Housewarming with a registry or not?

Hi all,

After almost two years living in Oakland, I am finally moving back to San Francisco proper. I moved to Oakland mainly because I wanted my own apartment and I knew that on what I was making at the time, it would have been almost impossible to rent on my own in SF. Now at the end of this March, I will be fully moved into my new place. 

I would like to have a housewarming party by May, but I need and would like a few items and I am not sure if I’ll have the money for them by May. So my question to whomever reads this post, is it tacky to have a housewarming party and ask for gifts? I was thinking of posting a list of items, with the majority being $20.00 or less and let people buy something if they wanted to or could do so. Of course, I wouldn’t turn away people if they didn’t bring something because I love my friends and I love to entertain.

What do you think? Am I being hella tacky?

A dream deferred

Yesterday I went into the William Stout Annex near my job for the first time. I went into look for books about Frank Lloyd Wright, my favorite architect and left feeling a bit sad.

I am not sure how I got into the discussion, but at some point, I was talking with an Academy of Art University student about whether the school is a waste of time or not. I talked about my stint as a graduate student there and how I didn’t feel nurtured enough and how the school isn’t really worth it unless you don’t have to be employed. This guy of course told me that he somewhat disagreed since he works a little bit in addition to his classes, but he also is an undergraduate student so there are differences.

I pass the Academy of Art almost everyday as I run errands for the people I support at work and sometimes I feel really low about not finishing my degree there, but then I remember a few things that the school made it almost impossible to complete my degree. One being due to my family’s financial situation, I couldn’t have anyone cosign on a loan, and took out the maximum federal loans that I could. Even with the maximum federal loans I could take out, it didn’t afford me the option to fully dedicate my time to being a student. I still had to work a tough retail job at the time to pay the rent and take care of other expenses.

Also, I spent days working on assignments without sleep and still had to go to work, which spelt d-i-s-a-s-t-e-r! So, after six months of irregularly sleeping and still not being able to complete my assignments, I walked away from the Academy of Art. I still wish everyday that I could be a professional Interior Designer, but now how do I stop deferring this dream?