Wedding Dress for $91 off Ebay!!!!!

I got my dress!!!! I decided to go with buying vs having one custom made for two main reasons - it would be way less costly and less to organize. If our situation were different, I would have loved to have Emily still make my dress and I loved her ideas. But ultimately my responsible nature won out. However....

I'm thrilled! When we first got engaged, I saw this dress from JCrew and loved it. I ordered it from their site and tried it on and loved it immediately. "I feel pretty and I can still play croquet!" I said to myself and I knew it was the one. I returned it though because I knew I had seen it online through oncewed.com and ebay for cheaper. Turns out I got it brand new and unworn off ebay from a girl who waited to long to return it to get a refund. And I got it for $91 including shipping. And it's perfect.

Hooray for Vermont and Iowa Couples!

It must be spring fever because love (and human rights) are in the air! On April 3rd, Iowa Supreme Court ruled that same-sex couples have the right to marry. And yesterday the Vermont legislators overruled the governor and voted to allow Gay marriage. (This is the first time it's gone through law makers instead of the courts.)

Why on earth would anyone want to deny two people from making a loving commitment to each other?

Less Debt = More Independence

One more card down! This morning, thanks to a generous engagement gift from my Grandmother, I was able to pay off my Discover card in full and send extra to my last (and biggest) credit card. I calculated the interest that I would save if I used the gift to pay off debt and it's as if she doubled the amount that she gave me I'm saving so much.

That means that in the past year that I have been seriously working to pay off my debt, I've eliminated two credit cards and my car payments to the tune of elimating $8000 in debt.

Photo taken from http://www.flickr.com/photos/kb-a/2799250369/

Coupons

So last night I finally went grocery shopping. We were long overdue and starting to spend money on just grabbing food to go because we didn't have much to cook with. Since it had been more than two weeks and I needed a lot of cleaning and pet supplies I knew it was going to be expensive. But I took the time to actually go through some of the coupons I had clipped, made a list (which I only deviated from for two items - chips and salsa), and then bought store brand or sale items whenever possible.

I am psyched - I saved $33 just in coupons and sales. That seemed like a lot to me. And I found out that Kroger doubles manufacturers coupons. So that deodorant that was already on sale with a $.50 coupon ended up costing like $.73 instead of $3.

You will now start to see me like those little old ladies with their coupon organizers walking around the store.

Springtime

On my walk with Ahab yesterday morning.

A Space for Creativity

I cleaned out my studio on Sunday and when I walked in last night to get something I was so pleased to see it looking ready for a new project. The cut out squares of fabric waiting to be sewed into napkins were nicely folded in a pile. The desktop was totally clean. My knickknacks were all happily displayed. I actually got really excited to do something creative this weekend.

I came across this series of writer's rooms through The Guardian UK. And then this one of artists' studio spaces. Anyhow it got me thinking about how lucky I am that I can even have one small space to myself.

at least one of us isn't worried

I have confirmation that what we've noticed in our home the past six months is a shared phenomenon. Ron's work has been steadily increasing despite our concerns that tattoos would be considered a luxury in today's weak economy.

On my way into work yesterday morning there was a piece on NPR's Marketplace about how well the tattoo industry as a whole seems to be doing. I'm trying not to question why it remains successful and just be thankful that Ron's getting the business.