Round of Applause

So - The first stage is complete.

I have successfully managed my first home remodeling project.

Now - It was no small 'just paint the walls and hang new drapes' kinda deal - this was full on rip out a few walls and make peace with God kinda work.

After the destruction from the fish tank - I vowed to spend every dollar in the most practical and logical way. I would not just simply put the house back together and buy plaid valances. NO.
I was going to make lemonade when life gave me lemons.

At this point it has been 7 months since we were first brought down to reality. During this time, we have:
- ripped out and replaced the entire kitchen
- remodeled the entire living room
- created a dining room
- expanded and created a new family room
- ripped out and replaced the sunroom to create a bedroom
- repurposed the nursery to an office


But of course, this also left a lot of things that we have chosen to remodel but have not had the money to do so:
- rip out and replace the 'industrial' toilet room and create a proper powder room
- turn the eerie laundry area into a bright and delicious workspace where I'll long to do laundry all the time!

These are projects we will need much more time to complete...

These projects have been like a dream come true. I'm proud to show off my 'interior design' skills that I was never so sure I had. All those endless hours watching HGTV have paid off!! Of course, much more is needed. But the fun is JUST getting started. Accessories come next!

Honestly, it would be even more fantastic if I could do this again (any volunteers?). After this, of course, I'll have the remaining bedrooms and bathroom to begin my mayhem on.

Until next time...

For a Good Cause (Twice)

Well.

Funny as it seems, I went against my previous posting and again have left you (the watchful audience) to patiently wait for another installment.

My recent purchase has led me to move forward and see if there are other ways that I can help out. What was this purchase you ask?

Bob's. I bought a pair of Sketcher Bob's.

Sketchers claims that if you purchase a pair of their shoes, they will donate a FREE PAIR to a child in need. This is the easiest way that I can do something and there is a direct and positive outcome. Now, it may not be instantaneous, but the thought that if I purchase a pair, a child will have a new pair of shoes in the near future.

When I donate clothes to the Goodwill OR donate money to a relief organization, it takes time for my dollars to get there. My money may go to airfare to get aid workers there, or for copies of info flyers to get printed. All of which will never have a true 1:1 outcome.

Now, why did I make this decision so quickly and without much thought? Well. Honestly I needed some shoes. I could always use a pair of comfy shoes that I can toss on and just feel great wearing. For anyone who knows me well, I really try to keep my kicks simple. It's ALWAYS composed of a pair (actually THE pair from High School) of Converse Low Rise (Black on White). May a few pairs of ballet flats, and always a 'miscellaneous' shoe. These Sketcher Bob's are now my 'miscellaneous' shoe. Thus is why it's been a great cause x2!

Now, since my purchase almost two weeks ago, I have caved in a purchased another pair off Amazon. Now, I hope that if I buy them from Amazon, that a child will STILL receive them. I admittedly did not think of this when I was purchasing my shoes. Looking back, if this is not the case, then I will not order them offline. I would hope that Amazon would convey the message "she bought a pair" to Sketchers - Now cough up a new pair to someone in need!!

Well - Long story short. I've found a few new pairs of shoes recently and am happy to have invited 3 stunning pairs into my collection. We are moving back into our house this weekend, and definitely look forward to lining them up in my closet.

Until the next installment - Farewell!!

Be kind, rewind...

Well hello there.


It's been a while. Yes, please do not remind me. So MUCH has happened since I've blogged last.


Let me catch you up on where I have been the past few months...


After the utter destruction of our fish tank, we came to realize just how much damage occurred. We relocated to a Residence Inn a few miles from our house and have since made it our home. Baby items flourish the 2-bedroom hotel room. Diapers pour out from the closet and socks pile up in the corners. Though, I must say, I've taken a liking to having a maid make our bed and bring in new towels every day. Why does she do this? Well, because there is no 'Do Not Disturb' tag on our door to shut her out. bru-ha-ha-ha

Anyways. Now two months after the tragic event. We are now FINALLY moving forward. It's now time to do what I do best: SHOP!!!

We have many things to buy: Flooring, Paint, Cabinets, Counter tops, Back splash, Base Mouldings, Window Treatments, etc. etc. 

