Photos of the house

Thanks everyone who asked for photos of the house! I tidied up the house this week really well so it was time to take some photos for you.

It took me a while to choose and buy a vacuum cleaner. I really wanted a Dyson but they are way too expensive to buy for only 3 years. Also, no one lived in this house for like 6 months before we moved in so you can only imagine how quickly and how dusty everything got! But all good now, got a bagless Eureka, vacuumed and dusted. The house is nice and tidy and feels lovely.

As I mentioned in one of the previous posts, all the furniture is rented and I didn't really see it until it arrived but I am very pleased with everything! The quality is great and the designs and colours are even better than I expected.

Below are the images of the house; those with furniture were taken by me while the empty house ones are the promotion photos they advertised the rental with. I'll mention which photos aren't mine.

Front of the house, promotion photo

Entrance & dining room, promotion photo

Dining room, promotion photo

Dining room with furniture

Some plants by the window at the dining room

Living room, furnished.

Kitchen, promotion photo

Family room on the second floor

Master bedroom

Master bedroom, different angel

Bathroom, promotion picture.
It is totally awesome with 2 sinks, Jacuzzi, shower  and a separate toilet.

One of the spare bedrooms. The other one has very similar furniture.

Hope you enjoyed the tour.

Cheers!

Garden of the Gods and Red Rock Canyon - one day trip

with Chaos & Nyx at the Red Rock Canyon

Yesterday was my first trip outside the city. The whole family of hubby, myself and the dogs went to Colorado Springs for a day trip and we had an amazing time!

Americans aren't huge of Easter and most people don't have Friday or Monday off, unlike Australia where you have a 4 day long weekend. Luckily hubby got the day off and I figured that Monday will be the perfect day to go for a trip as it won't be as busy as going on the weekend. This was the right decision so if you get a day off when most people don't, use it and go for a trip!

We started our trip at the Garden of the Gods, which is only an hour and a bit away from Aurora, where we live. The views there are spectacular with red rocks in different shapes and the snowie Pikes Peak in the background. Garden of the Gods offers hiking trials, rock climbing, cycling and even just by driving through you are sure to enjoy the views. We did one hike starting at Parking Lot 7 and going around, had a snack and then drove to the Red Rock Canyon, which is only about 5-10 minutes drive from Garden of the Gods. 

Entrance to Garden of the Gods with Pikes Peak in the background

Tree growing in the rock

Red Rock Canyon also has magnificent views and great for hiking and cycling. We did one longish hike which surely exhausted myself and the dogs. 

Dogs on a leash are allowed into both attractions, which is fantastic! Chaos and Nyx seemed to enjoy the trip although they were exhausted and slept for the rest of the day after the trip and the whole night!

Red Rock Canyon

All the pictures in this post belong to me so please don't use them without my approval. Thanks!

Alternative fashion

From Auxiliary Magazine

As you probably already know I like alternative fashion. I like to incorporate it in my outfits and I like seen in on other people. And by alternative I mean anything that isn't main stream. Main stream fashion seems to lack individuality and I'm not talking about the unattainable brands that go crazy with designs but the stuff most of us buy and wear. When shops sell the same style items and everyone buys at those same shops, everyone looks just the same. But we are not the same! We have different personalities, different body shapes and different likes and dislikes. For me alternative clothing is about individuality and personal style. It's about being me.

We tend to behave in a way that will make us likable by others and will help us fit in, both on a personal level but also into the society. After leaving in a few countries I can definitely say that there are huge cultural difference that translate into every aspect of life, including fashion. Just google "japanese street fashion" to see how different it is from the Western fashion norms. Some societies are more open than others when in comes to personal style but the bottom line is that there are always restrains. There are restrains in terms of the prejudice that the society has and the norms that exist. Wearing just the same like everyone else seems the easiest solution to fit in and integrate into the society, no surprise that it is so common.

I believe that you don't have to follow trends and wear just what everyone else wears in order to fit in. There is always room for self expression. Here are a few things to consider.

