I’m still a little out of sorts— my head is pretty stuffy, I’m queasy a lot, and I feel like I could literally sleep for days! But the good thing is that I am adjusting to it all and Nashville is finally starting to feel real instead of like a huge dreamy blur.

As I settle in a little more, the best part of every morning has been getting to see my cat, Olive again. Since I graduated a year ago, I have been pretty nomadic which means my cat was living with a friend for a long time. Now that I have a house again, I finally feel like things are getting back to normal. Olive is here, I have a real kitchen, I can bike to work in just ten minutes, I will have a studio to create in again soon— things are finally starting to calm down some and feel promising once more. It’s all so exciting and I’ve said it before but I will always say it again: home is where your cat is.

So by now you’re probably asking:

“Don’t you think hard work and experience is what gets you a job?” or

“Wait— don’t you already have a job that you love?” or even

“Why is this your third job in eight months?”

To which I would reply:

No. Absolutely not. It is completely reasonable to empower inanimate objects with magic instead of taking credit for your hard work, dedication, and talent. Or

Yes, I do have a job that I love— which is what has inspired me to accept a job I think I will love even more! Or

Because a girl’s gotta live! Duh! Or, more honestly, because I finally decided to pursue what I love full time!

So here’s the details: In a whirlwind of fate, I discovered the Nashville branch of the bakery I work for was hiring. So although I LOVE my current job, I decided to at least entertain the idea of applying/interviewing. (I mean, after my love affair with the city, how could I not?) I put in my resume and everything else is kind of a blur. I talked to my boss about transferring and although she would be sad to see me go, she was extremely helpful and let me know I had her support.

purse: Mom’s from the 90′s 

A few days after that I got a call to setup an interview for the next day. After talking to the manager in person for ten minutes, he offered me a full-time baking position on the spot! I tried not to squeal with delight as I penciled my start date into the calendar, but I am sure I was still beaming from the inside out!

The next day, my partner got offered the job he had been waiting to hear back from. So in one week’s time, my entire world got turned upside down and all our plans went out the window! Now we are furiously trying to tie-up all the loose ends here before we can make our much anticipated move to Music City. 

locket: vintage / gift from my mom 

Even though all of this has been a stressful process the last few weeks, at times I can’t help but think about how lucky I am. But just stating that makes me so upset because it really does negate all of the effort I have put into actively pursuing my dreams. Landing this job was not something that just fell into my lap— it was a conscious decision. I decided I wanted to work at a bakery. I sought out and learned the necessary skills to get an entry level position. I continually asked for feedback and criticism from my boss and coworkers. And then I decided to pursue an opportunity for vocational, personal, and financial growth.

shirt: thrifted / belt: kohl’s / corduroys: GAP / wedges: Ciao Bella from DSW

 Although it can be nice to think that luck has something to do with success, I know this outfit probably only went so far as to influence my confidence when I interviewed. Even if it’s cheesy, the quote “I’m a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it” really applies to my life lately. I’m really excited to see what the future holds and I’m ready to own my accomplishments. I’ll just save my “luck” so I can test it on something just as crazy— like the lottery!

I have spent the last two weeks working two jobs and being in complete disbelief that I am now getting paid to do something I love. By no means was my job [fashion consultant at a jewelry boutique] terrible, but it just wasn’t something I could see myself doing longterm.

This is only my first week working solely at the bakery and things are already looking up. I am going to train this week to fill-in for one of the bakers going on maternity leave, which not only means I get to bake but I will also get to decorate even more (which is great since that is where my interests are right now!).

I’m still trying to wrap my head around how incredibly fast the last month has gone by and how many wonderful things are happening in my life! I get paid to do what I normally just do for fun! THERE IS A CUPCAKE ON MY PAYCHECK.

Not only am I happier than I have been in a long time, but I have a feeling things are only going to get even better from here on out. As cheesy as it sounds, I honestly feel like this is the closest I have ever come to starting a career. So now that there’s no place to go but up, cheers to new beginnings!

1. Learn to work with royal icing, gum paste, and fondant. I have already made some progress on this one (please excuse the neon pink):
 2. Learn to use a sewing machine. I have wanted to learn to sew for years. I now have a ton of bookmaking and clothing ideas that I can’t stand to keep in my head any longer. It’s finally time to cross this off and move forward.

3. Start my Etsy business. I am so excited for this. All I want to do besides baking is make books for people.

4. Become a better listener. As embarrassing as it is to admit, I can be a rather poor listener. Now that I have acknowledged this, I am ready to fix it and become a better friend, daughter, and partner.