We went through a few scenarios and tried to plan exactly how we would piece it all back together...

Flooring: Would we lay tile AND carpet?
Walls: Would we have an accent wall?
Window treatments: Would we go back to ugly brown curtains?
Cabinets: Would we choose wood or wood knock-off?
Counter tops: Tile, granite or Tupperware?
Mouldings: What are those?

I'll share the options and struggles we encountered while on this journey to reclaim our home! I will also try to stay on target by keep the formatting the same (where appropriate).

First pass: Flooring!!!

Until next time...

Wipe Out!!!

Well. I'm not sure if this particular post will be related to an erratic purchase of mine, but it does entail spending money on something that was completely unexpected.

Last Monday, our 180-gallon fish tank collapsed. Yes. That's right. Our worst fears literally imploded.

Within a few hours, we had gone from enjoying the evening and playing with our baby to running around the house dazed and confused.

The following morning, we assessed the damage and realized it was nothing but awful. An emergency restoration company was called out and basically they removed everything. Their crew, which was VERY hardworking, knew exactly what to do with the carpet, flooring and walls. Everything had to go!

We didn't even have a moment to stop and think about what was going on. After everything was removed, we were handed a contract to sign. I filled out the necessary information (i.e. policy information, address, etc.) and then wrote a $1000 check for the deductible.

Then they left.

We stood in our driveway literally wondering 'what just happened?'

We only had a few hours to pack and check into a hotel, since loud machines were placed in the living room to suck in all the moisture. Now, we wait until the adjuster can visit the house and put a dollar amount next to the damage that was done.

Honestly, it's all happened so fast, that I can't really remember all the details. Except for our deductible. Amazing what a $1000 check can accomplish - emptying out all the debris!

In the coming weeks, I'll attempt to explore some of the details related to putting the house back together. I do admit, I'm excited that the house WILL be better than before, and that we'll be able to add some of our personality back into the mix.

Until next time (as long as there are no other tragic events)

Laid the Flat Out!!

I couldn't believe that my flat iron died on me!

Background:
I took pride in gloating that it lasted 5+ years and hadn't given me a single problem. It stopped working on or around the time we bought the house, and it took a few months longer for me to really notice. I plugged it in a few times but never noticed that it didn't warm up (this was because I got distracted and left it in the bathroom...unattended).

So now since I'm going back to work in a week or so, I can't sport the 'mom-do' anymore.

Let me define the 'mom-do' for those who have not heard of it. It's closely related to the hornet's nest as it is a mixture of sweat (sometimes blood) and knotted hair. It is rarely washed and usually quickly tied up after it has been. It's adorned with a black rubber tie so that it cannot find its way into the hands of a young infant (who will NOT let go even if you are screaming in pain). Basically, imagine Amy Winehouse.

Let's not even discuss the fact that my roots are growing out and it looks awful! (I'm getting that fixed this coming Saturday...)

So, what to do?

Outcome:
I turned to my trusty Amazon!!!

It took me a few hours (because there are a million versions, all claiming to be marvelous!)

I ended up Google'ing 'Best Flat Irons' in order to drill down the brand that I should buy. I went back and forth with a few brands in my shopping cart:

1. Sedu
2. Solia
3. HAI
4. BaByliss

Most of these were all retailed at $150+ (definitely out of my price range) so my goal was to find one of these brands at less than $50.

According to the stock on Amazon, I wasn't having much luck finding a decent brand flat iron for a reasonable price. After changing the key words and searching a bizillion times, I finally found one that was worth considering.

The BaByliss Pro Ceramic Flat Iron with removable comb was the one! The previous flat iron I used was only a 1", so I had to keep going over and over in order to get a decent area flattened. This model was a 1.5", which would make my mornings even easier. Feeding, changing and getting a baby ready for day care was going to be DIFFICULT so anything to help speed the hair process along would be warmly welcomed into my home.

After checking out and paying the $27 bucks (WHAT A DEAL!) I would soon receive my delightful purchase in a few short days. Sadly because of President Day, delivery would take longer than it usually would have.

