Skip to content

Apartment-Hunting

I love this apartment.

One of the perks of moving around as often as we have is that I get to look at real estate.  This is a photo of an apartment in Auckland, in the Auckland City or City Centre area.  I have no doubts that it will be snapped up long before we get there, but I like to look and get an idea of what rents are like and what your money can get you in different neighborhoods.

We aren’t planning on buying a home in New Zealand.  Instead, we’d like to get an apartment or townhouse within walking distance to one or both of our jobs.  Chris will be working at the university, and I’m hoping to find employment at a nearby hospital.  This puts us in the center of Auckland.  I’m okay with living in the middle of a city, but I would like a large rooftop terrace or balcony, such as the one above.  So long as I can have an indoor-outdoor living space, I’m okay with no yard.  This is another one that I like, although to a lesser extent…

The huge window-for-a-wall is fabulous, but the view isn’t quite as great.  It’s got a nice kitchen, though…

And then there are places with views like this one…

Or terraces like this one…

Yes, I’m really looking forward to our move.  Only 68 more days!

Posted 08 March 2010 † Practically Perfect... § Apartment Hunting § Apartments § Auckland § New Zealand ‡ Comments (13) °

Old Shoes for New

I think that a person’s shoes can tell you a lot about them.  I hope that no one else thinks that, because if they do and they look at my feet, they’ll think that I’m ugly, run down, and falling a-p-a-r-t!

These are my work shoes.  I’ve worn them every single day at work for over a year.

I’m not going to tell you some of the things that they’ve walked through.

Did you know that on average, a nurse working on a Med-Surg floor walks 3 miles per 12 hour shift?  And did you know that nurses in the ER tend to walk more than nurses on many other units?  And did you know that night shift is the busiest shift in the ER?

That’s a lot of walking.

That’s a lot of trips – trips to answer a call light, go to a patient’s room, to the doctors’ area, to triage, to the accudose, to the supply room, to the lab, pushing a patient cart to their room on the 11th floor…

…and more than just a few stubbed toes.  Didn’t I tell you they were ugly?  But they were great shoes.  They’re still great shoes, and I plan on keeping them for late-night dog walks or quick trips to bring out the garbage.  But from here on out, I’ll be wearing some new ones to work.

Look familiar?

If you find a good thing, you hold on to it, right ;-)

Posted 03 March 2010 † Practically Perfect... § Shoes § Shopping ‡ Comments (10) °

Funny!

My brother Erik sent me this video and it is so funny.  I especially love the reaction of the husband & wife :-)

Posted 01 March 2010 † Practically Perfect... § Funny § Videos ‡ Comments (3) °

Book Giveaway Winner

Thanks to everyone who read and commented on my book review.  I enjoy doing them and hope to keep reviewing one book a month and giving it away for the rest of the year!

My latest book review and giveaway was for “Beguiled: A Novel” by Deeanne Gist and J. Mark Bertrand.  This is my brief summary of what the book is about…

__________

Beguiled takes place in South Carolina.  I like it already.  The story centers around two main characters – Rylee Monroe, a Charleston dogwalker to the wealthy, and Logan Woods, a reporter.  Rylee loves her job but everything is threatened when a rash of burglaries begins.  To make things worse, it appears that someone is targeting her.  Logan is keeping a close eye on the robberies and hopes to use them for a book on true crime, but he keeps coming back to Rylee.  You know the old saying – curiosity killed the cat, and in this case, it’s threatening the dogwalker, too.  Logan has to decide what’s most important – the story, the girl, or bringing a villain to justice.

__________

And the winner is Amy B!  Congratulations, Amy :-)  I’m so glad that you won!  Send me an email at mrs(dot)practicallyperfect(at)gmail(dot)com with your mailing address, and I’ll send your copy on it’s merry way!

