Andrea's Blog

Just Like New

After our Friday night out, the weekend was spent doing homeownership tasks. Ben was busy fixing the clogged and leaky kitchen sink we returned from vacation to. The reverse osmosis system was a huge pain, but it's great to have a working sink again and no more leaks!

Our hard water created such a mess that we needed to get a new fixture. It's nothing special, but it will do until we remodel the kitchen next year.

I also changed the look of the bathroom since the bathmat was destroyed in the mess. I already had the shower curtain and towels from my old place, so the new look was only $15 for the bathmat from Bed Bath and Beyond!

A wonderful, productive weekend!

Movie Review: Quantum of Solace

Bond. James Bond.

Emily and Scott convinced me to join them and their friends last night for the premier of the newest Bond film at the old Fremont theater (definitely the best spot). I called Ben and sent texts to some friends to join me, so we became a big group in the sold-out theater.

It was a lot of fun. The movie was good, but not great. I felt it wasn't as good as Casino Royal, tried to be too much like Bourne, and overall was flat. As much as it wasn't amazing, I am glad I saw it and especially on the big screen.

For the Dining Room?

I really like this art by Naomi Murrell and am thinking of possibly putting it above the wine cabinet in the dining room. But I'm not sure...

via {Frolic}

Cash Only is Cool

I read this article yesterday and totally agree with it.

My parents taught me an amazing skill of budgeting and living on cash only. When I came to college, I didn't have a checking account for a few years and never had a credit card. If I wanted something, I had to take money out of my savings account via the ATM and purchase it with cold, hard cash. It is true that it makes you second guess all of your purchases since you physically see the cash leaving. It also makes you save for emergencies and plan for the future since you know that you don't have credit to save you. Basically I learned to live within my means. Yes I use credit cards now (the rewards can be a great free benefit), but I pay them off every month to avoid carrying high interest debt.

There was some friendly teasing (including from my wonderful boyfriend, now husband, Ben), but I am happy that the skill so many desperately need is second nature to me (and becoming so to Ben). I hope the nature of Americans change to those of our parents/grandparents, and we teach the skill to future generations so they do not repeat current mistakes.

I Voted

But am a little disappointed there isn't a third option...

Vote for the new Presidential dog here.

Trip Kick

Trip Kick works for hotels in the same fashion Seat Guru does with planes. After some horrible room locations on this last trip, I do think I am going to check it out!

Pretty Cards

Summer is over.

Fall is here.

by Winifred Studios

Politico 2008

I try not to have politics on the blog, and this will probably give away who I voted for (I'm sure this isn't a big surprise), but you can get a free Obama sticker here since the prints have sold out.

Another part of the very sophisticated and modern marketing campaign (remember the Hope Poster, by same designer Shepard Fairey).

Andrea: 2, Fear: 0

I just finished a BIG presentation (it had a microphone, *shudder*) and it went SO much better then last time! I was really freaked out since I totally bombed that last time, but here I spoke clearer, had a lot of great questions, and a lot of discussion/congratulations after the fact. I think I am going to wear this smile all day throughout my trip home!

Great Scot! (Part II)

Since Ben had the weekend free, but needed to be back in southern Scotland by Sunday night, we took a leisurely drive there via the west coast. Our first site was a ruined cathedral in Elgin. Ben was excited with this stop since he read a historical fiction book earlier this year about building a cathedral in 1200 AD.

We drove through Inverness and made our way to Loch Ness with the famous Urquhart Castle (and Nessie!) before sunset.

For some reason I was really reminded of Braveheart and Ben tried to bribe me to yell (in my best Scottish accent) “Freedom” from the top of the tower, but it just wasn’t going to happen.

Ok maybe it did.

On Sunday, we got to check out Edinburgh together during a free walking tour (New Europe). It was a lot of fun to learn about Edinburgh and Scottish history. Plus we saw some fun stuff to do if we ever return and if Ben has free time on this trip (a round at St. Andrews and a Whisky Tour are already on his list).

The job started which meant Ben had to stay on site (or very close), so we made Gretna our homebase. A quick search on the Historic Scotland website, and I decided to stay close too and started to explore the beautiful countryside in the Dumfries & Galloway and Borders areas.