Happy New Year!!

Goodness it has been a busy season! Obviously I've fallen off the bandwagon and failed to post anything on my blog for... well, ever. Mostly because I didn't have time with the crazy rehearsal schedule for the Nutcracker and my two other jobs but it's 2014 now! Things will be different right? Right?... Yeah I don't think so either but I will do my best. It's one of my new year resolutions along with:

1. Starting to pay off my student loans
2. Figure out a method of skincare that will actually clear up my skin 

Ya'll remember that I have had a lot of issues with my skin and I have tried so many products out there. Acne cream cleansers, oil free washes, masks, 3 step systems, etc, etc, etc. Now, my skin has never been bad enough to warrant going to the dermatologist for a hard core prescription of accutane or whatever but I don't ever remember a time when my skin was completely clear. Even if I only had maybe one pimple there are still all the acne scars to deal with. So then I bought another cream to put on to diminish those. It got to the point that on any given day I would use a cleanser, toner, a day moisturizer, a night serum, an exfoliating scrub and I thought... there has to be an easier way to take care of my skin. And that's when I found the oil cleansing method. 

I found this method on Pinterest (of course. Where else do I find these things?) and it just made sense to me. Your face has a natural system that protects your face, oil. There's a lot of things that can cause that system to not work properly (over cleansing, overactive hormones...) and the results are acne, dry skin or oily skin, red patches, and a heck of a self esteem issue. We've been told that to get rid of acne we need to steer clear of oil and slather our faces with chemicals that were developed in a lab somewhere but women have been using oil as a beauty supplement for ages. Women in Greece used olive oil because of it's moisturizing effects. So I decided to give it a try. 

Here's a great video to show you how to do the oil cleansing method http://www.youtube.com/watch/?v=z8JJI7LGPLw

I do something a little different, I only use jojoba oil instead of mixing it with castor oil. I've read that castor oil can be very drying if you use too much and since it's winter I'm skipping that but I'm following the rest of the method as described in the video. I chose jojoba oil because it's the most like our natural skin oils so I thought that was a good place to start and thus far, I've had very promising results! My skin feels hydrated ALL day long, my acne is healing faster than normal and the dry, irritated patches of skin that suddenly appeared over my eye have all but cleared up. And I've been doing this method for a week. I'm still a little skeptical about the long term but if this continues then my scars will actually have a chance to heal and fade. Woo!! We'll see if I'm still this happy at the end of the month but so far, I'm sold. Oh, and did I mention a bottle is only around $10 and lasts forever? A little goes a long way so it's extremely cost effective and fits right in my budget. 

As for my student loans, I'm still working on a plan but I'll work it out. Maybe I'll be able to afford payments with all the money I'm not spending on acne products?

Dream Home

Don't judge but I watch HGTV all day, I love to clean and make a comfortable home, and I love looking at Pinterest for things I'd love to have in my dream home. Is that normal? I don't know but recently I've been inspired. My bf has just finished renovating and cleaning a house he inherited from his late uncle and when I went to go see and help finish cleaning this past weekend, I was inspired.

I started dreaming about hardwood floors, paint colors, how to set up the front porch so it looks inviting... Ha! Too bad I'm still a poor young dancer who can barely afford her rent. Regardless though, I have some advice for the future me who actually has a home and can change and update to her heart's content:

1. DON"T SMOKE!!! I spent 45 minutes cleaning and scraping nicotine and tar from one, count 'em ONE, kitchen cabinet this weekend. This man smoked like a chimney in the same few spots in his house for 40 some years and never cleaned a day in his life. The amount of buildup that had accrued (it changed the color of the wood at least 4 shades darker. Definitely thought the wood was a mid town brown when in reality it used to be blonde wood) has done more to deter me than any anti-smoking campaign I've ever seen.

2. Laminate floors look just as nice as hardwood. There is no reason to spend three times as much money for real hardwood floors when laminate looks just as nice, is more durable, is easier to install... It'll save you a lot of money for those brand spanking new kitchen appliances you have your eye on.

3. If ever you need to replace windows, look for ones that pull out for easy cleaning. This house has fairly new windows but there's no way to clean the outside window without taking down the storm windows first... which involves getting the power tools out, which means you'd be waiting on your man to get that done before you can clean them. And since you're me, I know you don't like waiting when you've got the cleaning bug.

So future me, listen to my advice and tell me... did we ever get that mini cooper convertible we've always wanted??

Busy Bee

Well it's been awhile since I've posted. I've started teaching at a ballet camp and now I'm training to be a server at the restaurant I work at so I've been a busy little bee as of late. Here's what's new...

