Friends to Dinner?

Friday I am having friends to dinner... meaning some of this must get done by then! I am also meeting friends for dinner or going to the theatre each night before that... so time has to be used cleverly and with focus.

Great: challenge for me!

The Downstairs & the William Morris Experiment, Week #7

Today is vacuum day -- everywhere in the apartment! -- and clean the floors day... and then I tackle the downstairs closet.

This closet is deceptively large and yet, caboodled right now. I don't need more space, but I need to reconsider how I am using the space, with an eye to decluttering some things currently stored here.

Behind the coats are my suitcases, one cat carrier (for Jack's flights) and boxes I might need again.

The coat rack holds outerwear for all seasons and weathers, my doctoral robe (worn once a year at graduation), and items headed for eBay. Why aren't they currently on eBay, making me money? Yeeesssss....

• Pictures taken and ready for posting on eBay
• Reorganized the coats, wrapping one matching scarf over the hanger with it
• Brought extra hangers upstairs to clothes closet, where I need them

The small shelf belongs to the landlord and used to live outside. Better here, although it is currently storing things I won't use, like two bottles of chlorine bleach. Gotta go.

• Actually found three different-sized bottles of chlorine bleach, one of non-chlorine bleach, one of chlorine bleach cleaner; tossed the non-chlorine stuff and am contemplating how to didpose of the others without pouring them down the drain
• Disposed of the cleaners that were barely full or others I never use; threw out several old sponges, too
• Now I have space here for storing something--but nothing to put there right now

The built-in shelves store all sorts of things. My sewing kit, fabrics, and sewing machine. The downstairs cleaning kit. The other cat carrier. More boxes. Serious weeding out needs to be done here, and reorganizing things.

• Found small framed picture which I took upstairs to store with the others not hanging up right now
• Cleared out and refilled materials/bottles in downstairs cleaning caddy
• Shifted boxes around to create more storage space on these shelves, too--that remains open

Then, I store the microfiber mop (one of my best cleaning purchases, ever!) and broom/dustpan here. It makes the carpet dirty, but I have no broom closet in the kitchen, so they live here. Maybe a nice rubber floor mat?

• Or the cat's ex-placement, same difference until I get something better

Duo Boots

This week I took delivery of my new (first) pair of Duo Boots. I had first read about Duo, a British company that makes gorgeous boots that fit women with wide calves (hello!) here: Wardrobe Oxygen.

And the good news? When I checked in (as I do everyonce in a while since I read about Duo), they were having a sale. So I bought the style Panaro at $140 instead of $315, plus $20 shipping fee. So totally cool!

I ordered them a week ago, and they arrived on Thursday. Hello!
They are gorgeous! Fit perfectly in the foot, around the calf, and are just tall enough to fit under my knee. Smooth black leather with a pink interior and a 3inch heel. Ooh la la!

I am in love! (Oh, and my boots look a lot like Nancy's!)

If I were in Paris... Friday, February 24, 2012

The temperatures hover in the 50s and the sky is overcast... it's still officially wintery in Paris.

Les Arts Decoratifs--one of my favorite museums, for obvious reasons, is holding an exhibit on Jean-Pul Goude, called "Goudelamion." I don't know Goude, but any exhibition that includes images, television, film, photography, and pop culture (to put it crudely) sounds promising. Goude is apparently a stylemaker, a stylist of images in advertising, music, and culture. Cool, man. The exhibition inclues material from 40 years of his work (check out the Diaporama).

The same museum just opened an exhibition on "Trompe-l'oeil" which I would definitely find fascinating. "Trompe-l'oeil" refers to images or illusions meant to fool the eye in one way or another: to create a 3-D image in a 2-D space, for example. I love it from the Baroque, especially, when the art of illusion was meant to fool the eye and please the mind, in paintings, murals, architecture, etc. The Diaporama shows the pieces of the exhibition, plus a little about them.

Trompe-l'oeil in action

After that, stroll up the Avenue de l'Opera to the Opera Garnier and see their exhibit on Massenet, the great 19th-century composer. 2012 is the centennial of his death, and through mid-May, the exhibit celebrates the composer's life and work, which were extremely popular in Belle Epoque France.

