That was kind of fun. Our extended family had a giant fancy-pants lakehouse on Lake Seneca all to ourselves. If that weren’t enough, it had hidden rooms and treasures and all sorts of fun things to explore! Plus my room was like staying in a castle. Awesomesauce.

Since we were in the wine region we did some wine tours and tastings. I came back with about 4 bottles of deliciousness. Yummo.

I was challenged to sit on every couch in the place. This is my proof!

My Aunt & I at Dr. Frank's Vineyard

The view from the lakehouse

See!? It's a castle room with real stained glass window! So luxe.

The vacation was a nice break; before that I was going full-tilt between social activities, playing hostess, holding a BBQ, celebrating all my jobs and more. The only thing I regret is spending so much… I bought a ton of stuff at the outlets nearby. I came back with 4 bras, 4 dresses, 4 pairs of shoes, new dish sets, etc…. my parents weren’t too happy! LOL I just told them it was all for my San Fran trip…

Speaking of which I am just booking my flights now! I am still so stoked that I’ll get to work for Airbnb. I’m just a little concerned though about the actual employment part… so far all the docs and info I have gotten have been geared towards US citizens. I know they hire international folk, so what happens with them? I’m just trying to figure out if their contract and stuff is even applicable to me since I’m in Canada and will be working from here. Maybe they set me up as a contractor or something to get around US employment law? I have no idea but am hoping someone will be able to fill me in soon. I’m freaking out!

I just really have a lot on my plate right now and I think it’s catching up with me. I’ve been putting off work on my shop (side note, my soap order just came in! w00t!) and being generally lazy, but hopefully I can break out of that soon. No rest for the weary!

Have you seen my new shop yet? With Heart (www.withheartshop.com) is an amazing collection of Original & Interesting Stuff that I have curated myself! Lots of beautiful handmade and hard-to find things for your shopping pleasure. Don’t forget that the holidays are just around the corner!

I have. But I don’t mean ghosts or spirits. I firmly believe I have a case of the house gnomes.

I know when they’ve been active because things around the house always seem a little out of place, and mundane yet useful objects seem to go missing for an unholy amount of time.

Most recently I have lost my kitchen shears, BBQ tongs and my nice peppermint footcream. I can only imagine what they’re up to with that motley assortment…

I have looked high and low for these things and I just know it was the house gnomes because those items just don’t travel outside a certain sphere of location! I have absolutely NO reason to move my footcream away from it’s home on my night stand. I simply don’t use it anywhere else! How could it just disappear??

I try to take all of this in stride though. Sometimes I wake up and mysteriously find some task done, or the room tidied up or something. I do have a history of sleep-cleaning (no joke!) but I usually remember some of what I was doing. Lately I haven’t remembered any of it.

Maybe I’m going mad?

But really. It’s the house gnomes.

Thank goodness I don’t have a garden. Could you imagine?!!?

Click here to read her story and see some adorable shots. I’m so excited! (And happy. Its hard taking her photo!)

Buy eyeglasses right – buy them online

When you’re into saving money, you’re looking to cut financial corners on every purchase.
Buying a new pair of prescription eyeglasses is not exactly on your budget and with the prices that your optical store charges, will probably cut a huge hole in your wallet.

However, with the entrance of eyeglasses into the online world; all those previous conceptions no longer exist and are replaced with the words: affordability, convenience and great value. When you order glasses through sites like GlassesUSA.com, you are assured of the highest quality glasses at the lowest possible prices. What’s more, you are in complete control of how much you spend as you can choose to include the optional extras, or not, according to your personal financial situation.

With a wide and varied selection of hundreds of glasses in every style, color and material imaginable, the online world ensures that the latest trends are always available and that each person is able to find a pair of specs that suits their own individual personality type, desire and lifestyle need.

If you find yourself overwhelmed by the choices available, you could read up on the product reviews to get a better idea of what others have thought of the eyeglasses that you’re thinking about. Once you’ve narrowed your choices down, you should take advantage of the online virtual mirror which allow you to upload a head and shoulders photograph of yourself and then to “try on” the various designs and compare them. You could even send them on to friends and family for their input.

