 |
| What we bought off Craigslist... |
 |
| Sanded... |
 |
| Primed... |
 |
| Painting it red! |
 |
| Still painting... |
 |
| Our "new" entertainment center! |
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Evolution
Saturday, October 30, 2010
WHEW!!
That's all I have to say!
Things have been a complete whirlwind the past few weeks. I've been busy packing up our apartment in California and I ran the LA Rock-n-Roll half-marathon with two of my favorite super stew friends! We had a BLAST! (Another post).
Currently my in-laws are "Baxter sitting" for us while we're both in Hawaii getting our apartment furnished. I'll be back on the mainland for the next few weeks - my brother is coming for a visit! We have a few things planned... Disneyland, California Adventure, Knott's Berry Farm, Six Flags, dinner with my friends... and RUNNING! Which leads me into the next week... I'll be headed back to Virginia with my little brother to see family and friends AND run an 8k race with him!! I am SO excited about this! I love the run and I'm so glad I get to share this experience with my little bro! So yeah, I'm staying busy and have a busy few weeks coming up.
But back to present: furnishing our apartment has been an adventure in and of itself. Our apartment in Santa Barbara was furnished mostly via Craigslist and then we moved it all to LA. But we are not moving that furniture across the ocean so time for new stuff!! Well, new to us stuff. We did buy a new bed, but so far we've racked up a nice brown microfiber couch, an Asian-esque dining room table, an entertainment center and two tall matching bookcases (they came with the entertainment center) all from Craigslist.
I actually bought a dresser as well, but ended up hating it after we got it home. Good thing we only paid $40 for it and then sold it for $60 the very next day on Craigslist! Yep, making money while moving in! I am a pilot's wife, you know.
The entertainment center was also kind of a bust... the stain just didn't go well with the color of the couch. But, we decided since we weren't busy enough (sarcasm!!!), we needed a project! Our entertainment center is now RED! Not 'cranberry zing,' or 'red delicious,' or all the various colors of red... it's just, red. And as I type, Rob is putting the third and final coat. The bookcases will be next, but that'll have to happen when I'm out here permanently.
And let me just add, Ross is the most fantastic store there is when it comes to decorating an apartment. We have picked up some of the coolest things. Blackout curtains for our bedroom since we have one giant window from wall to wall for only $7.99.... exact same brand sold at Target for three times that much! We just happened to pick out a discontinued color. We've also picked up bathroom towels, clothes hangers, a 16-piece dish set, wine glasses and regular glasses, a "bath-in-a-bag" - includes: shower curtain, liner, and hooks to hang them on the rod with, and a few other various household things.
Costco has been a huge lifesaver as well. Not only can you enjoy a hotdog with a soda for $1.50 after shopping, you can also buy a 25lb bag of rice and a 32" television all in the same trip.
That about sums it up. I'll post pictures of our red entertainment center project later. I am most excited about this. So basically, our apartment is small, but just so awesome. We have great views of Diamond Head, the city, and we can even see a little bit of the ocean. I will leave you with a photo taken out of my window this afternoon.
Things have been a complete whirlwind the past few weeks. I've been busy packing up our apartment in California and I ran the LA Rock-n-Roll half-marathon with two of my favorite super stew friends! We had a BLAST! (Another post).
Currently my in-laws are "Baxter sitting" for us while we're both in Hawaii getting our apartment furnished. I'll be back on the mainland for the next few weeks - my brother is coming for a visit! We have a few things planned... Disneyland, California Adventure, Knott's Berry Farm, Six Flags, dinner with my friends... and RUNNING! Which leads me into the next week... I'll be headed back to Virginia with my little brother to see family and friends AND run an 8k race with him!! I am SO excited about this! I love the run and I'm so glad I get to share this experience with my little bro! So yeah, I'm staying busy and have a busy few weeks coming up.
But back to present: furnishing our apartment has been an adventure in and of itself. Our apartment in Santa Barbara was furnished mostly via Craigslist and then we moved it all to LA. But we are not moving that furniture across the ocean so time for new stuff!! Well, new to us stuff. We did buy a new bed, but so far we've racked up a nice brown microfiber couch, an Asian-esque dining room table, an entertainment center and two tall matching bookcases (they came with the entertainment center) all from Craigslist.
I actually bought a dresser as well, but ended up hating it after we got it home. Good thing we only paid $40 for it and then sold it for $60 the very next day on Craigslist! Yep, making money while moving in! I am a pilot's wife, you know.
The entertainment center was also kind of a bust... the stain just didn't go well with the color of the couch. But, we decided since we weren't busy enough (sarcasm!!!), we needed a project! Our entertainment center is now RED! Not 'cranberry zing,' or 'red delicious,' or all the various colors of red... it's just, red. And as I type, Rob is putting the third and final coat. The bookcases will be next, but that'll have to happen when I'm out here permanently.
And let me just add, Ross is the most fantastic store there is when it comes to decorating an apartment. We have picked up some of the coolest things. Blackout curtains for our bedroom since we have one giant window from wall to wall for only $7.99.... exact same brand sold at Target for three times that much! We just happened to pick out a discontinued color. We've also picked up bathroom towels, clothes hangers, a 16-piece dish set, wine glasses and regular glasses, a "bath-in-a-bag" - includes: shower curtain, liner, and hooks to hang them on the rod with, and a few other various household things.
Costco has been a huge lifesaver as well. Not only can you enjoy a hotdog with a soda for $1.50 after shopping, you can also buy a 25lb bag of rice and a 32" television all in the same trip.
