life lately. (and our march goal progress).

a long, long time ago (its honestly hard to believe ive been blogging long enough to say that) i used to do a "month in review" post at the end of the month with photos and tidbits about the past month and lately ive started to miss that. especially as life has gotten crazier and things are shifting with the blog and im not really writing much about our general family activities anymore. march really made me miss this old feature. march was one of those months that really flew by.

among the highlights were our first real family trip, probably the best wedding ive ever been to, beach days, bridal showers, baby showers, family dinners and days at disneyland. in a lot of ways i was a little too busy enjoying life to get to the computer to work on serious blog posts. especially since, you know, i have school and james has work and we still have all our other normal adult things to do. 

but theres also been a lot going on behind the scenes, stuff that i want to write about, stuff that i probably should be writing about, but stuff that i cant ever really get myself around to actually writing about. 

like this pregnancy. pregnancy has not been kind to me. i mean, im not all that alarmed/surprised about how things are going, because ive done this before. i know that im just not one of those women that gets to go about her normal life while pregnant, and i really dont enjoy this process all that much (like seriously, can the stork be real please?). i was really sick for a good four months, i am really tired basically all the time, and (very much unlike last time) i have had to deal with horrendous back pain on top of my usual fibromyalgia related issues, and really this whole time ive barely been able to function as a human. and thats not even getting into the emotional effects of constantly feeling ugly and gross as i slowly transform into a huge, greasy, sweaty, useless bipedal land whale that is vastly inferior to seemingly every other pregnant woman that gets to just go on doing 20x the things i do in a day and still have nice hair. 

i dont want this to come off as being unnecessarily negative because even though yeah, pregnancy totally sucks (which i really feel like women are not allowed to say/talk about but thats a rant for an entirely different day) were all very excited about the new baby (which, for the record, we do not know the gender of) and the assorted preparations that we get to work on. im just, equally as excited at the prospect of finally not being pregnant anymore (and wouldnt be at all opposed to baby coming a bit early the way ive heard second babies have a tendency of doing). 

and as if a new baby wasnt a big enough change to go through right now, james and i have also decided to embrace/move towards a more minimalist lifestyle. actually thats kind of a lie, were getting close to embracing full-blown minimalism around here. see, in a lot of ways weve really been weighed down by the sheer amount of crap in our lives, and over the past year or so have been slowly making changes in our habits (buying only what we absolutely need, getting rid of things we dont use, etc.) and values (people and experiences over things, quality over quantity, efficiency over excess). this has been a slow and gradual process, though recently, weve just been on a mission to get rid of all the things. and it feels SO good. 

we literally own less right now than we have ever owned in our marriage and the more things we get rid of, the more things we see that we can totally get rid of. its like a vicious cycle thats also COMPLETELY FREAKING FANTASTIC. there are surfaces in this apartment that im not sure ive ever seen empty, and the place feels HUGE compared to when we moved in. and no, we are nowhere near being finished. did i mention we havent even gotten the new, smaller, more efficient bedroom furniture yet? for a long time we worried about where wed put another baby, but now its starting to look like baby #2 will get its own WHOLE CORNER in our room. maybe even with an actual (mini) crib. the only downside to this whole process is its kind of a mess: one area gets torn up, we make a big pile of stuff we dont want, put the stuff we do want away and then have to deal with the pile before moving on to the next area, lather, rinse, repeat. this constant state of flux is not great for my anxiety (though, removing the clutter is actually totally great for my anxiety!). 

putting all our physical possessions into their place has also had me trying to figure out how to put all my different interests/efforts into their place. the past couple years has been awesome as far as finding things that im good at/make me happy/put us on a path to me actually providing a second income from home, BUT i cant give 100% to all of them. school, blog, shop, jamberry, theyre all great. i love all of them and they all have their different strengths and benefits, but its really getting to be too much trying to juggle all of them. realistically, even though its the slowest going, finishing/doing well in school is really necessary so that i can build the skills that ill need wherever i end up in my creative pursuits, and investing time and effort into a strong blog/web presence probably wisest since that will give me a foundation for launching any kind of actual business. and honestly, im running out of steam and inspiration when it comes to the shop and jamberry, but i also really dont want to just flat out quit either of them (especially when its jamberry that has the most/easiest earning potential). so what do i do now? i dont know yet. 

