Vintage swimsuits for the modesty freak.

I love vintage swimsuits. Seriously. If everyone had one of these there'd be a lot less troubles in the world. (Okay really I could go into the whole deal about how girls of this time don't know modesty and how we need to cover up for the sake of our guys' innocent minds (right) but that's another discussion).



LOOK. AT. THIS.
The reason I'm posting it here is for personal future reference & because my "Favorites" folder is disabled on this computer.


I found that swimsuit HERE and the price tag is only $130.

And speaking of vintage things, how nice is this:

Definitely goes with the beach theme.
& I had no idea it was called a 'parasol'...I guess that makes sense in Spanish

Okay that's my shopping rant for the day.
--E.A.

Awesomeness.

Thanks, Norm, for so timely updating the deCycles website. It never ceases to be a source of entertainment for me.
For example:

This makes me think of that scary kids' show where they sing,

"There's a party in my tummy. So yummy! So yummy!"

That reminds me of this:

Not really. Maybe I just miss Michael Jackson. Maybe I'm just weird. I don't know.

"The Yankees are coming!" This is a very inspiring picture.

And this last one where he looks like Eeyore. Off by himself. See, this is when you get out your phone and call me, silly.

There's more where that came from but those are the highlights.

--E.A.

Fun at the mall (a rare treat).

After 2 hours, I was glad my parents finally came to pick me up: the people were starting to think I was insane.

Seriously. This is the worst way to spend the morning of your 4th-of-July: Stranded at the mall, at Starbucks to be certain, with "Honky Tonk Badonkadonk" stuck in your head. Nothing can be worse.
Okay, well, there is one thing that can be worse: in addition to all the above, sitting at the mall for so long that you decide "maybe I shouldn't return to that store and hit that sale again". NO! BAD GIRL. Thinking like that is not allowed in the modern society.

So I gave the people there a reason to think I'm insane by laughing hysterically every time someone went into the "Do Not Enter" doors in Target. Because the thing is, they will open for you even though you're not supposed to go in there. So there'll be a group, 3 or 4 people, and one goes through these wrong doors and there's always that one other smart-alleck who points out the "Do Not Enter" sign. The hilarity then begins when the person who already walked through the doors looks around, lost, backs up (you can almost hear the "beep-beep" like on the dump trucks), and walks out a laughingstock.
Seriously, highlight of my day.

I went in to buy new hair color (I'm going through that season where Mom finally realizes that I'm almost 19 and that I'm going to college). I ended up buying 4 new B&BW mists (sweet pea, vanilla noir, midnight pomegranate, and wild honeysuckle) as well as 2 lotions (sensual amber (my favorite!) and midnight pomegranate) and two mini-lotions (warm vanilla sugar and butterfly flower). Now, trust me, I won't have a reason to go back to that store for about 2 years. Thank goodness.

And then I bought these shoes at Charlotte Russe, although I don't know where in the world I would wear them.
Some days I feel like I should be living in New York, the heart of the publishing industry, bustling with agents and editors and people who will read my books.
Then, on other days, I realize that this is just what happens when Logan & I are apart for two long: I get my head stuck in the clouds and continuously change my personality. When he's here I'm more reluctant to change.


But I feel different still. I feel more like a writer. I'm well on my way to my first manuscript, a writing job, and a college education. Odd how our circumstances can do that.



Stay awesome.
--E.A.

Doing a lot of stuff & getting there.

I'm getting myself (still & again & yet) into the world of publishing. Here are some general details:

1. I've been reading a lot of PWs in the library. In fact, I schedule a "library hour" early in the morning, combining it with my bike exercise--bike to the library, read, bike around, and bike home. Perfect.


2. Writer's Digest is better than PW, although I do enjoy PW's reviews.


3. Been catching up on a lot of reading--various Christian chick-lit authors, Meg Cabot's journals, serious authors, some Ted Dekker, Ken Follett, Nicholas Sparks (The Notebook is soooo much better in movie form), & many others.

4. I bought an Alphasmart 3000--seriously, best thing ever invented, and it's definitely going to be awesome, because all this time I was thinking "I wish I had something to type on on-the-go," and here it was! And I got a chance to get really in-your-face competitive on eBay.

5. Been honing my writer's craft with some books by Noah Lukeman. Amazing man.

6. Been collecting ideas from any and all sources, as well as possible ideas for my future works. I want to write both serious and humorous, but I don't know how to combine both quite yet. And the Christian chick-lit market is wide open for someone (read: me) to come in and steal the spotlight.

7. Plan on attending the Write-to-Publish conference next summer in Wheaton, IL to meet some agents.

8. Bought a "book" I wrote when I was 15. Finally. "Ships in 10 to 12 business days".

Speaking of which, I'd like to publish the "note from the author" I added to the last page of my "book":

I never thought the day would come when I would be able to look at this script again. You know how it goes: after you’ve done so many drafts of something and you can quote the text so well that it’s practically oozing out of your ears there comes a time when you say “Enough!” and run screaming. That’s how this book finally made its way to print. Someone (read: I) said, “I just want to have this thing on my shelf already so I can hold it in my hands and say, ho-hum, this is my first unpublished novel which I wrote at age 15. now let’s move on to better things.”
So finally printing this book (quite an expensive venture, I must add), is like a comforting gesture to me. Like saying “AH-HA!” (to be said in one of those Mickey Mouse-type voices) “been there, done that!”
And, as the Russians would say, the first pancake is always in a ball. Or ball-shaped. A mess, basically.
So this book is a pancake. Mmm…that sounds good right now.

However, there remains to be one person to be thanked, and he is too blindingly amazing for the acknowledgements section. The mastermind behind all my work, from the beginning on April 2nd, 2004, through this book, and till now. The genius who has the best plot ideas. The comedian responsible for all your rolling-on-the-floors and laughing-out-louds. The wiz of characterization, suspense, and, basically, the one who writes every single scene for me. He is my AwesomeO-4000 life partner, my super-ninja writing buddy, my splendiloquent insider and adviser, and overall my best friend. The name’s Christ. Jesus Christ. I tip my hat to you, Sir.


Indeed.
I get a lot of my inspiration for writing here.


--E.A.