Tag Archives: sale

news, programs, opportunities + toddler art!

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Hi, friends! I hope wherever this finds you today, you are finding moments of gratitude and something to smile about.

I’ve been busily working on some new programs & resources that I’m really excited to share with you! Please pass this along to anyone who might be interested.

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holiday book special

Books make the best gifts! Now through the end of December, if you buy a copy of THE BEST WEEK THAT NEVER HAPPENED for yourself or for a gift, I have a bunch of extra goodies to send your way! Just email me proof of purchase — a screenshot is fine. In return, I’ll send you:

  • an autographed/personalized bookplate
  • a matching bookmark with an inspiring quote from the book
  • hourglass & gecko temporary tattoos
  • a free signed paperback copy of my short story collection WOMAN, RUNNING LATE, IN A DRESS!

This offer applies to purchases made for e-book, audiobook, or paperback. Also, if you’re purchasing any of my titles as gifts, let me know if you need signed bookplates and I will gladly send them to you!

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online teen novel-writing class

My fall online novel-writing class for teens was such a success that I’m starting up a new session on Dec 20!

CALLING ALL TEEN WRITERS: Have you ever wanted to write a novel? Maybe you have a story idea that has been simmering in your head for a long time, but you’ve never gotten around to actually putting it down on paper.

Or maybe you started writing your novel — or you have started writing many novels — but you never seem to build enough momentum to carry you through to the end.

What if you could have sustained weekly support to write your novel?

I would be honored to be your cheerleader, mentor, teacher, and accountability partner during this journey!

Ray Bradbury said of the reading and writing process: “We are cups…constantly and quietly being filled. The trick is knowing how to tip ourselves over and let the beautiful stuff out.”

Using the Outlining Your Novel Workbook by K.M. Weland as a jumping-off point, you will then “tip yourselves over and let the beautiful stuff out” by writing your own novel chapters, which you will submit to me each week for individual constructive feedback. By the end of the class, you will have written a substantial draft of a novel. Wow!

Every class will include:

  • Focused teachings on a “craft” element of writing a novel, such as character development, plot and story structure, setting, dialogue, scene vs. summary, and more.
  • A brief writing exercise to get creative juices flowing.
  • A 15-minute workshop of a fellow student’s opening chapter to give feedback and learn from.
  • Homework: write a chapter of your novel every week and send it to me for individual feedback.
  • By the end of the class, you will have a solid draft of a novel completed, which is quite an accomplishment!!

Click here to learn more & register for the class.

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small-group book coaching program for adults

My small-group book coaching program is now open for enrollment! We start on January 5 and meet every Tuesday + Saturday through the end of March. It is going to be such an amazing way to kick off the new year! Is writing a book is one of your new year’s resolutions? I’d love to have you join us! Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions or would like to chat about it!

What if you finally committed to writing your book? You know the book I’m talking about.

The book inside you, beating within your heart, dying to be written.

The book you daydream about when you’re staring off into the clouds.

The book you think about before you fall asleep at night.

The book you’ve wanted to write for months, years, possibly even decades… but for many reasons, never quite get around to actually writing.

The book sharing your stories, teachings, insights, wisdom, and perspective that will enrich countless lives.

The book that will change the world.

The book that will be part of your legacy.

The book that is uniquely YOU — that no one else but YOU can write.

Decide NOW that you are going to hit the ground running in 2021 by finally writing your book — in fact, that you will complete the first draft by April 1st and feel the most unbelievable sense of pride + accomplishment!

  • Join my exclusive 13-week small-group coaching program and become part of a community of writers who will provide you support + encouragement as your pages pile up.
  • Receive accountability, cheerleading, inspiration (and a gentle kick-in-the pants when needed) to ensure you are consistently moving forward towards those two magical words: THE END.
  • Learn how to find your writing voice and embrace your authentic style to write your book and spread your message in a way that is riveting, memorable, crystal clear, and uniquely you.

Spots are limited so click here to learn more and claim your spot!

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maya’s masterpieces etsy shop

To celebrate our daughter’s second birthday, she launched an Etsy shop! 🙂 She loves painting, so we chose five of her best pieces and turned them into 5×7 greeting cards!

MAYA’S MASTERPIECES: Receive beautiful greeting cards, support a toddler artist, and plant trees to help our Mother Earth!

Each package contains five unique 5×7 inch blank greeting cards with five white envelopes, featuring artwork painted by our daughter Maya. She is a vivacious two-year-old who loves creating artwork. She is so proud of these cards and very excited to share them with you.