5. Write letters more often. Snail mail is the best. I have so many great friends all over the country, I should be spending more time communicating with them.

6. Finish and send out 25 Blips. This one won’t make sense to most of you, but this is a collaborative art project I have been working on for a little over a year now. I am ready to wrap things up and reveal it to the world!

7. Visit Shannon in DC. I seriously miss her daily. Look how smug we were! But we had reason to be proud, that bread was beautiful + delicious!

8. Get my driver’s license. I refuse to say more about this.

9. Don’t buy clothes for 1 year. Yep. I said it. BAM. I have a lot of clothes. I want to focus on wanting what I have and not accumulating more things. Furthermore, I decided when it is time to buy clothes again, I am ready to invest in quality pieces and not trendy ones. Rules: accessories don’t count; I can replace items if they become unwearable (this might only happen with jeans). I don’t know if this can last a year, but we’ll see!

10. Upcycle/get rid of unworn clothes. This is sort of a continuation of the last goal, but it is a task unto itself. I already purchase mostly thrift and secondhand, but my goal is to upcycle or get rid of any items I don’t absolutely love and donate the rest. I have a tendency to buy “almost perfect” items a lot: something that needs to be hemmed, a button is missing, “this dress would be perfect if I added a collar” type things. I want to complete all of these projects before I add anymore or buy anymore clothes.

11. Finish overhauling the Schwinn I got from Craigslist. This one is coming along a lot faster than I thought, but I am including it because it was part of the original list I made, I am just not really posting this list in a timely manner. Anyway, looks pretty fun, until closer inspection reveals rust, gunk, and flat tires. . . But she is cleaning up nicely and I can’t wait to share before & after pictures!

12. Make more books more often. I hate making nonspecific goals, so I am going to try to make 2 books per month. I haven’t been creating much recently because of the excuses I wrote about last post, but I am ready to change things for the better.

13. Move to Nashville.  Hey. . It could happen! There are more bakeries there and more opportunities for me to get my books into smaller handmade shops. Right now it kind of seems like The Promise Land.

14. Work in a bakery. (self-explanatory)

15. Watch more classic/cult/good movies. I know this is a very unclear statement. Nick and I have a tendency to re-watch Wayne’s World or Anchorman instead of branching out and trying new movies. For some reason these two FINE FILMS are not on this list, which is where we have mostly been pulling from for ideas. I’ve already been enjoying the wide range of movies we’ve seen lately. Maybe sometime when I am not so lazy and full of tacos I will post about them!

16. Drink more water.  I used to never buy soda. Now there is a 2 liter of Peach Nehi in the fridge that I bought today. I want to go back to more water and less sugary bubbly goodness. I am also trying to eat more fresh fruits and vegetables and less pizza. But “eat healthier” is so generic, I’m just trying to live more consciously again. Colorful food helps!
 17. Learn a makeup routine that actually works for me. I am pretty simple beauty wise, but I would like to master a classic cat-eye and find a shade of lipstick (or two!) that I can pull off.

18. Learn how to curl my hair. My hair is the longest it’s been in like 10 years. Now that I have some locks, I’d like to learn to curl them real nice. And maybe even figure out a faux finger wave or something fun and retro!

19. Keep a journal again. 

20. Re-read the Harry Potter series. Now that all the movies are out and we finished our second annual Harry Potter movie marathon, I really want to read all the books again. (Originally this one was to “read more” but I really think this is an upgrade.)

21. Grow out my bangs. I am not sure why I have elected this torture, but I am not backing down now. It’s only been like 3 months since I have cut them and I am not about to throw all that progress away.

22. Learn to use Adobe InDesign & Photoshop. I am slowly getting the hang of Illustrator and learning something new each time I use it, but I still have so much to learn. I need to continue to expand my knowledge and I know I will use all of these programs a ton once I am more familiar with them.

23. Collaborate with another artist on a project. Any takers? I know group work in school is the worst, but now that I am out, I am ready for some teamwork.

24. Live more congruently. This is a very general statement, but I have been reading up a lot on self-improvement, living your dreams, and defining what you want out of life. It’s hard for me to formulate into words what all this goal incorporates so I will save more detail for another post sometime, but suffice it to say I am pretty inspired lately and I am ready for some big changes in my life. I really can’t wait.

