...and exhale

I took Bunny to church this morning (for the second week in a row) and then we went to Target to buy a few new toys (thanks Victoria)!

As soon as we got home we worked, worked, worked. Finally, we are unpacked. I found many treasures from college that my mom had tucked away for me. This included many pairs of black pants in a size 10, coincidentally. They are a little big, but I can get away with them. Today, this meant that I actually had something to wear to church. Also, I don't remember buying so much at JCrew when I was in college. Likely, this is because I didn't have to pay for anything then. It is also likely that my mom kept these things because she DID have to pay for them. Further, I'd like to thank my 20-something self for dressing like a soccer mom. Who knew that I'd still like strappy, angora sweater sets at 34 years old.

Here are a few new pics of our downstairs! There is so much great kitchen gear that I didn't take pictures of. No doubt that there will be many dinner pictures to come that will showcase my stemware! We're still holding off on our bedrooms. Minimal is better. Less to lose if we have a reinfestation (bite my tongue).

Look, we even have a few books!!!! Too bad that they mainly focus on the GRE and pregnancy.

Toy box that will eventually go in Lila's room.

Bunny, overstuffed chair from my mom that will eventually be put in Bunny's bedroom with a very old tv! lol

TV set up. I love this. We have a little tv stand that we're going to use in Bunny's bedroom. I like this so much more!

This living room set will also be welcoming a new storage ottoman and end table on the 19th!

progress

We are making some progress, but we had an insanely long yesterday.

We were up at 6 to leave Philadelphia at 6:30. Surprisingly, my children were up and excited to leave (even Bunny- who I have totally given up on calling Kaitlyn). We got to New Jersey, picked up our UHall truck, dropped off the girls with an incredibly generous friend who showered them with toys (so appreciated and needed). I met Jay, his friends CK and JP over at the storage unit and we emptied it into the truck. Then, I picked up the girls, dropped the keys to the storage place off and headed back to Philadelphia. This was a LOT of time in the car for the girls (about 5 hours in the car with an hour and a half break). I was incredibly proud of them for being so understanding. When we got home, Jay's friend B was here to help us unload our furniture.

There's a lot left to do. We unwrapped most of the furniture and unpacked many boxes... but, still, there's a lot to do. Also, furniture that will eventually go into a bedroom (like one of the little love seats and a tv and a few of our chairs) are downstairs. We are a little bit scared to move them at the moment. Our problem is likely over (fingers crossed) but we won't know for sure until we've had two weeks without anyone experiencing a bite... which hasn't happened yet.

Of everything, the girls are the happiest to have their own computer! Jay is happiest to have a couch to sit on. I am happiest to have our patio furniture! Oh, and I got pretty excited when I unwrapped about two dozen of my mother's old steak knives!

Here are some pictures. Like I said, we have a long way to go... but this gives you an idea!

The Garden State

We are heading to NJ to empty our storage unit this morning!

Tonight, WE WILL HAVE FURNITURE!!!! Hooray.

We've been living without furniture for three weeks now.

I feel like crackin' open a box of sangria and gettin' my celebrate on.

On a side note, I seriously wish that everyone I know had a blog. I don't care how well I know someone... if they have a blog I'd read it.

The Friday I Hit Someone With My Minivan

I picked the girls up from school as I normally would and called Jay to see if he'd like me to swing over to get him from work. He told me that he was walking to our last management company to drop off the keys of infestation and doom. I said that I'd meet him there.

It was nearly 4 on a Friday, which is apparently rush hour in Philly? Who knew? I've lived here for two years and I had no idea.

Also, for unknown reasons, Philly was insanely busy today. There was auto and foot traffic everywhere. My destination was deep in the insanity of center city. The traffic was gridlock. I saw a parking spot ahead, put on my blinker, checked my mirror and slowly began veering to the left to pull into it.

That's when I hit a young hipster on his bike.

Obviously I stopped my car immediately.

I jumped out.

But he was already running away.

So, naturally, I chased him.

I was yelling, "Are you okay?" sort of repetitiously and frantically. Sporadically I'd add "I'm so sorry." And I remember blurting something out about my insurance.

Believe it or not, he never even turned to look at me.

He shouted, "Yeh. I'm great," sarcastically and kept going.

So, here's what I've gathered from the group of spectators that stood with their mouth agape (one even offered to run and get me some water. But that was after I started crying.)

I guess that he was weaving in and out of traffic, as bike riders in Philly are known to do. When I was pulling into my parking spot he was in my blind spot.

My life is so bad that it's becoming comical.

I'm reminded of that Ani Difranco lyric:

"Life just keeps getting harder and it just keeps getting harder to hide. The darker it is around me, the easier it is to see inside."

