10 Things I Love About My Home

It's my place of residence for 6-8 months. A gorgeous townhouse in a beautiful town. There's lots to love about it. But it's the little things that I'm really enjoying right now, a number of which our new house will also have. So here's my list of 10 things that make me happy about my current residence.

1. An ice maker in the fridge - It's so minor, but having ice at my disposal whenever I want it is just awesome! (Thankfully, I upgraded our future fridge to one with an ice maker in the door.)

2. A garage and garage door opener - There are two scenarios that make this great. Coming home in the rain without getting wet, and the ease of unloading tons of groceries from my car. (We will have this in our new place too.)

3. Giant walk-in closet - Yes, I have a lot of clothes. But it doesn't look like a lot when your closet is ginormous. (My closet in our new place will be big, but not as big as my current one.)

4. Proximity to work - It used to take me over an hour. It still takes 30-40 minutes during rush hour, but it makes loads of difference.

5. Proximity to shopping - Dang. There is every store imaginable in a five mile radius. The best is the AC Moore and Michaels about 1.5 miles away.


6. Window seats - The master bedroom has a small one but one of the other bedrooms has one that spans the wall. I took a nap on it the other day.

7. A pantry - Living on my own, I've never had a pantry. So finding space for all of my groceries was always a challenge. Not anymore! (Our new place also has a pantry and I've been excited about it since we put down our deposit!)

8. Fireplace(s) - This place has two gas fireplaces. Our future home has one. I can't wait until it gets cold so I can sit next to it.


9. A laundry room with a full size washer and dryer - An entire room dedicated to laundry? So cool! Okay, I hate laundry. But having a laundry room right next to the bedroom makes it much more convenient. (We will also have this in our new place.)


10. A fan in the bedroom - I'm glad I requested a hookup for a fan in our future bedroom because it's really nice falling asleep to the sound and breeze of a ceiling fan.

We are the Bjork invaders!

After a very busy Saturday, I finished the costume I had been waiting a year to make. Not sure how it came to me, but after last Halloween I thought that if I had any reason to dress up this year, I wanted to be Bjork in her swan dress. Kind of ambitious, but being a crafty person really comes in handy around Halloween time.

I made a complete mess of my kitchen. Feathers were everywhere! But in the end, it was worth it because I think it came out pretty well!



Rob went as Survivorman, from the Discovery Channel. Yes, he's a nerd. I suggested it as a joke, but when he got excited, I didn't have the heart to tell him I was kidding. Much to my surprise, a lot of people at the party knew who Survivorman was. Here is it before we left, watching the Red Sox game. He was so disappointed that we had to leave, but Kay was nice enough to put it on at her house.



Some random photos from the party:



It was a great time! Hopefully I'll have a chance to wear my costume again since I put in so much effort!

A Happy Post

I know I've been a major complainer lately. I hate that. I don't want to be a negative person. So I'm going to try to put that all behind me. Want to know something good that's going on? I got a new office at work! They've been shifting people around, and I got super lucky.



1. My Desk, 2. My Giant Whiteboard, 3. My Bare Bookshelves, 4. My Art from The Black Apple

I've had an office with this company for years. But the last one I had was actually half of an office. The other half was empty the entire time, but it still never felt like my own. And something about it was very cold, and not degree-wise. I feel very comfortable in this room. Perhaps it will help me be more productive, yes? Fingers crossed!

More blogging!

I need to blog more because I have so much to share, so much to rant about.

Maybe I'd be more inclined to blog if my internet at home worked. Oh that's right. After 8 scheduled appointments, 6 of which were technician no-shows, we still don't have working internet. I feel as if the Comcast techs have something against me, or they are playing a joke on me because a missed appointment or two seems almost normal. But six missed appointments? That's just silly. ("Hey look, there's an appointment at that address again. Let's skip it and see if the lady freaks out!") At least they are throwing a lot of discounts and credits our way.

I had a small craft show last weekend. When I say small, I mean barely existant. The venue was great. The free food was awesome. Mmm, pigs in a blanket. But they were lacking in the shoppers department. Not counting the things that my grandfather and father purchased (aww, so supportive), I made a whole $43. Wow, that barely covers my gas! I'm starting to think the show circuit might not be worth it for me. And with how busy my life has been lately, I'm ready to put melissahead on hiatus for now. Not that it'll feel any different from NOT being on hiatus, but at least I'll have less pressure on myself.

