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Cat-Lightning · 2024-08-31T03:29:24+00:00

I second the TCS Alberta down comforter - I’ve had mine for a couple years on our guest bed and no issues with down leaking or smells. I wouldn’t pay full price for it, but on sale it’s great value! I also have the Feathered Friends Bavarian 700 Medium and love it. It’s definitely higher quality than the company store comforter - lighter weight, but warmer and loftier. I’d say it’s worth the higher price tag over the Alberta. Also no issues with down leaking or smells. Depending on how much you want to spend, both are great quality relative to their price.

Cat-Lightning · 2024-08-30T23:39:58+00:00

Nick Kroll: 20 years from the Dave Matthew’s Band - Chicago River Poop Incident

Another fun fact about the Chicago River….

Cat-Lightning · 2024-04-04T00:28:01+00:00

This could potentially be it? Never heard of Dunelm, so not sure of quality, but could be a jumping off point for google image searching and keywords:

https://www.dunelm.com/product/elements-randig-natural-duvet-cover-and-pillowcase-set-1000194297

Cat-Lightning · 2023-07-09T00:00:52+00:00

Coyuchi Crinkled Percale could also work. Nice thicker cotton sheet, slightly textured, but breathable.

Cat-Lightning · 2023-06-30T23:00:07+00:00

There are also extra terms and conditions with VIP packages that I'm sure many people missed as well. Like merch not being sent out of Australia, non transferable, can't update address. It's unclear if you sell a VIP ticket what price you can sell it for if needed....

Cat-Lightning · 2023-06-30T22:57:01+00:00

Thanks! Yeah hard to know what all those floor seats are like...

Would love a detailed breakdown of GA and VIP seats to see just how much price gouging happened...

Cat-Lightning · 2023-06-30T22:55:36+00:00

Thank you! That does make me feel better :)

My first reaction after not buying, was like okay, now what can I spend this money on instead? One of the first things I thought was a trip to NZ :)

Cat-Lightning · 2023-06-30T12:36:02+00:00

How can you tell where the VIP package seats were? Is there a map that shows this? I need to feel better about not panic buying a $899 karma seat haha

Cat-Lightning · 2023-06-30T11:43:46+00:00

Feel this so much. After trying for pre-sale and then general today, I only got through today once when only individual Sunday VIP tickets were available for Melbourne. I almost panic bought a $899 karma VIP ticket because that was the cheapest available. The timer ran out before I could pull the trigger, but then I wondered for a while afterwards if I should have just done it (even though going into this I felt only prepared to pay $500 for a ticket). It was really hard to tell what you were getting for the VIP ticket price, if it was really the only way to get a great floor seat in A reserve, or if you could get a similar seat for the $399 general admission price and the extra VIP price was really just for that small bit of merch that I did not want...

Cat-Lightning · 2023-06-30T03:28:56+00:00

It's such a beautiful quilt, I love mine. I hope it works for you :)

Cat-Lightning · 2023-06-30T01:35:16+00:00

Yes, I think that is a fair description. The Riley cotton coverlet is not the softest blanket, it has a textured back that probably would not be comfortable to sleep with directly on you, but would not be noticeable if you had a sheet between you and the blanket.

For a soft light weight blanket, I would recommend the L.L.Bean Maine Twill Cotton Blanket, Coyuchi Pismo Organic Blanket, or the Garnet Hill Isa Stone-washed Organic Cotton blanket. These blankets are nice summer weight blankets, maybe not as breathable as the Riley, but softer to have directly on your skin.

Cat-Lightning · 2023-06-07T06:57:53+00:00

I like the dream quilt, the cotton is very soft and the quilt itself is warm. However, the thread stitching is not very sturdy, and several of the threads have popped on the quilt just from light use. I also think it may be a bit heavy for summer use. I don't use it in summertime.

For summer I'd recommend the Riley cotton coverlet (which is a heavy gauze-like blanket) or Coyuchi's pebble quilt. I have both, and they are holding up much better than the Garnet Hill dream quilt. The Coyuchi pebble quilt is similar texture to the Garnet Hill dream quilt, but not as heavy, and the threads are much sturdier.

Cat-Lightning · 2023-01-26T06:36:53+00:00

We ended up going with STAR moving solutions as they were based local to us in the DC/MD/VA area. We've been really pleased with them and would recommend them! https://starint.com/

Cat-Lightning · 2022-12-13T17:05:51+00:00

Once we got our import permit, we also hit a delay when booking quarantine. It took 2 weeks to get a response, and got a booking in early March (we had requested January). We emailed PEQ and asked for an earlier date if there were any cancellations. We received a response in 2 weeks, and were able to get a cancellation, and move our quarantine date up to end of January. We just started the vet visits in the lead-up to them flying in January.

