Dream Home(s)

I don't think I've ever shared this on here but I most definitely have a dream home. Honestly, I kind of have two.. one that is realistic and one that is.. not. Both have some similar features and I've tailored them to my likes. I had a dream the other night that I was walking through the realistic one. That's what I do when I want to go back to sleep, I imagine myself walking through my dream homes. It's my 'counting sheep' if you will. I just remember in the dream that the house was fantastic.. and now literally makes it a dream home.

Take a looksie:

This is the original plan that I edited to my likes. See below :)

This is the real thing, the one I walked through in my dream the other night. I only had the pleasure of going through the kitchen and great room into the master and through the walk in closet. In the great room we would have a wall of windows and a huge back porch that is covered. I love the openness of the plan and how everything surrounds the great room/dining room/kitchen areas. I also added stairs that weren't in the original plan because I would want a basement for storage and more living space. I have a floor plan for this I created but basements are kind of boring.

Main Floor of the Unrealistic Dream Home, not so open though which is a downside.

2nd Floor of the Unrealistic Dream Home

Christmas in February :: Adobe Elements

I didn't get anything for Christmas this past year from Alex because I couldn't figure out what I wanted. I downloaded the trial for Adobe Elements back in December and used it one time in the 30 days that I had the trial. What a fail on my part. Anyway, I couldn't pull the trigger on actually buying it because I kept thinking of other things I might want for christmas.

Well, I finally decided to just go for it. I want to edit photos. I want to group photos. I can't do that (easily) with any other program so I need to buy one. I already know photoshop and elements is the cheaper version so I did it, I just bought it.

I didn't realize however that I need to wait for my order to be processed. Why?? I already have it downloaded from the trial, all I need is the license code to put in to access it. I wish they would just email that to me because I actually have some free time and want to edit some photos! Of course I can't. So i'm writing with some frustration that I can't do what I want to do after finally buying my long overdue christmas gift.

I hope I don't regret the purchase (i probably won't) and hopefully it won't take long to get the order processed and get the code. Though who knows when i'll have time to sit down and edit! This all just means that the photo quality on this here blog should increase exponentially, haha just kidding! It might but let's not hold our breath!

Here's a cute picture of Scarlett to end the post!

Loving :: F21 Edition

Just wanted to pop a couple things on here that I'm loving from Forever 21 right now.  I finally feel like I can shop for normal clothing again and it's a great feeling. Now all I have to do is pull the trigger! I didn't link them but they are all currently on the F21 site which is where I recommend shopping, the store is cool and all but they have tons more to choose from online!

 I've been wanting a blazer or two. This one and the one below would be perfect!

 A leatherette bomber jacket in dusty pink? Yes, please.

 A flowy feminine peach top. Peach and coral are in this spring, people.

 This just looks all kinds of comfortable.. and stylish, no?

 Loving. But the brown shoes with the black belt on the skirt must've been overlooked by their stylists. They should photoshop the fix. Makes me want those shoes too, but in black obviously.

I guess I'm into flowy right now. Pretty appropriate postpartum until I can get this tummy back in working order!

Life without DirecTV

Welp, we did it.

We recently got rid of DirecTV and switched to only streaming. We're starting with Netflix and Hulu Plus.

In our first week without actual TV.. we didn't missed it. Possibly because we were too busy cleaning. But this is the life we'll probably lead once baby girl arrives. No time for TV, at least not live TV, only time for streaming episodes of things we've missed. Therefore this is perfect.

Let me break it down cost wise so you can see the differences.

DirecTV for the choice package, plus HD, plus DVR was a little over $100 a month.

Verizon DSL was $39.99/month.

Total: about $140/mo

Now, we're with Comcast internet at the intro rate of $29.99/mo for 6 months and Netflix which after the trial will cost $7.99/mo and Hulu Plus which is $7.99/mo.

New Total: $46

Therefore we went from $140/mo to about $46/mo .. savings? About $100. Cha-ching!

Something we need to decide though is how we plan to stream this. Currently we're using my iPad. We're not sure if we're going to get another box that can stream it for us (like a PS3/Roku/GoogleTV) because they all have different features and we're just not sure enough to purchase anything. All we know is, this is working out so far. We watch far less TV and it's just been great.

One tiny struggle is, we don't know if we'll keep Netflix instant streaming after the trial or switch to the DVD by mail service. The instant streaming doesn't really have much more we want to watch. Alex will be finishing Sons of Anarchy soon and we already watched most of the Party Down series. I know there's more out there but I just can't get into it for some reason. We'll see what happens.

Into the future we go..

Mommy & Baby :: Wants and Needs

Brown Knit Booties 1 & 2 : Baby Clutching Toy : Ring thing : Sophie : Felt Shoes

Itzbeen Timer : Mittens : First Aid Kit : Birthing Ball : Pack N Play : FuzziBunz Diapers

iPhone 4 or 4s?

I'm struggling to decide what phone I should get as an upgrade from my current phone, a blackberry. I really don't use the blackberry for email or even web, just phone calls and texts. The iPad is my primary tool for email and web, as it should be.. it's larger and easier to read/write content on.

I know I want an iPhone but I don't know if the new 4s is really something that I need. Here are some of the main pros and cons. We'll start with the cons first.

Cons of buying a 4s:
-Price.. obviously. A 16gb 4s costs $200 while the 16gb 4 costs $150 and the 8gb 4 costs $100.
-I don't really need the personal assistant Siri. I don't do business on my phone, so I don't make appointments that need to be changed/moved and I can type my own text messages.
-iOS5 is available to all iPhones.. not just 4s. So i don't need the 4s to get iOS5 and the new apps/features that come with it.
-The iPhone 5 will probably be out in a year. If i take the 4 now, it would make it less expensive to upgrade when the 5 does come out.

Pros of buying a 4s:
-The camera is better in the 4s than it is in the 4. From 5 to 8.. plus the 1080 HD video capability. With a baby coming in January, it would be nice to have the 8MP over the 5 but is it really necessary?
-The A5 chip makes it faster. Twice as fast as the 4. But the 4 is still pretty fast.. what's another nano second?

Obviously I have more cons listed than pros. I still don't know what this means in whether I'm going to get an iphone4s or not. Part of me says, you don't need it, those extra features aren't good enough to warrant another 100 or even 50 dollars. The other part says, you probably should get the newest technology. The MPs in the camera are going to be better.

Anyone have any thoughts?!?!!!

Want vs Need

{link}

I saw it here. {Awesome blog by the way} And now I think I need it. 

Alex has informed me that this is a want. And a pretty unrealistic one based on the price tag.
{he's right on both accounts}

I told him we could find the chair part on craigslist and we can make the bottom part.

His reponse was that we probably couldn't find a chair that someone didn't pee on.

I find that false but haven't been able to find a chair similar to this or remotely what I would want. 

At least not on the Lancaster craigslist.

Doesn't it look so comfy though?

Do people do yard sales in the fall??????