Extra sleepy

Hi! Tonight I got to go to dinner with my sister, my dad, and avery. It was dad's birthday and even though I guess he didn't want to make a big deal of it or whatever, I liked hanging out with my family for a second. I don't really see my dad very often & I'm afraid I'm not going to be seeing Kendall very often soon, because she's starting a new job. So having a dinner with them was cute and special.

in other out of the ordinary news from this week, I found out I have hand foot & mouth disease which is weird and disgusting and painful and makes me feel like a freak. I get the weirdest illnesses all of the time, which I wish I could blame on the fact that I take an immuno-suppressant for a different illness, but I can't because I've always gotten them! When I was little, I had the chicken pox I think three times. I also got attacked by weird bugs in a tent with three other people who weren't affected at all. Later, in high school, I got Rocky Mountain spotted fever and also SHINGLES. Haha, shingles are not common in 18 year olds. :'( this whole hand foot & mouth thing just makes me feel super icky, even though the doctor assured me that it was 100% my sensitive and infant-like immune system. ;) I'll just be glad when it's gone!! Thankfully, I really do think I'm right at the tail end (knock on wood).

Also another thing that I don't think I've mentioned here is that we're planning a big trip to Colorado for this summer and I can't wait. I thought about starting a countdown on our chalkboard, but it isn't big enough ;)

Buuut, we're going to see aziz ansari next week (austin got me tickets for my birthday) and that will definitely fit on the chalkboard!! I'm so excited, especially since I've missed aziz before, when I worked at my old job that wouldn't give me any nights off (womp womp). Also when we see aziz, it'll only be 5 days for my birthday !!!! And maybe by then I'll have mailed out becca's birthday present!!!! Buying everything from etsy makes receiving everything in a timely manner kinda impossible sometimes.

This is kind of the silliest thing I've ever posted on this blog, but I drank too much tea at dinner and I'm super wide awake and I've already weirdly middle-of-the-night plucked my eyebrows so typing a lot of nonsense into my phone seemed like the right thing to do. ;) I think maybe I'll read a little bit now, and edit through this tomorrow, haha. <3

outfits from instagram

i realized recently that i take a lot of pictures of my outfits for instagram. i thought i'd share them here. :)

on saturday, it was 73 degrees outside and i couldn't not spend my break sitting outside on a bench and just kind of enjoying it. i'm not really that into the heat.. but i can't deny that this time of year is kind of magical. shedding jackets and tights is welcome right now. :)
(this shirt is my favorite from our new stuff at ae)

but then i finally decided to bare my legs and it started SNOWING! i was at my sister's house, it was 60 degrees outside, and then we looked out of the window and really couldn't believe how heavily flakes were coming down. i loved it, but i didn't want to go outside until it stopped, obviously..
(this shirt is from uo, the skirt is vintage, and my phone case is from society6)

i also recently wore this little camo jacket, but had to layer a sweater underneath. i can't wait to try and pull it off with florals in the spring. everyone's doubting me, but.. ;)

sometimes when i get dressed for work, i realize that i'm head-to-toe ae, and looking more brand than usual. i always think it's kind of funny and weird and it makes me feel a little like i'm being lazy? i don't know. but i did like this outfit, mostly.
(top is from christmas time, cardigan: here, shoes: here)

i redid our sunglasses at work and found these cute ones to get for austin. when i got home, i went through a box of vintage/antiques that a friend of my dad's gave me and found these green glitter ones that are the same design. i'm kind of obsessed with them. plus i get really excited when we match? ;)

<3

stuff i'm loving lately

becca is one of my favorite people to shop for, because i can buy her things i could never really buy anyone else. i don't know if that makes sense, but i think that's how all best friends are? anyway, i started shopping for her birthday present extra early this year, so i could have things shipped to me before i shipped them to her. then i remembered how soon my birthday was, and started shopping for myself, too. ;) so here's just a few (aka, a lot of) things from etsy that i love right now (and i think there's only one accidental hint to becca as to what might be coming her way for her birthday).

