Intro

Welcome to my little blog.

I love writing so very much, and I am thrilled to see you here. I also blog on my business website, simplicana.com, but I'm a well-rounded human, and I like to write about other things too, hence creating a separate blog to channel the thoughts that are not work-related.

A question I get asked a lot, and it is said with love and respect 85% of the time, is "what weird new thing are you up to now?" And this is because I am always up to weird new things... I give myself little mini challenges, and I obsess fuss over them, and have a blast with them. These challenges are mostly to do with travel, finances and minimalism.
Some quick facts...
  • I moved from my hometown of Lawrenceville, NJ to Kansas City in November of 2012. But I've lived in lots of other places, the biggies being NYC, Washington DC, and Chiang Mai, Thailand.
  • I'm 31 years old and I think it's weird that people get anxious about this question- that's such a western thing. In Thailand, a 99 year old woman will proudly tell you her age. Can we shift to this mindset too, please?
  • I've been to 31 countries (yes the countries/age thing is deliberate) on five continents. I'm very proud of this.
  • I have an unbelievably adorable dog, Petri ("Pee-tree") who looks like a coyote/fox hybrid, but is probably a mix of German Shepherd, chihuahua and some kind of terrier.
"HI MY NAME PETRI."

Topics I like to think and write about:
  • Whatever challenge I'm working on. As of September 2016, I'm doing two: a spending diet, and pairing down my wardrobe with Courtney Carver's Project 333.
  • Traveling, adventuring and wandering.
  • Fun/strange/new experiences and misadventures.
  • Being child-free (a choice made with love).
  • Observations about our culture and human behavior.
  • Lots of humor.
Still here? I'm glad to have you.

Onward!

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Freedooooom

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Yesterday morning I paid off the rest of my car. I am now debt free . Over the past 20 months I've paid off about $33K of debt in the form of medical bills, a car loan, and a wee bit of credit card debt. Here are some tips and things I did that were the most helpful during this time: I made a Needs and Wants list. I deviated from this now and then, but I always had it to reference. I used Mint.com to set my monthly budgets, and I logged in 6 days a week, first thing in the morning. I posted a bit about it on Facebook, for accountability. This accomplished two things- It gave a way for people to see me and support me, and it also set expectations and sent a message to friends and family that said "Please don't put me in a position right now to spend money- don't charm me into expensive trips/meals/gifts- I'm trying to take care of myself right now." I went from working five days a week to opening up a sixth day on my calendar. I bartered for free/fresh ...
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Generosity at work

Here's what I bought yesterday, on my day-after-the-Freeze: iTunes movie rental in standard definition ( The Edge of Seventeen - I liked it): $2.99. 2 pairs of underwear A pairs of arch support inserts for my sneakity-sneaks. A bag of dog food that will last 4 months, with Petri's small appetite. Yesterday at the end of my organizing session (with a client who knows about my Spending Fast), I stretched and said, "Now I can go buy chapstick !" in a sincerely triumphant voice. "Are you kidding?!" She said. Then we ran around to 3 different spots in her home, and she found SEVEN  unopened tubes of chapstick and gave them to me. Then she sat on the kitchen floor and went through her wine fridge and gave me FIVE  bottles of wine. Then on top of that she handed me two bags of healthy snacks, because she had bought the wrong size.   I was touched by her generosity.
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Tribute to 2017, and 2018 resolutions

Hello from NYC! Inspired by my friend Mindy Hart, I've decided to start blogging again. 2017 was... The year my closest KC friends and I bought forested land that we have a 5-10 year plan to turn into an Ecovillage (ie, cluster of tiny houses). The year I attended my first ever destination wedding abroad where I made friends, and learned that having a whole week with the bride and groom is the most wonderful. The year I turned 32 and saw my 32nd country, Jamaica. The year I saw my first octopus on a night dive, logged my 50th dive (in Cozumel), and logged my first freshwater dive, at the cenotes/caverns in Playa del Carmen. The year I went to my first Burn! Interfuse 2017 was a huge new experience. The year I moved in with great friends to start living more affordably. The year I went to LA on a room escape crawl with beloved friends from both coasts. The year I took control of an awful medical situation by having surgery. Here's to a much better quality of life! Th...
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Sewing old blankets and brewing up soups

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Just paid off another $2,056 on my car loan. (The $56 was this month's interest... cringe). So now I have $12,000 of debt left to pay. If I pay $2,400/month for the next 5 months I can be debt-free by my 32nd birthday in early May. A few spending diet wins since my last post: My beloved blanket started coming apart so I hand sewed it up. I don't think I've picked up a needle and thread since college. I loved it... Sewing is so peaceful. A client gave me one of her Southwest drink tickets, and I enjoyed a coffee with Baileys on my flight to Oakland at the end of October. So lovely to enjoy that over the crossword puzzle (Southwest magazine always has good crosswords). The same client gave me an almost full HUGE jar of organic paleo chocolate protein powder, and I use it in my breakfast shakes. She didn't dig it, but I do. Probably saved $30 on groceries right there. Another client gave me an AMC gift card that she found when we cleaned out her desk. How kind was ...
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Fo FREE.

Hello from the homeland of Lawrenceville, NJ! I'm at my parents' house- last night we drove back from Vermont, where my cousin got married. I've decided that Vermont weddings might be the most beautiful things ever. Today I'll be getting some work done (I have a speaking gig next weekend all about closet decluttering/organization tips, so I'm updating and fine-tuning some of my go-to stuff for that), and running some errands for my folks as a thank you for flying me out here for the wedding, which was very nice of them. Then tomorrow my dad and I hit the road on a two day drive to Kansas City- Dad and my stepmom Rachel are attending a Wyoming wedding this weekend, and Rachel will be flying out to meet him- Dad is a sucker for road trips in the western United States, so he prefers to drive. Also he is retired, and Rachel still works, so she needs to fly. I'm delighted to report that I've spent NO money on Wants on this trip so far. I did buy some grocer...
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