It Feels Good To Be Back...

... After such a long hiatus away!

What have I been up to?

Well last August I quit my job of 14 years, because the thought of working for a company that payed horrible wages accompanied with the insecure OLDER females at my job spreading rumors about me, it all became too much! 

I needed to re-evaluate and take stock of my life.

I'd worked at a well known grocery store since the age of 16, and every turn I took to move up in the company for better benefits and more money was met with total discouragement and flat out disrespect. 

People wanted me to maintain certain positions that I was screaming to get out of because I did my job well. Great compliment but to be pigeon held was so nerve wrecking. I knew I was capable of more. I'm ambitious and my needs were not being met.

I'm 31, who has time for that?

I knew I wanted more for my life and I needed to make a change.

 I was nervous and scared but I prayed and took a leap of faith.

I'M SO GLAD I DID!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I had already started making custom wallets from recycled books/magazines, etc on the side and my clientele was building so I threw myself into my hobby/business and since I opened my Etsy shop I've been so happy!!!!!!

I love Roe1983 SO much. 

It is all of the things that I myself would carry/wear mixed with my eclectic nature. 

It combines my love for flowers, comics and sparkles and I love every bit of it.

I even added earrings to my shop and am in the process of adding adorable tote bags!! I'm truly blessed!!

The one positive about working at a grocery store, where you encounter customers of so many different backgrounds, is the fact that they hammer customer service into you.

I've received such wonderful reviews from my customers and it makes me work even harder!

I'm going to start making the time to keep up my blog because I've missed being here and I definitely want to mark my journey to what I feel deep in my heart will be a better life.

There will be bumps but the bounty will be great!!

It's So Good To Be Back!!!!!

~N~

P.S.

I've not given up on my dream of baking. I've just put it on hold. Fashion/Accessories were my passion for so long before I started teaching myself how to bake and I've found my way back to it.

My Love...

... Of old movies, always helps me to lift a bad mood.

Whether they are from the 1940s, 1960s, 1980s...

And for some odd reason, I love to buy VHS movies.

I have no clue why.

Lately the movie that has been on constant repeat in my home is,

{ I was only 6 when this movie was released }

I love this movie so much!

The way they first meet...

The way they fall in love...

Their chemistry!

Yes, their chemistry... It's perfect...

This movie ALWAYS makes me smile and helps me to forget that I'm lonely at times.

I wonder where my prince charming is...

~N~

I'm in LOVE...

{Isn't the cow creamer too adorable!!!}

... With white dishes!

It all began a few years back when I first discovered Martha Stewart.

I was thumbing through one of her many books, when I saw a page dedicated to white dishes.

How lovely...

{Source: Martha Stewart}

From that moment on, I knew I wanted to build my own collection.

But I wanted all types, whether they were chipped or new from the store.

And not just for show either.

I wanted to make them functional.

I wanted them to brighten up my home and be put to good use.

{This lovely creamer houses my new paint brushes}

Since having a place of my own I have been blessed enough to find some great pieces.

Though I will be moving in September, back with Mom, I'm hoping to keep some pieces out to admire and to remind me that this move is not permanent.

I will get a better place and have more room!

More room to add more lovely dishes.

Enjoy,

~N~

{A beautiful mix of thrift store & Pier 1 finds}

{I ordered the sweet tea cup from an Etsy shoppe, the rest are thrift store finds}

{I don't know why, but I can never seem to pass up the chance to purchase a creamer, NEVER}



{I found this beauty at a Goodwill, though the handle is long gone it is still striking}

{I found this pitcher at a small thrift store that is now long gone, so sad}

{Who remembers this baby? I fell in love with milk glass and I was able to add my first piece on my VERY first trip to a flea market, SCORE}

{The bowls were on clearance at Walmart for $3 each, I purchased the cake stand at Marshall's for $6.99}

{A lovely planter, that my naughty cat broke. I couldn't toss it so I'm in the process of cleaning it and keeping it. For what? I have no clue}

Buying Local Ingredients ...



... Is something that I've always wanted to do, but I never knew where to begin.

That is until my bestie/business partner took me strawberry picking last week!!!

It was such a joy to be out in the sun, picking from the Earth.

(Cottle Strawberry Farm located in Fayetteville, Georgia)

 We quickly filled our $11 Cottle container, but we were not quite ready to return home. 

So we decided to do one of our favorite past times, HOUSE STALKING!!!

Which lead us past a small sign that advertised FRESH FARM EGGS!!!!!!!!!!! Can you believe our luck?

But since it was already late in the day, we vowed to return another time.

And return we did!

(Fresh Eggs from Flintwood Far, in Fayetteville, Georgia)

For a carton we paid $5, the owner a very kind woman, told us that if we like these, then she will sell us 30 eggs for $10.

She was also kind enough to reassure me that her chicks/hens "scratch" for their food and that she and her husband allow them to also go out on the land to scavenge as much as possible. While they are not fed organic feed, they are more on the natural route either way being as they are allowed to "scratch" and eat things like worms, etc. Plus she feeds them veggies like lettuce that she grows herself. She also puts natural grapefruit oil in their water.

I've read some horrible things online about the way chicks/hens are fed and the owner herself told us about a gentlemen who also raises chicks/hens, who laces their water with of all things, BLEACH!!!!

I couldn't imagine eating an egg laced with bleach! YUCK!

Since my bestie and I have never used fresh farm eggs before, we decided to spilt the carton so that if we don't like them then at least we didn't waste $5 each.

I can't wait to start baking with them...

~N~

Honeysuckles Smell Like....

... home.

In Georgia, honeysuckle bushes are EVERYWHERE!

