Moms make everything better

My mom decided to come visit this past weekend. I didn't realize how much I needed to hang out with her. She makes everything better. Not by doing anything really, just by being herself. I can always count on my mom :-) I'm still feeling a lot of the crap I've been freaking out about lately but I'm also feeling stronger and better all around. I found out I got an extension on my unemployment so the fact that I haven't found a job yet isn't going to put us in the poor house yet. Brendan built me a ribbon holder recently and my mom and I put all my ribbon on it. No surprise it's already full but it'll definitely help keep the office a bit cleaner and more organized.I also was able to find an Adipose knitting pattern, SCORE. and I'm working on a Dalek dishcloth for my friends husband. He let me borrow all his Doctor Who DVDs so it's a thank you. I hope he'll like it. I've got like a million things I want to knit! I've been feeling knitty. So I'll be working on a blanket for my sisters new baby due in May, the dishcloth, a bear for the new baby, an adipose and my knitting group project of a sweater thing with this amazing cable tree on the back. It's beautiful, hope I'm able to make it.
School starts next week and I"m looking forward to it. Need to get books but don't have the money right now so not sure how that'll work but something will happen. And Audrey and I are doing our next event in Feb and then a few more after that so that'll be fun too. Lots going on in the near future. But first things first, I'm turning 28 tomorrow and I'm spending the day at Disneyland! Disneyland makes everything better. I'm sure of it!

Escape

Perhaps it has to do with the new year. Or my birthday next week. Or my 10 year high school reunion. Or my wedding in September. Whatever the reason, I'm feeling that urge to run. Escape. Not Deal. I don't know what it is, but I've just been sad lately. Maybe I spend too much time alone. Just feel like a damned hamster in those dumb little wheels. Spinning, spinning, spinning and going no where. I feel so tied down. Through my dark times, what I have now is all I ever wanted. A home, getting married, one day starting a family. But as I'm getting these things, the more I feel like I'm missing out on. Is this life just what I'm "supposed" to be doing? Who signed up for this? And where does it go? What's the end game here? I read so much, it's always been my way of getting out of my every day life. Probably why I love fantasy and such, extraordinary people and circumstances. Same with movies and TV, following characters who are DOING things. There aren't shows or books or films about people who work all day and come home and make dinner then watch TV. Growing up, I wanted to visit Australia. I had a pen pal there once. I dreamed of visiting her and just staying, immersing in the culture. Or what about Italy, trying to learn a new language but being surrounded by amazing things like the Coliseum. Maybe I'm watching too much Doctor Who, but I want to go places. Do things. See things. I'm so scared that one day I'm going to wake up and it'll be too late. Damn you mortgage, car payment and credit card debt. Damn you! My lack of finding a job and school starting soon probably aren't helping my mood/fears either. I guess I'm just feeling bad for myself, Wahhh poor Renee. Jeez I sound like a whiny baby. I'm really over this whole thing. It's kind of nice having a place to put all this out there though. Makes me feel like I'm really saying it, not just thinking it and letting it stew inside my head. And now I have Brain Stew by Green Day stuck in my head. Not very helpful. Back to the grind.

Kiwi's Etsy Love Swap #1

Etsy is one of my favorite wesbites ever. There's so much to see/find on there. Things I've wanted and things I never even knew I wanted! It's flippin awesome. Swap-bot is another awesome website. Put the two together and we've got an awesome swap that we check out each others stores! Genius! Here are my 5 new friends:
CraftGecko - really cute stuff! Love this pendant Really cute idea! Also a couple items for Breast Cancer Awareness, which is close to my heart since my aunt and Grandma both had it. Beautiful stuff!
Panda Love - If you like Kawaii, this is the store for you! Baggies full of Kawaii stuff like memo sheets and stickers! I love how cute this stuff is! Makes me wish I wrote or did something that I could use it!
The Fiction Dept - The postcard collector in me really thinks these are just amazing. I always hate throwing out postage, wishing there was something to do with it, because some stamps are just so beautiful.
Kelly Zarb - Beautiful, Colorful & Whimsical. I love the word whimsical, don't feel like I get to use it often enough. But I just love this little bird, sitting on it's branch on a pattern no less. These things never even would pop into my head. So darned creative!
Lampshades N Lollipops - Oh my. This shop was just out there waiting for me to find it. I mean really, I've been on my Doctor Who marathon for a few days now (finishes Series 1, 2, half of 4 and half of 3) and then in a swap I come across a site with little blue police box earrings??? If I could wear earrings (can't, allergic) I would buy these in a second! I love them! And I love this store!

