Looking for a new printer

I'm in need of a new printer, does anyone have any recommendations? I'd like to be able to print images, but also work from home once a week so an all-in-one is helpful as well although if I had to choose, I'd say printing images is more important than a printer I can use for work. Has to be mac compatible and most importantly must still print in b/w when the color ink is out. My current Epson piece of annoyance won't print in b/w when any of the color cartridges are out. I really, really, hate that.

How to take a good picture

Decorno has a really helpful post on taking good pictures, she went straight to the source and asked primo photographer Paul Costello for advice, I will let you read the full post on her blog but some tips that really hit me were never use the camera's flash, try to get by with natural light, and don't be afraid of a 30 second exposure. We were at Golden Gardens the other night and I could have really used a longer exposure in these shots. I guess I'll have to put a tripod and light meter on the shopping list.

I didn't buy the necklace

Last month while on shopping ban I couldn't wait until March so I could buy myself this necklace. Well March finally arrived and I allowed myself to shop again and I did not buy the necklace. Instead I bought this necklace from Zula Surfing on Etsy:


I'm a sucker for that shade of blue, I admire anything made of glass (a medium I'd love to be an expert in) and its the symbol for Aquarius. The little box it came in makes me happy as well, for some reason I have a thing for tiny boxes. And best of all this necklace was $22 while the other necklace would have cost me $110; of course I spent what I saved on some books from Powell's, a moleskine and some ebay finds but altogether I think spending $132 and getting nine items is much more frugal than spending $110 on only a single item. (can you say justification?).

$20 challenge February

This is Nero, he is my piggy bank that normally sits on my desk at work; he was a gift from a friend who shares the same birthday with me. Today I brought him home so I could count up the loose change he ate up during February. $20 challenge totals for February:

tax return: $795; bday money: $40; loose cash/change: $32.16; $1 cuz the Giants won the Super Bowl; $2 because I brought lunch twice (and ate it); grocery savings: $41.82. Total: $911.98 woot!


This is Ferber sleeping, I put him here just for fun and for Susan:

Spring is Coming!!!

For the last four days I've been able to open up the front door in the afternoons and let the sun stream in, I've been sitting at the computer in the mornings with the windows open just listening to all the birds twittering. And today, BF found something beautiful in the yard!!

You can't tell from this picture, but we have a little tiny flower in the middle of the yard

It's exactly to the left of the path going from the front to the garage.

So pretty and all by its lonesome. I've put my tomato cage around it now to protect it from feet.

Brought to you by the letter K

I'm not at all fond of my name. People constantly mispronounce it and misspell it. You know those racks of personalized key chains and mini license plates in gift shops? Never, ever had my name on anything. Even the dictionary is insulting, if you look up my given name (Kassandra) you have to look in the dictionary in the C section not the K section. Even though the origin of my name is Greek and spelled with a K, the darn dictionary puts it in the C section. The dictionary thing has always made me angry and oddly enough rather enamored of the letter K. My sister who has a nice, normal, common name is very understanding; she often buys me little trinkets with the letter K on them. So today we have a few Etsy items featuring the letter K.

From the top: Two Sarah's, Istanbul Designs, Initial Impressions, Jemjoop, Kristine Mays, and Allison Strine.

And some good K words: kindness, kiwi, koala, kool-aid, kumquat, kabuki, kaleidoscope, kangaroo, kerfuffle, kinesiology, kiss, kismet, kitten, kookaburra, krill, kayak, and kvetch.

I'm keeping the car

Lately I've been thinking that I should get rid of my car for a hybrid. If I'm going to be too lazy to bus to work I should at least be green in my car to alleviate the guilt. And the bf getting in an accident last November (7k in damages to my car all covered by insurance yippee) made me think that my car will never be worth more now as a trade-in. But then I think about it some more, I hated having car payments and busted my butt paying the car off early. And there's nothing wrong with my car, for goodness sakes, its right side is completely new. As long as I keep up the regular maintenance this thing ought to last me many more years. But the gas thing does bug me, we are only getting about 21mpg. But the plan truth is that I cannot afford car payments unless I am willing to put less away in savings each month. So I write this post to myself as a reminder that saving for an emergency fund and for a house is more important right now than buying a car.

image from lolcars

Note to Self, I want this

Diamonds are Forever by Alex and Chloe. Banned from shopping until March and I'm scared because I've been coveting this for awhile which means now that I've decided I must have it someone else will probably buy it. I hope they have more than one.

I'm also really digging on this one called Chloe's Woods to Water: