Summertime...and the livin's madness.

So. Summer is just about full swing. We finally had a FULL DAY of sunshine and warm weather and shoobies. Boom. It's really here. Work {I'm still at Mildred's just in case you were wondering} has been super slow and super inconsistent, but I'm hoping that within the next few weeks {ahem, ahem - DAYS} that it will pick up. This is how I've noticed the economy affecting my waitress income: no appetizers, no desserts, shared entrees, and smaller tips. People are pinching their pennies and damnit, that is not good news for my travel-the-world-savings-fund. Speaking of savings: I'm back to the tried and true ENVELOPE SYSTEM. Yes, envelopes: it's the key to my financial success. I've always been good with money -- I definitely got that from my parents. They work hard, they play hard, and they are smart with their mo-nay. Anyways, when I was a kid I started an envelope system: I had 4 envelopes and they were titled "savings", "surf", "retirement", "random". Yes, retirement at age 15. My dad pulled out an article from one of his finance magazines and said "Cailin, look at this number. Now if you put X amount away each year starting today, you will have this number by the time you are 55.". Well, you can't argue with numbers so I was sold and the retirement envelope was enacted. I've always been a saver, so the 'savings' envelope was obvious. "Surf" was a big one -- I saved up in this envelope for wetsuits, bathingsuits, boards, any and all surf. The "random" was probably spent on eyeshadow at Joyce Leslie and cheesesteaks & onion rings at the Shack with my little cousin Bridgey. All of these envelopes had percentages on them...I don't remember what they were specifically, but I'm betting that the SURF and RANDOM were pretty much priority. I did this for a while and then lost touch with it in college. I now have:

• Savings: 60% {deposit into savings account: 30% save, 70% for winter travel}
  

• Bills: 20% {deposit into checking account: rent, cell phone, misc.}
  

• Play: 10% {shopping, food, movies, etc.}
  

• Retirement: 10%

Every time I get home from waitressing, or cleaning houses, or singing or any other of my odd-jobs, I take the money out and break it up into the percentages, putting the amounts in their respective envelopes. These specific percentages are seasonal though. There is no way that these would work in the winter. In the winter 60% would be saved for bills, 20% savings...the income just isn't there in the cold months. This system: It works. I'm telling you.

With my "play" money I purchased herbs. "Premade", as I call them, herbs from McNaughtons. I did not inherit my father's VERY green thumb...instead I got my mothers very-not-green-thumb. I'm trying very herb, showering my potted herbs with love and attention -- but despite it all my damn cilantro has bugs. This morning I had to kill it. So sad to see if go, but hopefully I will get some good herbs out of this new kit that Gina made me. You all remember Gina Enberg right? My fabulous friend who makes beautiful stationary and cards amoung other things??

hopinkstudios.etsy.com, ginaenberg@mac.com
{http://cailincallahan.blogspot.com/2009/04/hop-ink-greek-cuisine.html}

Anyways, we had discussed my new interest in {attempting to} growing herbs. Don't you know it that a little over a week later I get a big box in the mail from Gina. It has a fenced in 'garden' for herbs {an old clementine box, remodeled and renovated} along with seeds, homemade labeled planter sticks, as well as some typewriter-typed instructions on "how to". I love it. I'm going to start them today and give them EXTRA love and attention...hoping that they don't end up with the same dreary fate as my cilantro.

WINTER TRAVEL UPDATE:
With the envelope system initiated I'm hoping to save enough for a FULL winter of travel..this means leaving in November and returning May 1st....therefore missing every second of chilly weather. I will definitely have to work while I am in Costa Rica, but that's okay...surf lessons, singing and bartending aren't so bad. Pat and I in Ecuador for 3 weeks in November then headed to Costa for the rest of the winter. I'm hoping {cross your fingers} to go to Australia for the month of April, but I don't know if I could swing it money-wise. Let's hope.

