Tag Archives: adventures

A Small Life Book Club

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing by Marie Kondo

I’m starting a new feature on ye olde blog and I hope that you’ll enjoy it too! One of my goals this year is to read more and I need a bit of motivation. That’s why I’m starting a book club. Each month I’ll announce the book that we are going to read. (I’ll also take suggestions!) And then I’ll read it (I hope you will too) and we’ll discuss it. Easy enough?

Since this is “A Small Life” Book Club I’m thinking the books will center around minimalism, living small and life-changing adventures! The first book we’ll be reading is The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing* by Marie Kondo. You can check it out from your local library or purchase it on Amazon using the link above.

I’ve heard great things about this book. In fact, people are starting to use the author’s last name as a verb to mean tidying up. Too bad my last name is hard to pronounce or I’d totally try to make that into a thing meaning “small living.” We’ll discuss this book on April 1st. I hope you’ll join me!

love,
melanie

*Affiliate link.

Adventures in Wine Making

wine makingI’m calling this post “Adventures in Wine Making” instead of “Homemade Wine Recipe” or “DIY Wine” because really, I can’t believe this wine turned out half-way decent. I also don’t want to share a recipe just yet because I may have just been lucky with my first batch. And I don’t want to be liable for poisoning you all. I tried using this recipe from All Recipes, but the portions were off, so I just heated up some sugar with water, threw in the yeast after it had cooled, mixed it with Aldi-brand fruit juice and went with it.

Five weeks later, the balloon deflated, I filtered out the yeast with coffee filters and BAM! I had drinkable wine. It was a little too sweet for my liking, but my friend, Gabby loved it. It also helped that we called it “toilet wine” and thoroughly researched “How to Make Prison Wine” while drinking it. Did you know prison wine can be made with fruit cocktail, ketchup and bread? I HAD NO IDEA. This wine would be perfect for an Orange is the New Black party.

Have you ever tried making your own wine? How did it turn out? When I perfect it, I’ll have a recipe to share!

love,
melanie

The Refrigerator of Unfun or Why Saving Money Isn’t Enough

The New Fridge

Last weekend our Craigslist refrigerator died. We were so proud of the thing. It was only $75! The perfect size for the Airstream! And we could even spruce up the dents with a DIY project! But on Saturday night it started leaking and by Sunday morning everything in our fridge was warm.

We threw out our perishables and we knew we’d have to buy a new fridge with a warranty. 3/4 size fridges are hard to come by on Craigslist and we couldn’t afford another lemon. We were grumpy all day. It feels as if every time we try to save money, bam! something happens and our teensie savings are whisked away into working appliances or dental procedures.

As much as I budget and roll my change and squirrel away any extra pennies, it seems like we just don’t get anywhere. I’ve been reading quite a few rich-people-secrets books and blogs lately. (Ugh, yes, I’ve become that person.) The common, unfun advice is: get a second job. Ok, so the majority encourage you to become an entrepreneur on the side, but let’s be real, it’s a second job.

I’ve been reluctant to take on a second job because I value my free time. I value the time I get to put into this blog. And as an introvert, I feel that I need that time to relax and recuperate so I can be a functional (nice) human being.

Do you think the Rich Dad, Poor Dads of the world are right? Do we all need second jobs? Is it a reality of our economy? What is your best money saving/money making tip? I need answers, people!

Let me know your thoughts in the comments.

love,
melanie

Love Lists: Birthday Goals List

I love a good list, ya’ll. And for the past couple of years, I have created a list of things I want to accomplish before my next birthday. (I was inspired by Elsie from A Beautiful Mess.) I can’t find my list from last year. I think I misplaced it when we moved, but I remember there being lots of specific, ambitious items on it. I distinctly remember “Get a big girl job” was high on the list.

But this year, I wanted to do something a little more fun. So, I gave myself quite a few rather fun goals and a few scary goals (see: #7) to accomplish before my next birthday, April 22, 2013. Some of my goals are quite personal (see: #15). But I am sharing because I think it is important to recognize that we all struggle with issues and we need to tell people about our struggles in order to overcome them.

birthday goal list

birthday goal list 2

birthday goal list 3

I thought the stationary was appropriate.

Do you make goals on your birthday?

love,
melanie