Getting away from it all

I just came back from a 2-day getaway (well, more like a day and a half) to Temecula's wine country, and it was really, really fun. While it may seem stressful to pack everything into that short time period, it was definitely not so. In fact, I think it's better than long trips because there's less to worry about.

This was my "bar trip." I can't afford to do anything fancy like other people do, but going somewhere local with friends (and splitting the bill) makes it much more affordable. Because I was going insane from cramming for the bar, my wonderful friends did all the planning work. They are great bargain hunters by their own right, and they did a superb job this time. All I did was to pick the choices they offered.

Lodging is probably one of the biggest expenses when it comes to travelling. There's the method of finding the cheapest possible, then there's the method of finding the best value. There was a hotel that was really cheap, but it was right by the freeway and not picturesque. Then there's someplace fancy in the heart of wine country, but offers a summer special that costs an extra $15 per person. We all agreed to take the latter, and it was undoubtedly the best choice. Take a look at the views we got when we step out onto the private patio attached to each "villa":

Those grapes were quite yummy (very sweet), even though the skins were thick and there were huge seeds inside those little grapes. The evening view was great, too.

It was such a great value because the extra money we paid wasn't much, but we got a lot in return: spacious rooms, a beautiful bathroom with jacuzzi in it, which we didn't because we used the one by the pool after we've had a nice refreshing dip in it. On top of that, each room has a free bottle of wine, and we got 4 tickets for wine tasting, which normally costs $10 each.

It really pays to go on the weekdays. I'm not sure if the winery/hotel's special deal would be valid on the weekends, but very often they are not. Another good reason to go on the weekdays is to avoid the crowds. Some of the tastings we went to were quite hectic...think of what would have happened if a larger group was around.

My friend had booked us a wine tour so that we can do all the different tastings without worrying about driving. The tour was around $80 (including tip and lunch), and we were taken to 4 different wineries. Most wine tastings cost $10-$15 each for trying 5 different wines, which meant a lot of that $80 is attributable to the transportation services. If you want to save more money, doing your own driving (when you've had a break to sober up, of course) will save you even more money. The tour guide gave us a "passport" that includes discounts for tastings and/or purchases at other wineries, which came in handy when I bought something on the morning before we headed home.

For the best value when it comes to tasting, do your homework before you get to wine country. Find out which wineries offer deals, or if your hotel gives coupons. Some wineries have 2-for-1 tastings, which are great if you're going with friends or a significant other.

Look at how much stuff we bought collectively!

The one on the wine rack is the complimentary bottle from the hotel. See that tag? If you see tags on hotel things, read them carefully! In this case it told us that it's free, but a lot of times a tag means it'll cost ya. We saw a couple of bottles of water with the $2.95 price tag. Good thing we paid attention.

Finally, going on vacation also means spending money on food. Eating out is expensive, but it most cases it can't be avoided. However, breakfast is generally easy to tackle--things like granola or protein bars don't require refrigeration. If your room has a microwave, you're in luck. You can heat up leftovers from restaurants, which will make another meal.

When I got home, I found another UPS package at my door. Good thing that wasn't stolen, either. I'll talk about the contents next time.

p.s.--thanks for a wonderful time, girls! You guys are the best.

Things that happen while I'm out of the house...

1) As you can see from my Budget Gourmet posts, blending everything by hand is incredibly laborious. I had a small number of points left on my Lexis Nexis (legal search engine) account to cash out after graduation, so I decided to use them for a hand blender. UPS left the package in front of my apartment unit, and I stumbled upon it when I got home. Good thing no one stole it.

Woohoo! Now I'll be able to eat my stuff sooner.

2) Apparently my Do The Hustle necklace made the front page of Etsy! Too bad I didn't get to see it, but someone was nice enough to let me know. I'm pretty happy about the unexpected attention, though. I've always admired the stunning works that make Front Page, and now I get to join the illustrious group. Woohoo!

If any of you reading this is an Etsian who also made front page and made a screencap, please let me know if you're willing to share!

