sparkle & fade....

so, there was a brief sparkle of hope yesterday...but it quickly burned out.  i thought one of my job pursuits was going to work out.  and then it didn't.  well, it's still a dim possibility i suppose, but doesn't appear that it's really going to happen.  i've never been so excited, hopeful, terrified, tense, nervous, nauseous, and perplexed all at once.  yes, that's a lot of emotions!  Cymbalta is sounding pretty good right about now, even if their commercial portrays people as wind-up dolls....

but i've been hit with some inspiration today (decidedly much better than what i posted yesterday).  here goes:

"Life is too short to wake up with regrets.

So love the people who treat you right.

Love the ones who don't, just because you can.

Believe everything happens for a reason.

If you get a second chance, grab it with both hands.

If it changes your life, let it.

God never said life would be easy.

He just promised it would be worth it."

 
pretty great, even if it did come in the form of one of those gay forwards that says "Happy Girlfriend's Day!"  just kidding...thanks to my sista, BMac for sharing!
 
and to top it off, in response to my "inspiration" from that-nameless-someone-i'm-not-supposed-to-be-talking-to-anymore...the wise, wise KD says "you're not an after-thought, play-thing, or quick diversion from real life...put that in your blog (and smoke it). Girl Power (complete with fist pump)!"  what would i do without all of the amazing people in my life? 
 
and now...back to sewing!  will post pics of lovely bags soon.

catching up....

ahh, it's been so long!  i haven't been able to think clearly enough to sit and compose a sentence lately...worrying, Adult-ADD and laziness have been taking up too much space in my life lately!  also, i must confess, i've been a little hooked on HGTV.  one day, when i had a headache and couldn't bear the thought of being productive, i decided to watch Dear Genevieve (since i used to idolize her on Trading Spaces).  that lead to checking out Design on a Dime, then House Hunters & House Hunters International, and Color Confidential.  but all of this leads me to think, although i'm still procrastinating and wasting time watching tv, i have actively chosen HGTV over MTV, Vh1 and E!...does this mean i'm finally an adult?

but, i have been doing some hand-embroidery on my bags while watching tv though...so that makes it ok.  right?  i've also been hard at work doing some graphic nonsense for my logo, business cards & labels.  and finally i unveil the official Gypsy Bird logo:

pretty exciting!  my cousin-in-law found a graphic designer on fiverr.com who did the actual designing.  i just tweaked a few little things. i'm pretty pleased with the outcome though.  

so now i've designed and ordered business cards, designed and ordered sew-in labels, and set up my shop on etsy.com (just haven't posted any items for sale yet, because i'm waiting on my labels to arrive so i can sew them in to the bags).  it's an exhaustingly long process, i tell you!

less exciting though is the time i've spent staring out the window, pondering the direction of my life and worrying about what to do.  i know God has a plan, and the greatest blessing is that i've taken this time to strengthen my spiritual relationship...i just hope i can apply that and make the right decisions for my future! 

so, as i prepare to fire up my Bernina and get back to work, i'll end with an inspirational thought (which, interestingly enough, came to me the other day via text message from that certain-nameless-someone-i'm-not-supposed-to-be-talking-to-anymore. why he wrote it is a mystery, but it made me think, nonetheless):

"get up, get out of bed, and do something productive!" 

if only i were a plumber...

i'm sure being a plumber has it's fair share of drawbacks (corroded pipes, polluted water, and i imagine a large amount of poop)...but at $180 an hour, why not?  seriously, it cost a ridiculous amount of money to fix a piddly $10 part.  i had high hopes of being able to do this myself, and that's all yesterday's post was about...how frustrating to want to do something and understanding what needs to be done, but not having the capability.  but after wasting time and annoying everyone around me, a pro had to be called.  dang.  but the important thing is it's done! 

