“If I had a nickel for every time someone asked me if I had some change to spare, they’d be rich”

There’s a man in a wheelchair who sits along the edge of The City. He’s wearing a sign around his neck and shifts it around. I can’t see what it says from my seat on the bus. Outside, the heat bares down with a palpable thickness. He wipes the sweat from his forehead, palm flat, the street being smeared there. His curly, dark hair glistens in the sun while the traffic light turns red. The cars pile up. He begins to roll himself along the edge of traffic, a runway cutting across the asphalt. As he makes his way down, he slowly looks up into every car window. Cars awkwardly shuffle forward, impatient and uncomfortable, the cars personifying what their bodies would otherwise give away.  Windows are drawn tight, like pursed lips- like a tight purse. The man stares up anyways, confrontational but only from that short yet impossible distance. The heat must be making time sluggish.

The light turns Green and the cars, the people, they speed off. They swing their cars ever so slightly around his wheelchair. So they do see him…

The bus also rolls on. I turn my head so I can’t see what’s written on the man’s sign.

This moment only lasted a total of 2 minutes at Harvard’s Ceramics Program staff party, and I luckily grabbed the shot.

On another note, check out the blog remodel and stay tuned for more Deals and Steals!

Over the years, I’ve built an odd-ball collection of favorite links.  Some were discovered by myself, others by word of mouth or viral email, and some collected from other blogs and online social media. Only the best have made the cut for the link was only recorded once I realized I was visiting the site repeatedly. Most I emailed to myself for safe keeping, others were scribbled on a post it note, both physical and virtual. And now, those sources combined, I give you my personal recipe for endless online entertainment.

Entertaining

*Stunning, part CGI video by Alex Roman. Architecture meets Photography meets heaven:  The 3rd and the 7th.

*You know those random thoughts you have? Chances are we’ve all had them too: ruminations.com

*Animated desserts: Verdi- Traviata

*If you’re not aware of xkcd, then shame. Here’s a personal favorite, because I totally relate.  And for you movie nerds, go here.  Love flow charts?

* Two men and their old friend- a lion- are reunited. Will Christian remember them? Christian the Lion

*Grandma shows who’s boss (and everything else from failblog.org): Honking Fail

*Women immortalized on the canvas, as one: Portraits

*You know how you could watch kitty videos on youtube all day long? Just hit next: kittenroulette.com

*Fantastic cute blog dedicated to weddings, from DIY projects to photography: ruffledblog.com

*Hulu’s LXD (League of Extraordinary Dancers). Parts are as lame as they sound, but the cinematography is stunning, and the short, non-standard vignettes somewhat refreshing: LXD

*Love her old school, film photography. Reminiscent of so many great things forgotten: Galaxy Andrews

General Handy Resources (all free):

* Personal Finance tracking: Mint.com

* Send custom html (pretty!) emails to your mailing lists:  Mailchimp.com

* Random, but I love the TV sitcom Friends:  Friends

So, this post was as much for me as for anyone. It feels good to finally have my collection of links together and somewhat immortalized on the worldwide internet. I’m not even going to mention the links that I know by heart and have no need to record, like “David goes to the Dentist,” “Charlie bit me,” or “Sneezing Panda.” Oh wait, I just did.

About a month ago I visited my Grandparents in Leominster.  It was an hour long train ride on the commuter rail that only cost 7$.  Likewise, this past weekend my boyfriend and I visited his grandfather in Gloucester taking again the commuter rail, again only an hour, same cost. On these two separate trips I gathered many treasures.

With my own grandparents, I will admit that my grandmother- knowing me well, we spent most of the time shopping.  But alas- not just any old shopping, we went yardsale-ing. Treasure hunting if you will. We began at 6:45 am and my grandmother, knowing the town and the addresses posted in the newspaper like the back of her hand, put her ‘taxi cabber’ hat on and we hit about 10 houses in no more than 1.5 hours. In the end, I found some $2 lace, an $8 wine casks of sorts, an $1 wedgewood tea cup set, $5 cutting board, $2 silver plated butter dish and a 10 cent 18kt gold necklace.

Despite the satisfactory booty, I still couldn’t help but take a visit to the local TJMaxx where I picked up a wonderfully unique, Cynthia Rowley cardigan for $30, which seemed like highway robbery after my penny yard-sale finds.

