JessterRoux

I'm a 23-year-old college student studying English at Penn State. I was born in California, grew up in Arkansas, then moved to Pennsylvania. I consider myself a Southern girl at heart. I'm a very laid-back, happy-go-lucky person. I am in love with my Chihuahua, Carmella. I am an old soul.

My dream is to work in the publishing industry as an aquisitions editor. They're the ones who receive manuscripts and decide whether to toss them or send them to the higher-ups. I would also love to someday be published myself.

UPDATE: 8/12/2010 I want to apologize to everyone who is waiting on a swap for me. I've been sick for much of the summer and just got too overzealous on signing up for swaps. I am working on remedying this quickly. Also, I'm working on rating all the swaps that I received. If you're waiting on a rating, I am sorry and I will get to it ASAP!

I always send my swaps. If for some reason, you don't receive one of my swaps, it is most likely a post office error. Please contact me before you rate me. I will be completely happy to re-send.

Also, I will always rate swaps I receive. It's courteous because it lets the sender know you received your package. I'm a very patient person and understand that life happens. If you're going to be late, all I ask is that you let me know!

what I pledged

Jeff Buckley, The Beatles, DeVotchKa, Brand New, old French music, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Sublime, Cat Stevens, The Rolling Stones, musicals, Billy Joel, Joe Nichols, Kings of Leon, Lady GaGa, Radiohead, The Stone Roses, Justin Timberlake, Eric Clapton, oldies (especially bubblegum & doo wop), Elvis, CCR, acoustic, grunge

Jhumpa Lahiri, Truman Capote, Bill Bryson, Jane Austen, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Chuck Klosterman, Jonathan Safran Foer, Like Water For Chocolate, A Tale Of Two Cities, Memoirs of a Geisha, To Kill A Mockingbird, Ernest Hemingway, e.e. cummings, Robert Hass, The Odyssey, cultural books, memoirs, travel narratives, Sookie Stackhouse books, books about European monarchy (Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette, Henry VIII, Mary Queen of Scots, House of Windsor, Nicholas and Alexandra, etc.)

Benny & Joon, Chocolat, Moulin Rouge, Bridget Jones's Diary, The Darjeeling Limited, Rushmore, Clue, Mean Girls, Roman Holiday, Sabrina, How To Steal A Million, My Fair Lady, Breakfast At Tiffany's, Shopgirl, Pride & Prejudice (BBC), Julie & Julia, Little Miss Sunshine, Beauty & The Beast, Ratatouille, Shooter, The Philadelphia Story, It Happened One Night, Mr. Smith Goes To Washington, Gattaca, Pirates of the Caribbean, Crash, Cry Baby, Love Actually, Gone With the Wind, Boogie Nights, Dirty Dancing, Kate & Leopold, Across The Universe, People Will Talk, Marie Antoinette

The Office, Lost, Gossip Girl, I Love Lucy, 21 Jump Street, Law & Order: SVU, Dexter, Project Runway, Golden Girls, True Blood, Food Network, Boy Meets World, White Collar, Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations, documentaries

Scrapbooking, paper crafts, Sculpey, jewelry-making, sewing, journaling, knitting, felted soaps & rubber stamping...I also just recently got into hand-carving my own rubber stamps!

I've always wanted to learn how to quilt!

FOODS: recipes, recipe cards, hot drinks, spices, dry mixes, chocolate, candy, drink mixes, BBQ sauce, hot sauce, jams & jellies, kitchen gadgets, tea towels, cookie cutters, cookie presses, dishcloths, soup mixes

I am a total foodie!

POSTCARDS: recipes, places (especially Europe), humorous, photography, vintage, artistic, art nouveau, nature, handmade, animals (especially Chihuahuas), Americana, quotes, castles, anything French, mapcards, touristy

I honestly will enjoy anything you send me! I am very difficult to offend. Nudity doesn't bother me in art. I would just love to see what YOU like!

Also, I prefer my postcards naked with a nice message/quote/poem/recipe...whatever floats your boat!

ART: art nouveau, modern, photography, Southwestern, Mexican, Salvador Dali, Vincent Van Gogh, Giuseppe Arcimboldo, Degas, Theophile Steinlen, Rodin, Picasso, Toulouse-Lautrec, Rafal Olbinski, Botticelli

I don't mind nudity in art, as long as it's tasteful.