As usual, until next time...

Splurge!

I couldn't resist. It's called 'fire engine red' for Christ's sake!

Background:
I LOVE wallets. I have a delightful collection which I rotate every few years. Adding a few items a year. I take care of them as best as I can, but sometimes they have a few nicks.

Now I'm returning to work soon and my birthday is coming up, so I thought I would pick out something nice. Of course, this is how every splurge starts...

Outcome:
I headed to my favorite place - NORDSTROM (Glendale Galleria). It didn't take very long. I walked around the wallet and handbag glass case with one thing in mind: It had to make a statement. Now I'm not a leopard or zebra girl, but I need a little flash in my life. Not only that, I love red. (thinking about it now, I should have bought those red shoes at the Rack as they would MATCH my wallet to a 'T'!)

Then I see it. It's the only one in that color. A beautiful Kate Spade wallet with small side pocket for coins, miscellaneous.

I wanted it. I NEEDED it!

The price wasn't too bad, but then again, this was a splurge! No deals when splurging!!! I loved the gold leather interior (super unique) and the way it looked so girly. I handed the kind woman my Nordstrom card and said 'yay'! She even picked out a cute little box to store it in when I'm not using it (aka when I splurge again in 6-8 months).

I did of course walk out of Nordstroms and back to my car with a slight case of Buyer's Remorse, but that soon dissipated when I loaded it up with my credit cards. I keep it in my Marc Jacob's wristlet for the time being (which is being used as a purse now since I sport a diaper bag!)

Until next time...Cha-ching!!!

Bounced Check

So. Now since the computer has been upgraded and the hard drive expanded, I was ready to get my hands dirty.


I love shiny new things, and any brand new applications for my sexy Snow Leopard OS was definitely a plus to maintaining my 'cool' status.


I spent endless hours (well really like a good 20-25) looking through every nook and cranny in the new operating system trying to see what it was that I was missing. I was destined to purchase a new application to make my life better. The hard part was decided what it was that I needed to make better.


Money.


Background:
Now since we had a house, a baby and a car lease, I definitely needed a way to organize our spending habits. I guess I should be fair and say MY spending habits. That is of course why this blog exists!!


I wanted something that I could manipulate as much as possible. I wanted it to tally up all the transactions I had for the month and give me a summary. I LOVE reports that can be easily customized with graphs and numbers. I needed to see in black and white (or color) that we were spending XYZ on eating out or clothing. Now, I didn't purchase an application that let me print off replica bills (though that would have been awesome) but I did shop around.


Here are the products I sampled in order to make my decision:
1. Paperless by Mariner (Regular price $50, got it for $25 from NEW Apple App Store)
Now initially I wanted something that I could combine both my receipts, documents and transactions into one giant lump. I found that this wasn't going to be possible. Keeping the receipts separate from the documents was critical. I will have at least 20 to 1 over documents any day. Even more so, I would have more transactions as I do not save a physical receipt for every purchase (i.e. Amazon).
Paperless is an amazing product to manage my receipt and document collection. It keeps them both independent of each other. I can customize the categories and even save, email or print with a click of a button. Sounds great, but this didn't satisfy the need to get my money in order.

2. SEE Finance
Off the bat I loved the way this software looked. It had an inviting feel, and welcomed minimal customization. I tried this product for free when I downloaded it from CNET (I downloaded the trial before I did the OS upgrade, so I got the old version). I was able to add and remove categories without much trouble, and I was able to control the imports and where they posted. 


The Reports looked great and it was easy to import transactions from the web (i.e. Bank of America, American Express). I could add multiple accounts with ease AND see the balances of each without having to click on each one. I loved this because I usually bounce back and forth.


Also, there is really no need to purchase the full version because the only trial fault is that you have to look at the welcome screen/verbiage for a few seconds. I could live with that for FREE usage! 

And then finally...