Then, because you should, go across to the Galeries Lafayette and have a light snack or lunch in their cafe, overlooking the rear of the Opera Garnier (I know I've mentioned this eatery before!). The food is relatively inexpensive, the food is well-cooked and the choice is staggering (even for fussy teens), and the view is breathtaking. Go upstairs to the outside viewing deck before you eat and photograph the city--then come back downstairs and relax for a little bit. I eat here consistently because of the food, the prices, the view, and--afterwards--the chance to buy souvenirs in the G-L couveinir stores. They sell Kumi tea, excellent t-shirts, jewelry, and all sorts of trinkets for friends, family, and loved ones who don't need the regular souvenir fare, but something that won't break the bank, is fun, and discreetly screams "Paris." I've bought myself and others inexpensive charm bracelets with the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, and other little silvery charms; the bracelets are cute and classy but obviously not Tiffany's. Perfect!

Over the weekend, there is something that might be quite delightful. On Sunday, the Theatre des Champs-Elysees is performing Berlioz's Romeo et Juliette, a "dramatic symphony" with 3 actors singing the roles of the play to Berlioz's composition. With the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, the BBC Symphony Chorus and the Schuola Cantorum of Oxford.

No Spending Thursday: Accomplished!

Yesterday, I had a successful "no spend Thursday": carried my own water and coffee, brought snacks with me to my two lectures, resisted stopping anywhere on the way back home. Good start!

No Spending Day of the Week: Thursday

I decided to have a "no spending" day of the week. The hardest decision: which one it would be.

• Monday: I am always tempted by the start of the week, and usually have something forgotten from the grocery shopping of Sunday.
• Tuesday: My weekly "dinner out" ritual, that I want to return to
• Wednesday: Coffee cart?
• Thursday: Coffee cart?
• Friday: Coffee cart?
• Saturday: Coffee in the a.m. with friends, errands
• Sunday: Breakfast out, groceries and household necessaries.

Yeah, so why Thursday?

Better question for me: why not? I became conscious a few years ago that I was consistently buying myself "something pretty" on Mondays, on my way home. Like a bottle of wine, ice cream, shampoo, whatever -- anything to "treat" myself.

Little drips...

Bad practice. It is, after all, the little drips and drops of cashflow that really undo us. I know I won't drop $150 in one afternoon... but over 2 semesters... I will drop that much JUST on coffee. Or a muffin. Or lip balm. Or a magazine. Or... see what I mean? And that's $150 on top of groceries, rent, bills, gas, necessary expenses, entertainment, etc. That is just the frosting on the cupcake: not quite essential, but filled with calories, nonetheless.

...become huge sinking drains of cash

In essence, I need to resist impulsive/thoughtless shopping. I need to resist the coffee cart, period. The money goes directly to the athletic program, which I protest, since the cart is in the arts school and we have 1/10 the budget of the sports programs, so boo! hiss! Also, that's $2/cup... which is ridiculous on an $8/week basis. (The personal is political!)

  

But Thursday is the day my "working" day out doesn't start until 3:30--certainly time enough to drink and brew enough coffee at home that I can be done with it or bring a thermos for my 80-minute class. Y'think? Thursday I am usually in a good mood, feel I have accomplished a lot by the end of day, and rarely feel the need to reward myself with a "pretty, shiny" to boost my spirits. Or I'll have to be conscious not to schedule a haircut or doctor's apppointment on Thursday, thereby giving me a free day from appointments, as well (double bonus!)

Setting Thursday as "The Day" means I'll be conscious about it, too, and after succeeding with one day, I can move on to a second day. Like a "no spending" Monday.

So, for 2012 Thursday becomes "No Spend Thursday." Let's see how it goes.

The Universe, Frugality, and Me

This week:

• I got the payments from selling my Senseo coffeemaker and my Nook First Touch in my checking account
• I found the shampoo I love on sale in the large bottles, for 50% off (only worry: are they discontinuing this choice? Well, if they do, I have 5 LARGE bottles, about 2.5 years' worth of shampoo before I have to panic)
• I confirmed two student-based projects, one allowing young African-American actors to perform the work of an African playwright who will be on campus for a literary festival (they'll do brief readings from her two plays for the festival and for her!), and a second for my young writers to get their "Joan of Arc" plays up and in front of a group
• I'm giving two guest lectures for a colleague in screenwriting
• I'll have a surprise guest lecturer at my own class for playwrights on Friday
• and, although I'll be sorry later (think May!) the warm, sunny weather now is a delight