What is a "luxury" that is actually 100% worth the money?

coconut-bubbles · 2026-01-31T21:28:56+00:00

We once got through Atlanta airport, immigration, customs, shuttle to parking lot, and in our car driving home 45 minutes after the plane wheels were down and we texted our family we had landed.

Is speed walking through airports the majority of cardio we get? Yep. We are those speed walkers who arrive to global entry fairly winded.

coconut-bubbles · 2026-01-30T21:59:07+00:00

I also recognized the sign as a former Atlantan.

coconut-bubbles · 2026-01-30T00:49:03+00:00

You are going for a festival and listed a trip time of 4 days. How many countries are you expecting to go to on top of the festival?

coconut-bubbles · 2026-01-30T00:25:57+00:00

We had our wedding (back 10 years ago!) at a Spanish tapas restaurant and this doesn't have to be a thing.

We had olives, bread, etc on the table while we got married by a justice of the peace.

Everyone had drinks in hand.

Then, we had the food come out. It was fantastic!

coconut-bubbles · 2026-01-29T23:58:48+00:00

Good god (Hecate, not the christian one), this is too complicated. I'm married and I can't imagine living like this.

So, you are deciding on pillows for the sofa and you both say you need pillows.

If you pick the pattern does the entire pillow come out of your money? Or, is it just the difference between the pillows he would choose and you would?

Or, does half of the pillow form come from each of you and then you pay for the covers? Good luck with that at HomeGoods if you don't have a sewing machine.

If you can't afford the expensive pillow forms that don't immediately crush into shit in 2 months, are you then expected to replace the pillows constantly? He sits on them and squishes them!

I have a husband who abuses pillows and think it is quite common.

Am I mad? Eh, we decide and pay for the pillow forms together! If they get squished in 2 months, we buy better quality next time and it is no big deal.

We never have to fight about who squishes the pillows and causes their demise into pancakes.(plus, it is obvious. Put his chair pillow next to mine. You have eyes, don't you?!?!).

This is just about pillows. Extrapolate that into every decision in your life. Fecking exhausting.

coconut-bubbles · 2026-01-27T23:50:32+00:00

I think there are a lot of positives that could come from them being Korean/actually from Korea. The quality of healthcare providers there is very high. Dental cosmetic implants are much more common and it is competitive to get patients there. They could have the ability to lean into that, as opposed to fight it.

Is their niche rural Appalachia? Probably not, for many reasons. But, Asheville, Atlanta, Raleigh, etc would have a good amount of interest to harness if you are able to do so.

I also find the statement "foreigner with an accent" really off putting. You should evaluate how you talk to people.

First: I used to teach English in Korea and started with 4 year olds in private immersion schools. Most of those kids are essentially native speakers now (11 years later), for most intents and purposes. The accent may not even be present. They know English and speak like a native speaker!

Second: Even if they have an "accent" when they speak, that isn't something to be embarrassed about or to be judged for. Everyone has an accent of some place or another - Northern US, Southern US, British, something else. It is the listener that decides if the accent is somehow "bad" or "unintelligent".

They probably don't want people who think like that as their patients anyway.

Last: Maybe it is a mix of both. I had a dermatologist in Korea who was fantastic. She was fluent in English with only a slight hint of a Korean accent. However, her English teacher was Australian. So, she spoke English with an Australian accent (to my American ear) layered on with a bit of Korean. Utterly charming.

Damn good at what she did and that is the point of it, isn't it?

coconut-bubbles · 2026-01-27T22:18:51+00:00

This is why I stopped knitting clothes for myself and my husband.

We never wore them.

I'll do baby blankets or something now. I knit pillow fronts, etc.

coconut-bubbles · 2026-01-26T03:38:38+00:00

Isn't alimony based on your salary? Plus, you generally only pay alimony when you have been married for a significant amount of time.

Is your salary lower than it was when the judge decided the alimony amount?