• Combine alternative clothing with main stream clothing. Combinations like these create a balanced look so you fit in just fine but express your individuality at the same time.     
• Alternative shoes can be worn with classical or main stream clothes, so you follow the "dress code" but spice it up. People seem to be more tolerant towards shoes. I guess because firstly, there are so many crazy shoe trends out there anyway and secondly, shoes are at the bottom of your body so they are easier to ignore. 
• Accessories like jewelry, scarfs, belts... Just like shoes, accessories are a great way to express yourself but still fit in. They are small but not invisible so they do the trick perfectly. Also, alternative accessories seem to slowly integrate into the main stream fashion and aren't viewed as the inheritance of the "freaks" anymore.  

In the next few posts I'm going to write about how you can discover alternative brands that you might like and I will share some of the brands that I like and where you can find them.  

Red Lobster - restaurant review

Website:  http://www.redlobster.com/

Address: We went to the one in Southlands. Visit their website for more locations.

My rating:  

Service 5/5

Food 5/5

Value for money 5/5

Service: The service was fantastic. Our waiter was professional and made us feel comfortable throughout the meals.

Food: I had a special meal of Grilled Maine Lobster & Shrimp which was absolutely amazing! The shrimp were the best I’ve ever had and the lobster was delicious. They come with potatoes of your choice, rice, a lemon wedge and melted butter. I didn't have room for rice and didn't use the butter but the shrimp and the lobster were seasoned so I didn't think that you need the butter.

Grilled Maine Lobster & Shrimp, promotion picture from website

I was glad we didn't order any appetisers because while waiting for the main they kept us occupied with some bread and salad. Firstly we had some garlic bread patties, which I wasn't impressed with but making bread isn't Americans’ strong side and it was free anyway. Then we could choose the kind of salad we wanted, which also arrived before the main and wasn't too bad but wasn't what an Aussie or an Israeli would expect a salad to be. I don't take starts off though because it was free and I think it's a nice gesture to bring nibbles while you're waiting for the main. 

Value for money: The special of Grilled Maine Lobster & Shrimp cost us $20.99 which is an amazing value, even without all the appetisers they provide. 

Am I coming back? Yes, I can’t wait to go back!

Tips on preparing your house items for removals

This is a guide for those who are going to have removalists pack their items for freight. It doesn’t include information on how to pre-pack furniture or white goods.

As I mentioned in the previous post, our freight arrived from Australia and I found out that our stuff wasn’t packed properly by the removalists and was more like stuffed into boxes. Not everyone is going to have bad removalists but you never know until it’s too late. So here is a guide on how to prepare items for the move so they arrive all in one piece.

General Tips

• Don’t count on the removalists to do a good job. Prepare everything for the worst case scenario.
• Have a clear dividing system. If only some of your items are going in the freight and the rest are going into storage, ensure that you don’t keep all these things together but divide them in a very clear manner. You will not be able to keep an eye on very removalist in every room telling them what’s going and what’s staying and if you don’t divide things you’ll end up forgetting something or they will pack something that was meant to stay. Unfortunately I'm talking for experience of someone who had a dividing system but not a good enough one.
• Put all the little things in lock bags. Most things that can fit into a lock bag probably should go into one.

Tips for the Kitchen

·         Take extra care of your expensive and precious breakable kitchen items. It might make sense to you that something should be packed extra carefully but not to the removalists. Prepare all these items yourself by wrapping them and placing them in the right size boxes. If you kept the original boxes, use those. 

·         Place small items in lock bags. The removalists might wrap them well but when small things are unwrapped on arrival, they might be forgotten in all the wrapping paper and be thrown out. Items to be mindful of are lids of small containers/jars (unless kept on the container itself but this option takes lots of room and the removalists might remove the lids to save room) and small cutlery (especially anything smaller than a tea spoon).

·         Use the dividing system. Do have all freight items on the bench-tops and all storage items in the cupboards. Don’t have freight items in one cupboard and storage items in another cupboard as things will be messed up! Don’t have some items on the bench-tops and some items in the cupboards, things might get forgotten.

Tips for packing clothes

·         Ties. Roll them and put them in a (shoe) box.

·         Hats. Put any hats that might be squashed in a box. Same apply for other delicate head wear like fascinators.

·         Shoes. If you keep shoe boxes, put your shoes in their boxes. If you don’t have shoe boxes, get boxes or containers that will fit your shoes. I recommend hard boxes and not soft ones that can be squashed. Another option is to stuff the shoes with paper and wrap each shoe individually in a cloth or paper (make sure it’s plain paper so it doesn’t colour the shoes). This will ensure that your shoes aren’t squashed or marked by rubbing on each other.

