Little Miss Sunshine

Since my last post, I have packed up my life into 25 boxes, booked a plane ticket for my pop and scheduled a pick up for a 10ft U-haul truck. Two days from now I'll be on the road headed south on I-5.

And it couldn't come soon enough.

The past 4 weeks in the old witch's house have been a living Hell. It's been so stressful having to avoid someone who NEVER LEAVES THE HOUSE. The strategies that I've found to be the most successful are to either A.) hide in my bedroom all day or B.) be gone most of the day. Scheduling meals has been the most difficult aspect to my avoidance tactic since the witch manages to always be in the kitchen. I often wonder what she does down there. How is it possible to spend so much time in a kitchen? It's not Disneyland for Christ's sake. Suffice to say, I haven't been eating as heartily as I'd like these past few weeks. I'm going to have to make up for it when I get home. I've even made a list of all of the places I'm going to eat at. Here's some of the top contenders:

*Krua Thai
*La Parilla Suiza
*Pei Wei
*Cherry Blossom Noodle Cafe
*Rubio's 
*Pita Jungle
*Wok Express

Since my last post winter has come to Washington and you know what I think about Washington's winters? I FUCKING HATE THEM! All this time I thought I hated being hot the most but guess what? I hate being cold even more. When you don't have any meat on your bones and no else's body heat to absorb at night, being cold is a bitch. And what's even worse is the dampness in the air. It's soggy and muddy everywhere I go and don't even get me started on the pine needles! Dried, stinky pine needles get everywhere! And the old witch keeps leaving notes for me and Alyssa (the good roommate) to vacuum them--like we're the only ones who bring them in. The other night Alyssa and I went to see "Breaking Dawn: Part 2" and had a grand ol' time. When we returned there was a huge note in green ink on our bathroom door telling us to vacuum the stairs in the morning and to be "courteous to others". Ummm...you know what would be even more courteous? To stop leaving passive-aggressive GD notes all over the GD house! 

(Did I mention that I hate this woman?) >_________<

The next morning I went to work and when I got home it was super late so I didn't want to wake the beast by vacuuming so I thought I'd do it after work the next day since I would be home at 7pm. So that next evening I got home and vacuumed all the stupid pine needles. When I went up to my room there was the note AGAIN. She had fished it out of the garbage can and put it back on the door!! She's totally nutzo! GAAAHHHHH!

I just have to keep telling myself that in 2 days it'll all be over and I'll never have to see her again.

Anywho, the last two weekends were fun because my friend Nikki, her boyfriend, and I went to Seattle. We wanted to see the King Tut exhibit that was at the Pacific Science Center. The first time we went downtown I drove us...which was a wee bit stressful. I am not going to miss driving around Seattle one bit. No sir. It took me about half an hour to find a parking space and when we got to the Science Center they told us King Tut was sold out for the rest of the day. Fuck. We'd already paid for parking so we went to the EMP museum. Honestly, it was pretty boring. There was a Nirvana exhibit and a Hendrix one and I'm not too keen on either so I was pretty "meh" the whole time. The Science Fiction Museum was connected to the EMP so we checked that out as well. Unfortunately, I'm not much of a sci-fi fan so that museum was wasted on me too. For dinner I had MOD Pizza though, and that was awesome! 

The next weekend we went back (we'd pre-ordered our tickets this time) but took the bus. It was my first time riding the bus actually. It took over an hour to get to downtown since the 520 bridge was closed so when we got to Seattle it was already 1:45pm and our reservations were at 2pm so we had to haul some major ass. It was windy in addition to being rainy so Mama was not too pleased. At least my makeup looked good.

The exhibit was pretty badass...I just wish we'd been able to enjoy it more. There were about 100 people crammed into each segment of the exhibit so you had about 30 seconds to look at each piece before you were literally being shoved out of the way. I was also disappointed that the sarcophagus and the death mask weren't there. Bummer. After King Tut we checked out the rest of the Science Center. The coolest part was the tropical butterfly sanctuary. We got to go inside and have the butterflies flying all around us. It was pretty neat! We even got to see one coming out of its cocoon while we were standing there. Once again I had MOD for dinner and it was the yummy. I wasn't too thrilled about walking back to the bus terminal at night in the rain so Nikki bought us tickets to the monorail. It's amazing how short of a ride it was. I think it was like 2 minutes? It dropped us off at the mall (the bus terminal was underneath the mall) and while we were going down the escalator we passed a shop called Daiso Japan. Nikki's boyfriend saw me staring at this shop with giant eyeballs and said, "You can go in there if you want. We're in no hurry to get home." 

OHMYGOSH! 

This was the cutest store ever! Everything was $1.50 and it was Heaven. I filled an entire basket up with goodies for less than $20. While in the mall I also stubbled across this:

 Gawd, I love Boo. He's my spirit animal.

We took the bus back to Kirkland and when we got back to my car I had a parking ticket on my windshield. What a great way to end an otherwise awesome day. >___< That's the last bit of money that Washington is getting out of me. Hey Washington, quit bein' a dick!

Here's some good news though! Since I'll be home the first week of December that means that I'll be able to see "The Hobbit" with all my mates! I'm going with my girls Maddie, Jackie and Heather and we're wearing matching Hobbit t-shirts because we're awesome. I seriously can't wait. It's going to be the best.

Man, it's gonna be great to be home :3

R. Crumb

Since my last post a lot of shit has gone down and as a result a very important life decision was made.

It's funny how something as insignificant as a few crumbs forgotten on a counter top could turn into the catalyst that changes your life. I'll never look at crumbs the same way again.

About a week and a half ago I came home to a very long and very passive-aggressive note addressing all of my foibles. It was brought to my attention that I number one, (yes, this note included bullet points) leave a trail of crumbs everywhere I go and fail to clean them up in the appropriate amount of time. Number two, I get tiny splotches of spaghetti sauce on other people's tea kettles and fail to read their minds when they put said tea kettle on "my part of the sink" to communicate to me that it needs to be cleaned. Number three, I own too many pairs of shoes and hog the shoe rack (when there is ample empty space on said shoe rack even with my plethora of shoes). Number four, I feed hungry cats who do not belong to me as not to wake their sleepy owners and change their water dish when it is empty or filled with mud. What a terrible human being I am! I'm so grateful that all of these faults have been brought to my attention! And in such a polite and courteous manner to boot! 

