are nice and pretty easy to manage for now.

I am still designing on the side for PJ Skidoos which is awesome. 

Also I have been dealing with my cat Cedo. He is a sprayer and I have decided to try and end it once and for all. The Xanax that was prescribed to him obviously wasn't working. So I brought him to this local vet and had him tested for a UTI, nothing wrong with him. And since this vet practices both eastern and western medicine he decided to try my cat on some herbal medications to promote calm and lessen his stress levels. I am also going to need to buy another litterbox and I am not happy about it. Also if this medication doesn't work the vet is probably going to try acupuncture. I think that would be interesting and even if the medication does start to work I would still be interested in having him go through acupuncture sessions. 

Halloween is also next Monday and I am just going to wear my steam-punk costume. Maybe my heavy metal costume...not sure which yet.

I will say just starting out in a career the one thing I have noticed to be difficult is wardrobe. There are a lot of great options for easy wash suits and work clothes so I would stay away from dry-clean only. Also Macy's always has great sales you would be surprised how cheap you can get last seasons things on their clearance rack. Other saviors is thrift stores and getting the things from thrift stores tailored or learning to tailor them yourself. And stores like ROSS and TJ Maxx. You really can save a lot. But remember the big department stores have sales so just keep an eye out for the really good sales from places like that because the better clothes from the better stores often last much longer.

In Need of Topics

Now that I have landed myself a job, though I get peeved with it sometimes, I find that I am without much to talk about. I am living on my own with roommates, my cats inhabit my space instead of my parents and I graduated college. What else is there to write about when it comes to living on my own? What would people like to read about? Does anyone have suggestions?

I am becoming very good with budgets, to-do lists, handling bills, handling roommates, and handling having pets (of the feline variety) in a small space. I am just unsure as to what would be the most interesting for readers.
...Help?

Updates Before the Fall of 2011 Starts

BUwahahahahha!  Today I am off to a Music Festival. This is my second one, my last one was in July and it was all the way in Up State New York called The Big Up. It was a very long trip but super fun with the camping in a random field on a random farm in the middle of no where. Luckily our camp neighbors were really nice since Aaron and I were the only ones who went it was nice to make some friends and meet people to hang out with. 

This Festival we are going to, I don't know the title of, is in Pennsylvania so it is a much shorter drive. I hope to finish taking pictures on my disposable camera, that I bought for the last festival, at this festival so I can finally develop them. I am kind of scared to see what will be on that camera.

As for my new job 

Here is a photo before my first official interview at that job.

 I had a casual interview at the office before but that was when they were not hiring. 


Well after the pictured interview took place I went to a second interview and was hired.  Later I got to start my job and now have been diligently working there for a month.

The job is at a marketing firm which I will not name incase anyone ever reads this. I don't want to get fired for posting my jobs name on my blog or something.


The job itself is fine and I am learning a lot. My co-workers are fun and really funny but they are perfect. No Comment on my boss.


Being Done with School

So I am done with school. I do hope to go back and get my MAT (Masters in Art Teaching) one day and then maybe a PhD to teach art on a college level. But for now I really just want to pay off my debt and then begin to save for my Master's.

  Apartment and Roommates

Roommates are cool I have 3 as I believe I have stated before. Of course as with any apartment with people my age the trash piles up and the dishes sit in the sink.  At least we have a dishwasher unlike the last place I lived in. All I can really ask for is that there is no drama and the cops don't get called on our apartment more than once. Which so far neither has happened so I think we are doing pretty good.  All my roommates are working on their Master's, one is on a break but has her's about half done.  The two guys I live with are working hard on theirs to just finish them asap.  But we all work hard to pay the rent and bills and we survive.  The only roommates I do have complaints about are my cats they are 3 rambunctious boys and can get very annoying. They are lucky I love them.