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How I Saved $13,000 For A Round-The-World Trip In Seven Months

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kateAt age 26, Kate McCulley, now a full-time travel blogger at AdventurousKate.com, quit her job to travel the world. The following post has been republished with her permission.

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When I started Adventurous Kate, my goal wasn’t to live off my blog (not that I would have objected to that!) — it was to run one of the world’s top travel blogs.

My initial plan was to travel Southeast Asia for seven months.  I budgeted $1,000 per month (in retrospect, I should have budgeted closer to $1,500), plus airfare to and from Asia ($1,500), travel insurance ($800), gear ($700), student loan payments for seven months ($1,232) and some extra financial cushion ($1,500 — should have budgeted $2,000 or more).

My goal was to save $12,800 — which I dropped to $12,500 when I spent $280 less than I expected to on airfare.

I started with very little savings in February, having just paid off debt.  From February 2010 until September 2010, a period of just seven months, I managed to save that money.

I didn't quit my day job –– at least not right away.

On February 6 — incidentally, the same day Adventurous Kate went live — I started a new job as an account manager at a search marketing agency outside Boston.  

My salary was $50,000 (up from $48,000 at my last job) and my take-home pay after taxes was almost exactly $3,000 each month, or $1,500 on each semi-monthly paycheck.

At that time, I was still saving up for the RTW trip I would take “someday,” or the apartment in New York City that I would get with my sister.  I decided to save aggressively.  It wasn’t until March that I decided to travel through Southeast Asia for seven months instead and to start in October.



I came up with an aggressive savings strategy: $1,000 per month

My first task was to figure out my essential expenses.  They were as follows:

Utilities: $100
Student loans: $176
Rent: $800 (half of a one-bedroom in Fenway, Boston)
CharlieCard (public transit pass): $59
Netflix: $10
Chiropractry: $80
Food: $300
Social activities and impromptu food purchases (bars, movies, going out for lunch or dinner, nights out with friends): $200
Miscellaneous Expenditures: $150

Total: $1,965

If I managed to watch my expenses, I would be able to save $1,000 per month.  If I changed my lifestyle, I’d be able to save even more.



Then I traded in Whole Foods and my gym membership for long walks and Trader Joe's

I took a look at my spending and saw that I had a lot of ways to trim my expenses.  It was easy to eliminate things like trips to Vegas and cocktails at fancy bars with the girls.  The everyday things were much harder.

As much as it broke my heart, I gave up my gym membership.  This was the only time I have ever been in shape — I found a gym that I loved, a high-end women’s gym with lots of fun classes.  It was sad to give it up.

I stopped shopping at expensive grocery stores like Whole Foods and switched to the super-cheap Trader Joe’s.



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This Slingshot Will Revolutionize Your Snowball Fights

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This is The Snowball Slingshot from Hammacher Schlemmer.

Why We Love It: Instead of focusing on all the bad aspects of cold weather (like your car not starting in the morning and that negative wind chill), think about all the cool things you can do: skiing, building snow forts, and having snowball fights. We recommend this Snowball Slingshot for the latter.

It fires baseball-sized snowballs at your opponents and is made with medical-grade elastic tubing and a durable water-proof polypropylene/styrene-based plastic. The Snowball Slingshot even comes with a target for practicing your accuracy, and measures 19'' x 5'' x 12''.

Snowball Slingshot

Where To Buy: Available through Hammacher Schlemmer.

Cost: $29.95.

Want to nominate a cool product for Stuff We Love? Send an email to Megan Willett at mwillett@businessinsider.com with "Stuff We Love" in the subject line.

DON'T MISS: This Instant Wine Chiller Will Cool White Wines Without Watering Them Down

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A Cab Driver's Challenge To Get Healthy Changed My Life

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Amanda Slavin

There isn’t anyone who is going to tell you it's time to grow up. Well, there is, but you probably won’t listen to them. I don’t mean growing up in the way of paying your bills, or moving out of your parents' house, or buying your own car. I mean growing up in the sense of knowing who you are, understanding your values and being true to your core.

There is a moment in life when you know it's time to make a change. I call it your “happiness GPS” pointing you in the right direction. Something inside you is telling you, “This is not the right way,” and sometimes, if you continue to go in the wrong direction, the universe will send you a big wake up call. This is what happened to me.

I went to college to be a teacher and entered a five-year bachelor's/master's program when I was 20 years old. Anyone who thinks they know who they are when they are 20 years old is horribly mistaken. When I was 20, I was convinced I was going to be married by 23, have children at 26, and be happily settled with my husband in the suburbs. But my “happiness GPS” had other plans for me.

Through a random (or maybe not so random) chain of events, I ended up working for a startup in New York City four days after graduating with a Master's in Curriculum and Instruction. The startup had nothing to do with education, and I ended up as the director of marketing and events for a restaurant group in 2009. As a recovering workaholic and socialholic, I threw myself into work and into my social life, working 10-hour days, and then going to events night after night, always being on, forgetting I wasn’t an iPhone you could just reset.

I started to see a trend from a lot of my New York friends. Treat your body horribly, work yourself to the bone, do a juice cleanse, and then you are ready for another week of putting yourself last. I never thought there was anything wrong with this, because it had “worked” for me for three years. I was lucky enough to have fallen into a job that suited my social skills, I loved my coworkers like family, and the company I worked for was rapidly growing, but I felt like something was off. I went from college directly to New York, throwing myself into work, throwing myself into bad relationships, throwing myself into events filled with people I kissed on both cheeks but knew nothing about besides their last photo album on Facebook. I had no idea who I was, and what I wanted but I knew something didn’t feel right.

Two years ago I met a group of individuals who were part of a nonprofit, and that changed my life. I started helping them with fundraising, supporting them with resources and relationships in the events and marketing world, and realized the value of being able to “use the hand that fed me to feed others.” I ended up knee-deep in the philanthropy space, helping too many organizations to name, loving every minute of supporting these wonderful people who were doing such amazing things in the world. By filling the void inside me by helping others, I didn’t have to help myself.

After two years of putting everyone and anyone in front of myself, it slowly hit me. The universal “crash” was not something that was mind-blowing or obvious; it was as simple as receiving a negative comment from someone at an event. I started to do some soul searching, asking myself questions such as, “Had I really not changed at all in the past six years? Was I still putting myself in situations that were just wrong for me? Did I know myself at all?”

