Three things that make me jealous at a Coldplay concert (or Why I didn't post yesterday)

We saw Coldplay last night. And, despite the fact that we bought the tickets 4 minutes after they went on sale, our seats were at the far end of the auditorium. Why? I think I need to take some sort of ticket buying tutorial, because the traditional method simply doesn't work.

Anyway, three things made me jealous last night:

1. After the poorly chosen opening act, but before the band took the stage, two official looking hipsters sporting backstage lanyards around their necks came up into our section and randomly chose people to fill up a section right near the stage that was mysteriously empty. We were in the middle of the row, so they did not come to us. Bugger. This is how far away we were:



2. When the band ran through the crowd and up into the cheap seats to sing a couple of songs huddled around a microphone, they were among the cheap seats below us. If we'd been one more row ahead in our section, we would have been able to see them. This is what the DP could catch just holding the camera out:



3. I love a good confetti drop. There's something magical about a great moment and confetti floating down on you from above. I am never under the confetti. And I wasn't under the mulit-colour mylar butterflies last night, either:



All that said, it was a great show and I had a thoroughly good time.

Total debt: $5469 (but just for one more day...)
Spent yesterday: $24-ish
Spent today: $3-ish (I had to buy emergency deodarant when I forgot to put some on!)
Weekly total: $98-ish (Oops...)

What's the story morning glory? What's the word hummingbird?

I forgot to tell you guys that I'm getting a new phone. Now before anyone gets up in arms over unnecessary electronic spending, let me explain.

My phone is a bit of a dinosaur. It's over 4 years old. Maybe over 5. And sadly, that makes it ancient in the current electronic landscape. It doesn't flip. It doesn't have a colour screen. The rings are not multi-tonal. It weighs more than 3 credit cards taped together.

But it has been so good to me. When others have complained that their fancy chocolate razor phones won't ring in the middle of downtown Toronto, I have pulled out my trusty (and sturdy) phone to get the job done. It once rang while I was sitting on the subway underground at Bloor Station. It gets great reception up north when we're visiting the DP's mom and his phone can't handle the pressure.

However, it's finally breaking down. If I put it down on a desk, the shock will kick the whole thing to some scarily coded screen that can't be reset unless I remove the battery. And it randomly turns itself completely off. Sunday, waiting for my brunch date, it happened twice during conversations. So I knew we had to part ways.

So I put in a pleasant call to Telus, because I also wanted to lower my rate plan. I don't use my phone a whole lot, so I don't want to pay for what I'm not using. Ideally I'd like to have a pay as you go plan, but until my contract runs out in April, I'm stuck. Anyway, they managed to give me a plan that seems to be IDENTICAL TO THE ONE I ALREADY HAVE that is about $4 less a month. I sort of feel dumb that I didn't ask sooner.

They also sold me a $149 phone for $49, which I think is good. I know a lot of people get their phones free with their plans, but since I had a great phone and didn't feel the need to trade up, I've taken the deal where I get services for free instead. So I was happy to get any sort of deal on the actual phone.

It's on its way in the mail to me! And it flips!!

Total debt: $5469 and a bit
Spent today: $11-ish

PS. Those of you who get the title are geeks, just like me ;-)

Lying low

Woke up this morning feeling awful in that special way that only girls get to feel. Know what I mean? So I worked from home today, which involved watching Daphne (currently being referred to as The Schmat) nap for hours at a time, only to wake up and relocate to continue napping. What a life. As I type she's once again napping on the floor next to me.

Got some very exciting mail today - the September issue of Canadian Living. My health story (How sick is too sick to go to work or school?) is promoted on the cover and then again in Susie's editor's letter. This is the article I am most proud of to date. It's a nice-sized feature piece that was my idea and that I worked really hard on. So if you've been waiting for just the right reason to run out and buy Canadian Living, now's the time! Or, well, in a week or so, since I don't think it's hit the newsstand just yet.

Since I am feeling much more human this evening, albeit a little stir crazy, the DP and I took at trip to the new chocolate shop that has opened dangerously close to our apartment for some ice cream. One scoop of coconut and one scoop of chocolate hazelnut. Pretty yummy, I have to say, but the evening breeze was even better. Our little apartment seems extra warm tonight.

They named the new Maria tonight. I wasn't really pulling for either of the final two. Not that they aren't talented! I just didn't think either of them fully emodied the character for me. And when they brought all the top ten girls back for a group number, I was reminded of how lovely Allie Hughes was. I think she would have been stunning in the role! Alas. I'm sure good things will come to all of them. Every episode I would sing along and the DP would say, "You wish you were up there, don't you?" And I would honestly answer no. The ten years I spent in that world, from community theatre to theatre school to professional stuff, was enough. I never ever want to once again be judged on my performance ability alone.

And let's not even talk about my stage fright! A live show!? I'd be in the bathroom having nervous diarrhea when they came back from commercial.

But maybe that's too much information.

Tomorrow I will rejoin the land of the living and head back to the office. But just for three days...

Total debt: $5469 and a bit
Spent today: $4

Weekend wrap-up

Why, oh why, does it have to be Sunday night? I need another weekend day! (Or two...) Luckily it's a short week in my world, followed by a four-day weekend. May the days pass swiftly.

