Love 2

Things I Love

I love Craigslist

I know I’ve mentioned Craigslist before.  But Craigslist is so amazing that I can’t help but sing it’s praises whenever I get the chance.  And Denver’s Craigslist is off the hook.

My most recent Craigslist success story:  My dream has always been to have two white couches facing each other in my living room.  I’ve had this dream for a long time.

Tip #1 for Craigslist:  Dream about things and give yourself lots of time to find them.  Search everyday, and then when you find it, jump in the car and go get it ASAP because the good deals go fast. 

Tip #2 for Craigslist:  Have a really supportive husband who knows better than to question your frantic Craigslist runs and helps you lift the heavy furniture that he never even wanted anyway.  Anyway…



First find:  Perfect IKEA Ektorp couch without a slipcover for $150.  New white slipcover for $50.  Total: $200.

Second find:  Brand new IKEA Ektorp couch with perfect new slipcover for $150.



Total for two IKEA white Ektorp couches = $350!  Less than the cost of a new one from the store!  I LOVE CRAIGSLIST!!!!!

I love hiring people to do things.

Jakob and I are big DIYers.  But we don’t like it.  We really don’t.  But I dream about my house looking like houses in magazines or on design blogs and I can’t wait for 20 years to pass so that we can afford it.  So we do it ourselves.

We hardly ever hire anyone to do anything, but we had to add a closet to our basement bedroom.  And we have a deadline, so we hired someone.

I love hiring people.  But it definitely has it’s downsides.  Getting quotes from multiple people (annoying), the cost being four times as much as it would cost if we did it ourselves, being a hostage in your house because someone else is there, dealing with the quirks of contractors (show up late or early, take long lunch breaks, everything takes longer than they thought it would, talk to you for a long, long time about life because they want to be your friend, etc.). 



But three days later, it's done.  And I don't have any bruises and didn't have to hold a single tool!  Love it.  Congratulations to you guys who can afford to hire everything out.  Or to those of you who have inner peace and are content with your home as-is.

I love Audiobooks.

I like to read, but I can never discipline myself to sit still and read.  There’s so much else to be done.  Even fun stuff to be done, like check my email or search Craigslist.  But when you are reading a book, the only thing you can do at that moment is read the book.

I started to listen to audiobooks and there was no looking back.  I can listen to a book while I’m searching on Craigslist, folding laundry, driving around town, or installing baseboards.  “But, Mindy, with all those distractions you probably miss a lot of the book.”  That’s what I thought.  But I surprisingly pick up a lot, even with all the distractions.  I feel smarter because I’m reading more, and I also enjoy all these amazing books.