Why not?

I got an email about an amateur photography contest... now, I'm no photographer, but I like to take a picture here and there.  Why not give it a shot, right?  I entered this baby into the contest - never know what will happen!  If you think it's worth anything it'd be so nice of you to vote - it's free!  Your call :)

Vote here!

Sweet Potato Coconut Soup

Speaking of food... as usual.... last night I made a soup.  I found a couple new websites, which I'll list below, that are great for new ideas of food that's easy, cheap and (sometimes) healthy, and speak a little bit further than rice + beans.  One of them, Broke Ass Gourmet :), actually lists prices and costs to make!  Granted, most of the food she says she has in her pantry already is food I don't have, and most of the food she has to buy might actually be in my pantry, but one way or another it's nice to see.

So, the soup I made last night was her recipe for Sweet Potato Coconut Soup.  I had my doubts, but it was just so, so cheap to make!  And I can't even tell you how great my apartment smelled while making it.  It literally has all of my favorite things : sweet potatoes, onion, garlic, jalapeno, ginger, coconut milk, lime, cilantro, etc.  It is sooooo good.

Check out some of these other sites if you are looking for ways to eat like a grown-up with a college-student income :

1.  Broke Ass Gourmet
2.  Laylita's (not necessarily budget-driven so much as S American, but still... YUM.)
3.  Closet Cooking
4.  $5 Dinners

Budget #1

As some people may or may not know, I have recently made a goal to be out of credit card debt by August 6th, 2011.  I will be turning 27 and fully accepting my place in my "late twenties."  It is definitely not going to be easy - I've been casually paying down the (gulp..) $10K I carelessly racked-up in the last ten years.  From college to weddings to car problems to a lay-off to moving, I knew that I would pay for it later... I just didn't know it would be this painful.

As I've mentioned on facebook statuses, I get really tired of listening to podcasts and reading blogs where people complain about having to "cut back" from eating out all the time to just a couple times a week.  I also get sick of hearing people talk about having to use sales on groceries, cutting out their premier movie channels, looking for flight deals because last-minute prices are too expensive.

Okay... enough complaining and dramatizing my so-called-life.  The truth is : I have priorities, and the older I get the more clearly I see them.  Point blank - I LOVE to travel.  I realized slowly that I can't think of much I would give up for the sake of travel.  I also realized that I can't, in good conscience, continue to do the fun things that cost money without paying-off the fun I've already had.  Its time to be able to explore and see things knowing that I've already earned it, not that I will someday earn it.  The theme of 2010 (and now 2011) is self-reliance.  I am taking one year off of my life as I would like to live it in order to break-even.  After that I will have student loans - both private and federal - and a car to pay-off, but it is my belief that if I can get used to living like this for now, I will (hopefully) make more money by then and be settled-in to a budgeted lifestyle.

So, after that supreme amount of text for a visually-driven blog, please note that I am adding a tag to my blog - "Budget."  I will periodically blog about my findings and any tips that might help anyone else out there who is in their 20s, making just enough to get by, and trying not to let the rest of their life go down the drain with their credit card debt.

I'll talk more about food on a budget in the future, but for now I will leave you with this : if your office has leftover bagels that they set out for everyone, and you happen to see 3 of those bagels still sitting there at the very end of the day, waiting for the trash can, take them.  Then cut them up into 1/8" slices, put them in a zip-loc with 2 tablespoons melted butter, some secret spice from my dad, and bake them at 325 for 20 minutes.  Voila, you have bagel chips - free of charge, courtesy of your company :)

Touring and Exploring... in my own city...

This weekend was so perfectly just what I needed!  In addition to my first trip to Chinatown (with Elena) and my first experince of Chicago's Air and Water Show (in the Hancock tower 94th floor observatory - FOR FREE!), I found some awesome podcasts about money management and low-risk investments, re-organized both closets, went to the new Target - in walking distance! - and hung up some "artwork."  I put that in quotation marks because it is in the eye of the beholder, in this case... me!  I hung a couple ad cards I picked-up in the UK, the patent license for the Eames LCW, and my name written in Chinese calligraphy - art to me, not to some, I'm sure.  Anyways, I feel rested and ready to tackle another week!

From kelleybozarth.com

Update : I left this post before publishing, came back and... I spoke too soon... after a morning of meetings I'm officially worn-out and in-need of a coconut smoothie.

Before I Can Clean... I Have to Plan.

I have this stack of a few books, a gigantic wallet, my passport, and a couple other things that I usually toss in a travel bag during trips and vacations.  I cannot bring myself to put it away until I have plans of when I will take it away...

From kelleybozarth.com

4400 Photos Later...

Not sure if I mentioned this or not, but as my our recent trip was a celebration of my grandparents' anniversary (60 years - incredible!) and my grandmother wasn't able to participate, my granddad asked me to put together a book compiling everyone's photos (about 4400 total) and favorite memories.  With the wedding and all planned-travel OVER, I was dying for a project.  I'm going to take them home with me over Labor Day Weekend and may or may not wait to post any images (probably not.) of the inside of the book, but I just got them in the other day and the covers aren't too bad.  FYI - Blurb's templates for InDesign aren't exact... note the graphics for the spine spilling over... even though they were well within the boundaries set-up in the template.  Hmm.  Oh well!