Christ Almighty.

After reading this lovely piece of wisdom I decided it was time to leave this bat-shit crazy house. I immediately set to work looking for a new place of residence. But to my displeasure, all of the available rooms in the area were just as unaffordable as my current sublet. Regardless, I went to look at another room in Redmond. The ad promised a large room in a large, luxurious home. All utilities would be included with the $500 for rent with the addition of free maid service. Wowee! I woke early in the morning, bathed, groomed and optimistically made the short drive to what might be my future home. I walked up the driveway not knowing what a treat I was in for. The carpets looked as if they hadn't been cleaned or vacuumed in 20 years. This "large" house turned out to be very small and was covered in old plates, food, and beer bottles. Could it get any worse? Of course it could, silly goose! The landlord escorted me to the open room and asked me to forgive the "mess" and informed me that the maid would be in soon to tidy up. Maid? WHAT MAID?! The room was small and dank and looked like some poor beast had come to its unfortunate demise in there. The carpet had horrible brown stains all over it and was caked in mud and clods of dirt. And all of this for the low price of only $500 a month! I spent a grand total of 45 seconds in this house before I quickly turned tail.

Since I had planned on this interview to take more than one minute I had about 40 minutes before I had to be at work. A lot of thinking and soul searching was done in that 40 minutes. I saw a glimpse of my future, moving from room to room to room like a gypsy leaving a line of asshole roommates in my wake all while my savings continued to diminish. 

I went into work with a heavy heart. Where would I go? What would I do? I had 4 weeks to figure it out. The stress was making me nauseous and I was filled with despair. On my lunch break I called my dad. I told him I was reaching the end of my rope and was contemplating accepting defeat. Washington had beat me. He told me what I had been thinking since the day I left Arizona, "Come home." He said he could be here by the end of the month and not to worry anymore, that this nightmare would soon be over. 

I accepted this offer.

There comes a time when you have to sacrifice your pride and admit you made a mistake. Seattle was not the place for me. As much as I hate to admit it, Phoenix is my home. It's where I belong. I had everything a person could need in Arizona and it was all right in front of me. I was blind to all that was good in my life. But I think I needed to come here and experience all of this adversity and loneliness so I could be truly grateful for all that I had in the desert. I've learned that in life where you are is less important than who you're with. I need to be with my people to be happy. Emails, texts, and phone calls can't fill your heart the way physically being with the ones you love can. And now I know that first hand. It took two moves to learn this very important lesson. 

But don't get me wrong, this is not an anti-Seattle post. Seattle was great and I met some wonderful individuals here. It's a beautiful and exciting city and I'll remember it fondly. It just isn't home. And it's time for Mama to get back, get back to where she once belonged.

So Arizona, get ready to see your little adventurer again! The Old Man and I will be setting off at the end of this month. It'll be nice to be home for the holidays and bring in the New Year with all my friends. I've missed you all more than you could ever know and you all mean the world to me. You guys ARE my world. 

See you in December!

XOXO!

Your friend,
Courtney

P.S. Here's some pics of my Halloween costume as Bellatrix Lestrange in case you haven't seen them yet!

People are Strange when you're a Stranger

HELLO OCTOBER! Mama missed you so!

ERMAHGERD! Has Mama been BUSY! I've now been at my new job 7 weeks and am feeling a lot more confident. Instead of having to ask for help 800 billion billion times a day, I'm down to maybe just 800 billion. Everyone is still pretty cool and I've been getting a lot of compliments from customers too which is reassuring. I've also been making more friends at workies too. A gal, Nikki, who works in my department is super cool and we've been hanging out almost every weekend. It's great to have someone to go thrifting with again now that I don't have my Nathan around anymore. It's a bummer that we don't get to chit chat very much at work (we keep getting busted for chatting with each other more than we do with customers--oopsies!) It's not OUR fault that the customers don't want to talk about Harry Potter and video games...

In addition to being busy as a Japanese beaver at my day job, I've been working into the wee hours of the night on custom orders from people on Etsy. Everybody's been asking for Pokemon commissions so that's all I've been doing with my free time lately. Here's some of my recent works I've been doing for some super cool ladies:

I have one more customer order to complete then I have to start building up my inventory for the holidays. The holidays can be a scary time for anyone with a small craft business. Last year I made 2 dozen felt brooches in about 5 weeks. Boy, it was intense! But it feels good to create something that people enjoy and actually want to wear and display in their homes. In case you're interested, here's some of the bands that I've been listening to lately while I craft:

*Foster the People
*Two Door Cinema Club
*Phoenix
*Empire of the Sun
*Miike Snow
*Florence + the Machine
*Dragonette
*Black Keyes
*Metric
*MGMT 
*Band of Horses

I'm so happy that Pandora Radio came into my life. For the past 10 odd years I've been stuck in a musical time warp. I didn't listen to anything past the 1980s. But then my dear dear Ashley told me about Pandora and it changed my crotchety views about contemporary music. Not being into indie music was really the only thing that was keeping me from being a full-blown hipster too so that was another reason why I was trying to distance myself  from it. I guess some things can't be helped and I should just accept myself as I am...

My name is Courtney Price and I'm a hipster! GAAAAAAHHH!

Hey, it's not like I can really help that I like cool things (that you've probably never heard of) :P

If you haven't listened to it yet, I'd highly recommend Foster the People's album "Torches". I've been listening to it nonstop for almost 2 months. It's one of those rare albums where EVERY song is gold. Mark Foster has such a unique voice and I love his quirky songwriting. GET THIS ALBUM!

In other news, I recently got new glasses that I'm really excited about. Here's a peek!

