a busy day for budget bears...

in an attempt to tighten our belts just a little bit more, we've declared 2009 the year of the budget bear! we've done the appropriate budgeting, figured out what gets allotted to where, and are having fun doing it!

one of the most helpful money saving-tips i've read has been to comparison shop... for everything, not just major purchases. because so much of my cooking deviates from the typical SAD, i've found shopping at "ethnic" markets to be a major cash saver! asian markets have great prices on quality produce and, of course, tons of interesting ingredients to experiment with. a perk of living in aurora has also been mexican markets where i can find perfectly ripe avocados for much less than the local supermarket.

buying in bulk has also proven a valuable technique... shopping the bulk bins at whole foods for flours, grains, nuts & legumes costs next to nothing. also, forget stale supermarket spices! look for an indian market for lots of spices or check out a retailer like penzeys where you can forgo fancy packaging for high quality, potent herbs and spices!

now... i admit that i probably get much more joy out of grocery shopping than the average person. while i certainly don't think everyone has to turn into a total foodie, i think having fun with food can definitely open up some new doors. i spend my days pouring over recipes, writing my own, & experimenting with different foods... but i also have taken the time to understand what i'm feeding my body & why. this has probably proven the most valuable money-saving lesson of all - taking care of my body and treating it right has kept me away from the doctor, off medications, & feeling great.

after we finished some epic food shopping we grabbed our coupon book and headed over to pita paradise for some delicious mediterranean food!






oh, & one last tip! reusable grocery bags, good for the earth & your wallet... here we are modeling some amazing handmade totes our deadformat buddy mel made us!

2009 the re-cap

So much has happened these last few weeks, we thought it appropriate to begin the year with a re-cap of all things panda-y and holiday-ish. First off jess and I both got new tattoos at our favorite tattoo shop. Jess went to our place to get a tattoo with her father. Jess got a piece of cherry pie(her father’s favorite) with a dad banner. And jess’ dad got a touch up on an old rose tattoo he had, with jess’ name above it. And a week later I got an amazing panda tattoo, below are pics of jess’ and I’s tats:






We were very fortunate to have great holidays this year. We had a good time with jess’ folks while they visited over thanksgiving. And we had a great time running around on xmas day seeing everyone(even if i did have to work part of that day). we had a great new years eve eating thai food with sean and irene. Jess’ and I present exchange couldn’t have been better, with both of us getting fun and surprising presents that we both adored, below is a composite:

ryno got:
dinosaur jr : whatever's cool with me 7"
modest mouse : good news for people who like..
mountain goats : sweden
nirvana : in utero(clear yellow)
sea and cake : oui
smashing pumpkins : machina | the machines of god
sonic youth : goo lp(first pressing)
pedro the lion : whole ep 10"
sonic youth stocking cap!!!!

gesso got:
himalayan sea salt
saves the day - through being cool
braid - rainsnowmatch 7" original pressing
kung-fu panda dvd
beetlejuice dvd
and lots of cute oven mitts... and a cupcake apron!!!!
money with which she bought an ipod touch which she is adoring so much right now

here's some pictures of us crazy cats:


not to mention dad/bonnie/santa got us tons of fun things from ten thousand villages, and other thoughtful fun things. And jess’ parents got us pjs. And of course our families/santa gave us money for records and or culinary fun things.

Another amazing recent development that I mentioned in my last blog, was that we got our new coffee table. I urge anyone to take the time when they visit us to check out this lovely piece of artisanal carpentry mastery. Here are some pictures, but no justice will be served unless you see this in person:





yesterday we went to Chicago. We met up with ben and his lady friend jenny and had a wonderful time. we met up with them at the chicago diner, and enjoyed brunch. we then went to reckless records (of course), rag stock, urban outfitters, and a few other stores. we finished the night at mac's, where all four of us enjoyed their fish and chips. and we all loved it! next time though, we are going to smoke daddy! we had a great time with ben and jenny, it was a shame the night ended so soon, but we look forward to seeing them this summer, and whenever they visit these parts!

so after all of that bloggery, we are so thankful we have each other and family and friends to share our lives with. we are so thankful and happy that 2009 is starting off so well. this year for us, will bring tight budgets, a fun summer train ride to california, a possible 2010 wedding date, and our kitties will be turning two!

happy 2009!

well jess and i are relaxing after a simple yet fun new years eve. we went out to eat with irene and sean at one of our favorite thai restaurants last night, which was a blast. and we rang in the new year with records and kitties and champagne corks flying.

sean presented us with a new coffee table that he made us. we commissioned sean to make this table quite a while ago, but now that we have it, it was well worth the wait. it is perfectly designed to sit two lap tops side by side. and it has a drawer that can house both of our lap tops. needless to say we couldn't be happier. the cats have also been enjoying a new piece of furniture to crawl all over.