3. Money3
Since this product was strongly sponsored by Apple, I trusted their judgement. Also, for the price and the high reviews, I expected a decent product. I was SO disappointment when I really got involved with it. To start, there are a few features that I just couldn't stand: 

• I added and removed categories (I don't have an IRA nor would I need to track it's interest) but was unable to change the 'image' associated to it. The standard categories came with out-of-the-box images, but since I exported/imported from the SEE Finance product, it copied over the categories that I used there. I was NOT able to put back the images after I deleted the default categories!! No Fun! This quickly turned me off...
• The reports made NO sense. I was looking at deposits, but it was adding up total transactions. It was even adding up all my transfers and deposits AND withdraws (simultaneously!)

Outcome:

Basically, I stuck with the Paperless and SEE Finance applications. They both were SUPER user friendly. I really love the fact that SEE Finance is free and that Paperless was half-price. I kick myself for buying the Money3 software, but it's times like this that I wish I could have saved money by just sticking with something that was working well! This is exactly the thing I need to improve on and stop - wasteful spending! Although using these two products have slightly helped me track my spending, I hope that it will eventually help improve my frivolousness over the next few months. 

Until next time...

Coupon Coupon!

Well, this is an interesting discussion.

Had a knock on the door. Two kids who had traveled from West Covina were standing on the porch.

"Would you like to purchase a Coupon book to help support our school fundraiser?"

Background:
Now, I'm a sucker for fundraisers. It may be because I used to have to sell a bunch of worthless chocolate boxes for the swim team. Usually I would just give in and pay the cash and keep the boxes in the closet. No one wanted to buy candy.

So here I stand looking at the high-school aged kids who just told me we had a nice pond. "Well sure, I'll buy it". SUCKER!!

Outcome:
I cough up the $10 bucks and take my delicious looking Carl's Jr Coupon book. When I return to the couch, I got the evil eye from my better half.

"You seriously bought a coupon book?"

*silence* YES.

The coupon book, (which I purchased for him) was in no means well received. It had coupons for coffee, ice cream, sandwiches, burgers and even enchiladas (for those with a Green Burrito). Since he eats out with his friends, I thought it would be a benefit to have coupons so that we could save a few bucks here and there.

It took a few days, but the coupon book finally found it's way back out the front door and to his work. You could say I achieved the goal I had set out to accomplish, but in the end I really feel that it was a worthless buy and we probably could have lived without it (and obviously without the extra calories!)

Until next time *sighing*...

Cha-Ching

Footloose with Fossil Fuel

We all know the story, but we didn't follow it very well. "first comes the house, then marriage, then a baby in a baby carriage". Well, our daughter didn't quite follow our marriage, nor did she arrive in a carriage. Like all parents, you want the best for your children. You want to provide them with a strong foundation. That foundation for us was an SUV. This Sport Utility Vehicle would allow us to safely transport our child from point A to point B along with all the crap we bought from Costco.

What we did not know at the time we made the decision to got bigger, was with whom would we make a 39 month commitment to. Mercedes seemed the most logical choice, since my other half was employed by them. Which one would have been right for me? But truthfully, after looking at them all day long, would he really be willing to make that weekend getaway?? Fat chance.

So we move along in our search. Now, I had a secret crush on the Ford Edge. It was sexy, sleek and didn't quite look like a mom mobile. The price tag scared me though. Maybe lease used? That was a possibility. I searched endlessly on the Internet (in the middle of night of course) for the car that would be our next. Mazda, Volvo, Cadillac, Subaru - all of them. Basically I swirled around in a maze of features and colors and interior options. In the end, one thing was obvious: I wanted to connect my iPod.

I'm not a demanding person. Shiny, new and technologically hip was all I wanted.

I spoke to a few sales people, but I felt like a man cruising for a happy-ending. They all wanted my money. One recommended I check out the Ford website for specials (obviously too busy to tell me himself!!) But of course I did. That is when I found it.

The 2011 Explorer sang to me. It seduced me with it's features and it's willingness to get dirty. I wanted to drive her off road, to a place no one knew about. I had never had a woman-on-woman moment, but honestly this car had a hold on me. I loved white, red and even the silver. Now, if only I could justify THIS car!!!

After a few days of memorizing EVERYTHING about the new Explorer, I just had to go drive it. This I would not do alone. Keith, at Sunrise Ford in North Hollywood happened to be working last Sunday...perfect! Habibi and I planned to visit in the afternoon to take a "look". By no means did either of us expect the outcome.