·         Handbags. Take appropriate care based on the type. If they are flexible, fold and put in plastic bags. My bags ended up with hubbies tools! So, do your best to keep your bags nice and clean. If they are the kind that might get squashed, stuff them with paper/clothes and/or place in a box.

·         Fold all of your clothes and put them in containers. There are special fabric containers for clothes and I highly recommend these, otherwise use plastic once. If you fold and pre-pack your own clothes, they will all stay together and will be much easier to unpack.

·         If you’re not meant to pack your personal effects, make sure it looks pre-packed and not packed. So don’t use cupboard boxes but the kind of boxes I mentioned earlier. Use clear plastic containers instead of opaque ones.   

·         Prepare to do lots of ironing when your clothes arrive.

·         Use the dividing system if some of your clothes are going into storage or you haven’t packed the clothes that you take on the plain with you. Do put the freight clothes in one room and the storage clothes in another room. If you have to, do put the freight clothes on the bed/floor and the storage clothes in the closet but make sure to tell the removalists not to pack the closet items. Don’t put freight clothes in one closet and storage clothes in another, it might confuse even you. Don’t put freight and storage clothes in the same closet or on the floor in the same room, storage things will end up coming with you.

Here are a few clothes storage ideas. These ones are from Ikea but they can be found in other stores as well. They also come in different sizes so you can choose something that will be handy for you after the move as well.

Tips for linen and towels

·         Fold and put in a plastic bag. There isn’t much that can go wrong here, especially if you plan on washing your linen and towels before use, but you never know what the removalists will pack them with. The plastic bag will keep them clean, all together and it will be easy to unpack.

Tools

·         Put all your tools in an appropriate container like a tool box. This will ensure they are all together and don’t damage anything else they might be packed with.

Study 

·         Computer & screen. Cover them in bubble wrap or a thick cloth. Unless you wrap your computer and screen, they are likely to go straight into the cupboard box without any protection and if the box get squashed, your computer and screen might get damaged.

·         Books & albums. If you have an especially precious book/album, wrap it in paper/cloth or/and put it in a plastic bag. Unless it’s something really precious, I wouldn’t bother.

·         CDs & DVDs. If you have a large collection that is likely to fill a box or more, don’t bother preparing them as they will likely all end up together. If you have a smaller collection that is likely to end up with other things, buy special boxes intended for CDs and put them there. This will ensure they are not squashed by other items.

·         Put pens in lock bags. Some pens might leak, especially if squashed or due to air pressure, so put them in a separate lock bag.

·         Place small items in lock bags. Items to be mindful of are cables and USB sticks. 

·         Use the dividing system. Do put freight items in one room and storage items in another. If have to, do put all freight items on the floor and leave storage items on shelves and table. Don’t put some of the freight items in one place and some elsewhere, things will be forgotten.

If you have more tips or any questions, just leave a comment.

Due to a spam message to one of my previous posts, all comments must be approved by me before they are published but if you’re not a spammer, they will J

Cheers. 

quick update

I'm finally back online after 2 days of moving houses and a weekend without internet. This is only a quick update but I have a few post planned, which I will hopefully write and post this week.

• We moved from the temporary apartment to the house we'll be renting for the next 3 years. This is the house of my dreams, I wish it was in Canberra! It's very specious, the kitchen is beautiful with wood cabinets and black granite countertops, the master bedroom is huge, so is the 5 piece bathroom, and there is a walk-in-wardrobe! After I put everything in place and make it look amazing, I'll take some photos.  

• The negative side is that we had issues with the real estate agency or more like they had issues with their contractors and it affected us badly. The maintenance and cleaning of the house are terrible. All of the first floor smells with cat/dog pee which we're desperately trying to get rid off, blinds are missing in some rooms, some things are broken, we're missing keys and had to order a new lock for the mail box, the washing machine and drier we payed extra for arrived second hand and dirty! I am not impressed at all. 

• On Thursday the rented furniture arrived. We were dealing with Bill who owns a furniture rental company and it was a very smooth experience! He is very patient and helped me through the process of choosing furniture and he actually cares about the final look of the rooms so he can recommend matches for items. Highly recommended!

