100th Post: Writing Business Plan!

To keep myself focused, I made a writing business plan for the rest of the year:

May - June 7:  Research one agent/day to add to my query list.  Create spreadsheet to record submission guidelines, contact info, why I selected each agent.  I already have a list of 7 agents that represent authors that either are young/up-and-coming or wrote books that I enjoy.  Goal is to have 30+ agents on my list for summer.

June 8 - June 22:  Hello summer vacation.  Two weeks to edit/revise my manuscript before submission.

June 23 - 30:  Perfect my basic query letter, (to be tweaked based on information gathered on individual agents above).

July 1 - 31:  Submit query to minimum one agent/day, making up for any days missed on subsequent days.  Goal 31+ agents in 31 days.

August:  Post pitches for next book to blog, commit to next book idea, (I have four!).  Even if nothing happens to the first book, I am determined to keep moving forward.

September - October:  Research background information for next book, read similar books, non-fiction texts to support experiences in book.

November:  Nanowrimo!  Time for another 50,000 words!

At this rate, I should produce at least one book/year, (last book began in July, got rolling in November, will be finished June).  

Last, but not least, I have to celebrate that this is my 100th post!  It has apparently been a very wordy year.

I love lists/plans/notes/calendars.  They give a sense of control over the future, making huge tasks feel attainable.

Travel Bug.

Growing up, I was obsessed with travel.  Scrapbooks full of travel magazine cutouts.  Subscriptions to Conde Nast and Budget Traveler.  A constant barrage of pleas to my parents to take me somewhere, anywhere, everywhere.

In college, I got close to living my dream.  I submitted a dorky audition video to a Travel Channel show.  To my amazement, I was invited to audition in LA.  I didn't get picked.  Instead, I was interrogated by a panel of producers about my boyfriend situation.  Apparently having one wasn't very desirable for "reality television."  Oh well.  I would not have traded my boyfriend for the gig.  He's now my husband.

Today, I am still obsessed with travel, but in a more subdued way.  The characters in my book travel for me.  Of course, I'd love to take their places, but my priorities have shifted.  Gone are the days when I would spend every last dollar in my savings account to run off on some adventure, or at least gone for now.

Instead, one trip at a time, as I work my way through an always changing list.  This YouTube video reminded me of how I once purchased $5k in film equipment in hopes of becoming a travel filmmaker.  I admire these guys for actually making it work.  It's important not to let dreams die.

Here's my top 10 dream travel list:

1.  Missoula, MT (Home to my aunt/uncle, scary grizzly bears, yummy beer, and beautiful wilderness)
2.  Gothenburg, Sweden (Home to my lovely cousin, her family, and midsummer)
3.  New York, NY (Still never been, want to see my cousin dance for the New York City Ballet, and live out Anthony Bourdain's Layover food itinerary)
4.  Barcelona, Spain (My favorite city in Europe, Alex hasn't been, I want to relive its Gothic streets, Mediterranean beaches, and vibrant markets)
5.  Tokyo, Japan (I still have a Lost in Translation fantasy of this city, I want to wander from Karaoke bar to Karaoke bar in the middle of the night)
6.  Buenos Aires, Argentina (From Evita to Las Madres de La Plaza de Mayo, Buenos Aires is darkly mysterious and reputed to be the Paris of Latin America)
7.  Paris, France (Yes, I've been, but a good deal of my book occurs here and I've been following the blog of a young family that moved to Paris, which is exactly the sort of thing that deeply inspires me)
8.  Maui, (Okay, I know I'm going to Kauai this summer and have been to Maui before, but I really want to take Alex on the road to Hana and to Mama's Fish House)
9.  Dalmatian Coast, Croatia, (Google image it for instant explanation)
10.  Prague, Czech Republic (Unbearable Lightness of Being is one of my all-time favorite books, takes place in Prague, MUST GO.)

What's your list?

Mom

My mom and I have the same hands.  She humored me for this post by letting me take these silly pictures to prove it.  Our hands are exactly the same size.  In fact, when pressed together, they are mirror images.

The older I get, the more of my mom that I find in myself.  Hands, laughter, kindness.  I owe much of who I am to her.  She influenced me to become a teacher.  She showed me how to be brave and not care so much about what others think.

"To thine own self be true."  The most famous words of wisdom from my mom.

For so many years I fought against all of the things that I admire most about her.  Refused to eat the right foods, scoffed at activism, pretended not to care about nature.  In all of my childish efforts to be different from my mom, I've ironically turned out in many ways to be the same.  

Better yet, I am now proud of these similarities.

Being a mom has to be one of the hardest jobs on the planet.  All of that waiting for your kids to fully appreciate, understand, and embrace your efforts.

Thank you Mom for your patience.

My mom and I are more alike than I realize.

Oh, May.

While other teachers count down the days until summer, I childishly declare my love for May.  In fact, May might just be my favorite month of the teaching year!  I think it goes back to that correlation between anticipation and happiness-- May is like the Friday of teaching.

Oh, May.

You bring two weeks of testing,
With four minimum days.
Oh, how I love thee,
Let me count the ways.