That about sums it up. I'll post pictures of our red entertainment center project later. I am most excited about this. So basically, our apartment is small, but just so awesome. We have great views of Diamond Head, the city, and we can even see a little bit of the ocean. I will leave you with a photo taken out of my window this afternoon.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
"Priceless Artifact"
A few weeks ago when I was out in Hawaii, I had the opportunity to take a tour of Oahu from 2,000 feet in THE original Hawaiian Airlines airplane. I couldn't get over that Hawaiian Airlines actually has the original airplane and makes this tour available to employees. I mean, this is the original airplane that started the company in 1929! That's AMAZING! What's even more amazing is to see how far aviation as come since then. I have this .pdf file of the history of the Bellanca that I wish I could post here because it's so interesting - and I don't think it's because I'm a huge aviation dork, it's just REALLY interesting to see where it all began for Hawaiian.
As Mark Dunkerley, Hawaiian's CEO, says, "it's impossible to put a price on the plane other than to say the result is a priceless artifact."
The pilot gave us phenomenal narration of what we were seeing all while the wind was blowing through my hair. Yes, windows open! And being that I clearly have the best husband in the world, he let me sit in the cockpit so I could get the best view. And of course, we saw a rainbow.
 |
| Windows open! |
 |
| Diamond Head |
 |
| Honolulu |
 |
| Not the PIC... |
Friday, October 8, 2010
Moving to Hawaii: Renting
I'll just start off by saying that finding an apartment in Hawaii is nothing like trying to find an apartment on the mainland. Since moving to California in 2005, we have relied on Craigslist for everything! Finding our apartment, furnishing it, and just any other random thing we needed, we always turned to Craigslist. So when we found out for sure we'd be moving to Hawaii, I started scouring Craigslist for apartment rentals. Surprisingly, I did not have very good luck... I was actually pretty amazed at how little was posted compared to when we were moving to Los Angeles. (Yes, I know that over 3 MILLION people live in Los Angeles alone where as less than 1 million live on the whole island of Oahu...but that's not the point.) And having a pet doesn't necessarily help. Renting in California is the same way... it's not like my experience on the east coast where you just have to pay the extra fee per month and it's no big deal. Apartments here and in Hawaii either allow pets or they don't. Mostly, they don't. Whatever, Baxter is coming with us, so it's not really an "issue" necessarily.
BUT this is two sided... finding a (good) apartment may not be easy, but it's a part of why I LOVE Hawaii so much. Let me explain. Hawaiian's seem to be very family oriented. They look out for each other; there's a strong sense of community. They don't NEED to post on Craigslist. Word of mouth works just as well and it's really all about who you know. We've already gotten a lead on an condo to rent from someone Rob has met while out there.
On our side, moving from California to Hawaii doesn't really produce "sticker shock" for us. It's expensive to live here... it's expensive to live there. When I moved here from the east coast, I couldn't believe how expensive it was... but that's worn off. You just accept it. From what I've found, it runs about $1000/month for a studio (in the areas we're looking), and about $1700 for a "nice" 1-bedroom apartment. Of course there are areas where the rent is cheaper... but living in town or close to town is important to us, so we're paying for that too.
Our friends that live in Hawaii have been so gracious to let Rob stay with them while he's in training offered us some advice. She works in real estate. She said, "choose to rent uncomfortably so you're motivated to buy as soon as possible..." It's GREAT advice because quite surprisingly the cost of buying a condo isn't astronomical. The cost of buying a house, different story. However, Rob's parents did caution us that the HOA/maintenance dues can run up to $1000 a month or more. WHOA! And it's true... we went to a building to see if there were any vacancies on their "bulletin board" and ended up speaking to one of the property managers. If you were to buy a condo in that building, your monthly maintenance fee is $1500. That blew our minds. So right now, we're looking at smaller units to 1) live "uncomfortably" and 2) to save money in hopes that we'll buy something in the next year. I guess we'll see what happens... it's ALL an adventure. But one thing is for certain, even when I visit Hawaii, I feel like I'm home.
BUT this is two sided... finding a (good) apartment may not be easy, but it's a part of why I LOVE Hawaii so much. Let me explain. Hawaiian's seem to be very family oriented. They look out for each other; there's a strong sense of community. They don't NEED to post on Craigslist. Word of mouth works just as well and it's really all about who you know. We've already gotten a lead on an condo to rent from someone Rob has met while out there.
On our side, moving from California to Hawaii doesn't really produce "sticker shock" for us. It's expensive to live here... it's expensive to live there. When I moved here from the east coast, I couldn't believe how expensive it was... but that's worn off. You just accept it. From what I've found, it runs about $1000/month for a studio (in the areas we're looking), and about $1700 for a "nice" 1-bedroom apartment. Of course there are areas where the rent is cheaper... but living in town or close to town is important to us, so we're paying for that too.
Our friends that live in Hawaii have been so gracious to let Rob stay with them while he's in training offered us some advice. She works in real estate. She said, "choose to rent uncomfortably so you're motivated to buy as soon as possible..." It's GREAT advice because quite surprisingly the cost of buying a condo isn't astronomical. The cost of buying a house, different story. However, Rob's parents did caution us that the HOA/maintenance dues can run up to $1000 a month or more. WHOA! And it's true... we went to a building to see if there were any vacancies on their "bulletin board" and ended up speaking to one of the property managers. If you were to buy a condo in that building, your monthly maintenance fee is $1500. That blew our minds. So right now, we're looking at smaller units to 1) live "uncomfortably" and 2) to save money in hopes that we'll buy something in the next year. I guess we'll see what happens... it's ALL an adventure. But one thing is for certain, even when I visit Hawaii, I feel like I'm home.
 |
| High-rises are standard for condos & apartments. |
Friday, October 1, 2010
The Dalai Lama tweets?
Either way, this is golden:
"Lack of contentment sows the seed of envy and aggressive competitiveness and leads to a culture of excessive materialism."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)