Friday Favorites, vol. 28

1. busbarns






2. riding boots






2. birdhouses







3. pocketwatches







5. home delivery services
In addition to Netflix (which I've talked about before), my current favorite home delivery services....

Greenling


Zagat Wine Club


Casserole Queens


Tiff's Treats

Off the wagon

About a week ago, Nathan and I had a date at the Alamo Drafthouse. We went to see Inception for the second time, and we basically just took a lovely weekday night out (which we rarely do), so it was wonderful.

I was washing my hands in the bathroom when another girl gave me an unusual look. She said, "SCBWI?" To which I said, "Yeeeahh" in slow recognition. (SCBWI = Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, an amazing group that has a really active local chapter.)

I told her I fell off the wagon. I told her I needed to come back to a meeting. If a stranger had been listening, s/he might have thought I was talking about AA.

Is it fair to compare writing to sobriety? Writing is so much easier. I kid. Writing isn't easy. And I've really, really been chasing the dragon, you guys. OK, I'll stop. Besides, I don't even know what that means.



Why have I stopped writing? After going through the whole vicious cycle of:
writing
revising
having critique partner(s) read it
revising
making it perfect
sending queries to agents
getting requests for partials
submitting
waiting
getting requests for the full manuscript
submitting
waiting
checking the mail daily
waiting
getting kind rejections
posting kind rejections on the wall
(rinse and repeat from first step)
returning to the ms that I started six years ago and thought I finished like three times, and not knowing what else to do to address the problems.

After all that, after reaching a stalemate with my first novel, why can't I just move on to another work-in-progress? Why can't I get going? I have friends who are writers who are committed, who meet weekly to write or critique work. I have friends who have agents, book deals, the good stuff. I even believe that I can join them, you guys. I know my writing is good enough! But I don't make time to work on writing at home, and I don't go out to work on writing at coffee shops the way I used to. In short, I don't know what my problem is, and I'm worried that if I don't start writing again soon, I might not start at all. Basically, I need to check into writer's rehab. Or something.

Monday Dose of Cuteness, vol. 11

I've written before about Charlie and it's about time he and his big brother made the Monday Dose of Cuteness.




If you're like us, and you can't get enough of Charlie's finger-biting ways, there's even an app for that.

Here's to a happy weekend!

We have another weekend without a shoot and I just don't know what to do with myself. Luckily, our place is a mess, and Nathan's parents will be here next weekend, so that gives me plenty to do. Did I say "luckily our place is a mess"? I meant unfortunately.

What are you up to this weekend?

Friday Favorites, farewell summer

1. pastel-colored houses





BONUS: this pastel-colored treehouse!



2. seersucker
I've never been to the Hamptons, but when I go, I fully intend to wear seersucker.





3. latte art





4. atriums






5. berries






BONUS: this fool-proof summery recipe to make in the deep cold of winter

Just tweeted a day or two ago that I wouldn't miss the heat of summer, but I would miss the berries of summer! Lovely Tania from What Would a Nerd Wear agreed, which reminded me about this recipe, that you can make all winter long. Bon appetit!

Treehouse Goodness

Ever since I was little, I dreamed about living in a treehouse. Thanks to Swiss Family Robinson, I dreamed of living in a treehouse with Fritz. Were you more of a Fritz girl or an Ernst girl? It's really the same as asking if you're more Team Eric or Team Bill. But I digress.













Despite seeing previous posts about treehouses on these lovely blogs within the last year, I've been hoarding up these gorgeous treehouse photos, and thought it was high time to post.

Pardon me while I daydream about living in a treehouse, or at the very least, staying in a nearby treehouse hotel. Of course, we'll definitely need one of these amazing picnic backpacks so we'll have some yummy food and wine to enjoy. Sounds like heaven!