so thats whats been going on around here lately, and since its a fresh new month, why dont we quickly check in on our goal progress this month: 

blog: 

with a solid foundation for my content/branding coming together, its getting a lot easier (in theory) to plan posts and write consistently (of course, in practice real life keeps getting in the way), and lately ive been working on less conventional ways to connect with my readers/other bloggers that i think are more effective than the traditional sponsorship/link up route. 

shop: 

we traded patchwork for the silver lake market, and while it wasnt a financial success, we did it, and tomorrow ill be doing my second craft fair of the year (the community bazaar in anaheim), so the craft fair related goals are coming along nicely, even if more design-oriented things are more or less on hold. 

family: 

this month we have gotten WAY better at having intentional family time every week, and while james and i didnt get a date date (march had some kind of big thing every single weekend) we did do the silver lake flea market together without alice. homeschooling though, i need to work harder at finding better (age appropriate) activities. 

home: 

you probably read about our most recent trip to ikea, and how we totally got the credenza situation taken care of before the bed/mattress. but we also DID pick a bed and mattress and are making GREAT progress with decluttering so our home goals are sailing along nicely. 

financial: 

march was still slow work-wise for james but we are working on figuring out a reasonable budget plan, our savings account is inching along, and weve made a couple big payments to the credit card, so i cant complain here. 

personal: 

school is going amazingly well, i actually got the only perfect score on my illustration midterm, and im learning a lot (which is whats most important), and im really finding a lot more confidence in the kitchen. jamberry though, i dont know if im being lazy or if maybe thats run its course, but i suppose i should give it some more time. 

so whats going on in your life lately? 

how to fake your way to being a "cute mom". (sponsored by yogaoutlet.com)

outfit details: 

dress: c/o yogaoutlet.com

cardigan: target

 moccasins: minnetonka (purchased used)

glasses: zenni optical

every so often someone will make a comment about how im such a "cute mom". now, i try my best to take this as a compliment, but if were being honest here, this is usually said in a condescending tone, as if to say "oh victoria, thats so cute that you have all that extra time and money to invest in looking nice all the time, you must have such an easy life to have everything together like that", to which i say: BAHAHAHAHAAAAA. 

no. 

i do not have an easy life. i do not have ANYTHING even remotely together. i do not have time for shopping. i do not have money for shopping. and unless it is a very, very special occasion, i do not have the energy to spend more than three minutes a day caring about what i look like. 

im just really good at faking like im a cute mom. and today im going to share a few tips on how you can do it too. (also, im sorry for laughing at you, that probably wasnt very nice of me). 

1. find some comfy dresses. dresses are for SO MUCH MORE than just dressing up. most of the time, if im home doing chores/out running a billion errands, im wearing a dress. why? because the right dress (like this super soft organic cotton shift from yogaoutlet.com) feels like pajamas, but looks like you tried. all with the added bonus of being a whole outfit in one and not having to wear pants. 

2. cardigans and moccasins. cardigans are basically the same thing as sweatshirts. moccasins are basically the same thing as slippers. however, in both cases, one option says "why yes, i am handling things today" and the other says "i have lost all control over my life". and i dont know about you, but for me clothing has a profound psychological effect, and dressing like the former even when i feel like the latter actually helps.

3. less is more. you know all those clothes in your closet that dont fit/dont match anything/make you feel unattractive that (dont lie) are totally in your closet? just get rid of them. you cant ever look frumpy if you dont let yourself have the option of looking frumpy. thats logic. 

4. limit your color palette. generally speaking, i can pull any top and any bottom out of my closet and they will at least sort of coordinate. why? because if you were to look inside my closet, you'd see that (almost) everything is black, white, or grey, with the occasional pop of pink, red, and orange. sure this may sound boring, but do you have any idea how fast i can get dressed in the morning?

