A Crazy Little Update

I've been meaning to post an update on this particular blog for a while now. And "for a while", I mean for the last week. It's been a nutty time as of late, hence the supreme lack of posts. I just haven't had the time or the energy to be making any real crafts of late -- and those that I do, I haven't really been able to go that extra step forward and write tutorials for them. But that doesn't mean I've been sitting around, marathoning Hotwives of Orlando and doing nothing else (although, seriously, you should check out that show. It's hilarious):


1. For one, the 365 Blog Project is complete. Remember when I decided to attempt a post a day for an entire year? Three hundred, sixty-five posts later, it's complete. I cannot believe I actually got to see this project through to the end, but I'm happy I did. I really have to credit that project with helping me become a better essayist.


2. Speaking of, have you been keeping up on my essays? Primarily through Thought Catalog, but I've been known to get another website or two to pay attention. My latest essay is on the Market Basket situation, which has actually garnered enough attention that I was the 94.9 WHOM in New England yesterday to discuss Market Basket and my writing/modeling career in general.


3. I'm not finished blogging about non-crafting, non-cooking things. I've started a proper, all-encompassing blog by the same name as my Twitter. I usually frown upon blog hopping, because it's usually a sign that you like the idea of writing more than you like actually sitting down and making yourself write, but I wanted to keep my 365 blog nice and uniform. I'm currently doing a two-week fiction bootcamp (aka the 365 Nicorette Patch).


4. My life has been one big yogafest. I finish my formal training in about two weeks, and life has been insane since. I started teaching yoga to the homeless at a homeless services center, which has been incredible. It's definitely no walk in the park, but the reception has been a thousand times warmer than I thought it would ever be. I've also started subbing as a yoga instructor. I still have some more observation and practicum hours to get in before I'm fully "graduated", and I've been zipping all around New Hampshire as a result.


5. I promise I'll get back into the swing of things with this blog. There's a few projects that I just need to kick myself in the butt and write about. And -- as you could probably already tell -- I've been focusing on learning to actually cook. Hopefully now that training is winding down (and I won't be writing in a blog every single day soon), I can actually focus on this blog again!

100,000 Views!

This blog has been relatively slower going than I'd like, but that didn't stop me from finally hitting 100,000 views. I can't even pretend: I get a little giddy rush of joy every time someone repins a craft or photo from this site. And while my manic crafting has definitely slowed down a little, I still love this blog and can't wait to share more projects with everyone.


It's been a busy year for me. Yoga teacher training has kicked into high gear, which means I spend every single day with my nose in an anatomy textbook, my nose in a spirituality textbook, or my nose very close to a mat as I slowly decode the elusive yoga sequence. My tai chi class is slowly growing, and I'm slowly figuring out how to brand myself (ah, the joys of freelancing). I also submitted my very first manuscript to Amazon's Breakthrough Novel Award. I was getting zero luck hawking it to literary agents -- let alone publishing houses -- so I've decided to go the Patrick Rothfuss route (and practically the route of every new writer out there) and try my hand at a contest. This meant removing said nose from textbooks/mat and placing it squarely on the grindstone as I re-edited my novel from cover to cover multiple times in the span of three months. I didn't realize how exhausting that overhaul would be until I finally submitted my work and was too exhausted to even properly write in my 365 Project.


Although thankfully that project is still underway, and I'm already on the final laps (only 155 posts to go!). It has been super useful in getting my ideas out on paper. I have been using these free-writes as a foundation for a whole slew of essays. I was originally writing for Thought Catalog almost exclusively, but I've decided to venture off and see what other platforms might be interested in my work (with a toe or two still in the Thought Catalog world, especially regarding a major project that I'm crossing my fingers and toes and eyes about, but that's for another day).


So a huge, "thank you" for everyone who comes onto this little corner of the vast internet world. It's not the snazziest blog in the world, but it's my blog, and I'm happy to call it home.

Post Valentine's Day

I hope everyone had an enjoyable Valentine's Day. I'll admit: the majority of my V-Day was spent shoveling out our driveway with my husband after Winter Storm Pax (honestly, who names a winter storm "Pax"? The meteorologists are just mocking us now. Or assuming we don't know rudimentary Latin). But we did get to balance that out with a bit of an Episodes marathon, a drive to Concord via the backroads, and a delicious hibachi dinner. We actually found an ice cream place on our way back that was open even in the middle of winter and celebrated said discovery with, well, ice cream.



