TV – Downtown Luxury Slum

Fun Fluff

A quick summary of where I’ve been for the past couple months, TV and book recommendations, and a 2020 holiday craft idea.

Hello!

Remember me?

I know it’s been a while but I’ve been just a little busy over the last couple of months. Two weeks after finishing up my census work, I started working early voting which was 8-14 hours a day, 6 days a week. I was the “Laptop Specialist” at my site which meant I got really good at filling printers with paper. And then on election day, I was a “Judge” at my site, which means I got to be the person that yells “The polls are open”. The election work was interesting largely in that I got to meet a lot of interesting and civically engaged people, mostly from around my neighborhood. And as you can tell from my job titles, I was very important.

But let’s back up a minute. I had tenants lined up for the Mulberry House and they were extremely ready to move in (thanks to having a newborn show up early in October) which was unfortunate because the house wasn’t remotely ready for them. So as soon as the election was over, I made it my goal to get the Mulberry House finished, ideally by the end of November. A couple things came up that pushed back my timeline a little, but the tenants were able to move in on December 10th.

So I’ll work on catching you up on the renovation over the next little while, but let’s just get into some fun fluff for now, shall we?

If you haven’t watched Jane the Virgin, I highly recommend it. It’s just so wonderfully whimsical.

I was trying to find something on my phone yesterday and stumbled on this new app from Google. If you download and use it, we each get $21 and you get $21 coupon for Target when you spend $50, so it’s basically like 42 free dollars.

And I have two recommendations of books that I’ve recently loved: American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins and Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi. Read them.

I’m not a super crafty person, but these look kinda fun and simple enough that I might give them a try.

Happy weekend,

Diana

Fun Fluff

Feeling at home at the Mulberry House with a fancy new shower curtain. Fancy appliances, really big kitchen wares, and bad TV.

Hello!

I packed a suitcase and moved into the Mulberry House for the next few days. It feels like fancy, air conditioned camping. And I bought this shower curtain since I’m allowed to have cute things. According to my niece, everything at Target is “so cute!”

I love these DIY fake antique appliances.

I found some inspiration for more North Carolina day trips. The oldest big coffee pot in the United States is definitely destination worthy!

And when I’m feeling a little lazier, there’s a new season of Shameless for me to watch on Netflix.

Have a lovely weekend,

Diana

Fun Fluff 14

We are continuing to modify operations to protect customers, staff, and the community from the spread of COVID-19. We are adding more social distancing requirements for backyard projects. This is in line with other local, national, and international requirements.

Have you heard this sweet story from This American Life, about life in Canada?

I’m thinking about signing up for a free trial of Amazon Prime Video for some extra background TV shows, though we’re currently enjoying Great News and Dear White People on Netflix.

From IKEA to help us get through quarantine: colouring pages and the coveted meatball recipe. The colouring pages have instructions in Hebrew, so using my non-existent knowledge of Hebrew, here’s a brief description of what you need to know. If it looks like a maze, it’s a maze; if it looks like a dot-to-dot, it’s a dot-to-dot; if it looks like a paint-by-number, it’s a paint-by-number; if it looks like tic-tac-toe, it’s tic-tac-toe; if it looks like a giant tic-tac-toe, it is but you only have to get 4 in a row; if it looks like a basic colouring page, it’s a basic colouring page; the page with the pencils for you to cut out shows how to play battleship with the next two pages; the page after battleship is a matching game; if it looks like you’re supposed to spot the differences, there are 10 to spot.

Stay safe and sane,

Diana

Fun Fluff 5

1920s real estate listings, how ikea picks names for their products, best cocktail bars in Raleigh, making friends, podcast and TV recommendations.

Hey y’all,

In the 1920s, real estate listings advertised ‘fireproof’ asbestos shingles, enameled plumbing fixtures, garbage incinerators, refrigerators, ironing boards that fold into the wall, and more! – Apartment Therapy

Have you ever been curious about how IKEA picks names for their products? There is an actual system, surprisingly.

Raleigh was ranked as the third best metro for millennials to relocate, after Denver and Austin. It’s probably because we have such great cocktails.

Here’s my list of the best cocktail bars in Raleigh because sometimes you deserve a fancy cocktail.

And if you’d like a new friend to share a fancy cocktail with you, this is a should-be-common-sense article about how to make friends as an adult since I’m pretty sure we can all agree it’s not as easy as it used to be.

Maybe I’m a little slow, but I just discovered that Stacy of Blake Hill House has a podcast called True Tales From Old Houses and it’s awesome if you’re into old houses and the stories behind them. It is perfectly normal to binge podcasts.

Speaking of binging, I watched all three seasons of Workin’ Moms last weekend. I had heard people talking about it a couple years ago and I tried watching it. But I must have tried the wrong show because it was a weird Australian reality TV show, not an awesome Canadian comedy. For the record, Workin’ Moms is an awesome Canadian comedy. Watch it.

Have a great weekend!

Fun Fluff

Decluttering, wanting to buy more clutter, cooking amazing food, having fun with finances (really), and enjoying some good TV.

Happy January y’all!

I’m planning to start on Ashley’s Declutter Challenge this weekend. She’s organized a list of 20 task areas to focus on over the course of the month, starting with identifying people and non-profits that will treasure your unwanted trash.

These are soooo cute!

We made this recipe last weekend with ground beef on our gas grill and I gotta say it beats every hamburger I’ve ever had.

I’ve always been intrigued by the stock market so when I saw that Robinhood had a deal where if you sign up, you get a free surprise stock, I couldn’t resist. The stock I got (CPRX) was worth $4.47 but you could luck out and get something worth up to $500 from Apple or Facebook or Ford. I put another $20 into the account to play around with but I haven’t decided what stocks I want to buy yet.

Andrew and I binged the first season of The Morning Show. It’s rare that we find TV shows that we both really enjoy and now we need to find something new to watch until the second season comes out.

Have a great weekend!