50s Dress

So I'm not quite sure where the cord to connect the camera to the computer is... But I've been working on that 50s dress for my new buddy T, and it's going fabulously. I popped together a mockup Monday and had a quick fitting on Tuesday. Modified the pattern and sketched out the lining and had a second fitting today. Luckily, T isn't enough of a costumer to see where I screwed up the lining part for today. :-P It also was only 4.5 yards of fabric and it was TIGHT getting all of the pieces out, so the next lining layer is going to be a bit fuller. I also received in addition to the fabric T bought, the ripped out skirt and tulle from a wedding dress. As that's fairly stiff I will be using that inside the dress for T as well. It'll have to be lining as the wedding dress is white and T's dress is black... but that's not a problem! I actually feel pretty comfortable with where this dress is and how it's shaping up. I just have to NOT screw up the skirt pieces for this next piece!

Farmer's Market 5/30/12

So yesterday was my first shift volunteering at the Farmer's Market. I absolutely loved it! The stand that I was working for was selling greens, some turnips and radishes, hot house tomatoes, and lots of plants. Tomato plants, flowers, herbs, squash, eggplants, cucumbers, lettuces and cabbages.

I learned a lot, not in the least how to tell the different greens apart! I saw so many of the people that I know. When I was telling Mister about all the people that I know who stopped at my stand (including two of my baristas, my old landlady, old customers from the ice cream store, etc.) Mister said that it's a sign that we've lived in this neighborhood for a while! Even the people that I didn't know, I certainly recognized. There's something comforting about knowing "your people". And this neighborhood is certainly very community oriented.

I also chatted, while on break, with the owner of a new local brewery, and he was super friendly and was telling me about some of the fun things they offer on the brew tours. Jalapeno beer anyone?

Unsurprisingly, I'm damn good at running a booth and moving swiftly through a line. My new boss, C, seemed pleasantly surprised with my work and stated that it was nice to see such enthusiasm. Considering how much of an "interview" process they had (she didn't ask my name, I had to volunteer it -- AND practically push my information on her), I'm not surprised that she didn't know my predilection for such work.

One thing that's nice about working a booth is that most of the other vendors offer a vendor discount. I got the best bacon in the world for half price -- so I spent $4.50 a pound. I'm willing to PAY the $9/#, but half price is amazing. I will buy a pound a week, because as we eat it in one sitting, we don't need much more bacon than THAT in our lives.

I'm getting paid in credit amounting to $10/hour and any money I don't spend goes towards a winter CSA share. So in order to help my bookkeeping, I'm going to tally it up here as well.

5/30/12
Worked from 10:00 am - 7:00 pm
took one 15 minute break (paid)
bought: 2 baby bok choy at $2.50 a piece
Lemon Balm potted plant at $3.00
3 pop corn cobs at 3/$1
One head of greens in trade for hummus at $2.50

Earned: $90
Spent: $11.50
Credit for day: $78.50
Overall credit: $78.50

Gigs!

So I now have two part-time gigs. One, is that every Wednesday I help out at a farm stand in the Farmer's Market to the tune of $10/hour or its equivalent in vegetables. OM NOM NOM.

Also, I applied for, and got, a gig to make a vintage style dress for a lovely dude from Craigslist. He has a comedy act that involves dressing like Queen Elizabeth II, and his previous dress was a hacked together creation that is falling apart. So I'm going to work with him to create something beautiful and 50s style, and we'll probably work out some barter as he's a photographer and offered to shoot my wedding. Woot! I had completely forgotten about having to look into that!

I'm actually pretty excited to work on that dress, as it should be fun, and the guy seems awesome. We sent like 50 emails back and forth, and it should be an excellent collaboration. We're going to meet this Sunday to figure out exactly what we want to do.

Also, our band is now officially named: Ahab's Elephant. I've put in an application for this awesome seeming gig. An inn in Vermont will provide free room and board in exchange for musicians playing in their hall. So, hopefully they'll let us play!

Chocolate FAIL

My company is having a party this Saturday, celebrating Valentine's Day. Due to beautiful work politics, the person who decided the snacks chose such fun items as Hershey's Kisses. For a company that supposedly cares about ethics and supporting green, sustainable and ethical companies, this is a big no-no.

Half of the WORLD'S supply of cacao and most of the US's eating chocolate comes from West African child workers. This is not a cool practice to support! Also, as of 2008, Hershey's refomulated many of their chocolate products to NOT USE COCOA BUTTER. Using vegetable oil instead. Hershey (and other companies such as Nestle) have also been lobbying to be allowed to use hydrogenated oils in their products.

