Bachelorette Party Ideas?

I'm the maid of honor in my friend Kelsey's wedding this July. So, I feel like I should start getting a move on planning the bachelorette party (random aside: I'm a bit ticked that spell-check does not recognize bachelorette as a word... it recommends bachelorhood, bachelor, etc... etc... all things that are related to males... *grumble grumble*). But anyways... I have not been to one of these parties ever, let alone helped to plan one, so I am looking for some input. I know there aren't many people who actually read my blog, and I could simply google a bunch of ideas, but I like to hear ideas from actual people. So, I'm asking for ideas (especially because I know that some of you out there are married or have been in weddings).

Other things I'm keeping in mind:
- We probably don't want to spend a lot of money.
- Two of the bridesmaids are expecting, and another is allergic to alcohol. So bar-hopping isn't really an option. It's also expensive, so yeah... probably not so much anyway.
- We might not be in a metropolitan area, so we might be limited with places to go.

Thanks in advance for any input!

Graphic: www.zazzle.com

Summer Without a Job

With school being out for the summer and not having a job I've found myself with a lot of time on my hands. For the most part, it's quite nice. I haven't had a relaxed summer in a number of years. First was the summer where I went on a geology class trip to Italy, and then came back for weeks of training for working in the residence halls. The next summer I did a geology research program in western Minnesota and Brazil, and also came back for an even longer training session for res life. And last summer, I did a six-week geologic field camp in Montana, which was a requirement for graduation.

This summer I assumed I would get a job, because I would actually be home for a long enough stretch of time. Wrong. The places I applied at ahead of time never contacted me back. Then, when I got back to the suburbs, I came to the realization that with preparing for a cross-country move, being the maid of honor in my best friend's wedding, and trying to squeeze in each possible moment with my boyfriend before I don't see or talk to him for two and a half months, I might not actually want a job.

Sure, the money would have been nice, but I'm really enjoying the chance to relax a bit and to not actually have a schedule. And while I keep spending money on stuff for the apartment, I've been finding ways to keep up.

Random ways to earn or save money when one doesn't have a job:

1) Sell books you don't want anymore online. Works well if they actually sell.

2) Sell other books you don't want to Half-Priced Books. This would have worked well if I had not found a book to buy while I was waiting. I ended up owing them 32 cents...

3) Cat/fish/apartment-sit for your friend while they go out of town.

4) Do office work for your dad. You get paid, he gets to write it off for taxes.

5) Clean out your room and find random coins and other cash that you stowed away a long time ago so that you could one day find it and feel like you found money.

6) One person's trash is another person's treasure. Totally found a night stand by chance while taking a walk the other day. It was out by someone's trash cans, and there wasn't anything wrong with it other than a wobbly top (which is now fixed--Thanks Dad!).

7) Coupons are amazing.

8) Clean out your room and donate stuff you don't want anymore, and then fill out the tax slip that they give you.

Fun Questions

I tried to post this last night, but then blogger said there were issues with the html business... so I'm going to try to post it again.

Kathleen over at "Easy for me to say" tagged me in this survey-dealy. I'm not going to tag anyone, because most of the people who read this have already been tagged by her. :) But, if you haven't been tagged, but want to continue these fun questions, go right ahead.

Here's how it works:

Respond and rework
answer questions on your blog
replace one question
tag eight other people.

1. What is your current obsession?

Planning things for the big move. Whether it's thinking about furniture arrangements, how we're actually going to get there, how transportation is going to work out once we're there, and buying random little things to put in the apartment, it's pretty much all about moving to Vegas. Today, for example, I bought measuring spoons (the measurements on my old ones rubbed off, and you can't read them), a butter dish, and an olive oil drizzler.

2. Which item of clothing do you wear most?

A black belt (not the martial arts kind, but rather the generic, hold-up-your-pants kind). I have larger hips and a smaller waist, so in order to have pants that aren't too tight on my legs/thighs, they are often too big at the waist. So, I need to wear a belt pretty much all the time, and it's usually the black one.

