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I tried to find an NKOTB lunchbox, but they didn’t have any.


Last night, Dan and I went out to dinner for his birthday. It was quite the occasion- not the having dinner out, because we do that fairly often as a family- but going out without Maggie being with us. We haven’t done that since… January? Yeah that’s a long time! We went to Walnut Grove, which was very nice and grown-up and they didn’t give out balloons to kids and I had something called ‘Chocolate Cobbler’ for dessert which is every bit as a delicious and evil as it sounds.

After dinner, we headed out for some birthday shopping for Dan, since I’m a horrible wife and didn’t actually go out and buy him a present. In my defense, the only ideas he provided for birthday gifts were ‘golf stuff‘ and ‘Best Buy gift cards‘. And since I have no idea what ‘golf stuff‘ means, I thought he could just go pick it out himself. Thankfully, he didn’t mind.

In our outing, we ended up at Kohl’s and Target, where apparently it became Maggie’s birthday too because we left there with a pair pajamas, 2 pairs of shorts, and some Steeler onesies. Talk about spoiled! We also got Maggie her very first lunchbox for daycare (MY KID NEEDS A LUNCHBOX NOW, SHE’S GROWING UP SO FAST *WAIL*):

Maggie's Lunchbox

It came with sparkle puffy-paints and these self-adhesive patches so that kids can ‘create their own’ lunchbox. Naturally I jumped all over it and spent 20 minutes decorating it this afternoon. But I’ll tell everyone at daycare that Maggie helped… even though she was napping at the time. heh.

Last night’s dinner wasn’t just a birthday celebration though. We also celebrated the fact that this week, we are now completely, 100% student-loan debt free. If you’ll recall, last November, we paid mine off and made it our goal to get rid of Dan’s loan by the end of the year. I had my doubts a few times (like when my car air conditioner bit the dust last month, argh) but things suddenly fell into place in the last few weeks and WOOHOO! No more payments! So now, the only debt we have is our house. No student loans, no credit cards, nothing. That is… until we buy a new car in the next month or so… but that payment will be MUCH less than the ones we’ve been making to the loan, so we won’t even notice!

All in all it was a good weekend. We spent today in our pajamas and it was fantastic. I did get a haircut yesterday and I’m still figuring out if I like it or not. No pictures yet… but I’ll keep you posted on that.

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15 Comments


  1. kirida

    Aug 10 at 8:25 pm

    Yay for getting rid of the student-loan burden. That deserves a huge celebration!

    kiridas last blog post: maybe she’s not that into me



  2. Melissa

    Aug 10 at 9:00 pm

    Love the lunchbox–good job! :)

    You are SO lucky to be pretty much debt-free. Well, lucky probably isn’t the right word, because I know you worked hard for it. But wow, that ROCKS.

    We are in just the opposite situation: George and I were debt-free coming out of college (we both had full scholarships), but now we’ll have to start paying on his law school loans (*CRY*) and unfortunately we’ve acquired some credit card debt since Oliver was born and I quit working for a while (and even after I went back part time). I’m hoping that in ten years I’ll be able to say what you’re saying now! It’s very inspiring!!

    Glad you two had a fun adult night out. Happy birthday to Dan! And your hair is always pretty, Jen, so I’m sure it looks cute. :)



  3. Georgie

    Aug 11 at 1:27 am

    I 2nd the YAY for no mo school loans-I was never so glas as the day we paid mine off! it was like a HUGE burden had been lifted!

    The lunchbox is super cute

    Georgies last blog post: Guess What I learned Today?



  4. Rachie

    Aug 11 at 1:35 am

    wow. debt free. i official hate you now. not really, i’m just jealous. neil and i are just now getting ourselves in debt. this is the first semester my parents aren’t paying for my schooling. and i have so much more to go. ugh. congrats tho!!



  5. Corrie

    Aug 11 at 8:56 am

    That is so awesome..the debt free part. Wow. You guys rock. I would say I am jealous, but actually I am in awe. I am jealous of the dinner alone though.

    Corries last blog post: It’s a fashion-Don’t



  6. Claudia

    Aug 11 at 11:26 am

    Congrats on being student-loan free!! Must be a nice feeling :)

    Maggie’s lunch kit looks awesome, too. You so crafty.



  7. Jen

    Aug 11 at 12:33 pm

    @Rachie: The only ‘upside’ to school loan debt is that at least it’s GOOD debt. It’s for a purpose :) Rather than credit cards piling up. So just keep telling yourself it’s for a good reason :)



  8. Backpacking Dad

    Aug 11 at 1:19 pm

    The morning after our date to Japantown we went into a little store and spent 20 minutes shopping for a lunchbox for my daughter. My wife is convinced that Hello Kitty needs to be involved, and that Erin will look so cute rolling up to daycare with a bento box and chopstick set.

    Backpacking Dads last blog post: This moment, like so many others, brought to you by parenthood.



  9. Jen

    Aug 11 at 4:39 pm

    @Backpacking Dad: hey our girls gotta have their ‘STUFF’, right? :)



  10. Daisy

    Aug 11 at 10:03 pm

    Cute lunch box!
    Student loans paid off? Celebrate! That’s a huge milestone.

    Daisys last blog post: Dangerous Days, indeed.



  11. Burgh Baby

    Aug 11 at 10:31 pm

    We’re BlogHer Ad buddies right now! Woohoo!

    If you find that NKOTB lunchbox, let me know. I’m willing to continue to stay in student loan debt just so I can have one.

    Burgh Babys last blog post: The One That is Probably Going to End in Me Getting My Crack Kicked



  12. Jen

    Aug 12 at 7:01 am

    @Burgh Baby: Am I the only one who gets a huge thrill when I see a link to one of my posts on the ads? :) It’s like I’m totally famous!!!



  13. Rayne

    Aug 12 at 3:15 pm

    I’m jealous! I’d love to be debt-free! Congrats!! Cute lunchbox too!

    Raynes last blog post: The Vacation is Over



  14. Jen

    Aug 12 at 6:08 pm

    NKOTB! That brings back memories (and not of their recent reunion). In 1989, my freshmen year roommate in college was their biggest fan ever. She designed her own t-shirts around them, her bday cake on her 18th bday was decorated with “Happy Birthday Melissa from NKOTB”, she collected anything and everything related to them. I bet she had an NKOTB lunchbox!



  15. Priscilla

    Aug 14 at 12:33 pm

    hey still waiting for a haircut photo!!! Come on!!!