easter fun + taking a break from weekly wishes

happy monday everyone! i hope everyone had a great easter weekend!

we did things a little backwards as far as easter/jamess birthday are concerned this year. normally for easter, wed go to church, and then if someone in the family (either my moms side or my dads) was throwing a party, wed go to that, and then wed spend jamess birthday (which is also his grandmas birthday) in san diego with his family. 

well this year, easter happened to fall on my brother in laws birthday, so we spent easter in san diego and did birthdays at the same time (meaning, well get to stay in town for jamess birthday). which, despite the fact that driving two-three hours (depending on traffic, which happened to be bad BOTH saturday and sunday) to stay the night at somebody elses house (not one of my favorite activities) totally stresses me out, the weekend turned out to be a very nice change of pace. 

obviously there was egg dying on saturday (which alice had never done before because she was too little last year):

and apparently alice LOVES hard boiled eggs if theyve been dyed first (i dont even REMEMBER the last time i offered her hard boiled eggs without her throwing them back at me). 

then sunday we had easter brunch (and i only pouted a little about not getting to go to church) and after that jamess grandma put together a little egg hunt for alice and her cousin:

then it was time for cake and birthdays:

(the 120 on the cake was my idea, jamess grandma only had number candles but didnt have everyones ages, so we added them all together and got 120. conveniently, she did have candles for that)

and later, since it was the hottest day ever and great-grandma and great-grandpa have a pool, and grandma (jamess mom) got alice a new swimsuit and life vest, there was swimming:

finally, when alice was just too cranky to function, we packed up the car for the LONGEST DRIVE HOME EVER. seriously. bumper to bumper traffic for over an hour THROUGH CAMP PENDLETON WHERE WE COULDNT EVEN GET OFF THE FREEWAY. and to make matters worse, it was easter sunday, and all in n outs were closed. 

but really, everything was fine. we had a nice easter, and now its time to get ready for jamess birthday. and my color theory class starting right after that. and then school week the next week. and then finals and my cousins graduation right after that. and then more birthdays for my brother and cousin after that. and then a quick trip to santa barbara and a wedding (unrelated) the weekend after that. 

so, um... what im getting at here is that ive kind of got a LOT going on right now, and weekly wishes? well, i dont really have the time (or energy) to work on new small goals every week. so, for the rest of april, and may, and possibly even the rest of the summer, the only goals ill be talking about are my big monthly goals. 

and im really looking forward to that. 

the time we had an actual weekend (family dates + weekly wishes)

happy monday everyone! 

last week was my first official week of not having a real job, and it certainly had its ups and downs. i mean, not working at joanns (and therefore, not being on edge every monday, wednesday, and friday as i try to figure out if im supposed to be working the next day) is a HUGE relief, but at the same time, im still not sure how to, you know, deal with everything that needs to get done AND keep working consistently on blog/shop/jamberry stuff when most of my time constraints have disappeared. also, my body is NOT handling this inconsistent weather OR having night classes AT ALL and my fibromyalgia is FREAKING OUT so my pain levels been at like a 7/10 non stop for the whole week. 

BUT!!!! 

the great news is, because i NEVER have to spend my saturdays at work anymore, we got to have a normal person weekend chock full of family fun!

and by that i mean, we went to a doctor who craft fair. 

yeah, you read that correctly. doctor who. craft fair. 

it was at whimsic alley. which is basically the most wonderful place ive ever been in my life and im incredibly angry at everyone i know that knew about it and didnt tell me it existed:

its an entire store of nerdy fandom merchandise. mostly harry potter and doctor who, which is great because those are basically the only two fandoms i care about (ok, those and animal crossing, but thats not exactly a well known fandom in the us). 

oh, and they have a "great hall" in the back where they do things like have doctor who craft fairs. 

we mainly went to see my friends shannon and stacie of s & s ink (who you may remember from their sponsor feature a few months ago):

but, as happens at most craft fairs, i found SO MANY new crafters and makers to adore (though, please pardon the iffy photography, the room the fair was in was a little too dark for pictures). here are a few of the highlights:

ok, so im a total stickler for clever cross-fandom references, especially anything harry potter/doctor who (for obvious reasons), these patronus mugs from a bird in the hand? basically my favorite thing ever:

 you can buy them here (rose tyler) and here (amy pond). 

all three of us basically died over this pikachu wearing a fez by crafted cuteness:

have i mentioned that lately alice is OBSESSED with pokemon?  yeah, we had to drag her away from this table kicking and screaming. also, they had amigurumis of ALL THE PONIES from my little pony: friendship is magic. too much cute. im probably going to have to buy this pattern now...

and just when i thought i couldnt die of cuteness anymore, stacie showed me the z'etiquette booth and all of their marvelous bags and corsets made from the most INCREDIBLE custom printed fabrics ever:

i mean really. they even had a star trek toile. not that i have $250 to drop on a bag right now (though $250 seems really low for a handmade bag, ive been looking at camera/bookbags for a while now and holy moly theyre expensive, even the mass produced ones) but if i did, you KNOW it would be star trek toile. or doctor who toile. or something. (id post a link to their site but apparently their website is down but you can buy some of their bags here). 

then when we were done with the fair, we went next door to milk jar cookies:

because shannon said they had great cookies and she thought there was a gluten free option. shannon only undersold this place by a TON. milk jar cookies is by FAR the best (and cutest!) cookie place ive been to, well, ever. (and before you get all, "well how many cookie places could you have possibly even been to?" remember that i live in los angeles. where cookie places have been a thing for YEARS). 

i mean, look at these cookies (and also, the super cute assortment of plates:

yes, they were three dollars each. and before all the non-la people start freaking out, i just want to remind you, gourmet cookies are totally a thing, and $3 is a small, small price to pay for this: 

(also, the cookies are still warm when you get them, and the gluten free cookie was actually good) 

then, of course, we went home for naps and james went out to play dorks and dragons and saturday was over. 

yesterday we continued our celebration of me not working at joanns anymore by going out to dinner (jamess idea, i swear), at a real restaurant. and i didnt get sick. it was awesome (also, thanks stacked for knowing what cross contamination is and taking your gluten free menu seriously). 

and the best part? i dont work at joanns anymore so we can have many, many more weekends together.

so how are we doing on aprils monthly wishes?

well, school is going pretty great! on tuesday we had all had to sketch a suit meeting certain market parameters (store, age group, price point, etc.) and put them up on the wall anonymously to vote for which one best fit the assignment, and mine was voted the best! i know it seems like a really silly accomplishment, but when i was studying fine arts, my work was mediocre at best. i NEVER won the silly little class contests, EVER. so that felt really good. 

as for the smaller goals, ive done some of the remaining jamberry training, and james and i have talked about our house project list, and im pretty sure i know what were doing for his birthday, BUT, i think the main priority for this week is to figure out some kind of "work hours" schedule for me to use on weekdays. 

what did you do over the weekend? what are your plans for the upcoming week?

i finally quit my job! (an outfit post + april monthly wishes)

outfit details:

top: h & m

skirt: vintage

shoes: vintage

necklace: macys

hair clip: etsy

glasses: zenni optical

nails: jamberry in imperial (matte)

everybody please ignore the stupid face im making in the first picture, and instead notice that my shirt has cats on it. for a long time now ive been wanting to get a cat shirt, but my sister is pretty much queen of the cat shirts, and i didnt want to look like i was copying her, so when i found this crop top at h&m with japanese lucky cats on it (which are one of my favorite things ever), i knew i HAD to have it. even though it was regular price and im probably way to old to be wearing crop tops with cats on them. but, cats. maybe it wasnt the most practical $10 ive ever spent. but again, cats. and when i wanted to wear the wrap skirt i wore to dapper day to church without looking all vintage-costumey, my new cat shirt was there to make everything better. so heres to you, cat shirt. also, i FINALLY just had to put new jamberries on my nails (after THREE WEEKS the old set was STILL going strong), and this imperial print is definitely a win (and the matte finish, im in love!). 

but enough about cat shirts. its monthly wishes time!

