On Careers

I recently started a new job, which has me thinking about careers. I've always been ambitious and was lucky enough to find a great job in my chosen career field not too long after graduating from college, and again found a great job in a similar field when I moved to Austin. Many of my friends have not been so lucky. As a deadline-driven person, working in public relations and advertising is a great fit. However, these careers often extend beyond the 40 hour work week. As I continue to pursue this line of career, I am increasingly aware of the need for balance. Balance between work and home. Balance between friends and family. Balance between busy time and down time.

As I commit myself to writing, I need to also find time to write in between all of these other important things. I definitely don't have it figured out, but I plan to keep working toward the goal of having a successful career and pursuing my dream of becoming a published author at the same time.

As I work through this challenge, I'll share what does and doesn't work. Do you have any tips for finding time to write and creating balance in life? If you do, I'd love to hear them. And if you're still figuring it out like me, I'd love to hear about that too.

Speaking of balance, check out Martin, a fabulous Labradoodle who achieves amazing feats of balance in and around New York City. She has even been featured in the New York Post! I wonder if I can convince Lola to do that?

I am a Writer

I am a writer. In secret.

At work, I write all day long... press releases, pitches, media alerts, plans, creative briefs, etc.

But at night, on the weekends, and in my head, I'm a real writer. The kind of writer who puts her deepest, most intimate thoughts on paper as a form of self expression and self preservation.

Rumor has it, Stephen King writes ten pages a day. Even on holidays. I'm lucky if I write ten pages a year of my own work, beyond public relations. I aim to change that.

Starting now, I'm making a commitment to the writer within to write for myself, in addition to all of the writing I do for other people.

Challenge accepted.

Christmas Crafting

I was having trouble deciding what to get everyone for Christmas this year, so I decided to try making a few gifts. I'm no Martha Stewart, and in fact my family teases me mercilessly for my many failed and abandoned crafting projects. However, this year I actually accomplished all of my Christmas crafts! I'll be posting lots of photos of all of my projects after the holidays (so as not to spoil anyone's presents who may be reading this blog). For now, enjoy these photos from my recent trip to New York:

And how would you like to live in this super cool old building with a great view of the Empire State Building:

Have a lovely holiday! I'll be updating from Texas periodically, while celebrating with my dear family and friends.

White Christmas?

Now I realize I could be jinxing myself here, but if there is a sudden downpour of snow in the Denver metro area, I take no responsibility. However, it has not snowed, like really snowed, at all this year. Sure, there have been a few days with some random flakes, but last year we had feet of snow before Halloween. Feet, people! As of today, Dec. 13, there has been no real snow in town to speak of. I know it's coming, and I'm crossing my fingers that it doesn't come next week when I am trying to get back to Texas, but at the rate things are going, there may be more snow in Dallas than there is here (and that's really saying something). If you need some holiday cheer, you'll have to satisfy yourself with this photo from last year.

And just for fun, here's a photo of the boyfriend looking like that snow shovel guy that made me cry from Home Alone. He's digging out my shiny red car while I take photos, which is some great teamwork if you ask me.

Oh, Gatsby!

In preparation for the new movie iteration, I decided to reread The Great Gatsby. Naturally, when I first read the book as a high school freshman, I was captivated by the world of Gatsby with his lavish parties and endless champagne. It's interesting to rediscover a book after the passing of a few years. The book has not changed, yet I find myself relating to it in a completely different way and discovering all sorts of new facets. Although the book has remained the same, I have indeed changed quite a bit since first reading it.

Busy Bee

I've been very busy these past few weeks with work, and also preparing for the arrival of my parents. After a great visit, my parents headed back to Wylie today, so I'm hoping to get back on schedule with blogging. Thanks for sticking around. :)

I'm not Cinderella...

So when I saw a little mouse scurry into my apartment last night, I wasn't excited at the thought of a new dress. I was completely freaked out. Not just alarmed, but standing on furniture and squealing freaked out. I then called my poor boyfriend and begged him to come over, even though he had to wake up for a flight in less than three hours. Hopefully, that was the one and only visit I will get from my new friend.

Food, Again...

