A Wistful Wednesday

I've been doing a lot of and wishing and wanting and wisting lately, which is unfortunate, seeing as our Berkeley bills are already putting us in a State-of-California-esque budget crisis.

Can't stop an overactive imagination though.

For instance, I am daydreaming that I will suddenly come into a great fortune.  My first act as my rich self will be to casually offer some outrageous sum to the "current owner" of this Jen Corace piece, because I simply must have it for my collection.

Awkward in Any Situation by Jen Corace

Image Courtesy of Art Star

Miss Corace, hearing of this, will naturally wish to meet her mysterious admirer, and we will meet for tea to discuss children's book illustration. She'll find me utterly charming and insist upon drawing me as a 10 times more adorable person in Victorian costume, possibly entangled in a giant octopus. I'll very graciously say, "HELL YES."

***

As my lunch break ends, so does my day dream. But I'm still pondering scrounging for $32 to buy a calendar...

Image Courtesy of Art Star

A Little More Bunny Love

While I've been online shopping for basics for the new place, I've found it hard to keep my focus. I go to Anthropologie for a shower curtain, and the next thing I know I'm dreamily clicking through sumptuous sheet sets and furniture that wouldn't even fit in the door. I'm also loving that the animal decor trend is continuing- you know I go ga-ga over this stuff! However, since we're making a move to a rather expensive locale, my budget has constricted (and so has the size of my apartment).

No matter how cute they are, I am not allowed to buy these rabbity things.

Not even if they remind me of Christmas as a kid...

West Elm's White Jackrabbit Snowglobe

Not even the cheeky little guys would be so perfect peeking out among my children's book collection- just right for a nursery someday.

Painted Cast Iron Bunny Bookends at Venucci

And not even if I've wanted them for a reallllly lonnnnng tiiiiime, and they're finally back in stock.

White Bunnies, also from Venucci.

I will resist. I will resist. I will resist...

Cataloguing My Most Wanted

Between several moves in the last few years and neighbors who "sort" my mail, I never seem to get many catalogues in the post. This is too bad, because there are few things in life that make me happier than diving into a stack of glossy catalogues. With my favorites, like Anthropologie, it's fun to imagine what I'd pick if I were allowed to choose one item from each page. With unsolicited kitsch catalogues, its even more fun to try to find one item on each page that I wouldn't want to throw on a bonfire.

To get my catalogue fix, I visit my Mom, who is always willing to share her veritable bounty of catalogues with me. She gets the good stuff, like Boden and Sundance and Garnet Hill. Here's what I'm oohing and ahhing over at the moment.

I've got Fall Fashion on the brain, and I'm feeling uninspired by my pile of drab black turtlenecks (speaking of throwing things on the bon fire... sheesh). I'm in the market for embellished layering pieces with 3/4 length sleeves that can take me through several seasons. I'm keeping an eye on these sweet cardigans from Boden:

The Cheeky Cable Cardigan in green.

"Cheeky" is the perfect descriptor. I'd pair this with a denim skirt and chunky boots. And a chai latte...

The Rosebud Cardigan in grey.

Yeah, the pink is cute, but the grey is so romantic!

Okay, this next one doesn't really count, since I'm already oohing and ahhing at it on my vanity desk. I couldn't help myself, I'd been waiting for the Sundance Catalogue's Jewelry Arbor to go back in stock forever!

It's a great design that keeps everything tangle-free.

In combination with my branch mirror, it's giving my vanity a fairy tale vibe.

This last item on the wish list is giving me fits. I had JUST decided on a neutral color scheme for my bedroom when I found this picture:

I could rave forever about this image, but let's focus on what money could buy me.

The Garnet Hill Barcelona Quilt & Sham.

Those are my accent colors! And the pattern is such a good match for my headboard panel...

Anyway, I couldn't possibly consider spending $250 on a quilt. It's ridiculous! It's probably not feasible. It would take a lot of saving. I might do it.

Stop Whining.

NOTE: Here's something you didn't know about me! I'm intensely allergic to mosquito bites! That's right, I suffer from an affliction that combines symptoms of hay fever with massive Quasimodo-esque deformities and rabid grouchiness. This time around I didn't feel so hot and looked worse, since some particularly malicious winged insect elected to bite my face. Picture me with half a jawbone transplant from Luke Wilson. Anyway. The point of this note is that I had a little trouble blogging through the quicksand of Benadryl (non-drowsy my ass), and I apparently hit "Save" instead of "Post." So this post is a bit late. Bite me.

On second thought, please don't- I'm probably allergic.

Recently, feeling lethargic and completely unmotivated, I indulged in a few hours of free movie channel. I found myself watching Reality Bites... and I found myself completely enthralled.

What started off as snarky amusement at the dated technology and fresh-faced actors turned into amazement that a film about Generation X could still be so potent for my generation. Scene after scene was achingly familiar. I watched Lelaina Pierce's idealism disintegrate into cynicism after a string of fruitless interviews, and I thought- "That was me... minus the chain-smoking!"

Adam and I have come a loooong way- it's hard to believe that just over a year ago we spent our last pennies (literally) to make a desperate pilgrimage from Spokane to Seattle. Last year we were a cook and a bookseller, emptying our bank account each month to make rent and dining finely on Top Ramen.

Today? We have good jobs. We save money with religious fanaticism. We allow for little luxuries like weekly bouquets and prosciutto for Matilda.

And for us too... yum.

And yet... we're still grappling with twenty-something angst in an economy that isn't going to do us any favors. We're facing the traditional quarter-life identity crisis x 10: because it's no longer just a matter of hunting for career in your field, it's about realizing that your field may not exist tomorrow (design mag editor). We're finding out there's no guarantee that ingenuity and 60 hours per week can get you to the middle class American Dream- but we're busting our butts anyway. Reality bites, man.

We have jobs, but we don't have careers. Our savings seems pathetic next to a heap of student loan payments. I feel a stab of guilt every time I furnish my apartment instead of my bank account.

There it is, in black and white.

Though we sacrificed the low-paying creative jobs that we loved in order to put away for the future, our efforts seem insufficient to fund even our modest goals. We're not talking fame and fortune here- I want an old house to make new, a handful of bourgeois children with matching college funds, a big dog, a car that gets me here and there, a small business with my name on it. It has occurred to me that I might have to start erasing things from this list, and that makes my stomach hurt. Are my dreams incompatible with the times- or with each other? Will I have to stifle my imagination to breathe comfortably financially? If so, what's the point?

Fiiiiine, I'm almost done!

I think that today's economy, while universally depressing, might be particularly crushing to the young creative types. So I'd love to hear from all you young creative types out there. What are you doing to ride this out?

As for Adam and I, we're going to hold onto our good jobs with a death grip, put away $1,000 every month, and pray for a visit from Publisher's Clearing House (though I suppose we'd have to enter first, eh?). And we're going to keep blogging so that our art-starved little souls don't wither away.