last month my goals were all about getting ready for my fashion classes to start: i wanted to finish my financial aid appeal, change my name on my school records, get a new student id, research/buy running shoes, get a bunch of meals in the freezer, take alice to the zoo, and decide what i wanted to do about my job situation. 

and im very proud to announce that i did everything except getting a student id! (which, honestly, was probably the least important of all of the goals i had). 

most notably, i took the plunge and quit my job at joanns! which is totally the opposite of what i thought was going to happen, but even though school is only two nights a week, my classes are turning out to be a LOT more involved than id anticipated, so, taking back the cut counter position did not sound appealing. obviously i was concerned about losing the (albeit, pretty pathetic) income, so i figured id just skate by on just my teaching position. but then something completely unexpected happened: my jamberry launch party, despite having a ton of issues in the beginning (because facebook totally rewrote the notification stuff), and taking FOREVER to get any orders, and feeling like it was just going NOWHERE, totally made what id make in a normal paycheck at joanns working both positions. 

so, this weekend, i was basically faced with this choice: keep the job that causes all kinds of stress and problems and scheduling difficulties that pays hardly anything and has NO opportunity for anything better than what im doing right now, OR, quit and have more hours to put into this new work-at-home opportunity that has already proved to be more profitable AND has a basically unlimited income potential (provided that i keep up with networking and booking more parties). 

if youve been reading for a while, you know that this has been a long, drawn out, complicated, and emotionally difficult situation (i mean, im terrible at being employed so the nearly three years i spent with joanns is roughly three times as long as i had my next-longest job). but, once i looked at things objectively, it was pretty clear that working at joanns was NOT worth it. 

so, saturday, i finally quit. i may have to go back next saturday to teach one last class that has one student enrolled (meaning, its already in danger of being cancelled), but other than that, im done. and its great. because really, that silly little poorly paid part time job was starting to REALLY get in the way of our serious long-term goals (not to mention my health and sanity). 

and now, we can move on to aprils monthly wishes (because its the first monday of the month and thats how we roll here):

for obvious, just went back to college reasons, aprils them is LEARN. 

honestly, with this month being a weird transitional time with school, and also containing jamess birthday (and requisite trip to san diego), aprils goals are a little looser and less structured:

my big goal for the month is to soak up as MUCH information as i can in my classes and immediately apply it to my blog/business where appropriate. one of my classes is all about building a professional portfolio, and SO much of it is relevant to where my etsy shop is struggling right now, so my number one priority this month is to focus and excel in my classes (which shouldnt be difficult, since so far im the only one thats even doing all my homework). 

my smaller goals are to finish all the online training for jamberry (their consultant resources are fantastic, and i have SO much to learn if this is going to be a sustainable business), put together an awesome birthday surprise for james, and to write out a BIG list of EVERY house project/purchase thats been waiting so that we can take care of them on days off. 

those are my goals for april, what are your plans this month?

march in review (another blogger meet up, an outfit post + weeklywishes)

is it just me, or did march TOTALLY fly by? i feel like we were SO busy ALL month i didnt even notice that it was almost april! since this month has been somewhat of a blur, im especially grateful that i had already to committed to this whole "month in review" thing to recap everything we did, otherwise i might have forgotten that march even happened!

seriously, SO much happened in march:

we got a really bad start to the month when we spent a whole week without hot water and i almost forgot to go to my friends bachelorette party. but then i remembered and everything was ok! 

plus, since my dear friend shannon got married, i got to do some embroidery:

which i really, really love doing but for some reason can only find the time when somebodys about to get married. (conveniently, about eight thousand people i know are getting married right now, so it looks like the future will hold a lot more embroidery! yay!). 

also, poverty luxe turned one year old! this is totally insane because i never thought id be doing this for a whole year. but still awesome. 

we took alice to the zoo for the very first time.

and we welcomed a new member to the meyers family. meet B:

(obviously alice is totally obsessed) remember that time my sister rescued a kitten and named it gaston? well, it turns out gaston is a lady, and one of my moms cats (a fat, lazy, potato of a cat named ronald) apparently CAN NOT handle sharing his litter box with a girl, and despite living in a one bedroom apartment, ive been getting antsy to have more cats. so B lives with us now. its great. 