A little known fact is that these online gems generally retail at 70% less than their identical offline counterparts. What’s more, online stores also often host promotions that leave you with even bigger savings.

So, if you need glasses, hop online for money saving unlike you’ve ever experienced before! Now, your next order can be even cheaper! Take $25 off any order of glasses with Transitions lenses when you use the code: Trans25 OR take 10% off your next order when you use the code: Blog10!

Looks like I might even get a little more than the max since I think I qualify as low income… LOL.

No payments as of yet, but next week I should see around $400 plopped into my account.

You have no idea how relieved I feel about this. I’ve been going over my numbers in my Mint account and without regular income of some kind I’d be in a real hard place.

I’m still looking for jobs but it’s slim pickings out there! I haven’t heard back on anything. It’s hard when you’re switching careers. If I had stayed in my old field I would have had a job by now for sure. I have the perfect resume for media jobs… but not so perfect for anything else *sigh*

The Big Idea

In other news, I think I have a business idea! It may be only part time to begin with, but hopefully I can grow it to something bigger. It’s not a new concept or anything, I want to open an online store and sell cool stuff. Particularly handmade/artisan things like you can find on Etsy. The difference is that I will hand-pick everything and curate the collection. I will also be handling all the marketing and promotion (which is half of any business anyway) to promote not only my store, but the artisans behind the work.

I want all the items I select to be beautiful and functional where applicable. Jewelry, housewares, health & beauty stuff… anything! I want to sell products that are interesting and have a story behind them so that the people that buy them can be proud of what they own and tell those stories! I’ll be doing some interesting things in terms of marketing (sorry, I can’t share all the details!) and will hopefully have community tie-ins as well. I want to support the local craftspeople that pour their hearts into their work.

My first challenges though are coming up with a good name, and also sourcing some neat items to sell. If you or someone you know makes interesting things and they would be interested in selling through me, please let me know! Ideally they would be located in North America so that shipping isn’t outrageous.

Anyway, there’s a little blurb for ya. I’m looking into some local business resources to get more information on writing a business plan and securing funding. Anyone have some additional Canadian resources I could tap?

Ahhh, April is a beautiful month!

• Total Guests: 8 (or 10 if I include doubles)
  
• Total Bookings: 8
• Total Nights Booked: 35
• Total income: $1,829

• Income Year To Date: $2,969
• Monthly Average: $1,484.50

A good month, money-wise. But it’s been a lot of work. If I were working a full time job, there is no way I could sustain this. I have to clean the rooms, wash the sheets, etc. after every stay. That really adds up! Plus I haven’t had a lot of time to myself. I would really like to be able to strut around my apartment naked once in a while!

Interested in becoming a host or using the Airbnb service to book your next trip? Click here and get $24 credit (I get it too!) Thanks, man!

Even if you prefer to know what will happen next, this week can be very unpredictable. This unsettled energy is full of exciting possibilities. It’s an especially positive time to set challenging goals for the future. Make a list of the things you would like to accomplish. Post this list, have confidence in it, and see what happens. Challenging circumstances have nothing to do with the ultimate outcome. The celestial energy is fortunate for friendship and group projects.

I don’t put a ton of stock in the frilly free online horoscopes out there, but every once in a while they come up with a good reminder or a piece of timeless advice.

I’m back on the job hunt again, and this time I’m definitely NOT going to do media again. I just can’t take it any longer.

A talk with my bff last night helped put things in perspective – eternally optimistic, she was happy that my job was coming to an end “because it makes you so unhappy all the time!” and thinks that this could be the start of something fresh for me.

I think she might be right. I think I’m ready to let go of the stupid media world, the politics, exhaustion and thankless tasks. I have so much more skill and talent in other areas. Everyone I speak to (including my boss who is letting me go) tells me that I should find something to do that involves writing, hosting, presenting, being involved; that kind of stuff. They are my true strengths and where most of my interest lies. I love people, and I love words, yet I’ve been neglecting those two areas as a career path for the past 5 years.

