17 November 2008

Local Thoughts

Lately everytime I turn on NPR I hear facts about how little we Americans are spending money these days. The host often rattles off percentages of how much we spent this quarter versus last quarter, versus 6 months ago, versus last year at this time; expenditures from home construction, to holiday shopping, to new cars.  


Everyone is "pinching pennies". We automatically assume this is all due to the economy, the stock market crashing, the car industry bankruptcy, etc. Isn't it also possible that the concepts of reduce, reuse, recycle have hit the mark? Could we consider just for a moment that people are cutting back and spending less and buying local & reused items because it is the smart and responsible thing to to do? People are scared, I get that. We are all "tightening our belts".  But isn't it possible that people are just considering a new lifestyle of buying less crap. They want heirlooms and treasures versus things that will kick out on them in less than a years time. And Hummer isn't going out of business because their cars are expensive. People don't want gas guzzlers, plain and simple. 

Two of the people in my office are cutting back. They are cutting back because rents are higher and jobs are fewer and far between. They also discussed that while living locally is ideal - it can be more expensive. We started throwing around the idea that if food was cheaper, we might buy more of it, thus more would go bad. I personally find that I am very selective about the groceries I buy because of the high cost and the potential to waste.

I welcome thoughts on this topic.  

16 November 2008

Local Decorating

Donny and I have been living together almost a year ago now.  We didn't buy really any new furniture at the beginning.  Mostly little accessories since we were lucky to have a lot of existing pieces that went together nicely.  After much debate we agreed to get a new tv and a dresser for the bedroom.  It was our immediate reaction to go online and see the newest, cool, vintage inspired, modern pieces from DWR, West Elm, Design Public, CB2 and the list goes on.  Having not purchased much bedroom furniture in my lifetime I could not believe how expensive these dressers cost. Anywhere from $500-$1500.  Sure, I could go to Ikea and spend $80 on thin wood, but I want a dresser that will last.  Don't get me wrong, I like Ikea for certain things, but not a dresser.  I started to scour craig's list, but if you've done it before you understand how it can be an exhausting task.  You want to be specific about a design era, but not too specific that filters out a piece you might really like.  Basically I typed in dresser and looked at a hundred pictures of really ornate dressers that I didn't like.  After a lot of searching I was lucky enough to come across this website Modern Search and Design.  They don't have too many pieces on their site, but for my taste they have a great used collection.  I emailed the guy Nick on Saturday morning and by Sunday midday we had a new (to us) metal dresser.  For $300 + a $40 delivery charge, it was totally worth it.  Granted its not straight from the box, I had to wipe it down a bit, but it works really well with our style and nothing new was manufactured.

05 November 2008

President-Elect Obama

04 November 2008

Election Day 2008

I am off to work at my local polling place.  
Please do not let the rain deter you from voting.  This will be a historic day.
Aside from the obvious race for president and Prop 8 - get an I voted sticker for free samples at: Starbucks, Krispy Kreme and Ben & Jerry's.  Not all exactly local establishments, but I will promote anyone for a day if they support voting.  Let me know if you hear about other companies doing the same.  

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