I didn’t take that many pictures this month, a product of working too much and poor mental health. The weather seems to be making a proper turn for the better finally, and I have a couple trips planned. One of my new friends said that if you are choosing to live here for the career opportunities rather than because you love the north then you need to plan regular trips for your sanity. And I took that to heart. I’ve got a post coming with my trip planning (I meant it to go up yesterday but I couldn’t get it together in time).
If you needlepoint and are on Instagram you need to follow @ndlptnation, they also have a Facebook group, but it’s one of the only internet “communities” I really consider myself to be part of. One of the founders, Mollie, does a monthly “Needlepoint White Whale” on the first of each month. I participated in the March one, but being in Canada of course it took until April to get here. I am so excited to have these.
So the long story here is that I ordered these in February 2021 from the designer’s Etsy page, not knowing that she had a bit of a history in the needlepoint community for not always fulfilling orders. At first I never got a shipping notification, I let it go until like May, when I reached out to her saying that I had never received it, nor even received a shipping notification. This went back and forwards for a bit. I never got official shipping notification for it, and while she did message me a tracking number in our chat, it got delivered to Virginia. Then in the NDLPT Nation Facebook group a conversation got started about when to ask a seller for a refund. No one said the designer’s name, but as the conversation got started it became obvious to everyone that had dealt with her which designer it was. And it ended with her closing her shop. I had to go through Etsy arbitration to get my money back. But there were dozens of people who had had the same experience. There were people who had been waiting over a year for their orders, it really blew my mind that just because something is a craft or art sellers can get away with not filling orders of items they claim are in stock and available.
The big April snowstorm, it was only about half the snow we were expecting, but still way more than I wanted to see. And it snowed for like a week after. Heck, it snowed yesterday.
I’ve been looking for this as a GIF to include in some of my Outfit of the Week posts where the outfit repeating is particularly egregious (sorry it’s hard to be creative on the third month of -30).
I have been sometimes opening the windows when I go home to check on Montana to air it out. It feels very stale in there at the moment, I can’t wait to clean and air it out properly this weekend.
I had the most fun making an afternoon tea for Easter Monday. It was really nice to do something a little fancy. I also am glad to have found a scone recipe that I like.
This is a beach, if you can believe it.
Those are all the pictures I took this month, so that’s it. I’m really excited to have proper plans coming up and we’re supposed to have double digit temps this weekend and I really need better weather to happen. I also have a consult for Lasik, which I’m excited and nervous about. It’s been something I’ve wanted for so long, I don’t know how I’ll react if I’m not a candidate.
Here’s to real spring, not fake spring,
Laura
Thoughtful Millennial 