For every package of cards purchased, half the proceeds will go to Maya’s college fund and half will go towards reforestation efforts to plant trees through the nonprofit organization One Tree Planted.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/893309186/pack-of-5-colorful-greeting-cards-with?ref=shop_home_active_1

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And I think that’s about all the updates for now!

Wishing all of you a healthy holiday season filled with lots of joyful moments & blessings!

I’d love to hear: what is something new in your life? What are you smiling about today? What are you excited about in the new year?

goals for the week of 12/7

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Hi there, friends! Hope you’ve had a wonderful weekend! Mine has been very busy, but a good kind of busy. Friday night I got together with Dana for dinner at a delicious Korean restaurant called Mixed Grain.

Mixed Grains

We sat there eating, talking and laughing for close to three hours and ended up closing the place down! One bonus of staying so long was that the waitress came over and asked if we wanted free cupcakes {I think they would have gone to waste otherwise…} We of course said yes and they were absolutely delicious! Not to mention beautiful — check out this delicate rose made out of buttercream frosting:

rose cupcake

Yesterday morning, I had a long catch-up phone call with my friend Janet before I ran off to teach my four back-to-back classes of kiddos! After a couple weeks away due to the holiday, they were more energy-filled than ever. Some of them said they missed me, which was quite sweet. I missed them too, but I was also more than happy to collapse on my couch last night and relax while catching up on two of my favorite shows, Nashville & The Newsroom!

This morning, I was up bright and early to tutor a couple kiddos, and then I headed over to church, where I took part in the holiday crafts faire held from 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. I sold and autographed copies of my books and everyone was very supportive, encouraging and enthusiastic. It made my heart so happy. I feel very grateful to be part of such a warm and welcoming congregation. I must admit, I was a little worried that it would seem like a long day {being from 10-3!} but the time flew by thanks to lots of delightful conversations and visiting with people.

After church I drove to my sweetheart’s apartment where we are now getting ready to make some veggie pasta for dinner. But before I go… time for goals!

weekly goals

Here’s how I did on my goals from the past couple weeks: 
– write a new chapter of my memoir {this totally fell by the wayside this week}
– finish holiday cards {almost done!}
– finish student evaluations {started, not finished}
– publicize my Winter Writing Camp {it’s halfway filled already!}
– go to two yoga classes {I made it to three!}
– connect with two friends

Here are my goals for this upcoming week:
– write a new chapter of my memoir
– finish holiday cards
– finish student evaluations
– finish reading short story collection
– go to two yoga classes
– connect with two friends

Questions of the day:

  • What are your goals for this upcoming week?
  • What are your favorite Thanksgiving recipes?

MPM-Winter
This post is featured on Menu Plan Monday!

fabulous friday #28

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Happy Friday, friends! Hope you’re having a fabulous day!

Here are 5 things I’m loving right now:

1. The gorgeous summer sunshine and the beautiful beach. I went out to dinner with my parents and it was one of those perfect evenings… warm, a slight breeze, the sun setting over the ocean. I tried to capture it with my camera, but this photo doesn’t do it justice!

pretty ocean

2. Last night, my sweet parents surprised me with tickets to see Once: The Musical at the Pantages Theater in Los Angeles! The movie is one of my favorites and I think the music is stunningly beautiful. Seeing the musical was goosebumps-inducing! And we made a night of it with a lovely dinner beforehand at 33 Taps in Hollywood. My parents are two of my best friends and I love getting to spend time with them!

pantages theater

mom dad once

3. I always love coming home and getting together with friends! I saw Gricelda for a lunch date at our favorite spot, Urbane Cafe. Tania invited me to her house for a long catch-up visit {the kind where you feel like it’s been maybe forty minutes and you look at the clock and, whoops, three hours have passed!} And Erica and Kyle had me over to their adorbs new apartment for dinner.

me and erica at her place

They made a delicious healthy stir-fry with rice and I tried out a new recipe for dessert: raspberry brown-butter crumb bars. Oh man, you guys — so good! I will be sharing the recipe next week, so stay tuned.

raspberry brown butter bars

4.  I was floored by this blog post about the declining health of America’s kids — more proof that kids need active play time every day! This amazing nonprofit org, KaBoom!, is where my brother is interning this summer in Washington, D.C.