3. What's the funniest knock-knock joke you know?

Knock knock.
Who's there?
Cows!
Cows who?
Cows go "moo" not "who!"

4. Last thing you bought?

A hot chocolate and a French toast bagel at Panera. Mmmmmmmm... The best hot chocolate I've ever had is from Panera, so I get that a lot when I go. I usually also get a cinnamon crunch bagel, but they were all out of those, so I had to settle with a French toast bagel (still quite yummy though).

5. What are you listening to?

The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien.

6. If you were a God or Goddess, who would you be?

I've always admired Athena, Greek goddess of wisdom, war, and the arts. She's smart, can kick butt, and she's a woman. So it'd be really cool to be her. More realistically though, I'd probably be a goddess who's a bit more timid and earthy.

7. Favorite holiday spots?

As far as places to go on holidays, I'd have to say my grandma and my grandparents' houses, because it's where we've always gone on holidays. But, if this means holiday as in a vacation, I'd probably have to say anywhere with mountains, lakes, forests, or the ocean (or any combination of those).

8. Reading right now?

"Turning Japanese: Memoirs of a Sansei" by David Mura. I'm not very far into it yet, but it seems pretty good. It's written by a third-generation Japanese-American poet who won a grant to do poetic works in Japan (for a year, I think). So he's kind of reconnecting with his heritage, though that wasn't actually his goal (I think at some point in the beginning he said he'd rather have gone to Paris). Anyways, I bought it during a point in my life where I was really interested in Japanese culture and my previous "knowledge" mostly just included watching "The Last Samurai" and reading "Memoirs of a Geisha." So... I bought this book to get a more realistic and more current account.

9. Okay... what were you thinking just then?

Why does everyone have to switch to digital or cable TV? Wasn't the whole idea so that we'd get a better quality picture or something like that? Then why does the signal cut out all the time?!?! (Probably just a big conspiracy to get everyone to buy cable...)

10. List three things that are on your "Bucket List."

1) Road-trip without a super-structured plan.
2) Watch and enjoy the sunrise and sunset in the same day.
3) Read all of the books that I own (maybe excluding some textbooks, because that would be a lot).

11. First spring thing?

Tulips!!!! I love it when the tulips start to bloom! This is the first year I actually realized the tulips in Morris, because it was the first time I lived off-campus. Walking to work this spring was so enjoyable because so many of the houses had tulips planted in their front yards. So pretty!

12. Funniest thing you saw in your life?

Hm... I keep coming back to this one because I expect one moment to just pop out at me, but it's not happening yet. Since that's not looking like it'll happen, I'll just mention a couple of the funnier moments. The ducky dance during Spring Break of '08 was pretty funny, but it was made even funnier when ducks actually invaded our campground the next day. Another funny thing was watching two kittens wrestle playfully at the pet store today.

13. Favorite film?

I can't just pick one, so here are some of my favorites:
- The Original Star Wars Trilogy
- Love Actually
- Runaway Jury
- Juno
- Aladdin
- Mulan
- Identity

14. Share some wisdom.

It's not my wisdom, but here are two of my favorite quotes.

"Devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning."
~ Morrie Schwartz

"Aim for success, not perfection. Never give up your right to be wrong, because then you will lose the ability to learn new things and move forward with your life."
~ Dr. David M. Burns

15. If you could be a tree, what tree would you be and why?

Weeping willow. I just think that they're really cool and pretty. But they aren't always the obvious choice. I really like that they make a sort of "shade cave" that you can just sit under and enjoy the day.

16. Fictitious character who made a lasting impression on you?

Well, I would have to say that Edward Cullen is an amazing example of an important fictitious character. What could be better than a strong, sparkling, and handsome vampire? Need I say more?

