Choices

Although I'm trying to free myself of being in control and what the future holds I also have to make decisions...

I have been in the market to buy a house for a little while now. This is a big deal. As much as I want to live in the moment and let life be what it is, I have to choose. I am torn between two houses so I'm going to blog out my pros and cons, is there really a better way to make a pros and cons list? I think not:

Two Family on Chase:

Pros

-very close (walkable) to my fav places, Northside Tavern, Sidewinders, Melt

-two family - a promise of part of my mortgage always being paid for

-adorable and trendy (is that two)

-great kitchens - the cabinets are great - good space and their are two

-can easily be a single family

-off street parking

-rental property - investment

-three full baths! if I have roomies this is bonus and a half

-hard wood floors on second and third floor

-current owner has yoga books and Buddha's (I know they don't come with the house) but a good vibe!

Cons

-very little yard (practically none - but this could be a pro as I have never mowed before in my life)

-looks like a slight leak from a drain spout

-costs more than the other house I'm looking at

-across the street from a rec center (high foot traffic)

-lower resale value

-my bedroom would be on the third floor - that's three flights of stairs for laundry

-kind of shares a wall with another building - it is the old firehouse now photography studio

Springlawn

Pros

-more of a family feel kind of house

-yard

-one car garage

-4 bed 2 full bath

-small front porch back patio

-cheaper than Chase

-Quite neighborhood

-wouldn't scare my parents to visit (pro or con not sure)

Cons

-anyone besides me would do off street parking

-kitchen cabinets are poop (well just not that pretty)

-carpet on second floor will eventually need replaced but livable now

I really like both houses for different reasons.... what to do????

Because Kara Said So...

I haven't blogged because I have nothing to say about our wedding really. I mean we have a caterer, that's exciting. We maybe, perhaps, kind of, sort of, might have an idea for invitations, but this isn't what consumes my mind these days...

What has been happening? Well let me tell you about my car. Oh, my car. I believe that my car's function is to take me where I want to go. It does not have to be pretty, it does not need to cost a lot of money... it simply has to go. And go it does. Well go it went.

About a month ago it didn't start, I had it towed and when the mechanic got to it, it miraculously started. Hmmm, what a conundrum.

So, I kept on driving the car....

And after stopping at Kohls on the way home it didn't start. I believe this happened because it was telling me not to shop... it wasn't like I bought anything. So Martha rescued me. And my car was once again towed... I had the starter replaced, two tires, and brakes, yay for spending money.

Two days later guess what happened? My car didn't start. That's right, and it was towed. Once at the mechanic, it started. I was told that I have to slam my car into park. I don't believe this to be true as this problem didn't exist until recently.

Ok fast forward to this past week. The snow storm and the fact the roads were never truly clear rattled something free on the back end of my car. I took the car in, again. And everything was taken care of and when I picked it up, they had broken the inside door handle... it's true.

So, on Friday, I took it in to get that repaired, which they paid for of course.

Alas, my car is paid off, and has been for a few years, but recently it has cost me quite a bit. Now I feel like it should work like it's brand new, I've put the money in for this to happen.

That's the story of my car...

The Gown

So I tried to upload the image but because its moving and blah blah blah. I'm not that savvy. But, in my search for the ultimate bargain I purchased this dress:http://www4.jcpenney.com/jcp/X6.aspx?ItemID=139394b&ItemTyp=G&GrpTyp=PRD&ShowMenu=T&ShopBy=0&SearchString=bridal&RefPage=SearchDepartment.aspx&s4PageSize=15&CmCatId=searchresults&Search1Prod=True

Let's talk bargain, it is originally priced at $150
I found it once and it's current cost for $75
I wanted to show it to G and on that weekend it was $50
I searched the web for a 15% off coupon
Now the dress was $42.50
Add shipping and tax, I've paid $53 for my dress

That's right! $53! I will have to have it shortened, and maybe taken in if I can get back on the workout train. G's clothing will most likely cost more, but not the challenge is on!

the Whirlwind

Getting married certainly puts a new spin on a relationship, in the short amount of time that G was in town we experience quite a few emotions...

First, I'm angry at Delta right now and their rules. G's mother's surgery was rescheduled and I now won't be leaving town to see her, because she'll be here. I want to change my flight. My flight cost me $200, and the change fee is $150. Who wins here? Not me. And, they won't do anything on domestic flights for family emergencies....

Next... Appointments. Yes, we filled allot of our time together with meeting with potential vendors for our wedding. Is vendor the right word? I don't even know.