I've been wanting cat eye glasses all my life and I finally found some on my favorite online optical store www.zennioptical.com. This website is seriously the berries. They have hundreds of frame designs and all you have to do is enter in your prescription information. You can even upload a picture of yourself to get an idea of how the frames will look on you. It's the best. I'm so glad Nathan told me about this site. ^__^

In other news, I almost have my Halloween costume ready to go. Anyone who knows me well knows that Halloween is my favorite time of year. I exploit any opportunity to dress up; I live for costume parties. This year I've decided to go as...wait for it...

BELLATRIX LESTRANGE!

I'm soooooo psyched about this costume. Originally, I was going to only cosplay as Bellatrix for my upcoming trip to Harry Potter World in February but then I thought, "If I'm going to spend lotsa money on this costume I might as well get the most out of it!" So I'm going to be wearing this costume to Nikki's Harry Potter themed Halloween party and to workies (my manager was totally pumped that I was being Bellatrix and insisted I wear my costume to work). So far I have the dress and the wig so all I need now is a killer pair of boots and her bird skull choker. EEK! So excited!

I'm also super excited to be getting my first true taste of fall. Being born and raised in Arizona, I've never really gotten to experience all four seasons. We pretty much only had two: summer and winter. Nothing in between. All the trees in my neighborhood have turned red, yellow, and orange and they're so beautiful. It's amazing how excited a gal can get over a red tree. Here's some pics I took yesterday after work:

So yeah, things have been going pretty well for little orphan Courtney Annie these days. The only thing missing is "the boyfriend". I've been trying to be a good feminist and be happy on my own but as the seasons change and the nights get colder a gal becomes more aware of the lack of romance in her life. I've been on my own for quite sometime now and for the most part, I've consistently held onto hope that there IS someone out there for me. But after waiting and waiting in vain, I don't know...My hope has begun to waiver a bit. I can't even remember the last time I sparked with anyone. I've had my share of crushes over the past few years but have yet to make another strong connection. It's a little disheartening to tell the truth. And I can't fake my feelings. I could never be with someone who I wasn't crazy about. I want the real deal and that person continues to allude me. Everyone keeps telling me different things too. Half of my friends tell me that he'll come into my life when I least expect it and the other half say that the reason I haven't found him is that I'm not "putting myself out there". If I "put myself out there" doesn't kind of mean I'm expecting to meet someone? Everyday I see so many couples and I can't help but wonder where they met since it's been such a struggle for me. Where does an introverted, artsy girl find her match? I honestly don't know. And don't tell me the internet. I've tried that. All of my experience with internet dating have been negative ones so I don't think he's there. And I'm the kind of person who has to meet someone and feel their energy to decide if I'm interested in them or not. 

Sigh...

I guess all I can do is keep living my life and try to be a little bit more social. For the past fews years I've been trying to do more things that are generally out of my comfort zone and during this experiment I've met a lot of people who I otherwise never would have met. I don't want to change who I am just to be in a relationship though. No sir. Changing yourself for someone else is always a recipe for disaster. It's taken a long time but I've accepted who I am and I like myself, flaws and all. It would be nice to find a man who accepts me as I am too and who wouldn't want me to change a thing. I hope I find him sooner than later...

Well, wish me luck! I need all I can get!

XOXO!

She Likes to Move It Move It

Since my last post, I started my new job and I moved to a new place! So far things are going really well at said new job. Everyone has been really welcoming and friendly. I feel very fortunate to have found a job where everyone is nice and works together as a team. I've had some super sucky jobs in the past with some sour apples so I can really appreciate working with nice people. And everyone seems to like me, so that's very good news! When I first applied for the job I was quite pompous and thought, "They won't even need to train me. I know everything about crafting! Ehehehe!" To my surprise, my crafting/art supply knowledge is waaaaaaay more limited than I realized. Most of the time I don't even know what the customers are asking me for since there's so many supplies that I didn't even know existed! It's very humbling. I feel like a major pest asking my coworkers for help all of the time and for asking a BILLION questions but everyone tells me that I'll learn with time. Most of the staff has worked at the store for many many years so it must be a good company to work for. I'm very excited about all of the new materials and mediums I'm going to get to experiment with. I have a feeling that my Etsy store is going to be bursting with new wares this holiday season. Very exciting stuff!

This morning my parents left me here alone (again) after helping me move into my new place over the weekend. It was great seeing them even though they were driving me totally NUTZO. It's weird how quickly my parents have turned into bonafide senior citizens. It was so frustrating! They were so easily confused and crotchety. And all they wanted to do was watch Netflix and eat food! It was bananas! I kept telling them, "You came ALL this way! You can watch tv at home! GAAAAHHH!" Then they wouldn't let a body go to sleep. Mama gets sleepy around 11:30pm these days but the parents stay up til dawn and would NOT let me sleep! It was quite vexing. There were so many things that they said we were going to do while they were here and we really didn't end up doing anything (besides move all of my gear). But it was nice to just be around them after being on my own all summer. I've missed them. My mom was a real trooper too. She hadn't been on a road trip in about 20 years so it really meant a lot to me that she actually made it here! I was worried that my dad was going to show up alone but they both made it here in one piece. While they were here we ate Mexican food almost everyday! Since I've been in Seattle I've had Mexican food once so it was funny that my AZ parents wanted Mexican food everyday they were here. 

They arrived on Thursday night around 10pm and we were all STARVING. I had just gotten home from work and am always ravenous after workies. Nothing was open late so we had to rush to Azteca Mexican Restaurant before they closed and got take out. They were not pleased that we showed up because they were closing in 10 minutes but people gotta eat! The next day was moving day. That was an EXHAUSTING day. I think it took a total of 5 hours to move everything. I still don't know how my dad and I managed to move everything out of that apartment ourselves. I must've just summoned super-human strength for the day because the next day I was completely zapped of all my energy. It is sooooo great to be out of that god-awful apartment. The U-district was an effing hellhole. The difference between my old place and my new place is like night and day. It's so clean and nice here and talk about QUIET. I don't think I got a good night's sleep in the 3 months I lived in that apartment complex. It was noisy as hell. College students have ZERO consideration for other people. Everyday I'd get woken up by either the people stomping upstairs, the goddamn coffee grinder in the kitchen or from the fan in the bathroom. The fan in the toilet would vibrate the walls like the devil and I'm an extremely light sleeper so I'd wake up every time. It's also amazing not having to worry about a psycho cat running up my walls or trying to scratch my face off everyday. Now I can leave my door open to my heart's content. Can anyone ask for more than that? I think I deserve to have some good karma after having things so rough for the first few months. I hope it'll be smooth sailing from here.

