Holiday Survival

Now that Thanksgiving has come and gone, I've already seen Christmas trees on top of cars and all lit up in apartment windows.  Hanukkah is right around the corner, and the Winter Solstice is already showing itself in the dimming daylight.

I have to admit that the crisp air has already made me crave snow.  I'm super excited about all the holiday parties and get-togethers.  But, I'm also quite excited about the holiday shopping.

Now, the shopping is probably the part that will get me in trouble.  I know I shouldn't even be thinking about it, considering that my funds are unbelievably low right now.  But, as you'll see from my Holiday Shopping Calendar, there are some amazing events taking place.

For the most part, I'm going to limit myself to 3 events that are consistently fruitful in the gift-giving arena.  In chronological order, I am planning to hit up:

• Bazaar Bizarre on Sunday, December 5th (I already bought an early bird ticket)
• SOWA Holiday Market on Saturday or Sunday, December 11th or 12th
• Cultural Survival Bazaar on the weekend of Friday, December 17th

As you can see, I really like the handmade, local and/or small business, one-of-a-kind type of gifts.  I love some of the imagination that I see in all the crafts that I come across at these events.

I promise that I will try not to overdo it when I attend these events.  I will make my rounds, and then I will purchase.  I can't make any promises on any cute things that I want to keep for myself, though. *grin*

Otherwise, I have worked on creating another Holiday Survival Plan that shouldn't cost me much of anything.  It mainly involves listening to holiday music (which I'll admit I started listening to the week before Thanksgiving), hilarious and uplifting movies, and generally keeping cozy.

Holiday Survival Kit by GreenestMermaid

I'm really looking forward to the holidays, with all the merriment, togetherness, and cheer.  Even though it's going to be a bit of a challenge to not grab up every cute item I come across, I'm feeling quite confident about my Holiday Survival Plan.

Mermaid Collages: Treasures

In the past several days, I've finally sat down and played around with Polyvore.com.  That site is somewhat addicting.

Firstly, you get to be really creative and have fun with the clips.  Secondly, you can "clip" images from public websites (like Old Navy, for example, which is where I got stuff from my first Polyvore set).  Thirdly, it's like making collages - but without the need for wasting paper.

So, I present to you, my first collage via Polyvore.

Mermaid Treasures by GreenestMermaid

What do you treasure?  Wealth, Freedom, or Love?  How about all of the above?

It's a bit inspired by my current unemployment state. 

Concerning wealth, I've still got a lot of thinking and convincing to do with myself, especially in terms of my financial situation.  I realized that I have this opportunity with my "side job" to really profit from it.  Why haven't I continued to pursue it?  Why should acquiring a day job prevent me from continuing to pursue it?

Concerning freedom, the fact that I've been at home without a schedule has made me feel like I am less able to handle spontaneity.  And that makes this Aries Taurus Cusp a bit depressed.  I need to really re-frame my way of thinking and really take advantage of my "free time" to really build my small business and work on my future dreams.

Concerning love, I am lucky to have people who love me in my life.  But I'm in the search for a lifestyle that I can love.  I know it's so available to me, yet I've hesitated, almost as if I'm waiting to get approval from others around me.  I know I know what I love, and it's time to just go for it.

It's a start, right?

My goodness, Polyvore is like going shopping for things you can never actually afford, but then being able to play with them!  I'm looking forward to creating some more sets of things as well as using it as a creative and mental-emotional outlet.

Tosies of the Month - November 2010

I declared today my self care day.

Since I last got a pedicure, I decided I deserved it because of the interviews I had done.  It's been about a month since my first interview at the Boston Center for Adult Education, and I'm still here waiting.

Why, Job Gods, must it take so long?

After a second interview and after checking in with the Human Resources woman, I still have yet to hear a yea or nay.  It's been somewhat torturous, and kind of irritating that it's taking so long.  But I still really want that job.

With all the anxiety and stress and shoulder pain, I decided to get myself a well-deserved massage.  One of the people I used to work with is luckily dating a massage therapist, and I had been meaning to see her.

Mitzie, of Mind Your Body Wellness, is awesome!  She really talked me through a lot of what might be causing me pain, and after the intense but relaxing massage, she showed me some stretching techniques to help prevent further pains.  This is really the first time I sought out a massage to help me with pain I'm having, so it was great to leave feeling relaxed and prepared.

On my way to the massage, I decided that I should continue taking care of myself and head on over to get my monthly pedicure.  While I was originally planning to wait until the week of Thanksgiving, I figured I should just use the majority of my money to pay for the rental car.

I had decided that November would be a purple month.  My toes needed to see some purple action.  The last time I got purple toes was for a belly dance show in August and before that it was in May for another belly dance show.

But who would've guessed that I inadvertently chose the same purple that I got back in May?  This time around, I'm much happier with the design.

Designed by Wendy at Dana's Nail Salon, Brighton, MA
Color: OPI Merry Midnight
Occasion: Self-care day and Thanksgiving
November 2010

Last month's pedicure design was so strange, and the last time I got this color the design was too girly.  But I got to say, I love the abstract stuff.  In the picture, you can kind of see the large flecks of sparkle, which I'm a huge fan of.

I was a bit inspired to start planning Thanksgiving outfits with this nail color, and I finally gave myself time to play around with Polyvore.com.  So, here's some outfits I would wear with this color featuring clothes that I own/clothes similar to ones I own.

Purple Passion by GreenestMermaid

That website is unnecessarily fun.  But it was a nice way to cap off my day of self-care.