mountain printed maxi skirt by thief and bandit

lime green scalloped mini dress

bunny shadow puppet brooch by hungry designs

"paper" towels tea towels

grey and red sweater
ok, by the time it's my birthday this would be totally unnecessary.. until next fall. but it's so pretty!

butter dish by tuesday bassen

swan boats print by field guided

blue ridge mountains brass cuff by dinosaurtoes

a year's subscription to what did you buy today by kateconsumption

golden protective hand bangle by datter

donut ring by petitplat

johnny cash i walk the line print by concepcion studios

i love etsy. <3

obsessing over this

so lately a lot of my free time has been spent looking around tumblr for tattoo ideas. but then i find all of these other things to obsess over, too. tumblr is weird and i always forget how much of a bottomless pit it can be until i end up staying awake until 3 am clicking around (whoops).

a couple of nights ago, someone posted a picture from this blog, and i was immediately obsessed. what my daughter wore is comprised of drawings of the author's ten year old daughter, sons, and their friends. the drawings are so pretty and the kids dress better than i do, so i mean. obsessed.

i thought i'd share some of my favorites here.

cat and mouse vintage skirt

flowers

al pacino t-shirt over vintage dress

boy scout shirt as dress

summer

bon lapin

star wars t-shirt and tropical scene dress

i hope you guys like this blog as much as i do! any other hidden gems of blogs you can share with me? <3

letting go

i haven't really talked about the button factory closing. i still don't really have much to say about it.. but i am finally ready to let go of it. this is how i'm going to do that.

one thing about the button factory is that we were planning on making it a real brick and mortar store one day. which means, every time we found a dress or some sheets or a purse, we had to decide if we wanted to hold it back and keep it for our future store, rather than sell it on our funds-building etsy shop right away. since the decision to close the shop and stop collecting vintage was incredibly quick, we were left with about ten boxes of stock. i wasn't sure what to do with it, and it's been sitting in my guest bedroom literally since the beginning of the year. these items are the ones that we loved the most, the ones that we wanted displayed in real life and bought by people in front of us, rather than online. it was really, really hard to want to give it all up. bekuh and i both went through it all, keeping things that we'd secretly wanted to keep all along (this was kinda the coolest part), and i've let some of my friends go through it, as well. i was especially excited to share with lindsey, and i'm sure you can see why from that post <3. but i STILL had ten boxes of things.. somehow. i've played with a bunch of different ideas on how to get rid of it in a way that felt deserving of how awesome everything was, and i finally decided to do a "quick" instagram sale. things are priced about as low as i could imagine pricing them, and there are sizes xxs-xl. i spent a few hours today, but there are still things to post, so i'll be updating it a few more times over the next couple of days.

if you see something that you like, but are curious about measurements or color (i didn't use any filters, but you know) or don't have a paypal account, comment on a picture or email me at katie.thebuttonfactory@gmail.com. we'll figure something out. i desperately want these pretty things to go to worthy homes.

in case you're about my size (a small in tops, a size 2 in pants, a small chest, and a mini belly) and you're interested but don't want to go through 90+ items, these are some of the ones that i would have kept if i was allowed to wear whatever i wanted to work: this wrap skirt, this pendleton skirt, this party dress (insert the emoji with the heart eyes here???), this yellow top (the whole thing screams adorable), this clover crop top (how holiday appropriate), this neon tunic, this grid button-up (i wore this all the time tucked into skirts at one of my previous jobs, but it isn't ae appropriate), this perfect silky maxi dress, and this one is my FAVORITE dress that i'm leaving behind.

if you feel so inclined, you can share this instagram with any vintage-loving friends. the prices really can't be beat for what we're sharing.

lately

lately, i've been thinking a lot about the fact that seasonal depression is a real thing. ;) haha. i'm not going to drone on and on, but i think maybe my funk was more than just a funk. but things are looking up, especially since the groundhog saw his shadow. spring is soon! and i'm staying busy, which helps.

i made a quick collage of things that have been happening lately that i don't think i blogged about? or instagrammed (mostly), so i'll share them for posterity's sake.

