Busy Busy

It was HOT this weekend... I wish I had been able to get outside and really enjoy it. :( Instead, I had to slave away at a paper I have due on Wednesday. Why didn't I finish this over spring break?? Ugh! So, I'm on about 1 page... 12 or so left to go! Gulp. I'll have to abandon blogging til I'm done. I also have to abandon Big Love... I don't know if any of you watch the show; I just finished the first season, and I'm hooked! :)

Anyway, at least I didn't spend anything this weekend (and won't be spending anything for awhile, since I won't be leaving the house)...

Hooray for Macy's

I received a letter in the mail today which partially explains why my credit score jumped a significant number of points.

It was a response to a letter I sent a couple weeks ago, requesting that they remove a negative mark on my credit report (posted over a year ago - no idea why it's taken me this long to try to get it fixed!). I mentioned that I had been a long-time customer, and recounted a (legitimate) reason for why my payment had been late. And they agreed to remove it from all 3 credit reports! :) Very pleased with them right now. I need to stop by my local Macy's and give them some business. ;)

Laser Hair Removal

I had laser hair removal done this morning, for the awesome rate of $50 (courtesy of SpaWeek). It was for the basic bikini line. I also scheduled 4 more sessions, at the same discounted rate, bringing the grand total to $250. This seems like a really good deal to me. Too good to be true, even. I've been reading that it normally costs everywhere from $800-1500... Is that just because I did the basic, and most people do more? The spa got a great score on Yelp, and the staff was super nice. The treatment itself wasn't bad at all; maybe 15 minutes total, and a pinch/rubber band slap feeling. There were no alarm bells that went off in my head. But why was it so cheap?! I guess I should just be thankful and move along. ;)

I'm thinking about doing underarms too (also $50)... I figure, in the long run, this will all save me money, time and frustration!

Fake Shampoo??

Back in December, my hairdresser convinced me to buy a bottle of Kerastase shampoo, because I was telling her I was having a hard time finding a shampoo in the drugstore that's good for oily hair. She in turn convinced the owner of the salon to give me a very large bottle of the stuff (at 50% off - from around $120 to $60 - he had bought too many bottles from Kerastase, so he needed to get rid of them). M and I have been using it ever since, and we love it (I use it every day; it makes my hair super soft, and it takes a lot longer to get oily). It lasted the both of us until just a few weeks ago (so about 4 months).


I went searching for a replacement bottle, and the first one I bought was TINY and $35!!! I was being stupid; I just assumed it was the size I wanted without checking.

I came to realize pretty quickly that the large size wasn't something sold in stores... it was for salons only. And then I came upon a site that had it, and with a coupon was only a few dollars more than what I bought it for in December. I was really excited... and then it arrived today, and I had to scratch my head. The packaging looks different from the large bottle I had... and looks different from the small bottle I bought recently ("for oily hair" versus "greasy hair", and the big bottle looks like the info is pasted on with a sticker, while on the small bottle the info is printed on and it looks glossy). What gives??

During my search for the size I wanted, I came upon a few sites that mentioned "fake Kerastase" (mostly floating around on ebay). I went back to the site I bought the shampoo from and saw this disclaimer: "Store is not associated or affiliated with L'Oreal and is not a licensed retailer of L'Oreal. L'Oreal guarantees this product only when sold through authorized retailers, and cannot guarantee the authenticity of any product sold by an unauthorized retailer." Ok, L'Oreal can't guarantee the authenticity, but shouldn't the store?? They don't know whether or not their own products are fake?

It smells ok... I'm hoping that instead of being fake, it's just old? (although, is that really any better? Does shampoo expire?)

Maybe I'm being punished for buying a $60 bottle of shampoo. :P But 4 months, between two people, isn't half bad... right?

Anyway, I'm ok with it, as long as it works as well as my other bottle... and I guess I should have expected that something was up, considering the price. I just got lucky getting it for so cheap at the salon. I should've bought 3 bottles right up front. :P If only I had known it was so awesome!

April (and some of May) Goals, revisited

I know this is the third goals post I've done this month, but I have a paper due next week, and finals the two weeks after that, so I'm trying to find ways to keep myself focused and on task. Hopefully this will help! I'm dividing out by week (since April is almost over... time flies).

Week of April 13th

Friday

• SpaWeek appointment (I'm doing what Little Miss Moneybags did)
• Bakery visit (there's this awesome bakery really close to the spa that I can't wait to go to! :))
• Continue W&T catch-up
  

Saturday & Sunday

• Continue W&T catch-up
  
• Continue working on memo
• Go to gym and/or yoga
  

Week of April 20th

• Go to gym daily
  
• Finish memo (due 4/22)
  
• Continue W&T catch-up/review
• Read MP E&E
• Study for EL Final (read EL E&E)
• Take car in for oil change & yearly maintenance

Week of April 27th

• Go to gym daily
  
• Orthodontist appointment
  
• Study for EL Final (do practice exams)
• Take final on 4/29
• Study for MP
  

Week of May 4th

• Go to gym daily
  
• Study for W&T
• Take W&T Final (5/6)
• Take MP Final (5/7)
  
• Put things up for sale on ebay
• Go to Disneyland
• Schedule appointment w/gyno
  

Apartment Problems?

Are we going to run into a problem over the fact that I won't have a job over the summer? Will landlords not want to rent to us? I've never searched for an apartment while I was unemployed, so it's making me nervous. I technically still have a part-time job (if I decide to keep it, that is - I'm really hoping to find something better); we just don't work during the summer. Can I claim my student loans as income?

M, on his own, could qualify nearly anywhere. I'm just worried that I will end up making us not get approved. I know we'll have to fill out separate applications, but will landlords look at his income and attribute it to both of us?

Bye Bye Braces

Ok, not quite. ;) But I have, at most, 3 weeks to go. The orthodontist put "chains" on a few days ago (the teeth are a little flared out, this is supposed to correct that)... this should be the final stage! I can't WAIT to have them off.

To give some perspective, this is what my teeth looked like in the beginning:





This is what they look like now, 6 months later:

They're not perfect, but they look a lot better than before. And pretty good for only 6 months. :)



For those of you considering getting braces, here's a summary of what I went through:
Cost - $5400 (probably a bit on the expensive side; but that's partially due to where I live. It's also sans insurance. in any event, I really liked my ortho and his staff, so I felt it was worth it :))
Length - 6 months (the ortho initially thought it would be 8)
Process - (1) Wisdom teeth removed (all 4); (2) 1 month recovery, 3 months of happily pigging out on crunchy foods; (3) thorough dental cleaning and check-up; (4) spacers in for 2 weeks; (5) braces placed; (6) monthly office visits for tightenings and adjustments
Most Pain - spacers (continuous aching for all 2 weeks - the process is fast, so the aching is intense); first week with the braces (not as bad as the spacers, or maybe that prepared me for the pain :p); tightenings (teeth ached for a week; but this was only the first 3-4 visits, afterwards I guess my teeth didn't need to move so much); elastics (rubber bands that hook around your brackets depending how your ortho wants your teeth to move; you need to change them 2x/day; near the end of the treatment); and power chains (not as scary as they sound; they're rubber bands chained together, used to close extraction gaps or, in my case, to pull your teeth back) .
How I Coped: Alot of chocolate ice cream. Alot of Advil. ;) I even tried a teething ring in the beginning. (didn't work as well as I'd hoped) LOL! Oh, and Little Miss Moneybags pointed out something I'd forgotten - chewing will help ease the achiness. A great excuse to go out and eat a burger! ;)