Withdrawal & Depression

We won't have internet in the new place until NEXT friday!! I'm already going into withdrawal! And this is all because M waited until 2 days before we moved to call our internet provider! Ugh. At least I have the iphone... but it won't do me any good when I'm trying to research for my paper. :\ Guess I'll have to just spend some nights at school...

In other (depressing) news, the Jimmy Choos I said I was returning? Disappeared. Apparently, my mom thinks she put them in the back of her car and then accidentally gave them to Goodwill along with a bunch of other stuff.
...
...
wtf. I love my mom, but... WTF!

I guess this is my punishment for buying such expensive shoes?! :(

Moving Update

I apologize for my silence recently... between the impending move and packing and ebay/craig's list selling (and buying) plus the long hours I've been putting in at work, I haven't been in a mood to write (mainly have been in the mood to vegetate!). Hopefully by Monday we'll be settled, have internet, and I'll be back to regular postings. :)

So far, it's looking like the movers will cost approx. $300, the fridge will be $220 (bought off Craig's List and supposedly less than a year old), the June prorated rent will be $163... am I forgetting anything? It's not looking terribly expensive (at least, so far).

I was going to have the movers pick up the fridge and bring it back to the new apt (once everything is moved from the old apt to the new - I figure I'll still have them for another hour, since it's a 3 hour minimum, and a 1 mile move!). Anyone ever done this before? Will it be a problem? I e-mailed them about it, but got no response.

In other news, like Little Miss Moneybags, I have my new iphone, and I LOVE it. It's significantly faster than my old one, it has little useful, time saving features (I can finally do an inbox search!), I love the voice control... anyway, I'm very happy I bought it. :) But it will probably be the last purchase in a loong while... I have to update my budget next week and tighten the control over my spending. Have been a bit crazy lately!

Spending

I've been very spendy the past few days... I bought the Iphone 3G S to replace my original Iphone (I was sold by the voice control - now I can just hit my bluetooth headset, say a name and voila, dialing), and yesterday I went shopping with my mom and bought a dress and jacket. (And shoes... but I won't talk about them because I'm taking them back in 5 minutes. They're gorgeous gorgeous... and they're also Jimmy Choos. Yeah. They need to go back)

I've also been bringing in a lot of money from Craig's List sales. M said he wants no part in selling things, and has also said if I sell, I can keep all the money. I suppose that's fair... but when I'm selling his separate property (i.e. presents from his dad - with M's ok, of course!), I feel like he should get at least half. I tried to give him some money the other day and he said he didn't want it, so I won't press the issue. I might slip something into his wallet though. ;)

We have two weeks left until our move, and the stress is starting to get to me. Probably one of the reasons for the spending. I'm looking forward to getting away from the high rent, but especially the landlord (those of you on twitter know what happened over the weekend - prospective tenant was let into the apartment without knocking and proceeded to walk in on me in the bathroom. ARGH)... At the same time I hate moving, and I hate the chaos that ensues. (Maybe 'chaos' is too extreme, but I definitely feel off-kilter) Ah well... it'll be over soon enough. :)

Tag, you're it!

I was tagged by Undercover Vixen at Debt and the City... and since I'm currently in procrastination mode, I was delighted to respond. ;)

The Rules:

1. Link to your original tagger(s) and list these rules in your post.
2. Share seven facts about yourself in the post.
3. Tag seven people at the end of your post by leaving their names and links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they've been tagged.

Seven Facts

1. I'd like to be a lawyer only long enough to pay back my loans and build a little savings. Then I'd like to maybe get a Master's in Linguistics or Creative Writing.
   
2. My morning internet routine consists of e-mail, PF blogs, CNN... and Perez Hilton. The blog isn't all about celebrity trashiness - I've found a lot of great music through him! (i.e. Jem, Olivia Broadfield, etc)
   
3. My eyes are different colors. I get weird looks when people notice.
   
4. I love love LOVE food. I also love trying new kinds of food - just had Indonesian a couple weekends ago, hoping to try Ethiopian soon. :)
   
5. Pixar movies make me cry! Moreso than really sad live-action movies. I think the cute characters are partially to blame, because...
   