I know things have felt chaotic for me, but I can only imagine how it is for Rob. He's working three jobs right now, one of which he just gave his notice to yesterday, thank goodness. He spends three weekdays working from 8am until 9pm. As a couple that spent a whole crapload of time together, this is quite a change. In the beginning I was like, "Wow, I have all this free time to myself!" But now I sit at home watching the clock, waiting for him to get home so I can make him a late dinner and spend a short amount of time with him before I crash. Hopefully when he leaves his third job, it'll get much better.

I have to post some photos of our new/temporary home. Word on the street is that they are breaking ground on our new-new home in two weeks. Finally! They are targeting April for completion. In the meantime, my digs are pretty sweet. I'm enjoying living the high life for now.

I also have to post the photo of my recent press. I'll save that info for a future post.

And in the Melissa work world, well, things could be better. I moved to an office last week, only to find out that they changed their minds. But I couldn't move again until today, so I've been a little displaced since Thursday. (Although I must say, my new new office is great. I'll take some photos.) I was "reprimanded" yesterday for wearing an inappropriate outfit. How hilarious is that? My sweater dress was a tad too short. I knew it was short, but I wore leggings, and it's not like I looked hoochie, but I guess I will be retiring that dress. They gave me a company BlackBerry. That means I am now available 24/7, for the most part. That is a little frightening. *sigh* I could use a vacation.

Sorry for this boring text-heavy blog post. I promise to start being more interesting! I guess I just wanted to get some things off my chest.

I was right.

Comcast never showed last night. So four days this week I left work early for nothing. Tonight we have our fifth scheduled appointment to get our freakin' internet and cable hooked up. Rob and I had plans to go furniture shopping, but now I have to go alone because someone needs to be home from 5-9. Guess what Comcast, someone was home 5-9 last night, anxiously awaiting your arrival, checking her doorbell to make sure it worked, and peeking out the window every ten minutes.

Jerks.

RANT: Comcast sucks!

I have never had this much trouble with a utility company. I am astounded at their inflexibility. I am flabergasted at the amount of energy and time I've wasted trying to resolve a very menial issue.

Here's our Comcast timeline.

Oct 1-5
four calls to Comcast; 3 of the 4 representatives assured us that we would have cable and internet on Sunday, Oct 7

Oct 7
no cable or internet; spent 2.5 hours on the phone (and lots of unplugging and replugging) to figure out that the cable had been disconnected; Rob argued his way into free HBO for a year; Comcast was scheduled to come out the next day to fix the issue, and agreed to call us prior to arriving so we could meet the technician at our home

Oct 8
no call; got home to a note on the door saying work has been completed; still no cable or internet; another hour on the phone, more arguing; appointment scheduled for next day between 1-5pm

Oct 9
5:30pm, no technician; another call to Comcast where I was informed the technician was running late; 6pm, technician arrives and fixes the screwy cable wiring job that previous residents had done; yay it works; 7pm, while the tech was still there, our cable/DVR box fried; he didn’t have any more and he also couldn’t fix out internet because he wasn’t trained in modems; we were told to go to a Comcast office today to get a new DVR box and cable modem

Oct 10
noon, Rob left work to go to a Comcast office; they claimed they had no cable boxes or modems and there was a 200 person waiting list; Rob had a hissy fit and left in a huff; Rob called a supervisor argued his way into a LIKELY appointment tonight between 5-9 (“they’ll try their best to get someone out there”)

Call me skeptical, but I have a feeling this won’t be resolved tonight. I’m not upset at the fact that I have no cable. I’m upset because I’ve spent so many hours of my life on the phone with and waiting for Comcast. I have errands to run and groceries to buy. But I’m forced to sit at home, most likely listening to hold music while staring out the front door. There are so many better ways to spend my time.

Move it!

Yesterday was the big day. And let me just say, moving is no less stressful than I had remembered.

Issue #1: U-haul
Rob called on Tuesday to see if we could pick up the 26' truck a little bit early. Turns out they did not have a record of our reservation that I had made online (and had a confirmation for) two weeks earlier. So, number one, we couldn't pick up a truck at our desired location; we had to go to a different one. And number two, they only had a 17' truck. Needless to say, even with us bringing over 6 carloads of our stuff prior to yesterday, a 17' truck was not big enough. We had to make 2 more car trips, and Rob still needs to make one or two today.

Issue #2: Comcast
Anyone that knows me knows that the Red Sox are a huge part of Rob's life. So the fact that the Sox playoff game was on tv yesterday at 3pm was a big deal. Rob called Comcast 4 times last week to make sure that we would have cable available to us when we moved in. He was assured that we would.