5. My first Kindle short story is now available! It’s called “Grand Slam” and for a limited time, it’s on sale at Amazon for less than a buck! Here’s a brief description: Derek is a die-hard Cincinnati Reds baseball fan. He finally works up the nerve to talk to his crush, Regina… but then he learns she is a huge New York Yankees fan. The Reds are going up against the Yankees in the World Series! Can their budding romance survive an intense sports rivalry?

grand slam cover

Read a preview and get your copy here: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00M1236J2

Here’s to soaking up every last drop of this TGIF and cheers to a fun summer weekend!

Questions of the morning:

  • What are you loving right now?
  • What are your plans for the weekend?

what I wore to amanda’s rehearsal dinner

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Happy Friday, everyone! I have a short post for you today, one that I meant to share a long time ago but it somehow got lost in the shuffle. As we’re nearing the end of summer wedding season, I thought it might still be applicable!

As you might remember, my dear cousin Amanda got married back in June. I was unsure what to wear to the rehearsal dinner, and ended up going with a classic long dress, a simple sweater, and flats. I got this dress on sale at Macy’s — now is the perfect time to score great sales on end-of-season summer dresses! Dresses like this can easily be adapted to autumn or winter weddings if you just add some tights and a heavier sweater/coat!

rehearsal dress

 

me and gb rehearsal dinner

 

Have you been to any weddings this summer? What did you wear to the rehearsal dinner?

saving money & time by utilizing my freezer

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One of my goals for this year is to put at least 10% of each paycheck into my savings. I’ve always been a saver — I was the kid who saved up my Chuck E. Cheese ticket winnings visit after visit to eventually spend on the coveted 1,000-Ticket Big Prize — but in the grown-up world saving isn’t always that easy. As a grad student, there are months it seems downright impossible to put aside any of my small paycheck for savings. Yet I know how important it is to save for the future, and I know how fortunate I am to have a job — after all, even a small paycheck is better than no paycheck.

With that mindset — that even small savings deposits are better than no savings! — I am aiming to discover little ways to save money throughout my daily living. Since I hate wasting food, I’ve gotten in the habit of buying small amounts of produce every week — even produce I really like and eat often — because I don’t want anything to go bad and go to waste. Sometimes this caused me to lose out on good weekly deals because, though I knew I would use up a lot of that specific fruit or vegetable, I wasn’t sure if I would eat it quickly enough. This also lead to some situations where it felt like I was racing against the clock to eat up all of the peaches or blackberries or celery before it went bad and into the trash.

freezing produce

Then I came across this post from my blogging buddy Andrea at Simple Organized Living about how she cuts up and freezes her fruits and veggies {and lots of other goodies, too!} … and it really inspired me! It seems so obvious, but it had never occurred to me that I could freeze my fruits and veggies and use them later. It was like a light-bulb went on in my brain!

Serendipitously, this week at the grocery store, they were having a great sale on bell peppers, something I use often in my cooking. Normally I would have bought one, maybe two, and made sure to use them up in dishes this week. But now I knew exactly what to do to take full advantage of the sale: use my freezer!

I bought half a dozen bell peppers, used two in recipes this week just like I normally would have, and then took a few extra minutes to chop up the rest. Then all I had to do was put them into ziplock baggies and into the freezer!

bell peppers

I used one small bag per bell pepper, because typically my recipes use one bell pepper at a time. An extra bonus is that cooking with these frozen veggies will be easier than ever because the chopping is already done! Surprisingly, it seemed much faster to get in the zone and chop up four bell peppers in one go than it does chopping them up one at a time.

And I felt so proud putting these babies into the freezer. I pictured a harried, midterm version of my Future Self, hungry and desperate to get dinner on the table, and I thought, “This is my gift to you, Future Self.  You’re welcome!”

Do any of you use your freezer to stock up on produce? I’d love to hear your money-saving tips!

ecomom’s “green” friday sale

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Just a quick post to let you know about a really great sale one of my favorite “green” living sites is having this week …

Ecomom.com is a site designed for moms who want to buy healthy, organic, nontoxic products for their home and family. They have everything from organic baby food to non-BPA reuseable water bottles to natural products for your home. I especially like their organic hair products and natural home cleaning supplies. You don’t have to be a mom to find great products on their site that can make your daily routine healthier for your body, and for our planet!

Until November 25, they’re offering:

  • $20 off orders of $50-$99
  • $40 off orders of $100-$199
  • $80 off orders of $200+

This might also be a great way to stock up on some early Christmas gifts!

Here’s the website again: www.ecomom.com. Happy shopping!