Impeccable taste

All this $10 Banana Republic skirt (I love a deal!) needs is these Ballerina Hepburn flats. I probably need them in every color.

Of course, putting this outfit together would much easier if I lived in Sweden...

Dear Cicadas,

We get it. You own us. Now, finish what you came here to do and have a nice day.

I'll go back to sweeping your little shells and carcasses off the porch. Again.

Love,
Jenny

sappy

scene:
me, in bed, watching bon iver videos on la blogotheque, being overly sentimental and crying....
P, laughing, saying, "are you crying? the only music that makes me cry is sharon, lois and bram"

sensitive, eh?

Weekend Revisited

Spent the weekend in Kansas City attending various sporting events with my husband and friends.

Rock the Parkway
Was up by 3:30 a.m. Saturday to work the half marathon. 6,500 runners and it was all hands on deck. My hands needed a nap the rest of the day.

Oklahoma!
Drove up to Gallatin, Mo. to see some friends perform in the community production of Oklahoma. Such fun to see community produced events and so much love from the audience. 

Brew to Brew
Saw a record 90 degrees in Lawrence, KS on Sunday for the relay race. The race goes from Boulevard Brewery in KC to Free State Brewery in Lawrence. Just about 44 miles. Combined with high winds and high heat, it was a long day (even for me, who didn't run at all!)

I love wandering around Massachusetts Avenue in Lawrence. It's like bizzaro 9th Street, but with way more yarn and fabric stores. Oh, and too much KU paraphernalia for my taste.

Marketplace

I am a voracious reader. Thankfully, I’m not reading Sophie Kinsilla or Janet Evonovich. What am I reading? Anything I can get my hands on about personal finance.

This started shortly after finishing my Masters degree and starting my first “real” job. I took the salary they offered and I didn’t negotiate. I was so awestruck by the fact that it was a proper salary figure and not an hourly wage that I didn’t even think to ask for more. I soon realized this was a mistake. Not because I wasn’t able to pay bills, put some savings away and start hacking away at those pesky graduate school loans, but because everyone should negotiate and advocate for their salary.  I was never taught (through my extensive women’s and gender studies coursework) how or when or why to negotiate salary. The field I’m in historically gets paid poorly (even though it’s some of the hardest and emotionally draining work there is!) so the fact that I would be making more than the federal poverty level was spectacular. Coming up in a predominantly female field, I’ve learned that women are not taught to advocate for themselves financially the same way that men are. I wanted to know more.

First I bought a house. I had no idea what I was doing. I bought a really small house, for a really small price. I didn’t even ask what the maximum I was approved for because, frankly, I didn’t want to be tempted to spend that much. I wanted to do it on my own, not ask for a down-payment from my folks and I wanted to have a mortgage that didn’t make me nauseated.

Then I bought a car. Also, no clue. It’s a Honda. That’s always a good investment, right??

Then I threw a wedding. I read everything I could on planning weddings on a budget – even though my parents were paying and were offering to pay a lot for “my dream day.” I was looking more for “a rather lovely day with good food, good beer and lots of dancing.” They wanted to spend more, I wanted to spend less. Seems like the reverse of what you normally expect. In the end, it was fabulous and we stayed within the compromised budget of more than nothing, less than too much.  

Then I was married. Turns out, dudes don’t know as much about money as I thought they did. We figured out our cumulative credit card and student loan debt (seemed big to us, but minimal by some debt standards). We started trying different budget styles to find one that fit... we’re still trying to find one that fits.

Then we spent our gifted wedding money on renovating/repairing our bathroom.

Then my husband started a business run out of our house.

18 months of crazy money decisions.

My friend gave me Suze Orman’s book “The Money Book for the Young, Fabulous & Broke” and I immediately saw the error of some of my ways. Truth be told, we were doing okay. Making fine decisions and not buying too many frivolous things. I like to think we are the right amount of frivolous for a child-free household. My husband loves bikes and I love expensive coffee drinks… we budget accordingly. We were simultaneously saving for an emergency fund and a rainy day fund while trying to delete credit card debt. We’re putting money into retirement funds, we are well-insured and well-benefited. I’m sorry Dave Ramsey, I know you would say we are not doing things correctly, but honestly, you’re a bit to draconian for me. I like a little more flexibility.

So now it’s all I can do not to add another personal finance blog to my Google reader. I turn up Marketplace way too loud on my commute (I love Kai Ryssdal’s soothing voice). I was thrilled with this series, Money Through the Ages. I will most certainly be printing off the Personalize Financial Checklist and heading over to the New York Times to read their corresponding pieces.

Personal finance is a work in progress. But I feel like I need to figure it out quick. I need to invest more! Open an IRA! Put $30k in savings! Save for the down-payment on our next house! Grow our vacation fund! Start a college fund for our un-born children! Give more to charity! Maybe I’ll sort some of it out on this here blog. 

I mean, seriously. I need to up the savings if I’m going to afford Babies AND Botox.

Lovely

Photo by Natalie Jenkins.

Natalie designed our wedding invitations and is an all around kind, beautiful and talented gal.

See more over at The Como Collective

Britney Spears : Damien Hirst

I'm so fascinated by this. And yes, I was watching Britney Spears' "Hold it Against Me" video. What, I work with youth! I have to know what's cool/hip/popular!

Aftermath of Britney Spears' paint gun fingers (2011) : Beautiful revolving sphincter, oops brown painting by Damien Hirst (2003)