In other news, I’m supposed to let mi familia know what I want for Christmas, so here are a few things I wouldn’t refuse. ;) and a few wishful thinking items. :)

#1. Marvelous Merino Legwarmers from Lululemon $34

The purpose of these lovely leg warmers? To be able to wear all your yoga capris/shorts to the gym without freezing your legs off. Yay for doing less laundry of my 1 pair of full-length yoga pants.

#2. D3 bicycle by PUBLIC $690

Yep, still lusting after this DELICIOUS orange bike. Le sigh…

#3. Leaf Tie by LufDesign $7

These are cool. Period.

#4. ASCII heart necklace by Sternlab $150

I found this necklace on Etsy last year, and still find it super adorable and wishlist-able.

#5. Kaldi Arctic hat from 66°North $84

Regret. Reeeegret. OK, I almost bought this hat in Iceland, and then was like “No, it’s too expensive, and I’ll only wear it when it’s really cold, and, and, and…” Still like it.

#6. Enchanted Woods iPhone Dock from Anthropologie $98

How cute is this? My kitteh might eat all $98 of it’s cuteness, but I still want it.

#7. Zigzag Rug – Iron/Ivory/Fez from West Elm $39

2×3 for my kitchen or front door. Chevrons!
To be continued…

What’s on your wishlist?

Step 1: IKEA. Warning: you know those charming IKEA employees who tell you that you can choose any of the tables/legs from the VIKA series and go to town? They’re wrong! VIKA CURRY legs ($4) + VIKA FAGERLID table leg with storage ($40) + VIKA AMON table top ($20) = unbalanced desk. Alas, after all that work, I ended up just taking the “lid” off the FAGERLID piece and putting extra sticker things under the CURRY legs. Voilla!

Step 2: make use of my lovely Target Liberty of London file box.

Step 3: finally unpacking my lime green wooden stacking trays from See Jane Work.

Step 4: Hanging random IKEA magnetic strip and bins.

Step 5: Moving the speakers that I bought for using with my laptop/TV to the desk, since I use the TV about once a month.

Step 5.5: Pandora

Step 6: Hanging my Strawberry Luna bicycle print.

Step 7: Stability ball desk chair, which people continually tell me is in no way, shape or form a desk chair. Whatever, your core is just jealous.

Step 8: Cat grass for kitteh. OK, I just added this one, since she’s always in the window, on the other side of my desk, lounging by her cat grass.

Step 9: Trying to find a quicker commute. *Thanks, I’ll be here all week… yeah, actually I will be…

Favorite Apps

Google Maps – Yes, it’s a pretty standard map, but the geo-location feature is awesome (my gigantic shoe phone aka, Treo didn’t have the locating bit, and took about 5 hours to load). So example of awesomeness… yesterday I decided to ride my bike to Chipotle for lunch, so instead of trying to remember exactly where the downtown location was, I just started riding and then after I passed the Hawthorne bridge, I stopped to look at my phone… and ta da… I was only a few blocks away.

Foursquare – I’m the king of town. And no, I don’t Tweet “I’m at blah blah blah” every 5 minutes. I do enjoy ousting people as mayor and collecting badges though. Also, if you shout “Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz” (a vuvuzela) or “Goooooooooal” you get a nifty World Cup badge. :)

Mint – If you know me in real life then you know I’m a huge Mint fan. I’ve probably asked you more than once if you’ve signed up yet. If only it was a pyramid scheme of some kind…

Groupon – Speaking of pyramid schemes and totally awesome apps… we’ve discussed my Groupon obsession, yes? Yes. So the deal part of the app isn’t that special, as I get the morning email anyway, but being able to use your Groupon from your iPhone is brilliant (I don’t own a printer). Also, I like being able to see all the Groupons I’ve already bought on a map, to see which is closest to me… exactly now. Give me $10 k thx bai

Pandora - I like.

Match.com – man shopping from your iPhone? Awesomeness.

Trivial Pursuit – I bought this app during the EA 1/2 off sale last week — totally worth 99 cents.

Words with Friends – I have 8 Scrabble games going right now.

Shazam – What is this song? Oh. This app makes me squeal and clap my hands.

Rue La La – another squeal-worthy app. Rue is my favorite sample sale site (Gilt is my 2nd fav and they also have an app, although the dept structure isn’t as nice as their website).  I especially love the picture flipping feature. Rue La La invite

RedLaser – it’s a frickin’ laser beam. So I was at the store buying food for my kitteh, and I couldn’t tell if it was outrageously expensive or not. RedLaser said it was a deal. Score.

Chipotle – I like the idea for this app, but in practicality I prefer to actually go through line and ask for extra everything.

My24 – love being able to check class schedules from my phone.

Zipcar – I can now unlock my zipcar — and HONK THE HORN! — with my lovely iPhone. You can also reserve with the app, but really, the appeal to me is honking.

Sleep Cycle – it appears that I fall straight into a coma at night. My charts and graphs don’t look too much like the examples. Not sure if I’m doing it wrong or just an insanely heavy sleeper.

P Tracker Lite – TMI? Probably, but still a pretty cool app.

