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House Hunters
Or should I say, House Hunter?
The last few weeks I’ve amped up my search for a house. Matt isn’t exactly on board with the whole buying a new house thing but I figure, what can it hurt? It’s no secret I’ve wanted a “house” house for a while. We are currently in a town house, and while we technically have enough room, I’d really like a better layout and more importantly, a yard! A great yard is at the top of my list, while Matt wants a 2 car garage and flat driveway. Boys are silly!
We finally sat down and talked about what we thought we could afford and it was quite a bit more than my original price range. This really opened up a lot more possibilities. We also discussed locations since I’d only been looking in our current area but Matt said he would be open to looking all over the area when the time comes. This also drastically changed our search. I’ve now found we can get more in other locations and that is very appealing.
I found an adorable house about 2 weeks ago that had been on the market for a while. (When I say a while, I mean like 50 days.) The front and back yards sold me, but the house itself was cute and move in ready. Matt was a little more iffy and now it’s under contract. 🙁 That house is my new comparison for all the others and so far nothing is hitting it out of the park. I’ve run across a few that I wouldn’t mind seeing but nothing that makes me super excited. And since we aren’t technically looking, should they go off the market it will fine. I’ve run across a few today that were interesting only to find they were currently pending! Ugh!!! Real estate in the Triangle is pretty good and things just don’t stay on the market very long. My hope is to continue looking for the next few months and hopefully a house will jump out at both of us and cause Matt to get in the game. 😉 We aren’t in a hurry but I also don’t want to be in our current house very long either.
Until then, the house hunt continues.
~k
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Benefit Brow Bar at Ulta
Over Christmas I went to the Bobbi Brown counter to have my makeup done. After being told I had “crappy” eyebrows, the girl proceeded to spend an hour trying to give me a smokey eye. Anyway, the eyebrow thing has stayed with me and since then I’ve tried a little bit harder with them (meaning I actually bought an eyebrow pencil). I’d been letting them grow out in hopes of being able to actually shape them. I even bought some Lash Accelerator from Rimmel since it could also be used for brows. When I saw an advertisement in my Ulta catalog for Brow and Tint services from the Benefit Brow Bar for $32.00 I figured what the heck. What’s the worst that could happen? HAHA!
Last week I booked an appointment for Friday afternoon. After my last brow experience I figured my eyes would be red for days so Friday afternoon worked the best. I headed to Ulta after work and Stephanie was ready to go. We talked about my current “non” shape. She showed me where they should be compared to where they were. She even drew them on so I could see the difference. Umm, big difference. Once my brows were tinted she started with the waxing. It definitely hurts a little but it wasn’t too bad. When she was finished waxing she filled and shaped them for me but she also showed me how so I could do it myself. She applied some concealer to cover the redness and I was on my way. To be honest, I kind of felt like a freak as I was leaving the store. I’ve never really had eyebrows so this was new and different for me.
By the time I got home, I was feeling pretty gross so I washed my face but not before snapping a pic of her handy work. Actually, the more I looked at pic the more “okay” I felt about my brows. She was actually able to give me a little bit of an arch. I’ve had a few days to test out my “skills” and I think I’m starting to get the hang of it. Today they may not look as good but yesterday I think I’m doing a pretty good job. I know it will just take some practice.
All in all I am very pleased with the results. My eyes were only red for a few hours after which was a pleasant surprise. I’ve had my issues with Ulta services but this is one I would definitely do again!
The left is the finished product. The right is right after I washed my face. You can see the actual shape a little better in that one but they are easier to shape into an arch now.
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New car smell
When I met Matt I was on my 7th car, he was on his 2nd. I’d never had brand new cars though. I just don’t keep cars more than a few years. Maybe it has to do with buying used cars with 50k+ miles. They would always be good for a year or 2 but at the first sign of problems I would trade them in.
