Category Archive

Life

We launched as Offbeat Home in 2011, but it has become clear that the site is about much more. In 2013, we relaunched as Offbeat Home & Life, with an expanded focus on Relationships, Budget & Career, Travel, and Style. This is the category for the non-home/rest of life stuff!

Working from home: separating personal time from work time

When my husband and I get home from our day jobs, we don’t waste much time before jumping into our second jobs of operating an at-home business. Now that our careers take place both in and out of the home, the line between work and personal time has started to blur. Our house now doubles as a work place, and I often find that I can’t truly relax when I’m there because I feel guilty when I’m not working on business operations.

What steps can I take to separate personal time from work time when at home?

How do you throw diverse parties where people blend like PB&J?

How do you bring people together in a party situation, especially when these people can be as disparate as your rocker lesbian friends, your nerdy friends from the anime club in university, and your conservative Chinese coworker?

Make your own action figure terrarium

I love my action figures but I often wish I had a better way to display them rather then gathering dust on a dark shelf. So, when I saw a terrarium a few weeks ago, it hit me: Mini terrariums personalized for each figure would be a perfect and stylish way to show ’em off. Intrigued? Here’s how you make an action figure terrarium…

Sometimes I take the back alleys

We all know I am an avowed city girl, right? Backstory: grew up in the forest, moved to the city, then moved around to different cities, then settled in the city near my forest. I continue to make all sorts of logistical sacrifices to living my city-center lifestyle, including but not limited to having my son sleep in a walk-in closet and paying way more than I should for a mortgage. I love that I can walk out my front door and immediately be immersed in a flow of hungover hipsters, aging gay professionals, halfway house residents, Microsoft executives, and part-time yoga teachers/body workers/dance instructors/etc. who live in my ‘hood.

But even as an avowed city dweller who loves swimming through people-stew every day, I still find myself sometimes taking the back alleys.

My son and I left my abusive marriage and have never been happier

One day, as I was contemplating driving into oncoming traffic, I just snapped. I took my one-year old son, left my nice house and my not-so-nice husband and went to my local women’s shelter.

Hilarious and stupid (in a good way!) home decor accents

Ok, fine: you don’t want to over-do it with ridiculous novelty shit in your house. But a few stupidly hilarious accents here and there? Come on. I know you’re feeling me on some Pac-Man wall decals or Hitchcockian bloody bathmat. Come with me while I pick out the best of the novelty mish-mash from Perpetual Kid, including soft-serve laps, retro door-stops, TARDIS USB hub, and the perfect Edgar Allan Poe painting for your goth foyer…

How long is an old tenant’s mail my responsibility?

The girl who lived here before was here for five years of grad school, so naturally she still gets a lot of mail. I don’t think either of us have the time to get together every week just to hand off a few postcards. So what I want to know is, at what point do I give up on reuniting a former tenant with her lost mail?

Feeling comfortable in my own skin: I’ve birthed and breastfed two kids and I’m happy with my body

I have a bucket list. I keep it written in a little journal and I get it out and stare at it once in a while. Some of the items on there are big, lofty experiences that I hope to have one day. However, many of the things on that list are simple, personal experiences I want to achieve. This week, I got to cross one off the list: feeling comfortable in a bathing suit.