I have to confess: I am really not one for chocolates. My husband, on the other hand, is. So I decided to flip things around a little bit and get him something for Valentine's Day.



I found this "I Mustache You To Be My Valentine" graphic online, printed it out, and made a card out of it. This is a fairly simple craft, which I talk about in this post. Of course, I had to continue the silliness inside the card as well, continuing the rest of the saying (even though that was obviously not working out).


I know this blog has been quieter than usual, and there is a reason for that, I assure you. But for now, I can only redirect you to my Thought Catalog page. I try to submit to TC at least once every week or so, and they tend to look favorably on my essays. Fingers crossed, I can start breathing again on Monday. But more on that later!

2013: A Year In Review

I picked a good year to do the Year in Review Jar. Granted, it wasn't easy to keep up with it (my dry-erase calendar became my "to write down" calendar, forcing me to do the project at the end of every month before I erased the marker), but this year has been pretty intense:


It was the year I left preschool teaching. I make no bones about the fact that, to this day, I am still coming to terms with leaving the profession I swore was tailor-made for me. But a change was overdue (way overdue) and I don't regret leaving it in the least. If I had to give 2013 a title, it would be: "The Year I Learned It's Okay to be Lost."


It was the year we bought a house. I'm still amazed at how quickly (or relatively quickly) it all came together. One minute we're saving every penny we can, the next, we're closing on our house. And while the homebuying experience left little to be desired, we couldn't have asked for a nicer house in a nicer town.


It was the year we drove across the country and back. I'm all about knocking at least one thing off my bucket list per year, and this year it was the cross-country drive. I'm still posting pictures from it (because I took just that many) and it was an experience I won't soon forget. I realized I had judged a lot of cities wrongly (like Salt Lake City or Cheyenne) while other places were exactly what I expected (like Reno). We then drove to Ohio and back for Christmas, because every good cross-country drive needs a good cross-1/3-of-country drive to complement it.


It was the year I got signed to a new agency. And to an agency that rejected me when I first started out modeling. The path that getting me signed has been a pretty stellar one. I'm not exactly raking in the dough (or flying off to Milan), but working in a Volvo commercial and getting to audition for names like Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus is not a bad way to be.


It was the year that I finally got to call myself a writer with some authority. From two viral essays, to winning NaNoWriMo for the second year in a row, to working with a website's publishing house for a potential e-book/collection of essays deal, I can finally call myself a writer and have the chops to back it up. I still don't make a living with it, but it's a long way's away from shrugging my shoulders and going, "Well I have this blog...and I write stuff that no one has read..."


It was the year I learned just how much I love Boston. The bombing attacks shook me to my core, proving that you never know how you are going to respond when it's your town they attack, when it's your streets that are littered with debris. The attack brought us all a little closer together, made us appreciate what we have a little bit more, and motivated us to go just a little be farther. I know I'm not alone in the newfound motivation to run distance in the name of their city.


2014 is shaping up to be just as insane of a year. From the Chicago marathon to my new tai chi job to going back to school to become a registered yoga teacher. I'm looking in a few new avenues for my writing, so we will see how that goes. I like living interestingly, even if that means being stressed or frustrated or confused, so here's to an exciting and eventful (and interesting!) 2014.

NaNoWriMo Update

Another year, another completed NaNoWriMo. I technically won -- meaning I got my manuscript to 50,000 by the end of NaNoWriMo -- but the novel is far from completed and, truth be told, I already had a good 9,000 words written beforehand.


But still, it feels good that I kept my 1,000 words a day pace. I'm dropping it like a bad habit now, but I'm glad I did it as long as I did.


So hopefully I'll be back to my regularly scheduled blogging. In case you missed it, you should head over to my Thought Catalog page and read my essay Be Kind to Your Children's Teachers (Yeah, yeah, yeah, the article is technically titled "Parents Need to Realized that Teachers are People Too", but that's link bait and not as poetic). Somehow, this month-old essay of mine has gone a bit viral. Everyone from my high school teachers to former co-workers have read it -- and that's before they realized who wrote it. I know it doesn't take much to go viral these days, but I'm still proud of it, and if you haven't read it, you should do so now.


I hope everyone enjoys the impending holidays. Hopefully I'll get some decorating in and show you how we're doing up our house for the first time!

House Update: The Housewarming Party

Almost exactly two weeks after we officially moved in, we had our housewarming party. It was hard work, to say the least. To give you an idea as to exactly how down to the wire we were: merely hours before the party, my husband and I were installing doors and putting up window treatments. It was definitely exhausting, but worth it, especially when our guests noted how put-together our house was.