Back to my parent's visit. On Sunday we took a day trip to Mt. Rainier. Thank gawd for GPS or we never would've found it. According to my dad GPS is the best thing to happen to humanity this millennium. It took about 2 hours to get to the park and when we got there there wasn't any parking ANYWHERE. The mountain was absolutely beautiful but the park was not people friendly. We pretty much just got to take a few photos then had to turn around and head back home. Here's some pics:

 We stopped at IKEA on the way back. Boy, do I love IKEA. I could live there...literally. I had mushroom and cheese crepes and lentil soup (plus one ice cream cone) and bought a couple things. I think I got a lamp, mirror and some bowls. My whole room is pretty much completely furnished by IKEA now. Anywho, yesterday we went downtown since my mom had never seen the Space Needle. I had only seen it from my car so I was excited to see it too. We had planned on going to the top but it turned out that tickets were $30 so we decided to skip it. We saw a bunch of signs for a King Tut exhibit at the Science Center so we thought we'd check that out. I was really excited about it but when my old man found out it would be $91 for all of us to go, he quickly changed his mind. The sign said it's the last time King Tut's sarcophagus will be in the USA, so I think I'll shell out $30 to see it before the exhibit ends in January. I'd love to see it since I don't really plan on ever going to Egypt. I'm much more interested in seeing Europe and Japan. We had lunch in China Town and it was kind of gross. There was only one vegetarian option on the menu (almost everything had fish sauce in it) and it was loaded with ginger. It turns out that Mama doesn't care for ginger. We passed a Chinese bakery on the way back to the car and got a slice of coconut cake. I hadn't had cake in AGES, which is very very sad. 

I did a little more unpacking when we got back to the house and then we went to Ooba Tooba Mexican Grill for dinner. My parents fuggin' loved that place. We ate there two days in a row. They could NOT remember the name either. They kept calling it Ooba Dooba or Oofa Jooba. Aiya! 

I woke up this morning to the sound of my dad packing up all his suitcases in my room. Even though they drove me nuts for the past 5 days, I'm pretty bummed that they're gone. It's hard to come to the terms with the fact that once you move out of state from your family and friends you'll be lucky if you get to see them once a year. I probs won't see them until next summer since I'm not coming home for Christmas. But I think it'll be good for me to be on my own. I think I made the right choice in coming here. Everything seems to be slowly falling into place. All I need now is to meet a handsome young man and life will be the berries :)

Gotta keep warm this winter!

Mary Tyler Moore

VERY HAPPY NEWS! You know that job I interviewed for...twice? Well, apparently I nailed it! I start on August 14th! Here's a pic of me on the day of my second interview!

 What a relief to not have to be staring at job boards for hours and hours on end everyday. So now I have about a week left to enjoy my freedom. But what to do? Now I feel pressure to do lots of fun things before I have to work 40 hours a week again. The trouble is, I'm not very good at thinking of things to do. I often get so overwhelmed trying to think of something fun to do that I don't wind up doing anything. It's pretty counterproductive. 

So what else has Courtney been up to besides nailing interviews, you ask? Well, this week I've been mainly trying to not die of heat exhaustion. Yesterday it got up to 92 degrees with 46% humidity and no air conditioning anywhere. It was kind of a nightmare. I ventured out briefly to make a trip to Capital Hill to visit a friend at his work but the heat quickly got to me and I had to retreat back to my new best friend, the fan, back home. I'm actually quite proud of myself for getting to Capital Hill (which I'd never been to) without getting lost once. I may have conquered my navigation system--FINALLY. And get this, I BACKED into a parking space. I know, pretty big stuff. I think it might have been my third backing in park job ever. My mom said, "If you had a psychiatrist, they'd be astounded by the progress you made today!" Thanks, mom! 

Another thing I've been doing lately is trying to do more things that I don't normally do. I could be described as being "stubborn" and "stuck in my ways" so I'm trying to break away from those descriptions of myself. After all, the purpose of moving to Seattle was to have a fresh start. Not to say, I'm going to start drinkin' and partyin' anytime soon, but I'm trying to go a little outside of my comfort zone. It's kind of like a self-anthropological experiment. So far it hasn't been so bad. I have a new friend who's really into the local music scene so he's been encouraging me to go to shows and meet new people. I haven't been too successful at the meeting people aspect but I'm at least getting out of the apartment. Going to these shows has made me feel a little regretful though that I never really tried to pursue music. Anyone who knows me well knows that I've always wanted to sing. To be honest, singing brings me more joy than anything else, even my art (which is saying a lot) but around 14 years old I developed an almost crippling fear of performing in public. And I feel bad to have this talent that I can't share with other people. I started singing at the age of six (after seeing "The Little Mermaid) and being young and pure had no inhibitions of singing for others. But then it turned into a bit of a problem. Kids started being total jerks about it like trying to force me to sing on the bus or in front of their friends like I was some kind of performing monkey. I didn't like that. In middle school I was in the choir and sang a solo once for my class. After that my teacher kept calling my house and tried to get my mom to convince me to sing a solo in every performance we did. Being 13 years old, I already was feeling awkward and self-conscious about myself, getting up and singing in front of an audience was too much for me. So to avoid this problem from resurfacing all of the time, I stopped telling people that I sang. It turned into a secret that only I knew about. I've sang for a handful of people since then and all of them have encouraged me to try singing in public again but...I don't know. I feel like it's kind of too late anyway. This phobia has been ingrained in me for so long that I don't think I could get over it at this point. But seeing other people perform...it just makes me feel a little sad that I never had the guts to do it.

