Blog Update -- Also Known As My First Post, Post-NaNoWriMo

So, first things first: my brother-in-law's wedding was absolutely gorgeous. The dress was incredible, the groom looked great (although he didn't look as good in the dress as the bride ;)). It was the type of fanfare you usually only see in a movie or read about in a book. You can read all about it (as well as the crazy events that lead up to the wedding) at my now-sister-in-law's (sister-in-law-in-law's?) wedding blog Posh Purpose.


We split the week we spent in Florida pretty evenly between helping out with the wedding and enjoying the wonderful weather. My husband charmed his way into upgrading our rental car from a midsized sedan to a convertible at no charge, which we took full advantage of (I think I'm still brushing out the tangles from having the top down so much.)


I got to make friends with the local wildlife, including a tiny lizard that had no qualms about diving out of my hands and onto the road.


The villa we stayed at was honestly second to none. From a condo that was easily 1.5 - 2 times bigger (and infinitely nicer-looking) than my apartment, to a heated pool and hot tub…


…To a boat dock that I got to do a little morning yoga on. There was a huge sign that said, "NO TRESPASSING" -- but who pays attention to those things, anyway? Plus, as I noticed, there were three units in use that weren't being rented out by my extended family. The rest were empty. As I saw it, who was going to complain about some tall girl on her mat doing dancer's pose?


And I surprised everyone around me by drinking my weight in sweet tea (twice I had someone say, verbatim, "A yank likes sweet tea?").



I was worried that the trip would completely, well, trip me up for the last week of NaNoWriMo. Turns out I was completely wrong. Between a nice, nonstop flight, and my propensity to wake up early when I don't have blackout curtains (turning the bedroom into a modern-day cave), I had plenty of time to write. I actually reached 50k a day before November 30th. I know it's a technicality, because I wrote 7000 words beforehand, but, given that my goal was to reach 37,000 words by the end of November, I'm pretty proud of myself. I took something that I decided to do on whim -- almost giving up before I started, since I had so much else on my plate -- and surpassed all my expectations.


I decided to challenge myself a little more and attempt 57,000 words (so 50k + the 7k I had already written) by December 2nd. This meant that I needed to keep up my writing pace, even on the wedding day (and somehow I got my 1000 words in the morning of!), and write like a fiend on the plane.


Which I did.


I'm now at around 60,000 words (and around 250 pages), and I refuse to let up on the 1000 words/day pace. I'm so ridiculously close to finishing this book that I can't let up. I just don't have it in me to put this back on the back burner and focus on other endeavors like before. Maybe it's just this book's time to come. It will be nice to say that I'm the author of two books (not including my bastard child that will never see the light of day without a proper gutting).


But I must admit: I can't wait until my book is finished and I can go back to the other things that take up my precious free time! For instance: my crafts. I finally found a great tutorial for making a quilt out of random fabric, and I've been dying to try it out.


Another thing I am now itching to try out actually came as a result of a little wedding SNAFU. My sister-in-law had ordered these great little cufflinks for her ring bearers, only to have them not arrive and the seller avoid all contact with her. This lead to a manhunt around town to find a suitable alternative. Long story short, I superglued from Star Wars mini figurines to cufflinks. My sister-in-law joked that I should start a business.


Many moons ago, I did, on whim, set up an Etsy account, on the off chance I'd ever make something worthy of being bought. And, given my extremely impulsive self, I've already purchased a bunch of cufflinks and some flat Lego pieces wholesale. (Considering everything was $30 total, I'm not too worried if this doesn't come to fruition. I've definitely impulse bought clothing that I ended up not liking for more than $30).


So stay tuned and potentially tell your friends: Trial & Error Creativity might be setting up shop soon, selling little boys'/novelty cufflinks! And maybe -- time and God willing -- whatever else I can make (or find at an antique shop) that other people could use!


As a craft update: my travel project has officially hit critical mass. Once I got my rhythm in printing out maps, there was no stopping me. This project had such a calming effect that I ended up leaving a stack of maps to backstitch, saved for days where I was really stressed out. They hang out in a corner of our bedroom right now, but, as I've said before, I can't wait to hang them up in a den or an office.


Now, I have never endorsed items before (frankly because I really saw no need to), but I need to tell you how wonderful this hair curler is. I have the straightest of straight hair -- and it holds no curl. Absolutely no curl. My friends have all tried. Hair stylists have all tried. I've had my hair so tightly and hotly curled that I had Shirley Temple ringlets, only to have them fall flat within minutes. But the Sultra Bombshell Cone Rod is incredible. I borrowed it on whim from my first sister-in-law (my brother's sister) and I was amazed.


I took this picture after a long day of picture taking, dancing outside in the humidity, and changing clothing. And my hair still has some body to it. This never happens. The curling iron can run you up about $130 but it's worth the investment!


So now that things have calmed down (somewhat), hopefully my blog can return back to its regularly scheduling broadcasting. I have a ridiculous backlog of crafts that I did over the past 4 or so months (and then just took forever to do write-ups for :)) that I can't wait to share with everyone -- including what I did for one of the wedding presents, but that's for a future post.