Farewell to an old "friend".

This car. Oh this car.

This car has taken me wherever I needed to go A and B wise. I got Bridget (yes I named her) while I was in college working at a grocery store on a shoe string budget. Unfortunately, because I was not yet very wise, I also paid for Bridget in cash. (Never do this people)

And I didn't think to get the car checked by my local mechanic, because hey, it rode fine when I took it out for a test drive. (Never do this either)

As a result, it turns out that This Car was a victim of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. It had previously been flooded, someone cleaned it out, got it to run and shipped it to New Jersey to be sold. I was that buyer. I was quite surprised when I began having problems six months after purchasing Bridget. Odd smells (like a gas smell) coming through the vents. The radio not working at all or shutting off after 15 minutes of driving. I took it to my mechanic, who was stunned that I was even driving Bridget.

"This car is so rusted I'm shocked your foot didn't go through the floor when you hit the brakes." he said.
Well. That's not good.
The rust went all the way throughout the car. I even found rust in the gear shift. My dear dad learned of my problem, and paid to have new parts installed to replace the rusted ones, which gave the car new life, and it clunkered along for about 6 more years. But, problems began steadily springing up a few months ago. 
I found rust in my coolant. (Yes. Really.)
The battery died.
The radio still didn't work.
My tailpipe was falling apart.
More rust found in the gear shift.
That smell started coming back.
My windshield wipers randomly starting turning on. (This happened on a date. Luckily, the guy didn't notice since he was following me in his car and when I told him months later, he was a good sport about it and thought it was funny)

When I learned that I needed a new transmission, I'll admit I began to hate Bridget, even if she did take me to many college get togethers. When Dad picked me up at midnight after breaking down, everyone decided Bridget just wasn't safe for me anymore. Dad began secretly looking for a different car for me, as I silently cursed out my old one. (Bridget even made me swear.) Lo and behold, my parents found me THIS:

Not bad eh? Bridget who? The best part about this new car was that I purchased it the right way this time, through a trusted mechanic and friend. The car is like new too.

And so, I've closed an old chapter in my life and entered a second, grown up chapter. My new grown up car. (This time with a working radio and CD player! Thanks parents. I'm about to party like it's 1996.)

PUBLISHED.

PUBLISHED.

Wait, let me write it again.

I'M PUBLISHED.

I'd been debating on whether or not to take my writing to the next level for quite awhile now. I've always identified myself as a writer, but I wasn't sure how to make my dreams a reality. After taking some writing courses (Read, A TON.) I decided to sign up to be a Yahoo contributor. There's a lot of courses through Yahoo as well to better your writing skills and I thought, hey why not? I'd build a portfolio that way, that's for sure.

Turns out that freelance writing is the best thing I've ever done and it's a job that suits me well. I can work from home, and I love it so much that it doesn't even feel like work. The best part is that I now have a purpose, which is something I believe everyone needs. After some hemming and hawing, writes and rewrites, the first article I completed was about my mother. I didn't expect to get so personal right off the bat, (if at all) but once my fingers hit the keyboard, I could feel the weight being lifted off my shoulders. 

The second article was a little tricker. I decided I wanted to interview someone I've admired for quite awhile, took a big leap of faith and contacted her directly. Her name is Schuyler Fisk and she's a beautiful singer/songwriter. I even went to one of her concerts a couple of years ago. After some corresponding with her publicist, I got my first interview gig. I submitted both articles on the 7th, and waited. And waited. And waited some more. 10 painstaking days later, I got a response back on the first article and--stunned--read the e-mail over and over that my material had been published Yahoo. It was fitting that the first article was about my mom. Maybe she was watching over me, making sure that my dream was realized.

I didn't have to wait long for my second article to be approved. The next morning, I was informed that my interview with Schuyler would be on Yahoo too. I was happily shocked by the latest turn of events and thanked her for the opportunity. Her response was lovely and she encouraged me to write more.

I never thought that this would happen simply by taking the plunge. More writing opprotunites are in the pipeline for me that I'm excited about and I can't wait to show them to you all as well. If you want to read my articles, "Lessons my Mother Taught Me" can be found here: Lessons My Mother Taught Me.

My interview with singer/songwriter and actress Schuyler Fisk can be found here: One on One with Schuyler Fisk

I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I enjoyed writing them!

New Me.

I've been a little bit blue lately. So I decided that in order to feel better, sometimes you need to look better. 

For Christmas, I got some wonderful new (and very much needed) clothes from my parents. I can't tell you how relieved I felt. But I've also been looking a bit frumpy in the hair department lately and I haven't put on makeup since July. So I did some things that I rarely do:

First, I got a haircut. (See above.)

Then I got my eyebrows all glammed up (I have two again.)

Then, I got some new makeup.

THEN I went really drastic.

I dyed my hair.

I'm a natural redhead. (Some say strawberry blonde) It's a dark auburn shade though, so depending on the time of year, it can sometimes turn dark blonde due to lack of sunlight. I decided to go for a higher redheaded hue, not straying TOO far from my natural color. I must say I like it.

I definitely feel better, I'll tell ya.

New Year, big changes.

I've been slacking on my blogging lately and other writing avenues, I'll admit it. Part of it is because my family and I have had quite a tumultuous end to 2012. It's been rather up and down and time consuming. The other reason is simply my lack of motivation lately to write. I'm finding that anything I put to my word processor has been overwhelming. Should I go in this direction? Should I write down that word? My friend Gretchen has lovingly gotten me back on the right path and her advice was simple: "Just write what you love to write about! You can always work on the mechanics later. Nothing is set in stone."

And so, I've returned to work and the tide has turned, albeit slowly. I've been forming my novel bit by bit, starting to enjoy the process, rather then becoming overwhelmed. My resolution is to get my book out this year and I'm thrilled about it. I'll let you know more as the final product comes together.

I've also signed on as a freelance writer for Yahoo! I can't wait to get my articles out there and share them with you guys.

I hope you all are doing well. What are your New Years resolutions?