I am employed!

I have employment!

I am no longer UNemployed!

~falls over~ Thank god. ~whew~

I've finally started eating less.  I know when people say "eat less", it just sounds so simple, but I am a stress eater and lately, I've been stressed.  But, thanks to my bloody hormones, I am now eating less.  Hopefully this is the start of something regular because I don't like where my weight is headed, namely, up.
I found a recipe for a detox body wrap online that seems pretty good, so I'm going to try it out.  Turns out that Mom already had all the ingredients on hand, so once I get my hands on some ace bandages or a sheet I can rip up, then I'm going to try it out.  I plan on using it to jump start a new diet and exercise routine so that I'll be down to my goal size by March next year.
Went job hunting yesterday.  Filling out applications online today.  Fingers crossed.
Read through a bunch of my old short stories.  Some of them are actually pretty good.  Some are terrible.  I'm sort of feeling the mojo right now, so maybe I'll try my hand at writing something tonight.  I found a list of prompts that I had saved, and some of them sound like they'd be fun to turn into stories, so we'll see what happens.
My wanderlust has kicked in full strength again.  Ugh.  2011 can't come soon enough.  My new plan, instead of heading straight to Egypt, is to save up every spare dime I get my hands on from now until spring 2011.  Then, I'll start in the UK, make my way over to Italy, where I plan on joining a local archaeological dig, then head down to Egypt by way of the near east.  I hope to save up at least $10,000 next year to accommodate this plan.  I know it'll cost more for my grand plan, but at least with that I could get to the dig, and maybe jaunt down to Egypt from Italy if funds are becoming tight after the dig.
Of course, I need a job first.  Working on that...

My photos from the pin-up shoot came in today!  You can see them on my PL profile:

Bianca LaMore on Pinup Lifestyle

I lurve them! :D

I hope everyone had a happy Halloween! :D
I ended up going out with my sister on Halloween night.  She had been in Louisiana for a horse show, she decided to celebrate on Halloween night instead.  We met up with a bunch of her friends at Razzoo's, where we ate Cajun food and drank allot of very pink, delicious drinks.  Steffi ordered something called a Gator Bowl, which actually came in a fish bowl.  It was gigantic.  After one of those, the wait staff was finally able to convince her to do her birthday pole dance in exchange for her free dessert.  It was epic.  I, as the dutiful sister, snapped pictures to put on facebook.  :p  Being Halloween, of course, I had to dress up.  I threw on my b/w kimono top, a black skirt, and did my hair and makeup in 30s style.  A cute little Asian waitor at the restraunt asked me if I was a geisha, and then started speaking Japanese to me.  I answered as best I could in my broken Japanese.  It was very cute, and he was very attentive after that. ^^
Steffi and I went to see Paranormal Activity today, which rocked my socks off.  If you like POV scary movies like Cloverfield or Quarentine, go see this immediately.  It was fabulous.  We met up with my parents afterwards for a burger at Fred's, which is always fun.  They had live music and cold beer, and it was great fun.
All in all, a great weekend. ^^  Tomorrow I head out on the job hunt since I'm broke as hell and just getting worse.  I put in my application at Joann's the other day since the girl at the cutting counter said they were looking for help.  (Mom took me to get warm fabrics to make winter clothes out of.  :D)  I'll probably call there on Tuesday and see if they reviewed my application yet.  ~crosses fingers~
Found a place in Fort Worth that has swing dancing lessons on Tuesday nights for $5.  :D  I'm very excited.  Once I have some spare cash, I'm definitely going to check it out.  ^^

Had a busy weekend!  Went to the Japanese Festival with Dad on Saturday.  It had grown so much!  They had blocked off the parking lot so they could set up some vendors outside the garden gates, and we had to park in an alternate lot.  Mostly it was vendors like Green Mountain Energy and other such stuff, but inside the gardens they still had the traditional stuff going on, like Koto players, Taiko drumming, tea ceremony, etc.
Sunday, Dad and I drove to Bossier City to surprise my sister for her 21st birthday, at the horse show she was competing in.  For some reason, he wanted to be there at 9AM, which meant that we had to leave the house at 5!  Oi.  I slept on and off for the rest of the day.  Thank the gods I never had to drive.  ^^  We got back home around 6PM, ordered pizza, and watched a movie before we all passed out.
In other news, I now have a profile up on Model Mayhem!  It was approved earlier today, and I've started networking with photographers and other models, so we'll see where things go from here. 
Spent the day cleaning and organizing things.  I need to finish up a couple of commissions I have going and get the Elizabethan shirts finished.  I'm going out tomorrow to buy embroidery thread for the new machine, stabilizer, and some other stuff to finish the commissions.

Opinions, please!
What do you think of the name Bianca LaMore for my pin-up alias?
Comments and suggestions always welcome!