1. it's been so cold lately that i had to buy a furry hooded puffy coat. dramatic. usually my peacoats get me through just fine, since i layer like crazy, but not for a little bit there. my southern blood, i guess. also can we just talk about the fact that i didn't edit that picture at all and it's really scary? haha, really scary! man.
2. that's our new bathroom floor! it's so pretty. and the tile on the walls is pink. ;) i'm kinda obsessed and i think austin is kinda over my obsession. i take pictures in there like everyday, for no reason.
3. i finally hung the prints we got in nashville at hatch show print in our kitchen. i'm not sure why i never hung them in our old apartment, but it just didn't feel right. i was saving them. what a dork.
4. becca gave me this print for christmas, and i love it. it's such a sweet sentiment. also the frame was hidden under our couch at our old place, so it was unearthed when we moved.. i love it.
5. i caught a pretty awful stomach bug on sunday night, and this was a picture i took when i got to work on monday afternoon.. after 2 spotty hours of sleep. :( rough times. i only just recovered fully like, late last night.. and i can seriously tell how much weight i lost just by getting dressed. ugh. i never get stomach bugs like that, and i know i was a dramatic baby about it. glad i got the sweetest boy and sister to take care of me. :)
6. avery and i had a really good naptime this week. this is one of my favorite pictures ever, guys.

so, now that we're officially moved in and unpacked, i realized that i have a sewing room! for the first time ever. :) if that isn't reason enough to find out what's wrong with my sewing machine, i don't know what is. also, i want to make a quilt from this fabric sooo badly. and i'm really feeling like i COULD. especially since i know austin's mom would be willing to help me. :) so, i'm going to go in there today and look at the machine.. wish me luck!

what are you up to these days? <3

in a funk

do you ever find yourself in an unrelenting funk? just super sad, out of it, and annoyed constantly? i've been there for about the entirety of the last week.

what's even more frustrating is how many fun and adorable and exciting things are going on right now. this is my official white flag.. i'm giving my funk a whole day to take over (tomorrow) and then it's got to go. i have plans!

here is a silly photo dump of really cute things that should be making me happy on their own. good to put things in perspective, you know.

this app is perfect and probably my most favorite iphone thing to date.

this is my new lovebirds sweater

and my favorite thing of all of the things:

this baby face timed me this morning! oh geez. i almost couldn't handle it.

so, here goes: kicking the funk out. starting now. or tomorrow. i mean, whatever. <3

snow day

it snowed last week!!! !!!!! as someone who is considering a snowflake tattoo and hasn't seen snow in just about a year, this was the best/ biggest deal. i was at work when the storm started, so i left and it looked like ^ outside. magical. :) of course it didn't last very long.. but it was perfect and i got to build a snowman and i'm not even mad. just a little sad. ;)

the day after the 'storm,' i was off of work and had some outside-of-the-house plans. so i got dressed. and austin took pictures.

scarf: ae
sweater: a million years old uo
shirt: christmas present from becca :) <3
belt: target
shorts: ae
tights: target
socks: uo
rainboots: steve madden, via ebay, via my dad
my new purse: ae

i went with kendall to get her new phone.. i played with/distracted little avery (who is all of a sudden a teenager, idek) while getting really excited to finally be able to text kendall emojis. then we had lunch with kayla, who i haven't seen in a million years because she's busy becoming an officer of the law. it was really cute and then austin & i had a date night and i just really like the snow, you guys!!

now i'm gearing up for my all-time favorite holiday, valentine's day. i want to give every human at my job a little card and some candy. ridiculous.

