2014 Resolutions

01: take more photos -- I mentioned on Facebook that I wanted to be sure to take more photos with Clay this year because in the past two years we've taken less than 10 a year together.  I also want to start taking group photos each time we see family and each time we have an event with friends. Also known as - not just pictures of Mr. Duke Pug!!!

02: rest -- I stress a lot about completing my list of errands on the weekends and cramming all this self-imposed work on myself when I should be relaxing and enjoying time with friends instead of looking at my watch wondering if I'll have time to complete x,y,z which actually doesn't matter in the long run.  Rest is the reason we didn't go home for Christmas this past year, I was just too tired and stressed to think about traveling during the holiday season.

03: be healthy --  Most importantly this means cutting down on my sugar intake and enjoying my long walks with Mr. Duke while not being lazy and taking escalators when there are stairs.  In New York this means I can also walk to and from work more and walk to meet friends instead of using public transportation.

04: finish what you start -- I usually do this but I'd like to finish David McCullough's biography on Truman, I'm on page 600/900!

05: be free -- Digging into my faith as a beloved child of God.  Not over committing my time and energy.  Continuing to be frugal to put more money aside in savings for long-term goals.  A work life balance that works for me.  Continuously purging clutter from my life and creating a healthy and happy home.  Switching to USA made, cruelty free products.  Eating food and using products that contain less manufactured chemicals and more natural ones.

What are your New Year's Resolutions?

-Bug

Our Closet Hustle

One of my greatest takeaways from Australia was learning to live as a more frugal conscious consumer in a way that embraces minimalism and is more environmentally friendly.  This is a pretty broad lifestyle statement but I'd like to show you how it affects our Closet Hustle.  I call it a 'hustle' because I'm simultaneously clearing clutter, making money, and recycling clothing.

While returning our Christmas decorations to their storage place under the bed Bird and I decided it was also time to sort through everything else under our bed and in our closets.  After living in New York a full year through all four seasons we were easily able to reevaluate what clothes/shoes/accessories we no longer wanted.  During this exercise we also took mental notes to help make better purchasing decisions in the future.

But cleaning out a closet doesn't end in a simple trip to Goodwill.

First I separate items I want to give to specific people.  Last week I gifted a necklace to a coworker as both an engagement and farewell gift, she wore it for the next 4 days and other coworkers were coming to me praising my fine taste in picking out presents.  Last summer I held onto two cashmere scarves to give to a 705er for her birthday and I also gave a bag of scrapbooking materials to another friend to use.  Free gifts save money and in my experience the recipients have always been more touched that I saw and saved something for them than have been weirded out that it's a hand-me-down.

Then I separate what I think I can sell on either Craigstlist or eBay.  This past week it took us less than 24 hours to sell a Belgium-made dog crate on Craigslist for $65 that we originally purchased from a neighbor for $40.  In 7 days we made over $150 on eBay selling a pair of 7FAM jeans, a cashmere sweater, and a Patagonia fleece vest.  It takes a few minutes to take some pictures and fill in some details but it's a great way to make money and recycle items.  

After selling items I separate out what I think someone would actually purchase from a consignment or thrift store.  I personally save money on name brand items (Michael Kors, Coach, Dooney and Bourke) by purchasing secondhand through eBay, consignment stores, and Goodwill.  When donating to consignment/thrift stores I think, "Would I buy this?"  If not, I don't donate the item.  What I mean by this is... do you think someone really wants to purchase your adult cotton t-shirts you receive free at charity events?  I feel these items take employees longer to sort through and never sell, making no money for the company.  When donating a bag of items, always remember to get your Charitable Tax Deduction form!  Unfortunately Goodwill makes you go to their website to value your items yourself but last year when we moved to New York I took two large bags of Bird's suits, shirts, and belts to the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center Thrift Shop and they mailed me a completed donation slip valuing the donation for over $300.  I'm recycling clothing while receiving a tax deduction.

With whatever clothing items are left I have two options: H&M and my local NYC GreenMarket.

There is an H&M in my office building and I keep two or three pieces of unwanted clothing in a drawer for whenever I feel like browsing H&M.  You can read this Bloomberg article for more details but in a nutshell when I donate clothing items to H&M I receive a 15% off coupon available to use during that shopping trip.  I just saved 15% on my choice of any full priced item!  They actually let me choose to use it on the most expensive item of that trip if I have more than one item which is also nice.  H&M then resells the clothing and then recycles what can't be sold.  From the Bloomberg article:

The Swedish retailer collects clothing of any brand and in any condition in white and green boxes in stores. Switzerland’s I:Collect AG buys the garments and, depending on quality, either resells them or gives them new life in things like cleaning cloths and stuffed toys.“We don’t want clothes to become waste, we want them to become a resource instead,” H&M sustainability manager Henrik Lampa said in the retailer’s headquarters overlooking Drottninggatan, a busy shopping street in Stockholm. “We want to make new commercial fibers out of this, to make new clothes and textiles.”

My other last-ditch option is every Saturday morning I walk Mr. Duke to our local GrowNYC Greenmarket to throw our weekly vegetable/tea/coffee/grains scraps into a large bin to be composted for use throughout NYC parks and neighborhood gardens.  They also recycle clothing.  Click to see GrowNYC Greenmarket's Clothing Recycling page.   From their website:

What happens to materials donated? 

Textiles are sorted into different grades including usable clothing, cotton scrap, cotton blend scrap and synthetics. These commodities are then sold for reuse as clothing, linens, etc or to recycling markets that turn materials into wiping rags, fiber for car door panels and insulation.

