Like most red-blooded American, I like getting money and gift cards! Since it was my birthday and Mothers Day last week, I’ve recently come into a windfall of both (thanks to parents that, clearly, have more disposable income then I do). I’ve always liked having my birthday in May because it’s the perfect time to use said birthday money to buy new clothes for the upcoming summer months.

Using someone else’s money for my new clothes allows me to be better dressed while also spending money, guilt free.

It’s very good for Isabel.

Since May’s in town from Reno, she and I decided to make a quick trek up to the local outlet mall (and by “local” I mean “almost all the way to the freakin’ Canadian border) to use some of my awesome Ann Taylor gift cards.

Since we’re going on a beach vacation in September, I’m currently in the market for some light summer shirts. And since I’m currently addicted to OPH and RA’s Mission: Put Together flick group I’m also in the market for some cute summer blazers.  And since my life sucks, the local outlets offered none of what I was looking for.

Blast.

(That’s not entirely true.  I did get two T-shirts at Banana.  But they were on sale for $5, so that doesn’t count.)

What I’m saying is that my birthday goodies are burning a hole in my proverbial pocket.  I’m itching to spend them.  I’m stalking the stores, daily, to find something to spend them on.

On Sunday morning, while digging in my purse for my glasses, I noticed there was a small pile of change at the bottom of my purse.  And then I noticed that my reliable wallet (which I purchased at Target about 7 million years ago) had busted open.  I tried to save it by fusing the metal on the zipper with shear mind force.

But alas, it was dead.

When telling The King that I would need to purchase a new wallet, he was all “Perfect.  Just use some of your birthday money.”

Okay, here’s where the use of my Birthday Money gets all muddled.

Do I have to use my birthday money to purchase something that I would have had to purchase anyway?  Should birthday money be used on a necessity like a wallet?  I feel like if I were to spend my (hard-earned) birthday money on a new (and may I add, boring) wallet it would be like using it to buy tampons or toothpaste.  I feel like birthday money should only be allowed to be spent on things (for me) that I wouldn’t normally buy.

Like new summer clothes.

Okay, and what about using my birthday money to buy myself new make-up.  I’m not talking fancy new eye shadows and lip gloss.  All boring stuff.  I’m currently out of eyebrow gel.  Am I required (by whom, I’m not sure) to use my birthday money for a quick trip to Sephora* to pick some up, or can I just use non-birthday-money?

I also need some new shoes. And not cute, fancy heeled shoes for work and play, but necessity shoes for walking.  Do I have to use my birthday money for that?  I mean, I would have to buy them anyway.  Anyway!  Can’t I save my birthday money for shoes that aren’t even sort of practical?  You know, shoes I wouldn’t typically buy, it’s just that I happen to have some extra birthday money right now.

For now, the birthday money sits, unused, at the bottom of my purse (I have no wallet to put it in).  And, for now, I have no walking shoes or gel for my eyebrows.

So tell me, what is your policy on spending Birthday Monies?  Do you feel it should only be spend on things above and beyond what you would typically spend money on?  Or do you just deposit it into your checking account and use it to buy groceries, because hello, money is money and it all goes to the same place?

*I was out with some girlfriends on Monday night.  One of them starting talking about all of her package from “Sefforaa” and after a while we were all “huh?” and she was all “You know, SEFFORAA?”  Yeah, she meant Sephora.  She just didn’t know who to pronounce it.  Which leads me to wonder…is she pronouncing it right and the rest of us are wrong?  I mean, does anyone truly know the correct pronunciation of Sephora?

Babboo is on a very strict schedule. Feed him lunch at 11:00 and then come 11:25, all you have to do is point and say “go to sleep” and he will. No problem at all.

Same thing at night. Feed him dinner at 6:00, put him in the tub at 7:15 and at 8:15 you just stick the kid in his crib and tell him to “sleep!” And he will.

I admit this is pretty awesome.

I also admit this has nothing to do with me and loads to do with his teachers at school. They run a tight ship when they have Babboo during the day and I’m just their deck hand in the evenings and weekends.

It’s a great partnership.