and in big, exciting, life-changing news: i started college this week AND dove into a new business adventure as a consultant for jamberry nails. 

i really wish i had something more profound to say about starting college again after so many years, but, i dont know, im taking two one unit classes for eight weeks. it doesnt even really feel like im in college right now. come back in september and im sure ill have more to say about it. 

jamberry, on the other hand, i just cant keep my mouth shut about that. dont worry though, poverty luxe (the blog, or the etsy shop) isnt going anywhere. the only thing that might be going somewhere sometime soon though is my job at joanns. i wont say yet that im quitting, but i will say that my first week with jamberry had a rocky, underwhelming start and i still made about what id bring home on a good week at joanns. so...

oh! saturday i got to go to another awesome blogger meet up hosted by melyssa and the bloggers giving back crew! this event was called well boxed: 

 and we had pizza and wine and put together care packages for the troops stationed overseas:

it was an awesome time getting to do something nice for someone that probably really needs it, while also getting to spend some quality time getting to know some other blogger ladies better (AND even meeting some new friends!). 

now, i noticed that amidst all of the crazy busyness of march, i havent been doing much in the way of outfit posts. even though thats totally my favorite kind of post and i swore that id do more of them they just havent been happening. so as of right now, im stepping up my game. heres what i wore to the well boxed event:

                                       

outfit details:

top/bandeau: diy (tutorial coming next month!)

skirt: poverty luxe.

shoes: shoemint

bracelet: vintage (james bought it for me when he was a scrap gold buyer)

glasses: zenni optical

nails: jamberry in diamond dust and cup of tea

i dont really have a whole lot to say about this outfit, other than i did make most of it (and the shoes i won from another bloggers giveaway), so i didnt really pay for any of it, which i guess is neat. also, lately ive really been working on finding different ways to style my poverty luxe skirt, since, you know, actually wearing the things i make is basically the cheapest marketing there is. at the blogger meet up i got a lot of compliments on my top, which was actually a really simple diy project, so stay tuned, because in a couple weeks I'm going to show you how to make one too!

so there you have our highlights for the month of march. 

well, that and yesterday james did that thing we do now and again where we dress up as dr. who characters for no reason and it becomes glaringly obvious why exactly we dont have any adult friends:

(but, i mean, if i was someone else, id totally want to be friends with us)

now dont think i forgot about weekly wishes!

last week i wanted to get a good start on my classes and order my textbooks, and i did both! in fact, i was SO excited about having homework to do that i did ALL of my homework for both classes on thursday. plus i saved like $80 bucks by buying my textbooks used (and ill probably get almost as much as i paid for them when i sell them in a couple months, so stay tuned for a post about how to work the textbook system!)

whats up for this week? not much, really. obviously I want to keep doing my homework early, but my big projects for the week are finishing Aprils editorial calendar (and deciding if Friday posts are coming back or not....) and starting a big list of all the home projects that need done/things that need to be replaced (with James working full time and me NOT working three jobs, we totally have the time and money for projects for the first time in over a year so its already a long, overwhelming list...)

what was your favorite part of march?

sometimes i forget that im sick (a nice morning at disneyland + weekly wishes)

last week we had a pretty full week. james was home most of the week (but since hes worked full time basically the whole month, i wasnt worried about it), and tuesday, he was so kind as to take alice to the beach so i could work. this was especially awesome because, drumroll please.... i was able to FINISH a little batch of scarves for the shop. this one with the bow print is my favorite: 

then, the rest of the week was fairly uneventful, i dont think we did anything notable except driving across town to the running shoe store because i found a fantastic deal on the nike frees that i had decided on getting (there was another shoe that was even lighter and more supportive, but really, i couldnt handle feeling like my feet were in an iron maiden). 

obviously why thursday night we were getting bored, and alice has been asking for the jungle cruise just about every day. so friday we decided to spend the morning at disneyland. normally id pack a lunch for us, but james was extremely antsy to get there quickly since big thunder mountain railroad just re-opened (its been closed for like, two years. this was a big deal), so we decided that it was our special family date for the week and wed also go out for lunch (ultimately, this was a fantastic call on jamess part because i had an incredible gluten free pizza that im still fantasizing about). 

