Internship news... And a favorite song!

My favorite band at the moment is Tennis, and Origins is my jam!

Yesterday I gave my notice at the Bux, because I have secured two awesome library internships. One is just for the summer, working for the state library on some pretty awesome projects. The other is in a public library, for the rest of my time in grad school, and I'll be working with kids & teens. I am super excited because I will be able to explore to areas of librarianship that I'm really interested in: services to youth and technology. The summer internship is unpaid, but it seemed like an opportunity that was too interesting to pass up. The funny thing is that I have stayed away from applying for internships and library jobs in the past, because I had convinced myself that I wouldn't even get an interview, let alone a job offer... But I ended up getting interviewed for everything I applied for. The interviews all went really well, even! It was a nice confidence boost, and I'm trying to keep it going!

There are a few downsides to leaving my coffee job (like losing awesome health insurance, my stock options, and the major pay-cut I'm taking), but the one that makes me the saddest is leaving behind my little group of bros on the night crew. For a long time, we all worked together just about every night, and I feel really close to those kids! So close, in fact, that I call them my kids, but, y'know, I'm not crazy. I am going to miss working with them, talking in a British accent for hours on end for no good reason.

I'm going to have to cut down on my spending this summer, because my income is going to be cut in half... I'm trying to come up with creative ways to make it fun, but I'm coming up short. Luckily, working in a library, I'll have access to lots of books! I'm taking the summer semester off, so I hope to read a million books, catch up on all the craft projects I haven't been able to complete, and work on my web design and coding skills.

Photo a day April, Day 2: colors

Photo a day April, Day 2: colors, a photo by hello jenny on Flickr.

I used to make and sell plastic headbands for Blythe dolls. It was a lot of fun; I had always wanted to have an Etsy shop, and running one that was popular for awhile was definitely an awesome experience. It could be very stressful sometimes, because for certain sought after headband sets, or some of the unique embellished pieces, people would buy things as soon as I was able to list them in the shop. When I first opened, I had an avalanche of orders; I was not really prepared to make and ship fifty sets of headbands in a very short amount of time. It was exciting, though, and for a while I was able to work from home on something that I loved.

Things slowed down a bit, my dad got sick (and eventually passed away), and I started to have trouble keeping up. I didn't have a lot of time to make new headbands, to take photos, or to write cute descriptions. Once I started graduate school, I decided to put my shop on vacation for awhile, assuming that once I got into the swing of things, it would be easy to start back up again. That was almost a year ago. Sometimes I think about starting up again, because I have a huuuuuuge stockpile of supplies that I don't really have any other use for, and because I love the hustle and bustle of packaging things up cutely and making a million post office trips. I just don't know if it's ever going to happen, though.

This picture has some of my favorite bows, cabochons, and other cute embellishments that I used in my headband making. They were the first thing I thought of when I saw what today's Photo A Day challenge was. I love color, and it was a lot of fun to group these together and dream up different ways that I could use these... Maybe some bow pins and barrettes?

Photo a day April!

Photoadayapril, my reflection., a photo by hello jenny on Flickr.

I am going to try this challenge for the third month in a row, maybe I'll actually follow through this time! Today's challenge was "your reflection".

It's been a busy couple of weeks. I've gone on quite a few internship interviews; I am waiting to hear back on two of them and I've accepted one position for the summer.

I'm off to work for the evening, blergh. I spent the day cleaning and organizing. There is so much to do! In addition to my cleaning tasks, I have a small stack of schoolwork to catch up on. It never ends!

The (un)luck of the 1/8th Irish

It's a beautiful day and I am stuck inside working on schoolwork. I think that I'm getting my master's degree in group projects, not library science. Here's a quickie post because I needed a break/distraction!

Check out these cute sandals:

This week, I ordered them from ModCloth, where they're known as the On Your Wavelength sandal. I know that with ModCloth, you really need to shop around first, since they mark everything up like it's their job. Although I am an expert searcher of the internets, I couldn't find the brand or style anywhere... Since they were only $29.99, I decided it give up and just buy 'em.

Yesterday, I discovered UrbanOg, and what do you know, there are my sandals. In three colors. For only $18.40. Never again, ModCloth!!! You may have cute pictures, and good customer service, and twee descriptions for your products, but I'd rather save $11!