<3

oversized sweatshirt & tight shiny pants

i can't believe january 2013 is already halfway over. we haven't even started packing and we're moving in two weeks! oh geez. actually, on the day we took these pictures, we went through our closets and got rid of about 4 trash bags of clothes. i'm sure the number of things we get rid of will double when we start packing.. things look a lot less necessary when you start thinking about lugging them to a new house. :)

i gotta be real, i'm not even stressed about moving at all. really, we're going about two blocks down the road, and i get to use my grown up job pto to take time off to pack. ;) also, now that things are calming down from the holidays, i'm feeling so much more comfortable and less anxious all of the time. relaxing has become my #1 activity, i guess.

even though this sweatshirt is a little big (it's austin's.. a christmas present from me, omg), i really loved this outfit. these pants are ridiculous (see below) and i wanted to calm them down as much as possible. i think the combination is perfect.

see?! they're shiny! damask print! pants! !! ridiculous and i love them.

necklace: anthropologie
sweatshirt: kinship press
belt: christmas gift
pants: ae
flats: steve madden

<3

super 70s

since these pictures, i have gotten a haircut.. in case you were wondering.

i found this dress a million years ago at the goodwill, but then it got buried under all of my dirty clothes and i totally forgot about it. actually, i think i found it the same day that i found my boy scouts shirt. ;)

i'm pretty sure i didn't think that my face was in this picture.. but it's kind of hilarious.

then, when we finally washed it and i re-rediscovered it, i realized that it was more of a tunic length than the cute summer dress length i had assumed. which is weird. dresses are neeever too short for me. but this one is. so i just went dramatically 70s with my look, which i liked a lot. i'm not totally sure how else i'll ever be able to style this, but we'll see! i love it. besides the length, it fits perfectly.

this was the first outfit that i wore in 2013. :) on this day, i met up with one of my best friends from college, jeff, and his (new!!!) fiancé (you may remember jeff from my halloween post). i had never met her before, and he's never ever in town anymore, so it was pretty nice to get to have grilled cheese sandwiches and coffee with them. after that, austin and i got to see our new house!! we'll be moving in february and i. can't. wait. i'm already dreaming about moving around furniture and wall art and everything. eep. this year kinda rules already.

necklace: thrifted in high school
cardigan: pacsun
dress: vintage
leggings: ae
socks: ae
boots: frye

how has the first week of 2013 been for you?

velvet

how was your new years eve ? i spent a big chunk of mine at work, which was insanely and unexpectedly busy. but then i came home and cooked dinner with austin. we watched a movie, shared some champagne (and leftover ice cream cake for me), and practically slept through the countdown. geez.

we had the day off together today, and i think we were pretty successful in our errand-running. our plans were to get lunch, get to the bank, and stop at the cell phone store before austin's band practice this afternoon.

i have this ridiculous habit of running every phone i have into the ground. i refuse to get a new one for no reason other than to get a new one, but once my old crappy phone starts dying.. i rush out to replace it as soon as possible. so, my new phone is in my hands. i've already downloaded all of the necessary apps, including instagram (littlegirlkatie) & snapchat. ;)

one of my new years resolutions was to do more than send texts of my cute outfits to becca, and share more on this blog. it's kiiiinda one of the reasons i started it to begin with. this is what i wore to work yesterday.. i felt like a little extra glamour was necessary, haha. originally, i had a sequined cardigan on, but, paired with the velvet leggings, it somehow felt like too much - even for nye.

i tried to pile on the accessories to make up for it, though. ;) you may recognize the dinosaur toes necklace from previous blog posts - austin got it for me for christmas! and the little bunny necklace was last year's gift from him.

i've been wearing a loooot of rings lately, too. this year, almost all of my favorite people gave me rings as gifts.. in my head, i've been thinking of it as the year of the rings (not to be confused with the year of The Ring - har har).

cardigan: ae
top: ae
belt: ae
velvet leggings: aerie
socks: ae
boots: docs
rings: ae, pacsun, catbird

<3

rambling thoughts on 2012 (also iphone cases)

i can't believe 2013 is tomorrow. this past year has been ridiculous and insane, and i can honestly say that i think my life only gets better and better as the years pass, so i can't wait for the next one.

how was your christmas? basically, i was spoiled - austin and i got new pots and pans, a crock pot, and his mom made me a huge, pretty, yellow quilt. is it just me or do quilts immediately make you think of the future? all i could think about when i opened it was that we were going to have it forever, and how exciting that is..

