What matters most...

So my job takes me all over the eastern part of Nebraska. Days like today I spend four to five hours in the car heading down the highway wanting the slow a.k.a. "Sunday drivers" to get the heck out of my way because I have places to be and people to see. Most likely my previous appointment ran long, I ended up grabbing Subway and I'm trying to make up time to get to my next stop. But Monday, I stayed in town and was checking out prospective offices, one of which was in a less than safe part of town. A place that I sure as heck wouldn't be hanging out after dark. The office that I visited wasn't in the worst of the worst but it was on the edge and to get to the next stop, I essentially drove through one of the worst parts of town, not by choice. My friend, Carmen the Garmin directed me that way.
It made me realize that one of the things that matters most to me when I'm looking for a new home is safety and security. If I live downtown, I definetly want to be in a secure building - like the one that I checked out the other day - it had key fobs, required a key combo to operate the elevator and required a key to get into the building. So pretty safe and secure. I feel pretty safe and secure in the building that I live in right now. Ever since I was robbed twice back when I still lived in West Des Moines, I don't live in basement level apartments - I make the thiefs work for my stuff. Yes, I realize that safety and security should be a no brainer, but when I was making my list of things to have, I didn't have it on the list. So, living in the 'hood, definitely out. Surprisingly I don't think that will eliminate that many townhomes that I was previously considering from the list.

On the Hunt

I headed out to a few open houses today in a few different areas of town. Mainly what I'm looking for is either a townhouse or condo. In a perfect world, it would have at least two bedrooms, 1.5 (or more) bathrooms and a two car garage. The amount of garage space is the most flexible thing. I also want a bigger kitchen than my teeny, tiny kitchen. I found out a few things in the process:

a)I need to get a realtor, these people can practically smell me coming and want my money. I realize that they work off commission and while they may be well intentioned, I'm just getting started - but some of them were really agressive. Almost creepy. I also need to get a realtor because the place that I've been watching online for awhile has never had an open house and I want to find out what the heck is wrong with it - Why hasn't it sold? Why is it so much cheaper than the other places in the complex? I've hypothisized that someone was murdered in the unit - though it doesn't really go with the neighborhood. I have an incredibly active imagination.

b) Just because it says "townhouse" don't assume it's actually a townhome. One place was listed as a townhome, but it was half a duplex and would require me to maintain the yard, exterior of the building (roof, siding of the home), and do snow removal. The only bonus was that there was a small annual fee for some commons areas as opposed to monthly dues. My job isn't really condusive to all that kind of stuff - which is why I want a townhouse/condo in the first place! ARRGH!!!

c) Need to remember to keep an open mind. I went to check out a place downtown, completely for fun and ended up liking it. It'd be fun to be able to walk to bars, restaurants and concerts. The kitchen and bathroom could use a little bit of updating, but it came with parking (bonus) and a secure building (bonus).

30 going on 13?

So for the past few months my face has been breaking out and I can't get it to stop. It's driving me nuts. I have always been somewhat lucky that while I'm the pasty kid, my skin has been relatively clear. Occassional zit, sure. Explosion across the face. Not cool, not cool at all. Suddenly, I've got acne worse than I did in high school. While it's still not awful (thank goodness) I'm annoyed as all get out. I've tried about everything I can think of.... I changed my make up - I had switched to Bare Escentuals and I switched back to Clinique. I was using a liquid cleanser and went back to wipes (so much for the enviroment and trying to do one little thing to help). I even stopped using my beloved Tide laundry detergent thinking maybe I was allergic to my pillow case and switched to a dye free version.
I'm starting to wonder if the re-addition of caffiene to my life is the culprit. I quit drinking pop about four years ago and have recently picked up the wonderful latte drink habit. I'm working on cutting this back from the medium to small size. If this is the cause of the break out then my latte days are numbered. I'm also thinking I just might have to break down and go see a dermatologist. I'd just like to go back to looking like this, thanks. Okay, enough complaining.

New Dishes

I know, what an exciting topic for my first entry, right? The dishes that I've been using for years and years (circa December 2001) are not very exciting, were not picked by me and are not a complete set. They were hand-me-downs from my sister, Elizabeth. Yes, I know I'm 30. And I'm well aware that somewhere along the way I should have picked up my own adult dishes. It's not like I've been eating on paper plates for the last 7.5 years. And when you live alone, is it really necessary to have service for eight? Probably not. But anyway, the other week, I was online at Younkers looking for who knows what, when I stumbled across these Laurie Gates dishes. I discovered they would look fabulous with another set of plates that I had previously found at Crate and Barrel (below left). So I figured after I got back from Vegas and my work trip to Michigan I would bite the bullet and head to Younkers and buy some new dinnerware and order the plates from Crate and Barrel. Didn't want to be ordering things from C&B when I wasn't going to be home - the UPS guy already hates me. Stopped at Younkers today and picked up the first set. Holy heck are they heavy. And then came home to order the dishes from C&B, AAACK, they're out of stock online, so now I have to figure out an alternate plan. On the left is the plate that I wanted from C&B and on the right is the plates that Younkers sells as coordinating with my actual plates.... I guess the other one is okay, but i like the Crate and Barrel one better - it's not so busy. Plus it was cheaper and I'm all about a good deal!