So there you have it. If I am not blogging, I am either crossing things off this list, working hard for the money, or sleeping way too much. I can’t wait to share it all with you. I don’t think it’s necessary to apologize for gaps in blogging (quality over quantity!), so if you ever feel like it’s been awhile and you wonder what I am up to, then feel free to follow me on Twitter for silly updates or check out my inspiration blog to see what I’m liking lately. Let me know if you’ve posted about your goals lately, I love to meet my readers!

P.s. I overhauled my blog design. ^This is the old one, if your viewing in a reader then hop on out and have a looksee at the changes I made!

I am so thankful I got to ring in 2012 with my partner! Last year Nick was over 600 miles away and though I had an incredible time on NYE, it is always strange to me to celebrate milestones without the person you wake up next to. Possibly the best part of my night was this instax picture a stranger snapped and then gifted us, I was so delighted! After partaking in ridiculous amounts of pizza and dancing with over a dozen friends, we awoke to a new year and 60 degree weather.

We spent the day catching up on Dexter (!!!), running errands, and consuming mass quantities of nourishment. We also spent a lot of time dreaming about all the things we are going to accomplish this year and discussing how fulfilling it is to share your goals with someone and get complete encouragement in return.

Here’s to another year of growing closer to the ones you love!

Focusing on the things in my life that I want to improve has led to a lot of time pondering this blog’s content/purpose. Now, I’m not going to get all internet existentialist right now, but along with straightening things out in my head, I really wanted to let readers know what they can expect to find here.

I noticed my 2012 goals (which I will share in the near future!) pretty much all revolve around 5 things:

• baking 
• personal style 
• bookmaking/art 
• handmade items
• bicycles/cycling

Which obviously leads to the content of my blog. The above items are the things I love most in life (besides cats) and so they are naturally what appear on KCS  the most (besides cats).

Sometimes I get the feeling this blog could come off as “scattered” or “random” to people who don’t know me (yet). Which is HELLOo0O— MOST OF THE WORLD AND PROBABLY YOU. But the only thing to counteract that would be to leave something in the above list out. Or to start separate sites for each of my interests (HECK NO).

But when I think about it, I don’t want a baking blog, I just like to bake. I don’t want to only post outfits, I just want to figure out what combination of clothes makes me feel put together like myself. And I don’t wanna tell people how to ride their bike or make books.

I’m a Fashion Consultant (trying to shop entirely thrift/secondhand) that commutes 6 miles to work by bike and loves to bake, sew, & upcycle things for friends in her spare time and hopes to someday make a living by making people books. 

And I love kittens. Is that SO hard to understand?

I mean, if you’re going to have a personal site, it should reflect the person you are. That is why I am not going to force myself to be like my favorite bloggers, to leave out truly meaningful interests, or to worry about adhering to any one category blog. All my passions are somehow deeply intertwined and I like sharing them with people.

I like putting information out there that I have looked for in hopes of someone like me finding it. I think just about anyone could read a post or two of mine and find it interesting (maybe that’s just conceited? I don’t really know). . .  You can call it eclectic. Call it haphazard. Call it why-are-you-doing-something-so-trivial-who-is-ever-going-to-read-that.

I am just going to keep on doing it (that’s what she said) and see where it takes me. Cause I gotta tell ya, it’s been a lot of fun so far! If you like some of the stuff I do, please feel free to follow along and introduce yourself, I’ve already met some great people and I can’t wait to meet more. See you in the new year!

portrait of me by Hope Collins

1. Watching Dexter

If you follow me on Twitter, then you already know this television series has taken over my life! My partner and I watched the entire first season in 4 days! We could not stop. I heard a lot of hype about this show (already in it’s 6th season) but kept telling myself it wasn’t something I could get into. Now I am about to start the 4th season and I don’t regret a single second of time spent obsessing over these characters. Why are you still reading this? Go watch Dexter!

2. Bonfires with Friends

Carissa is a pro at campfire building! She is LITERALLY one of my favorite people in Murfreesboro. She taught us how to make hobo campfire dinners!

3. Cake Decorating Classes

I still have a long way to go, but I am learning a lot about beautifying tasty treats. The best part? I can’t wait to learn more! Now I just gotta brush up on my photography skills and I will just be the happiest-little-kitten-lady!

4. Riding Bikes  

We have been having such beautiful weather in Tennessee (until today, that is). It’s been perfect for long rides on the greenway or just meeting up on campus to goof around. I managed to snap this photo of Nick in action on one of my favorite days of the season so far.

Maybe now that it’s colder out I will catch up on some of the crafts and treats I have been wanting to make. Or maybe I will just snuggle up and watch more Dexter and play old Nintendo games on the emulator Nick is working on and never do anything productive again. . . A girl can dream!