I know this website has been around a while, and I had come across it every now and then, but I finally joined up, and have become completely addicted to 43 Things.  It's really served as a great motivator.  First off, I LOVE lists, and a website to create a list of goals is right up my alley.  I've spent the last couple of days searching around the site in my spare time, finding new goals to add to my list, reading what others have done, and cheering others on.  It's a fabulous site.  There were things on there I had always wanted to do, but had no idea how to go about doing. 

Take Go on an Archaeological Dig, for example.  I've loved archaeology since I was a kid.  When I was 12, I told my dad that I wanted to be an archaeologist, and he arranged for me to go on an actual summer dig with a local university.  It was fabulous, and I've wanted to do it ever since.  But, since I'm not a grad student going for a degree in that field, I didn't know how to go about getting onto a dig.  I put Go on an Archaeological Dig onto my list and started reading what other people had done.  Then I did a bit of online searching, and I came across a website that listed all the upcoming digs for the next year, broken down by region of the world.  Each dig listed linked back to the project website, where I found volunteer information, dig fees, etc.  I'm very excited about it all, since it's something I've wanted to do for a while.  My trip to Egypt I planned for 2011 may now become a summer spent on a dig in Macedonia or at an Etruscan village outside of Florence.  ^^  And, if I manage to save the money up for it, I may combine that goal with Backpack Across Europe, something else I've always wanted to do. 

Can you tell I love that site?  I've done all sorts of research on the various goals I want to achieve so I know how to go about doing them.  There are some local things I can do (once I have a job again) that turned out not to be as expensive as I had thought they were, like bungee jumping and skydiving.

Become a Pinup Model is going well.  I had a wonderful photoshoot with Shoshana of Through the Looking Glass Studio, and I feel like I got some good photos out of it all.  The photos will be ready in about two weeks, and I can't wait to see them.  And, I may end up being the new costumer for the studio!  She's been having some problems with her current costumer, and had just started looking for someone new to work with.  She was very impressed with my Sleepy Hollow costume and the few gowns I could show her on my phone, so hopefully something will come of it! 

Anyway, getting back on track, I want to do some more pinup shoots so I can get together a nice portfolio of images, and then I'm going to pursue some modeling jobs.  I've joined Pinup Lifestyle and put up my profile so I can start making connections with photographers, clothing vendors, etc.  There's even a section on there specifically for Model Casting, so once I have a better portfolio, I'm going to start trying out for some of the available jobs. ^^  Very exciting!  In the meantime, I'm going to work on losing weight and toning my body.  I've recently learned to love my curves, but I want them to be a bit more trim and tone.

Tomorrow, I'm going out job hunting.  There's a little shop here in Weatherford that I'm hoping will hire me, but if not, then I'll keep looking.  I'm hoping that since the Christmas season is coming up, that people will be eager to hire.  I really like the idea of working in one of the locally owned shops on the square, I think it would be a nice change from working regular retail outlets like department stores and the like.  So, fingers crossed!

I really feel like I'm going through a big change right now.  Things seem to be falling into place, and I'm feeling very optimistic about the future.  I feel like I'll come home tomorrow having found a new job, and that I'll be able to start saving money for my overseas adventures and local shenanigans.  I think that within the next month I'll have booked my first pinup modeling job, and that by March of next year, I'll have reached my goal weight and gotten into shape.  Things are looking up, and I'm genuinely excited.

First off, I saw Law Abiding Citizen tonight.  Excellent movie, go see it immediately!

So anyway, went to the State Fair yesterday with the family.  The Texas State Fair is known for it's deep friend foods, of which there are new and more artery clogging varieties every year, which, of course, we have to try. 
Fried Butter = awesome.
Fried cookie dough = I think I have 20 cavities now.  Not so great.
Corny dog = mandatory.

Anyway, saw the 2010 cars, which are awesome.  The new Viper is gorgeous, and you fit in it like a glove.  Dad got to drive the new Camero on a test track.  ^^ 
We spent the majority of the day looking at cars, and finally made it around to the exhibit hall at the end of the day.  Janome and Baby Lock were set up, and we spent a good time with both vendors, before I finally decided on a Janome.  It was much cheaper, had all that I needed, and it included the digitizing software that I wanted.  The Baby Lock was a fabulous machine, but their cheapest model was twice the price and that didn't include the price of the software. :-/  Janome's price also included all the free lessons you wanted, so yeah, overall a better deal. I pick up my new machine tomorrow!  :D  I'm going to have so many embroidered gowns and stomachers, it's not even funny.  And stays!  And cauls! 

