Another Closing Chapter.

I won't lie. I am so emotional when it comes to "moving on". When I moved out of my parent's house, I cried for days. I was 21 and living an hour away in a city where I barely knew anyone. I didn't even know how to work the busses. I missed my dogs, my bed, my room, my backyard.. everything. When I moved into my second apartment, I wasn't really leaving too much behind. I had the same roommate, the same stuff, just a better place.

Now in three weeks (which will go by extremely fast)  I will be leaving more behind. My roommate is moving to Wisconsin, I'm leaving the city (if only for 3 months) and everything I've come accustomed to over the past 2 years. No more busses, no more el, no more biking with ease. Hello, suburbia.

I'm technically moving back home. I'll actually be staying at Juli's place for the month of June (still in Chicago) and in July, I'll be backpacking through central america. I'm not planning too much out for when I get back, but I know (or at least I hope) I can figure out a way back to Logan Square. It won't be the same, though. and I know that when I leave this apartment & my roommate, I will be so sad.

For a small moment in time when these things happen, I feel miserable. I feel depressed and sad and I long for the year before when we didn't know what the future would bring. I miss the very bedroom I have grown to despise (because it's the size of a closet) and I think that nothing will ever be the same.

But, with everything, it passes. I miss it for awhile, I miss the routine, but things always get better. I'm moving & traveling because it's what I want to do and it's a great opportunity. I plan on coming back to Logan Square (because I can't imagine living anywhere else in the city) and I know that I'll jump right back into a routine - probably a better one.

a deadly sin.

 

This morning, even though I biked to school instead of taking the el (can you believe it takes the SAME amount of time!?) I was early to class. As I sat down to get my books out to start studying, I was joined by another classmate of mine. We started talking about things, like Chicago, California, school, and then work. I don't know how we got on the topic, but I had mentioned that money alone doesn't motivate me and how I don't really need nice things. She responded with "Oh not me, I'm so greedy".

I don't know why, but that comment struck me as so unappealing. I never thought I'd hear someone boast on how greedy they were, or talk about it like it was a good thing. Yet she talked about how she lives in a nice place and wants to be famous and likes nice things and just wants a lot of money. None of this is a bad thing, it just made me realize I'm in a totally different world. (Which, I gotta say, I'm totally okay with.)

Money is complicated. I have always much preferred trading (although I will be honest, I am not a good candidate to trade on Etsy. Since I don't personally NEED things and try not to get things that I don't really want, I almost never trade - but i AM open to it so PLEASE ask!) or bartering. I think you get more out of life that way. But, that's just me and I am not in any way saying that this way is better than $$. It is just who I am!

A good thing that happened today: for some reason, several students asked me how old I was. I said 23. They were all shocked and said I looked younger. Win!


until next time,
marjie

cordinated craft show!

Last week, I helped Juli of Cordinated Cables with her 2nd ever craft show! Columbia college was hosting a "DIY event" and invited local artists to come show off their goods. It was fun! We sat next to the Red Bull booth which was promoting "can art" or something. They were giving away free Red Bull. I'm not really a fan.. at all... but it was freeeee.. plus they had Sugar Free Red Bull so I had to try it! Nope, still don't like it.. Sorry!

Anyway.. Juli had a great display and we met some cool people! No cords were sold, but it was fun doing mad libs and conversing with kids (the kids who are all my age or 2 years younger hah). The place also gave us free [delicious] food! epic greatness x 10!


setting up


cordinated cords! literally, we cordinated them by color. MIND BLOWING!


this is me having fun with my 4 year old camera!



If you haven't already, PLEASE check out Cordinated Cables! Even if you don't play any instruments, do it. They make amazing gifts for your rock star girlfriend.. or boyfriend.. hehe. and they are unique and colorful!

This one is my favorite:
 


until next time!!!
xoxo
Marjie

fishing boats.

fishing boats.

koh tao (turtle island) thailand

june, 2007

facebook ads

A few days ago, I was sitting here surfing the web and I just thought I'd see where the "Promote your page" button would take me on Facebook. Before I knew it, I had my credit card out and I was placing an ad! This entry is all about that in-between process.

Facebook ads, and I'm sure there are plenty of helpful links on FB explaining this - are fairly easy to figure out. You write a description of what you're advertising ("Affordable and colorful Vintage Clothing and Accessories by Marjie W! New items added daily!"), upload a photo and choose where you want your ad to link. For me, I chose my Facebook page, simply because people can become "fans" (or whatever the term is these days) right away. You have to be a member of Etsy to favorite a shop, and a lot of people don't feel like going through that process just to be like "I want to favorite this shop!" Sure, they might see my shop and say "oh my gosh I NEED to buy this!" but I figured I'd just play it safe and link it to my FB page.

You can choose to pay by clicks or per 1,000 impressions. I chose impressions because I know there will be tons of clicks and not a lot of saving-of-the-page going on. I pay .28 per 1,000 impressions. You can bid on how much you want to pay - I actually just changed my bid to .25 to see what happens. I will let you know.

Another cool thing is that YOU set your target market by putting in keywords. Since I am very international-shipping friendly, I chose to target a couple different countries. I added a lot of tags such as "vintage clothing, 80s, retro" etc. to narrow it down. Just put what works for you! And the great part is that you can always go back and change the ad! If you don't like the photo you chose or you'd like it to say something else, it's easy to manage!

So far I've noticed about 17-20 new fans. It's great! I really have no idea how many sales are from fans, but I don't really mind. I set it to charge me $2.00 a day so that's a couple thousand impressions. I think it is totally worth it to try and you don't really lose that much money!

Good luck and let me know how it goes! xox
Marjie

http://www.facebook.com/xopianosaurus?ref=ts

PARTY! + bake sale + craft show + hockey.

Yesterday was my party + craft show! Juli, Shannon and I set up tables in my apartment with all of our vintage and crafts on display for people to come and look, have a drink and buy some baked goods. At first I was quite worried that it wasn't going to work - we have sooo much stuff in our apartment, it isn't even funny. But before everyone got there, I moved some pieces of furniture and books down to the basement & gave my mom things to take home (I'm moving home for the summer, and we're all moving out at the end of May) and because I did all that, it really did work perfectly.

It was $5 for all you can drink (we spent about $70 on beer and drinks and mixes) and all the proceeds from the bake sale went to help out a great animal rescue group called Triple R Pets. They work a lot with Feral Cats and TNR'ing them. (trap-neuter-return - it is the root of the animal overpopulation problem! Once the feral cats are fixed, that's one less litter of kittens ending up in a shelter!) We raised $20 for them, which is great!


donation dino + cupcakes! thank you, mom, for baking all of these AND the 100 cookies!

Shannon sold 6.. yes SIX!! of her amazing bead art frames. It definitely helps that our entire circle of friends are either IN the video game industry or love video games! Juli sold a cord to my neighbor! and I sold my pac man coasters + a dress that I had hanging up in my mini indoor garage sale.


andy is always so happy.

my table:
I didn't put much out because I was so busy putting everything together and being a host!


shannon & her table of bead art!

cords and vintage!


garage sale!


some more of my stuff. i love my tablecloths!


All in all it was super fun! The party was put on pause for the Hawks/Canucks game, but after that we played Apples to Apples and hung out some more. It was so fun and I know this won't be the last time we do something like this!! Enjoy the photos - they were taken by Juli, of course!

rickety bridge.

Nha Trang, Vietnam

July, 2007