Quick weekend recap: Lazy Saturday morning, grocery shopping, gym visit, lazy evening watching Penelope, cookie baking (peanut butter chocolate chunk). Early Sunday gym visit, lovely patio brunch with the wonderful woman who runs this blog, several hours of sweeping and mopping our entire apartment (Why would anyone want to own a house? Too much space to clean.), some muffin baking (molasses bran with flax seeds, chocolate chips and coconut), dinner making (chicken with homemade peach salsa and roasted peppers stuffed with quinoa), Maria watching (I think it will be Janna, but I didn't want Jayme to go), and now blogging while watching Harry.

Does it all sound very exciting? Are you jealous of my crazy life!?

Google ad update! The good news is that I'm up to a whopping $44.13. The less good news is that I actually have to reach $100 before they send me the money. So... feel free to keep clicking! And if you find yourself on a different computer every now and then, visit the blog and click again! I really appreciate all of your support.

Happy Sunday night everyone! May your holiday weekend arrive quickly and last a long, long time.

Total debt: $5469
Spent yesterday: $52-ish
Spent today: $4.70 (My brunch companion got delayed at a previous engagement and insisted on paying for my brunch to make up for it. I couldn't possibly say no! Merci, my friend!)

If only there were still card catalogues...

Rather than just rush home after work, which is my weirdo tendancy, I decided to go meet the DP so we could walk home together. He's just north of Yonge and Bloor, so it's a nice walk through richy-rich town. Fancy decor stores and such. I almost expect them to charge me for window shopping.

Anyway, I was early to meet the DP, so I thought I'd pop into the Reference Library and browse through some magazines while I waited.

Quick aside: I love the Reference Library. Even with its strange 1960s decor. I love how open and spacious it feels. I love all the learning material within. And I love the memories of my time spent there during my theatre days, going through musical scores, hoping to find that magical audition piece that no one else performed. Good vibes.

I headed up to the 4th floor and started to wander through the stacks of bound periodicals when I had the most delightful realization.

Stuff that I have written is available for public viewing at the Reference Library!

It wasn't an entirely new revelation - I'd had the moment at my little local branch before - but because it was the enormous Reference Library, it meant something more. And just like that, I checked off a little box on my lifetime To-Do list. Imagine! It's not everyday that you get to put a checkmark on that list. (Although I suppose we should strive to do that everyday.)

And sure, my stuff in the library is not going to change lives. They're service articles about everyday stuff. But still. Not everyone can say that they've got stuff in the library.

For now I'll leave the "Write a book" box on my list unmarked. But one day...

One day...

Total debt: $5469 (It's down a little more...)
Spent today: $5.87 (But this was still in my wallet from last week!)

After the laughter

This afternoon, on a packed subway, I overheard a conversation between a couple of young 'uns standing behind me.
She was all: I love yoga.
And he was all: ya.
And she was all: Hot yoga, you know?
And he was all: ya.
And she was all: I go to a class really early on Saturday mornings and then I get my hair done.
And he was all: You get your hair done every Saturday?
And she was all: ya.

And at that point I had to turn around and check her out. I was expecting a waist-length mane, professionally blown out. HER HAIR WAS SHORTER THAN MINE! I so wanted to interrupt them and say - in my best "Grey's Anatomy" voice - Seriously!?

Just got back from the first Just For Laughs gala, this one hosted by Martin Short. One of my lovely friends from high school is a publicist for the festival and she got us my favourite kind of tickets - FREE! The show was super funny. I cried a little from laughing, which always feels good.

Oh, and I am suddenly swimming in freelance work! I'm still in the kiddy pool, but swimming nevertheless. And it's awesome. And because of all of it, I allowed myself to purchase a cute little shirt tonight. It was almost half price AND it matches a summer skirt that I've been having trouble matching. However, it needs a bit of tailoring, so that's going to cost extra. But I quite like. If only I could wear it tomorrow! I hate having to wait.

And my final thought for this evening is: Whose job is it to design fountains? Architects, maybe? Does anyone know?

Total debt: $5564 and a bit
Spent today: $17-ish
Weekly total: $91.97 (Not bad...)

Bring on the Thursday!

I had a blech sort of day. What I really wanted to do was hide away from the world at home in my pjs, but instead I went to work and was pretty productive. But I did the laundry rather than go to the gym. And now it's all about SYTYCD. But I've had a lot of cookies today, so it's sort of paining me to see all the dancer girls with their incredible legs! Do you think they eat cookies? Maybe they just have youth and muscle tone on their side.

I earned another $8.68 on my Google ad today. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I'm not sure why I didn't ask everyone to click on it a long time ago!

Okay, I'm looking forward to a better day tomorrow. I'm having lunch with a dear friend who is in town and then hopefully attending a comedy event... We'll see how the day plays out.

Total debt: $5564
Spent today: $0

A sweet post for sweet people

First of all, you guys are AMAZING! Between my beloved loyal readers and all the friends I coerced through Facebook, I've made almost $19 TODAY! Putting my current total at almost $30. Guys, that rocks. Thank you so much. And feel free to continue to click.

And since you've been so good with the clicking, I am now going to attempt to write about happy things in hopes that you all be able to click on something exciting. (The ads are directly linked to what I write about!)