During our Gloucester visit, I was enriched with a different sort of treasure. Will’s grandfather is, among many great things, a story teller. I will not repeat half of what he imparted, part because it may be inappropriate to repeat without approval, and part because I would not do the story justice. However, I will tell you that at one point, in the middle of a restaurant, (sometime after shooting paper straw linings at his girlfriend’s granddaughter) he openly drooled as an essential part to his tale. I mean, he paused in his story, patiently took a sip of water, made his face go blank- and then opened his mouth, letting the pooled water spill over miraculously onto his plate. The demonstration was to emphasis a point in his story on how he said he won’t stop being himself until the day he does ‘this’. Point taken.

One story involved him once waiting in line for the bathroom at a restaurant. He told the woman behind him that she could skip him if she gave him a quarter. She, with her New York accent, asked if he was a meter. This, in turn, reminded him of a limerick which he shared.

“You can ‘meet-her’ in the cellar,

You can ‘meet-her’ in the park,

But the best place to ‘meet-her’,

Is to ‘meet-her’ in the dark.”

Completely hilarious, only slightly inappropriate. The next tale was a simple joke. When driving through Rockport, somehow a minor bit of celebrity gossip came up which encouraged Will’s grandfather to say this.

“Speaking of famous people- did you hear?  I was watching the news and they said that actress, Reese something died.”

I was immediately befuddled and alert. “What? Reese Witherspoon?”

“No, with a knife”

It was literally the fourth time I had fallen for that same joke from the same person. And it was still that funny. I know a visit to one’s grandparents is usually done out of love and respect, but I will selfishly admit that it is all more than entertaining.  It was a total treasure to find a mid 19th century piece of English Wedgewood pottery for $1, and a 18kt Italian gold necklace with a cute ladybug pendant for 10 cents, but in the end, the stories are the real treasures. Those are the things that will never be resold when turned old, and will never have a price.

However, I do wish my grandmother wouldn’t tell me so often that at her age, “Let’s just say we don’t buy green bananas.”

We made the plunge. Signed the deed. Married the commitment. We adopted two little, 12-week old kitties. Now we just need to decide on their names.

We adopted them from Saint Meows, a local rescue shelter run by a wonderful woman and a group of volunteers.  As I type and carefully stroke a sleeping Lilly (for now), Marshall plops himself right on top of Lilly’s head, kung-fo, suffocating-pillow style.  Sibling love at it’s finest.

They spent the first hour in their new home exploring, noses to the ground, ears alert. Once satisfied with their domain, their attention was turned to play and has been ever since, punctuated by short periods of a coma-like sleep. They never go from A to B in a straight line, everything is an obstacle course- it’s over the table, between the legs, off the wall, and into the drawer. And they’re smart- they found their litterbox, food and water within the first hour. That’s more independent than some young adults I know.

Want more kitty footage? Then check out this quick, sleepy video I slapped together. If that’s not enough for you, then check out this AMAZING website.

Possible kitty names?

-Lilly and Marshall
– Puss and Boots
-Booth and Bones
– Momo and Appa
-Ginger and Pepper
-Bandit and Carmella
-Holmes and Watson

When left to my own devices, I tend to think of names that recall food, like ginger, caramel, and pepper.  I find this disturbing because really, it just makes me hungry.

Quick look at Monday’s photoshoot with local designer, Balela. She’s a wonderful, fun designer, great person and a great model. Here are a few photos that have actually been processed in Photoshop and not just Lightroom. Played around with lot’s of high pass filters, blurs, and painting with light (masked curves layer).

So, after living a full year in Cambridge, we decided to try our luck and move. It was down 3 flights at the old apartment and up 4 flights at the new, but the move was worth not only the 600$ savings, but the extra room.  More stats: we went from 850 sq ft to 1100 sq ft, and the new apartment is only 4 blocks from our old place, which means my ‘slow-in-the-mornings-but-lovable-boyfriend’ will still be able to make it to his law school classes on time.  Below are some photos that I was inspired to shoot once we were all unpacked and situated.

The wide photos above were shot on a tripod at 17mm and stitched together to form a panoramic shot- really the only way to shoot an informative interior space.  All detail shots were done with my trusty 50mm 1.8 Nikon lens which I recommend to any photographer who shoots with an SLR (which is nearly everyone these days).  The 50mm is the cheapest lens Nikon makes at about 120$.  Any editing done was only the basics on Adobe Lightroom, a photographers must and precursor to Photoshop, (try a free trial here).