5. perfect the two-minute makeup routine. yes, most days i leave the house i wear makeup. no, this does not take any time at all. i wear my makeup the exact same way every day (blush, eyeshadow, winged liner, and mascara) and can get it done in about a minute and a half. i also have a teeny tiny makeup bag with just those things in my bathroom separate from the rest of my makeup so that i never have to waste time looking for things. i promise that if you can boil your makeup routine down to just the essentials, youll be able to go from sleepy to done up before anyone realizes you closed the bathroom door. 

6. memorize some lightning fast hairstyles. some women are blessed with hair that just naturally looks great all the time. i am not one of those women. thankfully, the internet has a LOT of resources for almost zero-effort hairstyles. i mean, we all know about topknots and ponytails, but what about a messy fishtail, rope braid, or scarf roll? honestly, until a few months ago, i had no idea there were so many easy thinks you can do with your hair to look like you tried. (my new favorite thing is this thing where i dont wash or brush my hair and pin up the front part and pretend like im fancy). 

7. most importantly, just own it. look, even if i did have the time/energy for beachy waves and cuffed white jeans or perfectly coordinating a necklace and hat with my top, that would look ridiculous. because thats not me and i cant pull that off. the #1 secret to being a "cute mom"? confidence. whatever your "look" is, as long as you own it, nobody will know that you cant do the normal "cute mom" things. 

so now that ive spilled all my secrets, steal them and go be cute. nobody has to know that youre not actually a "cute mom" cute mom...

(disclaimer: this post was sponsored by yogaoutlet.com and they provided the dress free for review. all other content and opinions are my own. p.s. be sure to check out their holiday gift guide for gift ideas for the yoga-inclined on your list)

a frustrating season and a reminder that we need this.

outfit details: 

top: jc penney (very old)

shorts: vintage

shoes: elorie (purchased from gilt)

glasses: zenni optical

if i were to describe how life is going right now, id say were in a frustrating season. and i dont just mean that because im still wearing shorts and its freaking NOVEMBER, its just that (as ive mentioned before) its that were in this prolonged season of transition. there are just so many things changing and they just wont quit moving around. have i mentioned lately how much i hate change? even though i do realize that all of these changes are moving our family forward into the kind of life that we want to have, its still frustrating. 

so, so frustrating. here are a few of the things im struggling with: 

school. this semester im in three classes. i know that doesnt sound like a lot but theyre all COMPLETELY different and have completely separate supplies and commitments. all three classes are only one day a week, so theyre LONG. im gone a lot. way more than id like to be, and when i am home, i have homework to do, or maybe i just want to sleep. its thrown a huge wrench in our weekly routines and takes so much out of me that i often feel like i cant give my best to james and alice (my priority), and honestly, i just dont have any energy left for any other family and friends. i feel like im failing everybody right now. also, i finally sat down with a fall and spring schedule to figure out what order i need to take the rest of my classes in, and the way things are set up at my school (assuming nothing gets cancelled or messed up), i wont graduate until the spring of 2017. 

work. not working at joanns anymore has been a HUGE relief, and so far, jamberry has been even more of a blessing than i could have imagined. but im starting a whole new job from scratch. everything is a learning experience, and since my time and energy are severely limited, its nearly impossible for me to stay on top of running parties, booking more parties, promoting on social media, pursuing consultant leafs, managing my team (were 12 strong now!), ordering supplies, and all the other things that being a consultant entails (no, that was NOT an exhaustive list of things i do). because of this, my workload tends to flip-flop from tons of work to none and back the other way every couple of weeks. and the fact that I'm just not naturally great at being my own boss? not helping. 

my health. honestly, my health hasnt been particularly bad lately, its just that its never all that good. i acknowledge and take full responsibility for taking on WAY more than my frail body can realistically handle, but at the same time, i kind of need it to cooperate. 

jamess job. since this spring, james has been working a ton. i mean, his schedule is only just now slowing down for winter. but hes still gone a lot, and i dont usually have the help that i need/am used to having. also, a variety of (not having anything to do with us) circumstances have put him about six months behind where he should be in his apprenticeship program. meaning, we have at least another two years before he journeys out and we dont have to deal with school week anymore. were probably going to graduate around the same time at this rate. 