Whoa, this post is really starting to bum me out. Let me get back to the positive stuff that's been going on. Last week I went with my roommate to Gas Works Park and it's probably my favorite place I've been to in Seattle so far. It was just lovely. We sat on this hill (Kite Hill) that overlooked the water and watched all the people on sail boats and in kayaks. We had come there with the intention of reading our books but neither of us got any reading done that day. I was just too enamored with the water. Being from the desert, water is kind of hypnotic to me. Gas Works has an awesome view of downtown too. Here's some pics! 

That same day we went to Greenlake and walked around the lake. While we were walking we played this game a friend and I invented called "A or B". Whenever a pair of fellas walk past you, you HAVE to choose which one you'd go on a date with. I know...it's terrible but it's fun. A few days later we went to Ravenna Park (which I'm in love with) and played frisbee. I hadn't played frisbee in AGES and it was really fun. All of us were pretty bad at it but being bad at something shouldn't stop you from doing it. 

Oh, another thing I did last week was visit the Washington Arboretum and the Japanese Gardens. They were both pretty cool. I'd like to visit again in fall (my favorite season) and in spring. Apparently, I had just missed all of the trees blossoming so that was a bit of a bummer. Everything was just varying shades of green but still lovely all the same. I joined a tour group of the gardens and learned an interesting factoid: gingko trees are the oldest species of trees and have been around since the days of the dinosaurs. FASCINATING! 

I've been working on some more pet hoops as well. Here's my most recent work:

  "Flapper Batman Hoop"

7 inches

felt and embroidery floss

 "Eleanor Hoop"

7 inches

felt,buttons,embroidery floss

"Frederic the Dashing Dachshund"

7 inches

felt, buttons, embroidery floss

Okies, well, Mama is ready for lunch but I'll let you know what fun things I decide to do with my last free week of summer. Hope you all have a great week!

Laters! 

Fancy Beasts

I can't believe it's almost been a month since my last post. It's not easy having a blog when you have a short attention span. I hate how easily distracted I am. I'll get on the internet with every intention of updating my blog but then I'll get sucked into the vortex of cute animal photos. I honestly could look at pictures of animals all day. I don't ever get tired of it. Anyway, let me get back on track here...

So I think in my last post I had a job interview...welp, I didn't end up taking that job. The position was for an Assistant Manager of a toy store and although it paid really well, I just didn't feel like it was the right job for me. First of all, I really don't have any experience in managing anything. I was a key holder at a toy shop 7 years ago but I didn't really have any major responsibilities. I simply put the money in the drawers in the morning, turned on the lights and music, and Windexed the doors. I trained the new hires since my boss was always hiding in her office but that was it. It was probably the easiest job ever.

This job I was offered though, was way more than I could handle. The GM was looking for someone "aggressive" (nope!) who could whip everyone's lazy asses into shape. Apparently all of the associates had bad attitudes and the store was in chaos so she needed a new sheriff to lay down the law. I'm the most passive, docile girl on the planet who also happens to look like she's 18 yeas old. Who is going to listen to me? No one. I get bossed around by cats for Pete's sake! There was no way that I was going to be able to manage 14 women. It just wasn't going to happen. On top of that, the AM was also responsible for managing the entire Toy Department. I would've had to create and promote all of the events that the store provided and the success of the store would've been on my shoulders. I don't know how to manage shit. If I would've taken this job I would've gotten crazy stressed out, the store's profits would've gone down the toilet and I most likely would've gotten fired. That's all I need, the horror of being fired from my first job in Seattle to haunt me. I'm the type of person who would rather avoid certain situations than fail at them.

So, yeah. I'm still unemployed. The good news is that I have another interview next week. The position doesn't pay very well, but I think I'd be much happier at this store. It's an art and craft store and I applied for a sales job in the craft section. I've looked at many Yelp reviews and people fuggin' love this store. It looked absolutely adorable and I'd be in my element. I've always wanted to work in a craft store and it seems like it'd be a low stress/chill work environment. I hope I get the job. I really do. I'll probably end up spending all of my money there though...it's a slippery slope!

Other than stressing over money and jobs I've been pretty productive lately. I've made a buttload of new hoops. I've made two dog portrait embroideries and a friend of mine suggested that I start taking commissions from people of their pets. I thought it was an excellent idea so I added a new section to my Etsy shop called "Fancy Beasts". People can just send me a photo of their pet and I'll make a fancy portrait that will immortalize their pet in style. Here's some examples:

 Sophie the French Bulldog

6 inches

felt, buttons, embroidery floss

Penny the Boston Terrier

7 inches

felt, buttons, embroidery floss

If you'd be interested in commissioning a portrait of your dog, cat, or bunny just send me an email to iggystarpup@gmail.com or convo me on Etsy at www.iggystarpup.etsy.com. I'll need a head shot of the animal, the sex (to determine if it should be clothed in male or female attire) and any color preferences you might have. Pricing will be determined on a case by case basis but generally will run between 35-45 USD.

Here's some other hoops that I've done since my last post:

  Two Totoros and Soot Sprites

6 inches

felt and embroidery floss

Sad Red Panda

7 inches

felt, buttons, embroidery floss

Hedwig

7 inches

felt and embroidery floss

I don't know what I'd do with all of this free time if I didn't have my art to work on. Bless it. Even with art to distract me it's been difficult to stay sane. I've been trying to walk a few miles everyday. My walks are probably the most enjoyable part of my day. Everything in life just seems to simple when I take my walks. It's very Zen. The downside is that when I walk I usually end up stopping in stores I pass along the way. Shopping is my weakness. I don't spend exorbitant amounts or anything but we all know that spending little bits of money here and there can add up pretty quickly. Gawd, I need a job. Spending money when you're not having any coming in is an awful awful feeling. But hopefully, by next week I'll be back on the workforce. (Crossing fingers!)