Side note : we have all of these movies and audio files from various cameras and recorders... any ideas on what to do with THOSE??  At this point I'm just going to load everything onto a disc, put it in a sleeve in the back cover of the book, and call it a day... but I'm curious about any thoughts anyone might have...

The Haiti Poster Project

I don't normally post work from other people on here - once you open the door of "I really like..." its hard to figure out where you close it.  However... in that this is for a good cause and I really DO like some of these, take a look at the Haiti Poster Project.  Some really great designs - I am thinking of buying one to hang in mi casa.

Now planning : All of 2011.

Following one hell of a summer - family vacations, weddings, lots of family and friends, I just kept the ball rolling with an awesome birthday weekend in Chicago.  Meagen (my twin) was here and between movies, brunch, boat rides, and movie-star sightings, we had a blast ringing in 26. 

Always one to plan the next adventure, I'm excited about the cruise I'll be taking sometime next year with my best friends from college!  Granted, we will probably be sleeping in the basement of the ship, and potentially drinking water and only water, but the point is : we'll be in the tropics :) 

Bahamas or bust!

From kelleybozarth.com

The 574.

No matter how well you think you know what something / someone looks like, this goes to show that drawing from memory (at least for me) always comes with some kind of inaccuracy.

These shoes - the New Balance 574 - are the same (model of) shoes I've been wearing since I was 18.  I think I've gone through three or four pairs in that time, but the same color, size, etc.  Still, though, I had a tough time with this sketch!

From kelleybozarth.com

My Bucket List

I think this might be the longest I've sketched since starting this blog.  Fail.  Enough is enough : more time for creativity a.s.a.p!

I have a new sketchbook that is dedicated to a category called "things that change other things."  Vague?  This isn't it, but it's starting to gear-up for it.  I think my main focus will be things that are changing my bucket list / life-goals.  Stay tuned for more explanation.  For now, all I've got is the bucket.

From kelleybozarth.com

Back and Ready to Go Again

I got back on Thursday morning from a trip to the Galapagos Islands with my family.  It was one of those life-changing trips, as most tend to be for me.  I seem to find something to take away from every trip I take, whether its a stronger opinion on what to do with my life or where to go next.  I've always thought that I had a stronger appreciation for urban city environments, especially during traveling - more people to talk to, more of the built environment to take-in, etc... but on this trip, almost completely devoid of "architecture" as we think of it today, I couldn't have been happier.  We went hiking and snorkeling everyday, walking and swimming with sea lions, iguanas, turtles, schools of fish, penguins, and more birds than I can name.  It was an amazing trip, and as always, I'm a little upset to be back.  It has, however, re-inspired my goal to pay off my personal debt and start funding my own adventures as quickly as possible!  Below see some of my favorite photos (out of the 3000+ I came home with).

Going to Kick It With Darwin?

Well, the wedding is done and I am a day and a half (if that...) from boarding my flight to Ecuador to meet my family before we fly to the Galapagos Islands.  Meagen and Jeff are back from Hawaii and for about a day my routine was back to normal... Pause that, wait for a couple weeks :)

I know they've gone through a lot lately, and I know my family has collectively gone through a lot in the last year, but I've got a good feeling about the next 12 months.  Cheers!

PS: I know it seems like false promises, but I PROMISE I'll post sketches / photos of crafts from the wedding and beyond / more frequently coming up - I mean it!!

The Amazing, Fireproof, Immortal, Bionic, Superhero Dogs! :)

My apologies for once again allowing a lapse in posting - I was busy with the wedding stuff... and with work... but on Sunday my sister (the Bride to-be) had a housefire in her home just outside of Akron, Ohio.  Everyone is fine, but the dogs were inside and both had a really close call.  Thanks to the Munroe Falls Fire Department for reviving them (Jane had no pulse - literally brought back to life; Lucy was unconscious), everyone is safe and sound.  The house is another story, but they are a strong family both with strong families nearby and the wedding / honeymoon / family vacation / life will go on.  Can't say enough thanks to everyone who has helped, between firemen, families, friends and their community, the response has been surprising and heartwarming.  I'm impressed :)  Goes to show what amazing people Meagen and Jeff surround themselves with, and how much they have touched the lives of those people around them.

This and That :)

Two weeks from tomorrow I'll be going from this church to that country club watching them get married :)

From kelleybozarth.com

Meagen's Bridal Shower!!

One quick post at the end of a long day and before another long day - wrapping up some of the details from Memorial Day Weekend... Like I said, we threw Meagen her Bachelorette Party and a Bridal Shower.  I posted the invitation to the shower before, but here are some of the details from the shower decor.  I had to (more or less) make everything ahead of time from Chicago with the intention of it transporting to Cleveland and being able to be set-up within about an hour.  My mom took care of food and most of the set-up, but I bought table cloths, a runner, candle holders, picture frames,  and matching napkins / plates / cups / forks / knives / spoons.  I pre-made tissue paper poms to jazz up the deck and just unfolded the layers in Cleveland, and used metal garden stakes wrapped with ribbon for centerpieces.  I tied pink and orange ribbon around check $1 frames from IKEA, filled with baby pictures of Meagen, to go around on smaller tables, and I used spice jars (4/$3) from IKEA filled with Skittles and tied with raffia (sp?) as favors.  I also pre-ordered cupcakes and pre-made little flags with paper, glue and toothpicks, for each of the cupcakes as decoration.  It was awesome, super easy, really simple, and (thanks to the weather) a really, really pretty shower!