Two years ago Matt and I decided we needed another SUV. I had traded in my old crappy Trailblazer for a cute little new Jetta right before we got engaged. At the time, gas was almost $4.00 a gallon for regular and I couldn’t continue paying almost $80.00 every week and a half to fill up my tank. The better solution seemed to be the VW sign and drive deal so that’s what I did. I got a basic little Jetta and LOVED it! It was my first brand new car. It was almost way more economical and the payment wasn’t much more than my crappy old Trailblazer.
When we started looking for SUVs we looked high and low. The deal was, Matt would trade in his current Audi A4 (which I didn’t care for) for a SUV and I would get said SUV when the Jetta lease was up. You can read more about that experience here and here. Anyway we decided on an Audi Q5 which I’ve been driving since about 6 months after we got it. You can read about how that happened here.
A couple of weeks ago, we realized the Audi lease would be up in a few months and we started talking about new cars. I really wanted a Ford Escape (foot liftgate, hell yes!) but Matt said they were too small. He liked the Explorers but I was leaning more towards the Edge. When it came down to it, they were both around the same price but not the same size, which just didn’t make sense. Then one day he mentioned someone in his parking lot had a new Jeep and he thought they looked pretty nice. I grew up with Jeeps since that’s all mom has had since I was 14. I knew a Jeep would be a great option. We started looking and found they were in our target price range with a more room, which we also wanted.
Last week we found a Grand Cherokee Limited Diesel with all the options I wanted (the diesel was a bonus). I ran to the dealership at lunch to take it for a spin and took Matt back on Saturday to buy my new car. After spending a decent amount of time at the dealership, we realized they weren’t in the mood to make a deal so we walked away. Matt proceeded to blast emails to several other Jeep dealers in the area in hopes of finding someone to work with us. On Sunday he received an email back from another local dealer. The girl emailed him with details and told him she would make sure the car we wanted was on the lot on Monday and let him know. Throughout the course of the day on Monday, she and Matt worked out the pricing so we headed over there after work. The car had literally been pulled off the trunk that morning and rushed to get ready for us to see that night. I immediately loved the car! I’d been waivering over 2 colors and only that morning decided I really wanted the Granite color. As soon as I saw it, I knew I’d made the right decision. It had all the options we wanted plus a ton more! An hour and half later we were signing the papers and walking out the door with a brand new Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland. YAY!!!!!
I would also like to mention the salesperson we worked with was AMAZING! Clearly, I’ve had my fair share of car buying experiences and this was by FAR the best! The girl was amazing! I felt like I was dealing with a friend and not a stranger. She was so personable and friendly. She also made the experience totally painless. Honestly, I’m not sure I’ll ever go back to a lot looking for a deal. This is our 2nd time buying a car from an internet salesperson and I think it’s they way to go. There seems to be less BS and they probably have to work a little harder to get your business since you aren’t dealing with them face to face.
~k
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Flowers! I have flowers!
A few months ago I came across a bag of Gladiolus bulbs at Costco. When I lived in Austin, I used to always buy Gladiolus from the grocery store. The H.E.B would always have bundles for around $10.00. It was a great way to keep fresh flowers in my apartment, so when I saw them at Costco I couldn’t resist myself.
When the weather warmed up I planted about 15 under our deck and a few more on the side of the house. Well the ones under the deck, which receive almost full sun, have done GREAT! For the past week, I’ve been waiting for them to start blooming in full force. As of yesterday they were getting there.
I can’t decide if I’m going to resist the urge to cut them and bring them inside or leave them outside. Part of me thinks it’s a waste to leave them outside since they are on the back of the house under the deck. No one (ie me) will ever see them. But there is the other part that feels they should get to grow outside. Who knows what I’ll do. Probably cut them! 😉
I also have a Gerber Daisy that is taking off. Mom gave it to me last year and I keep it in a pot on sidewalk. It gets full sun most of the day and in the past few weeks it has really started to grow. I told Matt I had a blooms on the Gerber Daisy, to which he responded “the weed looking thing”. HAHA! Yes the “weed looking thing”! I know I’ve said this a few times but I am super proud (and slightly impressed) with my gardening skills. Mostly I’m just happy I can plant things and for the most part they live.