So, yeah, the crunch time I was referring to in the title was this - a friend of mine needs a gown in the shortest amount of time possible.  I've been promising her a gown for a while, and now that I have some extra fabric on hand, I think I'll make it. ^^  I'm going to see if the blue taffeta I have would be enough for a full gown, and if not, then I'll go with the green damask.  Either way, there'll be a new Elizabethan gown out of it in the next few days.  I want to see how quickly I can churn out a dress without it looking like a hot mess.  ^^

I managed to work on three of the unfinished projects from The Box - the embroidered burgundy Regency gown, the mauve Marie Antoinette gown, and the blue Elizabethan.  I have so many straight pins now! :D  All I have to do to finish them up is a zipper here, a bit of lining there, a button or two.  I'm going to try and work on some of the other projects on The List tonight.  Hooray productivity!
And, someone, please restrain me...I found this on Etsy:

I WANT TO MAKE IT.  Sooooo preeeetty.  I don't need another set of undies, but who really -needs- anything like this?  I wants it.

Anyway, the family and I are hitting the State Faire tomorrow, and I get to look at embroidery machines!  I'm SO FREAKING EXCITED!  I'm hoping Husqvarna will have their booth up again.  I bought my serger there for 40% off retail, and they had some fantastic embroidery machines there.  Fingers crossed!
Hitting the movies for Law Abiding Citizen on Friday (Gerard Butler, yum!) and the Tim Burton themed Halloween Pin-up shoot is on Saturday.  ^^  I'm nervous about the shoot since I didn't lose as much weight as I had wanted, but I did manage to lose enough to fit back into my Sleepy Hollow b/w striped dress. ^^  I'm going to bring it with me to see if she wants to use it.  Eee!  First real pinup shoot!  ~bites nails~  (This is the photog's website.)

In other news, I'm back on the job search, trying to find something part-time to keep me afloat.  In the meantime, I'm thinking of setting up an Etsy shop to sell some historical undies and such.  Hoops and panniers are easy and cheap to make, and I can make them pretty.  ^^  I won't be charging exorbitant amounts of money for them either, like the makers of the above set of undies is.  ($2,466 for that particular set. x.x)  And, with my spiffy new embroidery machine, I can make some blackworked shirts, embroidered stays, embroidered caps and cauls, and things like that. ^^  Can you tell I'm excited about the machine?

I'm trying to think up a pin-up/burlesque name.  I want my first name to be Bianca (I have a certain affinity for that name), but the last name is up in the air.  Any suggestions?

Edit: Here's a pic of my sewing/project corner!  That's the blue Elizabethan there on the dummy and table. ^^  I don't know if you can make it out, but the burgundy Regency is in the foreground there.  Sorry for the bad pic quality. ^^;

I was cleaning today and decided that I should take an inventory of The Project Box so that I can check things off as I go along.  It turned out to be much longer than I expected.  Here's the list:

-2 blackworked Elizabethan shirts
-Marie Antoinette mauve gown
-pink velvet doublet
-black & gold forepart
-burgundy embroidered Regency gown
-blue Elizabethan gown
-Titanic "Swim" gown
-green Elizabethan gown
-teal & black "Du Barry" dress
-lattice smocked detachable sleeves
-pink silk Rococo stays
-brown brocade Rococo stays
-tabs for the gold bodice
-Ashlotte
-Mina's red bustle gown
-cardboard samurai armour
-Elizabethan shift
-Calamity Jane
-striped brown Steampunk bodice

That's all that I've found, but there maybe be bits and pieces of other projects hidden amongst all the other stuff.  I'm going to work on getting one or two projects finished every week, more if the projects are very close to completion.  Wish me luck!

The purple plaid dress is finished! It's definitely not historically accurate, but I like it. It definitely looks much better on me than on a dress dummy, so here you go:


( Please ignore deplorable lack of petticoats, corset, and hair. )

Edit: Okay, so my Mom's first reaction upon seeing me in the new dress was, "You look like a Mennonite!"  (They're sort of like the Amish, but with electricity.  There's a community in the area, and my best friend's brother is a Mennonite, so we see them quite often.)  So, yeah, anyway, it makes me want to revamp the dress.  I'm not sure what I'm going to do to it yet, but I'm going to let it sit and simmer while I work on whittling down the project box list. 

Yeah, 1830s.  I didn't like the way the bodice sat when I tried it on, so I made a new bodice with a lower waistline (thank goodness for extra lengths of fabric!) and I'm liking it better.  I'm still not thrilled with it, but I think the sleeves will really pull it all together.  I also need some new petticoats for winter.  My old flannel ones are...well...old.  And for some reason, I really, really want a quilted petticoat this year!  I don't know why, but it's circling in my head and I can't get it out.  Maybe I can make a quilted petticoat out of the old flannel ones.  Recycling, not spending money I don't have, and all that. 
Speaking of flannel quilted petticoats...OMFG, why is it so cold?!?!  High of 55?  Really?  In October?  These are January temps, and I don't like it.  What are the weather gods doing?  Thankfully, it'll be 78 again by Tuesday.  It may squash any ideas of a quilted petticoat, but it may not.
Finishing up the ambiguous plaid dress, pics soon.