DailyBurn – I used the web-based version previously, so it was fun to be able to login and test it out. I’d like to try the barcode scanner feature, but surprise, surprise: I don’t want to pay for it.

iHandy Level – now that I own my place, I’m a little more concerned about getting nails in right the first time.

IKEA UK – I found the UK catalog app for when I just have to look at IKEA magic.

As you may have noticed, I’m kind of a fan of free apps. I think I will set up a new category in Mint, titled “Apps” and my budget shall be $1.98/month.

Brief complaints: #1: Remember the Milk app I am not interested in paying for with so many stellar free options. #fail. #2: ESPN World Cup app asks me if I want to pay every time I open it. #ithoughtitwouldbebetter

What’s your favorite iPhone app? What am I missing out on?

I’ve also complained endlessly about how expensive the iPhone plans are, as I currently have the Sprint SERO insane deal of a plan, but I’m doing the iPhone/ATT “family plan”, so my monthly bill will just be slightly higher. Win!

Such an awesome birthday present, love me. So, apps I’m excited to finally be able to use: Mint.com, Remember the Milk, Foursquare, Yelp, ESPN World Cup. Aaand I’m totally going to download one of those Vuvuzela apps. :)

Any iPhone app recommendations?

Kitteh update: I’ve been calling my cat “Essa” (for Essaouira, Morocco) more often than Selleck, so I suppose that’s her name now, and thanks for all the votes :) I also decided that pet supplies are insanely over-priced. I was looking for a cat food and water dish and finally decided on mini Le Creuset dishes from Home Goods — way cheaper and cuter than regular pet supplies. Julia Child would totally approve of Essa the gourmet cooking cat. Although, maybe I should have gotten her mini tagines instead.

It’s a girl cat, but I think she looks like a boy, so I may just refer to her as a he? Is that bad? Anyway, now she he needs a name! She he has a mustache, which is quite hilarious so I was thinking of naming her after a dictator — Stalin, Lenin, Franco? Twitter pals suggested Selleck, Burt Reynolds, and Mario. I was also thinking of places that I’ve traveled… like Sofia (Bulgaria), Essaouira (Morocco, and then I could call her Essa), or Zooey (Salinger book, Franny & Zooey)… So dear Internets, help me name my kitteh!

And now I must go to IKEA, for my cat requests cat-sized Swedish furniture and dinnerware. :)

Which ones should I get? The bird, the key or the daisy? They all match the wrought-iron look of the curtain rod, but I’m leaning toward the key…

Dilemma #2 (*giggle*): I want to hang a pendent lamp in the corner (between the TV and the window). I still love the IKEA KNAPPA hanging pendant lamp (yes, the one that’s pictured in about 200 home tours on Apartment Therapy), but I also like the West Elm Capiz hanging pendant knock-off that World Market has (for $70 vs $259). So dear Internetz, which pendant lamp would look better in my living room?

I’ve been in my new apartment for two weeks now, and although I still have two “in progress” items, I’m considering this goal done! The couch and framed Cavallini & Co vintage travel posters are the same, but my living room has kind of headed down a travel path. My favorite new item is the massive world map wall art (printed on art canvas and stretched over a frame. Best handmade Christmas gift ever… thanks lovely boyfriend!). I’ve also made a few trips to IKEA lately, where I decided to continue my love affair with the EXPEDIT bookcase line, but since I didn’t have room for the same bookcase I had last time and a TV bench, I opted for a DIY Tetris-style combo. I also bought one of the high-pile wool rugs at IKEA and a colorful, little globe at TJ Maxx.

So my first “in progress” project is to finish hanging the curtains (any suggestions on getting anchor screws in concrete walls? shhhh…) I also want to get some kind of hanging lamp for the corner. I’m really wishing I had been able to buy a light in Morocco or Turkey, but I’m enjoying having my Moroccan pillow covers and material. Next up, a new sleeping bag or maybe a bed. ;)

Any ideas for a hanging light for the corner?

Great theme and an amazing house. I had the chance to visit last week and spent a good hour wandering through the house, admiring the designs and snapping pictures. It was a quick Metro trip from Georgetown (blue or orange line to Federal Center). For those unfamiliar with the DC Design Center’s Design House, it’s a “Street of Dreams” concept, but each room is created by a different designer …and of course there’s a focus on STYLE rather than EXPENSE. You’ll have no “Oh look, there are three TV’s in the bathroom” moments here.

I loved the mood boards the designers displayed in the entry way. It was nice to see the thought process, materials and color palettes. Even though each room represents a different district or neighborhood, as a whole it, feels very natural and the rooms transition well. Let the tour commence.

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Here are a few of my favorites things:

• Go Clean Wet Suit Bag – This bag is brilliant!  Traveling in humid climates (Thailand, Vietnam, Panama etc.) can make your backpack pretty nasty if any of your clothes are even mildly damp.  I use this mildew resistant bag for wet swimsuits, laundry etc.  Also, it’s nice to just throw in your beach bag to put wet stuff in after swimming, instead of using more plastic bags.
• iPod Lego Speaker – I’m fairly obsessed with my iPod Lego speaker, and will probably bring it up in conversation… or so I’ve been told ;)
• Woolite Laundry Soap – Great for doing your own laundry, whether in the sink or at a laundry — so you don’t have to pay 2 extra euros just for gross smelling detergent.