My husband went out yesterday morning to get more items for our party, and returned with this beautiful flowers. I don't know what it is about surprising a woman with flowers, but I'm such a sucker for it. He could honestly mow down a field of puppies, but return home with a bouquet of daisies, and all is forgiven.



I got to finally use all the glassware and crystal sets and we had a nice little feast for our guests. From a proper fruit salad (meaning no watermelon or honeydew to fill it out) to Dirt Pudding (Oreos, Pudding, and Whipped Cream) to my husband's signature fried rice...



...to something a little classier in our living room...



To a table full of barbecue items (hot dogs, hamburgers, ginger ale-boiled bratwursts), which later became a table for s'mores as the sun set and the wood for our fire pit finally dried out.



I decorated the table with a trio of frosted mason jars with electric tea candles. A project that could've been a Pinterest Fail (as the Pin I saw called for regular tea candles and elmer's glue), but, knowing it was going to be a fail, I went down an alternative route, but more on that later.


Again, more on the house later. And hopefully a few DIY tutorials -- and of course more pictures from the road trip, as I ever so slowly but surely cipher through the photos.

House Update

Hey, remember that room in my previous house update?  The one that was nothing but a sea of chaos and boxes?   Can you believe that this is the same room?

There is no such thing as free time right now, as our housewarming party is this Saturday and, while this room is ready, the rest of the house definitely is not.   And of course this is the week that I start my new job as a tai chi instructor.  I had my first demo class with the studio I work under yesterday and I absolutely loved it.  It's a huge difference from teaching preschool, but the change of pace is welcomed.

Hard to believe that we finally did it.  We have our house.  We moved in.  And it is becoming a functional home, not a collection of boxes and power tools.  More updates are soon to follow!

House and Life Update

Our movers are expected to come first thing this Friday.  Suffice it to say we have hit the ground running in terms of finalizing packing.  Furniture that can be disassembled has been disassembled. We've even started removing the pieces of our sectional. We are essentially living out of suitcases and looking at the kitchen fondly, knowing that we got at least a half week more before we can actually make a proper meal again.

If you follow my 365 Blog Project, you know that we've been having *cough* issues with our painters. It's been a Type A, perfectionist personality nightmare, but things are looking good. Bare minimum, it's a huge improvement over the original colors.

One huge positive in the painting situation is that the rooms we painted ourselves look great, and we were able to finish painting them in record time. A huge relief, as I thought I was going to have to juggle unpacking and painting and prepping for the house party all at the same time.

So, here is one craft-related update: the "Year in Review" Jar is going strong.  This has definitely been a year worth noting.  From the road trip to my essay being published, from finding a house and being able to close...

To getting signed to a new agency.  People who know me (even vaguely through Facebook) know that I model from time to time.  I started as a freshman in college, got signed somewhere around my third year ("middler year" for us Northeasterners), graduated, entered the real world, and let it slip to the sidelines.  Now that I'm in the proverbial "between jobs" phase, I decided to throw caution to the wind and submit my stuff to the top agency in Boston.  They had rejected me once before, so I expected very little.  Color me surprised when, an hour after submitting, I'm getting emails from owner of the agency, answering his questions and setting up a meeting.

This doesn't mean I now have it made,  given that Boston is a small market and I'm not industry standard.  But it's a step in the right direction and a welcomed change of pace.

It is going to be weird, leaving this apartment behind.  It has been nice, being so close to everything (practically every major store was within a two-mile radius), but I'm excited for the house and what the future might bring inside of it.

So the Summer of Change is coming to an end.  Nothing to do now but prepare for the move and unpack like mad once the movers have pulled away.

365 Blog Project

I know this blog is currently a place for house updates and photography (if only because my crafts supplies are still packed up and "organizing the crafts corner of the office" is so stupidly low on the priorities list). But there is one place where I'm constantly active: my 365 writing blog project.


The idea is that, if you are forced to write a blog post -- and a decent one, not just a quick rundown of the day -- every single day, you'll find a greater freedom in your writing. And since I'm in the middle of my third manuscript (a manuscript that I just have a good feeling about), I want to kick my mind into gear.


My goal? A blog entry a day for an entire year. No matter what is going on, I need to write something. Every, single, day.


