Wednesday Wish List

J.Crew's Slub Cotton Ruffled Scoopneck Tee

Now this tee might look like any other tee out there, but there's just something about J.Crew's style that keeps me coming back for more. If I had an extra $40 lying around, I'd be sure to pick up one of these A.S.A.P. As mentioned before, I love a good pair of jeans, and put a simple tee with some great jeans and you've got my favorite outfit! And lets not forget the ruffles, oh how I adore!

Now if only this tee could somehow make it's way to my closet...

Wednesday Wish List

When it comes to the kitchen, I'm a baker. I don't mind cooking, but give me a recipe that involves baking and I'm happy! Cookies, cakes, pies, & cupcakes. I love them all! So I'm not too surprised (and my family & friends shouldn't be either) that this week's Wednesday Wants is another cookie cutter.

Please meet the Fluer de Lis Cookie Cutter from Sur La Table:

I love Fleur de Lis ANYTHING!

An abridged version on my love of Fleur de Lis' stems back to my life-changing trip to New Orleans in 2005, 6 1/2 months after Huricane Katrina devestated the Gulf Coast. With the symbol of New Orleans plastered everywhere, it's hard not to think back on what we saw & expereienced while down South.

I'd decorate my whole home in Fleur de Lis' if I could, but alas, I don't want to be THAT person. So instead, I'll lust after this cookie cutter in hopes that I can make them for everyone I know someday.

P.S. I once went to a bakery down in Eugene that sold these Fleur de Lis shapped cookies & desperately wanted to buy them all instantly. This cookie cutter would definitely be a cheaper way to go, instead of buying all the cookies. =)

Refinance & Budgeting

On a whim, Sam & I were presented with an opportunity to refinance our home we've had for just over a year. We'd been thinking it would be nice to lock into a lower interest rate, but thought that with all the extra closing costs that come with refinances it wouldn't be worth it at this time. That's when our awesome loan consultant, Conrad, called and offered us a deal we couldn't say no to.

This new offer is for a Traditional 30-Year Fixed loan at a lower interest rate. The closing costs are being capped at $2,500 (which is less than half what they normally cost) and they're just adding that on to our loan, so no extra out-of-pocket costs to us. The big benefit to us is that we'll be going from an Interest-Only loan to the Traditional 30-Year Fixed loan. The way I understand it is that we'll now be paying towards principle AND interest, instead of just our interest only. (We originally went with an Interest-Only loan because it saved us money in payments, but with this new deal, the payments will be lower due to the interest rates being lower -- good news all around!) Overall, we'll be saving a lot in interest in the long run and that sounds good to us!

Although we're not going to see a huge difference in payments, we will be saving about $40 a month, which can add up. Hopefully we'll stick to our budget & be able to pay off our pesky credit cards A.S.A.P.!