I felt lost and frustrated, and a friend suggested I see a healer. Always up for an adventure, I agreed. She told me things about my past and my future; some of which were wrong, but most were right. It was as if she was reflecting back to me all that I knew was inside me but pushed down, forgetting it had existed. I left feeling exhilarated, and realizing I was not making the right decisions to give me the life I wanted to live.

I started a trend after this experience where I would go to breakfast with all different people, and just talk to them with no preconceived business notions. I met with friend after friend asking them their stories and sometimes for advice, and for two weeks, India came up in conversation six times. I had never really thought of going to India, but I knew I needed a change of pace.

I decided to go to India for 10 days, and for the first time in my life, I did not bring any form of technology. I had no form of communication, and for the first time in a long time, I thought about myself. I had realizations such as, “Wow, I like to read, I like the beach, I like to be alone,” and more than anything, I care about my health, my wellness, and want to give myself the time and effort I have been giving everyone else and learn who I am.

After a lot of meditating, yoga, reading, relaxing, and thinking, I jumped in a cab for the two-hour drive to the airport to go from Kochi to Delhi. I started to talk to my cab driver asking him questions about his life. I asked him if he did yoga, and he said yes of course, he goes to yoga every day. I asked him for some tips and tricks, in which he then pulled over to the side of the highway, pushed down the seat, and said, “Let me teach you how to breathe for yoga.”

I was fairly terrified but followed his lead, and he then proceeded to ask me if I exercised, and I told him I walk. He scoffed and replied, “Ugh, you Europeans and New Yorkers with your tak tak bodies and your walking.” I was horrified, and asked him if “tak tak” meant fat, in which he nodded and flatly said, “Yes.” He told me my face looked swollen and asked me if I drank and ate chicken, which I did. He then challenged me and told me to go back to the U.S., do yoga every single day, stop eating meat, and stop drinking alcohol and go back to India in 6 months to show him the results. At first I refused, but he made me write it down on a piece of paper in front of him, and something in me just said "Do it," so I did. He gave me his email and told me to email him if I was going to fold, and he would help me through it.

I went back to New York with the intention to commit to this stranger — and really to myself — for the first time. I tried more than anything to live the same life I had before, working 10 hours a day, going from event to event, but something felt off. Three months into this experience, I found a piece of paper I had scribbled on the day before I met the cab driver in India. I had woken up at 3 a.m. to write down something (India makes you do weird things), and crumpled it up on my shelf. It stated, “I will eat healthy, I will exercise, I will not drink.” It made me realize I had made this commitment to myself even before the cab driver, but needed a little bit of “magic” to remind me.

I started making smaller changes, speaking with my boss and having him be a part of the conversation. How can I still do what I love and live the life that I want? How can I make a change in the world and go back to my roots as an educator but still stay true to my love for business? I called friends for advice, but then realized I was the only one who could give me the answers that I needed.

I ended up starting my own company with an amazing partner and mentor, becoming a partner in the restaurant group I had worked with three years prior, and created the life I wanted to lead. I went back to India two weeks ago, and the cabbie excitedly exclaimed, “You look perfect, keep doing this, make sure you keep doing this!”

In India, we climbed a 9,000-foot mountain, rode elephants, relaxed on houseboats, and I realized while it was an incredible experience, I also love the life I am creating for myself at home (which means a new home in LA, which I found was more fitting for my lifestyle). I am no longer running away from my life, but am stepping into it. I am no longer needing cab drivers and healers and strangers to tell me who I am and what I want. I am very clear with myself about who I am and who I want to be.

When you are younger, you think growing up is hard and scary. You think you want to stay young forever — innocent and safe — but then one day, you realize that growing up is amazing, exciting and opens up endless possibilities. If I have learned anything from this experience, I have learned you have to take care of yourself, you have to take the time and energy and effort to get to know yourself because there is a lot of noise, a lot of nonsense, and a lot of pressure that you will receive from all around you. No matter how “busy you are," “how stressed you are,” or “how little time you have,” it's worth taking time for yourself, and when you do, truly anything is possible.

SEE ALSO: 10 Incredibly Easy Ways To Improve Your Life

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6 Myths Couples Should Stop Believing About Joint Bank Accounts

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tired thinking couple Setting up a joint bank account to cover shared expenses is a pretty standard move for most couples, but things start to get a little dicey when credit cards join the mix. 

"Many consumers are confused about what happens to their credit when they get married," says Ken Lin, CEO of Credit Karma

Lin and his team have honed in some of the most widely-held myths about linking credit accounts. 

Whether you're married or simply considering consolidating your finances with your partner, you'll definitely want to consider these points:

When I get married, we get a joint credit score. "Each person has their own credit score 'til death do you part," Lin says. "However, when you open credit or loan accounts jointly, that information will be reflected on each of your credit reports, for better or for worse."

Once I am married, we’ll share all accounts. There's no switch that goes off the minute spouses step down the aisle together. You've got to do the dirty work yourself, which includes choosing the right credit card for both of you and designating one partner to manage bill payments.

There’s a marriage tax penalty. "Just because you get married doesn’t mean you’ll pay more in taxes," Lin says. "In fact, couples with disparate income (a large gap between the paychecks of the husband and wife) saw an average tax break of $1,300, according to the Congressional Budget Office. The office also reported that 51% of married couples paid less in taxes jointly than they would have if they were single, while 42% paid more." 

Since we’re married, we have to file for bankruptcy together. That's another common misconception, Lin says: "Spouses may file a joint case; however, they do not have to file together. If only one spouse files, make sure you understand what property will be treated as part of the bankruptcy estate."

It's a bad idea to close joint credit accounts. It's true that closing credit accounts might ding your score temporarily, but sometimes it's the best option for couples hitting a rough patch. "For instance, if you’re getting a divorce, you should close joint accounts so you won’t be on the hook for your ex’s spending sprees," Lin says.

Our combined income will bump up my credit score.  False. Income doesn't even factor into your credit score at all. But if you're going to add another piece of plastic to your wallet, having two incomes to support it will definitely help out in the long run, Lin says.

SEE ALSO: 13 money lies you should stop telling yourself by age 30 >

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10 Ways To Keep Your Home Safe While You're Traveling

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wine cellar lock and key

Leaving for the holidays? Even if your trip prep list is a mile long, taking the time to go through a few extra steps to ensure that your house is well cared for can bring a lot of peace of mind.