Arriving at the dealer, I truly expected to test drive the top of the line model, listen to the sales guy convince me I need one of the 100 options, as well as feel the soft, luxurious leather that would NOT be in the car I hoped to someday have. Our budget and our wish list was pretty straightforward: cheap!!

One delightful test drive later, our wish list went right out the window like a man sleeping with the bosses' wife. I wanted it all, even the advertisement poster in the lobby. Having a handsome and amazing hubby (hope he's reading this), he too gave in. As he said, "f**k it, you only live once." I would rather hear that kind of statement when we would be in the prospect of leasing a Bentley, but hey, yay anyways!!!

Our sales guy was wonderful, because he basically thought he had wasted a lovely Sunday afternoon driving around with two kids and a sleeping baby. Oh! Failed to mention, the sweet and innocent baby was sound asleep during the whole 4 hour excursion. She had been utterly exhausted from her early morning bath. Well, to much to any one's surprise, we decided to get it.

The car has more features than I will ever need. We have yet to learn how to program a simple radio station. A few hours later, after signing some papers and giving the nice people our credit card, we were left to figure out how to get home. 

Now the vehicle sits in our driveway. I look out through the kitchen window, and wonder to myself "what the hell?". In a few months (even years maybe) we'll look back and hopefully not regret this purchase.On the flip side, I connect my iPod the first chance I got. Unfortunately, the sound quality is not as great as the Sirius satellite reception, but I can definitely enjoy listening to the random folk artists that I have an obsession with.

Ugly Curtains

At first, you could only be there is understand how funny the comment was. When we purchased our house last August, we needed a way to shut out the 110 degree weather that seeped in through the dozen or so windows that engulfed our house.

The solution (or so I thought) was easy: hang curtains!

Background:
I saw it done a million times on those home makeover shows. The smart girl puts together a few funky prints and voila! As fancy up-do for the living room. I wanted the same thing for our house. So I headed to Bed, Bath and Beyond and purchased enough curtains to build a flag for Texas. (Now the color we picked was Camel, and we didn't purchase the valance).

After realizing that we just couldn't cover up EVERY window, we returned a few. This was when my dear brother-in-law made the mistake of admitting that the curtains were ugly. He did not realize that we were only returning a FEW of the curtains that we didn't use, but in fact had left a bunch still hanging on the walls.

Now almost six months later, we are updating the house for the spring. We want lively, fresh and modern. We want to be seen as a young hip couple, not the clearance aisle freaks that we were back in August. (Honestly, ALL the curtains were on close-out at BB&B).

I decided that in addition to the curtains in the living room, I would need to replace the curtains in other rooms in order to make the makeover successful! This included the kitchen, our bedroom and the office. Truth was, the office was neglected since we moved in. (It had been cleaned over and over, but it just wouldn't stay clean).

So...I headed to my favorite furniture place....IKEA!!!

Outcome:
Here I went looking for something that met the hip, new requirements we had in mind. For $19.99, I purchased two sets of curtains (each contained 2) for the sliding patio doors in our living room. These were fantastic because they held onto the curtain rod by metal loops at the top. This is ingenious as it makes it super easy to open/close.

Opening and closing the curtains was a headache for my beloved. He absolutely HATED it, and basically left them closed until I woke up and did the job. Now since the loops are on, there is nothing for me to do.

By adding the new curtains, I not only freshened up the living room, but I even managed to get a few more hours of sleep!

Now after picking out and replacing the curtains, I needed to make the same change for the other windows. I found the blinds at IKEA as well (also in white). The first pair that I picked up were for the windows by our front door. They have a decorative design on them that looks modern and fresh (ding ding ding!!!).

They have yet to be hung, but I'm sure they will look fabulous! I also purchased on a second trip to IKEA additional blinds for our bedroom and office as well as the kitchen.

It finally feels like we are making progress in our little home!!!

Until next time...

Ripped and Ready

It just sounds so amazing. We even considered ordering two. What would the neighbors think???

