A Bit of Housekeeping and My Debut as a Fashion Blogger

First of all, I would just like to inform everyone that now that I have discovered how to schedule posts, they won't always be posted on the day that you are reading them.  I will be writing things as they pertain to me now.  For example, if I say yesterday, I mean the day before I wrote the post, not necessarily the day before you read it. Okay? Good.  And another thing, I decided I don't like page breaks.  They just make my home page look like a massive wall of text.  Now onto the second order of business.

I do not plan to become solely a fashion blogger.  In fact, I emphatically refuse to become solely a fashion blogger.  I have way to many thoughts in my head to do that, and if I don't share them, my head will likely implode.  Nobody wants that to happen.  Besides that, my abilities to be a fashion blogger are severly limited, since my camera totally sucks and I don't have a tripod.  I took a ton of photos at different angles in a mirror, but I like the headless "look at my outfit and not my wonky facial expression" one best.  Also, the flash on my camera didn't like the mirror, so I turned on literally every single light in the apartment for these photos.  I also had to unplug my desk lamp and place it at my feet in the living room/dining room/entryway (those are all the same thing) in order to not be all poorly lit.  So headless outfit shots will become a common feature on my blog now.  Without further ado, here is what I wore today.  I included one photo with my head and my wonky expression, just so you could see my hat and jacket.

with coat and hat

playing with angles

the headless shot I plan to continue

closeup of my boots

The hat was a Christmas gift from my grandma last year.  I got the coat from Goodwill last year for $8.  The brand is Tulle.  I have a different coat, also from Goodwill, that is the same brand and I love them both.  The sweater was my Aunt Katy's.  She died of cancer a few years ago and when I wear it, I feel like she's giving me a hug.  I love it, but G calls it my "grandma sweater".  I haven't told him why I like it so much.  I just try to wear it when I won't be around him.  The belt is from Goodwill. It cost $5 and I wore it to death.  It's torn and I'm still wearing it until I buy another.  I got these jeans at Sears for $10 on sale.  They are my favorites and I wear them constantly, since I only have two pairs of jeans that fit.  These are the brown boots I bought from Goodwill last month for $7.  I have already worn them enough to get my money's worth.  I need to make sure I wear socks with them though, because today I didn't and they rubbed my heels fairly raw.  I wear them instead of rain boots, because they're waterproof and I don't own rainboots.  I found a similar pair online for $400.  I love Goodwill.  So this is my debut into fashion blogging, which will be a semi-regular thing from now on.

Rite Aid is Great

I went and shipped the eBay order and found out that I am undercharging my customers for shipping.  I also found out that shipping things is unnecessarily complicated.  Then I went to Rite Aid.  I got so many things and I still have almost $30 left on my rewards card from my bank.

I got a sample size face mask, lotion (I wanted face moisturizer but that stuff is expensive so I'm just going to keep using ordinary unscented lotion), a face scrub, an eyeshadow brush, a new shower pouf because mine has a destroyed handle, 100 cotton balls, my clear fairy lights, and leftover candy corn from Halloween (don't judge me, it lasts a long time and I've been craving it since my Halloween was unfortunately candy corn-less) all for $21.  The lady who rang me up was really cool and gave me the savings even though I don't have a Rite Aid card.  So I saved $4.  So I basically got the eyeshadow brush and candy corn for free : )  And I'm going back tomorrow(which is actually today, since this is a scheduled post) to get Kleenex (which I completely forgot to put on my list), an eyebrow comb, and Sally Hansen nail strips which I've been wanting to get for a while and review.  I'm still undecided between the special Christmas patterns, the sparkly black, and the lace pattern.  Time to drink hot chocolate and decorate my wall.

the haul, not pictured: candy corn, because I ate some and put the rest in a ziploc

Also, G took me bowling this weekend and I beat my previous high score, which was 80.  I got 100!  Also, shout-out to Sinful Colors nail polish.  I buy it at Walgreens for $1 a bottle and it works like a champ.  After bowling 3 games, there were only a few tiny chips.

Annoyances and Plans for Today

First off, I would like to welcome my 22nd follower, Miss Sassy Pants from A Few French Fries Short of a Happy Meal.  She's great not only because she alleviated my OCD from having an odd number of followers, but also because she comments regularly on my blog and writes a pretty awesome blog herself.  There's a post about her calling the police when she thought the zombie apocalypse was happening, guys.  I'm so following.