We were back at the old house, loading up the cars. At 2:30pm, Rob sent me on my way to hook up the tv prior to his arrival. Of course, it didn't work. So I called, praying that I could fix this issue by the time Rob got there. Long story short, they finally discovered that the cable was manually disconnected and has to be manually reconnected (for a fee) today. Rob was ticked beyond belief, and after 2.5 hours on the phone with Comcast, we now have free HBO for a year. Ha!


Other than those two problems, the move was fine. "Temp-house", as I'd like to call it, is insanely awesome. Massive. Luxurious. We'll be spoiled for the 6-8 months that we'll be there. And even though I'm not looking forward to another move in such a short time, I'll be thrilled to finally be in my brand new home...whenever it's ready!

On Saturday, I picked up these gorgeous sunflowers at the farmer's market to make temp-house more homey.

Yay, baseball...

...is almost over! (Shhh, don't tell Rob I said that.) But in all honesty, I'll be happy to get my hands on the remote after the baseball season. Season? Aren't season's typically three months long in mother nature terms? Why is it that in sports, a season really means 7 or 8 months?

But anyway, it certainly is a happy time in Philadelphia! The Phillies have made the playoffs for the first time in 14 years! Woot woot! And Rob and I were lucky enough to attend that game in my company's suite. The energy was incredible. I don't think I've ever been to such a lively (and loud) sporting event. And when they got that last out in the top of the 9th, we all got champagne to celebrate!

So good luck to the Phillies who play this afternoon! (And, um, good luck to the Sox who play tonight.) <-just in case Rob stumbles in here

Where have I been??

Have you been wondering? No? Really? Well, humor me.

Following some drastic changes at work, things have gotten remarkably busier for me. It kind of stinks, but I'm trying to stay positive. I won't go into any details (for fear of "doocing"), but basically I've been working more frantically than I ever have. Not because I used to be a slacker, but because things have suddenly become more hectic. So that's what has cut into my blogging and my crafting.

I've come to the point where I realized that I have to cut back on my non-work stuff (like freelancing and anything melissahead related) because work pays the bills, therefore is more important right now. That also sucks. So I guess melissahead is on a semi-haitus, which makes me feel better about the fact that it's not all that successful to begin with!!

But I'm still doing a craft show on October 14. I haven't been able to make anything new, so it'll basically be Art Star leftovers, with one new item that I'll blog about when it arrives. And there should be a nice piece of melissahead "press" coming out in October, which I'll also share with you.

On another note, we move a week from tomorrow!! That means when I'm not swamped with work, I'm home packing up my stuff. I'm glad Rob is a minimalist because packing has been really easy so far. My craft supplies are the trickiest part. So anyway, as of October 7th, we'll be living in an awesome temporary townhouse (thanks to a wonderfully generous friend) and anxiously awaiting the building of our new townhouse, which is scheduled to be finished March 31. Yeah right.

Well, back to packing. I hope your lives are stress-free and spectacular! *hugs*

Super streak, super streak, it's super streaky! Yow!

In an attempt to raise my rock star status, I got my hair colored by the amazing Sandi at American Mortals yesterday. And she exceeded all expectations! I think that this is, by far, the coolest head of hair I've ever had.



My only disappointment is that Rob doesn't like it. Boo! Oh well. I knew that a lot of people wouldn't like my hair, like my mom and my coworkers, but I decided to do it for me. So I'm happy!

What do you think? You can tell me the truth. Rob used the word "trashy", so I can take all sorts of criticism. :-)

It's MY day.

My birthday, that is. Can I getta woot woot?! 27 years old. So close to 30! Yet I still feel like a little kid.

Rob has a plan for us tonight. Not sure what it is, but I have my suspicions. I dressed up like a rock star today. Black top, shiny black pants, black boots, and my hair all spiked out. Unfortunately I don't get good height. I think I need some more product.

I like this look. I think maybe the reason I love those dark hair, pale guitar boys is because I'm drawn to that "look". So I decided I'm going to get a great pair of sexy black skinny jeans, some more black tank tops, and I want to dye my hair black again. If that doesn't scream rock star, I don't know what does! Obviously I'm going through an identity crisis right now. 1/3 life crisis, maybe. I just want to be (as Tyra would say) FIERCE, instead of boring. Boring sucks.

So as not to be completely boring, here are a few photos from our recent vacation. Rob and I were trying out our model faces. Rob is so Zoolander, but a frightened Zoolander.



Rob and his fam at the top of Mount Washington.



And here I am striking a pose in Cambridge. I bought that top while we were in Providence. I'm addicted to that color.