But dude, I feel sorry for his teachers today. There is no way my kid is going to take a nap when they want him to. And there is definitely no way Babboo’s going to settle for drinking plain old water and white milk at lunch and not the “apple drink” he’s been enjoying all weekend with me (”apple drink” is code for “chocolate milk with chocolate syrup”, or just “soda pop”).

And um, let’s not even talk about the sleep schedule that he did, or did not, adhere to while under my watch.

Friday night he and I met my aunt and my cousin (who was on her mission for our church out here in Washington) at a park. Babboo ate way too late in the evening and was not happy. Especially when his Subway sandwich kept “breaking”.

In an attempt to quiet him, I threw my camera his way and told him to just push buttons.

(I got about a million pictures that all look like this one. That is until he peed on my lap and I banished him to standing next to me and not sitting on my lap.)

(That’ll show him.)

It was super awesome to see my cousin. You can tell I was happy to see her since I did my famous “head tilt” that seems to have taken over every single darn picture ever taken of me.

And we wore matching outfits.

But that wasn’t planned. And was actually a little embarrassing. And not just for her.
Anyway, Friday night pretty much ruined Babboo for the rest of the weekend. He spent most of Saturday morning with a friend while May and I got our craft on (don’t worry, I’ll be posting pictures of our projects). And then he spent the rest of the day at the outlet mall, carrying around a bottle of (soy) chocolate milk, while we got our shopping on.

And then, for the first time ever, Babboo was sent to be babysat by an actual teenage babysitter, who we paid actual money to watch him. Seriously people, this is the first time he’s been babysat by a person that we had to pay, who wasn’t related to us. (To be fair, we do pay his daycare to watch him. But you know what I’m saying.)

When I picked Babboo up on Saturday night, well past his bedtime, he was a mess. Far messier then I’ve ever seen him. Even messier then on Finger Painting Day at his school.

The poor kid had seen better days.

Note that he’s soaking wet from sweat. His hair was literally dripping. And dude, check out his awesome, chocolate and pizza stained, Def Leppard shirt and evil eyes. Also note his awesome gut hanging out of his shirt.

Babboo was up about 3 hours later then he’d ever been. And I’m not sure he was liking it. He was walking around the house in a chocolate milk stupor.

Mr. May finally drove us all home, Babboo slept in this car seat next to May’s two kids, and me, well I sat in the very back of the car facing the wrong direction. You know the seat, the one that’s really not legal and totally uncomfortable? Yep, that was me, wedged up against the strollers, making out with my kneecaps.

Besides my time spent in the back of May’s car, it was the perfect weekend.

So tell me, what are your thoughts on those little back seats in cars? Are they really legal? They just seem so wrong. (And also, so fun!)

Sidenote to Babboo’s teachers: Good luck today. And also, I’m sorry.

——————-

I got a phone call on Friday afternoon from Kathleen’s husband.  Apparently she, a woman years younger then I am, had gone into cardiac arrest on Tuesday morning.  Tuesday morning, May 13th, the day we both celebrate our birthday.  Kathleen has no history of heart problems.  She’s young.  She’s a vegetarian.  She healthy.  She just had her first baby.

Kathleen’s on the mend.  Still in the hospital.  Still trying to figure out what the hell happened to her heart.

I had just spent the Saturday before, three days prior, with Kathleen and baby Elanor…having lunch and shopping in the city.

She was fine.

She was more then fine. She was happy and cheerful and, like always, so fun to be around.

(L-R: Kathleen, baby Elanor, Babboo, me, Eve, and Kathryn)

Please head over and wish Kathleen well.  While she a little busy right now, you know, mending in the hospital, she sure could use the well-wishes and prayers.

The spring of my senior year of high school was a crazy time. I was counting down the days to graduation and moving out to my own apartment. I was looking forward to becoming an adult, a college student, and having a job. (Maybe not in that order, but you know, whatever.)

I was also excited about getting away from my parents. We were at that stage where they weren’t sure if they could still tell me what to do and I wasn’t sure I would do what they told me to do. It’s was a very slippery slope and none of us were handling it very well.

It was an emotional (read: stressed) time for teenage Isabel.

What made things even more emotional was the fact that winter was sticking around that year. There was snow on the ground when there shouldn’t have been any freakin’ snow. My heart was black and the black sky wasn’t helping.