They are so beautiful and fragrant.

I remember as a child, there was a honeysuckle bush right next to our front porch. My mom pulled the flower into her hand and showed me how to sip the honey from it's natural cup.

This became a little tradition for me in the summertime.

Sadly there are no honeysuckles near my apartment...

But there is a street that I take to go home from work that is lined with them.

That sweet smell always seems to ease me even after a long day at work.

~N~

Sometimes You Just Have To Do What's Best...

(It's time we leave & explore)

...For you that is.

Remember my post about my apartment?

I do, vividly!

I love the excitement I had about having my own place and starting new goals. Sadly though, since moving here all I've really done is WORK and get further into debt.

Even then, I still LOVED my apartment. But that has all come to an end. I am no longer happy.

Since last year, July to be exact, I've been calling my rent office because my dishwasher is no longer working and the door has fallen off. ( I've also been calling since January of this year about my upstairs toilet being busted. They fixed it 2 weeks ago, before that I had to run downstairs every time to use the downstairs 1/2 bath).

~~~~~SINCE LAST JULY!!!!~~~~~

To date, the darn dishwasher is STILL in the same condition as last year!

I've called every week to put in work orders. I've even spoken to both the manager and co-manager in person AND on the phone about the situation. (Once, the co-manager left me on hold and would not pick up the phone when I called back)

So again I decided to try to speak with the manager in person, did I mention AGAIN!!!! His response?

~~~~~Slight hostility!!!~~~~~

He told me that the complex has money so there is no reason for it to still be busted and that I should have come and spoken to him. But this one is the real reason I've decided to pack it in, this man told me that I should stay on him so that the problem gets fixed.

I work a 40 hour job PLUS I come home and put in another 8 hours for my business. I don't have the type of time that most have, where I can continually go to the rent office to complain about something.

SO if I'm calling almost EVERY week then that should let you know that the problem is not being handled. I mean come on, numerous work orders coming in for the SAME problem AND from the SAME apartment and you can't put 2 and 2 together???!!!!???

Not only has he forgotten that I DID come and speak to him in person but he's also LOST his mind to think that I'm going to STAY ON HIM TO DO HIS JOB!!!

My job is to work and make sure that I hand in my rent on time. Which I have done very well since the day I moved in. My job is not to stay on top of another person's responsibilities!!!

Even when I did attempt to call him about the dishwasher still being broken a week after our last encounter, he left me hold on, only to have his secretary tell more lies about someone coming to fix it.

That was the last straw!

WHY am I giving my hard earned money to a complex that is too lazy to fix what's broken and too insensitive to apologize for their mistakes!

That is why I have decided to move back in with my mother and younger siblings. Only until I finish getting my self out of debt and with me not giving up $600 a month to these jerks I can do it a lot faster!!!

Wish me luck!

~N~



The Wait is Over... & A Surprise For You...

(Hard at work!)

Wow!!!

There has been far too much time since my last post.

Truly sorry...

Starting a business plus working my day job has consumed so much of my time

and energy. Much more than I thought it would.

The business is going well, trying to get the online part of selling our baked goods under way

is a bit of a struggle but it will all work itself out!!

Ok, now for the surprise...

Who remembers the lovely Victorian that I have been eyeing?

Well last Sunday, Kim my other bestie, her lovely daughter & my god baby Jade and myself decided to do some house stalking and we of course had to make the 45 minute voyage out to see my precious.

I swear that house knows me and is waiting for me. As soon as we pulled up I instantly felt like I was home. With the windows tightly boarded up, and most broken, all we could do was admire the exterior. No matter, I was still content.

After having our eyeful, we decided that it was time to drop me back off at my boring apartment (so unhappy here, but that's for another blog)...

As we were strapping Baby Jade back into her car seat, a man suddenly whips his car behind ours preventing us from leaving!!!

Turns out it's the OWNER of the house!!!

He saw us from the building that he was renovating and actually thought that we were VANDALISING my precious Victorian!!!

I expressed to him how much I adored the house and could never do anything to harm it. Not only did he understand but after a little persuasion from my bestie, I SO LOVE HER, he allowed us to view the house's interior!!!

I ALMOST DIED!!!!!!!!

Of all days to forget my trusty camera:(

No matter, nothing not even my forgetfulness could ruin that moment.

The house was built in 1920, with 9 bedrooms and 1 bath. I can only guess that it was used as a boarder home back in those days. We've all seen it in those old black & white movies, a lot of tenants sharing 1 bath room. Those days when coffee was 5 cents and sugar was 35 cents a lb. (Yea we wish we could return to those prices!)

Not only does it need new windows but it also needs a heating/cooling system and MAJOR rewiring! The owner says he would be up for financing if I had $50,000 but who has that! Not only do I not have that but I barely have $100 in the bank.

But I'm not giving up hope, not only will I own that home, I will restore it and make it a real home once again. That's a promise I plan to keep to myself.

Oh and surprise # 2:

I searched my computer and I found the pictures of the homes interior back when it was still on the market, enjoy:

~N~

(Welcome Home)

(I so picture a swing, hydrangea bushes & iced tea)

(She just needs some TLC)

(So much land with so much potential)

(The living room, through the entry way is maybe the world's smallest kitchen)

(Another view from the living room)

(The fireplaces are coal burning so they cannot be used)

(No clue which room this is, there were so many)

(I can almost picture the decorations I would love to create here)

(Fireplace's are so welcoming, I wonder if this could be converted?)

(I would love to keep all of the old furniture pieces, they are beautiful)

(Another bedroom)

(Upstairs bedroom)

(A beautiful shot of her exterior)

(She is just screaming for a wrap around porch!!!)