I hope you all enjoy my birthday!

EDIT: I just realized I'm making kissy faces in both photos. I can't help it. It's either that, or I stick my tongue out. I always feel hokey smiling like a normal person.

Oh yeah (yeah yeah).

So I mentioned how I wish I were Karen O. But it wasn't until a few days ago that I realized that I am completely obsessed with YYY's guitarist, N.Z. I think it has to do with the fact that I keep listening to their song, "Phenomena" over and over. Something about his sound.

And once again, I find myself fixated on a disturbed, skinny, pale, vegan guitarist with wild black hair. (Yes, there are more of them. Conor was first.) So what is with me? What's the draw to that type? Perhaps it's because I'd want to be able to borrow their tiny clothes and hair gel.

But c'mon. You can't watch this video and deny the foxiness. Okay, maybe you can. But I can't.



Don't worry, Rob's not jealous. Besides, I know he's got a thing for Karen O. He loves those half-Korean crazy gals. I should know, I am one.

O, how I want to be you!

Karen O, that is. That chick is WILD and such a rock star. I love it! If I could do anything in the world (and I can't, no matter what my mom told me), I'd be a front woman in a band like the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Dream life.

Enough dreaming though. Last night we went to their show at the Electric Factory and what an event! I've realized that my hair is the perfect length for thrashing around. Not too long where it hits other people, but just long enough to get some movement. Um, so yeah, my neck hurts. I don't think I've ever gotten such good cardio at a show before.

We arrived right as the doors opened, barely any line waiting. And for some reason, there were still spots along the front rail when we walked in, so we took a cozy area at the left corner of the stage. It was close. Awesomely close. Here's an example. At one point, Karen O came by, laid down with her head hanging off the stage and stuck the mic in her mouth. This is only slightly zoomed with my crappy digital camera:


It was an outstanding show. Totally worth staying up hours past my bedtime therefore sitting here exhausted at work. Here's my Karen O-llage.


I really needed last night. This week has been packed with signing contracts, checking out apartments and storage, getting everything ready for vacation (i.e. new tires for my car), and trying to get some much needed errands run (i.e. haircut at 4pm today). But everything is working out. Looks like we might not be apartment living afterall, thanks to a very generous offer from someone. I'll get into that later.

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Relief

After more than four months and nearly 40 realtor visits, our condo is FINALLY going under contract! I can't even explain the amount of relief I am currently feeling. The contract won't be ready for signing until a few days, but if all goes as planned, we'll be out of here shortly.

I'd prefer a little time to pack and take care of the hassles such as utilities and mail, but Rob, anxious as usual, wants to hurry the hell out of here so there's less chance of something falling through. I understand where he's coming from. But considering we are going away on vacation all of next week and have every single weekend booked up until the 15th, expecting to be ready to close on the 17th seems a little tight. I'm pushing for the 24th.

It's going to be a crazy few weeks!

This was a great place for the last three years, but I'm ready to move on. Our new home is going to be fantastic, whenever it's ready! Until then, it'll be back to apartment living for us.

So you wanna know about me?

Whitney and Jonathan over at Brown Sugar Design have tagged me to post 8 random things about myself. Well, I'm pretty random, so that's easy. Unfortunately for all of you, "concise" doesn't really describe me, so have fun reading my ramblings. (Like my cheesy headshot?)

• I wear glasses because I’m afraid to touch my eyes. You should see me at the eye doctor. I have to warn him in advance that I may freak out if he gets too close.


• Some people already know this, but I’m half Korean and half Irish. I feel like I look a lot less Asian than most of the half Asians I know.


• When I was in third grade, my dad entered me into a 1.5 mile race. What was he thinking? Not only was I one of the last kids to cross the finish line, but I puked all over the place as soon as I did! Me and athletics don’t mix.


• Growing up, I had a Friday tradition. My grandfather would pick me up at 3pm so my mom could go waitress at a Japanese restaurant. We’d stop at the liquor store for a case of beer and a pretzel rod, then I’d sit through hours of programming such as Hunter, Hawaii 5-0, Magnum PI, and People’s Court. My grandmother and my father would arrive around 6pm, one of them with a pizza, and we’d eat in front of the tv, while watching Cheers and Night Court. Then my dad and I would head home around 8pm. This took place every Friday for probably around 4-5 years.


• I took the SAT’s in 7th grade. I got a 740…TOTAL. But I redeemed myself in high school with a 1390. I only wish they actually meant something.