and now i just want to run to someplace far away where i won't bother everyone and where i won't have to have loads of money to survive.  Mexico?  maybe i should just go back to India where i can just pee in a hole in the ground!  shudder.  no no no...i don't really want to go anywhere.  but i am definitely eager to be self-sufficient again! 

until then, i'm going up to Stilly to see a Grad school friend.  she is finally graduating and presents all of her Thesis design work tonight at a small exhibition.  can't wait to see her and her work...but i CAN wait to see all the people up there.  it's going to be like a mini-reunion and i'll be the fat, unemployed alum.  great. 

i am not a repair man...

okay, so i mentioned last week that my toilet is broken.  it is STILL broken.  i went to Home Depot (which i shall call Home Sucko from now on) and bought what i thought was the correct part.  an employee who claimed, "yea, i can help you with plumbing...i guess i know enough," (i know, that should have been a clue!) told me that this generic fill valve would replace the fill valve on any toilet.  he was wrong.  i have a Mansfield toilet, which of course needs special parts. 

so anyway, i buy the part, and get home to realize there isn't a shut-off valve for the water, nor do i have any of the correct tools for the job.  so since my Dad knows how to turn the main water line off, and has a toolbox containing more than 15 screwdrivers and a hammer, i ask for help.  you're thinking this is probably near the end of the story?  wrong.  turns out, since my water is through a private company rather than the City, you can't turn the water off at the man-hole thing in the yard.  aarrrgghhhh.  so...with no idea how to turn the water off, and my brother (who owns the house) out of town and unreachable, and the water company closed for the weekend...i wait. 

last night, i finally find out how to turn the water off (which is a grid-like system in the garage with a valve for each water outlet in the house - weird!).  so this morning i turn the water off and start work!  only to discover the generic part that idiot dude at Home Sucko told me to buy will not work in my toilet.  long-story-long:  after sponging up excess water in the tank, unscrewing the water line, and spending 30 minutes trying to loosen the bolt that holds the fill valve in...i have to buy a different part.  a part that no hardware store carries (or so they say over the phone).  what to do? 

well...i didn't throw a massive fit, so that's a win.  i merely put all the parts back together as best i could, turned the water back on, and started writing an entirely TOO long and detailed blog to vent my frustration.  has anyone even made it all the way through this entry?  i know it's been unnecessary...but i just want the world (or the 5 people that read my blog) to know that i TRIED, damnit!  i was willing to get dirty and learn toilet-repair-lingo...all to no avail.  oh well...i'm going back to sewing!

miss meows-a-lot

anyone want a free cat?  she's 5 years old, beautiful and sweet...and has a lovely, piercing meow.  which she vocalizes alot.  she may wake you up at 4am every single day, meowing and clawing at your bedroom door...but other than that she's pretty great!

ahhh...i'm only joking of course...i couldn't part with my little Arsala.  but i was about to throw her out at 4:30 this morning when she would not stop making noise.  especially since i had another interview today...i needed my stress-free beauty rest! 

the interview went well.  pretty informal...but i like this place.  we'll see how it all shakes out.  not going to jinx myself by talking about it too much....

in other news, i have a DIY project for tomorrow...my toilet is broken and i'm going to try to repair the damage on my own!  the little balloon-y thing (yes, that is the technical description) broke off.  this may have happened at 4:30 this morning when i was trying to go back to sleep but couldn't due to the constant sound of running toilet water, along with a meowing cat.  anyway, with good intentions i tried to lift the balloon-y thing to stop the water, but apparently i had sleep-deprived strength, and ended up breaking some random piece of plastic.  i think it's a do-able fix though.  we'll see!

and it's back to the sewing room tomorrow.  i may have precious little time left to do the GypsyBird thing full-time, so i need to get it worked out!

spring has arrived....

okay, so maybe it arrived a few weeks ago, but i have just recently begun to appreciate this BEAUTIFUL weather!  after getting solid confirmation from the handy-manny mechanic at Rapid Muffler in MWC (props to these guys for being honest with me) that Lola is really un-fixable for less than 2grand (so sad)...i went to my folks' house to pout.  but instead, we sat outside in the back garden and enjoyed the lovely warm weather and cool breeze.