Installing a home security system may be the first thing you think of, but there are plenty of smaller steps you can take that are just as (or even more) effective in deterring theft.

Here are 10 things you can do to make sure that your home is safe and sound, and you can enjoy your trip without worry.

1. Tell neighbors you'll be away. Even if you rarely speak with your neighbors, it is important to give them a heads-up when you are leaving town for a week or more. If you have a good relationship with a neighbor, consider leaving a copy of your key in case of emergency — or at least your contact info while you're away and the phone number of someone locally who has a key.

Think twice, however, before sharing specific details about your trip on social media or through a blog. I know plenty of people do, and nothing comes of it, but file this under "Better safe than sorry."

2. Use light timers and motion sensors. Giving the impression that your home is occupied is one of the surest ways to deter theft. Pick up a basic light timer at the hardware store and program your interior lights to flick on for several hours each evening — you can even set the TV to turn on as well.

If you don't already have motion-sensitive lights outdoors (front, back and side), consider installing them before you leave. If you already have them, make sure the bulbs work before you go.

3. Hire a pet sitter or house sitter. Even better than creating the appearance of someone staying in the house is someone actually staying in the house. Hiring a pet sitter to stop by once or twice each day is a smart choice. Not only will your pet be happier at home than in a kennel, but your house will be looked after as well — most pet sitters will gladly bring in the mail and water a few plants.

No pets? Consider doing a swap with a friend or family member in the area — he or she watches your house this time, and you return the favor later on. Or hire a professional house sitter.

4. Lock up. It sounds almost too simple to mention. But really, it's all too easy to forget to latch all of those less frequently used windows and doors in the rush to catch a plane. Write a big note and stick it near your car keys as a reminder to do a thorough lockup before leaving.

5. Secure sliding glass. Sliding glass windows and doors require special care to be really secure. Luckily the fix is a simple one; just cut a wooden pole or thick dowel to fit in the groove of the tracks when the door is shut, and lay it in before you leave. This won't stop someone from shattering the glass, but it will make your home a less desirable target.

6. Keep up the appearance of routines. If you will be away for more than a week, see if one of your neighbors can bring your garbage and recycling bins out for you and back in the next day.

Also, don't let mail pile up on the porch; have the postal service hold your mail for up to 30 days instead. You can fill out the form online here, so you don't even need to step foot in the post office during this busy time. Likewise for newspapers — contact your newspaper carrier to suspend service while you are away.

7. Keep trees and shrubs trimmed for visibility. Make it more difficult for someone to break in unnoticed by keeping trees and hedges trimmed back. Ideally, all windows and doors should be visible, with little room for a person to duck down and hide.

Keep reading at Houzz >

More from Houzz:

How to Use Tech to Get Stolen Items Back

Browse Windows and Doors

Find Tree Services in Your Area

Browse Exterior Design Photos

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The 15 Best Tropical Beaches In The World

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Bora Bora, snorkeler, tropical beach

As temperatures drop below freezing in much of the northern hemisphere, most of us are dreaming about lying on a warm sand beach, tropical drink in-hand while listening to the waves lap at the shore. 

We found the 15 best beaches in the world to visit right now. We looked at tropical climates and only included beach destinations that are hot right now — no diss to the Hamptons or the French Riviera.

From South America to the South Pacific and everywhere in between, here are the world's best beaches for a winter getaway.

Tulum, Mexico, is known as the site of some ancient Mayan ruins, but it's also home to a phenomenal beach where you can swim in the clear waters while looking out at the ancient structures.



Jobson's Cove is a tiny pink-sand beach in Bermuda that's surrounding by an amazing rock formation that creates a calm wading pool.



Seven Mile Beach on Grand Cayman Island is a 5.5-mile long beach (the name is actually a misnomer) that's great for walking, sunbathing, or wading in the calm waters.



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Trader Joe's Is Raising The Price Of Its 'Two-Buck Chuck'

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two-buck-chuck-trader-joes

It's been 11 years since Charles Shaw Wines were first introduced to Trader Joe's stores.

Since then, over 600 million bottles of the wine — loving dubbed "Two-Buck Chuck" for its low price point — have been sold.

And though stores in most states saw the cost rise above the original $1.99, Trader Joe's stores in California still maintained the base price of $1.99 for its Charles Shaw wines— that is, until two days ago.

Now, the price of "Two-Buck Chuck" will officially be raised to $2.49 per bottle in California, according to the Press Democrat.

Californians will be joining those in Oregon and Washington that already pay the $2.49 price. The wines are also $2.59 in Maine, $2.79 in Georgia, $3.79 in Ohio, and $2.99 in every other state. The varying prices are due to state laws, taxes, and shipment fees.

"In general, our retail prices change only when our costs change," Alison Mochizuki, director of public relations for Trader Joe's, told Press Democrat. "We've held a $1.99 retail price for 11 years. Quite a bit has happened during those years and the move to $2.49 allows us to offer the same quality that has made the wine famous the world over."

The Charles Shaw brand has been able to keep its prices so stable thanks mainly to its parent company Bronco Wine Co., which owns 40,000 acres of vineyard land and allows the company to absorb fluctuations in grape prices.

So what will shoppers call "Two-Buck Chuck" now? Suggestions submitted to the Press Democrat included "Inflation Chuck," "Upchuck" and simply "Chuck." Leave yours in the comments.

SEE ALSO:  7 Stunning Wineries Around The World

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25 Jaw-Dropping Rides Sold At Arizona's Classic Car Auction

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1934 duesenberg j murphy lwb custom beverly sedan barrett-jackson auction

This week, the Barrett-Jackson Auction Company set up camp in Scotsdale, Arizona, to sell dozens of its amazing classic cars to the highest bidder.

Some were once owned by celebrities, like Clark Gable's 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300SL; others are incredibly rare, like the 1929 Isotta Fraschini that went for a winning bid of $1.32 million. All are gorgeous, and worth a lot of money.

Of the fifty cars Barrett-Jackson put on the block, here are the 25 most-worthy of attention, presented in order of price.

Once owned by the Earl of Moray, a descendant of King James V of Scotland, this 1930 Rolls-Royce Phantom II sold for $110,000.



With a blue exterior and black interior, this rare 1969 Shelby GT500 was once displayed at the Shelby American Museum. The Mustang Fastback sold for $192,000.



