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Home > Archive: December, 2008

Archive for December, 2008

Love Family, But...

December 29th, 2008 at 04:20 am

Sometimes, it is nice to be away from them.

We spend the weekend at my grandfather's and while it was a ton of fun playing with all the kiddies, I am glad that I am now back at my grandmother's-the kiddies have been replaced by silence.

The holidays have been up and down, mostly emotional. I am very happy that in two days I will be back home. I have soo much to do once I get back.

I am taking a few more weeks off work to re-group and get caught up on my to-do list.

First thing first: my laptop is now making these weird sounds and I must get it checked out. On the flight here there was a ton of turbulence and I think my laptop got a little too rattled in my carry-on. I think the CD-drive was slightly damaged, at least that's what I am hoping.

Happy Christmas (even if there is no snow)!

December 25th, 2008 at 08:34 pm

I hope everyone is having a good Christmas day!

It feels very weird being in LA on Christmas: there is no snow! I have gotten so used to having snow on the ground come Christmas that it feels unnatural to have sunny (actually cloudy) weather on Christmas.

So far Christmas has been good. We went to a friend's house for dinner last night then opened up our presents and went to a midnight mass. Today we are doing nothing until 3 o'clock, when we will head over to my uncle's for the rest of Christmas.

My "haul" so far has been pretty good. Grandma took me to Ross and bought me some clothes. My daddy got me Daisy by Marc Jacobs perfume and a Louis Vuitton purse. I got the speedy 25 in damier azur.

Ever the trickster, my dad had to play another joke on me when we were opening up presents. He handed me a gift bag and in it was a Louis Vuitton bag. Not a purse, but rather the bag that the store puts your purchases in. He said, "I know you've always wanted one and it was much cheaper than I thought."

And in other news, we have completed building Notre Dame. The 3-d puzzle. The flying buttresses were very difficult to put in place.

I hope everyone is having a good Christmas day.

Window Shopping (and some real shopping) Fun

December 22nd, 2008 at 02:08 am

Today my dad and I went to South Coast Plaza.

I loved it!

We visited Hermes, Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Gucci, Fendi, Dooney & Bourke, Coach, and Burberry. And probably a few others I forgot.

I was drooling the entire time. So many gorgeous purses!

Even in a recession, people like to shop! The mall was absolutely packed! I saw many, many people carrying bags from the designer houses I listed above and just about everyone was carrying a bag from at least one store in the mall.

I also bought a purse today. I bought a D&B Zebra Lunch Bag for $30. I've been thinking about buying this purse for awhile now but wanted to see it in person before doing so. I am happy with the purchase.

My boyfriend called my dad's cell just after we walked out of the store. My dad told him, "Mark, you are in trouble. We have been in the mall for 10 minutes and your girlfriend has already spent money."

It was a fun day.

December Cleaning

December 19th, 2008 at 06:10 am

Every few months I make an attempt at de-cluttering my room and apartment.

Tonight was one such moment. Since I am sharing my closet with more than one person, there is little room to be taken up by clothes I rarely wear. I unloaded about 45 pieces of clothing, purses, and wallets.

Books, random knick-knacks, and some towels and blankets will also be dropped off at the goodwill tomorrow.

Textbooks and a few DVDs will be sold (hopefully!) on half.com.

Even though I do this every few months, I am constantly amazed at how much stuff I have. I don't buy a lot of stuff in between de-clutterings, so I am pretty sure my closet is connected to a black hole that sends new stuff my way.

Saturday I leave for California! I am so glad to have a vacation.

Cost of Christmas So Far:

December 14th, 2008 at 04:24 am

$12.38.

I have bought one present to date.

I plan on donating $40 to the OCRF as a gift to my aunt and grandma. I also plan on getting my brother a $20 gift card and one more thing for my Dad.

I think the total cost will be just over $100.

I think that's just a little more than I spent last year.

Good news is that I've been working a lot this pay period so the paycheck I will get on the 20th will be a good amount. Because the 20th is a Saturday, payday will be the day before, on the 19th. If I am not working that day I will be able to go to the bank. I am, I don't think I will be able to cash it in until I get back from vacation. I leave the 20th and won't be back until the 30th.

School is almost done! I have one. more. final. to go. Monday is my last final. 2 o'clock on Monday I am free until Jan. 20th!

It is not April Fools Day

December 7th, 2008 at 11:34 pm

My dad knows that I have a thing for purses. So he asked me what designers I liked and what purses of theirs I would want for Christmas. I told him and compiled a short list.

Today he called me and told me that all of the major designers' purses were being recalled because of some toxin in the ink they were using.

I was speechless for a few seconds and then my dad started laughing.

My dad is so mean to me. Wink

Predictions for Savings Account

December 3rd, 2008 at 02:46 am

I was hoping to ring in the new year with $4000 in my savings.

But a few things came up and I just recently went back to work. I will also be missing another 10 days later this month for a family vacation.

I took out $225 today for rent and on Jan. 1 I will be doing that again. Also around that time I will be buying text books, so I'm thinking I'll have about $3000 in savings for the new year.

I am happy that I will have so much in savings. I wish I didn't have to touch it, but I am very glad that I had a savings to fall back on.

I have been thinking about my New Year's Resolutions. I want to put some money into the stock market once I have $5000 in my savings. I think I will invest $1000.