I'm talking about the Maximum Fitness Gear All-In-One Doorway Chin-Up Bar with Bonus Top 20 Exercises To Six Pack Abs Guide. Whew!! You basically get a workout just saying it!

Background:
Somewhere amongst the endless infomercials, my beloved half stumbled across the commercial for this ingenious concoction. The people who are in this commercial on YouTube made me feel like a gelatinous whale swimming in an ocean of melted butter. (You're welcome for the mental image).

I could only imagine what people would think when they came over to our house and saw the jungle gym hooked up on the bathroom or bedroom door. Maybe for fun, we could each take turns showing off our succulent muscles. I would need a monthly subscription to have gallons of body oil delivered to our door so that we could rub it all over our ripped bodies.

So of course, I started looking towards my beloved Amazon. What would I do without it?? At the delightful price of $29.51, I clicked my way to happiness. Boy of boy would he be so happy!!


Outcome:
Within two business days, the almost 4' box arrived. I saw the UPS guys checking it out as he walked down our driveway. I knew by the way he was eye-balling it I knew he too wanted to get ripped. He brought the box in and set it down since I had my hands full with the blabbering baby.

Now the question stood, where to put it? The problem with our vintage home was that some of the doors happen to be flush with the wall. DUMB! So there was really only one option - over the bathroom door. When Sam got home, he was SUPER eager to begin using it. He tore open the box like a kid on Christmas morning and assembled it as quickly as he could, but leaving the bolts lightly tightened. In the living room sprawled out, was to be the machine that would turn our bulge into beauty. It sat. And sat. And sat some more until it was time for me to vacuum and get it out of the way. I stashed it away in the office, so that none of our friends would see 'failure' laying on the floor.

One sunny afternoon, Sam finally got up the courage to attack the fabulous body changer and tighten all the bolts. After about 20 days, we were finally ready for a make over. Yet it only took 10 minutes for him to set it up, use it, and get tired. Yes, getting old does make doing chin-ups more difficult. Nearly impossible in fact.

So now we have this amazing tool that was meant to make us look sexy like something in a West Hollywood bar, but sadly it's dusty handle bars were too lifeless to create any excitement. It's appearance was now dull, as we had no way to get 'ripped' without breaking a sweat. The bar remains to be utilized, but the details are not yet established. Maybe a few more 'sample' sessions are needed between man and bar in order to achieve ultimate happiness. May this story of dedication and heroism inspire all to invest in the Maximum Fitness Gear All-In-One Doorway Chin-Up Bar with Bonus Top 20 Exercises To Six Pack Abs Guide and share this fabulous experience!!!

Until next time, cha-ching!!!!

The Apple in the Rye

So to begin, I'm back-tracking with this first purchase (or rather purchases). I think it is critical that I must since this was one of the elements that inspired me to begin this blog. There are multiple products that will be discussed in this initial posting. I'll try to introduce some structure into my blog, so please be patient if I must make improvements over the course of it's development!

Background:
I have owned my MacBook for nearly 5 years! My baby has been with me through thick and thin, and has really never given me much trouble. Time to return some of the TLC! As tax time rolled around, I started thinking about my lack of financial organization and how I can improve it (also a new year's resolution).

Option 1: Do Nothing. This is of course the easiest and least painful options - that is until it's tax time next year and I have the same pathetic excuse for not having any receipts!

Option 2: Do Something. What this is was not very clear, but I was willing to spend endless hours searching the web for an application that would fix all my troubles.

Of course I went with Option 2 - Having a 7 week old newborn made this possible, as you have some extra hours in the middle of the night to just...how do you say? Sit and wait (for her to fall back to sleep that is)! So I started looking at a few software programs that are made especially for Mac. I searched and searched until I found one - Paperless by Mariner Software. I loved the screenshots, but more importantly I loved the way the software made me feel. I felt that if I installed THIS product, I would be cool. Of course in addition to being cool, I would be organized.

In an alternate universe, I'm sure I would pull out my computer while having friends over for cocktails and show them my superb collection of receipts and documents. They would be neatly arranged and dated while being readily available at my fingertips. We would laugh and sip red wine. What? Did I really think this was possible?? YES - As long as I had this software!