---

i had these grandiose plans of sharing some of my favorite texted-to-becca outfits of the year that i never shared on the blog, because most of them were on days that meant a lot to me, but.. my phone is no longer sending out anything. kind of. sometimes it does, but mostly it doesn't, and pictures are in the ~never sent~ category. bummer.

anyway, one thing that this means is - new year, new phone! so, i spent most of last night eyeing new iphone cases, even though austin is trying to convince me that i need an otter box.. ew. these are my top favorites, share some of yours with me?! i only looked on etsy, because mindless clicking sounded nice yesterday, but i'm sure i'll end up getting obsessed with having a new case every day, so. i think i'm sucking it up and buying a new phone tomorrow..

lady gaga drama

beetlejuice (aka, this is probably the one i'm going with..)

color block

deathly hallows

i don't even really know how this turned into that, but i think i'm going to head into work early anyway.  i need to spend more time with my computer in 2013, i think.. i miss blogging (outfits more than anything) and reading blogs.

happy new year !! xo

reasons i cannot wait for christmas

so i guess it's pretty obvious that this weekend had me giving up on radvent. i liked doing it a lot, but working 3pm-3am kind of messes with a blogging schedule. ;) i'm hoping to get back to it, at least during the weekdays, but we'll see.

i've been really in the christmas spirit lately, which is kind of out of the norm for me. christmas has never been one of my favorite holidays, but i literally can't wait for it this year. i think a lot of it has to do with how excited i am to shower everyone with gifts and love. :)

austin's been really awesome about going along with my really silly whims this year. last week, we went to see the decorated trees at hotel roanoke (i'm going again this week with kendall, avery, and grandma, hopefully). on friday night, we went to the downtown christmas parade. it was overall really silly, but pretty cute, and i'm glad we did it.

this weekend, however, drove home the real reason that i can't wait for christmas: for it to be over. working at the mall has some serious benefits and some off seasons, during which i'm sure to complain of boredom. but, right now.. i just want to kick everyone out. my manager has walking pneumonia, my coworker just came down with what seems like her 5th cold of the season, and i'm crossing my fingers that what i'm battling right now isn't the flu. our bodies are revolting against not only the hours that we're working, but also the stress that comes with people's attitudes during this time of year. for some reason this year seems worse than last year? but i might be wrong. all i know is that i'm glad i finished my shopping, and that people need to grow up. please, if you're out shopping (or out doing anything), remember that people are people - no matter what they're being paid to do for you, they deserve to be treated with respect. i've seen customers yell at 17 year old girls for following store procedures, i've been cussed at for not having any boxes, we've had customers roll their eyes when we tell them that, no, jeans are not part of our 40% off sale BUT EVERYTHING ELSE IN THE STORE IS. i think it all came to a head last night, when, (tmi alert:) i was running back to the bathroom to puke every ten minutes and a customer i rang up said: "you look awful. i bet you're getting sick. i've had a headache all day, so i can totally understand. i have to keep shopping, you have to keep working!! keep it together!" uhhhhhhhhhhh. yeah. it just gets old, being treated like trash day in and day out. i know it isn't going to go away completely after this shopping season, but i also know that it isn't going to be anywhere near as concentrated. kind of unrelated, but, can i also vent about employees not showing up or asking to have their shifts changed 30 minutes before their shifts start? ldjoifjifjf;kr. i'm sorry. i'll stop.

but hey! becca will be home tonight and i get her for like, a month. and she's going to work with me! and i randomly have remicade on austin's birthday so i get the day off to spend with him (post my post-remi nap, obviously). there's cool stuff happening.. i just have to remember that the next time i'm gritting my teeth through a smile at a dramatic person. now, i'm going to go back to sleep. maybe i'll be back later with a radvent. :) <3

radvent, days 12 & 13

well, i dropped the ball. i just wasn't feeling inspired. and then one line from meg's post stood out to me and all of a sudden, i was. idk. but i said from the beginning that it's whatever, i'm not going to lose sleep over making these posts.