Let's start with the cake. Like I said in a previous blog I want it to be vegan. I want to be able to eat my wedding cake. So we met with one person how makes amazingly beautiful cakes. She was a sculpture in a previous life and, she makes great stuff. The taste is not great at all! This was discouraging. G was not happy. We searched and found another person... and bam... we had success. The Sweet Water Bakehouse makes amazing vegan cakes and a good price, nearly half the cost of the other woman. Her husband is vegan and when she makes non vegan cakes she at least uses a local farm with completely free range chickens. I like that she does not fuel factory farming.

Caterers - this is bad. G and I have exactly what we want in our mind. And I believe we have conveyed our wants and needs to the potential caters. I said EVERYTHING will be vegan. The only non vegan item will be chicken that will be free range and grilled separately. The salads, pasta, etc will be vegan. I got the first quote back from a potential caterer and it was full of cheese and some pepperoni, maybe there is something I don't know here, but I'm sure that these items are not vegan, pepperoni doesn't even fit for a vegetarian. But success is possible here, we had dinner at VegHead in Loveland on Saturday night and talked to the Chef, he might be able to be the answer to our catering dreams at a reasonable price. He buys locally, we'd support small business, and he knows what vegan means! I'm crossing my fingers to hear back from him with a proposal.

Photography - I will only pay $4,000 for photography if this individual will take pictures of me for the rest of my life. It's true, that is crazy to me. We met with some people and weren't terribly impressed and then, a camp friend offered to do it for free as a gift. Her work is better than some of the professional wedding photographers have been. The question is, do we want a second photographer?

Invitations - yes we can spend almost $1,500 on invitations. This is about 70 total invitations. And these invitations will be amazing, and organic, and recycled, but the person receiving it in the mail will most likely throw it out. I'm willing to pay under $100 on invitations, so we will continue the hunt. I hear Costco is reasonable.

Dress - Dresses are crazy to me. Paying hundreds of dollars for 6 hours of my life. Alas, I found a bargain through research and sales and have spent $53 total on my dress and it looks good. I just need to have it a bit shorter.

So where are we? We are on our way to planning a wedding that reflects us and is at a reasonable cost. Our fingers remained crossed, mine a bit tighter than G's. She'll be back in town in a few weeks and we will continue the search for perfect wedding items at a reasonable cost!

Money, Money, Money

I can't believe that people lay down tens of thousands of dollars on weddings. It is one day. If I had just $10,000 to spend in one day what would I do? I can tell you getting married probably would not be the first thing that comes to my mind. Well, maybe it would now that I'm engaged, but prior to that.... I would have to say no. I would maybe buy a car, pay off my student loans, pay off some debt. I'm trying to think of something I've always wanted and never spent the money on.... I would definitely spend the money on a vacation - a trip to Australia, maybe tour all of Europe.
So I'm trying to figure out why people spend all the money. Now I'm trying to imagine a wedding I've attended that I was so blown away that I thought "this is what I want". Nothing comes to mind.
G and I have really been toying with this whole thing. The expense alone is crazy. I think we run the risk of people judging us a bit if we don't go all out, but I imagine those people won't even make the guest list. We don't really like all that many people in general.
So why? Why spend the money on one day? What else could we do with the money?
Don't worry folks... it's still going to happen, maybe for a lesser cost though!

No news.

I really don't have much to report. I looked at the Taft Museum yesterday over lunch. It is super cute. I would get married there, but I don't know if it is "The One". Then G found more places so i sent out even more emails today for locations. Geeze, when will we solve this mystery? I feel as though G and I are perfect for eachother, we are everything the other is not. We are exactly what we've always wanted in the other person, so in planning our ceremony we want the other person to be happy. She's concerned about what I want, I want her to be happy... and we both want to fall in love with a space and make it all happen. And it doesn't help that we have somewhat expensive taste... she's a foodie, I'm vegan, I want outdoors she wants classy... She's going to make some phone calls today! And the fun continues!

Where oh where should my wedding be?

So the search continues, just when G and I think we have our location pinned down we then find some magical hidden costs and fees that piss us off. Is there a hidden gem of a place in Cincinnati or Northern Kentucky? I don't know... I'm beginning to hate the Cincinnati Parks, so if my caterer leaves a dish and wishes to retrieve it I get charged at least $200. It seems the possibility is that if I pay my invoice, I might have a surprise invoice later... grrr. I also have crazy fees like 12% of all rentals in case of damage is non-refundable and 15% of the caterer bill has to be paid to the site. This makes me angry, like the $3.50/chair and $.85/put up and another $.85/take down place a $500 site clean up isn't enough as far as extra fees go.... ugh!

I'm not sure what to do with this - I guess we'll just pay the money....