Yes, the medication.( Cut for icky details )

So, anyway, after the antihistamine knocked me out, I had a string of very vivid, bizarre dreams, that started out with me getting ready for my wedding because I'd gotten knocked up (WTF), went on to the new hubby and I running from dinosaurs in some fields in Peru, and ended with me in the 1920s having tea with my friends, Julian and Caroline.  O.o  It was all very strange.  I remember just before I woke up, I was wearing a white 1910s style evening gown and was crawling through a window so I could get onto a balcony cafe.  I saw this fellow that I knew was my friend Julian.  He said he was wondering if I'd ever show up, and I gave him a kiss on the cheek.  He pointed out that Caroline was at the next table, and I gave her a very...familiar...kiss, before wandering off.  At the very end of the dream, we were all sitting at another cafe in what looked like a train station.  Julian and I were chatting, he was asking after my husband (named Tom), when Caroline came up to the table, looking very stunned.  She whispered something in my ear that I don't remember, but I remember that it was very shocking.  And that was the end of it. 
So, yeah, I blame the medication.

Today is a much better day, though.  I plan to finish up the purple plaid 1820s and maybe knock out one of those unfinished projects in the project box.  I had cold pizza for breakfast, and there's a Forever Knight marathon on the Chiller channel!  Yes, I'm a dork, but I love that show.  ^^  So, the weekend is not yet lost!
Hopefully, pics tonight.

I've always had a soft spot for the 1820s.  The high waistlines, the full skirts, the leg-o-mutton sleeves.  So, you remember that purple plaid I found?  Yeah, it's halfway to being an 1820s gown.  I know the fabric isn't right for the period, but I want it anyway. :p  Finished the bodice tonight, will attach skirt, waistband, and sleeves tomorrow and it'll be finished. :D I even dusted off the old serger and finished off all my seams!  It looks so nice to have finished seams.  ^^  Pics tomorrow when it's all finished up. 

Anyone have any pics or fashion plates of mid-1800s plaid dresses?  I found 7 yards of purple and black plaid and I need a winter dress.  ^^

Haven't managed any more progress on the shirts or the doublet.  I think I've lost my steam, but I plan to get it back.  I'm not letting these end up as yet more unfinished projects!
I'm started to get excited about Christmas.  Up until now, it had just really ticked me off to see Christmas displays already, but my sister and I went to one of our favourite local shops to find birthday presents for my Mom, and they had this BEAUTIFUL room full of Christmas stuff.  It was made up like a parlour.  The walls were painted red and had white accents, there was a tree in the corner with hand-painted ornaments, there was a small table displaying some really beautiful pointsetta dishes...it was fantastic.  It made me excited for Christmas.  Steffi and I agreed that we need to start our Christmas shopping now, before the mad rush begins and people lose their minds. 
On the subject of Christmas shopping, I'm currently addicted to bidz.com.  Everyone I know will be getting something off that site.  I just bought my sister a diamond bracelet for her birthday off that site.  It rocks my socks.
Anyway, with talk of Christmas, of course, there's talk of New Year's, and of resolutions.  I hate thinking of them as resolutions because they aren't exactly.  I have some goals I'd like to acheive and some good habits I'd like to start, so here's my list of goals:

-finish every project I start.  I say this every year.  Maybe this year I'll actually do it. x.x
-save $500/month.  I know it sounds like allot, but  I have a specific goal in mind for the beginning of 2011 that I'll need those savings for.
-learn Arabic.  I'd like to be fluent by the end of the year, but I'll take conversational.
-earn my first Mary Kay car.  Za.

Did two rows of embroidery tonight.  I decided to use an Italian blackwork pattern I had in one of my binders, which is going really quickly. ^^  Progress pic!


The pin there in the middle marks the centre front.  I don't know why the pattern looks all wide toward the bottom...maybe I shouldn't take pictures upside down.  :p  There'll eventually be two more rows of embroidery on each side of the shirt front, and rows on the sleeves.  Hopefully it shouldn't take too long. ^^

The green fabric came in today!  It's soooo preeeetty.  It's actually more tone on tone than anything else, which works out much better than the gold/green that it looked in the pictures.  Now I just have to wait for the auction to end of the silver silk I'm bidding on and for the trim to come in, and work can commence!  Huzzah!
I'm going to try to finish one of the Elizabethan shirts today and hopefully get halfway through the other one.  I really want to get the shirts finished before I start on any of the embroidery since I don't want to burn out on the embroidery and then never finish the other shirt. ^^;  Now I just have to decide on an embroidery pattern...
Pick a pattern, any pattern!