We took it easy New Years Eve and stayed in with our friends Joe and Scott and played Trivial Pursuit while drinking champagne, wine and martinis. It was nice an mellow, and a whole lot more affordable than the $100.00 a head dinner/open bar that my favorite local bar was offering. I had a fantastic time, in the company of those I really truly enjoy. Plus, I got to stay home with the pooch, and he always puts a smile on my face. I'm so excited to start the new year off with my wonderful boyfriend and our adorable dog. I feel very lucky to be so happy in my life.
I rearranged the living room a bit to make he crafting corner more functional. There is now a desk area to sit and make cards or sew. It's so nice and tidy and I'm so anxious to get a project started. I just have a few more small knitting projects to complete before I can dive into something else. My first major project will be a painting of sorts. We'll see...
I'm very disappointed that I knit 10 gifts for Christmas and hardly have any pictures of any of them. Not until after I wrapped everything did I remember that I didn't photograph anything. Booo. Total bummer. I have a few pics of the wire votives I knit from Handknit Holidays. There was a bunch of tweaking to the pattern and a lot of pain and finger cuts, but all in all I absolutely love the way they came out. I wish I had the drive to make some for myself. Ha! Yeah right. Here they are alone, and wrapped up in a basket with some wine or other candles, which is how I gifted them to a bunch of people.
In other news, I've started the new year off right by going food shopping last night. I'm going to try to cook the majority of my meals instead of eating out so much. Good news is I went to the grocery store with a $100.00 budget last night and came out spending $109.91. My cabinets and refrigerator were practically empty and now they are overflowing, so I think I did a great job for the money, plus there was some kind of sale thing where if you spent a certain amount, you got free items. I came home with free Orange Juice, a dozen eggs, bacon (I'm a vegetarian, but Brodie is not), and English Muffins. I also saved around $15.00 in coupons. I feel really great about my purchases, and I am confident that I won't have to eat out or go shopping for at least the next 2 weeks.
And last but not least, I was very surprised to see that I got a $3.00 raise today. That's a 15% increase in pay. I'm completely excited. I will put all of the raise into savings, and with that I'll be able to save $5,000.00 this year. My goal has now changed to $7,00.00 in savings this year. No problem, right? Fingers are crossed. I'm going to do my best.
We're taking the pooch to the vet tonight for his final booster shot. After this he'll only have to get his rabies vaccination. Then Brodie and I will continue the great neutering debate '07 until I win and we get him fixed. It's only the right thing. God, I love that pooch. And that man. The man before the pooch, but Brodie is going to have to step up on the kisses, because the pooch is winning by a landslide there. ;)
Yay 2007!
