Barbies, Retro Chic and throwback links

Yesterday I had a really fun day with Babci and my cousin and we celebrated my early Christmas gift to them. We all went to a Cirque De Soliel Show followed by Dinner at a new restaurant in my home town.  The whole day was great and the best part was seeing a dying part of town making a big comeback.  We used to call it “water street” but now it’s got a hipper name called the Canal District. It went from being filled with abandoned factory buildings to a hopping nightspot filled with trendy restaurants.  It’s yet another place that has been almost single handedly revived by the thriving LGBT community in Worcester.

We ate at a place called 86 Winter which was decorated in such a fun and festive way.  In addition to showcasing some of the local artists on the wall, there were sleigh bells everywhere and the ceiling had giant christmas balls hanging from it.  My favorite deco was the retro Christmas tree  decorated with Barbies from the ages..that and vintage shoes and purses.

It’s a bear trying to get into a restaurant at a decent hour without calling way ahead for reservations up here in MA. If you asked me if there was a recession going on, you would never know it.  The cirque show was a different story though. It was no where near sold out. The expensive seats were all filled up, but the cheap seats were only about 25% full.  I really hope it’s not like that all around the country for them.

Anyway, based on my retro themed weekend.  I thought for a change, I’d do a retro round up and post some oldie but goodie articles from some of my favorite bloggers.

Frugal Dad’s oldie but goodie 75 Tips to Survive a Down Economy. Even if you think you’re already pretty frugal, there’s still more you can do if you need to.

Everyday Tips and her Reasons to Eat at Home.  Yeah, it’s cheaper, but there are a bunch of other good reasons too.  This made me think of Babci’s lesson on personal finance around eating out and how it’s only for people who like dirty food loaded with unknown ingredients.

Little House asks Are Lazy People Dumb? In some cases, yes, they are. They would have to be, especially if they feel sorry or angry about their place in life.

I love Molly on Money’s Post about Happiness. It is really inspiring and profound that the first step in making a major change in your life is deciding that not only is your goal possible, but you’re going to go ahead and get ir done.  I believe Molly and her family paid over something over $50K in debt last year. That’s crazy good.

Move to Portugal talks about her journey of being paper towel free. Okay this isn’t a retro post, but do have a stack of cloth diapers that I use in the kitchen that I absolutely love. In fact, I found a bunch at a yardsale for 25 cents each and bought every last one she had.  I’d love to go completely paper towel free, but I think my family would revolt.

Budgets are Sexy – Can you do the Minimalist Lifestyle? As a chemical engineer, I often think about my stuff in terms of a mass balance. I definitely don’t want to add to my stuff, so when I buy things, I try to get rid of an equal volume of stuff.  This gets particularly tricky around Christmas when the incoming stuff far exceeds the outgoing stuff.

KNS Financial suggests Sweating the Big Stuff and reducing your big ticket expenses.  I love my smaller mortgage.

Frugal Green Co-0p talks about starting a dinner co-op.  Cooking in bulk is often cheaper, you get to swap recipes, cook one or more fewer meals a week and it’s social too.

Squirreler talks about the role of Money in one’s life.  Although he just posted this, it’s one of his original articles from his  early days of squirreling online.

Money Reasons Financial Pyramid gives his interesting take on the different levels of wealth.  This post reminds me of the myth that the magical $250,000/year earnings suddenly categories you as rich.  There are many levels of wealth and it has little to do with earnings and a lot to do with savings and assets.

Some of my favorite reads by Invest it Wisely and when he waxes philosophical.  Here he talks about Opportunity Costs.

Financial Samurai tells us how to get girls if you live at home with mom and dad.

BFS’s article on food and the nostalgia factor. I personally also have a very strong link to smells and memories.