we were at the park for maybe four, four and a half hours, and it was great. alice got her jungle cruise:

hung out with the goats:

got to meet robin hood (seriously, in my whole life ive NEVER seen robin hood):

we had forgotten to bring alices autograph book. obviously since robin hood was there (a favorite of both james AND alice) we had to get a new one. 

then after lunch alice had a special request. she wanted to ride the "space rockets" (astro orbiters or whatever, its basically dumbo but in tomorrow land). since shes asked to go on this ride probably the last three times weve been at disneyland right as were about to leave so weve always said no. we made sure she got to try the space rockets:

and i dont think ive ever seen her so excited about anything in her whole life. as soon as we got in the little rocket (which was WAY smaller than i remember it being), alice yelled "are you ready guys! lets blast off!" before we could even get the seatbelt on her. i just about died. 

then after that, james and i used our big thunder mountain fast passes (which we miraculously got right after they re-opened the fast pass distribution after closing it for some technical difficulties so we only had to wait about an hour), and then we went home for alices nap time. 

at which point i did all of the days chores that id neglected by playing hooky at disneyland, then cooked an elaborate dinner, and then went to bed thinking i could just pop right out of bed and make it to my friends bridal shower at 10:30. you know, like a normal person.

well, turns out i was wrong. so, so, so wrong. i did wake up on time, but i was still so groggy and in so much pain that getting dressed and putting on makeup and shoes felt like wrestling a bear. by time i had done those three small things (that I'm sure most people do every day without even thinking about it), i was so tired, so sore, and so emotional, that i just couldnt do anything else. i spent most of the day in bed, crying. wearing my fancy bridal shower dress. because all we did was spend four hours at disneyland and i SHOULD be able to do something as simple as go to a party. 

but i couldnt. and really, i should have expected that. because, im not a normal person. im sick. and sometimes (well, a lot of the time, lately) i forget about that. while having fibromyalgia doesnt really stop me from doing anything, it most certainly keeps me from being able to do everything. and lately, ive been too hard to be wonder woman. to say yes to everyone and to do all the things and go all the places and do all the work and have all the fun.

i feel like this would be draining enough for a healthy person, but for me, each seemingly small activity brings its own little baggage of pain and fatigue, and unless i take lots and lots of breaks (more than even i think i need), to deal with each thing one at a time, it all rolls together and compounds until i spend an entire day sobbing in the fetal position because i tried to do two big busy weekends in a row (remember, last weekend, we went to the zoo). and i really have to stop doing this. 

over the past eight (ish) years, ive learned to get used to living with fibromyalgia. to be happy with a slower, quieter, less busy life than what most people are used to. and most of the time, its not bad at all. yes i get tired easily, yes it takes me a very long time to recover from something as simple as a bike ride, and yes i am usually in a medium to severe amount of pain that no medicine really fixes. but as long as i take things slow, as long as i get plenty of rest, i can do whats important. i just, cant expect stressing over getting to a morning bridal shower immediately after letting myself get way too busy too many weekends in a row to result in anything other than panic attacks. 

i guess thats my life lesson for the week. 

on a much less somber note, my first fashion class starts tonight! 

AND, as i mentioned earlier, i bought running shoes and attempted to get my student id (turns out the day i went was during spring break so no one was there, next week ill try again) so last weeks weekly wishes went well. 

whats up for this week? mainly i just want to get a good start on my classes and get my textbooks taken care of. 

what are your goals for this week?