Despite, or perhaps because of, its absurd windshield, a 1913 Fiat Tipo 55 sold for $198,000. The 'gentleman's racer' can still top 70 mph.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

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Welcome To Red Lodge, Montana — The Coolest Ski Town You've Never Heard Of

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Red Lodge, skiing

Red Lodge is a small town in southern Montana where cowboys, ski bums, and ranchers live, work and play.

It's one of the last strongholds of the Western frontier, but it's also surprisingly modern and sophisticated.

Sure, there are old saloons and hotels dating back to the late 1800s, but there's also a sustainable microbrewery that churns out craft beers, a high-end food and wine shop, a renowned ceramic arts center, and several fine-dining restaurants that serve local organic fare.

The town also caters to skiers and boarders heading to Red Lodge Mountain. In warmer months, outdoor enthusiasts flock here to hike, bike, and explore the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness and the Beartooth Highway, which links Red Lodge to Yellowstone National Park. Many visitors stop here on their way to Yellowstone, about 160 miles away.

Whatever the reason you visit, Red Lodge is full of surprises.

Located about 62 miles from Billings, Red Lodge looks like a typical town from the old west.



There are saloons and bars typical of a small Western town, but there are also surprising shops, like a coffee roaster, artisanal food store, and a high-end kitchen supply store. Red Lodge promotes local sustainable foods and products, which you'll see in the specialty shops and restaurants around town.



4th Avenue Meats is a butcher and specialty meat shop that smokes and cures all meats in house. They work with local farmers and ranchers to secure the highest-quality meat products. A bonus: they have samples of their cured meats for tasting, from Elk Kolbas to Bretonne sausage.



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Dolce & Gabbana Plans To Release Perfume For Babies

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Most Expensive Places To Have A Baby Rhode Island

Luxury fashion house Dolce & Gabbana plans to release perfume for babies.

That's right. Baby perfume.

"This perfume is also inspired by the smell of a baby and is ‘designed to cuddle and pamper every little boy and girl’, which means it’s fine for delicate skin, is unisex, but ultimately, mimics the smell of a baby’s skin," Grazia UK reported

The packaging is orange, according to Grazia. 

While babies are already known for their sweet smell, history has shown that parents will shell out for just about anything. 

DON'T MISS: How Tory Burch Became A Fashion Billionaire In Less Than A Decade >

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How To Make A Bacon Bowl

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It's a scientific fact that everyone loves bacon.

Over the years, the bacon craze has spread from breakfast to lunch, dinner, and eventually dessert. (Thanks for the bacon sundae, Burger King).

So, in an effort to make bacon an even more ubiquitous food, we created the "bacon bowl."

Bacon. Bowl.

Let the thought of a bowl made entirely of bacon sink in, then watch the video below to learn how you can make a bacon bowl for the upcoming Super Bowl. Or, you can just make a bacon bowl for yourself. That's acceptable too.

 

Produced by William Wei

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HOUSE OF THE DAY: Inside The Hamptons 'White House' Everyone Thinks Bill And Hil Should Buy

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White House HamptonsBill and Hillary Clinton are reportedly house hunting in the Hamptons, the New York Post is reporting.

This would not be the first Hamptons house for the duo, who previously rented a $19 million mansion on Lily Pond Lane.

And while the Hamptons offers a wealth of incredible properties, Curbed believes it may have found the political power couple their very own Hamptons White House: a large estate in Water Mill South.

The estate, which is listed with Douglas Elliman, has a tennis court, Jacuzzi, infinity pool, eight fireplaces, a wine cellar, and a private pier right on Mecox Bay, not to mention 20,000-square-feet of space and four acres of land.

The property also comes installed with Crestron security cameras that can be controlled and monitored from anywhere in the world — an important security measure for the high-profile couple.

The asking price has not been publicly disclosed.

An aerial view of the huge 315 Rose Hill Road property shows its proximity to Mecox Bay.

Source: Douglas Elliman Real Estate



Welcome home, Bill and Hillary.

Source: Douglas Elliman Real Estate



Do you see the resemblance to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue?

Source: Douglas Elliman Real Estate



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Here Are The Country's Hottest Luxury Real Estate Markets

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johnny depp hollywood house for $4.4 million

Luxury real estate is making a comeback throughout the country, and some of the hottest markets have a lot more in common than solely an expensive price tag— from thriving and diverse economies to historical significance, a multitude of colleges and hot spots, and great weather (at least for part of the year).

Here’s a glimpse at some of top places to find the finest amenities homes have to offer.

New York City

Entire books could be (and have been) written about luxury real estate in the greater New York area. As the city grew — and grew, and grew — luxury markets sprung up outside the boroughs, as power brokers used their Manhattan paychecks to finance everything from “cottages” in the quintessential summer celebrity hangout of the Hamptons to bedroom communities filled with mini-mansions on former farmland in New Jersey and Connecticut.

When it comes to luxury in New York and the surrounding areas, it’s all about where you want to be and what you need in a home, because the options are endless.

For those looking to live right in the middle of the action, One57, under construction in midtown Manhattan, offers it all. Called “the global billionaire’s club” by the New York Times, the soaring, 1,004-foot tower overlooks Central Park and has nine full-floor apartments.

On a clear day, residents can see all the way to the Bronx. Amenities include all services of the attached Park Hyatt Hotel as well as a “discreet side entrance,” pet wash area, performance hall, private dining room, billiard room and a 24-foot aquarium.

Pricey Big Apple purchase of 2012: Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev spent $88 million on a penthouse for his 22-year-old daughter.

Los Angeles

Second only in size to New York, Los Angeles is a city built on the California dreams of its many residents who move there in pursuit of fortune and fame.

Like its starry-eyed population, the homes that make up L.A.’s luxury market are as different as can be, from tiny bungalows that sit on some of the country’s most expensive land to massive modern glass-covered marvels overlooking the Hollywood hills. Spectacular suburban luxury living can also be found in Los Angeles County in areas such as Pasadena.

In L.A., a valuable feature for its famous luxury residents is the ability to keep the paparazzi at bay with high hedges, fences, security systems and long driveways. An early 2000s ordinance prohibits hedges over 6 feet high, making homes with existing high hedges quite the commodity among celebrities, who now trade these homes like deeds in a Monopoly game.