but through all of this, as frustrating and seemingly endless as it feels, we need this. all of it. i need to do well in school, not only because ivee dreamt of having my own independent label since i was a little girl, but also because when i graduate, ill be able to freelance as a designer or pattern maker. and i need that long-term flexibility if were going to homeschool (which we are). i need to be optimistic and persistent with jamberry because it IS suiting our needs for a second income right now, and not having to work outside of the home is whats made going back to school even possible. i need to be patient and have a good attitude about my health because well, we all know by now that thats not changing anytime soon. and all of us need to be patient with jamess job and learn to go with the flow, because, yes, eventually he will journey out, he will make that journeyman money, and those quarterly school letters will stop coming. 

but most of all, i have to remind myself to be thankful (ha, i didnt realize when i was planning this post that it would be so seasonally appropriate). i need to be thankful that i AM in school studying my passion and im able to work from home while i do it. i need to be thankful that even though my health sucks most of the time, at least i know how to deal with it. i need to be thankful that james not only has a job, but a job with excellent benefits and a career track that will be pretty great in a few years. 

i have to be thankful that as difficult and exhausting and frustrating as things are right now, they are nowhere near as crappy as they used to be. weve spent the last two years or so deciding what kind of life we wanted for our family, and planting the sets we needed to make that happen. and now those seeds have all been planted and were waist-deep in the hard work part. a lot of the time it sucks, but we need this. we have goals, we have dreams, and they arent going to happen without all the work that were doing now. 

so instead of begrudgingly tolerating long hours, stupid homework, and shorts in november, i will be thankful. because we need this. all of it. except maybe the shorts in november part but i suppose thats just what we get for living in los angeles. 

6 ways to feel more like a person when chronic illness is kicking your butt.

one of the thinks im kind of known for (at least in real life) is that i am chock full of stupid diseases. one thing i am definitely not known for, is having a good attitude about it. 

but its something ive been working hard to change lately. because somehow nearly a decade into not being able to live like a normal person (my super fun mystery health problems started showing up when i was like 15, and im going to be 25 soon, so yeah... almost a decade), ive finally accepted that while i cant control how my body feels at any given time, i can (at least try) to control how i react to my bodys stupidity. 

this has been especially important over the past couple of weeks, as my fibromyalgia joined forces with my unstable hormones to create the perfect superstorm of migraines (which ive never even had before), joint pain/swelling (to the point where my hands were essentially useless for DAYS), and two whole weeks of the worst. pms. ever (which should totally be illegal). all right before the new semester starts when i totally have a whole bunch of super important things to do RIGHT NOW. hooray. 

now, since ive recently spent quite a few days in bed with ice packs doing like one chore while alice watches tv and plays with the loudest possible toy she can find, ive obviously had a lot of time to think. i spent a lot of that time trying to think of ways to help myself not feel so crappy (emotionally) about how crappy i feel (physically). and i came up with a few ideas. 

which i thought id share, just in case any of you fellow spoonies out there (healthy people: yes, thats a thing) could use some ideas in this department. or at least a laugh at my expense. either way, im more than happy to help. 

so heres my list of ways to feel more like a human when chronic illness has you feeling like poop (i wasnt even going to try and fit that on a cute little graphic so just pretend its attached to this picture):

*note: i am (obviously) not a doctor and none of this is intended to be medical advice of any kind, simply a somewhat humorous list of my recently acquired coping skills*

1. get dressed. every day. in real clothes. i know you dont want to, but its really, really easy to give up on yourself that you couldnt possibly do anything of importance today if youre not even dressed to do anything of importance. so put on real pants, and embrace the hypothetical possibility that should you feel able to do something important, at least youre already dressed for it. 

2. put on lipstick. its really dumb how were supposed to have a reason for wearing lipstick. wearing lipstick for no reason makes me feel like coco chanel, like i can do anything. i highly recommend it. 

3. eat real food. this one is really hard because when youre weak and in pain the last thing you want to do is cook (or maybe your hands wont cooperate like mine were last week), but i promise that eating kettle corn and reeses cups all day is only going to make you feel worse. i speak from experience. 

4. lower your expectations. i have a really bad habit of guilt tripping myself for not keeping up with my usual workload (which to be completely honest is often a little unrealistic) when im not feeling well. dont do this. set the bar low, really low. like, "eat food and make sure that the other humans and animals in the house have eaten food also". then you dont have to feel bad about not accomplishing your goals for the day. 