• On Friday our freight arrived from Australia and we found out that our staff was very badly "packed". I'm saying "packed" because it was more like our things were stuffed into boxes instead of actually been packed. The box with the desktop was crushed and because we didn't take the screen with us, we still don't know if it was damaged. Hats were all squashed, some of my shoes got marks on the leather from rubbing on each other... Things of one kind ended up in a box with another kind like my handbags were in a box with tools! The kitchen items were pretty much the only things that were wrapped and packaged. I am going to write a guide with tips for people who have removalists packing their things so their things arrive all in one piece. 

• Before the move and all of the other headaches of last week, I started planning a trip to Alaska. I've always wanted to go to Alaska for the magnificent scenery and nature and lately also got obsessed with seeing the northern lights. Hopefully we'll go in September as it's a good month to see the northern lights but it's still not awfully cold. The plan is one week of a cruise for the coastal scenery and one week inland with a focus on seen the northern lights. Any suggestions are welcomed.

• I am going to post a few restaurant reviews and they will all be easily accessible under the menu at the top of the blog. This is a good reference for me and hopefully for other people coming here and to the US in general. It can be a bit hard at first when you just land here and have no idea where to go out to eat and what to expect.

I'm back to tidying up and ironing a huge pile of clothes. Fun fun fun...     

Good things in Denver

There are some wonderful things in Denver and I don't want you to think that all is bad and annoying. My negative list had 7 points so I made sure to have 7 positive points at the list below.

Not in any particular order. 

• Excellent service at restaurants. I've been to a few restaurants already and the service is fantastic. The waiters are both professional and outgoing, the food arrives quickly and while you’re waiting for the food they make sure they you have drinks or something to snack on. The food I had so far was also very good so it's obviously not only the waiters that are doing a good job. A good name of a restaurant is a combination of things and it's a shame that in Australia they usually forget about it. 

• Denver is very dog friendly. Firstly, the majority of rental properties allow pets. This is totally different to Australia where people usually can't have pets unless they own their own house. Secondly, travelling with pets is quite easy as there is a range of hotels and service apartments that allow pets and pets are also allowed into parks and many other places. Again unlike Australia where the travelling options and destinations with pets are very limited. Thirdly, there are many dog day cares where you can leave the dog during work hours or when going on a holiday. These are only a few example.

• Variety of products. There is a pretty good range of supermarket goods. I can go in and find something new to try or just find whatever I was looking for. In Australia I often found the supermarket experience irritating as I usually had to compromise on quality, flavour, size, you name it. I'm not saying that in the States there is everything in every supermarket, because this is definitely not true, but there is a much better range than in Australia.

• Reasonable prices. The wages in the Sates are very low so I doubt that many middle class Americans find the prices low but they are definitely reasonable for Australians that come here for a holiday or live here still earning an Australian wage. In addition, there are many discounts, especially if you have a membership card, so it's easy to save.  

• Easy to shop online. Firstly, every store has a website and a lot of websites offer online shopping. Secondly, shipping is either free or really ship. Thirdly, exchange and returns are very easy. The beauty is that because there is competition, if someone doesn't offer you free shipping or doesn't accept returns, you have the choice and just go elsewhere. Australian retailers only whinge and do nothing to adjust to the new market. 

• My favourite products. I know, this is another point about consumerism, but I can't help it. We are all consuming goods and services and you're better off consuming them in the US. There are many products that I like here or more like products that I got to know and like in Israel and could never get in Australia. Best example are Ben & Jerry's ice cream, Cap'n Crunch peanut butter cereal, Honey Bunches of Oats with Almonds (my healthier breakie option) and of course all the wonderful female hygiene products that somehow never made it to Australia (if you're new to the States and need recommendations, send me a message). Of course it is also heaps easier to buy alternative clothing and shoes as there are actual stores that sell them and many online stores too.

• Nice people. This point is last because I think that it should be the default, especially with service providers. Unfortunately it's not always the case so I do want to mention it. Australians are really nice and are great when it comes to service so it's hard for the Americans to impress me, especially because of their bureaucracy that doesn't make them seem so nice. But the bottom line is that most Americans I came across were nice, unlike say Israel where many people are pushy and rude. So, Australians, don't expect to be impressed but Israelis - you sure will!