... Totally kidding on that last answer, btw. I like the Twilight books, and Edward is pretty neat in the I-know-these-books-aren't-really-good-but-I-like-to-read-them-for-fun-anyway kind of way. I really can't pick a character who's had a lasting impression on me. I'm actually kind of bad at picking role models and heroes and have never really felt the desire to assign anyone to that role in my life (which is why I replaced the hero/heroin question from above, hehe).

Apartment Hunting Trip = Success!

This past weekend my dad, my boyfriend, and I went on an apartment hunting trip to Las Vegas. We woke up freakishly early in the morning (4:30 a.m., which by the way, is 2:30 a.m. Vegas time) to get ready to go the airport. We got to Vegas sometime around 8:00/8:30 Vegas time. My uncle picked us up from the airport and then took us to his work. From there, we took his car so that we could go driving around town looking at apartments all day. But first, we stopped on campus so that Erik and my dad could see what the place looks like and to also meet my grad advisor, Libby. And then the apartment visiting began.

Apartment #1: Fairly close to campus. Decent apartment, but nothing special. But... rent was out of our price range. So the lady sent us to a sister property nearby that would have lower prices.

Apartment #2: Still not that far from campus. Really nice looking apartment. But... lady #1 lied, the rent here was way higher and definitely out of our price range.

Apartment #3: Finally, something with rent that we could afford. A bit farther from campus than the last two, but a straight shot down one road, at least. Not the greatest looking neighborhood, but not too horrible (granted, it was daytime). The model apartment seemed fairly nice. But then we noticed that the bathroom sink had sewage backed up in it. Nom nom nom... Do all the apartments do that? But the guy here also told us that utility prices were pretty high here.

Apartment #4: Very nice looking complex. I really, really liked the floorplan of this one. But there really wasn't much in the area. We'd have to drive a bit to get to stores for necessities. Higher rent range, but still affordable, and with lower utility costs.

Apartment #5: Once again, a very nice looking complex. Decent floorplans with a great amount of closets/storage space. This neighborhood has a lot of shopping places nearby or just an exit or so away. So, quite convenient. Also in the higher rent range, but with decent utility costs.

In the end, and after going back and forth a lot (Saturday was definitely a roller coaster ride of emotions during our decision-making process) we made a decision. Once we calculated it out (including utilities and such), Apartment #3 was actually just as expensive as #4 and #5, and we didn't like it much. So, having eliminated #3, our choice was down to two places, and ultimately we chose Apartment #5. It was the nicest looking place and had the best location for the aparments within our price range. We'll still have some stuff to figure out as far as transportation, but I think this is a nice start.

Now I just wanna make a chart with all of our furniture and start figuring out where it should all go. Here's the floorplan, by the way. The only real trouble will be trying to figure out if we want to combine the office and the dining room, or to squeeze the dining stuff into the living room, and have the "dining room" be the office. We'll see...

Floorplan: Courtesy of the apartment complex website, which I'm not posting for privacy reasons.

Cat Practice

Lilyface. Lilymonster. She's simply known as Lily. :)

This is the cat that I'll be taking care of for a couple of days while my friend Kyla goes apartment hunting in Ohio. I haven't seen Lily in a while, so it should be a fun time. I'm just hoping that she won't harass the beta fish too much or sneak into the food container (she can be a sneaky little bugger, I hear).

I'm looking forward to cat-sitting. When I was really little, we had an orange cat named Max (he was big, fuzzy, had a bald stomach and was a total sweetie). But then my dad found out he was allergic to pet dander, so we haven't been able to have pets ever since. Max then moved over to my grandma's house, where he had my grandma's white cat Schatzi as a companion. So, really, the only times I've taken care of a cat are when my grandma or aunt and uncle (who also have cats) went out of town. My mom and I would drive over there, feed the cats, clean the litter box, play for a while, and then head home. This time I actually get to stay at my friend's apartment and be with Lily full time for a few days. Someday, I want to get pets of my own, but I don't know when I'll be able to afford that. So, for now, it's nice to hang out with my friends' pets.

Photo: Kyla or Rustin