radvent, day 12: acceptance

for me, this subject is about accepting that people are going to be themselves, no matter how much i wish i could change them or help them fix their flaws. without sounding like a know-it-all, i guess. at my last job, there was this weird clique of people who were not going to let me in, regardless of how well i treated them. one in particular kind of seemed to make it her goal to make me miserable, either by lying to me, lying about me, or just plain being mean to me. i constantly wanted to point out to each one of them just how back-stabby (to one another, even!) and cliquey they were in every way, but i didn't.. because i'm pretty sure they knew, and it's just how they chose to be. in my life, i'd work forever to get rid of that aspect of my life, but i think they enjoyed it. this is an extreme example, but it's kind of the best and quickest way to get to my point - people are different because they choose to be, and you know what? that's awesome. i shouldn't feel the need to "educate" or change every person i meet. i'm not saying that i don't feel like it's important to share opinions where you may see fit, but i am going to work on my overall acceptance of others. like the one time that my dad and i legitimately screamed over how stupid i thought twilight was. i 100% felt as though i was in the right, but he (and several of our loved ones who may or may not have been in the room...) enjoyed them! so honestly, who was i to get on my high horse? shoulda just ~accepted~ them.

day 13: making

i think i've slacked on my creative side over the past couple of months. in my defense, i started a new job and then all of a sudden i was working holiday in one of the busiest stores in the mall. i'm hoping to find some time this weekend to make a couple of ornaments and maybe even pull out my sewing machine (gasp).

short and sweet and to the point. <3

radvent, day 11

radvent, day 11: rejection

i really like this topic, but am kind of nervous about where to go with it, because rejection is this really universal thing that no one ever talks about. who hasn't felt rejected? who hasn't made someone feel rejected? i'm pretty confident that both of those things have happened in my life.. probably even in the last month or so, unfortunately.

i often feel rejected by friends, coworkers, family, and even customers. i usually assume that they aren't meaning to, because i know how hurtful i can be without realizing it. this month has been pretty rough for me, because work is soo stressful, customers are soo intense, and everything comes out a little more rough than maybe intended. it doesn't help that i'm the #1 biggest baby in the world and take ev-er-y-thing personally. i have this really stupid thing where, if someone hurts my feelings, i latch on to that situation and remember the situation basically forever. honestly, i've gotten better about this (and probably chosen my friends a little more carefully) in my old age, but it still happens from time to time.

there are times when i'll say something, or "covertly" roll my eyes about something, not even considering for a second how that would make someone feel if they saw it. which sucks, and i'm not proud of it. i'm trying really hard to be a nice girl these days, because i just don't think snark is cute on me. this isn't to say that i don't participate in gossip or whatever, because i mean.. i know gossip is a part of life and it's a girly, silly thing. however, if it becomes hurtful, i'll try and cut it out. i try to remember how i feel in rejection situations and treat everyone the way that i would prefer to be treated.

i find myself laughing at a lot of jokes that i don't think are funny, because i like the person that said them, and because i would hope someone would do that for me. sometimes i feel like ~the weird girl~ because i'm kind of nerdy, i don't drink, i'm extra shy all of the time, and small talk isn't really my jam, so feeling rejected is probably a thing that i reflect onto myself. i have a feeling that it has way less to do with others, and more to do with me.

meg made a really awesome point about trying to not care about not being liked. i think that's an integral part to growing up, and i'm starting to really, reallly try to work on that aspect of my own personality. i like who i am (most of the time), so if someone else doesn't, why stress over it? you know. meg says it better than i do, and has a twitter example that i totally relate to only not via twitter, you know?

i think this is the most that i've written on a subject thus far, which is nice. i have been meaning to make these a little more serious and intense. i could probably continue on about rejection, but instead i'm going to go to the grocery store. ;)

radvent, day 10

radvent, day 10: family

i have kind of already discussed the importance of my family during day 1. i think, in part, falling in love with austin and us creating our own little family (of the two of us, haha) has shown me how much i love my family, too. especially my sister. the two of us have grown so much in the last couple of years, and our relationship has shown the growth. she's one of my best friends, and i would've never thought that was going to happen five years ago. our friendship has been one of the most important to me for the last year or so. i'm so excited that we've regrown our bond.

