5 Helpful Tips for Buying Your Next Laptop

After a teeny accident (my dad tripping over my laptop’s power cord and the poor thing going flying), I was in dire need of a new laptop. It’s a big purchase, not only because of the price tag, but because I use my laptop for just about everything. I use it for work, for blogging, to keep in touch with friends and family, to watch movies, to shop, and to pay my bills. Whatever laptop I decided on had to be a reliable machine that fit all my needs. But with so many makes and models available, how does one decide? Here are some things to consider when shopping for your next laptop.

Price. How much are you willing to spend on your laptop? Once you know that, you’ll be able to narrow down the options considerably. I was looking for a mid-priced machine, so I knew I’d be staying clear of anything with a price tag higher than $600. Laptops can range from $150-$2000.

Mac or PC. People today are divided into two groups—Team Mac and Team PC. I’m Team PC and have been since my first computer at age 3. I’m a creature of habit and prefer what I know to having to learn a new operating system, but there are some people who are more willing to try out something different.

Screen Size. Size does matter when you’re buying a laptop. In my case, I use my laptop more as a desktop and watch a lot of TV shows and movies on it, so I wanted a bigger screen. But, if you’re someone who carries their laptop to work or to classes, a smaller screen means that the laptop will probably be lighter too. One thing I noticed too was that smaller laptops tend to not have CD-ROM drives. Since I use my laptop to watch movies and some of my software requires a CD for installation, this was just another reason why I decided to go with a larger screen.

Touchscreen? Whether I should get a laptop with a touch screen was a point of contention in my house. Some people (my dad) are huge advocates of the touchscreen because it’s the newest technology and they like the interactivity. But, for me, I didn’t want to pay more for a feature that I had no intention of using. I don’t see the point of a touchscreen on a laptop and think of it as more a of tablet function. Different strokes for different folks, right?

RAM. RAM is a computer storage location that allows information to be stored and accessed quickly because it is accessed randomly instead of sequentially. Once upon a time, if you were tech savvy enough, you could add memory to your laptop. Nowadays though, fewer laptops are giving you that option. Since I can’t expand the RAM on my laptop, it was important to me that I get a laptop with the most memory in my price range. More GB of RAM does mean a more expensive machine though.

In the end, I decided to go with an HP 15.6" Laptop with Intel Core i5 Processor. I’ve been happy with it so far, though the keyboard has taken some adjustment. It’s much slimmer and lighter than its predecessor, and its battery life is fantastic. I think my money was well-spent.

Simple Pleasures: Bouquets

With a winter as bitter as this one spring and summer seem like they’ll never get here.  Everything seems so lifeless. The trees are bare and the lawns are hidden under inches of dingy, gray snow.  Gross.

To combat the winter-weather blues, I’ve taken to buying myself bouquets for my room. As I've said before, I think there is something to be said about how plant life can improve your mood (maybe even your quality of life?) and energize a room.  I look forward to my bi-weekly trips to Dahlia’s stand in Grand Central, which I’ve dubbed “flower day.” Original, I know. It may seem slightly indulgent but a smile and upbeat mood is worth $30 a month for 2 dozen vibrant roses, right? Right. Plus, there are two things that are cheap in New York City—manicures and bouquets—so I might as well take advantage of it!

Although I know spring will arrive eventually and I’ll finally be able to look out at our garden, I think I’ll continue with this flower day ritual. It’s such a simple thing, but it does lift my spirits, especially after a long day at work. It’s the simple things in life that make it worth living, no?

What are some little things that make you smile? xx

London in a Box

I love my mom to pieces and, as I’ve gotten older, she has become my best friend. There is nothing that I can’t talk to her about (seriously), and I always know that she’ll be in my corner. She’s the sort of mother who sacrifices for her children with nary a complaint, and I'll will always be thankful for that.

This year, I wanted to do something special to mark her 25th (you’re welcome, Mommy) birthday. As I’ve mentioned already, I’ll be going to France this summer; but what I failed to mention is that I’m taking my mom with me. I ordinarily travel alone, but I thought that this would be a nice mother-daughter adventure for us.

For Mom’s birthday present though, I gave her a day trip to London. My mom is a Londoner, but she hasn’t been home in 40 years. I grew up hearing tales of her London (post-war with debris still on street corners), but London has changed so much since she’s last seen it.  I know that she misses it. A lot. When I mentioned that we would change planes at Heathrow on the way home, she nearly burst into tears. I knew that it would be a huge tease to be just a couple hours away from London and not make the trip there.

I still wanted Mom to have a gift to open on her birthday though, so I got a teeny bit creative with the presentation. I give you London in a Box! I remembered from my scrapbooking days that Jolee’s Boutique and Recollections had some great London stickers with texture and embellishments that I put into a small box (hence London in a Box). The stickers have dimension to them, so they don’t just lay flat in the tissue paper. This isn’t their typical use, but it certainly did the trick!