(p.s. stay tuned for tomorrow because ive got a REALLY exciting giveaway coming up!)

the time we went to a wedding (an outfit post + my new business venture + weekly wishes).

we had a busy weekend over here. friday night we had the privilege of attending the wedding of my dear friend shannon to her new husband jacob, saturday we went to the zoo, and then yesterday there was potluck lunch after church. needless to say, im really surprised that i did anything today, let alone all the chores + errands + shoe shopping (which ended up turning into an extended visit to the mall) PLUS getting a bomb diggity dinner on the table at a somewhat decent hour (seriously guys, this pizza will make you never want to eat a different pizza ever again. i just wish i could have a chance to try it on real bread). 

its been a pretty exciting and productive day, to say the least. although my work work, like writing blog posts and sewing the pile of the soon-to-be-announced new product for the shop... well, lets just say alice just went to bed and im just now getting started. but, better late than never, right? i hope so. 

anyway, heres what i wore to shannons wedding:

outfit details:

dress: vintage

shoes: aldo (thrifted, originally purchased for my wedding)

necklace: macys

glasses: zenni optical

purse: voz collective (from back in the old days when jackie made purses)

nails: jamberry in diamond dust sparkle and cup of tea

first off, i just want to clarify that even though this dress totally looks like a bridesmaids dress (and just so happens to be the exact color of the wedding theme) i was not in the wedding. 

the bride did pick my dress though. 

for real. a few weeks ago shannon texted me saying "hey i got you this green silk saks fifth avenue dress from the last chance goodwill. it needs some repair on the zipper but it looks like your size and its just too nice to get shipped to africa and its only $2". so obviously i was like "heck yes". 

and then i actually saw the dress and i was like "HOLY MOLY ARE YOU KIDDING ME THIS IS THE MOST BEAUTIFUL DRESS IVE EVER LAID EYES ON WHY ARE YOU GIVING IT TO ME FOR FREE AND NOT SELLING IT ON ETSY FOR THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS" and then i was like "i know its probably too fancy and the exact color of your wedding but can i still wear it to the wedding anyway", and being the absolute doll that she is, she said "of course"

but seriously. its the most beautiful dress ive ever seen, from the shimmery, swishy silk fabric to the impeccable construction (the fashion nerd in me just about DIED when i saw that the lining was HAND SEWN into the bodice so the stitching wouldnt show, you just dont see that in dresses these days). oh, and did i mention it actually fits? vintage dresses NEVER fit me right. ive got broad shoulders and a deceptively large ribcage and no matter how hard i try, vintage dresses just will not zip for me. but this one did. perfectly. 

obviously with such an amazing dress i didnt want any accessories to distract from it, so i just paired it with some plainish pumps and pearls and a simple hairdo. oh and this really awesome clutch that i got at a craft fair back when i used to do lots of cool craft fairs that i thought was lost for like two years but then i found it in a suitcase while i was cleaning a couple weeks ago and it was the best day ever. 

now, if youre really observant, you probably noticed that i included my nails in the outfit details, which ive never, ever done before. this is going to become a regular thing. and theres a reason for this. its because i just started on a new business adventure (i just decided right now that i like that word better) as a consultant for jamberry nails! obviously im going to tell you more about this later (spoiler alert: theres going to be a giveaway involved in my launch party thats happening next week), but for now ill just say that these are BY FAR the BEST nail wrap product that has EVER existed and you need to check them out RIGHT NOW (and also take this enthusiasm seriously because im literally never this excited about a product ever). you can learn more about them here (and obviously stay tuned for my launch party next week!)

oh! and remember how theres nothing new in the shop right now because i was too busy making bow ties and pocket squares for a wedding? well this was the wedding. i thought i should have something to show for this prolonged absence, so heres the adorable groom sporting his poverty luxe accouterments:

and as for weekly wishes? well i definitely made good on last weeks wishes: i filled out and turned in my financial aid appeal form (now im anxiously awaiting the verdict...) PLUS i updated my name change AND checked out the book lists for my classes. also, today i tried on running shoes (i havent made a decision yet though, these were lightweight and comfortable, but these were even better, though i dont know if they were fifty dollars better). also also, i got a big pot of cream of asparagus soup in the freezer AND we took alice to the zoo (and those werent even on the list for this week!), so marchs monthly wishes just may be completed after all!

this weeks goals are to get one more batch of beans in the freezer, decide on and order/buy my running shoes, and go get my student id (i couldnt do it last week because the name change takes a few days to process). should be a fun week. 

what are your goals for this week?