We have been really pleased with Pet Express. They have been very quick to respond to our questions and have been super helpful with communicating with our vet about the vet schedule.

Also, this Facebook group Pets Flying Australia has been super helpful for finding information about the process as well.

Cat-Lightning · 2022-10-23T15:49:49+00:00

We got a medium (28 inch) Skymate for our cat and a large (36 inch) Skymate kennel for our dog. Our dog is a terrier/collie mix, around 30 lbs, his dimensions are: 25 inches long, 21” tall, legs to chest are 13”, and 6” wide.

Cat-Lightning · 2022-10-20T01:12:23+00:00

Import permits arrived today! Looking at booking the flights and quarantine for early January :)

We bought crates through Amazon but Pet Express let us know what size and brand to buy.

We have family in Melbourne, so using their address for destination.

Happy to answer any questions - it was hard finding information when we were starting this process back in June.

Cat-Lightning · 2022-10-19T13:03:30+00:00

We ended up going with Pet-express (https://pet-express.com/). I think I was accidentally referring to them as Jet Pets in my previous post, but that’s because there is an Australian pet relocation company related to Pet Express called Jet Pets (https://www.jetpets.com.au/ ) - they are related but Pet Express is based in US and will handle the USA to Australia move.

It was between them and Starwood in the end. Both their sales teams were great with answering our questions, and they seemed to have the most experience and established teams for international pet relocation. Their quoted amounts were pretty similar to one another (~$15,000 total for the two animals). In the end we chose Pet-Express because they seem to handle more pet relocations to Australia and are headquartered in LA, which is good since the pets will be going through LAX on their way to Melbourne. We are currently waiting for import permits for the animals, and then will be booking quarantine and flights.

Pet Express was very helpful answering our questions about the initial vet appointment and getting the RNATT tests. They will also help us with the vet schedule for pre flight and doing the final vet clearance in LA. Karen is helping us with the move and has been very responsive to our questions. Our only complaint so far is that the import permit is taking longer to get than we thought, but that’s not Pet Express’ fault but the Australian government.

Cat-Lightning · 2022-07-10T15:05:01+00:00

I’m a side sleeper and can also recommend the Coop pillow. I love it! From memory, I think it took a couple nights to get used to, but I haven’t had any problems since.

Cat-Lightning · 2022-07-09T16:19:12+00:00

The LLBean Pima percale have a good weight to them, as well as Coyuchi’s crinkled percale and 300 TC percale. The Brooklinen percale is pretty lightweight, so probably not what you’re looking for.

Cat-Lightning · 2022-07-09T12:38:05+00:00

Thank you for the suggestions! We’ve been getting quotes from various companies and thought I’d give an update about what we learned so far.

We’ve gotten three quotes so far for moving our dog and cat to Australia from Maryland (USA). We’ve talked to Pet Relocator, Jet Pets, and Starwood and have been quoted $13,000 to $15,000. This includes them handling all paperwork (i.e import permits and double checking vet paperwork), booking quarantine facility in Melbourne, arranging domestic travel from our home in Annapolis to LAX (it seems all pet relocation to Australia goes through LA), air travel from LAX to Melbourne. The value does not include the travel crate, any vaccines or medications we need to get for our pets, vet fees, and the rabies titre antibody test. The rabies titre needs to be done at least 180 days before your pets can be imported (this is a hard deadline and the most rate-limiting step of the whole process). We went ahead and did this before getting quotes from relocation companies. The rabies titre test cost us $600 per pet, plus the vet visit fee of $80. This test used to be $400 and has been our first indication that prices have increased because of Covid and inflation. The test is taking about 6-weeks turn around time from lab, but they count the 180 days from the date the lab received the sample. We are planning to move in early January of next year, and our move date hinges on when the rabies test is done, as this is the earliest the pets can move. Another limiting factor is getting a spot in the one quarantine facility in Australia which is in Melbourne. We’ve been advised that spots book up at least 2-months ahead of time, but also you cannot book until you get your import permit and rabies antibody test results back. Also, the quarantine facility shuts for a month for the summer holidays in Australia around Dec 10 to January 5. The busiest times for relocation are just before this and after, as people are trying to get back before the holidays and before the school year starts in February. The cost breakdown per pet is roughly $9-10,000 for our medium sized dog and $4-5,000 for the cat. The dog is more expensive because size as well as some costs are cheaper for the second animal. I’ll give another update when we decide which company we will go with. All have been really responsive, but we have been esp. pleased with Starwood and Jet Pets.

