The best advice

I have been given a lot of advice through the years.  Some of it I have followed and some of it I haven't.  There are nuggets of wisdom I wish I hadn't ignored and other little pieces of "sage advice" I wish I had never listened to.  That being said, I think the most important thing that has been instilled in me is that you should dedicate your time and "play" money to things that you love.  I'm not saying that you can ignore your responsibilities and financial obligations in favor of spending all your time and money on your hobbies, to be certain, but life is too short to do things you hate just because you think you're supposed to do them.  So what kind of things do I love?  

Well, I love to sing.  So music takes up a lot of my free time.  I love to create.  I have spent a lot of time and money on sewing and crafting.  I also love spending time with friends and going on adventures.  Case in point:  this weekend I went to the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire with a group of friends and had an absolute BLAST.  So much fun.  I am one of THOSE people at the faire.  The ones in costume who run around with a lot of other people in costume.  When my friend Matt is there in his full knight get up, it gets even more awesome because half of the people there are convinced that with a band of costumed groupies as large as ours, we have to be part of the staff, right?  If only they knew... 

I was AWOL for most of last week because when I wasn't working, I was working on costume stuff for myself, Jackie, and Aaron so we could be the most awesomely awesome people there.  Seriously.  We rocked it.  

Look at us being all awesome and stuff!

That being said, I learned something important at the Faire:  my well made, steel boned bodice is not made for someone who is 5'2".  How do I know this?  Those steel bones that make me look oh-so-svelte in that image were stabbing me in the arm pit all flipping day and cut off the circulation to my arms at one point.  I must have worn it pulled farther down over my hips last time because Saturday I thought I was going to have blisters in my armpits.  Which is more than you wanted to know.  But I looked awesome.  So my next major-major sewing project will likely be a custom corset scaled properly for someone of my height.  And also reversible.  

Jackie and I capped off our journey to the past by staying over in a hotel in King of Prussia with the LOUDEST FLIPPING AIR CONDITIONER ON THE PLANET.  It was like a truck driving through our room every half an hour, waking us both up.  Oh well.  Breakfast, while delicious, was also populated by way too many children at the waffle maker, and consumed on a sticky table after a couple stole the table I had reserved by placing my coffee on it.  Apparently this was ineffectual.  Oh well.  

The shopping senses of most women were probably activated by the "King of Prussia" mention there.  Yes, the same place as the mall.  Yes, we went shopping.  I learned that in the year since I have been to KOP, both the H&M and the Forever21 have greatly expanded.  I also learned that my friend Aaron has killer fashion sense.  It was scary have a straight man go "yes, that would look great" and "no, you'll look really old in that.  Don't do it" and be right. EVERY. SINGLE.  TIME.  Like the dress HERE.  I tried one on very similar.  Aaron said "No.  That will make you look like a middle aged soccer mom.  Don't do it."  ...To say how I looked in that dress would be an insult to all soccer moms out there.  It was bad.  He was also right about a top I wasn't going to give the time of day.  It looked fantastic on me.  And he also told me flowers in my hair are a good look for me.  

Also involved in the weekend festivities was a trip to Godiva (YUM) and to IKEA where adventures were had.  I was exhausted upon arriving home last night.  Too much excitement in one day makes Caitlin a tired girl.  That being said, I wouldn't trade any of it, nor would I do a single thing differently (other than stay in a hotel that didn't have an extremely loud AC).  

This week marks the start of my new job which is both exciting and terrifying.  So sorry if I disappear again.  I promise, it's because I'm doing really cool stuff.

Blessings!