Speaking of Costa Rica...the crew is coming to Jersey!!!!!! Yes, that's right. Ozzie, Adam and Pat are all headed to Jersey in just a few weeks! They arrive in NYC on June 13th, staying there until the 18th...meeting us in Camden for the Jimmy Buffet Concer, then heading down to south jersey for some nose-walkin, trash-talking , pig-roastin extravaganza until the 29th!!!!! To add to the excitement DR LARA PAPPAS arrives in from Cali on the 27th! Madness. They are going to have to WIPE the smiles off our faces.

Random thought of the moment:

When I grow up I want to....

a. be a caterer {this is if i am living in the US of A}
b. own a bed and breakfast {this is if i live abroad...cross your fingers!}, or
c. be a writer. travel writer, or food writer. or just a columnist...hoping that people want to read my random babel.


The other night we had a big Indian Feast at my parents house. My mom had won a personal chef/caterer/whatever the hell he was, as a raffel at the Springtime Health & Music Faire. It was quite an evening. Some things they made were yello dal, coconut curry, chicken tandoori, cucumber yogurt mint salad, saffron rice and more! Here were some pictures from it:

Mom and Me

Coconut Chicken Curry

Brian, the caterer?

Dad, telling a story about something, or maybe his reaction to the spicy string beans?

Mom and Brian in the kitchen

Bunnies & My Best Friend

This is my best friend, Gina Enberg.

I think about Gina all the time, but Easter always reminds me of her the most because she LOVES bunnies.  When I met Gina in college, all she talked about was her black and white bunny named Mickey, who had passed away. She painted pictures of him, drew pictures of him and told stories. He was like a dog...would cuddle her in the bed, go outside to the bathroom, and he had one ear that flopped over. So over the years, I have bought everything "bunny" for gina: from vintage cards, to bunny-shaped wicker baskets, bunny jewelry, t-shirts with bunnies on them....just everything and anything you could imagine. It's not hard to shop for G, but if all else fails and I'm stumped, I just have to go on Etsy.com and find some cool Mickey-esque bunny goods.

I met Gina in Professor Luttropp's Graphic Design I class my junior year of college. Considering that 99.9% of Montclair States students are complete jack-asses, I was very fortunate to of found such a spectacular person. A diamond in the rough! We would go out on Wednesday nights to Chevy's for margarita's, we would have lunch together in the afternoons (usually Gina's famous tunafish sandwiches) with iced tea, she would drag my ass to the on-campus gym where we would chat away and do crunches, run (and walk) around the track on campus, and just hang out to listen to music and create art. Gina made my college experience what it was, and I'm so thankful for that! We would trek into NYC and eat good food, and buy PAPER. Gina loves paper. She has worked at the Montclair Paperie for years now. She is a professional slicer, gluer, designer, creator extrodinaire! She has designed invitations and cards for the rich and famous (literally...Montclair is a happenin' town), and she always takes time to create cards for her friends and family. For years now I have received atleast 2 cards a month from Gina...90% of them being homemade, down to the envelopes! I have been saving them all, and when Gina is a famous illustrator I'll joke about selling her cards for millions!! Really though, I've never met someone so thoughtful in my whole life. She is a slave for the paperie, and on her day off she goes to church and then cooks lunch for her grandmother. Whenever she has a free second she goes down to her basement art space and starts creating. 

Aside from her (serious) obsession with bunnies, she also has a passion for Led Zepplin, paper, cupcakes, and brushing her teeth...a lot. She's beautiful, sincere, and humble - a rare person. SO, I decided that I would share my best friend with all of you. If you ever need any invitations, illustrations, or really anything that deals with art - Gina is your gal. And pay her twice what she's asking...because she always charges too little!  

Here are two things that Gina has designed for me. One is a poster for a show. Me, as a mermaid, wrapped around a tree - which is a guitar. The other is one that she designed for me...which I have yet to use...as a mermaid. 

I hope that everyone gets one special quirky, lovable, passionate, bunny-obsessed friend like I have. Because really, having somebody like Gina just makes life a better experience!

"I'd like to be the sort of friend that you have been to me.

I'd like to be the help that you've been always glad to be;

I'd like to mean as much to you each minute of the day

as you have always meant, old friend of mine, to me along the way"

FOR GINA ENBERG's ARTISTIC SERVICES, please inquire here:

ginaenberg@mac.com