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Aug

YA Dealmakers & Dealbreakers

This post was inspired by the posts on Dealmakers & Dealbreakers at Forever YA. Which is a hilarious site that I have just recently stumbled upon and am now deeply in love with. DEALMAKERS 1. Boarding schools. See: THE DISREPUTABLE HISTORY OF FRANKIE LANDAU-BANKS, ANNA & THE FRENCH KISS, HARRY POTTER. Books I really need to read in this vein: HEX HALL, SHADOW HILLS. 2. Historical fiction about witches or ghosts. See: the Gemma Doyle books, PROPHECY OF THE SISTERS. Cannot wait for THE VESPERTINE and THE REVENANT next year. 3. Artsy love interests who aren’t jerks. See: Joe Fontaine from THE SKY IS EVERYWHERE, Seth from WICKED LOVELY, Adam from IF I STAY, James from BALLAD. 4. Books about sisters. Bonus points for twins! I can’t help it; it’s all that Sweet Valley High I read as a kid. See: PROPHECY OF THE SISTERS. 5. Dark, spookylicious settings written in...

Aug

Office Space

Jessica

My office is slowly taking shape! The comfy, sunflower-patterned armchair won’t arrive for another few weeks. Steve hasn’t found a desk chair to his liking yet. But, as you can see, the desk and the leaning bookshelf are here. On Sunday, we went to the Container Store (!), where I bought green and orange document boxes and a green trashcan and a magnetic dry-erase board. I am in love with the color of the walls in here–Cucumber Mint, I think it’s called?–and am trying for a color scheme of green with pops of yellow and orange. (I say trying because husbands, alas, do not really believe in color schemes.) Things I still want: more Stiletto Heights art for the walls, an electric tea kettle, some yellow mugs, more vases from my friend Alissa, a printer, a fan, and a desk lamp. I need to collect some post-its and notepads and pens...

Aug

Friday 5 1/2

Jessica

1. I have new favorite music: The Paper Raincoat. My friend Meg recommended them to me and I downloaded the album and now I can’t stop listening. 2. Speaking of my friend Meg, she’s really inspiring. She’s training to run a marathon. And she’s going to Thailand in September for three weeks by herself. She’s going to do a 10-day silent meditation retreat. I’ve never traveled alone and I’m completely impressed. Also, honestly, I think I’d explode if I tried to do a silent retreat. 3. That brings up an issue I had with this article in Bitch magazine about “priv-lit,” from the takeoff point of Eat Pray Love. I think it makes some interesting points about how it’s easy to get seduced by marketing, and how sometimes we search for meaning in weird, materialistic ways that are only shadow comforts. At what point does self-help become indulgent? But I...

Aug

And No I’m Not Talking About You

Jessica

So, I love writing. Obviously. I am the very happiest when I am writing, fingers flying over the keys, totally present in the moment and yet in another time and place and heart entirely. Full-up joy. Even when I want to tear my hair out, even on the days where I want to hide under the bed and cry with the interminable waiting of it all, there is nothing else in the whole wide world I would rather do. I like to encourage creativity and be a force for positivity in the world and etc. But. Lately I have come across this phenomenon that leaves me ranty. Literally, I just emailed my bestie all JESUS CHRISTMAS GRRR. The phenomenon: people thinking it’s easy. People thinking, oh, la, anyone can write a book. Writing a book is not a LARK. I mean, you can try it....

Aug

Healthy & Wealthy & Wise (I Wish)

Jessica

I have never been an athlete. I would rather sit inside and read a good book. Or write one. But. Something needs to be done. I feel like I spend a lot of time lately living in my head and hating my body. I am–let’s just put it out there–overweight. By about 30 pounds. And it’s not just a vanity issue. I have the cholesterol of an old man; my blood pressure’s been creeping up as the pounds pile on. Heart disease runs in my family. I need to get healthy. It’s something I’ve vowed off and on for the last five years. There have been times when I’ve taken weekly yoga classes, when I’ve gone to the apartment-complex gym regularly, when I’ve counted calories or points or kept a food journal. I’ve never stuck with it, never succeeded, and for a recovering perfectionist like me, that’s really...

YA Dealmakers & Dealbreakers

Office Space

Friday 5 1/2

And No I’m Not Talking About You

Healthy & Wealthy & Wise (I Wish)

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