Which is why today's post is about baking.

I love to bake. My love of baking probably comes from my love of baked goods, particularly in their unbaked form. Yup, that's right. I eat the dough. And to all you naysayers out there, I have been eating dough for over 30 years now and have never developed any sort of adverse reaction.

Anyway, when I get it in my head that I want to bake, nothing can really stop me from achieving that goal. Which is how I found myself skipping a trip to the gym tonight and heading home with a fresh block of butter and a bag of chocolate chips.

Cookies are, hands down, my favourite food. And chocolate chip cookies are at the very top of the list.

I may have mentioned that I make a damn good chocolate chip cookie. Award-winning even. Really. We had a chocolate chip cookie bake-off in publishing school. (I know, book people know how to have fun! Hey, at least it wasn't a spelling bee. Wait, we had one of those, too...) There were about 8 different chocolate chip cookies competing for first place, including a rather spectacular shortbread chocolate chip variety, but I took home the prize.

Quick aside: One of the girlier girls in the class - the type that is always on a diet - actually complained about having to try all 8 cookies. I'll just never understand how some people's brains work.

So tonight I indulged my urge to bake and, therefore, my urge to eat. Now I am full of sugar with little hope of sleep. It's a small price to pay for so much joy.

Total debt: $5564
Spent today: $7.78 (Baking supplies!)

A favour...

It's me again. Now, I would never ask any of you to send me money. I'm not that Save Karyn chick, although she was a smart cookie! But there is one little way that this blog can make money, and that is my google ad that you see in the upper left hand corner. If you click on it, I get a few cents. Seriously. And when those cents add up to $50, apparently they will send me a check. I'd like to test that theory. (And, of course, I'd put the money right on my loan.)

Here's the catch - you can't just continually click on it. (Dad, I'm talking to you!) At some point they stop counting. But if you've never clicked on it before and you feel like finding out where it will lead, please feel free. My take thus far is about $9.47. It's been $9.47 for several months now.

I'm just mentioning it, in case you've got another 30 seconds to kill and want to test this theory with me.

Thanks!

I can go the distance

Something seems to have shifted since I made that last loan payment. It's like I've turned some sort of financial corner.

I suddenly feel like I can see the finish line.

I get that it's still far away. I understand that I still have to be diligent and that there are hard times ahead, but it doesn't seem impossible anymore.

I think I got my second wind!

(Have I spoken entirely in cliches? Whatever. You get my drift.)

And the funny thing is that I don't feel like I really deprived myself. Sure there were moments that it felt excruciating, but overall I'm still leading a full, happy life!

However, there was a mall trip at lunch today and I did experience GREAT BIG WANT at Banana Republic. Lots of want. Major, major want.

But then I remembered the goal and I thought about how nice it will be to see a number that goes up every month instead of down. That will be so sweet.

Of course, if the DP and I win one of the grand prizes in tomorrow morning's Heart and Stroke lottery draw, I will immediately be done and happily in the red. And maybe even house hunting before noon. But I promise to come back and blog all about how to not squander a million unexpected dollars.

Total debt: $5564 and a bit
Spent today: $2.19 (Sour cream for our perogies! Yum.)

How do you solve a problem like Tammy?

After a very uneventful day, the DP and I went to see tonight's taping of How do you solve a problem like Maria? I worked with one of the girls in the final four, Marisa, almost 10 years ago, when she was a fresh-faced 14 year-old. I played her mom. Now she's a gorgeous 20-something who is winning the hearts of Canada through this show. I was so proud watching her onstage!

Anyway, it was a big night at HDYSAPLM (yeesh!), because Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber was there! Truthfully, I would have been more excited by almost any other music theatre icon, but whatever. He was there. It was kind of cool. Although, the more famous people you see in person - and I've seen my share - the less cool they are.

So the scene is this: hundreds of people in the room, television cameras on-hand, music theatre icon (and leading man John Barrowman) present. What did I do? If you guessed, "Embarrass youself?" you win the prize!

Prize being the operative word. For those of you who have never been to a live television taping, they always have someone to make a fool out of themselves, trying to warm up the audience before the show and keep them warm during the commercials, so that when the cameras are on the audience will look like the most rabid, excited audience in history. The only place they probably don't bother with this is at Oprah, where the fans are already foaming at the mouth for a glimpse of the big O. (I'm not being a hater. I would scream like a m*&therf#@%er too!)

So during one of the commercial breaks, our audience guy - who was dressed in leiderhosen - was asking trivia questions and giving away prizes. And I was DESPERATE to get one of those prizes! But after three people were already standing up, because they had answered correctly, he declared that he would ask a tiebreaker question to decide which of them would get the prize. Only I didn't hear the part about the tiebreaker. I only heard the part about him asking another question! So when he asked what lyric follows, "Cream coloured ponies and crisp apple strudel. Doorbells and sleigh bells and schnitzel with noodles," I JUMPED out of my chair, WAVING my flag above my head and making a VERY LOUD buzzer sound (as instructed).

I. WAS. THE. ONLY. ONE.

The DP is killing himself laughing beside me as I slide back into my seat. Oh yes. Tammy does it again. (To the Queen!!)

Sadly, during a later commercial break, the audience guy was looking for members of the audience to sing, but he didn't pick me. It was my one chance to sing in front of Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber and he passed me up. I wonder why!?

