NYC updaaaate

Holy toledo.

I can't believe it's been four months since my last entry. It's been crazy since I've arrived in NYC. Jess and I were hired right away for a seasonal job at Macy's for about two months. However glamorous that may seem, being employed at that cesspool was the shittiest work experience I've had to endure my entire life. Some of my fellow employees were so vapid, they actually worked like we received commission for every sale we made, even though we didn't. We only made eight dollars an hour to have greedy assholes, disgruntled customers, and moronic managers yell at us in front of everyone. That pay pretty much only covered coffee and a pass for the train. The animosity really wasn't worth the lousy paycheck. This was the first job I have ever walked out on. Seriously.

My body rejected Macy's.

While I was having lunch on Christmas Eve, watching all the drones pass by, I found my body gravitating towards the Macy's employee exit. My mind kept yelling at my body
"NO! You're better than this, body of mine! I beckon you! Beseech you, even! Stay until the end of your shift!" But I kept walking. My mind continued to scream, telling me I needed the money, that I have too much integrity to leave in such an inconsiderate manner...but then my fist punched my face to quiet my mind's inane thoughts and my body walked me straight out of that temple of horrors.

I then proceeded to have the best Christmas ever.

Jess, Nick and I played rockband, drank spirits, and opened presents all night long. It was a blast. There was absolutely no pressure to maintain tradition, feign interest in what my rude extended family had to say, or wake up at a god awful early hour.

I was extremely excited about seeing Jess and Nick's faces when they opened the presents I made them. For Nick, I created a half-poney half-monkey monster to please him (please listen to Jonathan Coultan's song "Skullcrusher Mountain" so that you may feel enlightened...and better as a person overall).





I painted a flask for Jess that says "MILK". She had always wanted a flask that represented her drinking habits, so I made that flask in honor of her love for dairy. I was so pleased with how the flask came out, I plan to paint more flasks in the future.



As for my own personal work, I've been in a sort of stalemate with my creativity. Not because I don't have any ideas, but because I'm unable to find a place to execute my work. For some reason, I have to be in an environment that feels right, otherwise I just sit and stare at my monitor, or canvas, and draw a blank. It's the weirdest thing. It's not that I haven't been creating anything. I have been, but not for myself. I've been making things for other people, and because of that, I've been sort of hard on myself. I'm hoping that within the next month I'll be back in the swing of things and have more of my own personal work to share, not only here, but on Etsy and my website.

I'm going to close this blog with images of the other things I've created since I came to NYC. I will write more about the more positive things that are going on now that Jess and I are finally settling in, thanks to our new, and much better jobs.

I love and miss you all. I hope you're doing well and wish to hear from you soon <3

Love,

Shayna