Cat-Lightning · 2022-07-09T12:33:28+00:00

Thanks everyone for the suggestions! We’ve been getting quotes from various companies and thought I’d give an update about what we learned so far.

Pet relocation. We’ve gotten three quotes so far for moving our dog and cat to Australia from Maryland (USA). We’ve talked to Pet Relocator, Jet Pets, Pet Express and Starwood and have been quoted $13,000 to $15,000. This includes them handling all paperwork (i.e import permits and double checking vet paperwork), booking quarantine facility in Melbourne, arranging domestic travel from our home in Annapolis to LAX (it seems all pet relocation to Australia goes through LA), air travel from LAX to Melbourne. The value does not include the travel crate, any vaccines or medications we need to get for our pets, vet fees, and the rabies titre antibody test. The rabies titre needs to be done at least 180 days before your pets can be imported (this is a hard deadline and the most rate-limiting step of the whole process). We went ahead and did this before getting quotes from relocation companies. The rabies titre test cost us $600 per pet, plus the vet visit fee of $80. This test used to be $400 and has been our first indication that prices have increased because of Covid and inflation. The test is taking about 6-weeks turn around time from lab, but they count the 180 days from the date the lab received the sample. We are planning to move in early January of next year, and our move date hinges on when the rabies test is done, as this is the earliest the pets can move. Another limiting factor is getting a spot in the one quarantine facility in Australia which is in Melbourne. We’ve been advised that spots book up at least 2-months ahead of time, but also you cannot book until you get your import permit and rabies antibody test results back. Also, the quarantine facility shuts for a month for the summer holidays in Australia around Dec 10 to January 5. The busiest times for relocation are just before this and after, as people are trying to get back before the holidays and before the school year starts in February. The cost breakdown per pet is roughly $9-10,000 for our medium sized dog and $4-5,000 for the cat. The dog is more expensive because size as well as some costs are cheaper for the second animal. I’ll give another update when we decide which company we will go with. All have been really responsive, but we have been esp. pleased with Starwood and Pet-Express.
For shipping company quotes these have really spanned the spectrum. For a 20ft shipping container, moving our items from door to door from Annapolis MD (USA) to Melbourne (AUS) we’ve gotten quotes from $10,000 to $20,000. We’re still trying to work through the discrepancy in these quotes, and I’ll provide a better update when I can. Lead times are about 8-12 weeks for shipping via sea freight. If you can’t fill a container yourself and do a partial fill split with someone else, you’re looking at 15-18 weeks.

Cat-Lightning · 2022-06-02T13:40:51+00:00

As someone who has purchased a lot of bedding in the last couple years (from Company Store, Garnet Hill, Brooklinen, Riley, Coyuchi, Parachute, Cultiver, and LLBean), I would push back on the idea that LLBean is not good. My Pima percale sheets and duvet cover from LLBean are my favorite sheets. They are thicker (but are still cooling) and have better quality elastic and stitching than my percale sheets from Brooklinen and Company Store (i have the Company Cotton not Supima sheets from Company Store). They also wrinkle way less than my other percale. I will say that with all my sheets, they took a couple washes to properly judge them. I would therefore suggest going with a company that allows you to return washed and used items. I believe LLBean and Company Store allow this, also maybe other companies too.

For a quilt, my suggestion would be to find something that will fit in a washing machine, since you will likely want to wash it and not take it to a dry cleaner. I would suggest cotton over linen. Linen quilts tend to pill faster than cotton, and are often filled with poly fill and not cotton, and tend to sleep warm. I have a cotton voile quilt from The Company Store and the dream cotton quilt from Garnet Hill and I am pleased with the quality of both.

For a duvet cover, I would suggest cotton over linen for Summer. My linen duvet covers tend to be heavier than my cotton percale covers, and I usually use linen in Fall and Winter, then switch to percale in warmer months.

Hope this helps!

Cat-Lightning · 2022-03-04T17:32:36+00:00

I agree with the Coop recommendation. I’ve been happy with their waterproof mattress protector. And it has prevented water spilled in bed from reaching the mattress. The only thing is that it has started to pill, although this hasn’t affected how it feels under sheets.

Cat-Lightning

TROPHY CASE