San Francisco Bay Area

San Francisco is known for real estate prices as steep as its legendary hills, so more or less everyone pays luxury prices. Residents will tell you the pricey real estate is well worth it for the quality of life in this quirky, inclusive and truly charming area of the country.

Tony Bennett’s not the only person who left his heart in San Francisco: Almost everyone who has visited or lives there feels the same way.

Famous for its turn-of-the century Painted Ladies, or Victorian-style homes — many of which have been lovingly cared for, restored and modernized over time — San Francisco offers luxury in the old as well as in new condos that have recently popped up in the Financial District and South Beach (yes, in San Francisco) neighborhoods.

In San Francisco, two of the priciest neighborhoods offer location-based luxuries — Presidio Heights and Sea Cliff. Presidio Heights is made up of mainly two-level single family homes with coveted yards at the front, back and sometimes sides of the properties.

Sea Cliff, as the name implies, is situated directly on the Pacific Ocean and features stunning views of sunsets so breathtaking, you wouldn’t believe they are real. Sometimes luxury comes solely in the form of an impeccable location.

Miami

With waterfront and oceanfront property abounding, every part of Miami has its own distinct flavor of luxury property, from celebrity-owned mega-mansions to soaring condos offering the ultimate in style and amenities.

Miami began as an escape from the cold North, and while it remains a haven for snowbirds and a great investment for overseas buyers, it now has its own thriving year-round sense of culture and community. With sunny days and a sizzling nightlife, Miami takes luxurious living to a whole other level.

One example of Miami’s glamour is the home of a name synonymous with luxury: Versace. Gianni Versace’s Casa Casuarina mansion has 10 bedrooms directly on Ocean Drive and a 24-karat gold inlaid pool.

Washington, DC

Our nation’s capital is more than just a hub of politics. It’s a cultural powerhouse where independently spirited artists, writers and musicians create alongside government workers and contractors living out the 9-to-5 lifestyle.

It’s a true melting pot of cultures, cuisines and viewpoints with history around every corner. Like other luxury hot spots, there is something for everyone, from the old classic residences on Capitol Hill and Georgetown to new luxury construction throughout the district and in the bedroom communities of Northern Virginia and Maryland.

Georgetown is home to many of the most luxurious homes in the District of Columbia, with gorgeous views of the National Cathedral. Many of these beauties, some dating to the 1800s, have other luxe features including staff quarters, private saunas, koi ponds and room to throw little “get-togethers” for up to 150 guests.

Can’t decide which of these luxury markets you love the most? Why not buy in each? If you can afford it, these cities have a lot to do, see, eat and experience, making every day a new adventure.

SEE ALSO: 15 gorgeous vacation homes for $500,000 or less >

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MAJOR MEN'S FASHION DEVELOPMENT: Wall Streeters Are Wearing Some Really Funky Socks On Fridays

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Friday Socks

There's a hot new fashion trend on Wall Street— bankers, hedge funders and private equity guys are rocking some really funky socks with their suits. 

But it's only on Fridays. 

It's a movement called "Friday Socks" and it was started by Joshua Weiner, a 25 year-old who works at a real estate investment firm. Weiner previously worked in private equity and investment banking.

"Socks are the most overlooked part of a person's wardrobe," Weiner told Business Insider, adding, "After a long 60 hour four day work week, it's nice to wake up in the morning and think about the next day off by putting on Friday Socks that suit up your mood." 

Wall Streeters are using the Friday Socks movement to spice up their conservative suited up attire, Weiner explained.

"It also helps to show your personality in an easily concealable or revealable fashion statement — instead of the standard black sock, blue shirt, white shirt, red tie fashion.  It's a way to have fun with your dress in a conservative environment." 

Even though some banks have an uber strict dress code, Weiner says it's still worth a shot participating in the trend. 

Friday Socks"I have seen at least two work cultures shift at the hands of Friday Socks," he told us.  "Some of my past bosses and colleagues have participated and I have heard stories of other bosses doing the same around the hedge fund/ banking/private equity world."

It Started In High School 

Weiner told us that "Friday Socks" started as a fun thing he did when he had to wear suits in high school. 

"Back then, the socks were just a plain, outrageously bright, non-matching color — primarily to express my personality."  

Weiner, who grew up in Rye Brooke, New York, said he's always made "outside of the box" fashion statements. 

For example, he told us that for his senior prom, he wore a white tuxedo with a baby pink vest, baby pink bow-tie and bright pink "Friday Socks."  

"As I started to wear suits more often they started morphing into much more fun designs, only on Fridays, meant to help me get through the last work day before the weekend, in a tongue-in-cheek sort of way."  

Friday Socks

Turning It Into A Business

Weiner has been designing his own "Friday Socks," which he intends to sell.  

"My background in real estate lends to geometric designs, but also some funky curvy designs. I incorporate bright colors to bring out the fun in my personality that is not necessarily exemplified at work or with conservative business dress," he said.

Weiner also recently launched a website that's currently under development called FridaySocks.com.  

The website is "to share the social movement, by sharing designs, photos, stories, and to purchase the latest in 'Friday Socks fashion,'" Weiner explained. 

As part of his business plan, Weiner said he wants to use a portion of the proceeds to start a scholarship fund to promote college education. 

"With a college education, young guys have a chance to get those sought after corporate jobs where they can wear Friday Socks to celebrate their weekends."  

The website should be ready to launch within the next couple of months, he said.  Weiner's sock designs are already in production and should be available after the site is officially open. 

Friday Socks'A Work Hard, Play Hard Social Movement' 

This trend has also turned into a movement in the social media sphere, especially on Instagram with those participating using the hashtag #FridaySocks.  

"I shared my pictures of my socks with a bunch of friends, calling them 'Friday Socks,' which began the "movement." 

Weiner added that almost all of his friends in corporate jobs wear Friday Socks.  

"The word has been spreading.  Friday Socks is a work hard, play hard social movement."

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19 Castle Homes You Can Actually Buy

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Estately, 7602 Maple Street, Marengo, IL

It's said that a man's home is his castle, but in some cases his castle is his home.

Our friends at property search site Estately.com dove into their listings to find castle-like houses around the country that seem to be straight out of a fairy tale.

With pools, horse stables, bocce courts and multi-floor libraries, these 19 castle homes are available for purchase right now.

This castle features museum-worthy artifacts.