And this concludes our etsy post for the day. Awesome site, Check. It. Out.

Books and Nerdom and Converse

A good friend of mine has amazing dreams. Like dreams that would be awesome books or stories or movies. I love hearing her dreams. I dream, but rarely remember it, and they're usually not anything exciting. The other night, though, I had a dream! A good one! The kind that I woke up, got my phone and started typing the ideas I could remember. I sent the gist of it to my friend and she said I should write it out. A book? Me? Pshhhaaawww. But....... it might be fun. So although I have no idea where to start I'm going to attempt to get it down on paper.
In other news, I've watched all of Dr. Who series 4 in about 3 days and I'm in love. The Doctor even wears Converse. Now, I don't think his collection is as random as mine:
but nonetheless, it's awesome. Makes me feel ok about continuing to buy converse haha. I've seen some really cool custom chucks that I've been eyeballing. So anyway, that's all I've got going for now. Still looking for work, school starts in a couple weeks and I'm almost done with my Top Secret Knitting Project! Things are A-ok.

Wedding Makeup

I know it's early to think of these things, but alas, I am. I love makeup and color and stuff and I want to be sure I know exactly what I want for my wedding day. One of my dilemma's is if I'll still be a redhead. I used to be a brunette, I was for a very long time, even in our engagement pictures:
During the summer I decided I needed a change and went red. I LOVE it. I feel like it's very me. The only downfall is the upkeep. Dark roots showing the world I'm not a natural red, darn them! But luckily my hair gal is a friend of mine and an amazing magician with hair. She's seriously AWESOME. Shanyce at J Russell Salon in Palm Desert!
Anyway, so Dilemma #1: Brown or Red? On one had I miss my brown hair, it was healthier, curled better, was so EASY. I had the whole super pale skin, dark hair thing going haha. But I've been told numerous times that my hair red looks totally natural and I totally pull it off. Arrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Okay, next to think/worry about. Makeup. Natural? Retro? Smokey eye? I'm slightly obssesd with blogger/youtube makeup GENIUS Kandee Johnson, her makeup tutorials are so awesome, I could watch them all day. She has a wedding one, that's a sort of smokey eye that I think is beautiful. I also like the video on fall makeup look A LOT. If you like playing with makeup, check her blog and videos out, I could watch them forever, they're awesome.
Well I have some time to think about it, so I'll have to start putting together ideas and looks for my hair and makeup, try them out and see what works!

The Girlfriend Factor

I have an interview with the Girlfriend Factor today at 1:15. They're an organization here in the Coachella Valley that gives grants to women going back to college. Like ME! School starts at the end of the month and having help to pay for even just books would be amazing. It's ridiculous how expensive books and school is. Last semester if I had bought all my books new, they would've been over $600. No wonder I can't save money! Okay, bad excuse but still.
In other news, I don't think I got that job. The recruiter woman called me and said that they said they didn't think I was a good fit. But it was weird because she said that the woman said I didn't seem sure of myself. But I never interviewed with the woman. Oriana said maybe they were confusing me with someone else and she'd check on it, but as of right now that's where it stands. It's really a bummer and frustrating and also makes me just like nervous for any future interviews. I never thought I came across that way, but who knows. So, onward I go, applying to as much as I can and hope something works out.

Save the Dates and Invitations

With a little over 8 months until our wedding, it's time to start getting on top of things. I just ordered our invitations online. We're doing the kind that you print yourself, we just pay for the file. I thought this would save us some money and I found a seller on etsy and I'm IN LOVE with the invitations. Gerbera daisies are our flower and Red is our color. The invitations perfectly reflect that! I would post a pic but I want it to be a surprise.
Also, not everyone knows, but I collect postcards. I've been doing it for a while, have hundreds from all over the world. So my save the dates are actually postcards that we had made :-) I'll be sending the save the dates out by the end of the month!
Ooh, I just thought of something. This will be my last birthday as a single woman! haha. I'll be turning 28 on Jan 25. I just know that this wedding is going to sneak up on me and be here before I know it! :-)

Best new foundation

I'm always hunting for foundation. I seem to have a tough time finding the right color. Sometimes people put one that's too pink or peach. Uh hello, my face already gets pink why would I add to that? So finally I stopped asking the overly helpful sales people and started testing them myself when they were busy with other people ha. I went to estee lauder because I heard their long wear foundation was great. The counter lady there smokes so when she's trying to touch your face it's really gross. So I especially avoid her. But when I tried it on I was pleasantly surprised by how natural it looked. Well natural but better! Yayyyyy
PS - going to Disneyland for my bday at the end of the month. Yea!