this inspired me to go home and work on my hellhole of a backyard.  since i've seen about 17 spiders and creepy-crawlers in the last week, i decided to spray for bugs first.  then i swept off the patio and cleaned out my grill.  (note:  never spray water into a charcoal grill - it creates a real mess!)  i tried to mow the lawn (since a certain roommate of mine hasn't accomplished this task) but i couldn't get the mower to start.  i even gave myself a nasty blister doing all this labor!  look at me...TCOB.  taking care of business!

in other news, tomorrow i have a second interview for a design job.  i'm praying for God's will here...if it's meant to be, it will be.  i'll update with the results. 

i will also have 15 new bags completed very soon!  i cut the fabrics out already and just need to cut and fuse all the interfacings and stitch them up!  these are perfect spring bags.  gotta get them on etsy!

sew sew sew your boat

working away the past few days...a little housework, a little job searching, and a little sewing & patternmaking!  ah, i've been busy.  alas, it's never busy enough!  but, with the help of my fab cousin-in-law i'm this close to having an official GypsyBird logo!  then i need to get business cards, a website, and labels.  and then an etsy site.  and then i'll probably get a full-time job and this will all have to go to a night and weekend thing. yikes.

i'm feeling a bit overwhelmed with the what-am-i-going-to-do-with-my-life situation.  but in order to not think about the heavy stuff for right now, i'm going to cut out bags.  i've got fabric & linings picked out for 12 summery, bright clutches...so i'll just keep my hands busy and blast my 'sewing songs' and hope the answers all come to me somehow!

i'm trying to win a website here!

i forgot to mention that while at the WE Inspire conference last week, i entered to win a free website by Main Street Web Development (sitesonmain.com).  one lucky winner will get a website designed by them, and since i am really needing gypsybirddesign.com to be developed, i'm hoping it's me!  so, i get an additional 5 entries to the contest by mentioning them on my blog...so accept the shameless plug!  not to mention, they have a pretty cool website...check them out!  once again, the link is:
http://www.sitesonmain.com/

crazy fan

so i had the interview today...it went well i think.  i don't know, i was pretty nervous.  but we'll see what happens!  hoping for the best.  but i will say that i looked great!  super-professional-Shea...doesn't happen often.   

anyway, tonight i'm happy and watching a Dirty Jobs marathon. if i haven't mentioned this before, i am totally in love with Mike Rowe.  he is so dreamy!  if only he would come to OKC and fall in love with me...how great would life be?

on a more realistic topic, please check out this very funny and short clip from one of my favorite authors, Jen Lancaster, on her new book "My Fair Lazy".  she is such a great writer...totally hilarious and relatable. 
http://www.amazon.com/gp/mpd/permalink/m3KAKABCVR1EBX
last week, in a moment of admiration and bravity, i wrote Jen Lancaster a fan email.  i don't normally do this kind of thing...and here's why - in an attempt to wow her with my words, i overlooked the fact that twice i misspelled her name, using 2 "n's".  she is snarky and impatient enough (from what i gather in her books) that this is the kind of thing that would completely annoy her.  shameful.

so until i can figure out a way to write Mike Rowe and not make an idiot out of myself, i'll just have to continue watching Dirty Jobs and dreaming....

nervous nellie

happy Easter blog world!  today was a beautiful day to celebrate faith, family and food.  and we can't forget the eggs...lots and lots of eggs.  we hid-and-sought 125 Easter eggs today.  it was work!  but the precious, beautiful kids in my family make it totally worth it.

i have had a busy few days with job hunting and preparing for a big interview tomorrow.  i'm excited for the opportunity, and just hope it works out the way it's supposed to.  :)  whatever that means! 

i'm at a loss for words tonight...distracted and nervous about tomorrow i guess.  gotta shake it off and wow the potential employers!