I would write an entire post on how much DSHS's phone system sucks, but they give me free money, so I'll just complain a little bit (and by a little bit, I mean a lot).  For those of you lucky enough to not know what DSHS is, it stands for Department of Social and Health Services.  It's where us poor people get food stamps and medical assistance from.  Right now I only get food stamps, and I applied a few months ago for medical assistance.  They supposedly sent me a letter that I never received asking for copies of my bank statements and a bunch of other stuff I don't have because I'm poor, such as car insurance and proof of assets.  I never got this letter, but I did get the letter saying they were denying me medical help because I never sent them that stuff.  I immediately printed off my bank statements for the time period they asked for and mailed them with a letter explaining that I had never received the initial request.  They never responded.  I gave them a whole month.  So then I called them.  Or rather, I attempted to call them.  You may remember when I was trying to get food stamps and ended up eating rice sandwiches for a week because their phone system totally sucks and I couldn't reach them.  Well, it took me about a week of continuous calling to reach them again.  It's weird because if you want to talk to an actual person, you usually get a message saying that all of their operators are busy and to try again later, and then the phone system automatically hangs up on you.  Well, the one time that I actually got put on hold, I managed to talk with them.  They were very good about it after I explained the situation and told me they would make it top priority to re-evaluate my case.  Two weeks later, I still haven't heard back, so I am trying to contact them again.  Let's hope it doesn't take a week this time.

In other news, today I am going to mail the skirt to the person who bought it from me on eBay, and then I am going to Rite Aid to get some clear Christmas lights for my room and possibly random other stuff.  I still have $50 from my bank, after all.  And then I'll come back and hang the lights, and string a ribbon through my mask to hang it with, and make my jewelry organizer, and then my room will be decorated to my liking.  And then, if I still feel like it, I'll dye my hair, because my roots are showing and it bugs me.

Until we meet again, enjoy this cozy winter outfit and enter my giveaway.

Keeping Cozy by jaythejedi featuring sequin beret hats

I want some sweater tights right now!

The Obligatory Things I'm Thankful for Post

I'm not doing this just because it's expected. I'm doing it because I really want to.  First of all, I'm thankful for all the people who read my blog, especially my 21 followers.    You guys have been my only friends at some times and you've helped to keep me sane.

I would like to welcome my newest follower, Marvah Gorlorwulu from Nonsensical Babbles. This girl is only 15 years old, but she has one of the most interesting life stories I've ever read and she's a lot more grown-up than most adults. She recently moved from the US to Ghana and her blog chronicles the results of this move and her adjustments to her new living situation.  It's a great read and very well-written.  I guarantee you'll feel a lot better about your problems after reading her blog.  Of course I'm thankful for my friends and my family, and especially for G.  I spent Thanksgiving with G and his family, and it was full of great food, not-so-great-food (really bitter salad and way too much rum in the whipped cream for the pumpkin pie), and Scrabble (which G and I lost at, as a team, because our spots kept getting used by other people for less points than our words would have gotten in the same places).  I got to talk to my mom and dad twice in the past few days and it was really great.  I just don't ever call them because I'm so bad at small talk.  I want to talk to them, but I never call unless I have news to share, a job interview or a doctor's appointment coming up, for example.  My life has been staying pretty much the same for a while, so I don't feel like I have anything interesting to say.  I know that I need to start calling sometimes just to talk though.  I found this quote recently on a blog I follow, one that you should follow to, because it's usually hilarious and always entertaining.   "Unemployment feels like swimming underwater in a pool of jello: difficult, slightly suffocating, and surprisingly delicious at times."-Annah from Red Means Go  It's so true and eloquently put.  When I start searching for jobs, it seems so overwhelming that I have to stop before too long.  Everyone wants you to already have experience, but nobody will hire you so you can get experience.  It's so frustrating and feels suffocating.  But then it can be delicious when you just say, you know what, screw those jobs, I'm going to make up my own job and it will be way better than any of those.  So that's how I became a jewelry artisan and freelance designer, and soon a thrift store reseller.  I am also super grateful that I made both my first Etsy sale and my first eBay sale on Thanksgiving and the following day.  I can't be thankful for things without being thankful for being able to walk.  Those of you who are new to my blog probably don't know it, but last year, from October to May, I couldn't walk and I was in a wheelchair.  It sucked and was completely disheartening and occasionally soul-crushing.  It did give me a new outlook on life, which I'll be forever grateful for, but I wouldn't go through that again for all the money in the world.

And it pales in comparison to everything else, but I'm thankful for the Washington Huskies' basketball team winning this week and the Washington Huskies' football team winning the Apple Cup and getting to go to a bowl game.  Last year was the first year we made it to a bowl game in 8 years, so going two years in a row is pretty cool.  The Apple Cup is where University of Washington plays Washington State University.  It's an intense rivalry, and we won it 38-21!