This secluded six bed, 12 bath home is ripe with lush gardens and greenery. There are indoor and outdoor pools, a racquetball court, tennis court, and multiple gardens with a koi pond, roses, and a Japanese zen motif. If that wasn't enough, the adjacent 2.5 acres are also available for purchase.

Address: 835 Chiltern Rd., Hillsborough, Calif.

Price: $38,500,000



This beautiful, modern castle features an art collection museums will envy.

Enjoy some peace and quiet in this modern castle located in an enclosed cul-de-sac. You'll live like the Fresh Prince in this Bel Air neighborhood home with three bedrooms, 10 bathrooms, a library, media center, gym, pool, and an apartment for live-in staff.

Address: 10807 Bellagio Rd., Los Angeles, Calif.

Price: $19,950,000



Enjoy views of the sprawling countryside from this Bavarian-style castle.

This California home sits on 42 vast acres and was fashioned after a 17th-century Bavarian hunting lodge. The owners scouted out European antiques from the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries, and designed the beautiful castle around these centerpieces. The home has five bedrooms, three bathrooms, and nine fireplaces.

Address: 2969 White Sulphur Springs Rd., St. Helena, Calif.

Price: $18,950,000

 



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

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This Map Shows The Clear Divide Between New York's 'Creative' And Working Class

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This is the first post in a series exploring class divides across America's largest cities and metros.

Social class, an inescapable presence in American life, influences almost every aspect of our culture. It is inscribed on our very geography. Although our cities are more than ever our most powerful economic engines, they also are becoming more divided along class lines, creating distinct experiences within a given city.

This divide is seen most clearly in where members of each class live. A recent report from the Pew Research Center found that residential segregation between upper- and lower- income households has risen in 27 of America's 30 largest metros over the past several decades. Compounding this polarization between rich and poor neighborhoods, the share of middle-income neighborhoods has declined substantially.

This growing socio-economic divide is not just an American phenomenon. In Canada, Toronto [PDF] and Vancouver [PDF] — two metros known for their liberal approaches to health care, education, multiculturalism, and the environment — have both been affected by this trend, according to a pair of detailed studies by the University of Toronto's Cities Centre. Both have seen the erosion of once stable middle–income neighborhoods, the dramatic growth of lower–income areas, and increased segregation of rich and poor in their own separate enclaves.

To get a better sense of the scale of the divide in American cities, my research team at the Martin Prosperity Institute — relying on data from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey — plotted and mapped the residential locations of today's three major classes: the shrinking middle of blue-collar workers in manufacturing, transportation, and maintenance; the rising numbers of highly paid knowledge, professional, and creative workers in the creative class; and the even larger and faster-growing ranks of lower-paid, lower-skill service workers. For the next few weeks, I'll be exploring the various divides in some of America's largest cities and metros.

We begin today with New York. New York is America's largest city and metro. It also ranks first among the 10 largest metros for its percentage of low-income households that are located in exclusively low-income census tracts (41 percent), according to the Pew study cited above. It ranks third on the study's overall measure of residential segregation. And it ranks fifth among the largest metros, after Houston, Dallas, Miami, and Los Angeles, for its percentage (16 percent) of upper-income households that are located in exclusively upper-income tracts.

Like most studies of its kind, the Pew report establishes residential patterns on the basis of income. Our data, maps and tables (below) are based instead on the type of work that residents do — their socio-economic class.

 map of nyc proper

The first map (above) charts the geography of class for the whole New York metro.

The geographic divide is pronounced. The creative class lives in the areas that are shaded in purple, the red areas are primarily service class, and the blue are working class. Each colored space on the map is a Census tract, a small area within a county that in cities can be even smaller than a neighborhood. We only used tracts with at least 500 employed residents, so some tracts do not appear on the map.

The creative class, which includes workers in science and technology, business and management, arts, culture media and entertainment, and law and healthcare professions, makes up 35.8 percent of the New York City metro area’s workers. These are high-skilled, highly educated, and high-paying positions which average $87,625 in wages and salaries.

Across the metro area, the creative class numbers more that 40 percent of residents in 37.6 percent of tracts (1,641) and more than half of all residents in 21.2 percent (926 tracts). There are 214 tracts (4.9 percent) that are more than two-thirds creative class, and 45 (1.0 percent) where the creative class makes up more than three-quarters of all residents.

 

Top 10 Creative Class Locations in New York Metro
Neighborhood (Census Tract #)Creative Class Share
Jersey City, New Jersey (77)83.5%
Columbia/Morningside Heights, Manhattan (207.01)83.0%
Upper East Side – Carnegie Hill, Manhattan (130)82.3%
West Village/Washington Square, Manhattan (55.01)81.9%
Park Slope – Gowanus, Brooklyn (165)81.9%
West Village/Meatpacking District, Manhattan (79)81.5%
Lincoln Square, Manhattan (147)80.9%
Park Slope, Brooklyn (157)80.9%
Jersey City, New Jersey (58.02)80.8%
Brooklyn Heights – Cobble Hill, Brooklyn (5.02)80.6%
Metro Average35.9%

 

The table above shows the top 10 creative class locations (defined as Census tracts with more than 500 people) in the metro area. The creative class makes up more than 80 percent of residents in each of them, or more than two and half times the metro average of 35.9 percent.

This is a highly concentrated geographic area mainly in and around Lower Manhattan. It includes two tracts in the West Village, two in Jersey City, New Jersey, two in Park Slope, one in Brooklyn Heights, one in Morningside Heights adjacent to Columbia University, one in the Upper East Side and one in Lincoln Square (Broadway and Columbus Avenue in the '60s, near Lincoln Center).

The service class includes the low-wage, low-skill workers who hold routine service jobs in food service and preparation, retail sales, clerical and administrative positions and the like. This is the largest class of workers, making up 48.1 percent of the region’s workforce, and includes some of the fastest growing job categories. Service workers in the metro average $34,241 in wages and salaries, just 39 percent of what creative class members make. 

Across the New York metro, the service class makes up more than half of all residents in 1,635 tracts (37.5 percent) and more than two-thirds of residents in 197 (4.5 percent).