5. do what you need to do, and dont feel bad about it. whether you have to ask for help, decline invitations, take a nap, spend way too much money on essential oils, take a break from work, neglect chores, complain to your friends, let your kid watch tv all day, wear sunglasses to church, or let your husband cook dinner (or all of the above), even though you hate, hate, hate to do any of those things. just do it. its not worth it to kill yourself trying to handle everything on your own if you cant. it also wont kill you to eat burned carrots. 

6. give yourself time to recover. dont expect to get right back into your normal grind as soon as you dont feel terrible anymore. baby steps. yesterday my mom took alice to the beach and i thought id bust out ALL THE THINGS. i ended up buying groceries, needing to ice my arms from carrying groceries, doing a couple chores, needing a nap, and then writing half a blog post before my headache got too bad and then turned on netflix while i waited for james to get home. it wasnt as much as i had hoped, but it was a lot more than i had done the day before (or the day before that). like i said, baby steps. 

so thats my list. 

even though this last flare has been probably one of the worst ive ever had, and as much as i wanted to spend the last two weeks getting the blog and shop back up and running before the fall semester starts (on monday!), im starting to feel better and things are moving along and the world is not ending. and, maybe this week i will get back into a normal workflow. 

do you live with chronic illness? whats your favorite way to make yourself feel better? id love to hear about it in the comments!

its time to kick the summer lazies.

im not going to lie, this summer has been an exceptionally lazy one. i mean, youve probably noticed that i havent been around much (or at all) right here, but blogging isnt the only area where ive let myself get lazy. part of it was due to james spending so long out of town, part of it was transitioning into full-blown self employment, part of it was burnout, and part of it was my fibromyalgia REALLY not getting along with this exceptionally humid summer. 

but reasoning aside, i havent been writing AT ALL, i havent (aside from preparations for create 2014) made (or even planned) ANYTHING for the shop, my jamberry calendar is empty until mid september. all my usual routines, structures, and busy-ness? thats all been a mess: the chore rotation is off, the errand schedule is a mess, and i dont even want to THINK about how much take out weve been eating. we certainly have NOT been keeping  close tabs on our finances.

but im not sorry, not one little bit. 

we needed the break. well, i guess it hasnt really been much of a break for james, hes STILL working tons and tons (fortunately in town, though). so what i mean by that is i needed the break. earlier this year i was working three jobs, rushing all over the place trying  to keep everything from falling apart, and for the last couple months, i havent had to do that. so i just sat back and enjoyed not having to do it. and it was awesome. 

but all good things must come to an end, and since school starts in two (!!!) weeks, now is that time. ive been easing myself back onto the meal planning/errand running/housekeeping/budgeting wagon, and for the most part, i can feel those things all getting back on track. 

and with the little things under control, im feeling a little less lazy and a little more ready to get serious about blogging again, about running the shop like a legitimate business, about planning AWESOME birthday parties for alice and i, about tackling home projects, and putting some major work into our long term family goals. 

like going on vacation. no seriously, were going on vacation next month. is this even real life?

p.s. everybody please notice my super amazing and adorable CUSTOM handmade (and surprisingly affordable!) bathing suit from beverly swimwear. shes amazing and will totally hook you up with the best suit ever (and she didnt pay me to say that). 

mid-year thoughts.

outfit details: 

top: urban outfitters (theyre having a killer clearance right now, this top was $6!)

skirt: vintage

sandals: shoemint

sunglasses: zenni optical

camera bag: kelly moore

its july. i know that because im right in the middle of that awkward transition between datebooks. 

this means were more than halfway through 2014. this is really weird, because, i swear that yesterday it was MARCH. but they do say that time flies when youre having fun. 

and apparently time really flies when all the pieces start to fit together and suddenly, you can sit back and enjoy living the life that you had always dreamed of. 

so, just in case anyones been worried that i havent been writing because something absolutely catastrophic happened (after all, i did keep writing through all of the awful things we went through over the past year and a half since ive been blogging), i just wanted to reassure you: i havent been writing lately because life is awesome. 