At some point I had a dream. I don’t remember the specifics of this particular dream. I just remember I woke up and knew that if I killed someone the snow would stop and the sun would shine again.

Dude, I told you I was pretty stressed.

Of course I didn’t kill anyone (that you know of!). But you get what I’m saying; I hate the snow. I hate lack of sun. I crave nice sunny weather.

And yet, again, we wonder why adult Isabel lives in Seattle.

I’ve been wearing my winter coat every morning on my way into the office. It’s the middle of May, and yet, still wearing the winter coat. While my coat is pretty cute and cozy, it’s a little too late in the year to still have to wear my winter coat.

My alarm went off this morning at 5:30, like always. But unlike always, I awoke to the sun peeking in through our bedroom window. At first I thought I had over slept. But then I realized, I hadn’t over slept.

The sun was actually shining in Seattle.

I walked into work today, sans my winter coat, with a smile on my face. (See, that’s me in the picture…with a smile.) (And that’s the actual reflection of the sun on the building!) (The sun!!)

It’s supposed to get up to ninety degrees today. Which is awesome considering it hasn’t gotten over forty degrees yet this year. (That may be a slight exaggeration, but you get what I’m saying.)

It’s the perfect way to start a weekend. A weekend where my bestest friend, May, will be in town visiting from Reno.

Bring on the sun, the crafting, and the outlet mall shopping.

I’m ready for it.

So tell me, have you ever thought about killing anyone? 

So tell me, do you like waking up to the sun shining in your room like I do? Or are you one of those freaks people that hangs black curtains in your bedroom so that you never see the sun?

——————-

Holy crap, I don’t know why I had never seen this video before. It’s the music video for the song Rhett Miller did with Rachael Yamagata for their song “Fireflies”. And it’s awesome. Dude, you should really watch the video.

Valentines Day, 1994.

My college boyfriend bought me one of my first CD’s. It was Jodeci’s “Diary of a Mad Band”.

You’ve never head of Jodeci? Yeah, I hadn’t either. But dude, my boyfriend loved them. And he wanted their CD. And it was close to Valentines Day. So he just went ahead and bought it, wrapped it, gave it to me and then it conveniently stayed in his CD player for the remainder of our relationship.

My birthday, 2008.

My dad sends me a card with an iTunes gift card slipped inside.

“Sweet, I like music”, I tell The King as I hold the card up to show him what I got.

“Wait, it’s only for $15″, I say as I get a closer look.

(Look at me being all unappreciative on my birthday. It’s not a good look on me.)

And then I read what my dad had written inside the card:

“Happy Birthday, Isabel! I didn’t know what kind of music you would like, so I figured you could buy whatever you wanted with this gift card. If you download something good, make sure send me a copy!”

Right.

Maybe I’ll download some Jodeci.

——————————–

Babboo got bit at school. But don’t worry, he totally ratted The Biter out. Read all about it over at SeattleMomBlogs.

We got a free month of Netflix. It’s my latest NewThing. Wanna know what’s on my queue?

Amalah posted the follow-up to my question at her AdviceSmackdown.  Check it out!

You heard the Old 97’s released a new album this week, right? And you know you want to watch the Old 97’s performing some of their new album live. Of course you do. (You do!) Check out the video. And then come back and let’s discuss how awesome they are.

Thanks for all the birthday wishes yesterday. You guys rock. And no matter what The King says, you can never tire of people telling you you’re awesome.

Okay, so remember how The King, Babboo and I are going to Europe in September? Remember how I told you how we used frequent flier miles to get us all FREE plane tickets? In the weeks after I posted that, I assume you all switched over to a credit card that offers you FF miles, right? (I hope you did!) (If you haven’t yet, what are you waiting for?)

The King and I are trying to get as much of this trip paid for before we actually take the trip. We figure it will be easier to swallow this bill if he slowly pay a little of it every month. This means trying to book and pay for our hotel rooms each a little every month. This is hard to do since we’re still trying to plan our complete itinerary. What we do know is that we’re starting out in Berlin and ending up in London. We’re prepared to get those hotel rooms now.

And so the hunt for our perfect hotels has begun.