The gift itself was wrapped in two layers of wrapping paper from Papyrus, one of my favorite stationary stores.  Their products have a beautiful hand-crafted quality to them, and the attention to detail is stunning.  When I saw that they were selling sheets of wrapping paper with an Eiffel Tower and UK stamp motifs, I knew I had to have them both for Mom’s gift.

Mom also got one of my (in)famous itineraries for our day. We’ll only be in London for about 12 hours, but I'm squeezing in as much as humanly possible for her. We’ll somehow manage to see the Tower of London, Covent Garden, Piccadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square, Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, the House of Parliament, Harrod’s, Hyde Park/Kensington Gardens and Palace, and Oxford Street. My feet hurt just thinking about it!

There were tears when Mom realized what I was giving her, but she was so excited about it.  She was all giddy as she added the London in a Box stickers to the itinerary, and she now has it displayed on her dresser.  I'm glad that I could give her this chance to visit home--40 years is a long time.

All I’m worried about now is how I’m going to top this next year…

Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Review

As much as I would love to spend $8 on a bottle of OPI or Essie, sometimes that price tag is too rich for my student loan-burdened bank account. I’m not ashamed to admit that I’m almost exclusively a drugstore cosmetics sort of gal at this point in my life. But just because I want bargain prices doesn’t mean I want nail polishes that chip the next day or need a million coats to look opaque. I've found that Sally Hansen Insta-Dri line is a great alternative to designer polishes.

For $3.99, you get a thick, long-lasting nail polish and a large selection of colors to choose from. Depending on the color, one coat will usually do the trick, and it goes on smoothly and evenly. The “Perfectionist Brush” is wider than the average brush and has contoured edges for easy application. 

Now, I will say that the name is a bit of a misnomer. The nail polishes don’t dry instantly (I wish!), and they don’t dry in 60 seconds either.  The dry time is still faster than most drugstore nail polishes I’ve tried though. I do still use a quick dry coat to speed up the process, but that’s only because someone has a tendency to smudge her nails…

A couple of weekend’s ago I bought two new Sally Hansen Insta-Dri polishes for my collection.  Show Steel-er is a light gray with a slight blue tint to it (from certain angles it even looks a bit like powder blue).  It seemed like a perfect winter color to me and certainly matched the New York uniform (black, white, and gray). I can’t lie, I’ve been obsessed with this color since I bought it.  

The other shade, Expresso, is a rich mauve. It’s a deep enough shade to work as winter color but I think the berry hue could work for the spring too. I like that it’s on the more subdued side without appearing too neutral.

My Sally Hansen manicures usually last about a week without chipping and with minimal tip-wear, but the darker colors don't seem to last quite as long as the lighter shades (as was the case with Show Steel-er versus Expresso), not sure why.  Still, Sally Hansen provide smooth, vibrant coverage that really can't be beat for the price.

New Month, New Goals: March

I hoped that February would be less snowy and warmer but Mother Nature had other plans. We seemed to have a snowstorm at least once a week (usually on a Monday) and had record-breaking lows. How low? One night it was -4F and felt like -20F, and our meteorologists were warning us about the risks of frostbite and hypothermia. I'm hoping that March will have some mercy on us weather-wise. It seems like Punxsutawney Phil the Groundhog was spot on when it came to the whole 6 more weeks of winter bit.

So how did I do as far as my February goals go?

Let my hair down more (literally). Check! I wore my hair down for a total of 15 days, which is way more than I usually do.
Lose 5 pounds. Not quite. I lost 3.4 pounds total this month, which is still something. I’m about 7 pounds from my “happy weight,” so I'll keep going.
See some of the Oscar nominated movies. I saw Ida, How to Train Your Dragon 2, and The Grand Budapest Hotel, but I’d love to see more.
Watch the new season of Vikings. Check! Only 2 episodes have aired so far, but I’m a happy camper watching my husband on TV.

MARCH GOALS

• Do some spring cleaning. To mark the beginning of spring (March 20th), I thought it would be a good idea to get some cleaning done. My room has become a bit of a disaster area thanks to a hectic month at work and a couple of home-bound days courtesy of snow. It’s high time I get everything in order again.
• Book France. So, so close! I’ll book my trip to France mid-March now that I’ve gotten my vacation time approved at work. Stay tuned for more details on this!
• Get Mom her birthday present.  Someone is getting older on March 5th and deserves a gift.
• Read for fun. I got slammed with reading for work in February and didn’t have time to breathe, let alone read for pleasure. I still have a couple manuscripts to get through, but hopefully I’ll be able to read a book or two from my growing “to read” pile.  Maybe I'll even manage to read some of the books from my book hauls.
• Bring lunch to work. A co-worker and I made a 2 week-long pledge in late January/early February to bring lunch instead of buying it. I was surprised by how much money I saved during those weeks (about $60) and continued to bring lunch for the rest of February. I’d like to see if I can continue this trend in March.

So what are your goals for March?

Lovely calendar by Rifle Paper Co.