see, so far this year has been full of changes. the kind of changes im not used to. good changes. for all of us:

after (almost exactly) two whole years, jamess job has finally turned a corner from being a great job in theory, to actually being a great job. his hard work and persistency is really paying off; hes halfway through his apprenticeship program, earned a pay raise that is well above our current needs (even after the absurd amount the union takes out), and, unlike last year, hes working. a lot. (he hasnt had a day off since memorial day).

im working from home. legitimately working from home. making more money than i ever have before, on my own time, able to stay home with alice, slow down, and keep the household running without having to be an uptight, overstressed to-do list nazi.  

and alice gets to reap the benefits of both, she gets to have me at home, with the free time and energy to do more fun things together, AND since we have a stable income (for the first time, like, ever), we can do normal things like eat at restaurants and browse the clearance racks at target and even occasionally say yes when she asks for things for no reason without obsessively fretting over every last penny. 

its nice. if james hadnt spent the last five and a half weeks working out of town (though it does seem that more in-town work is happening), id maybe even go so far as to say things are perfect. 

there is one difficulty im struggling with right now though, and thats where this blog fits in with our new, comfortable, exactly-the-way-we-like-things life. when i started this blog, and  really up until a couple months ago, our life was looking like the exact opposite of what we had hoped and planned for. and to be completely honest, a lot of my inspiration and motivation for writing this blog came from the struggle to find and achieve the life we wanted as a family. but now that thats been more or less achieved, where do we go from here? 

what am i supposed to write about now that im, dare i say it? content with the way things are. how am i supposed to come up with new goals and projects when we dont really need anything? when am i supposed to write when i now have things id much rather be doing? 

what are your thoughts? what do you want to read about? 

i just wanted you all to know im not dead or anything + refining my focus for poverty luxe.

you may have noticed that i havent been around in a long, long time. at least, i hope youve noticed. and i just wanted to let you know that no, im not dead, and no, this wasnt exactly intentional. 

well, the week and a half I took off in the beginning of May, that was intentional. but after that I was just burnt out from jamess school week and my finals happening at the same time and i just couldn't really get back into my normal blogging groove.

i had (and have) ideas. i made an editorial calendar for june. i just, didnt actually write anything new. 

at first this made me sad, because I missed blogging. then it made me fee guilty, because the unanswered emails and unfinished guest posts were piling up. then it made me feel anxious because after a few weeks, i started to REALLY worry about how i was supposed to catch up on all the life happenings and our family outings and little projects were working on and oh gosh they were piling up and how could i catch this all up and have it all make sense...

and then it hit me. 

i dont have to. im not going to. 

because I've done a lot of thought about this (just because i havent been writing doesnt mean that i havent been thinking about writing), and thats just not the kind of blog that i want this to be. 

i dont think i ever really intended this space to be a vanity project to keep everybody updated on all the little things we do in our daily life, because frankly, its not that interesting. we dont have an adorable and fascinating lifestyle blogger life and im totally cool with that. i have way too many diseases to be worried about being interesting. and im also not that into posting about our day to day life over and over every week, because were kind of in a season where home life is in a steady routine (most of the time), and i just cant write about the same stuff every week. i mean, if i dont even want to write about it, other people certainly dont want to read about it.

also were broke. so buying things/doing projects (which is like, 85 percent of typical lifestyle blogger content) are just not regular activities over here. i cant even pretend to be that kind of blogger. 

but none of that rambling is really relevant anyway because thats not my motivation for blogging anyway. 

working for jamberry, one of the things that gets talked about a lot is our "why", that is, the reason that we do what we do that makes us excited to do it. if we were talking about jamberry, my "why" would be that i need to be able to work from home so that i can be home with alice and finish fashion school and move on to be the independent fashion designer that ive wanted to be since i was a child. this is a highly motivating "why", and lo and behold its actually working. but i digress...

all this time ive been gone, ive been trying to nail down a solid "why" for this blog, because i feel like ive lost touch. i mean, i like posting outfits, and recipes, and projects, and outings and the like but none of that points to any particular theme or direction, and if i want to stay happy and motivated with this blog (and more importantly, for it to provide any kind of value for my readers), i have to rein it in quite a bit more than that. 