We all have our own personal levels of comfort when staying in hotels. Some people demand a turn-down service and mints on their pillows. Some people only demand clean sheets and a door that locks. And others are only looking for a roof over their head and maybe indoor plumbing. Before shopping for a hotel you must come to terms with what you are personally comfortable with.

The King and I have different comfort levels based on whether or not we’re staying in a hotel in America. While vacationing in the U.S. of A, we like to stay at your typical old run of the mill hotel with a clean bathroom.

This picture was taken at a hotel we stayed at in Washington DC last summer. I’d say that the average we’re comfortable spending on a hotel room in America is about $100.

Of course that’s just an average of what we “like to” spend. When we stayed in NYC, also last summer, we paid about double our “like to” price for a hotel with a shared bathroom. New York city is an expensive place. We had to adjust our hotel comfort level to accommodate our location and the cost of hotels there.

While our hotel in NYC wasn’t ideal (as is apparent from this picture), it was cheap enough (and clean enough) to make their rate what we were most comfortable with.

While we’re on the subject, let’s quickly discuss this whole shared bathroom trend. I admit that before I actually tried staying in a hotel with a shared bathroom, I was skeptical. Here’s the thing, every single hotel I’ve ever stayed at with a shared bathroom has been no big deal. Really. Sharing a bathroom in a hotel is like when you go to visit your aunt and you stay in her guest room in the basement. You have to share the bathroom at your aunt’s house with your teenage cousin that you don’t really know. You see remnants that prove your cousin is also using the bathroom, but you never see your cousin actually using the bathroom.

It’s like that when you share a bathroom in a hotel.

I swear to you, I have never seen another person using the bathroom while I’m also using it. Never, ever, ever. It’s really no big deal. Plus, the hotels with shared bathrooms are extra good about housekeeping keeping the bathroom tidied throughout the day. They are extra clean. At least the ones we’ve stayed at are.
The only hotels I’ve ever seen shared bathrooms offered in America is in New York City. I think it’s pretty common there. And while the hotels with shared bathrooms we’ve stayed in NYC aren’t as clean as the ones we’ve stayed in in Europe, they are sufficient for our needs and fit into our price range.

What I’m saying is that don’t pass up a hotel with a shared bathroom, if the price is right. You might be surprised. And save a few dollars at the same time.

Okay, so once you’ve figured out what your hotel comfort level is, you can start looking for a hotel. Hotel shopping, for us, typically starts at the top with your typical travel sites like travelocity, orbitz, hotels, and expedia. This is a good place to start. This way you can look around and see what hotels are offered in your area and how much they are going for. It’s good to familiarize yourself with what your options are going to be. A website that we’ve had good luck with for hotels in Europe is venere.

Yes, there is some leg work in finding your hotel. But the right hotel is a top priority in helping to make your vacation memorable. In a good way.

Usually, when looking for hotels in out-of-the-way locations (like some of the places we’ll be visiting on our upcoming trip), we just google “hotels in name of town” and see what comes up. This is a good way to find locally owned beach front houses, or weekly vacation rentals, and not just chain hotels. You can usually contact the owners directly, via e-mail or phone, and ask questions and maybe even do a little bartering.

After we find a few hotel options online, The King and I will both scour the interweb for reviews on the hotels we’re interested in. The King usually reads the reviews on the individual travel websites while I’m a fan of the reviews over at tripadvisor. I typically read all the reviews and try to weigh the good and the bad ones. My personal thought is that someone who has stayed in a hotel and been completely satisfied won’t typically come home and get online to write a review about their hotel stay. I think only those with either super bad or super good experiences will take the time to post their reviews. So, I read all of the reviews, but take them with a grain of salt.

(We stayed at a hotel years ago in NYC where one tripadvisor review mentioned HUGE RATS in their room. We took a chance and stayed there and loved the place. No rats anywhere. See, grain of salt.)

A few years ago I found a website called BiddingForTravel. Basically it’s a message board for people using the NameYourOwnPrice option over at priceline. If you aren’t familiar with how this works, basically priceline let’s you bid on a hotel (or plane tickets, or a car rental) without knowing what hotel you’re going to get. You can put restrictions on your bid, like you want a 4* hotel in a certain neighborhood for a certain (lower) price. And then you just hope and pray you get a hotel you want. Once you win your bid, there is no turning back. You’ve paid for your hotel.