I like food. A lot. I eat out. A lot.

This gets very expensive on a young PR pro's salary. While breakfast is pretty straight forward each day (toast), I work near lots of neat restaurants that make bringing my lunch to work seem like a very sad idea. I also spend the majority of my day talking about restaurants, since we do a lot of restaurant PR. Suffice it to say, I'm not very good at bringing my lunch to work.

However, I admire people who have the discipline to make meal plans each week, like my high school friend Katy. Using people like her as an inspiration, I decided to attempt meal planning for one week. I kept it pretty simple, with sandwiches, pasta and salads. Pretty boring foods, I know, but I wanted to give myself the best odds for success.

And the verdict is...

Meal planning is great! For some reason, taking the mystery out of each meal made it much easier to stick to the plan. It also made grocery shopping much easier, since I already knew what I needed for every meal for a week. I spent $50 in groceries for the week, which is pretty good compared to the $35-40 a week I could spend on eating lunch out alone.

Eventually, I'll post recipes and photos from some of my favorite kitchen adventures, but for now I'm scouring the internet for good recipes to try. Some of my favorite sites so far are Pioneer Woman and Smitten Kitchen. Do you have any go-to recipe sites?

So Hungry

So, I have been laying low since Friday, when I had the dreaded wisdom teeth extraction. While this is hardly noteworthy for the general audience, it's very noteworthy to me. For anyone who knows me, they know I have been dreading this procedure for quite a while. However, they started hurting quite a bit, so the surgery was more than necessary. The whole process started out fine, and the oral surgeon recommended by a coworker's father was amazing. I've never been put under before, so the whole IV sedation process was fascinating. I felt like I was in a movie, with slow blinking eyes and peoples' voices drifting off in the distance. Very odd.

The recovery process was not as bad as I thought it would be, but I was a little disappointed by the pain medication. As someone who has never used recreational drugs, I'm not sure what I was expecting. However, I was not expecting to feel terribly hung-over, have anxiety-inducing dreams and become violently ill. Needless to say, I stopped taking those pills pretty quickly and felt much better as a result.

Since I am still eating mostly soft foods (blech), I have been daydreaming about all of the lovely foods I would like to eat.

First of all, how adorable are the little bundtlet bundt cakes from Nothing Bundt Cakes!? I would love to try this little red velvet number.

I'm also craving breakfast pizza, which is apparently all the rage in New York right now. That one with ricotta cheese and bacon looks divine. Where are all the Denver breakfast pizza joints at?

In other news, I'm so ridiculously excited about my trip to Austin this weekend. I see lots of laughter, late nights and Mexican food in my future, and I couldn't be happier about that.

Sundays

Sundays are an odd sort of day. Sometimes they are for hymns and potluck dinners and family. Sometimes they are for sleeping in until noon and eating breakfast for lunch. Sometimes they are about housework and laundry and washing dishes. Sometimes they are for actively doing nothing at all. Today, Sunday was for...

Not sleeping in...

But having a vanilla latte to take the edge off.

Picking up my guitar after an extended break.

Watching an almost love story.

Looking up at the sunny sky through the trees.

Talking to my grandmother about the holidays, and gambling.

Dreaming about the future.

The smell of fajitas wafting in from the kitchen.

And going to bed early.

Weekly Status

Every week, I'll give a little insight into my life a present. Here's where things stand on this fine Tuesday evening... What I'm craving: Chili Crispitos (remember those things from public school cafeterias? That was my absolute favorite meal, and I can't find a good recipe anywhere.)

What I'm reading: The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson and Lucy Sullivan is Getting Married by Marian Keyes

What I'm admiring: This rug from CB2, which would go nicely with my Catch 22 book poster

What I'm cooking: King Ranch Casserole, the dish served at every church function in my childhood

What I'm missing: Margaritas on a patio in the sweltering Texas heat

What I'm longing for: The perfect pair of riding boots, preferably in tan or camel

What I'm watching: True Blood on HBO (only three episodes left)

What I'm not doing: Tweeting. Twitter has lost it's appeal to me for some reason. Hopefully I'll want to tweet again soon.