Okies, welp, I better get back to sewing but I hope you all have a lovely weekend!

Laters!

When in doubt,craft

I'm happy to tell you that since my last post I have had one interview! I think that's pretty good, for me at least. In Portland I don't think I had my first interview until I'd been there about 5-6 weeks. So 3 weeks is a new record for me!

I woke up 3 days ago with the usual post-wake-up thought, "What the heck am I gonna do?" Since I am very fond of the crafting, I thought I'd look up art and craft stores near Bellevue (I plan on moving to the east side of Lake Washington at the end of August). The first place I called was a fabric store and they weren't hiring but I could "always fill out an application". Yeah, right. Like, I'm going to drive an hour round trip for a place that's not hiring. I mean, I'm not stooooopid. However, the next place I called was more promising. I asked the woman who answered if they had any positions available and it turned out that they did. This particular store caught my fancy because not only was it an art/framing store but it was also a toy store (and I just so happen to have a background in both areas). So she tells me that they were looking for an assistant manager for the toy/gift department. Perfect! She then asked me to tell her about myself and my experience. I told her that I recently acquired my BA in Fine Art from ASU but that I also had 3 years experience in the toy business. She said that it sounded like I was just what they were looking for and then asked me if I could come in that day. I was in my jammie jams at the time but figured I could spruce myself up in an hour or so. I think I cleaned up ok.

Interview Style Courtney

I was a bit worried about being late since I hadn't been to Bellevue yet and was pretty certain I'd get lost at some point so I left an hour early. The drive there was quite lovely since I got to drive across Lake Washington (which is massive btw) and also through this rad tunnel. My interview lasted over an hour and I think it went really well. The general manager called me yesterday and told me there was one other candidate who was being considered as well but she'd call me as soon as my background check cleared. The job sounded like a lot of responsibility but I think I'm up for the challenge. I haven't been in a leadership position for 3 years and could use the experience. Being assertive is definitely an area I need to work on so maybe this job could help me grow in that department. 

And if I don't get the job, c'est la vie. I'm not going to get too upset about it. Another job will come along. I'm just hoping to find something that won't leave me too mentally drained at the end of the day so I can come home and work on art. Speaking of art, I've been a busy little bee lately. I've completed 2 hoops and have 2 in progress. Here's a peek!

"Frankenkitty"

fabric, felt and embroidery floss

6 inches

"Happy Sloth"

fabric, felt, embroidery floss

7 inches

Both hoops are currently up for grabs in my Etsy shop www.iggystarpup.etsy.com if you'd fancy one on your wall. I personally think that Kristen Bell should buy the sloth hoop :) I also sold a Pokemon pin this past week that got to go all the way to New Zealand. Apparently, you can go to New Zealand for $3.00 if you weigh 1lb or less. That's a smokin' deal!

So anyway, things are going well in the Pacific Northwest and I think they'll continue to get better as time passes. I'm very lucky to have so many lovely folks back home to talk to/email/text whenever I'm feeling lonesome. I still wish I could have brought them all with me. But I guess you can't have it all.

Cross your fingers that Mama gets a job soon or she might be seeing all of those lovely folks back home sooner than she anticipated!

Laters!

She's Leaving Home

In a little over a week I've turned into one of those people that chat up the cashier and hold up the line at stores. 

I always felt bad for those people back when I was the cashier. I'd think, "Doesn't this person have friends or family that they'd rather be chatting with than me?" Not once would I ever have thought, "Maybe this person just moved here and doesn't know anyone and is lonely." And not once would I ever have thought that I'd one day be one of those people. :/

Today I had to go to Wells Fargo to take some money out of my account and I don't know if any of you have noticed but Wells Fargo is now making their tellers chat with you whenever you come in. So the teller asked me what I was up to today and I said that I had just moved to the area from Phoenix and it just so happened that a friend of mine from Phoenix was in town so I was going to see her later. Then the teller next to him goes, "Phoenix! I'm from Phoenix!" I was like, "Oh, really? Wow, weird." He asked me what part I was from and I said Paradise Valley. He got super excited and goes, "I lived by Desert Ridge!" and I go, "That was my hang out!" HA! He then asked me when I got to Seattle and I said I'd been here for two weeks. He said that he'd been there for four and then goes, "It's COLD here!" I was like, "Uh, YAH! I know!" I introduced myself at that point since it was so refreshing to meet someone from back home who was in the same situation that I'm in. Small world. After that I went to the dollar store to pick up a few things. As I was checking out the cashier who was quite old looks at my reusable bag and goes, "Sprouts, eh? Is that a local market?" and I said, "No, it's only in Phoenix." Then he says, "I worked in a bookstore in Bellevue years ago and ever summer we'd get tons of people from Arizona and I'd complain about how 80 degrees was so hot and they'd tell me what a big baby I was." He was funny. But yeah, I've become a small-talk machine whenever I go out anywhere, which in a way is good for me because I've always been so bad at it. 

The point of this story is that I need to make some friends...and FAST. 

I'm hoping that when I find a job that I'll meet cool people through work. Some of my best friends are former co-workers. I just don't know what I want to do. Well, scratch that. I do know what I WANT to do. I want to draw and sew all day and then have people write me big fatty checks to do it. But until that day comes I need to figure out what I can tolerate doing in the meantime. 

Hopefully I'll find something before I run out of money :/

My parents are already ready for me to come back home. Everyday I'm hearing, "Courtney, things just didn't work out in Seattle. Come back home and move back in with us and you can just work on your art all day and everything will be great." I know my parents just miss me but they're not helping at all. They could at least try to be supportive. I'd like to live here a year at the bare minimum before I'd even consider going back to Phoenix. I think it takes that long to get used to any new city. Anywhere I'd go I'd feel the same way I do now. I could be living in Hawaii and I'd still feel lonely and uncomfortable because it would be different. I feel like I have to at least try this and give it a go before I throw in the towel. Hell, I've only been here a week and a half! It'll get better and I'll get used to the crazy driving situation here eventually. I just have to try as hard as I can to not take everything too seriously and try to have some fun. 

