Happy Friday! I hope you all had a spectacular Christmas overflowing with lovely moments. Mine was almost perfect. A few days ago, I happened to be crowing to my mom and M that I hadn't been sick much this year (well, I had my annual autumnal cough, but it was very minor), and boom, I caught a monster cold right after my proclamation, two days before Christmas. I wrapped presents in a feverish haze and though I'm feeling much better now, I will be careful about boasting about my health going ... Read more
A Debt-Free Life Finale + Custom Illustration Giveaway! [CLOSED]
Evicting the roommates was a swift affair once I called in the big guns. You'll remember from last time that they had stopped paying rent and the situation was dire. M flew in from Seattle to "negotiate" (a punched hole in the wall was involved as I recall - the Czech girl's boyfriend was the temperamental sort). I was cowering somewhere out of sight and didn't witness the event. The couple left with a string of muttered Czech words trailing behind, cursing my name, I'm sure. Freed from thongs ... Read more
A Debt-Free Life Part 3
He went ballistic. Telling M about my debt was not going well. He started to do the frantic head-clutching move reserved for extreme stress and duress, and he looked at me like he'd never seen me before. I bawled. "How much???" He practically keened and clutched his head some more. And here, I have to confess that I shaved off a few thousand dollars because I was scared out of my wits, but then quickly admitted the real sum because at this point our future together seemed unlikely. What ... Read more
Thoughts + A Debt-Free Life aka Kicking the “Should”s
I have been feeling a little deflated about blogging lately. I've talked about this before, I know, and I've pondered whether I've become too predictable because I'm such a routine-lover. I can confidently say that I'm not dialing it in by any stretch and I still love sharing my creations and each comment still makes me feel giddy. But I've also been conflicted about what I'm doing (at what point is too many dresses for one child? Probably about 100 dresses ago) and haven't been pouring myself ... Read more
Happy Friday + Advent Randomness
Happy Friday! Even though I'm sharing it today, I did, in fact, finish this Advent Calendar in the nick of time on November 30th, much to my relief. Compared to the last couple of years, it's a more understated calendar, but I put a lot of thought into it. This year, I had some very specific rules for myself: 1. Construct the advent calendar out of what I already have on hand (the exception was the little gifts that are part of the calendar) 2. No candy or sweets 3. Include lots of ... Read more