radvent, day 9

radvent, day 9: advice

i'm more for taking advice than giving it, to be honest. i hardly ever feel like i'm in a position to give advice, unless it's to lindsey about ~boyz, in which case i'm perfectly qualified. ;)

there are very few decisions that i make without asking for advice. not because i'm indecisive or have a hard time living life or anything, just because i really like opinions and i think other people are the best learning tools. if that makes sense. it kind of sounds rude. but whatever - most of the time, people can give you insight that you otherwise wouldn't have thought of. i love it. i love talking to anyone and everyone about things, especially if i'm having a rough time with a big decision. in fact, when i was trying to decide whether to take my current job, i think i discussed it with just about everyone that i came into contact with.

basically, my advice is to take advice. all the time.

radvent, day 8

source

radvent, day 8: saving

for the first time in my whole short adult life, i am living pretty comfortably. i know that since i've said this on the internet, i'm going to all of a sudden get a dramatic bill that i wasn't expecting (isn't that a weird adult thing that strangely actually happens even though it seems impossible when parents say it???), but whatever. i'm comfortable. i can usually get what i need and what i want these days.

the problem with feeling comfortable is the fact that i'm overly comfortable and i pretty much get myself whatever i want. which is so stupid and i need to stop all that. i've been calculating a pretty rigorous savings plan for myself, one that i'm going to start in january (new year's resolution lol).

meg's point about how reading blogs makes you think you need to buy, buy, buy is a valid one. seeing pictures of beautiful homes, cute outfits, and picture-perfect lives can kind of make you feel like you need all of that, at once. but it isn't necessary and i'm hoping to get better about realizing that.

working in retail makes it hard to remember when to just. stop. buying, too. i obviously want to wear the clothes so that i can sell the clothes, and i know that i'm getting a good deal on quality clothes with my discount so it's like not aaaaas big of a deal but these are exactly the kinds of excuses i should probably stop making for myself. if i refresh my wardrobe with a couple of items a season, my basics will carry me through. ..instead of buying errythang all the time. you know.

i've gotten better the past couple of months, because i stopped buying things for myself and just focused on all of my favorite people instead. ;) so, the real test will be january - when i'm feeling extra wealthy with nowhere to put the money (except for in my savings account).

over the last week, this radvent subject has been the one most relevant to where i'm at right now. i've been thinking about it a lot lately, and i think it's time to get serious about saving. ;)

radvent, day 7

radvent, day 7: relaxation

is it bad too say that i sometimes relax too much? i mean, look, my job is sometimes pretty strenuous on my body, my sleep schedule is consistently messed up, and i always get what i need to get done, done. but. sometimes i think i deserve to just lay around, watch some goofy tv (right now i'm pretty hooked on pretty little liars), and catch up on blogs or even play sudoku.

i don't feel guilty when i relax, and i think it is because i work hard, ~play hard~, and i deserve to chill out sometimes.

that's all i have to say on relaxation in my life. idk.

radvent, day 6

radvent, day 6: humbling

humility seems like something that everyone struggles with. i know that i do, and i see it in some of my absolute favorite people, too. working in a service job is one of the greatest ways to learn about humility, in my opinion. the ways that some people feel comfortable treating service workers is ridiculous. i've seen my coworkers treated so badly that i couldn't even make up the stories. because of this, i try to be a courteous customer, no matter where i am. i try to tip as well as i can, within my means, i clean up messes that i create in stores, and i make sure that the people i interact with know that i appreciate them as people. the smallest thing can go the furthest, especially for a service employee working this time of year.

i really liked meg's suggestions for today, although i can't participate since i will be at my ~service job, where i'm meant to talk a lot. today's topic resonates, though, because i've been thinking a lot about my humbleness with friends, family, and strangers. i really like meg's suggestion to "stay out of the way!" i always want to be in on the fun, but maybe taking a step back and being an observer would be an important lesson for me. that's what i'm going to work on (when i'm not at work..). :)