↑ Sneaky puppy climbs into our bed and pretends like she doesn’t know that she’s not supposed to be up there. ↑

Sorry I was MIA last week.  Truth be told, I was in a bit of a post-holiday slump and didn’t feel much like writing an upbeat post when I really wasn’t feeling that way.

Honesty, y’know?

I have a hard time around this time of the year.  The holidays end, I go back to work, and I get a little… blue.  I think the idea that the holidays are soooo far away is tough for me to handle (because it’s my most favorite time of year).  Not to mention that there’s like zero things to really look forward to in the first three months of the year.

We all know Valentine’s Day doesn’t reeeeaaally count as a “real” holiday.

Not that I don’t love the whole candy/flowers/eating a fancy meal thing.

Oh yeah, and the loooove.

But anyway, sometimes life in January just feels a little… monotonous.  Y’know, trying to slim down after the over-indulgence of the holidays, cranking things out at work again, going through the motions day after day, KC is in busy season and so is basically never home…  And here’s the really obnoxious part — this whole “it’s sunny and 75 degrees” in January thing, is KILLING me.

And I get it — most people are psyched by the fact that it’s warmer now than it was in July.  Our summer this year wasn’t really anything to write home about.  BUT — I love the rain.  I wait for the cold, grey, rainy weather all year.  I realize that I’m in the minority here, and that’s cool.  You can enjoy the sun all you want.  All I’m saying is if El Niño came back and it rained everyday for the next 2.5 months, I’d probably be cool with it.

It’s ok if you’re thinking mean thoughts about me at this point.

I should probably move to Seattle or Portland or something and just get over it.

Anyway, if you’re like me and find January to be an utterly depressing month…

I’m right there with ya.

Hope your week is great.

And I hope it rains.

A lot.

As you might recall, I had a new couch on my Christmas list this year.  And yes, it was one of those “unrealistic” items that I didn’t actually anticipate being fulfilled by Santa (or anyone else, for that matter); but KC and I had been dreaming about a new couch nonetheless.

See, we actually bought a couch not that long ago — 3 years ago, to be exact.  It was our first big purchase together, and we went and bought a sofa from Crate and Barrel after I finally got a job in 2010.  The story of that sofa is kind of long, but basically, we bought the sofa in summer, and finally got it delivered in December 2010.  And it’s a great sofa — it was perfect for our little 500-square-foot abode.

But then we moved last year.  And since then, I’ve been dreaming of a new sofa.  A big sofa.  A big, squishy, take-a-nap-on-it sofa.  Because KC likes to LAY on the couch.  All 6-feet-2-inches of him likes to sprawl out, so I’m left squished up against one arm with a puppy on my lap and nowhere to put my feet.

The worst.

So, we’d been casually scouting out the Crate and Barrel Outlet for our new dream sofa.  For months we’d been going most weekends, and had found nothing.

But then, we found something.  We found a sofa!  A big, smooshy, overly-comfortable, fall-asleep-on-it-instantly sofa!  And, because it was at the outlet, it was wayyyy less than the regular store price.

So we bought it.  And we even paid to have it delivered.

The sofa was delivered 2 days later, and here’s how it went down:

• Delivery men show up with the sofa and spend 20 minutes trying to get it past the decorative entry-archway of our 1926 house to get it in through the front door.  It doesn’t fit.
• They say they have to go, get KC to sign the sheet, then take off, leaving the sofa in the front yard.
• KC sits on the front porch for a solid half-hour, measuring every angle of this beast, trying to figure out how to get it into the house.
• KC tells me there’s no way it’s going to fit through the archway — it’s mathematically impossible.
• I have an internal mental breakdown where my sofa dreams are crushed, I curse the Outlet’s final sale policy, and imagine how it will be to sell a sofa from the front yard.
• KC comes inside the house to troubleshoot — “We might be able to get it in through the window,” he says.
• KC texts all his friends to see who’s around, then leaves to purchase moving blankets at Home Depot.
• I stay home and keep an eye on the sofa in the front yard.  I have visions of someone coming and scooting off with our new giant purchase on top of their car.
• KC returns and says his work friend will be over soon, then starts removing the window from the window frame.
• We both discuss how awesome it is that he got a drill (which he won’t stop calling “a screwdriver”) for Christmas.
• The FedEx guy shows up while I’m in the front yard, I jokingly ask him if he wants to help move a couch through a window.  He is immediately down to help, much to our surprise.  We thank him, but turn him away because KC is still working on removing the windows and we don’t want to slow down his route.
• KC gets the windows off and his friend shows up shortly thereafter.
• The idea that 2 guys are going to hoist a giant couch up 7+ feet and get it through a window is not computing for me.  I’m terrified.
• Much to my surprise, they hoist it up the 7 feet as I attempt to guide it into the living room through the window.
• I have visions of the couch snapping in half and/or somehow ripping the window frame apart.
• Weirdly, the couch somehow fits through the 35-inch-wide window frame, and makes it into the house.

So anyway, that’s how we got our new couch.

Hello Friends!

Well, after more than three and a half years of (on and off) blogging, Go for 30 has gotten a new look.  Personally, I’m not a fan of complicated-looking blogs and websites (this is probably because I’m not very tech-savvy), so Go for 30 has gotten a nice, minimalist-style makeover.  It’s easy to navigate and the same format as the previous layout (just without a header picture that has nothing to do with the blog.  Y’know.)

I hope you like it.  And if you don’t, feel free to keep the criticisms to yourself. 🙂

XO, Chelsea

Can you discern how someone feels based on their facial clues?  How about just by looking at their eyes?  I thought this quiz was pretty interesting (and kind of harder than I was anticipating!)  Maybe I’m emotionally clueless?  Well, my score (25) apparently falls within the average, so I guess that’s good.

In other news, I think I’m pretty clear on how Seuss feels about her elephant hat.

After reading this article, I’ve decided to take a little time away from the blog.  I’ve got a couple recipes to be posted at some point, but for now I’m going to take a moment to focus on things other than technology.

Y’know, like people. 

(This person in particular.  He’s my favorite.)

Catch ya later.