Oh, and also, the DP seems intent to cause me bodily harm this weekend. During last night's subway ride he started to put his arm around me and instead elbowed me in the eye! Tonight he crossed his leg and kicked my shin. Seriously. What's up with that?

Total debt: $5564 and a bit
Spent today: $5 (Pizza on the way home. Who wants to make dinner at 9pm?)

Never skimp on dessert

Oh was it steamy in our little apartment yesterday! Truly the first day this summer that we've been overwhelmingly uncomfortable. Thankfully we were up and out fairly early for us, because one the DP's closest friends stayed overnight. (He lives a short way out of town, but had to direct an episode of a reality TV show a mere two streets down from us first thing in the morning.) Something about having an overnight guest departing first thing makes it seem wrong to linger too long in lounge mode. Besides, it was just too hot to stay in the apartment!

So off we went to get some groceries - where I got overwhelmingly cold, which is so ridiculous - and then I spent a good chunk of the afternoon sweating through a couple of classes at the gym. It was obviously hot in the classes, but not as hot as our apartment.

(I should have just gone to Dance Dance Party Party, but I wasn't sure about taking transit in my perpetually sweaty state. Now, of course, I wish I'd gone and busted a move with that whole group. Why does hindsight have to be so smart?)

Then there was rain and it finally started to cool down a bit, so we headed out on a little dinner-and-a-movie date. I was excited, because I realized that the DP's gym payment had come out of my account, so I could deduct that from my portion of the groceries, thus leaving me with extra money for the week! I know that I should account for this in the future and put that extra money on my loan, but this week I had already taken it out of my account, so I decided to enjoy it.

We decided to avoid the first weekend crowds at The Dark Knight, which is sort of strange considering the DP's love of comics, and went to see Wall-E. (And I used my Scene card! I've almost got enough points for a free movie. I heart my Scene card.)

Everyone should go see Wall-E. I don't want to say too much, because I don't want to build it up so much that you're disappointed when you see it. I will just say that it made me just a little bit different, which is my marker for a great movie.

Afterwards we ended up at the Pickle Barrel for dinner. I had a major hate on for the PB for many years, after a particularly bad meal there once, but they seem to have turned things around. The menu is alarmingly long - I've read novellas that are shorter than their menu - but they also give you a one sheet "Healthy" menu, where all the items are under 500 calories. And they all sounded really, really yummy.

I was starving and the DP was just sort of vaguely hungry, so we opted to share a starter and a main off the healthy menu. First a portobello mushroom that involved a bruschetta like topping and then a sun dried tomato burger (sans bun) with goat cheese and smashed potatoes. Everything was incredibly tasty, but we neglected to factor in the size factor of 500 calories dishes. We share meals all the time in restaurants, because the portions are so unbelievably large that we can generally both eat a good meal out of one dish and not feel like we're so full that we have to lie down. Yes, servers hate us. But these dishes were so small in comparison to the platters that we usually come across that I was still hungry at the end of them.

So, being devoted sweet eaters, we decided we could treat ourselves to dessert. In a brilliant marketing move (Bravo PB), the waiter brought over a little carousel of miniature desserts, also considered healthy because of their tiny size. The wee martini glasses held carrot cake, strawberry cheesecake, key lime pie, chocolate fudge, tiramisu and...something else. He also brought two spoons and left the whole thing, along with the regular dessert menu, on the table for a few minutes. We were very tempted to dig into a couple of the small options, because they looked so tempting right in front of us, but we figured that we could go "non-healthy" for dessert, since we'd been so restrained at dinner.

The next thing we know, the waiter puts down the BIGGEST glass dish of dessert in front of us. Molten chocolate cake with frozen yogurt and whipped cream. The sheer size of the dessert embarrassed us both. But we ate it. And we tried to learn our lesson, but it was just so, so delicious.

All in all, a good day.

Total debt: $5564
Spent yesterday: $60-ish

With a song in my heart

I really wish that I had a little spy camera in, like, a pen or something. The kind of thing that Marshall would have made for Sydney on Alias. Because if I had a spy camera, I would be able to properly share with you some of the strange clothing choices that I have seen in the past two days. Instead you'll have to settle for my award-winning descriptions:

Twice yesterday, both going to work and returning home, I saw a woman in the most bizarre shirt/skirt combo. The skirt was a fitted chiffon number that ended in a sort of graduated ruffle a couple of inches above her ankle. It was a watery floral in wintery shades of burgundy, black, royal blue, etc. The shirt was a very casual white polo shirt with thin horizontal stripes in alternating yellow and blue. The whole thing confused me so profoundly, because she looked fairly put together - as if she was going to work at an office - but the top and bottom halves just didn't go together.

While on an escalator during my lunch hour today, I noticed that the woman a few steps above me was wearing nylons with her strappy sandals and long white peasant skirt. Not full nylons, however. Not even knee high-nylons. They were weird sort of nylon ankle socks that were in no way hidden by the length of her skirt. This on top of the fact that her sandals had an ankle strap and she was wearing an anklet meant that her ankles were seriously over-accessorized.

And then on the subway home, a lovely looking older woman was wearing a very innocuous beige cotton baseball hat that literally had a clump of multicoloured fake pansies glued on the front, sort of spilling onto the brim.

