Love, Lydia - Notes from a geeky, plus sized artist.: Mixed Bag

Thursday, September 17, 2015

Mixed Bag

Hi everyone,

So today's post is a bit of a mixed bag with a couple comics and other things in store.

First off there's news:

Bryan and I had been planning quietly to go to Texas for a little vacation, but we hit a snafu almost as soon as I announced it.  Because Bryan changed jobs in the last year he makes a little more, maybe 15% after taxes.  However when I sent in my income based repayment information so good old Sallie Mae, oh wait, I mean Navient (their sad rebranding to try to shed the image attached to their other name) I got the results in the last week of what our adjusted payments would be.  Somehow a 15% jump in income means we can suddenly afford double the payments each month.  I don't know how their system works, but it sure is confusing!  What this mean is we're giving Navient an extra round trip flight to Texas each month.  So only I will be able to go for the wedding, and I won't spend much extra time there.  Maybe I'll be able to do something fun while I'm there meeting new friends and seeing old ones, or perhaps Bryan and I can go on some other adventure closer to home.  Either way I'll still be working on the travel series, but it will just end up different than I initially thought it would be.  Overall it's a little disappointing, but not the end of the world.  It leaves plenty of other possibilities open closer to home.  I'll have the next part of my travel series up either September 21st or 28th, so be on the lookout for that!

Secondly I'm thinking about how I can keep moving towards having a more ethical wardrobe and habits in general.  I've been testing out Thred Up ($20 off for you in the link there!), a way to sell or buy second hand clothes online and plan to do a comparison for you all, since I think Poshmark is also a site you all might be interested in.  They do basically the same thing, but with Poshmark you do more of the work and make more profit.  We'll see if it's worth it.  I started comparing my summer wardrobe, which at best has about 5% as ethical.  I'd have to check tags to know for sure, but I'm lazy and haven't yet.  However, with my fall wardrobe there's at least 5%, maybe a little more.  So that's progress of a sort.  And as I look at buying anything new I'm trying to check options from my ethical clothing list first these days.  Then there's Etsy, which is a fantastic place for gifts as well as clothes.  (I start my Christmas shopping early!)  And I'd also like to visit local thrift stores more often, which may turn into a new goal if I can get my husband, Bryan, on board!  I really like the ideas for repurposing and glaming up thrift store finds in this video below:


I think this means I'll be featuring some more Pinterest and DIY projects here soon!  Also my studio is slowly starting to get unpacked.  Finally!  haha  That's been a long time coming, and I'm glad to have work space again.  I also have the challenge of decorating it, so decor DIY here I come!

And now for the book review of the week:



This week I picked up The Ancient Magus Bride Volume 2 by Kore Yamazaki and it was just as good as the first volume!  There are more secrets, depth, and character development packed in this volume.  Chise finished things in the town of cats and meets some new fae.  We see her learning magic and find out how it drains her.  And finally she begins to make allies of who we thought might be enemies before we get to the edge of your seat ending.  I'll be honest, I kind of wish I hadn't heard of this series until all the volumes are published, because now I have to wait until December to read more!  haha Really though it's a great series and I'll have another pick for you all next week.

Love,
Lydia

2 comments:

  1. Sorry to hear that your Texas trip isn't going to be what you planned. I HATE paying back loans - I've been paying a student loan for almost five years and still owe 36k. ugh. >.<

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    1. It'll be ok, honestly it's probably better to live in a more thrifty way while paying back loans and such to be a more responsible adult. I hate the loans too though!

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