Finalized dress plan!

So excited right now, the dress design got approved by the boss ladies today.  I'll be making this dress found here but adding sleeves similar to this dress (minus the pagoda sleeves).  As of now the plan is to go with a white cotton with a small floral print.  More specifics when I get the actual fabric shopping done.

There will also be a new petticoat to go with it and a nice collar too.

History FAIL

I made one today and I felt horrible.  Since I do not have appropriate footwear for 1852 I've been wearing a pair of little ballet flats (hey better than tennis shoes, right?).  Well today I was in such a rush to get going at work that I didn't bother to roll up my pants, put on a petticoat, and I forgot my shoes.  I felt bad none-the-less though.  Mostly because last weekend when I was sitting on a rock reading I was snickering into my book about a few women that only half-assed their outfits. Fortunately I'm getting enough hours now that I can actually continue on with making an appropriate outfit for work.

Which brings me to the real point of writing this.  Has anyone ever seen photos of or heard of a work dress for 1850-52 that had short sleeves?  I'm trying to be as accurate as possible and still maintain the ease of being able to do my job.

Some thoughts from a disgruntled young person

Today's economy is horrible.  I know we all already knew that, but I felt the need to say it again.  It's like there is no hope for young recent college graduates to find jobs that will provide for them in the future.  I know for me personally, if I knew now what I didn't as a high school senior I would have done things very different.  It does not matter if you went to college and got a degree of any kind unless it's something you can use.  I got a BA in History with the intention of someday teaching.  Not going to happen since they're firing teachers, not hiring them.

What got me even more is this.  I thought long and hard about what I could do to remedy the situation that I had no career.  I was working at the same job I was in high school and for the same wages.  Then I got a new job (which I still love) but am earning even less per week there than I did at the one I did in high school.  So I thought, hey, I'll go back and get an AA in business admin or an accounting certificate or something useful.  Nope.

Thwarted at every turn.  Come to find out there is no financial aid available to students seeking such a degree as I wanted to if you have already earned the illusive BA in (insert useless subject here) that provides you with no career/job prospects.  Isn't that cheerful?  I could possibly take out loans, but that doesn't help my current situation.  I'd have to pay out of pocket to take classes to get another piece of paper to possibly have a snowball's chance in hell for a career that might pay the bills.  The whole reason I wanted to go back to school was so I could get a job that did pay money since I am lacking that.  Come to find out you have to have money to do that, which is a self perpetuating cycle of fail for me.

I'm stuck.  I try to do something to better my chances in life and I'm blocked.  I'm not allowed to because I'm a broke college graduate with no career and no real chance of using the BA in History that I worked so hard for and paid so much for.  Maybe the FAFSA website should have a disclaimer to new college students: BE VERY SELECTIVE ABOUT WHAT SUBJECT YOU STUDY.  You will only get one chance and if you screw up then nobody cares.

Wish somebody had told me that.  It seems to me that we're setting some of the brightest young minds in the country up for failure because they chose to educate themselves about a subject they were interested in rather than one that would make them money.  So if everyone stops doing that will we forget our history?

Nice to know that education has become so restricted.

List of house things. lots of work ahead

Long-term plans
KITCHEN:
- Add yellow and white ceramic tile to counter tops and a back-splash to replace cheap OSH from 1990s remodel
- Embroider white linen curtains in yellow thread as a keepsake
- Redo the tile on the floor in either black or white.   completed April 2013
- New refrigerator in a vintage style that actually matches
- Acquire 1950s cooking implements (all Foley brand if possible with red wooden handles)
- Add Drawer pulls for cabinets and drawers       completed May 2011

BEDROOM
- Replace windows so they're not broken
- carpet
- new closet doors and organization system for closet

BATHROOM
- Remove plastic shower insert and retile in ceramic tile
- Redo flooring
- Remove counters and replace with pedestal sink, shelves, and tall cabinet piece
- Remove door to "closet" and replace with wall like it originally was
- Install a ventilation system
- Replace the window so it won't be rotten

SPARE BEDROOM
- Remove the wardrobe that was added in 1990s remodel
- Knock down the wall to gain access to the original closet

LIVING ROOM
- Recarpet
- Remove WalMart particle board bookshelves and replace with permanent wood ones that are attached to the wall (floor to ceiling)
- Arrange Mark's stereo stuff on the other wall
- Replace the window with better glass and weather stripping
- Replace door with a  new one so you can't see daylight around the perimeter