Budget Gourmet: Espresso Cheesecake

Now that the bar is over, I have some time to relax a little bit before looking for a job. Because money is really tight, this break won't last long. The financial crunch also means I can't spend much money during this "vacation." Not much of a problem--it just means I can't eat out much (which I don't do anyway) or shop for clothes. Other than I pair of white eyelet shorts I bought from Express to replace a pair of shorts that no longer fits, I don't need any more clothes. One big thing I have to cut back on is jewelry supplies, which is hard...I need more beads to have a variety, and sometimes money has to be spent to make more. I made my one last big purchase right before taking the bar, and now I'll just have to stick with what I have.

Just because I can't go out and eat doesn't mean I'll miss out on good food. I can certainly make my own! I'm not a big dessert person, but one of my favorite desserts is cheesecake. It also happens to be fairly easy to make. Here's my pictorial of the cheesecake making process. I tend not to measure, so you'll need to turn to an actual recipe if you have to measure.

Before you start, preheat the oven to 350F and leave the bricks of cream cheese out to soften. Usually 2 bricks are enough to make a small pan, but you'll need more if you want a bigger pan. I used 4.


Instead of wasting money buying a graham cracker crust, I made my own. It's very simple--just crumble some graham crackers by placing them into a Ziploc bag, squish the air out, seal, break them into smaller pieces, and roll over with a rolling pin. Make just enough crumbs to fill out the bottom of the pan, then melt a few tablespoons of butter. Pour that into the graham cracker mixture, mix, then spread out to cover the bottom of the pan.


In a large mixing bowl, throw in the softened cream cheese, add some sugar, and try to beat until it's soft. I don't have a mixer (yet), so I didn't get it nice and smooth...just good enough so that it's not too chunky. Then I added in a fresh shot of espresso. If you don't have an espresso machine, you can add coffee instead. Espresso and cream cheese smelled great!


Add in a couple eggs and beat it into the mixture. I also added in an 8-oz container of sour cream--not required, but I've seen it on some recipes. The mix I had was pretty thick, so I added in some milk to thin it out.


Pour it into the pan, bake for 30 minutes to an hour, depending on how long it takes for the surface to brown, then take it out to cool. Easy, right?


You can add chocolate or caramel syrup, or you can skip it. Your choice.


I used a big pan, so I had quite a bit to share. One tupperware was kept for my household, one went to school to share with my fellow bar-crammers (there were 2 of us regulars), I ate one of them at school, then the other two went to friends. Not bad when I spent about $7; one slice costs at least $3 in many restaurants.

I Like Ike(a)

It's been a while since I took a trip to Ikea. I don't go there for the furniture, since a lot of their furniture look cool but are rather flimsy (such as the cool glass-top oval conference/dinner table that got marked down to $19 from $129). I go for the little accents and accessories. When things go on sale, there are really good deals.

This time I went there for some fabric goods. My roommate scored a futon for our apartment (my hat's off to her diligence and amazing bargain-hunting skills), so we each went off to find a good cover for it. In the end, she took care of it, but it was still fun for me to look around.

Right now Ikea is clearing out the last of their inventory from the last catalog year, which is why some furniture is being sold at largely marked down prices. I went about closing time yesterday, not knowing that it closes early on Sundays, and the good stuff were all gone. This morning, whatever was left (including the aforementioned glass table) was piled in the as-is section. I was pretty disappointed at the left overs, but I was quite happy when I went to the fabric section. There were some great fabrics for a dollar a yard. I picked up 2 yards of some canvas-like fabric--one in burnt orange and one in navy blue--thinking that they'd be great for a particular project.

Now I'm thinking I should go back and get a few more yards to make some cushion covers. It'll be another interesting project, and of course, you'll get to see it if I go through with it.

On a final note--my brain appears to be misplaced. For the last couple of days, I seem to get confused easily. Today I couldn't remember where I parked in the Ikea parking lot. Clearly, I'm not quite recovered from the bar yet.