House Dream #2

Nothing says love like getting a little something in the mail. My friend in Paris has just sent me a wonderful set of packages. Some of which are fueling my house dreaming. Did I mention we have offers in and so we are eagerly awaiting responses? Ahhhh, I hate the wait!

Anyway, I was thinking of how wonderful it would be to have sort of a retro 50's California kitchen. It isn't my usual taste but this couch definitely inspires me:

And cherry red too? I'm sold! Only problem is this is a french company and I don't even want to think about how much it would cost to cruise this little baby over! 

N.B. Merci mon ami!

White American Cultural Understanding

There are some things that I have a hard time understanding about Americans and American culture. I wasn't born in the US and for a large part of my life I've lived abroad so there are certain things that still catch me off guard every now and then. For example why is it considered proper to eat with one hand on your lap? or why do people feel uncomfortable if I drink a glass of wine in the middle of the day? or why is every drink (except wine and beer) served with lots of ice?

Well, I found a very interesting and hilarious blog about white culture. For my foreign readers it is a must read. Here is a little sampling of the hilarity:

"It is strongly encouraged to bring a gift to these dinner parties...If you are able to bring a particularly rare dish from your culture, you will be the star of the party. To seal the deal, be sure to explain as much as you possibly can about the dish: history, availability, and the proper way to eat it. Every white person at the party will be taking notes and will be in your debt for introducing them to something new and authentic. If a white person says that have eaten the dish before, it is best to respond by saying "what you ate was a watered down version. They don't even sell this to white people, it's that intense. Even I had to show ID."

I'm still laughing at this! You must visit the site Stuff White People Like.

Psst... and if you've always wondered about t-shirts and its cultural importance click here.

What I'm loving about San Diego

The local grocery store, Whole Foods*, has Hawaiian style leis in stock! They don't have the varieties that you can get in Hawaii but the fact that they carry them is amazing. I love it! Can you tell I'm flower child at heart? 

*What a curious name don't you think? So if you want cheaper food do you go to Half Foods or Not all Foods?

Where is the California "Pot o' Gold"?

And how do I get my hands on some of it? First of all -I'm real estate crazy right now. I spend hours a day studying the market and trying to figure out where to live. Let me give you a brief summary of what is on the market: 

1. places in the city are either $1+ million USD (I've never seen so many of these outside of Monaco) for about 1,600 square feet (150 square meters)
   
2. or a half million dollar crack houses that haven't been repaired or updated since the 60s -if you're lucky
   
3. or you can go half an hour (up to 2 hours) away "the commute" to pay much more reasonable prices ($400,000 and up) for really nice brand new homes
   

I'm not fond of commutes and with fuel prices soaring this week I don't know how people can afford it. The photo above shows the 'cheap' stuff starting at $4.11, that was Monday. You know it is starting to get bad when a camera crew arrives at the local gas station. 

Well, that was Monday and today I nearly swerved off the road when I saw this: 

By the way you should know that it would be wise to take a large wallet of cash because if you pay by credit card they charge you an additional .10 cents a gallon. Most people here drive LARGE trucks and I don't know how much longer they can afford to. So, I'm more determined than ever to find a small ex-drug den in the city -I hear that the 60s style modern is coming back!

P.S. My new theory on the California Pot o' Gold is that most own stock in big oil companies -what do you think?

House Dream #1

Ok, so I'm going to start dreaming and I'm taking you along for the Amero-Italo ride. When we get a house the first thing I'd like to do is to get organized and I mean EVERYTHING. I was surfing some Italian designer's sites and found this little altar to the ultra organized (or the ultimate junk drawers depending on how you look at it):


Isn't it sweet?! The numbers are all drawer pulls and how cool is the ladder? It kind of reminds me of the old card catalogs at the university library (am I dating myself here or what?!)

Truck Driving Temecula

My latest and greatest drug has been looking up any and every property available in the San Diego area. I can't stop. I know there has to be something out there. But, I needed a break.

So this weekend I went out to visit a friend of mine in Temecula, California. It is like going from Napoli to Matera. They say that there are vineyards out there but to tell you the truth all I saw were big wheel trucks and some really new and beautiful houses. I was drooling and lusting at the brand new houses and the prices -THE PRICES! For half the money you would have to spend in San Diego you can get double the house in Temecula!

What would you do? Middle of California with a great house at a great price with an hour commute to work or central metropolitan area but paying a large portion of your paycheque?

May Day? MayDay!

Ok, it is official I am in a housing funk. After having lost Pinky the House we've put in numerous offers on houses and nothing has panned out because at the last minute someone has come in and outbid us. They say the market is tanking but I'm not seeing it!


So this terminally dirty beige "executive stay" place is starting to REALLY bug me. I hate how everything in here looks like it was purchased at a Poverty Barn (died to match of course) and all the fake plants and "tree" look like they fell off some Chinese Junk in Hong Kong Bay. It does have a kitchen (or let's call it what it really is a kitchenette -sounds so much more classy -don't you think?). I have neighbors too!

They are actual college students who attend/roll into school 3 days a week. The rest of the time they workout, go to "keggers," and skateboard around the halls. I don't mean to date myself but when the hell did university students get so damn rich?! Seriously, when I was attending university I couldn't afford squat and I had to work my ass off at work and class. Around here they're all rolling in NICE cars, eating out, shopping (at expensive stores) and getting cosmetic procedures done. WTF? Oh, and did I mention that a lot of them own their own condos (or their parents bought it for them). I believe there is a time for everything and if your that spoiled that early -where do you go from there? I actually heard a 19 year old tell her mom that Burberry purses were too ghetto for her but fine for her mom. I would have told her not to worry because she'd be getting a Burlap bag instead (see if that's ghetto enough for her).