My Week Long Home Improvement Project

I have always wanted an art studio.

Being an artist who really dabbles in many different mediums, I have always wanted an art studio of my own.  Somewhere I could keep all of my paints, canvas, jewelry making supplies, scrap booking supplies and other art supplies.  Actually, when I was in grade school & high school, I actually tried to separate my room into two sections; a bed room and an art section.  Sure it cluttered my room since I had so much in there, but it sort of looked like what I want.  However, growing up, having kids and moving upstairs didn't help any.  I was further strapped for space and really couldn't section my room like that anymore.

Shopping for Dresses & Plus Size Dresses.

So it's no secret that right now I have to semi shop in the plus size department.  Honestly, I don't think my dress size should be considered even in the plus size department since it's not even large enough to be considered plus size... but that's today's society.  I got disgusted the other day when I saw a size 11/12 in the plus size department.  (I guess we're all supposed to be anorexic, right?)

Santa Clause is Coming...To The Mall?

Yes, that's Santa and yes, I know it's early for a picture with Santa.  I don't want to give anyone anxiety with the Christmas/Santa talk and I'm not trying to rush the Holiday, trust me!  When we went to the mall the other day Santa was sitting there in his Holiday wonderland with absolutely no one in line. (I think I may have seen Santa filing his nails while waiting! haa!!)  Olivia and Alayna both started saying they wanted to talk to Santa and were adamant about it, so I agreed.  Alayna has never had a problem with Santa but Olivia has never taken one picture with Santa where she wasn't crying, I had to seize the day. (Without sounding overly dramatic!)  Only problem was; Olivia was in a sweat suit and Alayna was in her school uniform! (Respectively.)  

It's all about the accessories in interior decorating

Guest post written by Vickie Strong

You don't have to worry about a whole lot when it comes to furniture if you know how to shop for it. I'm all about getting second hand furniture that's cheap and not considered an antique. I'm not wealthy enough to invest in antiques, so I just try to make sure that my style is really quirky and I dress up all the stuff that I find.

But I love to use all kinds of little accessories and accents, but I thought that it might be fun to come up with a group of things to hang up together for some unique wall art. When I was online looking up some ideas for that, I ran across some info on Sears Home Improvement. After I looked through it a little bit, I decided to use them to get our windows replaced. They've looked kind of bad for a long time now anyway.

I got the idea to frame some cool family photographs with some brightly painted frames. I got some great deals at the flea market and my grouping of frames looks so cute and unique to our home!

My daughter, the model.

Yesterday my mom bought Alayna a brand new dress and winter boots for school and wearing out. (Aka: Being fashionable at age 6...)  Of course, my little diva has to pick the most mature dress and mature boots because they're "really cool".  (I never cared about being cool when I was 6...)  Well, when she woke up this morning and found out we were going to the grocery store, she wanted to be in high fashion, so she put on her new dress, leggings and boots.  Then...she wanted to be a "model".  She really could be a model, if we knew how to!  lol  She told me that when she grows up she wants to be a singer or actor.  She also says that if she can't be that, she could "deal" with being a model.  Wooow...

NEVER go to the mall with kids.

Tuesday I made the very hard and stressful decision to leave Old Navy.  I enjoyed the job but the 45 minute commute to and from work everyday was very stressful on me and tough on my wallet for gas money.  As much as I loved everyone there and enjoyed the job (and the discount!) I told them that we had to part ways as I didn't want to be unfair to them when I couldn't give my all to the job. As I was in the car on the way home from telling them I had to leave (and I was in tears) I got a phone call from Coach.  I had applied with them a few weeks prior and had gone on an interview about a week and a half before...  They were offering me a job!!  I was so excited I could barely contain myself and all I wanted to do was get out of my car and jump for joy.  Not to mention how perfect the timing was of their phone call; when I was crying and stressing over my decision to leave Old Navy!  

Taking back control

When I lost my job with Bluefly.com I really just resigned from caring about anything.  I loved that job and it was really my livelihood... I felt like nothing would fall into place ever again, but it is.  I decided to keep my job at Old Navy, for now, but work on my jewelry and work on my blog as well.  I've had KRumian LLC up since the mid summer but have yet to promote it or do much of anything with it.  Now, I know I have the skills to make a decent living from home while working with bloggers and companies, but I haven't had the time to promote it and get my business seen.  That's going to change.  I'm going to start back everything that I have put to the side so I am able to be happy and make a living for my family at the same time.

Missing my old life..

I worked from home (on and off) ever since I got pregnant with my youngest.  Working from home was definitely a perfect fit for me since I could stay home with my girls, relax while I work and I saved a hell of a lot of money on gas, food and clothing!  Ever since I got laid off from my last job I've been so down.  True, I did get a new job; I work at Old Navy full time right now, but it's not the same.  Retail is something I'm interested in and something that I love, but I don't love the way I feel when I get home from work.  I'm exhausted, irritable and in so much pain.  My entire body aches from being on my feet all day and my knee is usually very swollen from the fracture I had this past summer.  I really wish I could either start my own business that I can make a steady income from, monetize my blog better and make an income from what I love or find a new at home job.  I keep looking and trying, but I'm lucky I found any job in this economy. I'll have to stick it out for now, but I'll always keep trying to better myself and actually work from home again.  

(This was just a minor rant since I was feeling down and depressed. Thanks for listening!)