you win some, you lose some

well we didn't buy the truck last week like we planned. brandon specifically asked about the condition of the clutch & the guy said it was fine. turns out that was not true. we were annoyed that we drove 2.5 hours based on inaccurate information. in addition, they had not replaced the timing belt ever so it felt like a ticking time bomb. we offered them way below asking price {honestly, hoping they would say "no", but knowing we could work it out if they accepted}. they didn't accept & we got in the car feeling annoyed with the way sales work. honesty people, have you heard of it? i suppose they needed the money, but it left us with a yucky feeling.

we redeemed the weekend by getting together with tiffany and having scrumptious pizza. we decided to stay the night at her place. for whatever reason we brought enough food for harvey to stay the night, but failed to bring extra clothes or p.j.s for us. always thinking about him first... staying the night gave us a chance to cruise denver auto-row and hit up lots in ft. collins on the way back. we didn't find anything, but got our annual fill of stereotypical used-car salespeople.

to further redeem the weekend, we found a yardsale where everything was half off. it was the biggest yard sale score i have had, on a sunday to boot!

we got a set of spice jars, an herb garden kit, an old-school heavy-weight wrench,  an ugly lamp & two lampshades {future post on that redo to come}, & a spring-form pan. our grand total: $3! the pan is in perfect shape & is costs over $50 new. {yes, i googled it!} the spice jars not only make my cupboard look more unified, they also prevent bags of herbs from the co-op from falling down on my head each time i open the door. the random grey stick thing was in my box of jars--i guess it is for bathtub plumbing. hopefully we don't have to use it, right?

in other news, i entered a contest to win a year of free udi's gluten-free bread {which is the BEST gluten-free food ever!}. help me win by voting for my sandwich, the "AvoPestGobbler". just go to this link & click "thumbs up". the sandwhich is totally inspired by my mom & aunt kris who made similar sandwiches at grandma's the day after she cooked a turkey. i used to think "yuck, cranberry and turkey" & now i think "yum, yum, yumm!"

i've been doing all kinds of crafty projects in an effort to avoid homework. i need to take pictures and post them, but i hear a 10 page paper due tomorrow relentlessly beaconing me. it might be a bit before i get the photos up, but rest assured that the ugly sassy-brassy lamp above has crossed over into coolness.

big brother

my dad is a little creeped out by the power of google maps, referring to it as "big brother". i suppose it has something to do with feeling like his privacy could be violated. but he didn't grow up in a generation of narcissistic facebook status updates, so i can understand his desire to preserve some sense of privacy.

recently google pulled off some pretty cool tricks for brandon though... 

we have been in the market for a truck & finally saved up enough cash {per dave ramsey's advice} to buy it outright. brandon found a pickup he is interested in on craigslist but we have had difficulty getting in touch with the person due to phone number issues. we were beginning to doubt the whole situation & fearing we were getting the run-around on a non-existent truck. 

cue google: brandon entered the phone number we had into google, got an address connected to the number, & then went to "street view" where he could see the truck we are trying to buy in the driveway!

we were feeling all excited about the magic of google, until we realized how easy it is to track down someone's home address, vehicle type, & property layout without even leaving the couch. let's just hope no one is looking for us with ill intentions, eh? so yeah, now i understand why that "big brother" gives my dad the heebie-jeebies. 

if all goes according to plan, we will head down to denver tomorrow, cash in hand, to add another vehicle to our car insurance policy. a bonus of the trip is that we get to visit tiffany in denver! 

inaugural girls' weekend: vegas style

kemi, sara {mia}, & i have been trying to start a tradition of taking an annual get-away together for some time. we finally made it happen this past weekend & went to vegas! what a perfect place to kick of a tradition of fun, shopping, food, & laughs.

we went dancing EVERY night & my feet have still not recovered. i am not sure they will ever forgive me for forcing them into 3" heels & then proceeding to dance my way through vegas. i learned i don't much care for dancing to house music, that every club plays the "new york" & "all the single ladies" at least once per night, & that getting ready to go out is half the fun. 

on the last night we found ourselves at an irish pub with a live band. turns out dancing to irish music involves a lot of jumping, elbow swinging, & beer drinking. this trifecta resulted in a pint of beer being poured down my back & tired legs. it was by far my favorite place though!

we also saw a circ de soleil show. wow! i can't wait to see another one. it was breathtaking & totally worth the money! 

 

mia found the biggest slot machine i have ever seen! we didn't gamble much {i didn't at all, actually}, but put our money towards other things, like clothes & coffee. luckily we didn't have to buy our own drinks since they are so expensive there! ahh, the benefits of being a girl in vegas...

this was our hotel, the luxor. one wall of our room was slanted glass, so that was sort of strange. the lobby boasted four starbucks which kept us running on less than four hours of sleep per night. i even stayed up long enough to catch a SUNRISE... 

i'm already scheming where to plan our get-away for next year!