The past few weeks have been quite unsettled and unpredictable, indeed. Some things (blogging, Airbnb hosting, gathering with friends, etc.) have been going well, but other things have been going quite poorly (health of loved ones, job situation, physical exhaustion). I feel lost and floating quite a bit these days. I need to get my bearings.

“Make a list of the things you would like to accomplish. Post this list, have confidence in it, and see what happens. Challenging circumstances have nothing to do with the ultimate outcome.”

No matter where this advice comes from, I think it came to me at the right time. I really need to sit down and figure out my goals in life rather than picking a direction at random and charging full steam ahead.

Keep your eyes peeled for changes, readers. They are a-comin’.

PS. Is anyone in Toronto hiring??

It’s actually 4! I have no idea why I thought it was only three. I must be getting senile in my old age!

I’ve been busy living my life and haven’t had time to write; right now I’m just trying to get through everything intact.

I’ve had a lot of fun (birthday party, monster truck rally, being picked to be on a TV show) but once again I am facing a crisis in my life.

Things aren’t going so well at my new job, and more and more I am seeing that this industry just isn’t right for me. I took this job so I could make some money, get out of my depression and focus on what I really want to do: run my own business.

So what’s happened now?

Well, I’m facing losing my job, which means I would lose my home. I’m struggling to find a backup plan since most reception/admin jobs don’t pay enough to allow me to stay where I am (or put enough away to start a business!) and no one will hire me because I’m over qualified.

I’m not ready to start my business (still don’t have a solid idea or plan, and the courses I took through Humber were a crock of shit).

So I’m trying to find some new job, but the challenge is finding something decent in a different industry that uses all my soft skills. Part of my problem right now is that my mathematical learning disability is making it really hard to work with all the charts, graphs and number analysis that I have to do as my job. (I can do some of it, but it’s really difficult for me)

I’m incredibly strong in the written & spoken communications areas and all the stuff that traditionally goes with that; but other than journalist or editor, etc. (which I’m not qualified for, anyway) I can’t think of any careers that would pay decently and are something I could do with minimal math or analytical thinking. I’m good at processes and stuff, too. My dad suggested looking into non-computer engineering IT positions. I don’t even know where to start.

I need a job soon; I don’t really have the time or money to go back to school for anything. Plus, as I learned firsthand, a lot of courses are full of shit, once you’ve been out in the real world.

Readers, what is your job/career path? Why did you choose it and how are things going? Any suggestions for me? I’m really lost.

I’m 26 today, and my blog is a toddler (3)! Wow, 3 years of blogging… I’m an old fart in the internet world!

From TheStar.com:

IF TODAY IS YOUR BIRTHDAY: This year, tap into your innate creativity. In fact, you might be amazed how solutions appear. Take good care of your health, and avoid any extremes. Bones and teeth could be vulnerable. If you are single, count down the days to summer, when you might delight in admirers playing Ring around the Rosey around you. If you are attached, expect the summer to sizzle as you reconnect with your sweetie on a deeper level. Taurus intrigues you.

BORN TODAY: Actress Faye Dunaway (1941), author, commentator Andy Rooney (1919), singer Jack Jones (1938)

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 20)

Allow for more exchange with others. A sense of humour, a different approach and/or less intensity could work. Lighten up a situation. Deal directly with someone you care about. He or she will illuminate your day as a result. Tonight: Let your imagination lead.

From The Globe & Mail:

IF TODAY IS YOUR BIRTHDAY:

There is a huge luck factor working in your favour at the moment and it will continue through the coming 12 months. Your good fortune will be greater though if you actively seek out new ways to enrich yourself, personally, professionally and financially.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22 – Jan. 20):

Watch out you don’t give away too much information today. With Jupiter transiting the communications area of your chart there may be a tendency to say too much. Unwise words can be used as weapons against you.