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Oh Etsy...

What's Etsy you ask?

Only THE most amazing place to find all things awesome. I carry a purse that I bought on Etsy and people always compliment me on it. When I tell them where I got it most people have no idea what Etsy is. Sadness. That is a lifestyle deficiency. I'm here to solve that. You ALL need to know about Etsy. It is the land of wonderful things.

No really, it is. It's no secret that I adore Etsy and the goodness it holds. I can spend hours browsing. HOURS. Today while doing just that I figured out that the front page, you know the one with collections of awesomeness, can be complied by people just like you and me! There's no guarantee that my list will ever make the front page, but I sure had a fantastic time making my list. It involved two of my favorite hobbies, list making and shopping.

If you'd like to see my list go HERE I was in a Spring Cleaning mood. Still am actually.

If Etsy was a person I'd send her this card, which is available on Etsy.


What a great way to spend a few of my hours today while enjoying Presidents Day (thanks George!). I don't normally get this day off, but due to the remodel of my office there was no computer to work at, no phone to answer.

Erin Not Go Run

Despite every intention, I did not go run today. Instead I'm sitting on the couch, watching Big Love and eating Hershey Kisses filled with caramel. It's guilty pleasure night. Polygamy and chocolate! Hooray!

Erin Go Run

I did a four mile run today. The first 5k of the year is about a month away and I've been dragging so I'm going to try and up my game. In all it was a pretty slow endeavor but I did do some sprints to try and work on speed. Hoping that speed work coupled with my distance will make a normal 5k seem all easy-peasy. Crossing my fingers!

I ran past the golf course at about mile two and it was full of people having a lovely afternoon hitting balls. I really wanted to yell out "FORE!" because it's fun to watch everyone duck in anticipation of being bonked on the head. At one point I was in the perfect spot to watch eight men hide from the ball, but alas I was slightly out of breath (gasping for air is more like it) and didn't have the lung capacity to yell it out with any volume so I just imagined it my head. It was quite funny. In my version one of them actually hit the deck. Had a good chuckle to myself and continued along my trail.

On my way back I again passed the golf course and got to witness a man shake his sand wedge at a goose, only to be chased by said goose. Geese are mean. You shouldn't shake sand wedges at them. You shouldn't even look at them for fear they will make eye contact with you and chase you too. Thankfully the guy had a golf cart to jump into. I guess he didn't know that the geese own the Eastmoreland Golf Course. SE Portland geese are hard core.

Now we head to a Superbowl party where I will only feel moderately guilty for the crap I will eat. Had I not run at all, I'd have felt very guilty - so that's something right? :)


Free for all!

Tonight I had to buy tires for my car. One of those adult expenses that apparently kicks in every 40k miles or so. This isn't the first time I've bought tires, but it's the first time I've been adult enough to pay attention to the cash coming out of my pocket. It must be all those other bills I'm responsible for these days. Pfft. Sometimes being an adult is really, really lame. Buying tires is really lame. So many other things my money could do. I could have had 10 new pairs of really great, adorable shoes. Or I could have bought a plane ticket to Mexico and had enough left over for a few days worth of margaritas. But nooooo, instead I bought round tubes of rubber (With silica for extra grip on wet roads. I live in Oregon after all.) with a bunch of grooves in them. The good news is I won't slide out when it's rainy, and I won't have a blow out while I'm doing 70mph on I-5. Yes 70. Gretta has a little horsepower and I tend to speed these days....

This whole experience has really brought up a subject I've spent some time thinking about. You see there are just things in the world I don't think we should have to pay for. These things tend to fall into one of two categories. Things I just don't want to spend money on because it's annoying and things I don't want to spend money on because we should all have these things as our inalienable rights a.k.a natural rights and to some extent basic human rights.

Let me preface the following paragraphs with an assurance that I am not a communist. I promise I'm not. This is really just silly, for the most part, with a bit of truthiness thrown in. No need to deport me or put me on some watch list.

Let's talk water. H2O. I hate paying my water bill. I hate it when I have to buy water in a store or restaurant. Water is required for me (and anyone else) to live. Why do I have to pay for that? Yes I know, the city takes my water and makes sure it's all clean and stuff, even though Portland has some of the cleanest water in the country (thank you Bull Run Reservoir, est. 1895!). I pay for that. Blah, blah, blah. I NEED water to function so I pay for it but if I NEED it to live shouldn't it just be my basic right? Like air. At what point will someone start charging me for the oxygen I take in? So yeah, I want free water.

Drugs too. I think I should get Nyquil when I'm stuffy and Pepto when my tummy is upset. I don't want to worry about how much it's going to cost when I don't feel good. I can't even comprehend how that must feel when you're needing to come up with the money for a round of chemo or a life saving infusion. You need ibuprofen for that splitting headache (whether brought on by a few too many Long Islands or a sinus infection) you get it. You need radiation, you get it. Just as an aside, one gallon of Nyquil will cost you $70. It's .54 an ounce. One serving is about one ounce. At the recommended dosage you will take four servings a day. A bottle will last you 2.5 days and cost you more than a gallon of gas. That's just Nyquil. I can only imagine what some prescription drugs must cost.

In the other category I have quite a few things...like toilet paper. Life can happen without it, but really it shouldn't. So I want it for free. I don't want to have to pay $8.99 for twelve rolls of paper. And it should be soft, like Cottonelle I buy now. Because my bum deserves it.

And underwear. Again, not mandatory for living, but pretty close. So I want it to be free. And it should be cute, and include matching bra and panty sets because every girls likes them. It should also be comfortable. Is that so much to ask for?

How about water heaters and any other appliance? So annoying when they start spewing water at 2am. They've already given me a headache, I shouldn't hurt in my pocketbook too!

Certainly the top of my "It's so annoying that I have to pay for that" list has to be socks. Weird right? I just don't want to have to pay for them. My feet want to be warm and dry and I want them to enjoy the soft cottony comfort for no cost. Too much to ask for?

What's on your list?


Shoes I would be wearing tomorrow if I hadn't bought tires..