I started it about three or so weeks ago and, so far, so good. I've made it a routine to make a blog post every morning while I have my coffee (even if I have to burst out the door not even minutes later). The beauty of a project like this is that I feel like I can write about anything. Because, hey, if it's a boring topic, there will be a brand new one tomorrow.


So don't hesitate to check it out, and maybe start a 365 blog of your own. I know 365 Projects are primarily for photographers, but writers can get in on the fun, too. Do you have a writing blog? Or any other 365 project? Post it in the comments below. I love seeing what others have been writing about!

House Update

I'm happy to say that the Lemon-Lime Sprite Room and the "Room of the Reflective Neon Yellow" are both good and primed.  We are painting these rooms ourselves to save money (especially since we are hemorrhaging money to pay for the exterminator, movers, painters for the first floor, and simultaneous rent/mortgage payments) and I put priming those two rooms at the top of my priorities list.  We probably won't actually paint them until after the professional painters are gone, but it feels good to have those rooms somewhat neutral now.  As I said ad nauseum, the colors were offensively bad.

Which worked out in our favor: I think the house was on the market for as long as it was (and for the price that it was) because people were turned off by the kids' bedrooms.  Especially when you think about all the little things home-sellers are supposed to do to entice buyers (remove all family pictures, paint the interior 50 shades of beige, etc).

The exterminator has already done his work (and God help me of I see another spider or carpenter ant).  The professional painters are already hard at work today painting (and will continue until Wednesday).  And the movers will come for our furniture on the 30th (because heaven knows we cannot move things like our sectional on our own).

Hopefully the (whatever meager) DIY posts I have scheduled will keep this blog going, even as I continue to run around like a chicken with her head cut off.  More updates (including general life updates) to be coming soon!

House Update

The moving process is (more or less) underway. We have our apartment lease until the middle of November (and we'd lose even more money if we tried breaking the lease), so we've been taking it fairly slow. Which has been nice. We've been able to work on the house and spend time inside without any furniture. It's given us a good feel for where we want everything to be, as well as what types of furniture we want to be on the lookout for.


We originally decided to hire movers, but bring up the breakables ourselves. However, with all the work that we have been doing on the house (from running cables to choosing paint colors to taking care of the chickens. Oh, I didn't mention we got chickens in the deal? The house came with a three-chicken coop and the previous owner gave us the chickens, as their new place does not allow coops to be built on the property) we've been going up to the house 4 to 5 times a week.



We first thought that we'd make use of the (whatever meager) storage space our coupe has and bring up the breakables slowly but surely, imagining that we'd eventually have to rent a Uhaul truck for the rest of them. Turns out the coupe can hold more than we originally thought (especially when I'm driving up by myself). By the end of the week, we had already transferred over every breakable box.



So "only moving the breakables" turned into "moving over whatever would fit into the coupe". As we see it, given the cost of movers, anything we can easily move ourselves should be moved ourselves. And the big things, like our couch or our bed or our TV, can be left for the movers.


Everything is currently being kept in the basement, partially because we don't want it in the mover's way, partially because we plan on repainting practically the entire house. We've already picked out the colors and found our painter. Now it's only a matter of finishing up the home improvement projects and nailing down the dates with the painters.



Speaking of home improvement projects, we have been running cables through the house. This involves a lot of cutting walls, drilling into planks, and a lot of drives to Home Depot for various supplies. We've been at the house every weekend and evening and, after over 3 weeks of work, we've finally finished up this project.


With any luck, we'll be fully moved into the house by September (just in time for my birthday). And thus will begin the process of unpacking, decorating…and making mortgage payments. But hey, at least it's money that is going toward an investment, instead of going to the leasing office with little to show for it.

I'm Back!

It's been a while, hasn't it? My husband and I returned yesterday from our roadtrip, a little exhausted and a lot bit grateful to finally be home. Somehow, even with 17 days in the car, we only got sick of driving during those last 5 hours of our trip. And, just our luck, those five hours turned into seven thanks to a slew of Fourth of July drivers clogging up the New York and Massachusetts Turnpikes.



However, the trip itself was incredible. We visited 18 states, stopping at 13 cities (and a few bo-dunk towns in the middle of no where). Some towns, like Denver and San Francisco, we stayed for 3 nights. Other towns, like Reno, we stayed for about an hour. We were pleasantly surprised by some places, like Salt Lake City and the whole state of Wyoming. Both areas, we expected next to nothing, only to completely fall in love with the area (although the shores of the Great Salt Lake is essentially a gigantic bog with enough swarms of bugs to make the hardest atheist worry about the end of times).