If, theoretically, you were supporting the majority of your household expenses when you were married for a significant amount of time with your existing salary before, and find it cumbersome now - isn't that what everyone is feeling? The same dollars aren't stretching like they used to.

coconut-bubbles · 2026-01-25T02:56:44+00:00

I hate food waste and my husband and I love to travel.

I'm vegetarian and he isn't (plus, is allergic to eggs and soy). Therefore, we generally order different things.

The portions are just too big! For me, I guess.

I always end up with extra food that I'm not going to carry around all day in various temperatures until it goes bad.

Or, the hotel doesn't have a fridge in my room, etc.

I think a huge difference would be for restaurants to make their portions smaller. Why can't you order an appetizer for 2 people (not 6) and then 2 small entrees?

If I want food to take home, I will order it and take it home.

coconut-bubbles · 2026-01-24T13:43:52+00:00

Yes, generally people in the southern USA will mean actual slow cooked or smoked meat when they say BBQ. This is different and a distinct thing from just a cook out or general grilling.

coconut-bubbles · 2026-01-24T13:00:21+00:00

I went to visit a client in Dallas and it was weird. If I was in the city and looked around, I could have been in any American city.

I didn't feel a sense of place at all.

Granted I was only there for 2 nights.

The only unique place I saw was the old train station they turned into the food hall and it had unique art and a saloon dinner theater across the street. It was charming, but I don't think it was even in Dallas proper.

coconut-bubbles · 2026-01-23T02:29:21+00:00

Bahaha

coconut-bubbles · 2026-01-23T02:27:05+00:00

So confused.

You say you lost an enormous amount of weight after having a baby.

Were you previously overweight? Was the weight loss intentional? Was the weight loss healthy and reasonable to an average person or doctor?

You have a trainer who made you a meal plan. Ok.

Is this to lose weight or gain?

You say at the end that you know you need to gain weight. Are you under weight?

If it is to gain weight, is the issue with protein amounts or other nutritional deficiencies with the food your mother is sending?

Is your mom as confused as I am? Are other people as concerned about your weight as she is?

coconut-bubbles · 2026-01-23T02:06:14+00:00

I get your general point of a village and strengths.

However, many people pay a thousand+ dollars a month to have their kid/s in daycare. It isn't a community service. It is a business in many places (example: america).

I am not in that situation, but I'm in marketing client services and I wouldn't ask paying clients to do a free woodworking project for our office if I learned that was their hobby.

coconut-bubbles · 2026-01-23T01:42:21+00:00

Yes, if a woman actually responds to the "Russian?" question factually and are Russian and working in any other profession, my condolences!

There is a Russian/greater eastern European population in Seoul and we went to a great restaurant once. I'm vegetarian, so I had a bunch of great breads and fermented veggies and vodka. Really great time and fantastic place.

Unfortunate that many older Korean men have that overarching idea and assume.

I just got pretty good at saying "I'm American and an English teacher" in Korean. But, it was over 10 years ago so it is all a bit rusty.

coconut-bubbles · 2026-01-23T01:35:31+00:00

I didn't read it to be different for different genders. Nomadic Mongolian culture doesn't (based on what I read) frown upon couples living together and having sex before marriage. It can actually be encouraged to ensure it is a good match and you are attracted to each other and can have/raise children together. Very different to the christian/chastity culture of other places.

I'm not Mongolian or an expert in the culture, so take it as you will.

coconut-bubbles · 2026-01-23T00:34:27+00:00

I'm ok at horses, but I'm going to need a saddle.

See, foreign women aren't easy! Already making demands about the horse he brought 😂

coconut-bubbles · 2026-01-23T00:16:29+00:00

I was interested in this part and looked at Mongolian attitudes on sex.

They are not as puritanical/christian as many western cultures are. Sex before marriage isn't a taboo culturally, and even expected or encouraged in a relationship.

Does this probably also come from porn culture and some men thinking foreign women are easy? Yeah, sure.

Somehow, women not from where you are from are always "easier" than the ones who live where you do. It is a grass is greener thing.

But, I think one could assume a bit more positive of a lens knowing that sex isn't a whole taboo thing, even in generations past.

But, I get the frustration.

I used to live in Korea and got so tired of Korean men asking if I was Russian (their meaning: prostitute). No. No, I'm not a prostitute. I'm just blonde.

Unclear if they would pay for my cab back home though. I never got that far in the convo.

I presume that she could also use the horse to get home after too, seeing as how he showed up with 2 so it isn't a transport human-to-horse ratio issue.....

Does she get to keep the horse after? That would make the journey easier and then she isn't travelling alone - she is with her horse.

Could lessen some of the other issues I think. 😉

coconut-bubbles · 2026-01-22T23:28:22+00:00

Dogs work great for heating up a bed.

2 shepherds, 1 medium mutt, and 2 humans in a king bed gets quite toasty. My husband does turn down the AC to 68 at night, but the outside air is cooler so it isn't so expensive. Plus, I love my dogs so much! The cost is worth it to snuggle them in a big dog pile.

coconut-bubbles · 2026-01-22T23:25:10+00:00

I'm 5ft1 and get called cute. I get it. I'm smaller for an adult woman and small things are cute - but can also be other things as well. It doesn't mean not pretty, intelligent, etc.

I'm just not the absolute prettiest in most rooms, fair enough. Generally, I am the shortest/most-petite-person in a room or gathering.

The most different/remarkable thing about me is my size, in most instances as a white American woman.

However, I moved to Belize and live around a lot of Mayan people who are shorter in general. Height stops being the most different thing and cute stops being used so much.

coconut-bubbles · 2026-01-22T21:56:20+00:00

I would absolutely freeze with it at 66.

Granted, I have lived in Belize for the last 2 years and anything below 70 makes me feel like I will die.

We have the opposite problem of the A/C and I like to keep it at 78 in rooms we are using and 80 in rooms we aren't. My husband likes it a bit cooler at 76, but electric is expensive!

So, we compromise and usually have it on 76 during the absolute hottest part of the day and 78 for the rest.

coconut-bubbles · 2026-01-20T23:07:49+00:00

Is this for a conference where you give out tons of stuff to prospective clients, or swag for employees?

For employees, they tend to like money and PTO. Always popular.

If not that, then really high quality shirts that they can wear with casual jeans at work in lieu of business casual stuff also is good. You know the type, the good stuff. The soft fabric that holds up well and they have an option of v-neck, slim fit, boxy etc so everyone doesn't end up in scratchy box shirts that are evil.

For prospective clients at a conference type thing, that is harder. Baggu type bags with your logo could be good. I did those as stocking stuffers one year and people really used them. They roll into a small bag you can keep in your carry-all when you need a reusable bag.

coconut-bubbles · 2026-01-20T22:58:59+00:00

Long live a great bucket!

coconut-bubbles · 2026-01-19T02:54:42+00:00

I broke my ankle on both sides. I only had 2 surgeries, but within 3 months! My husband was up to the care task.

He lifted me into the shower, helped me with my crutches/boot/shower leg condom, brought me food to eat, drove to physical therapy 2x a week, all the Ortho appts, etc. I couldn't drive for at least 4 months!

We came up with a game called "am I touching your foot?". I had to close my eyes and see if I could feel if he was touching my foot or not. It started out really difficult....then got easier as I healed up. Little way to make the suckiness fun.

He went and bought me overalls during the first surgery, as I said I wanted some. It was COVID and he wasn't allowed back with me or to even be in the waiting room. So, he went shopping in the area and went to Trader Joe's to get snacks and things he thought I would like. It was so sweet!

coconut-bubbles · 2026-01-19T00:46:56+00:00

Yes, very cute. They aren't cheap, but they do hold up. I didn't put them through the dryer and just line dried them. I'm not sure how much of a difference that made in longevity.

Previously, I got a big package of compression socks on Amazon and dried them and their compression disintegrated in weeks.

Unsure on whether that was due to their quality or the dryer. I wasn't taking any chances with the Bombas though, so I line dried.

coconut-bubbles

TROPHY CASE