I'm not entirely sure why I felt the need to share these discoveries with you, but there you have it.

I am reading this book:



You may recall that I was very excited when the DP first bought it for me. And I was excited the whole time it was sitting on my night table, while I finished reading library books that needed to be returned. I was even excited earlier this week when I read the first few pages on the subway. A few parts of the opening made me chuckle in recognition. (I, too, know what it's like to be a teenager who owns a Vera Lynn album, but has no idea who is in the top 40. In fact, the first concert I attended wasn't until I saw James Taylor in my early 20s. I didn't follow that up until my late 20s. And that time the artist gracing the stage was Bette Midler.*)

Sadly, I have to say that the book is not all I hoped it would be. What's even worse is that I'm having that awful feeling that we creative people sometimes get, which is: I should have written this book.

I'm not saying that I would write it better! The author is totally competent and being completely true to her own experiences. I just mean that if this book didn't exist, I could have written my own version of this same story. But she got there first. And good for her! Truth is that I didn't think of the book - she did!

It's just that she speaks mostly about film musicals rather than stage musicals, which are very different creatures. And she even lumps some films in there that don't include any singing, such as Gone with the Wind. And she doesn't sing. And she doesn't challenge us very much with the variety of musicals - at least not yet and I'm about half done.

I often think about what kind of book I could write. I don't have a particular gift for creating a story. I can never guess what the twist will be in a plot, so I would be pretty surprised if I could concoct one. What I can do is construct sentences and make pretty good paragraphs that all fit together nicely. So I think I could manage to write a book, but I have no idea what I would write about.

But since the very early days of our courtship, the DP has been telling me that I am the physical embodiment of musical theatre to him and that I should "do something with it." And that chick's book idea would have been the something.

Ah well, no time to cry over missed opportunities. To quote a little Sondheim: "Stop worrying where you're going - move on. If you can know where you're going, you've gone. Just keep moving on."

There's got to be another good idea out there!

Total debt: $5564 (I have officially paid off more than I now owe! Your applause is appreciated.)
Spent today: $4.50 (But it wasn't from this week's budget. It was the leftover $5 in my wallet.)

*You'll be glad to know that the DP has helped me along in this area, taking me to see both Coldplay and U2. And I have a much better idea about what's popular now than I ever did during high school.

Good readin'

You ever have one of those days where you get sort of a slow start and before you know it you've been completely unproductive and it's almost noon? And no one can suddenly pull productivity out of their ass after lunch, so the whole day kind of grinds to a halt and you're left just counting down until you can go home? Because surely just being home will ignite a sense of purpose in you. But then you eat pancakes for dinner, followed by an intense sugar crash that leaves you stranded on the couch unhappily watching reruns and staring at the pile of laundry that needs to be folded?

You know - one of those kinds of days.

That's me today. I guess I was destined to pay for Monday.

I did get addicted to a new blog today. Dooce.com was introduced to me by one of the ladies I had drinks with last night and I've already thanked her for it. It's pretty fascinating for a small-time blogger like me (not that I don't appreciate y'all) to imagine a life where both me and the DP could quit our jobs because my blog is pulling in so much money! Check it out if you're so inclined. She's also a great photographer, so all the photos are stunning.

Maybe I should post more photos...



This was our brilliant solution to s'more making sans campfire late on July 1st. The toaster oven! And despite the serious lack of ambiance, they were the best s'mores ever, because the chocolate actually melted. If you are in the s'more making mood, but there's nary a fire pit to be found, I highly recommend this method. Let's call them Urban S'mores, for the wildernessly-challenged child.

Total debt: $5999 and a bit (but just for one more day)
Spent today: $8.88
Weekly total: $81.34 (Applause please! Some of the extra went to laundry changed, but I still have $5 in my wallet. Perhaps I'll go in search of ice cream...)

I'll march my band out, I'll beat my drums

I've never used this blog to promote my freelancing efforts, since it's supposed to be about my ever-shrinking (yay!) debt, but I've suddenly been asking myself - Why not?

So, in the spirit of Tammy Sutherland Inc., here is a link to one of my latest freelance efforts.

*Hint: If you want to see more stuff by me, just search my name on CanadianLiving.com, Homemakers.com and ElleCanada.com!

I've got a lot of freelancing on my plate right now, which I'm extremely happy about. More income will hopefully equal less debt and not just more shoes.

On that note, I'm signing off for this evening. I was out for a glass of wine with the lovely ladies I met at the Sedaris reading last week. The conversation was so good that 2.5 hours passed in a blink of an eye. Now I am home and I am tired. But good tired. Full social evening tired.

Total debt: $5999 and a bit
Spent today: $11.84

Autumn is in the air (or at least at the mall)

I came home from work today to find a little present outside my door. The August issue of Fashion magazine! I can't recall if I've mentioned this already in the blog, but one of our lovely neighbours has a subscription because he is a graphic designer and one of the ads he designed runs in the magazine. But, despite being a gay male, he has no use for a fashion magazine. (See, not all stereotypes are true!) So he just tears out the page that has the ad and then leaves the magazine outside our door for me.

Isn't that ridiculously nice!? They truly are the kind of neighbours we all dream of having.