First there is time,
Each day out by four,
No more long evenings,
Watching the door.

Second there is sunshine,
Evenings stretch before dark,
Time to do yoga,
And take the dog to the park.

Last there is teaching,
With the tests over and done,
More time for history,
For art, and for fun.

Source: dearfriendrebekkaseale.blogspot.com via Nicole on Pinterest

Why my toes will be naked this summer!

I love pedicures as much as the next girl.  In fact, I anxiously await the warm months for the excuse to have someone rub my feet and make my toes look cute.  It's a cheap thrill.  In my circle of friends, it's also a social ritual.

However, this summer, my toes will be naked.

I make this declaration now because I know that it is going to take some serious self-control to decline the inevitable invitations.

Here's why I'm abstaining:

1.  When my last pedicure finally chipped away this fall, I discovered that my toe nails were half dead, suffocated beneath the polish.  Six months pedicure free, they're beginning to look healthy again.

2.  Prompted by my experience above, I decided to do a little research on the chemicals in nail polish.  Among my most interesting findings, I discovered that chemical-free nail polish, which I planned to substitute, often contains the same harmful toxins despite claims to the contrary, (further reading click here).  

3.  In college, my IR classes highlighted the unfortunate truth that many nail salons are part of human trafficking rings.  Immigrants are promised jobs in the US, then work as indentured servants to earn back their freedom.  The conditions of these arrangements often border on modern slavery, not to mention the harmful effects of breathing toxic nail polish all day.  Click here for one example in Ohio.

So, there you go.  Naked toes seem like an easy way to cut back on some of the toxins in my body, restore health to my sad little toe nails, and make a social statement that people shouldn't be forced to breathe toxic nail polish fumes all day as a job.

I promise, if you know me in real life, I will attach no judgment to whether you continue to use nail polish or visit nail salons.  Goodness knows that I still buy clothes made in sweatshops, talk on a cell phone that could debatably give me a brain tumor, and partake in all sorts of other activities that people disagree with on either health or moral grounds.  I can only handle a couple of battles at a time, so I chose this one.

Good-bye nail polish :(

Retail Therapy: Anticipation Purchases

I fancy myself minimally materialistic.  I won't lie and say that I don't like new things-- I do, but generally I avoid situations that make me want to purchase items that I don't need.  In other words, I consciously avoid shopping.

However, today I gave in.  Alex and I went to find new jeans for him and came home with goodies for me.  New running shoes, check.  Need those to run on the beach.  A hat to block the Hawaiian sun from my face, essential.  Flip flops to replace the ones rotting from yard work, yep.  1950's inspired D&G sunglasses to look cute, okay, I didn't need those, I just wanted them, badly.

Thanks to Nordstrom Rack I managed to purchase all of these items for around $160.  Not bad when you consider that the D&G glasses retailed for $155 alone.  In fact, it's a rare dose of retail therapy that so far brings zero remorse.  Usually, I have a hard time buying anything for myself, anything, and often I end up taking everything back.

I don't feel guilty this time is because I justified everything as "necessary" vacation purchases for our summer trip.  A stretch, perhaps, but I have always derived extra morsels of anticipation from buying little things to use on vacation.  Somehow, these purchases prolong the happiness derived from travel as their imagined use enhances the entire experience.

Maybe retail therapy is not the secret to lasting happiness, but sometimes, it really doesn't hurt.

My collected treasures...

Now I'm officially beach ready!

To sell or keep your wedding dress?

Most people sound surprised when I tell them that I'm selling my wedding dress.

"Don't you want to keep it?"

"What if your daughter wants to wear it?"

"I bet you'll wish you had it when you're an old lady."

Maybe they're right.  It is not an easy choice.  I am attached to it.  

However, it also bothers me, hanging there in my closet, taking up so much space for the sake of the past.  My real attachment is to the memories, the pictures, the day.  The actual dress is just one piece that happens to take up a gigantic amount of space in my bedroom's "quaint" 1950s closet.

While I understand the logic of keeping it, I also romanticize the idea of it living on as part of someone else's special day.  Perhaps it will be like the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants but with a wedding dress between strangers.  I almost imagine it becoming its own story, a book even.  Living on from love story to love story.  Ending its life well-used, tattered in some thrift store until someone finds it and decides to reinvent it again.  Maybe I have too much hope for my little old dress.

The hippie in me likes the idea of selling it though.  Let someone else use it again.  Reduce, reuse, recycle.

I know there is a chance I'll miss it, but I also enjoy the small act of rebellion in not holding onto it.  We'll see.  Someone actually has to buy it first.  

When I went shopping for a wedding dress, I thought I wanted something understated, tea length maybe.  I almost bought a vintage Audrey-Hepburnesque dress that hit at the knees.  I anticipated the shock value of defying tradition.  However, no other day in my life would I ever have the excuse to revel in such pageantry.  I didn't even want to try this dress on, but my sister Kaitlyn convinced me, and once it was on, I was happy.  Now, it would be cool if this dress could make someone else feel the same way!