I REALLY REALLY want to find some link to animal testing or animal abuse, because that is the ONE THING that my company will literally drop everything for. But on a surface search, I can't find one. Aha, apparently Hershey's pledged not to condone animal testing, but Mars and Nestle still do. I have no confirmation of what they're testing, only that they do.

Why can't we just make vegan cookies? Easy peasy, and you KNOW WHAT IS IN THEM. Oh I so hate this saint's day and all that it entails.

Oh Snow

This is our... fourth? snowstorm this winter.

It's very weird when at 10 o'clock in the morning, I have to turn on all of the lights in my apartment. Our current apartment is on the top floor, faces south, and has five large skylights that bring in lots of light. However, all of our skylights are covered with snow! And with the snowstorm, there is no sun... so the lights are on. I keep wanting to say 'this didn't happen LAST year...' but, we got no snow last year. So it's hard to make a comparison.

I canceled work at the store that I manage today, and hopefully I'll get canceled at the store that I don't manage.

UPDATE: just got an email that my favorite coworker from the one store is LEAVING. I am incredibly saddened by this -- she's the person who made that job wonderful and made every day a delight. She was just so high energy and full of life that it'll be hard to summon up enthusiasm for my job and my customers without her there. What a sad bit of news for an otherworldly day.

At Camp

Currently, I am in the library in Skaneateles, NY -- during a visit to my family's camp. Yay for vacation! Mister needed internet for something at work, so, here we are in town, in the library. Free WiFi in the library of all places! We were looking for a cafe or a Starbucks or something, but couldn't find anything. In desperation, I said let's ask at the library. Et voila, quest solved.

I wish that a proper vacation was what was ensuing -- judging by the fact that Mister is doing a bit of work, and that I've gotten four calls thus far... this isn't a proper vacation.

I got a phone call yesterday from the office -- $175 was short last week on a day that has often had shortages. $175?! What the fuck could you be doing to screw up that thoroughly unless you're flat out taking from the register? This is why cameras were installed. Are they checking them? No. They're just expecting me to know and/or figure out what happened. This is one of the many, many, many reasons I am looking for a new job. I half want to quit and then just look for work full-time, but I'm not an idiot. And doing that is what landed me with my current job.

But, at least we're at Camp. The above pic is a generic photo, but Skaneateles is beautiful. Mister and I keep having these pipe dreams about how we'll buy property out here, fly out to visit, and drive a little MG around while here. TOTALLY FEASIBLE. :-P

I wish it was easier for us to visit here, but it's a good 7 hours drive, if not more. And it's not like alternate routes would be faster -- it's about 6 hours due West on I-90 alone.

Well, I'll round off this post to say that I have three or four more days of vacation, and I plan to enjoy them -- even if I have to ignore phone calls. :-P

A Little Craziness

So everyone is running around like crazy with gardens, and I still haven't been able to put mine in! I hope that I'll be able to get a decent harvest, and I should be able to put it all in next week.

On a brighter note, I might be convincing Mister that little dairy goats are just what he wants. I can understand the not wanting chickens (they are ridiculously noisy and stupid), but I think a goat would be more manageable. I could be completely off my rocker, but I've got a few years to finish up this convincing -- I've got time, and no need to rush it.

So, I am very tired, weary, hot and sticky (in more than one way!). I manage an ice cream store these days, and let's just say that it's the busy season. I'm working up to 6 days a week, and putting in a lot of hours. Granted, I'm making bank tip-wise, but I'm working for it. I was the only one on tonight (due to a coworker covering a shift at another store), and if I had 5 mins combined down time, that's a lot. I had a steady stream of customers -- and what's more, I got called in an hour early 'cause the day girl was swamped and in need of a supply run! So, all in all, 7.5 hours worked on a "5 hour" shift.

Mister and I have changed banks now; we are no longer at Bank of America (evil empire incarnate). We are working with a credit union: USAlliance. The only thing that I care about bank-wise is that I be able to instantly transfer money between Mister and myself, and USAlliance can do that. Mister is more picky, but they cover all of his wants/needs as well. One of the nice things about this place is that they have a minimum balance of only $5 per account. And that opening a savings account is the default. I'm looking forward to saving money in a savings account again. :-D I'll probably be going over my finances to squirrel away money (so that I don't spend it mostly!). ... Looking forward to this actually.