Everyone knows that moving is a pain and when we all wish we were less materialistic.  Suddenly you curse your 4 snow parkas in 4 different shades of white and your 40 pairs of shoes.  But not only is the physical labor and the planning of logistics on your mind, but the staging of your living space.  For that, I give you some tips:

1.  TjMaxx. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again.  It’s one stop shopping.  I got my lamps, towels, bedding, all bathroom accessories, place mats, hangers, pots, bowls, glasses, chair cushions, throw pillows, blankets, yadda yadda yadda- all there, and pretty much all on clearance.

2. Craigslist. Not only did I find my apartment on craigslist (after using a real estate agent last year and paying a ridiculous fee- you can cut out the middle man and hunt for yourself) but furniture as well.  While their ‘free furniture’ section may be sketchy, their furniture for sale isn’t too shabby as long as you’re dedicated to the hunt. I was lucky to have relatives in the area who gave unwanted furniture to us, and Will and I made many other pieces- but we did buy two small end tables and a dresser from craigslist.  The tables were 7$ a piece and the bureau 40$.  Not only do they fit our style well, but that means when we decide to move again (eventually), we can resell or give up those pieces without taking a huge monetary loss.  And don’t forget about Goodwill- their little treasures are great for ‘staged’ pieces like figurines, plates and glass.

3.  Plants. They do a lot for an interior space. Home Depot is always a good place to find everything you need, but grocery stores during the spring time usually are also equipped. I saw herbs for 2.97$ a piece at Shaw’s the other day and herbs like rosemary, basil, mint, chives and oregano all seem to do pretty well inside, and they’re the go-to cooking flavors. Mint for ice-tea, basil for tomato and mozzarella, oregano for a white pizza…. etc etc.

4.  Paintings/art.  You DO NOT have to be an artist to make a painting that looks amazing on a big, blank wall.  I guarantee you that 1/2 of your favorite paintings you can straight up copy with basic acrylic paint (water-soluble and cheap). In the photos above, the painting on the fireplace mantel is one I did of Van Gogh’s chairs. Craft stores like Micheals and Joanne’s constantly run 40% off coupons so even a large canvas can be under 20$. Channel the inner Picasso or modern expressionist in you- go splatter crazy, stick figure, or blocked color mad- on a canvas and on your wall it will make itself art.  Don’t feel like painting?  Take that favorite photo of yours, make it black and white- print it as 20×30 on Shutterfly – mount it with a glue stick to foam core- use finishing nails to hang it on your wall and easy peezy- you’re in your own gallery space.

5. Curtains. I made all the curtains for our apartment from muslin (usually around 2$ per yard- cheap because it’s typically used for patterning). You’ll need a sewing machine, but even those are cheap these days (low prices being under 100$). Muslin is the perfect off white/cream and lets in a diffused light while still allowing privacy. Basic tension rods complete your needs and each curtain required only 2 long stitches on the top and bottom.

6. TV.  Not so much interior design as basic money saving idea. We currently only get basic cable for 7$ a month. That’s about 20 channels with all your basic networks and news cast. To supplement our cable, we have Netflix which is 9$ a month- but behold- you can share accounts and therefore can split the cost among, say, your whole family and all enjoy their new instant downloads, which is about 1/4 or so of their stock. (try a free trial here). Netflix not only has every movie known to mankind- but TV shows as well. Just be careful not to do season marathons like I did of Spartucus and Cake Boss- you’ll lose days on end. And don’t forget Hulu, which as we all know, is completely free. If you buy a basic HDMI cable (8$ on amazon) you can stream your computer to your TV and viola-the image is complete.

7.  Movers.  Obvious tip for people moving but what I recommend, since you pay your movers per hour, is to have absolutely everything packed and ready to go AND, if you’re not moving far- to do the light moving yourself. You can cut your movers cost in 1/2 that way without breaking your back over your couch.  If you’re in the Boston area, I highly recommend using Intelligent Labor– best rate and best people.  In other areas, since there so many companies to choose from- use Yelp and other review sources to compare customer feedback.

So, that’s moving on the cheap from me, to you. Moving and setting up your first apartment will always be an expensive endeavor but I believe that it’s very important to feel good in your home.  In a strange new place, fresh out of college, away from home and old friends- your personal space should quickly become your familiar retreat and safe haven. And I promise you, the more creative you are with ways to save money or do things yourself, the more proud you will be of your space. I pinky promise.