 

Top 10 Service Class Locations in New York Metro
Neighborhood (Census Tract #)Service Class Share
Sheepshead Bay-Manhattan Beach, Brooklyn (572)89.1%
Flatlands/Canarsie, Brooklyn (944.02)88.4%
East New York, Brooklyn (1214)85.3%
East New York Part B, Brooklyn (1144)84.8%
East New York Part B, Brooklyn (1134)83.6%
Brookville, Long Island (9811)83.6%
Bedford/Clinton Hill, Brooklyn (259.02)81.7%
East New York Part A, Brooklyn (1150)81.6%
North Riverdale/Fieldston, Bronx (319)81.5%
East New York Part A, Brooklyn (1110)81.4%
Metro Average46.9%

 

The red (service class) and purple (creative class) areas are much larger than the working class areas and also quite distinct from one another. For all the talk of affluent, upper-class suburbs, the creative class is located closer in toward the center city, while lower-paid service class neighborhoods are situated towards the outer boroughs of New York City and the comparative hinterlands of Long Island, as well as coastal and northwest New Jersey. As the table above shows, the leading service class locations — where more than 80 percent of residents hold service class jobs, compared to an average of 46.9 percent for the metro — are in Brooklyn, the Bronx, and Long Island.

 

Top 10 Working Class Locations in New York Metro
Neighborhood (Census Tract #)Working Class Share
Passaic, New Jersey (1753.01)63.0%
Paterson, New Jersey (1828)62.7%
Passaic, New Jersey (1752)60.3%
North Ironbound/Newark, New Jersey (70)58.7%
Passaic, New Jersey (1753.02)57.3%
Paterson, New Jersey (1822)57.1%
Newark, New Jersey (76)56.7%
Passaic, New Jersey (1759)55.3%
Plainfield, New Jersey (393)54.8%
Newark, New Jersey (72)54.7%
Metro Average17.2%

 

Most striking is the extent to which the working class has disappeared from the region’s geography. The working class includes workers who hold factory jobs, or work in transportation and construction. It comprises 16 percent of the region's workers, who average $43,723 in wages and salaries.

There are just 17 tracts — less than one-half of one percent of the tracts in the metro — where the working class accounts for more than half of all residents. Conversely, there are more than 1,000 tracts — more than one in five — where the working class accounts for 10 percent or fewer residents, and 366 tracts (8.4 percent) where the working class represents five percent or less of all residents.

Just a few speckles of blue on the map can be seen in and around Newark and Elizabeth, with some in Paterson and Passaic as well. This is startling in a region that had a huge manufacturing base and working class population less than half a century ago.

 map of nyc

The second map (above) zooms into the class geography of New York City proper. Again, the divides along class lines are sharp.

The purple creative class areas are concentrated in Manhattan, all the way from the southern tip of the Financial District through Tribeca, SoHo, the Village, Chelsea, Midtown, and the Upper East and West Sides. The service class is again pushed further outward, with a small pocket on the Lower East Side, and then north in Harlem, Morningside Heights and Washington Heights, and Inwood.

For all the talk of gentrification in Brooklyn, it is confined almost completely to Williamsburg, Brooklyn Heights, Cobble Hill, Ft. Greene, Clinton Hill, Dumbo, and Park Slope, adjacent to lower Manhattan. Most of the borough is red, home to a large service class, with a smattering of blue in neighborhoods like Bensonhurst, Sunset Park, Coney Island, Flatbush, East New York, and Marine Park, where significant numbers of working class people still live.

The service class predominates in Queens, the Bronx, and Staten Island. With the exception of solidly purple Riverdale, the Bronx is almost completely red. Queens is solidly red, with a small line of working-class blue in neighborhoods like Elmhurst and in the Rockaways as well as purple splotches marking relatively affluent neighborhoods like Forest Hills. The purple area in Staten Island is not as big as it seems; though the area near the Staten Island mall includes some expensive houses, much of it is wetlands and park. The same goes for the big purple patch in Brooklyn's Jamaica Bay, which is largely unpopulated, and Manhattan's Central Park.

What gives cities their special economic and cultural energy is their diversity of people and economic functions — the way they push people of different ethnicities, incomes, cultures, races, educations, and interests into close proximity, enabling them to interact and combine and recombine in unique and powerful ways. While our cities may be increasingly diverse in terms of nationality, ethnicity, and sexual orientation, they are becoming ever-more divided by class. These mounting divides threaten both their underlying economic dynamism and potentially their social and political stability as well.

I’ll have much more to say about this in future posts, as I continue to track this new geography of class. Next week, I'll take a look at the second-largest U.S. metro, Los Angeles.

Richard Florida is Co-Founder and Editor at Large at The Atlantic Cities. He's also a Senior Editor at The Atlantic, Director of the Martin Prosperity Institute at the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management, and Global Research Professor at New York University. He is a frequent speaker to communities, business and professional organizations, and founder of the Creative Class Group, whose current client list can be found here.

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The ThumbSaver Is The Tool Your Home Projects Have Been Waiting For

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This is the ThumbSaver Magnetized Nail Setter.

Why We Love It: Whether you're a professional carpenter or a DIY enthusiast, one of the biggest concerns with small nails or screws is hurting your fingers. The ThumbSaver is a magnetized nail holder that will keep your appendages at a safe distance from your tool while keeping any nail, staple, or screw steady.

Invented by a framing contractor, it's made with a rubber grip and solid aluminum shaft with a strong magnet on the end. It's even been tested on-site with heavy waffle head hammers to make sure it can stand up to any construction challenge. It comes in two sizes.

ThumbSaver Tool

 

ThumbSaver Tool

 

ThumbSaver Tool

Where To Buy: Available on Amazon.

Cost: $10.

Want to nominate a cool product for Stuff We Love? Send an email to Megan Willett at mwillett@businessinsider.com with "Stuff We Love" in the subject line.

SEE ALSO: This Slingshot Will Revolutionize Your Snowball Fights

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Update: This 'Scandalous' Never-Before-Seen Photo Of Princess Diana Just Sold For $18K

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Princess Diana

Update: This rare photo of a young Princess Diana on a ski trip sold Thursday in an online auction to a real estate investor from San Diego for $18,306 — well above early estimates, according to the AP.

***

This story was initially published on 1/4/13

Apparently lounging on a male friend next to a bottle of Johnnie Walker pre-1980 is today equivalent to a nude photo scandal.

While Prince Harry was blasted by the media in August after naked photos of him partying in a Las Vegas hotel suite hit the web, turns out his late mother had been hiding a photo scandal of her own all these years.

That is, if you consider tame PDA a scandal.

A never-before-seen black and white photo showing "a young Diana lying in bed, with a young man seated behind her, and a bottle of Johnnie Walker sitting on the window sill" has just hit the public auction block.

