AlHal's Profile

God, I'd kill for just a washer. I don't much care about doing dishes, and a dryer would be nice, but after living in Europe where a washer was as standard as a refrigerator (and more standard than even an oven-- I lived in a place once with a washer/dryer but no oven...) I miss it so, so much.
My sheets were always clean, and like @HighWater I would love to go back to the days of tossing my gross workout clothes in for a wash while sipping a glass of wine and reclining on the couch.

Ahhh! This is the perfect post. I'm planning a cross-country move this summer. I' m so overwhelmed at the prospect of packing everything up/ sorting through what I can or should take.

I know I'll get backlash for saying this, but, meh, eat it.
Just throw it in a frying pan to heat it well before you eat it. You should be fine. Maybe don't give it to small children or the elderly, just in case, but I have absolutely done things like this before and been fine.

Damariscotta pottery in Damariscotta, ME is wonderful. Unfortunately they don't sell online, but it's worth a trip. Everything is hand made and hand painted with wonderful floral designs.

Ricotta gnocchi freezes well, plus it feels fancier than pasta. I freeze them individually then store them in one-serving plastic bags. I also love making bite-sized spanikopitas. They're a good addition to a kitchen-sink salad and can be heated really quickly.

I have a hard time dealing with recipes that are sized for 4-6. I know you can pare them down, but then you're left with strange leftovers like half an eggplant when the full recipe calls for one, or a can of tomato paste when I only need a teaspoon etc.

I have started buying things broken into smaller servings like the four-packs of chicken broth. I also can everything in the smaller bell jars since I rarely need more than a cup and a half of anything at once.

I used to live in Turkey and had a great experience buying my rug before moving back to the US. We discussed what I was willing to spend, what I was looking for and then we worked our way through a stack of them. I supposed speaking Turkish helps, and being acclimated to the bargaining is useful as well, but for travelers, I would never recommend buying anything at the bazaar.
If you insist on buying from tourist markets here are some suggestions:
1. If it's the type of object you can buy in a shopping mall (knock-off purses, clothing, etc) you'll find the prices fairly firm, they won't move more than about 10%
2. If the price is posted (often for scarves) you'll not have luck bargaining unless you buy in bulk (say 10 lira off if I buy 3, sort of a deal)
3. Be respectful, they won't inflate prices on most things more than 20%, you're really not getting "screwed" for most things (because like I said, rent prices as well as the hush money for the police drive up prices in tourist areas) so don't cut their offers in half.
4. Don't be that ass hole with foreign currency. If there is one way to get screwed, it's by paying with foreign currency. They'll round the rates, and you'll wind up paying more. Same goes for a credit card. They'll charge you different prices (less for cash).

@S.R.K. Boston is the worst! We had a broken dresser in the kitchen, sanding dust from the refinished floors all over the apartment, half-empty coffee mugs from the workmen, and the slatted closet that houses our heater was coated in 2 inches of dust. I took photos, uploaded them to the internet so they would have an irrefutable time stamp, sent a formal complaint to the landlord company, and will sue if I don't get my deposit back.
You can go to small claims court to get your deposit back if they cannot provide an itemized receipt for work done. I've had friends who did this in college and won. Their landlord decided to use their deposit to make renovations and then had the idiocy to put that in writing in an email to them explaining why they didn't get the money back.

Paint in bare feet!

This way, if there's a drop you feel it before you track it across the room, or worse, the house.

Also, I discovered that while painting the ceiling is easy, be sure the paint finish is the same. I used eggshell and the previous coat was a pearl finish so even after two coats there were strange spots of shiny lines. It took forever to fix, and months later I still will catch flashes of shininess in stubborn spots when the light is just right.

I've moved several times in Boston metro and, if you're making the move be aware: it's nearly impossible to find a place without paying an exorbitant realtor's fee. They're horrible, unprofessional, and wildly expensive (I'm sure there are exceptions, but I've never met one), but they've got a racket going, so be prepared to pay one month's rent in addition to first, last and security.