and i think maybe ive put my finger on it. it really all boils down to the name. that name that i get asked about all the time, that name that im constantly having to explain, the name that was once described by an old friend as "brilliantly evocative" (hi tom!). poverty luxe. 

so yeah, its a lifestyle blog, but its all about sharing the poverty luxe lifestyle. i want to share our ups and downs and tips and tricks and adventures and life lessons and weird quirks and how weve learned to love living the broke life.

why? because i want to educate, encourage, and maybe even inspire (even though i hate, hate the word inspire) all you folks out there, that even if youre broke, even if youre the kind of broke where this whole "paycheck to paycheck" thing that everybody complains about seems like an extravagant luxury (because trust me, weve spent a LOT of time as that kind of broke), you can still have an enjoyable life. right now if you wanted to. and that never ending always-out-of-money cycle? that can totally be broken, even without a magical increase in income (heck, we managed to do it with a constantly decreasing income). if we can do it, so can you. and im here to help. 

so, what exactly do i mean by poverty luxe? well, considering its kind of a long story and ive already been rambling for a very, very long time, ill talk about that next time. so stay tuned.

and since this was a long, boring post with no pictures, heres alice the last time we went to the beach:

bat's day at the fun park (a family outfit post)

my outfit details: 

top: h&m

skirt: vintage

boots: hand me down

corset: alice and willow

glasses: zenni optical

alices outfit details: 

top: vintage

leggings: gift 

shoes: gift (but i think they were from kohl's)

jamess outfit details:

shirt: gift 

vest: vintage

pants: h&m

shoes: vintage

pocketwatch: vintage

bow tie: handmade (by me!)

so, two thirds of the way through may, i think ive finally settled on a theme: "out". so far, may has been a great time for out. out with all our old junk (we had our first family yard sale on saturday), time out with friends and family (we were gone something like six of the last seven evenings), and now that my semester is over, lots of time for family outings (like the beach and disneyland). 

which brings us to todays topic: sunday was bats day at the fun park, and, if you know me, theme days at disneyland are my jam (i mean, dapper day, anyone?). now, obviously the three of us arent exactly involved in the goth community, so in order to not be, you know dressing in costume and effectively mocking an entire subculture, we went with a more victorian-influenced theme for our outfits. which was fairly easy for james and i because the vast majority of my clothes are black or some combination of black and white, and jamess typical fancy attire involves a vest and pocket watch anyway. we werent sure what to do with alice though. until we found that PERFECT vintage top in a random bag of orphan hand-me-downs at my moms garage sale. 

now, i had wanted to go to bats day again ever since james and i accidentally went last year (which was also on cinco de mayo, there was an interesting crowd that day), and we have ALL been waiting for my semester to end so we could have a REAL, ALL DAY disneyland day with lunch and treats and souvenirs and all that. 

which we did get, except, it was the crowdedest day ive probably ever seen in all my years of going to disneyland. were talking, going through sections of the upstairs line on the jungle cruise that i didnt even know EXISTED crowded. so there wasnt a lot of ride riding, and a big chunk of the day was spent at big thunder ranch, which i dont mind at all because its NEVER crowded and alice loves the goats and things like this happen:

it was crowded, it was hot, apparently pizza port stopped giving free refills, and my corset almost made me pull an elizabeth swan (its a real, steel boned waist training corset), but i cant say it was a bad day, because we did get the long day at disneyland weve been waiting for all semester, and somebody really needed a break from all the homework and cleaning and furniture moving:

 (obviously, that somebody is alice)

life lately.

its been over a year and i still havent really written a "life lately" post. i mean, its just not really the kind of thing that id really planned on doing with this blog. i guess i just always thought that id be able to stay on top of content development and post scheduling and whatnot and that youd never have to read a long rambling of my current thoughts. 

well, turns out, i thought wrong (as i often do). 

the past couple weeks haven't exactly been a time of productive writing (or researching, or planning, or crafting, or any kind of productive business activity). mainly because jamess school week, the end of my semester, and the beginning of my last homeschool co-op class all kind of converged into the same two weeks and i just didnt have any kind of mental energy to put into this blog. 

