smattering

A smattering of random tid bits....

1. Henry volunteered his services for another photography session. I wanted to play with altering my point of focus a little bit and he obliged. I love this next one a lot, even though it's a little soft and dreamy:


And who knew a closet full of color would be such a fun backdrop for the most adorable paw in the world? He obviously had a bone this morning hence the sticky fur sprouting out. What a life.


If Henry could talk, I'm sure he'd say "You know you want me. Yeah. I'm hawt" or something provocative like that. Such a ham, this one.



2. Remember how I was just in Missouri for Lindsey's bachelorette party? Well now I'm headed back down there for her bridal shower thrown by us bridesmaids. I'll be gone Thursday night through Sunday again and cannot wait to see the girls for this more formal affair:) My good friend Maggie (and fellow bridesmaid) loves all things paper as much as me. She designed Lindsey's shower invites and her wedding invites. Let's take a second to drool over them, shall we? Is this not the CUTEST shower invite ever?


And her wedding invites are to die for. As a closet blog reader but rare commenter, Lindsey saw Lauren's awesome invitations and used them as inspiration. Lindsey's colors are obviously black and this fabulous aqua color and I just love how they turned out.




The thermography she used for her printing was divine. You know how I love texture, right?


And their calligraphy was fantastic. I have no idea who they used (sorry, Lauren and Mike!) but I dig it.

Sigh. I cannot wait for her wedding. And our bridesmaids dresses are in so we'll see how much I'll need to have altered in the bust. That's always the fun part of being in weddings....taking a major blow to the old self-esteem as the seamstress goes 'wow, you have a lot of room up top.' No kidding, lady.


3. Remember how I was all pumped for my new pink blackberry? I was borderline obsessed, actually. Well, if you recall, the salesman convinced me that we'd only pay $15 more per month than we did before the upgrade. I should have mentioned that we get a little corporate discount through the hospital with Verizon, so the BB data plan was supposed to be much less than the advertised price. Also, the dude convinced us to downgrade our minutes package since we rarely talk on our phones to anyone outside of the Verizon network. Between the corporate discount and the lower minute plan, dude sold me on the idea of only paying $15 more.

Then my lovely husband decided that he needed internet on his phone, since I had it on mine. Totally understandable, but there is another $15 per month. Then we got our first bill and I had a panic attack---we did NOT get our corporate discount on the data plan nor the minute plan. So all of a sudden our bill was $75 more than it used to be. I freaked. My rational inner tight wad started to scream obscenities about how frivolous and unnecessary it was to have internet on both phones. Especially when we have two very nice computers at home. And especially when my cell phone is turned off and shoved into my purse all day long at work, since I can't exactly check personal calls or emails while running around a hospital. Sure, the BB was beyond cool but was it worth it?

Nate and I had a few very long discussions about the whole thing. It was difficult to be a rational adult when it was just so much fun to have a BB. I think if we used our phones throughout the day it would be different. If my job paid for it I'd be all about it. But in reality, I do not NEED the fancy phone. It's a luxury and I knew that from the beginning.

Then the next day, my problem-free car threw a little temper tantrum. I got it brand new back in 2001, it has almost 90,000 miles on it, and I've never had any upkeep on it besides regular oil changes, new tires, and new batteries. I love my car and the fact that we do not have car payments right now. So when my car would not start one evening I knew my time had come to put some money back into the stupid thing. My father-in-law is Mr. Fix It and he is racking his brain trying to figure out what is wrong with my baby. It sounds like it's not getting any gas but it has a full tank. Then just a few days ago it wouldn't start at ALL so now maybe there are multiple things wrong with it. Ugh. Potentially facing some major bills on the car front solidified my decision to return the BB and get a 'regular' phone instead. Being an adult sucks sometimes but in the long run, I think saving the extra money on our phone bill will be worth it.

So after spending multiple hours back in the Verizon store, feeling like a tool for returning the coolest little gadget ever, I came home with this baby:





Sure, it's not nearly as pimp as the BB but it's still pretty sweet with it's touch screen and full keyboard option. We got rid of the BB data plan, Nate forfeited his internet plan, and we did downgrade our minute plan. So all in all we are paying less now than we did before the BB stint. And now I can breathe a little easier knowing we freed up a little extra dough each month.

And so I ask you, dear readers, have you ever had to make sacrifices in the name of saving money? This was a tough one for me, as a self-professed tight wad, but I have a feeling that a lot of people are doing the same types of things in this economy. Keeping my eyes on the prize-- a big fatty savings account is easy sometimes and very difficult at others. Anyone else with me?