Anyway, the first cover line I noticed when I picked it up was "First look at fall," and I got really excited! When it comes to outfits, fall is my favourite season by far. I love me a cozy sweater and a great pair of trousers. Plus the colours are always so gorgeous and rich - perfect for a brunette such as myself.

I flipped the mag open and landed on a page of must-have "trends" for fall. Immediately I decided that I need to have a dark purple purse this year. (Perhaps I'm still hung up that over-priced H&M bag I saw a few days ago.) My second thought was, "Damn! Skinny jeans are still in and they continue to make this pear-shaped girl look like an ice cream cone."

The third thing that I noticed was plaid.

Since when is plaid such a "new trend" in the fall? Don't they trot plaid out each and every year? In fact, I can't even think of a year that plaid didn't somehow figure into the fall scheme.

So there you have it. Joy, sadness and confusion. It's almost time for fall clothes once again. A Joe Fresh visit today (where nothing was purchased) already showed signs of the impending cold weather gear. In the end, I'm just trying to figure out how to work a little fall fashion into the budget, because I'm desperate for a new pair of boots! And maybe a few other things...

Total debt: $5999 and a bit (But I'm happy to report that the freelancing is starting to pick up quite a bit!)
Spent today: $6.85 (An afternoon treat, plus all manner of paper products at the drugstore.)

Monday, Monday...so good to me

Don't hate me, but I just had a great Monday! Nothing particularly wonderful happened, but I was nicely productive. Work passed pretty quickly and was the perfect combination of busy and relaxed. I enjoyed a lunch in the park with some coworkers. My evening at home has seemed extra long - I made and ate dinner, cleaned the kitchen, wrote some emails, spent an hour and a half at the gym, watched the one show I wanted to watch and am now blogging.

All good stuff. Free money in the mail would have improved things, but I don't really have much to complain about today.

And I didn't spend any money!

It was the kind of Monday that feels like a new start rather than just the farthest point from Friday.

Okay, I'm going to stop typing before you all decide you hate me and stop reading my blog!

Total debt: $5999 and a bit
Spent today: $0

Ye olde weekendy times

I am having such a lovely, lazy Sunday afternoon. It's absolutely gorgeous outside, so the apartment is wonderfully sunny, and yet there's enough of a breeze that I'm not the least bit hot. It's the kind of weather that makes me glad we never put in our air conditioner, because I may have arrived home from the gym overheated and instinctively turned on the air, meaning I would have missed the joy that is a warm summer breeze.

The DP is out at the movies with a friend, so it is just the cat and I lounging around.

Truth be told, there are many things I should be doing. I'm supposed to be working on some freelancing, and the floors are begging to be swept. The kitchen is slightly disheveled after a spontaneous baking episode and there are tons of pictures to be downloaded and shared with the world.

Instead, I've been working on the big, 5-board sudoku from yesterdays paper. And I'm trying really hard not to feel guilty about it!

It's so hard to take pure downtime, isn't it?

Anyway, I've been remiss in my weekend blogging, so you all deserve a bit of an update.

Friday I did not bring my lunch to work. There simply wasn't very much food left in the refrigerator! I probably could have scrounged something together, but I thought I'd welcome in my budget reset day with a treat for lunch. Trouble is - I so rarely buy lunch that I get a little over zealous. In the end I spent $6.34 on some yummy golden curry that I got to eat in wonderful company. Not too bad, but I could have done better.

Yesterday we did all the chore stuff: finished the laundry and went grocery shopping. Then it was off to meet everyone at Medieval Times! It was very fun, but between trying to organize everyone and get us all in on time, I was way over stimulated. Then there were horses and knights and jousting and dinner that we had to eat with our hands... It was crazy! And I blame all the excitement for my insane lack of judgement when I purchased a drink in this souvenir mug:



Of course, there were no prices listed on the drink menu. I knew it would be pricey, but I assumed the mug was plastic, so I didn't think it would be too steep.

It was $19!!!

Sigh. Alas, I am now the proud owner of a pretty shiny mug that I've decided should be the birthday mug, from here on in. Whoever is having a birthday in the household shall drink from this mug. Hopefully we can keep it for the decades to come, thus amortizing the ridiculous cost.

All the Medieval Times stuff was on credit - to be paid off in less than a week - so the following numbers are only my weekly cash budget.

Total debt: $5999 and a bit
Spent Friday: $14.77 (Lunch and some groceries.)
Spent Saturday: $39 (Groceries)
Spent Sunday: $0 (Lazy lounging is surprisingly free!)

Inspiration, indignation and a flexing of my credit muscles

I just came back from seeing David Sedaris read. Not only are his essays hysterical, but his comic timing is impeccable. I laughed for the entire hour. And it was a free event at Indigo!

In high school I went to see authors read all the time. See one of my earliest published articles here as evidence. But for some reason that I can't explain, I hadn't seen an author read in several years before tonight. And I'd forgotten how inspiring it is.

Sadly my body is extremely mad at me for standing in one place for two hours. (There were 800 people stuffed in the store, so I had to stand for the hour before he spoke to save my spot.) Thankfully the hour of waiting flew by, because I just started chatting with the two lovely women beside me. We even exchanged contact info, so hopefully I'll see them again. A great city moment!