As I mentioned before, this really isn't the only major thing going on right now. After a long (very, very, very long) and tedious (very, very, very tedious) battle with our mortgage people and rental company, we are finally in the clear to close on our house. It's going to continue to be a long process, as there's still a few things we want to do to the house before we move in (and we're still woefully behind in packing), but we're excited to finally be homeowners, and in a house to encapsulates so much of what we were hoping to get.


So stayed tuned! I've got a whole lot planned for this little blog, even a few *gasp* fitness posts and more personal-type blog entries. We shall see!

Blog Update: A Change in Direction

I tend to like my changes to happen all at once, if it's not abundantly clear by my About Me: in June of 2011, I changed jobs, education levels, state residencies, and marital statuses in the same amount of time it takes someone to set up a Pinterest account. And while I've yet to beat that record, this year's June is shaping up to be almost as life changing.


I've been teaching full-time for nearly 4 years -- and have been in the early education field since I was 16. It's had its ups and downs -- times when I've cried because I was so happy, so proud, so satisfied and fulfilled, and times when I've cried because I was so stressed out and unhappy and ready to curl up into a little ball. I've learned a lot about myself as a person, as an educator, and as an adult. But that time has now come to an end. I notified my school in May that I would not be renewing my contract for the next year.


It was by no means an easy decision: I absolutely love the kiddos -- and the moments when they finally "get it" are second to none. I'm so passionate about the importance of quality early education that I can talk about it for hours, even with total strangers (since I know cognitive development in the early years whips people into a verbal frenzy).



I also lucked out in having amazing co-teachers and co-workers, people I could rely on as well as share a laugh (or drink) with. I made a bunch of great friends, people I actually wanted to see after work as well -- something I had never had before. Not to mention I had a commute so tiny that I could ride my bike without breaking a sweat. My commute home (which was almost entirely downhill) took a whopping 8 minutes from unlock to lock-up.


It was hard, saying good-bye to all of that. But my heart wasn't in it anymore. I found myself going through the motions more and more, even after my 5-week summer vacation, even after spending half of December in either Florida or Ohio. And this is not one of those jobs that you can fake it, cash your paycheck, and go about your day. Given all that being a teacher entails, you have to have a driving, unrelenting passion, or you burn out quick. I found myself thinking to myself even during the "good" moments -- the moments that are supposed to make it all "worth it" for teachers -- that this wasn't for me anymore, and I wasn't doing anyone any favors by staying.



And since my big life events like to happen all at once, about 5 days before I put in my notice, my husband and I stumbled upon a gorgeous little farmhouse-like colonial at the end of a beautiful cul-de-sac. We were hooked the moment we pulled up and, after serious deliberations, calculated reasoning, and fist-pumping our hands in the air to "Cotton Eye Joe" like Nick from New Girl, we made an offer on the house.


It has been a slow, tedious crawl to homeownership. You learn just how many steps there are in buying a house and how many people get involved in the closing process, and it's quick to see why buying a house is considered one of the most stressful things you can do. But, assuming everything goes according to plan, we will be holding the keys in our hand on July 12th.



Which just so happens to be the Friday after we return from our cross-country road trip. Because everything needs to happen in threes, my husband and I are celebrating our second anniversary by knocking off a huge thing from our bucket lists. We leave on the 21st for San Francisco, stopping off in Ohio, Denver, and Chicago along the way. There's something wonderfully poetic about our nomadic vacation starting a week after my last day at school, and ending a week before we (potentially) get the keys to a house.


So it's safe to say that big things are happening. If 2011 was any indication, I will return from all of this with even more energy to be used on things like my crafts. I'm excited for what is in store for me in the coming months, and I'll make sure to keep you posted :-)


- Abby

Guess Who Made It To Pinstrosity?

Love my latest Pinterest Fail? Feel like reading about it again (alongside some other Pinterest ideas that have gone horribly, horribly wrong)? Check out my very own feature on the Pinstrosity Blog.


♥

Guest Posting!

Hey, did you like my New Take on a Stupidly Simple Circle Shirt? Then you'll love reading about it again, on Three Years of Death: A Law Student's Journey. I'm doing my first-ever guest posting on one of my favorite blogs. Check them out!

-Abby

Happy Birthday, T&E Creativity!

In all this chaos, I almost forgot that this time last year, I started this blog.