Alrighty, I better get back to craftin'.

Laters!

The Bad Beginning

Hey! Look! Lemony Snicket wrote a book about my first week in Seattle!

So I'm finally in Seattle but it wasn't easy getting here. I never thought my journey here would go so awry. The first unfortunate event was that my old man canceled renting the U-Haul truck 2 DAYS before we were supposed to leave. Part of me knew he would back out of it from the beginning but I was hoping that he wouldn't live up to my expectations of him. Nonetheless, I was very upset when he told me because I had been packing for weeks so I had to go through every box and decide which of my possessions I'd take and what I'd leave behind. This process also took away from time I had planned to spend with my friends so that only added to my discontent. 

We began our journey from Phoenix to Seattle on May the 29th around 12pm. I must say, I am very skilled in the art of car packing. I loaded up every possible nook and cranny. I finally got to apply my Pokemon Puzzle League skills to a real life situation!  Luckily, I remembered to pack my Harry Potter audio books because otherwise I think I might have gone insane from the drive. Sitting in the car for extended periods of time is very difficult for those of us with anxiety disorder so the audio books proved to be a wonderful distraction and a great way to pass the time. We got through almost all of the first three books throughout our journey.

So that first day we drove to Phoenix and the drive went pretty smoothly. We stayed at the Super 8 because we stayed there last time we went to Disneyland and it was comfortable for the price. All day I'd been looking forward to swimming in the pool but when we got there 3 huge buses full of brats pulled in. By the time we got to the pool, it was like the apocalypse had arrived. Brats were everywhere. There was not a foot of space left in the pool and it was utter chaos. I couldn't handle it. We sat in the hot tub for about 5 minutes before I freaked out and had to get out. My dad suggested then that we go to Downtown Disney for a spell and I was totally keen on this idea. I had never been to the "World of Disney" gift shop there and it was pretty overwhelming. It just went on and on and on and on...I was good though. I only bought one Thumper pin to add to my pin collection (I get a new pin every time I visit Disneyland). After that we had dinner at our favorite Mexican restaurant in Anaheim, Los Sanchez. When we finished our dinner the fireworks show had just started at the park so we watched it from the parking lot. I think I appreciate fireworks more from a distance. On our way back to the motel I convinced my dad to stop at this Italian ice place that I'd been wanting to try since I was a little girl, Joe's Italian Ice and Ice Cream. It was really good. Not as good as Bahama Bucks (back home) but it was a nice treat after a long day.

We got up pretty early the next morning and were back on the road at 8:30am. I'd been dreading that day of driving the most since that stretch of California is not much to look at. We drove for about 9 hours that day. My dad had wanted to drive all the way to Redding but decided to stop for gas in Willows first. When we pulled out of the gas station, the second unfortunate event occurred. My car started shifting funny. It would sort of jerk every time it would shift gears. I knew this was bad so I talked my dad into staying in Willows for the night. There was a Super 8 right next to the gas station so we decided to stay there. Sweet baby Jesus, what a dump. The tv barely worked, the batteries in the remote kept dying, there was a beetle in my bed, the whole place smelt like curry and the light in the bathroom was shaky so it totally messed up your vision.  The next morning my dad called the tow truck guy and he said he could tow us to Chico, CA. Apparently, my car was too loaded up for him to bring his regular truck so he had to bring this monster old one with no air conditioning, no seat belts and it only went 35 mph. It took about an hour for us to get to Chico and a bee landed in my lap along the way and scared the bejesus out of me.

When we got to the transmission shop they were just clocking out to lunch so we had to wait an hour in their waiting room. When they came back it took them about 2 hours to inspect my car and after they did they said my transmission had to be rebuilt. This process would normally have taken 3 days but since they had started on it so late in the day and would be closed on Sunday he told us it wouldn't be ready til Monday. It was Wednesday at this point so I was completely devastated that we'd be stuck in Chico for 5 days MINIMUM with no car. It was all I could do to not start bawling in the transmission shop. The owner was nice though, and dropped us off at yet another Super 8. This would be our home for almost a week. Again, I had the good sense to bring my N64 and Majora's Mask with me or else I might've lost my damn mind. I came pretty close too. It was hot as ballz in Chico the duration of our stay so we were pretty much trapped in the motel all day. We filled the time by either sleeping, flicking through bad cable tv or playing Nintendo for hours at a time (dad slept during this activity). It was so frustrating; I had a pretty steady panic attack those 5 days, no...6 days. They didn't wind up finishing til 4pm on Monday so we ended up just staying another night. Thank God Chico had a Trader Joe's within walking distance of our motel or I might've starved to death. If anything, this horrible experience made me at least feel grateful that I wasn't born in Chico.

So the money that my dad thought he'd be saving from not renting the U-haul, he spent that and WAY more on having my transmission rebuilt and spending 6 days in a motel. Tuesday morning we got the car back and were back on the road by 8:30am. My old man couldn't bear another night in a motel so we decided to just drive all the way to Seattle. We were on the road for 13 hours. It was god-awful. My body ached for days afterward. We got to Seattle around 9pm and it was dark and raining like crazy. I still can't believe that we were able to find the apartment in the dark. Google maps had told us that we would be able to make a left onto the street that I lived on but in reality you have to turn 2 streets before that and then make several other turns to get in through the back. When we found the correct cross streets we had no idea which complex was mine. I'd seen a pic on Google Streetview so I knew I was looking for a white building. I decided to just get out of the car and look. I was wearing flip flops and a light hoodie (with no glasses) and I had to walk down this hill that was at nearly a 45 degree angle. I'm amazed I didn't slip and fall to my death. When I had tracked down the right apartment I knocked on the door but no one answered. Dad and I figured we could leave her a note and just wait in the car til she got home. I wrote a note but tried the bell one more time and she answered. 