Posted 27 February 2010 † Practically Perfect... § Blog Giveaways § Books § Christian Fiction § Giveaways § Uncategorized ‡ Comments (1) ° Tagged: , , ,

Finding Furniture

I’ve said this before, but it bears repeating – if our apartment were to burn down, I wouldn’t be too distraught.  Oh, I’d be upset about having to replace certain “memories” – photos, mementos, etc – and I’d be annoyed at the cost involved with replacing our clothes, books, and electronics.  But if all of our furniture were to go up in smoke, it would be fine by me.

There are some pieces that I really like – the cedar chest that belonged to Chris’ grandmother, the demilune table, the stand mirror that my parents bought me – but that’s about it.  We’re holding off on buying furniture till we’re in New Zealand and things are a bit more settled down.  I don’t want to buy something only to have to lug it halfway across the globe, having it bumped and banged all along the way.

In the meantime, it’s nice to look.  Chris may grumble and groan about it, but I know he’ll let me buy at least some of the things that I want :-)  Here are a few items that I’ve been looking at…

Portofino Writing Desk and Chair

I’ve always preferred desks that are more table than desk.  And even though we don’t have any little ones yet, I’d like to think that when we do, we’ll have a trundle bed similar to this one in their room.

Crow’s Nest Daybed with Trundle

My first bed was a trundle bed, and I’ve always loved them.

Retreat Roll Arm Sectional

I love big sofas.  Something with lots of seating space for lots of people.  I wouldn’t get it in white, of course, but I love the style and think that it would fit in well with an informal family room.  I can easily imagine taking a nap here, can’t you?

Last but not least, I’ve been looking at some hand-painted furniture.  My mom hand-painted all of my bedroom furniture during high school, and I loved it.  I’m hoping that someday, I’ll be able to tackle a similar project on my own.  We don’t have the space (or time!) for it right now, so in the meantime I like to look at pieces like these for ideas…

Cortona Chest

Jane Keltner Chest

Thanks for looking at furniture with me :-)  Only 78 days left till we move!  And don’t forget to enter my book giveaway that ends today!

Posted 26 February 2010 † Practically Perfect... § Furniture § Shopping § Uncategorized ‡ Comments (6) °

Chicago!

First off, let me say that when it comes to taking photographs, I’m terrible.  I either forget to take them, or when I do take them I grow impatient.  I’m excited to sign up for some photography classes once we move to New Zealand.  Hopefully, I’ll learn how to do a much better job than what I’m currently doing.

We left for Chicago on Friday morning.  I was up for over 20 hours thanks to a 12 hour night in the ER combined with a 2+ hour train ride from South Bend.  I must say, though, that the train from South Bend to Chicago was so convenient.  I highly recommend it.  Chris was pleased to discover that one of the Notre Dame grad students was taking the same train to attend the conference.  They were able to chatter away while I attempted to doze.  I didn’t have much success.  Chris was partially to blame for this, since at one point he thought that he would be “helpful” and pick up a dropped piece of paper.  This put his face practically in my lap, and I opened my eyes to see him rightthere.  I did a sharp inhalation, jumped back, and generally amused the back half of the train thanks to my husband scaring the living daylights out of me.

We got off at our stop and had just a short walk to the Blackstone Hotel.  I loved this hotel.  It had a great atmosphere of old-time Chicago with some modern touches.  We showed our room to Nicki (my sister-in-law) and Preston (her boyfriend), and they were both suitably impressed as well.  I give it 2 thumbs up and would definitely recommend it.  The concierge was very helpful, the doorman were solicitous (taxi, anyone?) and it was a short, pleasant walk to the museum campus and several restaurants.

Our first day there was spent in 2 different ways.  Chris went to his conference and I crashed.  I slept for a good 5 hours (after being up for 22 hours), showered, and got ready for our dinner out.  We took a taxi to Everest and the evening improved from there on out.

Everest was phenomenal.  It’s expensive (about $100 per person if you don’t get any wine or extras) and we never would’ve gone there if it weren’t for the $200 gift card from my in-laws.  Our total meal was about just under $300.  Yikes.  Let me stress that this is not typical for us, but it was so much fun.  The view was perfection – overlooking the lake, the city lights, and right next to the Hancock building.  Our servers were so kind and agreeable.  If you want a dining experience, then you should definitely go to Everest.

The next day was spent in more conferences and more sleeping (Chris with the conferences, me with the sleeping!).  I woke up around noon and got ready to meet Nicki and Preston.  Chris came home after stopping at The Corner Bakery to pick up sandwiches for our lunch.  Just a side note – The Corner Bakery is 10 times better than Panera.  I love their uptown turkey sandwich.  Yum!

We snarfed down our sandwiches and met Nicki and Preston in the lobby.  The four of us made the short walk to Shedd Aquarium and spent several hours looking at all of the fish, walruses, seals, otters, and of course the penguins.  We had a great time.  It had been years since I’d been to Shedd Aquarium, and I was glad for the chance to visit again.

Once we finished, we all walked over to Caribou Coffee.  I had a cup of their yummy hot chocolate and everyone else refueled with caffeine.  We headed back to our hotel, where the boys played chess in the lobby and Nicki and I caught up over cocoa and coffee.

We ended the evening by walking down to Lou Malnati’s pizza.  Chris and Preston split a deep-dish and Nicki and I shared a salad.  It was very good, and the portions are huge.  We all agreed that we could’ve gotten by with smaller orders and still had leftovers to share.

Nicki and Preston caught the train back to Wheaton, IL (where they were staying with friends) and Chris and I went back to our hotel.  One of the downsides of working the night shift is that whenever you’re on vacation, there’s nothing to do during the night while you’re awake.  Chris slept and I desperately tried to make myself tired by reading  or watching boring movies, but it didn’t work.  I finally crashed around 6am and slept till noon.  Chris got up at some point and went to more conference-related meetings, but I was dead to the world.

We checked out around 12:45 and caught the 1:38pm train from Van Buren station back to South Bend.  Our trip back wasn’t quite as pleasant.  Two girls sat across from us, and by the time they left I had had it up to here with stories of people getting drunk, vomiting, farting, and being dropped on their heads.  And they looked so nice, too!  Chris and I both agreed that when they sat down we thought, “Oh good – they look reasonably normal”.  Hah.  I’m so glad that I was never like that!

All in all, it was a great weekend getaway.  I really do like Chicago and still maintain that if I had to live in a big city (other than Auckland, of course), that I would choose Chicago over NYC or Boston.  If you’ve never been, you really, really need to visit!

**Don’t forget to enter my book giveaway!**

Posted 23 February 2010 † Practically Perfect... § Chicago § Marriott § Restaurants § Travel § Vacation § Vacations § traveling ‡ Comments (5) ° Tagged: , , , , , ,

“Beguiled: A Novel” Book Review + Giveaway

Hello, my lovely readers!  I’m moving along in my goal to review a new Christian fiction book each month and am already on to this month’s selection.  I chose the romantic suspense story Beguiled: A Novel, by Deeanne Gist and J. Mark Bertrand for February.

Beguiled: A Novel

Let me tell you a little about the authors…

Deeanne Gist is a multi-talented, multi-tasking woman.  She’s been an elementary school teacher, an antiques store owner, a CFO, a freelance journalist, and to top it all off is married with 4 children.  Somewhere along the way she realized that she could add “novelist” to her hat rack and has turned out 6 books, 4 of which I’ve  had the pleasure of reading (including this one).

J. Mark Bertrand is the author of Back on Murder, a book which I’ll add to my reading list once it releases this July.  A Houston native with an MFA, he and his wife currently live in South Dakota where he continues his writing career.  This was the first time I’d read one of his works.  If his other books are at all like “Beguiled”, then he’s going to become a new favorite of mine.

__________________

Beguiled takes place in South Carolina.  I like it already.  The story centers around two main characters – Rylee Monroe, a Charleston dogwalker to the wealthy, and Logan Woods, a reporter.  Rylee loves her job but everything is threatened when a rash of burglaries begins.  To make things worse, it appears that someone is targeting her.  Logan is keeping a close eye on the robberies and hopes to use them for a book on true crime, but he keeps coming back to Rylee.  You know the old saying – curiosity killed the cat, and in this case, it’s threatening the dogwalker, too.  Logan has to decide what’s most important – the story, the girl, or bringing a villain to justice.

__________________

I enjoyed this book.  Many times, I’ve found that Christian fiction can be kind of flat and undramatic.  “Beguiled” was a good combination of romance and suspense.  I particularly liked how the authors shifted the point of view between Rylee and Logan.  This kept things interesting and added depth to the story.

As is my usual practice, I’ve decided to share this book with another reader.  But, contrary to what I normally do, I’m not going to give you my copy!  I liked this book so much that I don’t want to part with it, if that tells you anything.  Instead, I’m planning to give the winner of this month’s giveaway a new copy.  There are three ways to enter: (1) leave a comment telling me what you thought of the review, (2) mention the giveaway on your site with a link-back to my blog, or (3) let me know that you’re a follower.  If you’d like, you can do all three and earn multiple entries.  The giveaway is open to anyone with a US or APO/FPO address and will run till Friday, February 26th at 5pm EST.  Good luck!

Posted 22 February 2010 † Practically Perfect... § Blog Giveaways § Books § Christian Fiction § Giveaways ‡ Comments (12) ° Tagged: , , , ,

Currently Loving…

…my Bounce dryer bar.  This thing is the best!  No more hunting for used dryer sheets, and it lasts for 4 months.  Awesome.

Bounce Dryer Bar

…”Planet Earth” DVD set.  I saw this when it first came out, and I finally bought a used copy off of Amazon.com.  It has to be one of the best nature documentaries out there.

Planet Earth DVD

…my SoftWalk Murrietta clogs.  I wear these shoes for at least 40 hours a week and have had them for a year already.  They are the best work and everyday shoes that I have ever had (even though I could do with a new pair).  I used to have very painful plantar fasciitis, and after wearing these shoes for a week, it finally went away.  If you are on your feet a lot or if you just want a cute pair of shoes, you need to check these out.  I will probably buy 2 more pairs before we move to New Zealand, just to be sure that I have them.

SoftWalk Murrietta Clogs (mine are in black)

…my North Face Denali hooded jacket in black.  I used to think that North Face gear was overrated, and then Chris bought this for me for Christmas.  It has become one of my favorite jackets and it stands the test of both South Bend and Chicago winter weather.  I love the fact that it has a hood!

North Face Denali Hoodie

…Firefly Sweet Tea vodka.  I know that this isn’t a new thing to many bloggers out there, but it was practically impossible to find in the Boston-area of Massachusetts, and only recently made an appearance at our local South Bend grocery.  I like to have it in a 1/3 vodka to 2/3 lemonade mixture poured over ice, sipped slowly.  I’m not a big drinker, but the taste of the tea and lemonade makes for one very good libation ;-)  I’m excited to try the Firefly Raspberry vodka.  We bought a bottle while in Chicago, and I hope that it’s just as good as the Sweet Tea!

Firefly Sweet Tea Vodka

…my schedule.  Currently, I’m planning to visit my parents, visit friends in Boston, and do a quick day-trip to West Lafayette with Chris, all sometime next month.  I love the fact that I have such flexibility (and it looks so stylish in my MyAgenda).  I am really, really hoping that I’ll have another 3-day stretch of days off during my April schedule.  I want to make a trip to visit my lovely sister Cindy and brother-in-law Dan, who live with two of the cutest kids in the whole world (my niece and nephew!) in Wisconsin.  Cross your fingers that I get some days off and am able to visit them!