Anyway, I've got to get back to sippin' on some sizzurp iced coffee and writing about how to search scientific databases.

Have an amazing St. Paddy's Day! I'll be working, slinging lattes until midnight!

What's in my March Birchbox?

Like most people, I really, really love getting fun things in the mail. About six months ago, I was watching a lot of random YouTube makeup tutorials and stumbled across videos of girls displaying the contents of their Birchboxes. Seeing them showing off all their cool loot, I immediately began doing research. To my surprise, there are a number of monthly subscription beauty boxes out there, and it seems like more and more pop up every day. I decided to go with Birchbox because it had mainly positive reviews and seemed like a good deal.

Birchbox is $10 a month; for that $10, you get a handful of samples of high-end beauty products, with an occasional full-size product. All the products you receive in your monthly box are available for purchase on the Birchbox website. For every dollar spent you earn points that can be redeemed for more stuff. I have yet to buy anything from the site, so I can't really comment on how well that aspect of the service works.



I have to admit that the Birchboxes I have received so far have been pretty hit or miss. I was REALLY disappointed in my first box, which I received in November. In that one, I received two sad paper coasters, a teeny-tiny tin of foot salve, a Borghese mud mask that made me break out something fierce, the most microscopic container of lip gloss you've ever encountered, and a super smelly perfume sample. At the time, I asked myself, "ten dollars for this?" and considered cancelling. Ultimately, I decided to continue taking my chances, because many other subscribers had received really awesome stuff in their boxes.

I have now received five Birchboxes, and each one has gotten better than the last. Some products are amazing, but for every bottle of lavender Zoya nail polish, there's a tiny packet of powdered mouthwash (?!). The best items I've received up until now (pictured below) have been the Zoya nail polish, a pack of Eye Rock instant eyeliner tapes, and a small sample of Benefit's The Porefessional, which is something I already used and loved.



Today when I got home from running errands, my March box was waiting for me. I have to say that this month's box is altogether the best box I have received so far! Now, that's not to say that any one product is a must-have, but the samples were of a good size and I can see myself using all of them. Here's a look at my March Birchbox!

The box itself is very cute, and everything is nicely wrapped. Each month when you open your box, there's a little card with a letter from the Birchbox team. On the flipside is a list of the products in your box. I never look at that until later so I don't spoil the surprise!



Removing the card and folding back the tissue, I found a tube of Miss Jessie's Quick Curls curl creme, J & E Atkinsons I Coloniali shower cream, a little wrapped bundle, and a packet of body cream.



Inside the little wrapped bundle was a little bottle of Color Club nail polish in Jackie Oh! (a really bright hot pink), a jar of One Love Organics Skin Savior beauty balm, and a little pouch of WEI Pomegranate buffing beads.



All told, March's Birchbox definitely gets an A+ from me. The samples I received this month were of a nice size, didn't smell particularly like old ladies, and will definitely be useful. No powdered mouthwash, paper coasters, or tiny packets of weird granola this month! Yay!!

30 Days of Lists: Even more lists!

A bunch of lists that I've done this week:

Day 10: Today I...


Day 11: Right now I am...


Day 12: Superpowers I'd like to have


Day 13: 10 years ago I...


Day 14: Tools and toys to try


I really need to find the battery charger to my point-and-shoot, because I feel bad for constantly posting Instagram pictures. Sorry!

Catching up

I've been really busy with work and school for the past week and I haven't had much time to devote to blogging, let alone taking pictures of my lists. Today's my day off and I'm not feeling very well, plus I've got a rather full plate, but I'm going to try to catch up on some non-school and non-work things. So in the middle of reading a chapter of my reference textbook, writing up a few summaries, and applying for an awesome internship, I'm going to write a few blog posts in advance, take pictures of all of the lists that are just chillin' in my Smash book, catch up on some blog reading, and hopefully make a few more crafts that I saw on Pinterest.

Or I might take a nap.

Here's a handful of lists that I haven't posted here yet. I'll post the rest soon!









As you can see in the last list, from day 9, I bought myself an Instax Mini! It was delivered a few days ago, and so far, I really, really love it. Next on my list is to order some Hello Kitty film... So cute!