And speaking of city moments, I can't tell you how many people I ran into at the reading! I'm relatively new to Sedaris - I've known about him for years, but only started reading him last winter. Apparently I know a LOT of Sedaris fans! Made this huge city seem really small. I love when that happens.

I even had a Sedaris moment on the subway heading home. A girl (maybe a woman?) was standing in the doorway solving a Rubik's Cube, of all things! She was wearing leggings, too, so I was momentarily transported to 1982 until I noticed her iPod and the laptop bag slung over her shoulder. It made me want to go back to Indigo, get in line with the hundreds of people waiting for David to sign their books and tell him about it!

Anyway, I stopped to do some browsing on my way to Indigo, since I was at Yonge and Bloor with a bit of time to kill. I found myself in H&M, drawn to a very cute, casual purple purse. I wasn't planning on buying it, but I knew I needed to just check the price tag...

$99!!!!!

AT H&M!!!

I was aghast. I recognize that it was a good leather purse, but since when does a purse in H&M cost $99!? This is the store where you can buy a wool coat that looks warm, but is actually far too thin for an Ontario winter, for a mere $65! Earrings can be had for less than $3!

I'm not okay with H&M introducing any sort of "higher end" line. I shop at H&M because I feel confident that I can afford to buy every single item in the store. And my purse limit is about $45, easily found at Aldo or Winners. It was so very wrong.

On another note, I gave the credit card a very good workout today. As a final birthday present to the DP, a big group of us are heading to Medieval Times on Saturday night. We got a group rate, thank goodness, but the tickets are still about $55 each. And I bought 13 of them on my credit card today. I charged more than my half of our rent. All I can say is that everybody better show up and bring money for me!

Total debt: $5999 and a bit
Spent yesterday: $0 (I forgot to say that yesterday.)
Spent today: $10.49 (And I'm ashamed to say that it was all spent at Starbucks, but in two different trips!)
Weekly total: $75.60 (Technically under, but all my cash is gone, so it was all that I had!)

(I have no clever title for this post...)

While we're still very much at peace with our decision not to install the brand new air conditioner in our closet, we've found it impossible to cook anything so far this week. Why add to the humidity and crazy heat by turning on the stove? So, on Monday the DP picked up a pre-made roast chicken from the grocery store. We had it on salad that night and then with some veggies last night. (I steamed some broccoli and sweet potato, so I did cook a bit.) Tonight we opted for pizza - also paid for by the DP.

The upside of all these purchases is that next week's grocery bill shouldn't be too crazy, since we have plenty of stuff in the freezer waiting to be cooked. But I should really be contributing... (I have but $12 left to my name and it's in the bank. It's hard to take $12 out!) I'll have to pay a little extra next week.

Stay cool everyone!

Subscribing for my future

It was kind of a strange day for me. Some stuff at work, which I don't really want to get into on my blog, made me realize that everything is tenuous and we always have to have a backup plan.

I'm not sure I have a backup plan.

Thankfully the freelancing has been fairly steady. (I'm working on two pieces right now.) But I need to expand my stable of freelance clients...and to do so I need to keep a close eye on what the magazines are currently doing.

A closer eye than just reading slightly out-of-date mags at the library.

Therefore, I'm spending some money tonight, signing up for some mag subscriptions. The good news is that I will be able to write off these expenditures come tax time. The bad news is that they cost money upfront.

Welcome back, ye olde credit card. How has your (far too brief) rest been?

It's a legitimate business expense, folks! Plus I will get even more joy from the mail when it is full of glossy, glossy mags.

Total debt: $5999 and a bit
Spent today: $0 (from my cash budget)

To shoe or not to shoe...

There may have been a little lunchtime visit to Winners today. And I may have been tempted by a particularly cute pair of sneaker flats. By Nanette Lepore of all labels! (Not sure why I am suddenly in love with everything they make.) And they may have been selling them for the low, low price of $24.99. Any my lovely deskmate may have encouraged me to buy them...

Let the record show that I did NOT buy the shoes. That I tried them on, paraded around the shoe department admiring my cute feet, and then put the back on the shelf.

They were a total steal, but is something you can't afford in the first place actually a steal? Or is it just a mistake? I didn't need the shoes. I certainly could have worn them with several outfits and they certainly would have looked adorable. But I would have been fooling myself if I claimed to need them.

I know what I need. I need to not have anymore student debt hanging over my head. And those shoes are only going to take me further away from that goal.

Total debt: $5999 and a bit
Spent today: $1.25 (A mid-afternoon treat, much needed on the first Monday back at work!)

I wish Sunday were more like "Sundae"

Oh how I have the dreaded Sunday night feeling. It's a double Sunday night feeling, too, since I was on vacation last week. Sigh. Summer nights make the feeling even worse, because they're so lovely. Why do we have to work when the weather is so nice!?

(I also don't think we should have to work when the weather is awful... I should really be independently wealthy.)

Anyway, it was a lovely weekend. Yesterday the DP and I finally hung the living room curtains that we bought months ago! Then I had coffee with my former deskmate who runs this excellent blog. And she - bless her heart! - brought me beauty swag! New mascara, TWO new curl products, eye shadow, THREE kinds of lip gloss... I was reminded of my old life full of fun swag. Thank you!