PLACES: Paris, Belgium, France, Scotland, American South, New Orleans, San Diego, Greece, Europe, Egypt, South America

I love receiving all items from these areas and other countries! Touristy things, area-specific items, candies, stamps, ads, children's books, souvenirs, souvenir pennies, magazines, postcards, etc.

CHARACTERS: Disney's Beauty & the Beast, Disney's Ratatouille, Disney's Robin Hood, Disney's The Little Mermaid, Tintin, Jack Sparrow, Chococat, Spottie Dottie, Deery Lou, Cinnamoroll, Tenorikuma, Hello Kitty, Charmmy Kitty, Chibimaru, Sugarbunnies, TRUE BLOOD (especially Sookie/Eric), The Little Prince, gnomes, sock monkeys, Alice in Wonderland, Matryoshka dolls, mermaids

ACTORS: Johnny Depp, Cary Grant, Audrey Hepburn, Gregory Peck, Katharine Hepburn, Jimmy Stewart, Lucille Ball, Alexander Skarsgaard, Colin Firth, Hugh Grant, Kate Winslet, Matt Bomer, Nicole Kidman, Hugh Jackman, Adrien Brody

SCENTS: Citrus, Vanilla, Tropical, Fresh, Apple, Amber, Pumpkin, Cinnamon, Lavender, Baked Goods, Herbal

CRAFT SUPPLIES: Sculpey, Fimo, rubber stamps, clear stamps, ink pads, embellishments, brads, scrapbook papers, stickers, origami paper, rub-ons, ribbon, bottle caps, matchboxes, glitter glue, Scrabble tiles, tracing paper, beads, buttons, yarn, yarn scraps, knitting patterns, wool roving

ARTS/CRAFTS: I love just about anything handmade! Stuffies, crocheted & knitted items, ATCs, magnets, bookmarks, jewelry, collages, origami lucky stars, matchboxes, whimsy jars, papercrafts, ANYTHING!!

EPHEMERA: paper scraps (as long as they're nice), vintage, old magazine and newspaper clippings, wine labels, corks, old photos, old ads (50's, early 20th century, art nouveau, foreign), ticket stubs, used postcards, used stamps, maps

ANIMALS: dogs (especially Chihuahuas, French Bulldogs and Shelties), cats, polar bears, foxes (especially Fennec foxes), deer, armadillos, bees, razorbacks, squirrels, woodland critters, bunnies, blue jays, hummingbirds

HOT DRINKS: tea of any kind (as long as it doesn't have licorice or anise flavors), loose tea, flavored and plain coffees, coffee beans, hot cocoa of any kind, mugs, spoons, tea diffusers, apple cider packets

BATH & SPA: bar soaps, milled soaps, handmade soaps, hotel soaps, body wash, bubble bath, bath bombs, bath salts, body butter, Bath & Body Works, candles, handmade candles, lip balm, chap stick, socks (size 9), beeswax items, rose milled soap, sachets, shower poufs, nail polish

TRINKETS: anything vintage, old bottles and jars, Matryoshka dolls, skeleton keys, charms, worry dolls, sea glass, seashells, anything kitschy, music boxes, souvenir pressed pennies

OFFICE SUPPLIES: pens, fineliners, gel pens, fun paper clips, memo pads, post-its, stationery, letter sets, note cards, greeting cards, postcards, markers, stickers, deco tape, glue sticks, blank journals, handmade journals, Moleskine

THEMES: Old Hollywood, Paris, beach, shabby chic, Southwest, cactus, France, Southern (NOT Confederate, please), kitsch, Christian, Yankees, Penn State, University of Arkansas, vintage, travel, classic fairy tale (i.e. Little Red Riding Hood, not fantasy/fairies), Scandinavian, Cajun, New Orleans, maps, retro, Marie Antoinette, royalty, French cottage style, nautical, toile, cupcakes

COLORS & COLOR COMBOS: pink, coral, turquoise, red, blue, purples, bold, pastels, red/aqua, red/white, pink/brown, turquoise/brown, sunset colors, navy/white, glittery, sparkly, iridescent

RECIPES: seafood, Southern, Cajun/Creole, international cuisine, pies, stews, chili, regional, spicy, sauces, veggie, pretty much ANYTHING!!

I don't mind cooking with alcohol. W.C. Fields said it best: "I cook with wine; sometimes I even add it to the food."

I will try just about anything once, but please note that I don't eat organs/leftovers like liver, tripe, blood pudding, haggis, etc. That is the one thing I can't do!

NATURE: sunsets, cacti, tulips, succulents, ivy, roses, daisies, orchids, lilies, water, seashore, seasons, desert, forest, palm trees, bayou, fruit, marine life, wildflowers, cherry blossoms, mimosas, honeysuckle, mushrooms, vineyards

When I say "nature", I mean items featuring nature...please don't send me a pot of daisies, lol. Although I would love seed packets!

BOOKS: biographies, memoirs, humor, puzzle books (especially logic, crossword, word find, lateral thinking), classic literature, literary fiction, cultural books, travel memoirs, short stories, mysteries, your used magazines (anything fashion, with beautiful photographs, literary, recipes, women's, nature), poetry, dystopian & anti-utopian novels, prose

I will read ANYTHING! Check my Fave Books for the authors I enjoy.

CHILDREN'S BOOKS: Several years ago I lost all the books from my childhood in a basement flood. I was saving the books for my future children. I've slowly been collecting some of my favorite kid's books, so any you'd be able to send me would mean a lot. I don't care if they're used, scribbled in, etc.

I love Jan Brett, Curious George, Dr. Seuss, Babar, Eric Carle, Lane Smith, Gerald McDermott, fairy tales, folk tales, Paul O. Zelinsky, Shel Silverstein, Chris Van Allsburg, Bernstein Bears, Maurice Sendak, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie series, Bill Martin Jr., Arthur, American Girl, Boxcar Children, Nancy Drew, Frank Asch, Babysitter's Club, any of your favorites!

MISC.: music mixes (surprise me, I have eclectic tastes), anything lacy or girly, religious icons (Orthodox, Catholic), stuff that tells a story, kitsch, Bible verses, cameos, I like my postcards naked unless I've signed up for a "new" swap, dog or cat toys (especially homemade), little trinkets/charms unique to your area

I WOULD LOVE TO LEARN... quilting, book-binding, soap- and candle-making, crocheting

ETSY: My Etsy Favorites This is a great guide to the kinds of things & styles I enjoy.

I would prefer not to receive the following:

• Licorice
• Incense, unless it's Nag Champa or Superhit-- those are the only ones that don't aggravate my allergies
• Twilight stuff. I was into the books and the movie for a little while, but quickly grew out of it. The Sookie Stackhouse books are much more my style!

I don't mind receiving items from smokers or animal owners!

Honestly, there's not much I don't like! If you send me something I don't particularly like, I can always send it on to a friend or family member who will love it.

• Zest soap
• Tide detergent (so please don't send fabrics washed in Tide as I'm highly allergic)
• Silver (no silver jewelry)

Please note that I have two cats and two Chihuahuas in my home. I do my crafts and put together my swaps out of the way of my animals, and you won't find stray hairs in anything I send. I just wanted to make it clear that I'm an animal owner!

I love Chihuahuas!

When I was 16, my parents divorced and my dad moved out. It was extremely difficult for me since I'm a daddy's girl. I had just recently lost my childhood dog as well: a lovable Sheltie named Prince. As someone who grew up with lots of animals, my mom understood how well they help you cope with loss. So for my 17th birthday, my mom let me choose any puppy, as long as I picked a dog to suit my lifestyle.

I always loved Chihuahuas. My mom had one growing up and she loved the breed as well. I researched them and found they were a perfect fit for me. They grow strong bonds with usually one specific person. They're great for apartments: you can litter-train them, they can get exercise by simply running around inside, they don't shed much. They eat small amounts, make little messes, and love snuggling under the covers. They travel easily. They live longer than larger breeds, sometimes even 20 years!

I found a breeder a few hours from my home that had a new litter of fawn Chihuahuas...born on my birthday! I picked out Carmella.

She is now 6-years-old and I have never had a dog like her. She is very intelligent with a spunky personality. She's very sensitive to my emotions. Best of all, she's very much a dog. She loves being outdoors and playing. Despite her name (and her penchant for wearing sweaters), she is no princess.

We later added to the pack when my mom got a spotted Chihuahua for herself named Lilly! Lilly is the happiest, friendliest dog you will ever meet, but she is much more prissy than Carmella.