In that time, I've done almost 100 crafts (the backlog of which has gotten so immense that I'll be posting about crafts I did from over a year ago), I found the impetus to get into the more technical aspect of photography, I even used it as a vehicle to power through NaNoWriMo (and the eventual completion of my second novel)... I've gone through 3 or 4 layout changes, figuring out through -- gee, trial and error -- what worked best.

I genuinely had no idea how long this blog would last -- or if I'd even remember to post in it. I didn't expect much for my blog. Now, I have the third most popular "Giant Kit Kat Bar" article on Google (I fully recognize that the variables in that statement is on the same level as, "Best martial artist wearing flip flops and a Hawaiian shirt in the Wisconsin area," but, hey, I'll take what I can get!). This has grown in ways that I never thought possible, and I'm so stupidly proud of it.


So, happy birthday to my blog! Hopefully this year will see the same amount of growth and change that the first year brings -- like my Etsy store and, maybe, just maybe, another NaNoWriMo extravaganza.


(Or maybe, just maybe, a book deal of sorts. We'll see!)

Pseudo Photo Friday/Blog Update: My Time in O.H.--I.O

Ohio for Christmas has been a ritual of mine for the past 4 years. My parents' Christmas in Boston is relatively low key, so they have no qualms waiting an extra few days to celebrate it with me and my husband. On the flip side, Christmas in Ohio is a huge deal. From seeing my grandparents-in-law to a guaranteed white Christmas every year, I love it.


My husband and I drove from New Hampshire to Ohio this year. The surprising thing is that, given the hassle of getting to New Hampshire to Logan Airport, going through airport security, and dealing with layovers, we really only lost about 3 or 4 hours, even after factoring in a snowstorm on the Pennsylvania border.


The trip itself was gorgeous. There really is nothing like driving through Pennsylvania's part of the Appalachian Mountains. Just reminds me that I really need to get back into the habit of hiking once spring hits.


I got to cut down my first Christmas tree. I must admit, being someone who grew up in the Boston area all her life, only to move to a "metropolitan" section of New Hampshire, I didn't even know there were tree farms where you cut down your own tree. My angle was a little lopsided, but overall I did pretty well (for a newbie).


My sister-in-law's decorating skills really come into play during Christmas. This table setting and centerpiece is just one of the amazing decorations she did.


And what's a Christmas without sister-in-law plushies? They went well with my sister-in-law's Pomsky and my dalmation.


It's funny how quickly rituals and routines become so important to you. I look forward to so much, from my grandma-in-law's Box of Treasures gift to sitting at the "children's table". And it's nice to spend some time in Ohio, where a "packed mall" is a parking lot where a little over 50% of the spots are taken. Given how congested Boston and the Spit Brook/Daniel Webster Highway can be, it's certainly a breath of fresh air.


On top of a box of treasures from her as well, my mother-in-law got me a set of antique silver silverware. I'm honestly in awe of it. I'm going to have to store it at a bank or something until we have a house with a proper security system.


You know what I love about my husband? He never goes into anything blind. When he went into getting me an engagement ring, not only did he design exactly what he wanted, but he researched everything about diamonds, to the point that he was almost on par with the dealer. He even made sure to only pick from certified conflict-free diamonds (since he knew that was something important to me). And, for my gift, not only did he get me a wide angle lens (something I've been talking about getting since forever), but he researched the different types of lenses until he knew he was getting the best bang for his buck.


So, on top of being the owner of quite easily the sexiest wide angle lens, I also got a photography gear backpack with a tripod carrying strap. Perfect for when we scale Mt Monadnock again.


I only took 4 days off for our trip of Ohio. But, combined with where Christmas and New Year's fell this year, I have nearly 2 weeks off. Much needed, given how insane my classroom has been as of late. Hopefully this, plus our trip to Florida, a few weeks ago, will give me a bit of a clear mind for 2013. If it's anything as nutty as 2012 was, I'm in for quite a year.

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.

Trial & Error is on Pinterest!

is on



That's right. After spending way too much time on my personal Pinterest account, I have created one for Trial and Error Creativity. Simply a place where I can organize my posts, find blog-centric inspiration, and network more intimately with fellow crafters and bloggers alike. You can get to T&E Creativity's Pinterest through the gratuitous amount of links in this post, or on the Pinterest link on the tab bar.

I'm incredibly proud of how much this blog has grown and changed in the 6 short months that I've had it, and I'm very excited about this new addition.

Hope to see you there!