• Nearly every time I walk down a flight of stairs, I envision myself falling down them and I cringe a little. So I’m always extra careful. I have no clue where this fear of stairs came from.


• I have a love/hate relationship with public speaking. I think I’m pretty damn good at it, but I always dread it.


• Right now, I have this intense urge to dye a big platinum streak in my bangs.

I'm supposed to tag 8 people, but I know some people would never do this, so I'll only tag people that I know would play along, OR people that rarely update their blogs anyway!

Kristen at Taylor Made Designs
Maria the Chocolate Princess
Devon the blog slacker
Mary of Supafly Designs
Mary at Diversion Mary
Tomoko at Tadworks
Rachel at überpaper
Dave at 8th Ave

Hiding Out

There is so much going on. I can't go into detail, but my work life isn't all peaches and butterflies right now. There's major change going on, which is causing me (and everyone else here) tremendous amounts of stress. The worst part is that we are all unaware of what that change will be. Like I really need any added onto my home-selling stress. Argh!!! So if you could send some positive vibes my way, I'd greatly appreciate it!

In the meantime, let me give you a list of some of the goings on that I haven't blogged about!

I'm doing another show in October! It's called Made for You, and I have a feeling it's going to be more of an appropriate show for me than Art Star was.

We're skipping Lollapalooza this year. I sold my tix because it didn't fit into our schedule (timing-wise and financially) at this point.

Instead, we're adding a little time to our summer New Hampshire trip! We'll be stopping in Providence, RI on the way up and Boston, MA on the way down. Four star hotels both places! Thank you Hotwire.com!!! We'll be living the life of luxury at a discounted price. (The Hotel Providence and The Westin Copley Place)

Still showing our house. We had two visits yesterday. No bites. But we found out our new place is now not going to be ready until March. Five month delay. Good and bad.

Also, because of missing Lollapalooza, we added two concerts to our calendar. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs in a few weeks and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah in November, both Lolla performers. Hmm, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah Yeah Yeah.

I had an amazing time in Arizona! Thanks to my lovely ladies for taking care of me and protecting me from the heat! Looking forward to another trip out there in November if all goes well.

Hope you are all doing okay out there! I promise I won't be in hiding forever!

"I'm melting! I'm melting!"

That's what I'll be screeching after my plane lands in Arizona tomorrow morning. Who goes to Arizona in the summer??

I do. I needed a break from everyday life, so I booked a flight to Arizona to visit my two favorite girls! We are going to kick back and craft and swim and lounge and maybe even play some Guitar Hero. Who knows?! But I am excited indeed!

We always have the bestest time together!


Honestly, how can you not love these girls?!


So I'll be away until Monday. Have a pleasant weekend everyone!


Oh, and just for mista, who is very interested in hearing my iPhone review: I LOVE IT!!! There hasn't been a single disappointment so far. I can't believe I can check my email anywhere! Coverage has been great for me. Battery life has been fine. I'd like a little more storage (I went with the 4GB version), only because I could only fit 4 episodes of America's Next Top Model (Season 8) on there along with my music and photos. I got used to the keyboard in a few days and am very impressed at its intuitiveness. So all in all, the iPhone comes highly recommended from me! (Go ahead mista, get one!)

Luck o' the draw!

Rob and I went to First Friday this weekend and had a great time wandering around the galleries of Philadelphia. But the highlight had to be our trip to the new art store on Market St between 3rd and 4th. Great store! The location is so much more convenient than Pearl, for me. And I picked up some gorgeous papers while I was there.

Since it was their first First Friday, they were holding a few drawings for some artsy fartsy prizes. Well, guess what. Rob and I EACH won something! How lucky is that???

Rob ended up with a calligraphy/lettering set, which is really a prize for me. I doubt Rob is going to start learning calligraphy any time soon.


And I was lucky enough to walk away with one of their best prizes!


Because what I really need is another crafty obsession.

See? I'm a winner, no matter what those kids in my 8th grade English class said!

"I want the world!"

"I want the whole world. I want to lock it all up in my pocket, it's my bar of chocolate! Give it to me!"

- Veruca Salt



I am so impatient. And greedy. I didn't need this. Not at all. But I couldn't help treating myself to this magnificent piece of technology! It's just so...so...COOL!!!!


Happy 4th of July!

Shiver me timbers!

Saturday we were invited to attend a pirate-themed party. Or is it parrrrr-ty? Three neighbors took down their fences to hold this huge summer bash, filled with festivities! I'd have to say, it was quite an elaborate event!

Here I am, all decked out:


And a few choice photos from the affair:


(see more pirate photos here)