6. Extreme cuteness makes me tear up!
   
7. My favorite color is blue. (I couldn't think of an interesting number 7, so I opted to be lame ;))
   

My Tags!

• Money Maus
  
• Saving4Later
  
• Living Simple
  
• Broke and Not So Fabulous
  
• Saving to Pay Down My Home
  
• QuarterLife Finances
  
• Little Miss Moneybags
  

New York

I've started looking at plane tickets and hotels for our upcoming NYC vacation in August. I was hoping to get some advice from those who've been there. What's the best area to stay in - downtown, midtown or uptown? A friend described midtown as a "tourist trap" and said all the good food and art was in downtown. But we're probably only going to stay for 4 days, and I want to maximize my time. I definitely want to do all the typical touristy things - Broadway, the museums, Central Park. Is that something that could be accomplished in a day? As in, we have a hotel downtown, but we take a taxi ride to/from midtown one day to see the sights?

I'm also interested in finding some great places to eat. Any recommendations?

I'm searching all the typical places - yelp, zagat, tripadvisor - but I hoped one of you guys could give me the inside scoop. ;)

Moving Costs

M and I signed the lease for our new place yesterday. I'm excited about it, but not excited about the moving costs. Here's a breakdown, and also a breakdown of the items we're selling to try to defray the costs.

MOVING COSTS
July rent: $1225
Deposit: $1250
- $500 (the amount we put down yesterday)
Movers: $300ish
Carpet Cleaning and/or Maid: $100ish (I figure this is better than the landlord taking $500+ out of our deposit to do the same thing! Although he might take that -and more- out anyway... I just know we're going to have to drag his ass to court to get our money back! grr)
= $2375

FOR SALE
Couch: $100
Desk 1: $35
Desk 2: $35
Elliptical: $400
Rolly bag: $20
Backpack: $10
Lamp: $2
Manga: $60
Barbeque: $100
Chainmail: $60 (M got this for xmas... very strange)
TV: $500
TV Stand: $100
Drawer: $10
Fridge: $300
= $1732

I just hope everything sells. If you're in the SoCal area, let me know if any of this interests you! :)

I'm Back

The plane ride didn't kill me and neither did my relatives - hooray!

We actually made it back Sunday night, but I was wiped out, and retired right away. Then yesterday it was work followed by school, followed by another early bed time.

The trip wasn't that bad; the weather was "cool" (for Arizona), it was nice seeing the family again, and everyone loved M. But I cringe when I think about how much we spent. Flight, rental car, hotel room, food, sightseeing... it really adds up. On top of that, I lost my $200 sunglasses!! (You might ask "why does she have $200 sunglasses?" and all I can say is, I bought them 2 years ago, they fit great, they look great, and I was planning to wear them for another couple years... so, in other words, I don't regret the purchase) I called the hotel when I realized I didn't have them (I knew exactly where I left them), but had no luck... I'm pretty sure they were stolen.

This is the second pair of glasses I'll have to replace... last week my eyeglasses broke and Lenscrafters deemed them unfixable... I spent $50 to have them soldered (is that word really pronounced "soddered"?) but they turned out crooked. :( I LOVED those glasses and wish I could've held on to them for at least another year..... sigh. Oh well. I guess this is the time for change.

Anyway, I'm off to take a hard look at my bank account... I get paid on Friday, and my loan funds are supposed to arrive (finally!!), so I should be in better shape then.

I hate planes

M and I are off to Arizona tomorrow, and two things are stressing me out. Having to see a gaggle of relatives is one of them... and having to get on that plane is another. I keep thinking I'd rather be making the 8 (or so) hour journey by car.

I've been told a million times that flying is safer than driving. That doesn't seem to help. I'm pretty sure my fear has increased over the years. (probably because, as I've gotten older, I've become more aware of my mortality)

Anyone else have a fear of flying? Even better - anyone used to have a fear of flying and figured out a way to cure it?

Drool

A Vivienne Tam mini is being given away over at Blissful Style!

I am seriously drooling over here! Yes, I already have a pretty laptop... but this laptop is even prettier and shinier! *drooling goes on for another 20 minutes*

Enter the contest, but just know that I'm going to win. And then I'll give it to Paranoid Asteroid. (Not! Teehee.)