…my new Toshiba Satellite A505 laptop.  I bought this last month, and it works like a dream.  One of my favorite things about it is the battery (weird, I know!).  It can last up to 12 hours between charges, and that makes me very happy.  My last computer had a pathetic battery.  I’m glad that I’ll be able to use this computer on the long flight to New Zealand without worrying about the battery dying.  Of course, the downside is that the better battery translates into a heavier computer.  This is fine for me, because I’m not a student and don’t carry a computer around every day.  I’m quite pleased with this purchase, and owe a huge thank-you to my wonderful husband who logged a lot of hours doing research and gathering information.  Thanks, Sweetie!

Toshiba Satellite A505

I love to hear about what other people are currently using and loving.  Please leave me a comment and tell me what things are on your “must have/must use” list!

Posted 21 February 2010 † Practically Perfect... § Coats § Computers § DVDs § Favorite Things § Jackets § Laundry ‡ Comments (5) ° Tagged: , , , , , , ,

Traveling

Hello my lovely readers!  There’s a lot of traveling in our household these days.  I’m working from 6p – 6:30a tonight, and then we’re catching a morning train to Chicago for a 3-day visit.  I’m looking forward to fun, dining out, visiting some sights, and seeing family :-)

I also just purchased plane tickets to Boston.  I’ll be there for 3 days in March, which isn’t a long trip but long enough to see friends.  I wanted to go back one more time before we make our big move in May.  It’s such a fun place and there are so many things to see and do there.  I’m really looking forward to it.

I hope that the remainder of your week flies by and is stress-free.  Have a great weekend, too!

**PS – Be on the lookout for a giveaway from yours truly sometime next week!**
Posted 17 February 2010 † Practically Perfect... § Boston § Chicago § Massachusetts § Travel § traveling ‡ Comments (5) °

To Kindle or Not To Kindle?

Hello, my lovely readers, and welcome to another great week.  I hope that your weekend went really well and that you feel refreshed and ready to go :-)

I have a question for all of you out there.  What do you think of e-readers, specifically the Kindle?  My mother-in-law has the Kindle DX and she absolutely loves it.  I’m considering purchasing one, but I’m not sure.

When I first heard about the Kindle, I’ll admit that I turned up my nose.  The idea of reading off a computer screen didn’t sit well with me.  I can be a bit of a purist and thought, “Hmph!  I like paper books, thank you very much!  None of this Kindle crap for me!”  And then I saw my mother-in-law’s and I was impressed.  It’s convenient, easy on the eyes, and lightweight.  I’m a big reader and the thought of having one device that holds a lot of books is quite appealing to me.  Also appealing is the fact that I can get a new book anytime I want.

There are a few drawbacks.  For one, there’s our move to New Zealand.  Now, from what I can tell the Kindle would still be usable in Auckland, but I would have to pay a $1.99 fee whenever I download a book.  However, this fee can be circumvented if I download first to my computer and then transfer it to my Kindle.  Not quite as convenient, but still very nice.  There’s also the issue of price.  The DX is $489.00.  Yikes.

Chris has said that if I really want to get one, then I can, but with the understanding that from that point on I start purchasing the majority of my books in e-book format.  I don’t know about that.  There’s something so nice about having a book in your hands, you know?  And I love books!  I collect vintage books, for Pete’s sake!  It seems almost sacrilegious, but I understand his point.  Why invest so much money in a device if you’re going to continue buying paper books?

I’ve been thinking about all of the ways in which I would use it – long flights to and from New Zealand (that’s a 24 hour flight one-way, and I can read a lot of books in that time-frame), those times when I’m in New Zealand and have no idea where the closest bookstore is, those times when I really don’t feel like driving to the bookstore or waiting for a book to come in the mail if I order it online… the list goes on and on.  I also like the fact that there are many free e-books out there.

So what do you think?  I know that some of you own a Kindle.  Do you like it?  If you don’t own a Kindle, do you wish that you did?  Do you think that they’re a good idea or a bad idea?

Posted 14 February 2010 † Practically Perfect... § Books § Shopping ‡ Comments (13) ° Tagged: ,