I know it seems like a lot but I honestly feel better about taking my time and being more conscious about what ends up happening with my 'trash.'  One man's trash is another man's treasure.  Not only do I get rid of unwanted excess and clutter in my life, I've taught myself better purchasing habits for the future by evaluating what I'm getting rid of and what is missing from my closest while also creating income to use towards future purchases.

Please feel free to react in the comment section below.

-Bug

Christmas 2013

Merry Christmas!

On Friday, December 13th my ladies Bible study shared a Christmas dinner and Secret Santa gift exchange at Galli, an Italian restaurant in SoHo.

The next day was an incredibly magical snowy day and I attended a potluck brunch/Love Actually viewing party at a friend's who lives in the Financial District.  My favorite dish there was these sour cream pancakes, we couldn't get over them!

New York Stock Exchange

That night I rented a car with 3 friends and we headed to Brooklyn's Dyker Heights Christmas Lights.  We had all seen this neighborhood's Christmas lights on the Travel Channel Christmas specials growing up.  Of course it was so cold we just drove around the neighborhood and only jumped out to take the middle photo below.

On Saturday, December 21st Clay and I hosted our Hillsong's Connect Group's Christmas Party at our apartment.  Another potluck style party where we exchanged Secret Santa gifts and played Taboo, the ladies won!

Mom returned to New York City to celebrate Christmas with us.  On Christmas Eve we watched Saving Mr. Banks and attended Hillsong's Christmas Eve Service.  Christmas day we spent at Da's house with Mary, Annie, and Tom!

Hillsong's Christmas Eve Service

Thanksgiving Week 2013

My mom joined us from North Carolina from Tuesday, November 26th until the early morning of Monday, December 2nd.

On Tuesday night we went to see Radio City's Christmas Spectacular and loved it!  What talent and precision the Rockettes have; Mom and I have always enjoyed watching them perform during the Macy's Parade every Thanksgiving.  We loved that for a mainstream tourist audience their final act was reading aloud the Nativity Story while acting it out on stage, including live animals!

On Wednesday, since Mom and Clay were home while I went to work, they cooked a Thanksgiving dinner of turkey, stuffing, potatoes and gravy, rolls, green beans, and pumpkin pie.  It was a yummy minimalistic meal for just the three of us and feed us for the remainder of the week.  We all agreed it would be best to have Thanksgiving dinner on Wednesday because they had the entire day to cook, unlike on Thanksgiving day itself where we had most the day already planned with activities.

My commute home was interrupted by balloon inflation on 81st Street

This is my bus stop.  That is the Wizard of Oz balloon!

After our Thanksgiving feast we headed to Lion King on Broadway.  Definitely a MUST SEE for anyone coming to New York EVER!  Incredible, just really creative and the African songs gave me goosebumps.  Music is such an incredible art that can portray emotion regardless of the language.

On Thanksgiving Day we headed to my office at Columbus Circle to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.  Mom and I have always watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and the New Year's Rose Parade so it was exciting for the both of us to be able to share this experience together.  We were on the 18th floor so didn't have the greatest views of the balloons and performers but we weren't standing in 31` weather and had access to a pantry and bathroom!  We also recorded the parade at home so caught up on the Broadway performances that afternoon  The three of us and Duke then proceeded to take naps on the couch together before snacking on leftovers and heading to a friend's place for drinks and dessert from 8 pm - 12 am.

On Friday we all slept in then Mom and I headed to the Intrepid Museum.  We toured a Cold War submarine and the Intrepid battleship and enjoyed their films and exhibits.  When we came home we purchased and decorated our Christmas tree, another tradition Mom and I do the day after Thanksgiving.  Most of our friends and family know that Clay and I always try to buy an ornament on our travel, this tree literally can't fit another ornament on it-- oh well, we'll just have to get a larger tree next year!  Then Clay made Mom a belated birthday dinner of steak, green beans, and sweet potatoes!

Inside the submarine 'Growler'

Flight deck of the Intrepid 

On Saturday morning Mom and I ran my usual errands before heading to my Bible Study which lasted from 3-7 pm.  We then came home to Clay and Duke cheering Auburn to victory!

War Eagle!

On Sunday we headed to Hillsong, lunched at ABC Kitchen (also a place to try, it has great ambiance and a fantastic home store attached), and then Mom and I did some shopping before heading to my office again for me to do a few things before heading home for the night.

Christmas decorations at the Time Warner Center

I put Mom in a cab before catching the bus to return to work on Monday.

What a great, full, productive, and fun week we had!!!  We love you Mom! -Bird, Bug, & Pug

A Year of NYC Sports

We moved to New York City one year ago come the end of this week.  I thought it would be fun to try to see every major sport this city has to offer and we actually did!

This past March we got to see the Rangers as guests of Credit Suisse, sit on the front row directly behind the penalty box, and use their suite with a buffet and free drinks!

Once the weather warmed up in June we headed to Citi Field to watch the Mets, what a beautiful stadium.

In August we saw the Yankees and the crowd booed for ARod until he hit a home run and they cheered for him every time he was batting after that.

The Barclays golf tournament was at Liberty National Golf Club.  You can see the Manhattan skyline and the Statue of Liberty from this course.  We saw every hole and all the big names: Adam Scott, Tiger Woods, Phil Mickleson, McIlroy, the Aussies, etc.

Tiger Woods & Adam Scott

August was a busy month!  We also saw the US Open and watched Serena play for a while, I can't imagine how loud she will be yelling and grunting during childbirth!

Serena Williams

The first weekend in November we saw the Jets, we can't believe there isn't a direct train from the City there, or a roof!!!

The next week we saw the Knicks vs Bobcats, and Charlotte won :)

What a year!