My first impression of my new room was less than desirable. The closet was broken and the former tenant had left tape all over the walls and my roommate had just fed her cat so the place smelt like cat food. On top of that I had no bed so we had to sleep on air mattresses for 2 days. The next day we went to have my brakes looked at since my apartment is surrounded by huge hills and my dad was worried my brakes would give out. They had the car most of the day so I set up my computer while my dad waited at the Econo Lube. The day after that we went mattress shopping. There were about 5 mattress stores on the same street and we went in all of them. We wound up going with the last shop on the block. I'm pretty pleased with my bed. Mama needed a firm mattress. 

We called my mom pretty much everyday since we'd left and she sounded worse every time we talked to her so my dad decided it was best if he went home on Saturday. This was a bummer because we had planned to do all of the touristy stuff here together. It was also a bummer because I still had no furniture in my room other than my bed and wasn't at all confident that I'd be able to build it myself after he left. When I moved to Oregon in 2008 he bought me a bed and then left me there with no furniture. It was totally uncool. I had planned on getting all of my furniture at IKEA but the moment we walked in the door he was like, "This is all junk. I'm not buying anything here." Personally, I like IKEA. I like the simplicity of their designs. Anyway, so Thursday we went to Goodwill (which was a bitch to find) and they had NOTHING. It was the worst Goodwill I've ever been to. We went to a couple stores after that and nobody had anything. So Friday was our last day to find me some furniture so my dad agreed to try IKEA. This time he had a much better attitude (I think he also knew he'd be in dutch with my mom if he came home again without buying me any furniture). We looked at EVERYTHING in IKEA and it turned out to be really fun. He got me a dresser, a desk, a desk chair, a lamp and some other various whatnots. We even ate at their restaurant and had some yummy lentil soup. 

When we got home we took a break and watched some "Breaking Bad". We watched like, 15 episodes in the 3 days that he was here. I'm totally addicted to it now. We didn't start building the furniture til about 7:30pm and I was really doubtful that we'd finish it by the time he had to leave but we did it! We built until 1:30am but we finished it! We'd never built anything together before and it turned out to be a lot of fun. It was a total team effort too. He said he wouldn't have been able to do it without me. He said it was a "two brain project" :) Now whenever I look at my furniture I can think to myself, "Team Price built that shit!" 

The next morning was hard. My dad's flight was at 11:10am so I dropped him off at the airport at 9am. It was so difficult saying goodbye. I'm crazy about my old man. He's amazing. I couldn't have asked for a better father. Through this whole adventure he was so kind, generous, supportive, and just wonderful. When I drove away from the airport I got super emotional. I'd gotten so used to having him around 24 hours a day for the past 11 days and now I'm alone in a city I don't know. I bawled for about 2 hours when I got home then I watched some more "Breaking Bad". I had ordered a cell phone the day before and I paid for overnight shipping so I was hoping it would come that day. It didn't.

So began the third unfortunate event. I had decided to go with Boost Mobile since I was very intrigued with their shrinkage program and being able to have unlimited everything for $55/month. If you ordered online you could use a coupon to get $20 off so I decided to go with that instead of buying it at the store. Man, I wish I'd just bought it at the store. I paid extra for the overnight shipping so it would get here by Saturday...I didn't wind up getting it til Tuesday. And I had a hell of a time tracking it down. Fucking FedEx. FedEx is pretty high on my Enemy's List now. I was able to track my package so on Monday when I checked on its status it said it had been delivered and signed for by a J. Florez. I was like, "Why would somebody else sign for my package? I've been here all day?" So I started knocking on doors hoping that someone in my building would have it. Since it was about 1pm naturally nobody was here but the repair guy saw me knocking on a door and was like, "Do you need some help?" I explained to him that somebody had signed for my package and I was trying to locate that person. I called the property manager to see if she knew of anyone by that name. She didn't answer so he left a message and said he'd come get me if she called back. I waited around some more and emailed FedEx a nasty email saying that I didn't understand how a third party was allowed to sign for my package and if my package didn't get returned to me I was gonna raise hell. After a few hours I decided to knock on some more doors. No luck. I ran into some other dudes in my building and they let me use their phone to call the manager here. She was totally bitchy and said that there wasn't anyone  in the building by that name. Great. 

By this point I was thinking, "Some asshole stole my phone!" I didn't know what to do and I couldn't even call my parents to tell them what was happening. That night FedEx wrote back to me and said that they don't mail to specific people, just to whatever address is on the air bill. They also said that often with apartment complexes they'll send it to the main office of the apartments then it's up to the office to distribute them to the tenant. The office that my package wound up at isn't affiliated with my complex whatsoever. Fucking FedEx. The next morning I was hell bent on finding the phone. Of course it was raining that morning (it hadn't rained in days) I found the apartments but there were about 5 buildings and I had no idea where the office would be. So I'm wandering around (with no glasses again because it's raining) all while being illegally parked because I thought I'd just be in and out. I asked some construction guys if they knew where the office was. Of course they didn't. I was about to give up when I saw a dude walking down the stairs. I asked him if he lived there and he said he did. I told him how my package wound up at this complex when I didn't even live there and he showed me to the office. That's one thing that I like about Seattle, a lot of people have been really courteous to me. When I went into the office there were two old dudes there and I explained about the package. They said they'd never gotten any mail from my building and how weird that was. Yeah, I know. It was bullshit.

So, in conclusion, my journey to Seattle had a very rocky start and there's been some bumps in the road since I got here. But everyone keeps telling me that it'll get better. And I'm assuming it will. Every day I'm getting a little more comfortable with the area and I haven't gotten myself too lost yet. The traffic here is bananas and I totally wasn't prepared for it. The streets here are super narrow and everyone parks on the street too which makes it tricky to get around without hitting someone. And then there's the inevitable loneliness that comes with moving to a new city. I haven't found a job yet so I'm home by myself a lot. I miss my family and my friends like crazy. I hope they don't forget about me...

Welp, that's my story about my journey to the Pacific Northwest. Let's just hope that it has a happy ending!

Laters!

P.S. Here's a pic of me in my new apartment and one of my new room: