This phase II trial is studying how well giving capecitabine together with tipifarnib works in treating women with taxane-resistant metastatic breast cancer. Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as capecitabine, work in different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Tipifarnib may stop the growth of tumor cells by blocking the enzymes necessary for their growth. Giving capecitabine together with tipifarnib may kill more tumor cells