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�sleepyzoe 2003-2005
|| 'ello 'ello! ||

2005-06-26
9:14 a.m.
The current mood of sleepyzoe@webmail.diaryland.com at www.imood.com


**comments are now located at the end of each entry!**

Imagine my chagrin when I logged into d-land this morning, and saw that it had been 87 days since my last entry. 87 days?! Where the hell have I been?! It seems like it was just a few weeks ago that I'd proudly typed the news of my engagement. Now, I've been a fianc� for three months now. Wow.

Speaking of which, I'm still a fianc�, not yet a bride. We do have plans! Yes, plans! We're getting married on Halloween! Anyone who's ever read this diary knows my love love love for all things Halloween & Day of the Dead. Those of you who can't see my apartment (everyone, I presume) wouldn't know that I have an obsession with skeletons bordering on the macabre - though I'm not a dark person. I just like skulls. And skeletons. And Halloween.

But I digress.

We're going back to Vegas (I've always wanted to be married by Elvis)...so we're going here! We're having the Rockabilly Themed wedding! I can't wait! Elvis will sing to me when I come down the aisle! This chapel offers live streaming internet broadcast of the wedding, so when I get the link, I'll post it.

And yes, I'm making my dress. I'm making a tea-length retro-y dress. It will have a fitted bodice, and a full skirt. It will be made of white fabric with red cherries, and I'll have a red petticoat. I'm making a 50's style hat, with red organza roses and a face veil. I have white stockings with red seams, and red retro-y pumps. CP is wearing a red Guayabera shirt with white embroidery. My sister will be my only attendant, and I'm making her a cocktail dress. I will, of course, post pics when I have my ensemble ready. I'm not making anything yet - not till September.

We're having the reception at my dad's house. Low-key. We just want friends and family to come and hang out and have a good time. The reception will be Day of the Dead themed, complete with a skeleton bride and groom cake topper, and Mexican Sugar Skulls. I'm sure my family will raise their eyebrows, but our collective parents think our ideas are cool, and so do we, and that's really all that matters.

Enough wedding talk.

In late May, I (we) vended at our first Convention. A body mod convention, no less, held by these fine folks. Check out the pics!























The convention did not bring in as much business as we'd hoped. However, it was the first year for this particular event, and there weren't as many people as I'd expected. Also, the crowd was very young. Like, 17 years old young. Not exactly the type of people after handmade handbags.

It's been a tough month - sales have been low. Because we had to put so much money into the convention, we have nothing to advertise with. Yeah, it's been tough. CP and I have been fighting a lot - over what else but money. All we can do is keep plugging away and hope things will improve. That a rich, long-lost relative will kick the bucket and leave me enough money to advertise and buy all the things I need for the business, and pay all the bills without blinking an eye.

I know, I know. It takes years for businesses to be successful. And that I'm probably much farther along than most business still in their tender infancies. Afterall, I have a *very* successful eB@y store, and two websites. Still, it takes money to make money. And when you have none, well...

We know that vending at conventions (at the right convention, at least) can be hugely successful. The exposure you gain is priceless, really. However, it costs around $500 for a booth at most of them. Not to mention food, travel, and lodging. And money to purchase supplies to make stuff to sell at the conventions. It's a bitch, that's for sure. I can't remember what it feels like to relax, or to not be Stressed Out to the point of breaking on a daily basis.

Running this business is an all-consuming venture. Work and life are one-in-the-same. There are no weekends, no days off, no leaving work at the office. I desperately need help, but can't afford to hire anyone. I liken this stage of SKC's success to that of one's teenage years. A hideous, awkward and strange time that no one wants to go through - but must endure to become a successful adult. At least I hope it gets better than this. I hope I hope I hope.

There are good things happening for SKC, don't get me wrong. I have handbags in a consignment boutique in NJ. Soon, I will have more at a shop in Wisconsin. And stuff in yet another online shop. Hopefully, I will be designing an exclusive line for an online consignment/artsy stuff store. I'm also a sponsor for a well-known Cheesecake Pin-Up Contest. I'm getting my name out there - I just need sales to be attached!

I wouldn't go back to Shit Job for all the money in the world. Or any job for that matter. I've worked too hard and come too far to ever go back to that. But holy shit, there has to be relief somewhere. Right?

In happier, less strained news - We're Moving! Okay, for me, moving is about the most stressful thing ever - but we're moving! Unfortunately, we can't afford to buy a house (yet), but we're getting a much nicer apartment. With a basement! And a fenced in patio! And a really nice apartment complex with a pool and fitness center! And it's cheaper than my current place! And there's more closet space than I could ever dream of!

This neighborhood, which was once my safe-haven from a Crackhead and a dangerous ghetto neighborhood has slowly turned sour. This place is falling apart. The neighbors have become, um, how can I put this delicately? Unsavory. Is that a polite way of saying Trash?

Let's just say this - I'm tired of seeing garbage (literal garbage) strewn all over the place. I'm tired of seeing 40 oz bottles littered all over yards, alongside baby swings and office chairs (yes, office chairs have replaced lawn chairs in this neighborhood)! I'm tired of seeing barefoot, unsupervised children playing in the driveways and parking lots and sitting - yes sitting - in the giant water-filled potholes. I'm also tired of fighting for a parking space and seeing only a decrepit dumpster out my back window. I'm tired of being watched by the squinty eyes of the grotesquely obese woman who smokes cigarettes in her bathrobe on her front porch at all hours of the day. I'm tired of people owning three or four large dogs in tiny apartments, that don't get proper care or excercise - but are chained outside for hours at a time, barking incessantly.

*sigh*

Obviously, my (our) current apartment is cause for much stress and frustration. Moving into a larger, nicer, (cheaper!) place will be fabulous. CP and I's first place together. Not my place that he moved into. Not a place riddled with painful memories of an ill-fated relationship. Not being cramped and on top of each other! Not staring at a dumpster out my back door! Oh yes, it will be fabulous!

Anyhow, I've spent enough time away from working. I must get back, lest I slip into relaxation mode.

xoxo
sz

p.s. I can be seen trolling around my new favorite Crafter Site or My Space. These are my new favorite places. Come find me if you're a member of either!





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Today's Fortune





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2005-11-02
'ello 'ello!
2005-06-26
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2005-03-30
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2005-01-28