Good News

I called the Philadelphia Bar Association today.

They have a service where they put you on the telephone with a lawyer who listens to what you have to say and makes a referral if they feel you've got a case.

I told the lawyer everything that's happened to us and she said that she definitely thinks that we have a case. She gave me a referral and said that if she were in private practice she'd love a case like this. I gave the lawyer who she referred me to a call and am waiting to hear back from him.

I have called other advocacy groups and renters rights groups to find out my rights. They must be swamped because mailboxes always seem to be full and I never get calls back. Granted, I'm not leaving detailed messages and maybe I should be. I might be falling through the cracks. I just hate prattling on people's voice mails.

I've decided to hop, skip and jump over to a lawyer.

I'm going to make an inventory of our losses today.

But first, I clean.

Groceries

So, the thing about me is that I love food.

I love to eat. I love to grocery shop. I love to cook. I love to bake. I love to prep. I love to feed.

I just love everything about food.

Here's something that you may not know about me, (though it's possible that I may have mentioned it before). I, Anna Holler, might just be the world's most savvy grocery shopper EVER. I mean, I don't want to toot my own horn, but I suspect that I could make a career out of the skill, THE TALENT that I have for buying food. Grocery shopping is the only kind of shopping that I enjoy. I could (and often DO) do it for hours and am sincerely a little bit sad when it's over and that I only get to do this once every two weeks.

Recently, I turned to facebook to ask people how much money they spend on groceries each week. I found that the majority of people came within about $50 of what we spend. I was also pleasantly surprised by how many comments I received. It seems that a lot of people care about this. It's not just me!

We shop at two different places and buy all organic and mostly locally grown/organic food. We buy all of our produce and meat from the Reading Terminal Market and all of our dairy and general aisle foods from Whole Foods Market (which I would marry if it were socially acceptable and legal). I spend between $300 and $350 dollars every two weeks. The number depends on how many high priced extras that I need (things like dish washer detergent, soaps and household cleaners... which reminds me that I really need to begin making these things on my own again to keep my bills down)!

I think that this is a good place to add that I cook a few meals every day. I make decent breakfasts for my daughters each day. Generally I also do one big breakfast on the weekend. I buy at least 4 dozen eggs each time I shop (between breakfast eggs and baking eggs, I go through at least 2 dozen every week!!!! I realize that this seems impossible.) And I make big dinners each night. Lunch involves more assembling than cooking, but I do send Jay to work each day with a sandwich and snack. At times I'll also send the girls with a packed lunch, though they typically prefer to buy it at school.

The break up of my grocery bill looks like this:

$130 meat

$60 produce

$100-150 dairy and aisle foods (cereal, granola bars, pasta, pasta sauce, school snacks, sorta healthy "junk food," frozen foods).

I realize that I could spend a lot less money at the grocery store and still feed my family. I see articles like this one and know that I could technically spend $100 every two weeks and we could all eat. That said, I could also spend $800 every two weeks if we bought ALL of our groceries at Trader Joes or Whole Foods. I care a lot about things like avoiding HFCS and nitrates. I don't want to eat animals that were grown on shelves or lived their lives in misery under disgusting conditions. More importantly, I don't want to feed these things to my children. As it is, I have an organic, healthy diet on a grocery-chain budget.

I realize that not everyone has an organic farmers market or organic butcher at their finger tips, but I wonder what kind of other options there are. Also, outside of meat and dairy, I don't think that everything needs to be organic all the time. I feel more comfortable with organic food and I prefer it, but I will eat out from time to time and have something that isn't organic or healthy. All within moderation, I suppose!

Where do you shop? What do you buy? What do you spend?

Here's a little article that I found about ways to save money on groceries! Enjoy!!!!

Thursday- Day One Post Bed Bug Crisis

I finally feel as though we have annihilated all living creatures under 5 lbs who dare to set up camp within our walls, floorboards and roof.

It's cold here today. I really wish that I'd sent the girls to school in warmer coats. Instead I just sent them in their puffy vests.

I'm stuck at home, waiting for UPS to deliver new clothes and school uniforms for the girls. They've attempted to make the delivery two times already and if I miss it today they'll return the boxes to the manufacturer. I'm not even showering until they get here.

I've decided to spend my day cooking (and eating)!

I've been making a super hardy, thick, chunky beef stew and little homemade bread bowls to serve it in. YUM. I'll skip the bread bowl, but the stew smells delicious.

That said, I have missed two things in my kitchen more than anything else that we left behind:

1.) My kitchen Aide Mixer (the pastry hook imparticular)

2.) My crock Pot

I mean, I can do anything by hand that I was previously using these tools for. But, they make everything so much easier!!!!

The peace and quiet feels nice today.