Kati W's Profile

When I get into this mode I try to seperate what I 'want' vs. what I want to experience. What I mean by this is that a lot of times when you're looking through home magazines for example, the rooms are so amazing, and the things that are on offer are really cool, so I ask myself "do I want to stand in that room or play with those things, or is this something that would actually work in my life?" A lot of the time I find that what I'm creaving is the escape or the chance to experience something outside my normal life. It is precisely because these things are outside my normal life that helps me determine that they wont work as part of my life. It's the things that honestly live at the intersection where this or that can help my life/room/morning coffee be better and complement it that I truly want. The rest is just a fun fantasy. ^_^

I couch surfed on my friend's couch for 6 weeks because of a break-up and used every last one of these suggestions. Bribery actually came in the form of $60 a week in rent, but since they were letting me into their lives (my friend and his fiance), I was more than happy to pay it. I'd say sort of along those lines that making dinner goes a long way, too. I can't be more thankful to my friends, and these suggestion made the period were I was occupying their couch much easier for all of us. Also, making sure to disappear is super helpful, too, as the hosts need space to be themselves. I tried not to be home on the weekends, as I knew it was the only time the two of them had to be alone with each other.

I lived in San Francisco for college, right on Russian Hill, and I _loved_ it. I've been wanting to move back, but I would need to find a job that pays a halfway decent salary before I can even think about it. After graduation I headed out to DC, then found myself in Seattle after the recession. Seattle's fun, and I spend about a third of my income rent, but honestly, I'm thinking about going back to grad school to help get a better job so I can move back to San Francisco. If I have to pay half my income on rent, so be it, The City is amazing and well worth it!!

Thank you everyone for the wonderful comments and suggestions!! Especially from the landlords and folks in the Seattle area, they've been very helpful. A lot of folks have been asking what's wrong with the fridge, it's actually not that bad, just really ugly and has dents in it. I think I will talk to my landlord about getting the stove fixed first, then if that doesn't work I'll talk to him about getting a new one. It's very old, and it honestly should probably be junked. The reason I figured I'd offer to go 50/50 with the landlord is because I would probably want to get something a little nicer than the basic, lowest end model available. There's actually a shop down the street that sells really nice refurbished 1950's styled models that I thought would look great in the kitchen. I've just seen them in the window, so I don't know anything about them other than they're adorable.

A couple of you mentioned that I shouldn't get rid of the sink. No worries there! I love that sink, and the "cabinet" on the lower right in the picture is actually the original refridgerator. It doesn't work anymore, but part of the reason I love this place is because of these super cool old fixtures that you just can't get anymore. The kitchen has a lot of potential, it's just these ugly appliances that drag it down.