Then, after getting some groceries, the DP and I went to see "Get Smart." Funny, but I'm not sure it was worth $12... Although I do want to BE Anne Hathaway. Or Agent 99. Or a secret agent. Or maybe all three.

We spent the gorgeous day today at the Distillery District, wandering around and trying not to buy expensive, delicious-looking, calorie-laden baked goods. And we succeeded! We did splurge on an iced tea from Balzac's and a curried chicken sandwich from one of the bakeries. Yummy.

And there's good news in the immediate debt future. August is a three paycheck month! (Cue the trumpets and the hallelujiah chorus.) And since the first paycheck is on the 1st of August, I don't have to put rent money aside until then. So I can make a second big loan payment in July. But then in August, I'm going to put a few hundred dollars aside for September, because my mom is coming to visit me for a couple of weeks and I'll have a whole week of vacation time with her in the city, so I want to have money so we can go and do stuff. But it should all work out. You should see how I study my calendar and do the equasions to see how my debt will reduce. It's kind of a sick obsession. But I guess it's working!

Total debt: $5999 and a bit
Spent yesterday: $58-ish
Spent today: $3.50

Un delicieux petit dejeuner

After a morning trip to the gym, I went down to visit the DP at his office, so he could take me out for lunch. He's been raving about a little crepe place that he's been frequenting. Despite our long wait, because one of their hot plates had lost power, we each had a delicious savoury crepe (well, mine was technically savoury, but did involve maple syrup) and then split a sweet crepe. Super tasty!

Afterwards, left to my own devices at Yonge and Bloor, I could not deny that I wanted to browse through racks of pretty clothes. But considering the workouts that my credit card has had the past couple of months, I couldn't trust myself to head to any of my usual spots. (Especially since the card is once again empty...until I buy some tickets for the DP's last birthday present next weekend.) What's a girl to do?

Well, this girl headed to Holt Renfrew!

Racks and racks of beautiful clothing that is so expensive - even with all the summer sales - that I would never even entertain the idea of buying any of it. Although I could have easily maxed out my credit card in the Nanette Lepore section. And there were oh so many pretty party dresses. I'm not sure where I would wear them, but perhaps I could just look super chic on my way to the library to pick up last month's magazines for free.

In the past I have looked at these clothes and thought, "One day..." But today I realized that my financial situation would have to change dramatically before I would ever purchase a $350 shirt or a $650 clutch. (No joke. The clutch was originally almost $1300, but had been tossed in the Sale bin. A steal at $650!) It made me a little sad, because the truth is that the expensive clothes are WAY cuter than the mall clothes! Maybe I'd be better off aiming for independent stores that are a little higher end than the mall, but not full of designer names. Like Girl Friday.

Needless to say, I didn't walk out with anything except a small case of wealth-envy.

Total debt: $5999 and a bit
Spent today: $2.36 (Oh ya. I followed up the crepes with a very expensive Big Cookie. That's as close to luxury as I can get.)

Finally!

Good news! I'm writing an early post just to tell all of you that I am finally in the $5000s!! Today is payday, so I started my morning with a banana and some online banking. I was anxious to make a nice big loan payment and finally see the number change on my loan.

Of course, it's only at $5999 and a bit, but that definitely starts with a 5! I spent almost a whole month in the $6000s, which just felt too long, even though that is how it should normally go.

I'm also very close to being at the halfway point, which is about $5600. That will be an exciting day.

Anyway, just wanted y'all to know. I'm off to the gym now and then I'm meeting the DP for lunch. He's treating ;-)

I'll try to type again later.

My vacation continues

It has been a bit of a rough day. After several years of not eating a meal at most "fast food" places ("Supersize Me" really got to me. Why would I want to eat questionable meat and french fries that don't mold even if they end up under the seat in your car for three years?), the DP and I each had a fast food burger and shared some fries.

I cannot tell you how gross I felt this morning. I'm still not 100%! I don't want to go into the gory details, but let's just say that my body was extremely unhappy with my choice. And it let me know how unhappy. Never again. It's just not real food.

Anyway, back to happier things.

We had a wonderful five days up north! It flew by, but at least there was plenty of good weather. Here's where we were:



And one of the many gardens:



We weeded and planted and read and ate an astronomical amount of oatmeal cookies. (The DP's mom made THREE batches while we there, just to keep up with our consumption!) We also took a little side trip to Wiarton:



While there, we visited an amazing garden centre on a beautiful property:



There was also a bakery on the premises, where I may have purchased a pineapple carrot cupcake with cream cheese icing. And some fudge. And obviously lots of pretty flowers. Good photo backdrops:



And the DP just got an incredible new digital camera with 8 mexapixels. I am in LOVE:



But on to the money, which is really why we're all here. I didn't do a good job of keeping track, but I can tell you that I came home with about $35 in my wallet. I spent all of that on groceries today, but that should help cut down on next week's grocery bill. I'm not sure what I spent the rest of it on. A magazine. Food. Drugstore supplies.

I'm still off work until Monday, so I'm hoping to have a few great days when I don't have a mystery meat hangover!

Total debt: $6639 (Damn interest! But tomorrow that number is finally going down...)
Spent today: $35-ish
Weekly total: $90