Those lettuce butts I've been regrowing?? Yeah, forgot to change the water for a few days and they just got moldy and gross so I tossed them. I'm impressed that they grew in the first place but this project is not for people who have 2+ jobs and no passion for gardening.

The evening primrose oil I've been taking? I ran out about a week ago and haven't gotten to the store to buy some more (of course they don't sell it in my grocery store... that would just be too convenient). I still believe it works though so I'll go tomorrow and get some more since I have the free time.

Also, I've been training to be a server!! Hooray! I'm really excited to make more money in less time. Since the summer hit my paycheck as a hostess has been less and less. Apparently everyone goes on vacation in the summer time (what's up with that?) instead of going to restaurants in their home town every night so it's been a little tight money wise. Not for long though! I got my apron today, I handled most of the tables by myself, I just need to study the menu and finish the server training videos. :)

Pretty much that's it. I've been taking ballet classes to stay in shape when I can even if it means taking a class at 8 am. Right now I'm just feeling thankful for the things I've been given. Intelligence so I can move up at work to make more money, passion so I feel fulfilled in life, and as always, a great group of family and friends who always support me no matter where my ambitions take me.

What is your passion in life?

Pinterest Experiments

When it comes to Pinterest, people usually fall into one of two categories:

1. Obsessed
2. I can't believe people waste their time on that

Guess which one I belong to? Yes I agree it's online hoarding and I'll never be able to afford all those clothes I have in my imaginary closet (my huge imaginary closet with a chandelier and space for all my amazing imaginary designer purses....) but I like that it inspires people to be creative and try new things. So I bring you some of my most recent Pinterest experiments. 

Experiment 1: Grow your own lettuce

The idea behind this one is that you can grow your own lettuce from the butts of romaine lettuce that you bought from the store, ultimately saving you money. Not that lettuce is all that much but free is always better. As I said in my first post, this one totally works! I was really surprised because all you do is stick the end in a bowl with a bit of water and change it out every day. 

This was after only about three or four days. It's crazy! The only downside is that it is going to take awhile before it gets to a point where there's enough for a salad and I have no idea how it will taste but so far, I think this was a worthwhile experiment. 

Verdict: Still in Progress

Experiment 2: Evening Primrose Oil

I found this product about a month ago and tried it out with the hopes that this would be thing that gets rid of my acne. I don't have much but it seems that just as my skin clears up and starts looking clear, a fresh batch pops up exclaiming "PSYCH! Bahahahaha look at me, I'm on your chin! Doesn't matter how much concealer you use, everyone knows I'm still here!" So annoying. The idea behind this product is that it helps balance your hormones making PMS or menopause and all of its symptoms less of a problem and since most of my acne is related to the red devil, I wanted to try it out. I bought a bottle from GNC for about $12 (even if you use the entire bottle, you can still return it to GNC if you're unsatisfied with the product and get your money back) and started to keep a log about the progress (or lack thereof). 

Notes> Begun 5/23/13 (off week for bc) 

-- Apparently these tablets are supposed to balance the hormones in the body so that pms symptoms, including acne, aren't as bad and will has anti aging properties as well. We'll see if it holds up to the effects my birth control has had on my skin. My normal generic bc is on factory back order so who knows how long I'll be on this stuff and as I remember, my skin wasn't great when I took it before. So thus the experiment to see what this Primrose oil actually does. 

5/24/13

-- My skin is looking better but I have a feeling that is just because I've been off of the bc for almost a week now. The true test will be when I start the bc again. 

5/28/13

-- Day 2 into new birth control and I got one new pimple. Small and manageable but still. I did drink a bit last night and didn't wash my face properly so that may have had more to do with it than my bc but we'll see after a couple more days. 

6/17/13

-- Pretty happy with this product so far! Roughly three weeks into taking these vitamins and my skin looks awesome! I have one little bump that just appeared yesterday (due to pms. My boobs are huge right now too.) but it's no where near the size or pain of the ones I was dealing with when I first started. I had a tiny flare up last week when I was in Pittsburgh visiting peoples but that quickly went away. I venture that was due to my hormones balancing. 

Although my skin is not perfect, it seems better. I've had more days with clear skin that I have had with acne and the one bump I did get is not nearly as painful or in your face as the ones I had been getting before the experiment. Some comments I read about this product mentioned that it could take up to three months for the effects to fully take place but I'm pretty happy thus far. 