The photo, which is marked with the words "Not to be published" handwritten on the front, was purchased by Britain's Daily Mirror on February 26, 1981 – just two days after the then-Diana Spencer was engaged to Prince Charles. 

The photo, featuring an 18 or 19-year-old Diana with an unidentified man on a Swiss ski holiday, was kept hidden in the paper's archives until it was purchased seven years ago by the private Caren Archive.

"This would certainly not be in the way the Royal Family would have Diana to have been presented," said Eric Caren, owner of the Caren Archive, to the Daily Mail.

It is now set for auction by RR Auctions in New Hampshire, and is being described as an 8x10 "salacious teenage image of the future princess."

You can start your bidding at $200.

Princess Diana Photo

SEE ALSO: Read the original deleted ending to 'The Shining' >

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A Couple Debated Whether They Should Move In Together Online And It's Pretty Fascinating

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conversationLisa and Bryan are moving in together and, against everyone’s better judgment, are documenting it on the internet. Lisa’s terrible with money, and Bryan is great with money. Click here to catch up on The story so far

In this post, the couple read this list of things to consider before shacking up and discussed it afterward.They typed everything out on G-chat so we could all get a peek inside real-life co-habitation negotiations.

It's pretty fascinating.

--  

TO: LOGAN
FROM: LISA AND BRYAN
SUBJECT: re: HOMEWORK

Hello! We did it!  We talked, we typed, we laughed, we cried. PASTED BELOW.

Lisa: So this is fun! You and I sitting in the same room gchattin’.

Bryan: It’s like when we first started dating and we did this all day at work.

Lisa: So you and I looked at Katie’s list of roommate drama last Monday and I’ll be honest, it was a little difficult. There were a few things I wasn’t ready to talk about yet.

Bryan: It was a very extensive list, and Katie did make a point of saying she didn’t recommend going through all these things at once. But there were many things that I thought would be conversations down the line. 

Lisa: Right, but a lot of it was good to get out of the way, like – the whole “saying goodbye” scenario. It’s a good idea to establish a routine now and not get into a situation down the road where one of us is upset and other didn’t know it was a thing that could upset someone

Bryan: I think we have a pretty good hello/goodbye routine

Lisa: (you type really fast) (and look really cute doing it)

Bryan: Thanks. I feel like a lot of these things we have just naturally found our answers to

Lisa: Like what?

Bryan: Like who gets in the shower first.The answer is both of us.

Lisa: Oh yes—we are so environmentally friendly by showering together everyday.

Bryan: Look—We love the earth. People need to know. Also we’re pretty good at handling our own joint social calendar.

Lisa: Yeah! We have been good at that, but a lot of the spending stuff we have yet to resolve. Thanks to a lot of the commenters on our last piece, we have decided that we don’t necessarily have to pay the exact same in rent for it to be “even”.

Bryan: Right. We decided that both of us should contribute proportional to our income.

Lisa: Fair! Man – we got through the tough stuff pretty easily. So… how many kids do you want?

Bryan: Ahahaha. Right now? None.

But who knows down the road? Remember – we need a certain number of awesome weekends before that is even a discussion

Lisa: 100!! 100 awesome weekends before I will share my daily life with another being who is not you.

Bryan: YES! Also some of the questions like decorating the apartment etc seem like discussion for after we move. The size of the apartment, number of rooms and what not will determine the furniture we need to purchase

Lisa: Right. But… we didn’t’ talk about who will pay for those things. I don’t have any extra money, and I assume will have even less after the move, so I’m fine with the couch and bed and dining room table we have now

Bryan: Me too. And if there are things we really want, we will save for them.

Lisa: I mean… I won’t want to have company over until we have chairs for that dining room table, but for you and me (and Henry, the cat), that’s ok.

Bryan: We’re not trying to go poor to get furniture

Lisa: Right (well, more poor, in my case).

Bryan: Plus, I’m a good bargain shopper. I’m sure we can find things that we like at low! low! prices. I got this couch for very cheap – like 75% off.

Lisa: Really??? This is such a beautiful couch! I’m sorry I stained it with eye make up and nacho cheese. In the new place, let’s make sure we have a table so we don’t have to always eat on the couch.

Bryan: Stains tell stories! Remember when we used to put towels down when we ate on the couch. That didn’t last very long

Lisa: Remember when you used to flip the cushions over so I would only see the clean side? That didn’t last too long either.

Bryan: Well, yeah, because you started spilling on the clean sides! Ahahahahahaha

Lisa: Jerk! Speaking of messes, we kinda touched on household responsibilities when we talked last week, but didn’t really figure it out fully.

Bryan: We discussed that you have a house cleaner but she never comes and we can cut that out.

Lisa: We’re actually both really good at cleaning. During the trial week where you moved into my place [over Thanksgiving, Lisa's roommates were out of town, and Bryan "moved in" for the week to see if they'd kill each other. They didn't.] we spent a day cleaning and were both very much on the same page. I didn’t think I could love you more until I saw you with a dust pan.

Bryan: We did a great job of cleaning together. And we talked about taking the bills other than rent and each taking a fair share, so that’s resolved.

Lisa: Wait. Does “fair” mean “monetarily equall”?

Bryan: Possibly

Lisa: woah woah woah. You can’t say this is resolved and then use a word like, “possibly”

Read the rest of their conversation at The Billfold >

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Cory Booker Is Creating Jewelry From Newark's Guns

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Cory Booker, DNC

Newark's outspoken mayor has taken a novel approach to gun control.

Cory Booker and jewelry designer Jessica Mindich have created The Caliber Collection, a jewelry line that repurposes guns and bullet casings into shiny accessories, The Daily Beast reported Friday.

The collection is "made up of metal from 250 guns and bullet casings seized by the Newark Police Department," according to the line's website. "The name Caliber was chosen for its two meanings; the caliber of a gun and how the caliber of a city is raised when illegal guns are taken off its streets."

The line features cuffs and bangles in steel and brass. Cuffs start at $150, and bangles start at $200.

Every piece features the former weapon's serial number.

The Caliber line is part of the larger Jewelry For A Cause company. Proceeds from the line will fund future gun buyback programs in Newark.

DON'T MISS: This Is How Sen. Dianne Feinstein Got Away With Displaying Assault Weapons Despite D.C.'s Strict Gun Laws >

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