Using Priceline is a gamble and had always made me nervous in the past. That is until I found BiddingForTravel.

The beauty of BiddingForTravel is that the people on the message boards are keeping track of how much people are getting hotels for using Priceline. They also teach you how to use Priceline to the best advantage. They teach you about “free rebids” and how to work the system.

Be assured, it’s all legal. And it rocks.

The King and I have successfully used BiddingForTravel to get awesome (super awesome!) hotel deals in Vancouver, Canada. I’m talking $300 a night 4* hotels for $60 a night. Dude, you can’t beat that.

Okay, to use BiddingForTravel, you do need to do a little footwork to get help with your Priceline bids. You must first post a “Bidding Assistance Request” form on the message board. They want to know where you’re traveling to, how long you’re planning on staying, how much you’re willing to pay for your hotel room, what the hotels in that area are going for online, and where your “free rebid” areas are, etc.

The King and I used BiddingForTravel last month to get our hotel in London. We were able to bid and win a hotel for $70 a night. That specific hotel was going for $200 a night on the hotel’s website. Do the math. We saved $130. That’s a huge deal to travelers on a budget. Which is what we are.

We are now trying to get our hotel for Berlin booked. Last week I posted on BiddingForTravel for assistance on bidding for our hotel. I’m hoping to win a hotel for no more then $90 a night. The hotels in Berlin are going for over $200. We can’t afford that.

So, the people on BiddingForTravel suggested I start my bids at $70 and work my way up from there. Not going over $80. On Priceline you can only bid every 24 hours. And so, that’s what I’m doing. I’m bidding everyday, just hoping and praying that at some point I’ll actually win a bid.

While I haven’t had a successful bid yet for Berlin, I’m not nervous. We still have a few months left before we board the plane. Plus, we have a back up plan on a hotel we’ve stayed at in the past. Our backup plan isn’t as cheap as it has been in the past, but we’ve stayed there and know what we’d be getting ourselves into with it.

I’m in charge of working on getting us our Berlin hotel and The King is in charge of setting us up with a sweet (and by “sweet” I mean “inexpensive AND awesome”) hotel for the week we’ll be touring around the Balearic Islands in Spain. He’s deep in the middle of e-mail negotiations with the English owners of a beach front rental that we’re dying to stay at.

I’ll keep you posted.

Until then, tell me, what are your secrets to finding a good deal on a hotel room? I’m very curious to hear some more secrets. So, please share.

When I was a kid all it took to make my birthday awesome was my own cake and a couple of candles. (And maybe some bad 70’s art and wallpaper.) (And a bad haircut.) (And my older brother’s hand me downs.)

I’m older now, and some might say a little wiser. I am no longer satisfied with a bright pink cake to make my birthday complete. Plus, I’m doing Weight Watchers (again!), so there will no cake.

(No cake!?!)

(Okay, I might stop at the bakery on the way home tonight and buy a small cupcake to split with Babboo.)

To make this day complete I demand more then a cupcake. You know, things like:

More quality morning snuggle time with my two boys. (Could they be any cuter?)

I hate to admit it, but I love Papa Murphy’s pizza. The King hates it which, I think, is why I always ask for it for m birthday.

I’m hoping for a chance to hit Ann Taylor Loft on my way home (you know, after I hit up the bakery) to spend the gift card I got for Mothers Day.

“Lonesome Dove” should arrive today from Netflix. For years I’ve asked The King to watch this with me for my birthday. I’m hoping this year is the year he actually does it.

The Old 97’s have a new album out today. I’m sure it’s in honor of my birthday, and I thank them for that. I didn’t preorder it, for fear that it wouldn’t arrive on time. So, as soon as I hit “publish”, I’m heading out to pick up a copy. This is the best birthday present ever.

And tonight, while eating pizza and watching “Lonesome Dove”, I’m hoping to do more present opening with my boys. Because, let’s be honest, that’s the best part about birthdays.

Thanks to Rhett (and Carly) for this awesome birthday wish.

Screw the pink birthday cake, today’s gonna be better then that.

So tell me, how do you like to spend your birthday?