jess and i had a great christmas. we drove all over the place delivering home made cookies to family members which was fun. jess and i exchanged presents, and we both are happier than panda bears stranded on a bamboo island. jess got me countless records that i wanted and i got her numerous things she desired.

so it's been a crazy week and a half. i've been working tons, and am looking forward to having the next few days off. tomorrow we are going to chicago to meet up with ben and his g/f. much fun will be had.

ryan 2's birthday get-together!

for ryan's birthday, i made a strawberry kittee kake with strawberry cream cheese frosting! i don't make many cakes so frosting & decorating (if you can call it that) it was an experience, to say the least! oh, and buki helped!

oh ryno rambings will you ever never be?

this weekend was pretty laid back.

well before i talk about the laid back part, lets talk about bike accidents as it relates to cars. today as jess and i were pulling into our parking garage we witnessed a bicyclist getting struck by an SUV. because i ride my bike to work frequently, i am an obvious advocate for the cyclist who was struck. i also must admit that knowing that i ride my bike so much, maybe my clarity of the event wasn't clear, but what i saw was a bike rider being careful as she approached a blind corner and a SUV driver approaching an intersection without consideration for pedestrians or cyclist. the cyclist was alright, just shook up. her husband was with her and comforted her. i got out of my car to make sure she was alright, and flagged down a county police officer. i stayed around to give my witness statement, and offered my sympathy and support to the biking couple(and my obvious disdain for four wheel vehicles and their drivers who are oblivious to bike riders and bipeds). the bike couple opted not to press charges(or make a police report) though i had encouraged the husband that it might be a good idea, but they figured that since everyone was physically alright(the bike riders bike was un-ridable) that they wanted to just exchange info and be on their way.

since the biking couple was miles away from their vehicle and the wife's bike was not in riding condition, i offered to drive them to geneva(where they had started their bike ride). they were very happy to have someone to help them, and i was humbled by how thankful they were. i strapped my bike rack on the mini and threw their bikes on the rack and drove them to geneva. on the ride we chatted. it was nice. not that i felt proud or big headed, just that i felt this was what humans are supposed to do. we see someone in need, we respond. i obviously wanted to advocate strongly for my fellow bike riders, but it was comforting just to know that my existence meant something. when we got to their car, i got their bikes off the rack, and said my goodbyes. the woman asked if they could do anything to compensate me, and i said i really couldn't think of anything. i told her and her husband to be safe. she asked if she could give me a hug, and i said sure. we hugged, and i felt as close to a stranger as a human could. i drove off knowing i will most likely never see them again.

ok...now other things:

on thursday we went over to nancy's house to meet each other's mutual partner's. jess had never met nancy and i had never met her fiance brian. we had a great time catching up. we also had a wonderful time making homemade bruschetta together and eating that with french bread. nancy was nice enough to let us raid her garden, and we also had a great time playing with all of nancy and brian's many pets.

friday i had a vacation day. so i spent that day cleaning, doing laundry and running. it was perfect. after jess' work we went out to dinner to our most favorite indian restaurant. it was so good. and it was excellent because the staff there was extra helpful and attentive. they explained a new appetizer to us, they went out of their way to make sure we were taken care of. nothing is more comforting than being a regular at one of your favorite restaurants.

saturday we went to lush to pick up some bath stuff for my mom and some staple items for ourselves. we then stopped at the an antique mall and got quite a lot of pyrex and got our friend ryan his birthday present. we then wondered around the mall, and ran into a couple old friends(betsy and seth) and then i had one of the most annoying/gratifying experiences of my life. here it goes:
i was talking on my cell phone as we were leaving the mall. we pass a vonage kiosk, and one of the sales people looks at me straight in the eye(as i am on the phone), and starts talking to me. and i yell at the top of my lungs with about fifty mall folks around me, "I'M ON THE FREAKIN' PHONE DUDE!" and kept walking. the guy was visibly shocked and embarrassed. and goodness that felt good. the only thing that compares to this gratification is flipping off our share of hummers this weekend. after the mall, we went to kiss the sky and i got a few lps:

broken social scene s/t
broken social scene"spirit if..."
nico chelsea girl
oberst, conor s/t
wolf parade on mount zoomer
beck modern guilt
mates of state re-arrange us
ting tings we started nothing


and then when we got home, we had a pizza and wings watched one of our favorite movies. we drank rootbeers from our favorite brewer. we listened to some of the records we bought and i washed jess' new pyrex. overall great night.

today we have been watching law and order SVU dvds, the first season. jess dyed her hair and have been laying down[she's feeling kinda sicky :(], and i have been transcribing all my poetry onto my other blog. tonight we will watch some simpsons and family guy and have a good sunday before another week of work ensues.

goodness if you read all this, you do not have A.D.D

a shot from Polly's wedding!

i had to photoshop my dress because it came open in the front a bit. woops!