thankfully casey and jessica were so kind as to step in with some (rather lovely, i might add) guest posts, and the blog hasnt been COMPLETELY dead. 

but, since im just taking FOR.EV.ER. to recover and get back into a productivity groove, and may's editorial calendar hasnt even been STARTED yet (and were halfway through the month, epic fail), youre getting the life lately post. 

so here are a few things that have been happening/on my mind lately (in no particular order, please bear with the randomness and incongruity of this post): 

my first (ok, eleventh) semester of college is DONE and im all registered for next semester! ill be taking three classes (only seven units though), which im a little nervous about, BUT its really exciting to FINALLY actually be on my way to my dream job (which is, in case you didnt know, stay at home/homeschooling independent fashion designer). yesterday we celebrated with ice cream: 

i recently started using essential oils to treat my myriad of ailments (and poor little alices allergies that seem to last for half the year), and wouldnt you know it, theyre actually working. i dont even know how many alternative medicines ive tried over the years to no avail, and i was SURE that there was no way some little bottles of oil would actually be much help, but sometimes (actually, kind of a lot of the time) i feel like a normal person. its pretty awesome. obviously you can expect a full blog post about this soon. 

after a few months of nothing, things with my etsy shop seem to be picking back up, and now i have enough paypal money saved up to start actually planning poverty luxes first craft fair appearance (probably at the silverlake art craft and vintage, ill keep you local folks posted!). james still needs to build me some clothing racks though. 

james and alice gave me the best mothers day present ever on saturday: they went to the park so that i could have an afternoon by myself. it was lovely. as were the tacos at my moms house the next day: 

even a year later, im still struggling with my diet. for the most part ive gotten used to the gluten free thing, and recently it seems that my immune system has calmed down a bit and i can tolerate corn, nuts, and peanuts without an issue, and ive finally worked my way back up to a weight im happy with, but unfortunately it seems that in order to maintain this weight, i basically need to eat junk food ALL. THE. TIME. and well, thats starting to feel almost as bad as not being able to eat anything. so right now im torn between needing to clean up my diet and get more exercise, and being afraid that if i do that i wont be able to continue to stay at a healthy weight. 

weve lived in our current apartment for two years now, and it finally feels like home. when we moved here i had hoped and prayed that it would only be temporary, but it turns out, small spaces actually have a LOT of advantages. i will admit that its been feeling a little too cluttered and crowded lately, but thankfully my mom is having a garage sale this weekend, so were in MAJOR purge mode. and it feels great. 

i bought a plant today. if you know me at all you know that this is SO not like me. but i hate buying fresh herbs when we only need a tiny bit and the rest gets thrown away. so well see how this little mint does. and if i dont kill it, maybe well branch out to the rest of the herbs. 

i am so, so thankful that jamberry came along when it did, im in love with working from home, especially now that im back in school (also, holy not-spending-the-entire-summer-teaching-kids-classes-while-alice-goes-to-the-beach-with-my-family). today i made my second set of fast start goals (hello $100 credit!), and i am *this* close to making my second promotion (and still not far from the next one, which is the first level with a CASH promotion bonus!). i didnt think id do well with this, at all. but i am, and its awesome. 

i feel like a terrible blogger. to be completely honest i havent been reading or commenting on blogs much lately, and ive been letting my sponsorships expire and i just havent been that involved in the blog community and i feel bad. 

the time has come for some big business decisions here at poverty luxe. and by that i mean, i feel like its time to get really serious about growing this little business into something big. i scored a MAJOR discount on a lifetime handmadeology pro membership, which i plan on studying over the summer, and im also considering the new blog life ecourse from a beautiful mess (is anyone doing this, what are your thoughts? is it worth the money?). 

and lastly, it is too, too hot. it is literally hotter today in coastal southern california than it ever was when we lived in arizona (northern arizona, but still). james and alice and my sister went to the beach while i taught my color theory class, despite the fact that we went to the beach yesterday. its a rough life, i know. 

see, even alice is SO over this heat wave (i mean, what even is that face?). 

now that ive gone on and on about ME for so long, what have you been up to? what are you working on? how have you been? 

lets catch up, please.