I Made It: Surprise Snowflake

I'm having guests for Christmas and even though it's my sister who is the messiest person I've ever had the displeasure of once sharing a room with, that means I'm in this extreme cleaning mode where I clean absolutely everything, even stuff no guest is going to see or notice. Like my desk for instance.

I have a pretty sweet desk with tons of shelving and drawers which is one part awesome because I can stash all my crafty supplies, but one part not awesome because it sometimes becomes a black hole where things get forgotten.

In this recent crazy person cleaning I did, I found this cross-stitchable laser engraved wooden snowflake I purchased last year from the Etsy Shop WayvDesigns.

Here's the listing for that specific snowflake if you wanted to copy me.

I had bought three, stitched two of them up for gifts, kept one for myself because I liked it and can do whatever I want because I'm an adult, then promptly forgot about it. No problem though because it felt like Past-Ashley just gave a gift to Present-Ashley (I'm/we're so thoughtful!). I took a break from my other projects I'm working on (unadvisable but inevitable) to stitch it up and hang it on my tree. Voila:

It was super simple to do- you could definitely get more ornate with it if you're motivated like that but I was just looking for a minor diversion from my obligations, not a full-on derailment. I took variegated Christmas-colored embroidery floss (all 6 strands, good luck threading that) and back stitched it in a sort of spiral from the outside top to the middle. I'm wondering now if it would've been easier to start in the middle but I'm also wondering if I particularly care (no). I used the leftover length of thread to tie a loop to hang it on my tree but you could go the classier route and use a ribbon of course.

Definitely sewed this while sitting on my couch getting caught up on Star Trek: Discovery. Below is a shot of the back. You won't really see it much but it's an unnecessary point of pride when the back of your cross stitch is neat. It just shows you are the kind of person that cares too much about things that don't actually matter (me in a nutshell). 

I'm pretty happy with how it came out and am glad I am one step closer to totally overburdening my tree with an obscene amount of awesome ornaments in the way I became accustomed to growing up (hi Ma!). Now I guess I have no excuse for avoiding my responsibilities.... or do I...

*I'm linking this because I really liked the purchase I made, as well as many of the other things in this shop (check it out!!), not because someone else told me to. I do what I want, ok?!

Taco Bell Feelings

Well I didn't get the job.

I waited so long to write something about it partially because life just did that thing where all of a sudden the waters turn rough and you feel like you're being carried along through the rapids, and also partially because I didn't want to write a post where I just talk about how bummed I was because who wants to read that and also I knew I'd be fine.

And hey, look. I am. I was right.

I did go through a [surprisingly] brief period where I was gripped with disappointment though. I dwelled on the fact that I was told I was one of the top 2 candidates yet still managed to mess up 50/50 odds. I dwelled on the fact that I wouldn't get out of working Christmas this year. These feelings are all pretty natural I think and to my credit, I did the right thing which is to let the feelings run right through you like Taco Bell. Just what you needed at the time, some discomfort after, but then you leave it all behind and feel much better having survived.

Classic

Anywho, to be honest, I mostly feel relieved now that I've settled down. I have a lot going on this time of year and I like to enjoy it as much as possible. Starting a new job would definitely put quite a bit of stress on me, but now I can relax and fully immerse myself in the Christmas spirit and still have enough energy to be obnoxious about it, which I greatly enjoy doing. Next year I'll start up the job search again but for now, CHRISTMASSSSSS!

Source

Just a quick update for now but I'll be back with some more fun stuff I definitely haven't thought up yet. To sing my exit, here's one of my current favorite Christmas songs.