Now, what to do? Download the trial!! This of course led to the series of events that expanded another 24 hours. The version of OS (operating system for non-nerds) that I am running on my MacBook is a bit outdated. Because of this, I would have to try the old, beta version of the software. Boring! Having the old dusty version isn't very cool. I wanted to be cool!

This put me on a quest to update my OS. Now a new search had begun. I looked at the every fresh and hip Apple website. My eyes glazed with excitement as I looked at the new models of the MacBook, eager to have one of my own. I'll briefly take a moment to kill your excitement - No, I did NOT buy a new computer. OK - moving on...

Looking at upgrading to the new operating system meant having to do a lot of work with the files I had, since I was running out of hard drive space. Now, for any of you who personally know me KNOW that I have an obsession with taking photos. Not the low quality ones, but the 2-6 MB ones that clog up a lot of room. Ding ding! Not only would I need to upgrade my operating system to be cool, I would also need to install a new hard drive! If only it was that easy in school to be so cool! Upgrade your computer and you're prom queen!! New search - Apple MacBook Hard Drive Replacement.

See how it spun? All this from doing my taxes and realizing that I wasn't very organized. I have this amazing ability (according to my other half) to justify everything I do. Well, this should be proof that I can!

I am upgrading my computer for the following reasons (in order of appearance):
1. Because I need to be more organized
2. Because I need to be cool
3. Because I need the new version
4. Because I don't have space

Whew!

Outcome:
So with all this pressure (and now excitement) looming over my head, I set out with a plan. I would need to consult with a God representative ASAP. In this case, that representative would be a Apple Genius Bar associate. They would have the all-knowing answer and be able to guide me on my way. Step 1 - Schedule an Appointment. Step 2 - Get to that Appointment. Step 3 - Do not give in and pay Apple to do the upgrade for me.

That's right. I'm going to do the upgrade myself! How else do I justify the journey! Plus, this will be a bonding experience for my MacBook and I. To be completely prepared, I spent many hours looking for the perfect Hard Drive that would make me cool. Being a typical American, I wanted the biggest, fastest model there was. Being realistic, I found a few in my price range. I initially picked out a Seagate Momentus 500 Gb 7200rpm drive (price $64.99) as well as a Hitachi Travelstar also with 500Gb and 7200rpm (price $73.14). Taking these possibilities to the Apple Genius made the decision super easy - pick the OEM/Hitachi (he really sorta said "pick this one"). The Genius (his new name) also recommend I get the new iLife '11 since I'll need a place to put my music and photos.

While standing in the Apple store having just having a coming-to-Jesus, I accessed the internet from one of the new computers and submitted my order through Amazon. Now - since delivering my beautiful baby, I have fallen in love with Amazon. Amazing shipping speeds, even more amazing prices.

At this point. I am just waiting. My order will arrive in 2 business days (free shipping with Prime Membership!) I am postponing buying the Paperless Software at this time, until I get the computer up and running with the new hard drive and operating system. Details of that sale will be discussed here later!

Here is the damage from this shopping experience:
Operating System Upgrade/Snow Leopard: $29 through Amazon
iLife '11: $48.24 through Amazon
Hitachi Travelstar Hard Drive: $73.14

(I also purchased a housing kit for my existing hard drive so I can transfer files as well as an extra printer USB cable since I bought a new Samsung laser printer last week!)

In closing...Set goals and research as much as you can BEFORE you go shopping! Being an informed buyer makes the experience more exciting and allows you to be sure you got the most for your dollar.

Until next time, cha-ching! 

Stay tuned, I may go back and enter a few posts based on other recent purchases. 

In Session!

Well here it is. 

Got to thinking one night, "gee, I buy a lot of random things online. Maybe I should blog about it?". And, well, now I am. 

Truth is - I shop for a lot of meaningless items online. Some of which I purchase, mostly I window (or monitor) shop. This gives me a way to bring reason to my spending, and allows you (as the reader!) to share the experience with me.

I love talking, so let's see how well I can socialize and express myself through words! Enjoy.