sunshine

I have never really believed in astrology (mostly because I always felt like every scorpio characterization felt like the complete opposite of how I would describe myself) but this week I saw a few social media posts that said scorpios would be ending the 7 worst years of their lives on April 25th and I am making a conscious decision to believe that wholeheartedly!

This month I decided to re-launch my purses for a 3 day pre-sale in the hopes that I could make just enough profit to reset my life. I needed to pay off some debt, get Arrietty to see a specialist, come up with the money to move and put a security deposit down on an apartment, and pay the fee to get certified in a new career. The sale was so successful that I can afford all of those things, plus I was finally able to replace my old macbook and treat myself to this fantastically whimsical purse that I’ve had my eye on for a long time. I had made it a habit in the past of getting a new purse as a treat when I had a successful purse sale, so it felt nice to continue that tradition again!

When I made the decision to do another purse sale (something I talked about A LOT in therapy beforehand!) I knew it was a huge gamble, and based on how my luck has been going, I did not have high hopes. I thought I would be stuck in a cycle of bad luck for years… but now I’m on the other side of April 25th! 💁🏼‍♀️

Arrietty had her specialist appointment and it went better than I could have imagined! Her vet had detected a heart murmur and recommended that she get an EKG and an echocardiogram to make sure everything was okay. Our family cat Chloe passed away from a sudden heart attack in 2018 after they had found a heart murmur the year before, so this finding spooked me A LOT. I was so relieved that after the purse sale I was able to afford the specialist (it was $1100 if you’re curious) and not only was her heart totally fine, he couldn’t even detect a murmur! And he said he didn’t see any of the normal signs of aging he would expect to see in a 14 year old cat. PHEW!!!

I was able to pay off most of my remaining debt. I have plans to move in July!!! And once I move I’m going to start training to become a phlebotomist. I’ve been thinking about this for a while and I’m so excited that I can finally do it. I’ve toyed with so many other careers over the years — for a while I was positive I wanted to be an art teacher, I went back to school for paleopathology before dropping out to care for my grandmother on hospice, I was a manager at a movie theater, and I had a brief stint as a cashier at Sephora — but this one finally feels right. I don’t talk about it too much online, but my special interest is medical history and I almost exclusively read books about healthcare and medicine. I always thought that working in that field was out of reach for me because I never graduated college and I’m more artistically than scientifically inclined, but phlebotomy training does not require a college degree and I feel like my ability to be precise with drawing will come in handy when I’m handling needles. It seems like the perfect combination of my skills and interests! And I’ve been wanting to do something that feels like it has a more tangible impact on helping people. I’m still planning to keep my shop open, just not depend on it so desperately for income. Which I think will be a nice, refreshing change!

Obviously I change my mind and my plans all the time, and by the time I think I am moving in July my situation could have radically changed. The bags still have to be delivered to my house in a couple months and I’m keeping my fingers crossed that nothing truly crazy happens with postage prices. Especially with this administration I feel like things fluctuate wildly from day to day and it’s also possible my entire etsy shop could come to a complete standstill (it’s honestly been getting dangerously close!) and I’d need to use all of the funds I set aside to move just to get by for the next few months.

BUT!!!! The seven worst years of my life ended two days ago so I am choosing to believe that everything is going to turn out just splendid! 🥰

Oh, and I dyed my hair yellow!! I am still not entirely sure how I feel about it and I might go back to normal blonde (or maybe like a peachy color?) when this starts to fade but I’d be lying if I didn’t say that I think it made this particular outfit absolutely perfect!!

(click for outfit details)