Author: Staci

Staci blogs about travel at TheVoyageer.com.

2014 Resolutions

I’m probably the last blogger that has gotten around to writing about New Year’s Resolutions… and to post it on a Friday Afternoon? It’s like I don’t know anything about blogging at all! Oh well. I am trying to get back into the swing of things and to post twice weekly, so an 11th hour post is what you get, readers.

Resolution #1: Go for a long walk twice weekly… more if possible

Mission Bay

After an eight hour shift standing/walking/hustling all day, the last thing my feet are in the mood for is a long walk. Sometimes I’ll take Mosey to the dog park and throw the ball for him, but in that scenario Mosey does all the work and I just stand around. San Diego’s slogan is America’s Finest City, and what’s the point in living here if I don’t take advantage of the year-round good weather, the amazing beaches, and plentiful parks? This week, while the rest of the country was covered in snow and ice we went for a really nice walk at Mission Bay. We just live a stone’s throw from the beautiful bay and I don’t know why we don’t make it out here more often.

Resolution #2: Make 2014 the year of home ownership… or at least head in that direction

Point Loma and Coronado

It’s scary to think about spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on a new home. It’s scarier to think of flushing all that money down the drain every month forever and ever and ever. Now that we’re spending an absurd amount on rent, this reality is clearer than ever. Homeownership isn’t for everyone, and it depends on your situation–use this handy tool for some perspective. The truth of the matter is that San Diego rent prices are crazy and we might be able to scoop up a dilapidated condo or townhouse that will reach the “buying is better than renting” line after 3-5 years. Seeing how we have lived here for 16 months already, time certainly is flying. Now to get down to brass tacks and really think about money.

One of these resolutions is going to be easy and enjoyable, and one I can tell is going to be very hard and emotional. Here’s to 2014!

Did you make any resolutions?

A Piano in the Home

I believe that the last time I shared photos of the TV wall, the living room looked like this.

After hanging art

I like the art, I like the symmetry, but something seemed to be missing. With the addition of our pine shelves (to the left of the photo), it was getting to shelv-ey around here (what with spanning the whole left wall, and the Expedits dominating the TV wall). Now, this:

Wurlitzer Piano as Decor

I am so happy we hauled the (scavenged, free) vintage Wurlitzer keyboard (officially called a “stage piano”) out of storage. The instant I picked it up at the dump, I knew I wanted it somewhere in my home, but it went to go live in the I Heard A Lion practice space for a couple of years. Once we moved, though, I was unsure of where to put it in our small apartment so to maximize “useful space,” we disassembled it and stored it in the closet.

At first I thought maybe it would seem a little weird to have a vintage keyboard as a decor item at such a prime location in the living room, but its placement has made all the difference in the world! Since I don’t play, knowing what part of the house to put a keyboard in wasn’t immediately evident. Doug does, though (duh, self) and it’s fun for kids that come over to play with it (it makes a little bit of sound even when it’s not on, so it’s fun for them and not annoying for the adults). Pianos in the home are not strange at all, so I don’t know what was with my mental roadblock concerning this piano. Growing up, we always had a piano in the house. My mom’s isn’t large, but it isn’t small either. She plays well, my sister took lessons for a long time, but I was too hopeless to continue my instruction. Now, Doug plays sometimes.

We need to replace some parts inside it because it’s a little out of tune, but it’s still nice. Now I absolutely love having it as one of the focal points of the living area! Really though, I just like gazing at it.

Wurlitzer Piano as Decor

The perfect yellowy beige color typifies that era of musical equipment for me. I’ve seen amps and other gear this color and am always drawn to it!

Wurlitzer Piano

Wurlitzer Piano

I keep going back and forth on what to put underneath it, though. I had filled it with tall stacks of books, but recently we brought my old guitar home from my parents house and needed space for it and its stand. Mosey’s dog bed moved under the piano for now… but the corner is constantly evolving :)

It’s nice to be back to blogging about home stuff. I have a ton of bottled up posts!

2013 Christmas Cards

Hey all,

It’s been over a month since I last posted. Wow! It doesn’t feel that long. This year, the gap between Thanksgiving and Christmas was shorter than normal, but for me, Thanksgiving seems so long ago. Shortly after Turkey Day, my grandmother (mother’s mother) passed away. I flew to Oklahoma City to remember her life and be with that side of the family. Thankfully I was able to escape from work, which is not a given when working retail during the holiday season. I’m so grateful I got to be with my extended family during the holidays, even though the circumstances surrounding the occasion were somber.

In a way, I do feel like I got to “go home” for the holidays, even though my home is right here in CA. Being with my mom, dad, aunts, uncles, and cousins for Thanksgiving in the Midwest is something we haven’t been able to do in probably close to ten years(!), and this may be as close as we get for a while.

Then, I returned home and hit the ground running when it came to work. The Holidays, people, when many retailers make three months’ worth of revenue in two weeks. Did you know that? It’s totally, absolutely, literally exhausting. Please be gentle on us for a little while. We are still trying to recover.

All this to say, I have been notably absent from the blog. Part of me has missed blogging, and another part of me forgot all about it since life has been so crazy. It is something I enjoy doing, and I’ll try to climb back on the horse (as they say) and come up with some fun and interesting stuff to populate this little corner of the interweb.

This year, amidst all the madness, I wanted to try to illustrate our little family for a card, instead of having our photo taken. It was more work than I anticipated, and that is why I’m getting them sent out today, on the 27th (sad trombone noise). Drawing the sketch was fun, and outlining it in sharpie was stressful. Doug managed to scan it into the computer and used Adobe Illustrator to clean it up (I’ll have to have him show me how to do it).

2013 Christmas Card

Since the photo and message on the back are all black and white, I tried to inject a little pizzaz to the card by using leftover envelopes from Stephanie’s wedding invites. I love how special they are. I’ll probably order metallic envelopes for all my holiday cards from now on!

Thank you all for reading, and especially for commenting throughout 2013. The year went by so fast! I am eager to see what 2014 will bring.