Verdict: Success

Experiment 3: A homemade concoction to get rid of those pesky gnats

I live in a basement apartment. Bugs like basements. Ergo, my basement has bugs. Spiders, crickets, those stupid like black caterpillars that I think initially is a piece of lint until I go to pick it up and it moves. We also do not have a garbage disposal or a dishwasher so some of the food gets stuck in the drain making gnats a problem too. My boyfriend is awesome at getting the spiders and crickets and caterpillars but gnats are a different story so when I saw this concoction of vinegar and dish soap on Pinterest that was supposed to attract gnats and kill them? Well I thought what do I have to lose? So I put a cup with the mixture in it by the garbage can and sink and left it for a couple days waiting for those pesky little buggers to stop dive bombing my face. 

Nope. 

This recipe did not work. The only thing it served to do was make my apartment smell like vinegar. Blegh. 

Verdict: Failed

For now, my boyfriend and I will just have to be extra vigilant to keep the sink clean and we'll be getting a covered trash can in the near future but in the mean time, does anyone know of any ways to keep bugs away? I know they're good, circle of life and all that, but they can go do that outside. 

Congratulations, it's a blog!!

Hello world!

I've recently found that I have a lot more time on my hands so I thought I would start a blog. A little about me, I'm a ballet dancer, come from a family of five, love Pinterest just a little too much, and am generally happy and grateful for the life I'm living with one small caveat - I'm poor as shit. Like, my student loan repayment plan is based on my current income and my payments are $0.

Back in high school, we took these online tests to figure out what type of jobs we could strive for based on our answers to a series of tedious questions (do you like the outdoors? do you like to paint? are you a dog or a cat person?). Upon seeing the results (English teacher or garbage man... really?) I started wondering if I would even have a career or if I would just end up a house wife in the suburbs somewhere with 2.5 kids and a dog. What was I really interested in? My mind kept moving back to ballet. I'd taken it since I was three years old, and when my mom made me choose between that, girl scouts, and soccer years earlier, I'd chosen ballet, so I thought, "let's give this a try."

My senior year I auditioned for companies and colleges alike. With trepidation, hope and adrenaline flowing through my veins I walked into studio after studio wishing that this was it. I had dreams that as soon as I walked in the door the audition officials would say, "STOP! We don't even need to see you dance. We want you!" Hello rude awakening. No company audition kept me after the first cut (one even sent me home after ten minutes), and my college of choice rejected me saying there just wasn't room for a ballet dancer. But within all this rejection I'd discovered a world beyond my small studio. I saw what was possible with hard work and training, and how much hard work it was going to take. Surprisingly, instead of shying away and going to community college to "figure it out" I found myself determined to see this through and that's when it happened. That's when I actually formed a concrete dream to be a ballet dancer performing for large audiences around the world. Not at 3, but 19. I wanted this, more than anything, so for the next year I worked harder than I ever had before to get into my college of choice because I knew without that training, I'd never make it.

Fast forward five years to the present, June 2013. Degree completed, injuries healed, and first job with a true professional company secured, I'm realizing a few things:

1. The term "starving artist" is not some romantic idea of purposefully living in squalor and suffering for your art. It's applied to people who are a product of a society that doesn't appreciate art as much as they appreciate football (bitter? Noooooo..... not at all *coughbullshitcough*)
2. They say that loving what you do is more important than making money. That's all fine and dandy until rent is due. And loan payments. And gas. And maybe eating. I know I'm a ballet dancer but I'm far from anorexic (bacon anyone?)
3. What the hell am I supposed to do with a dance degree? It's not even dance pedagogy, it's a degree in performing arts, specialized in ballet. No minor in business, or teaching, or English so what am I supposed to do after my dance career? I could teach at a studio or go back to school to get my masters so I could teach at a college but not much else...
4. Having no homework is awesome. :D (it's not ALL bad) 

These points bring me to the purpose of this blog. My struggles with keeping to a VERY strict budget, trying things I found on Pinterest in an effort to save money such as growing lettuce from your romaine butts bought from the grocery store (totally works btw), scoring awesome deals on clothes and such so I don't look as poor as I am.... all will be on here for your enjoyment. 

I'll end this post with a nugget of wisdom, something I've discovered over the past couple years that has helped me keep my sanity through the number crunching, job hunting, apartment moving craziness. Laughter conquers all. Yes laughter. Whether it's with friends whom you've known forever or just met, your significant other who knows what your thinking before you say it, your family, or those lovely memes that everyone shares because they're just so true, laughter makes everything better. So laugh my friends, laugh as you write that rent check because you can always make more, laugh because that cat just ran head first into a window, laugh because your friend just let one rip accidentally because you were already laughing so hard. Just laugh.