Three months ago, in November 2016, I was published. An online literary magazine gave one of my stories a chance, saw something good in it, and published it. This online magazine is Chantwood.
My short story is titled “Rebel Umbrella” and it is in Chantwood’s 5th issue, available for free download, with riveting cover art by Heidi Lichtfuss.
A shout-out to the Chantwood editors for giving my story their time and attention!
Thank you.
When I told my family and friends that I was being published they were as excited as me! Maybe even more so because I couldn’t quite believe it.
I hope others enjoy reading the story as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Sometimes it’s hard to keep up with things, with dates and appointments and people and changes.
I’ve been so focused on spending quality time with Dario and reading my books and watching my shows and learning to relax and be less anxious that I let my intentions of consistent blogging slide.
But I’ve been thinking and I don’t want blogging to feel like a time constrained obligation. So I’m just going to blog when I have time, when I have something to say or share.
Plus, I’ve started a new, full-time job. I’m in my second week and I swing between “This is good. I can do this.” and “What am I doing? Can I do this?” There’s a lot of new information and a lot of training. Thankfully everyone there is very nice and patient.
All I can do is try to be nice and patient toward myself, and take things one day at a time. So many cliches are so true, ha ha.
Happy Thanksgiving folks! There’s really no point to this post except that I love food!
And so…the beauty of a roasted veggie meal. So warm and nourishing. So much prep work but very worth it.
Let’s take a look at some closeups of the potatoes, carrots and Brussels sprouts (itty bitty cabbages is really what they should be called) that make up a simple and glorious dinner. Or lunch. Or snack. Probably not breakfast but no judgement here.
Oh! And salad. Let’s momentarily pay tribute to salad.
Salt, pepper and rosemary for the roasted veggies. Salt, pepper and olive oil for the salad. Simple and amazingly tasty!
I am so wobbly. Two wheels spin. A handle bar is beneath me. My knuckles whitish.
He is next to me. On his own spinning contraption. He asks me about my day. Initially it doesn’t distract me. But eventually I ride smoothly.
It’s hard to forget accidents. For mine, the handlebars shook and strained. I flew over the bars. My face shredded against gravel. A tooth flew out as well.
My body shook and darkness nearly overtook me many times. My vision faded, almost, like falling asleep.
My skin took weeks to heal. I was told, “Don’t worry, you’ll still be pretty.”
Oh, I wasn’t worried. Not about looks. I just wanted to heal and be whole.
One of my best friends is currently in her first semester for her Master’s degree. Yay! And congratulations to her!!! It’s an epic and wonderful undertaking.
I intend to pursue my Master’s degree as well and since my friend just experienced applying for the program, I solicited her help in the entire, confusing process. She happily agreed to help me.
STEP ONE:
Recommendation letters–Contact three professor’s, remind them who you are and politely request they consider writing a recommendation letter for you to be accepted into the Master’s program.
The essay (and the grad application as a whole) isn’t due until May 1, 2017, so I have 6 months to complete the paper which is buckets and buckets of time.
And of course there are many more steps to complete the grad application but these are the two I tackled first. Well, those two and beginning an online application. Two out of three professors have agreed to write my recommendation letters and I’m about to begin expanding upon my Melville essay.
The first thing to say about my and Dario’s wedding is that I’m thrilled to marry him and share our wedding day together. The second thing is that I really like to plan and get ahead of deadlines (it’s 1 year & 11 months until our wedding). The third thing is that I never thought I’d be planning a wedding.
When I was little I’d sit and think about the cake and nothing else. I mean, I always wanted to elope and I thought my fiance would be happy to elope. We’d save ourselves stress and money. Sounds ideal to me!
That’s not how it turned out though. Dario wants to celebrate with our family and friends and I’m warming up to the idea more and more.
So since we’re planning a wedding, I’m going to honor my younger self by sharing a few minimalist wedding ideas.
First, my cake preference: Naked Cakes! Above and below are two examples of very simplistic cakes that I think are beautiful. I like that without a coating of frosting on the sides, there is more emphasis placed upon the look (and flavor) of the cake itself. Also, flower/leaf decorations make the whole dessert seem all the more natural and elegant.
Next: Flowers! I really know nothing about how to compose a bouquet, as in what colors, blossoms, etc. all go together into one floral gorgeousness. But I do know that I love, love, love the look of cafe au lait dahlias. They are full and stunning and delicately colored.
And because they are a bigger bloom, it may be possible to save on our budget by using a very few of them in petite bouquets for my bridesmaids and myself. Maybe even just one bloom with some greenery or other, small flowers as seen below.
Lastly: Groom’s Suit! Well, the general vibe of it anyway. Personally, I love rich, dark blues and thought Dario would look great in it. I suggested it, not sure what he’d want to wear and happily for me, he liked my suggestion.
He’s going to look gorgeous. That’s my unbiased opinion. =) And I like that he prefers things to be simple and minimalist because that’s been my mantra for the wedding.
