What I’m Reading
-Still working through READING LOLITA IN TEHRAN. I’m on
section two, which is called Gatsby, so naturally I’m excited! I’m also reading
my writing buddy Shari’s novel draft and loving it!
-Looking over my book list for my first semester of grad
school and LOVING every minute of it. I’m taking a YA Lit class (I know,
luckiest person ever!) and three of my books are: THE HUNGER GAMES, IF I STAY,
and THE FAULT IN OUR STARS. I think I had a mini fainting spell. Another upside
is I already own (and have read and loved) all three. Buying all the other books for my
three classes isn’t going to be pretty (There are 31 that I don’t already own),
but I’m too excited to care. I think there are only two or three textbook-style
ones, the rest are novels and short story collections, and I recognize some of
the authors. I’m so ready for grad school to start!
What I’m Writing
-I knew my RSW goal was lofty for this week, especially
since Wed-Saturday was taken up with my friend’s wedding details. I landed at a little under 18K, a bit short of my 19K goal. My goal for this week is to get my word count to 20K. I like nice square numbers like that!
-I’ve also started writing lyrics again (more below), so that took a little time away from my WIP, but it was definitely a welcome change.
What Inspires Me Right Now
-I’ve been listening to Hunter Hayes like CRAZY for the past
week. I’d meant to buy his album 
What Else I’ve Been Up To
-WEDDING WEDDING WEDDING! One of my best friends from high
school got married on Saturday, and I was one of her bridesmaids. I truly felt
honored to get to share this day with her, and she was SUCH a caring and
respectful bride to all of her bridesmaids (she let me and one of her
maids-of-honor have a hand in picking the bridesmaids’ dresses, we were allowed
to pick our own shoes and jewelry as long as they were silver, and our hair and
makeup were up to us). She and her new husband got engaged almost exactly a
year ago (4th of July, which everyone thinks is funny because her
husband is from England), and I’ve had the most amazing time following her
wedding process each step of the way. I definitely cried during the ceremony,
though I had to hold it in because it would’ve been a MASSIVE ugly cry. I don’t
have pictures from Saturday yet because I was in charge of the bride’s camera,
and I was running around like crazy and didn’t think to take my own. The
professional photographer took over 2000, though, so I’m sure they’ll surface
soon. In the meantime, here’s a couple of my flowers (which I took at 11:30pm
when I got home from the day, too exhausted to even step out of my heels).
-Seeing Monsters University. It was PERFECTION. I might be a
little biased, since I’m a super reluctant college graduate and am dying to go
back. But seriously, Monsters University had GREEK LIFE. This sorority girl was
VERY happy. :)
-Trying to drink water. I have one of these tumbler glasses
with the built-in straws at work AND at home, because for some reason (I’m
polling everyone I meet about this) I’m way more likely to drink something if
there’s a straw in it. Plus I tend to get dehydrated a lot, so I need to start
really drinking water. Monday, my first day challenging myself to this, I had 5
glasses of water (my cup at home is even bigger than the one in this picture).
Woohoo!
-As you can probably tell from this post, I love pictures. So I started a 365 Project and am attempting (<--key word) to take a picture of a day. I think it'll be something cool to look back on when the year blurs together. You're welcome to follow or join in! Let's see how long I last.
What's up with you this Wednesday?
I do the same thing with water at my desk! I have a huge water bottle and a lot of the times I forget about it. Even when it's right in front of my face! Fail!
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to see more wedding pictures!
I'm excited to see wedding pictures, too! I took a ton on the bride's camera, so hopefully those'll go up on FB once she's back from her honeymoon. And the professional photographer took about 2,200!!!
DeleteLove those wedding photos... Gorgeous! I'm crazy-jealous of your YA Lit class reading list... So awesome! I want to take a YA Lit class just for the fun of it. :-) Best of luck hitting 20K this week. I hit the same target yesterday -- it's TOTALLY doable!
ReplyDeleteI couldn't believe my luck when they were offering a YA class...what a great way to start my first semester!
DeleteAnd congrats on 20K! :) I just love the sound of the number, 20,000 words seems like a MAJOR total in my head. I'm looking forward to that sense of accomplishment!
That grad school course (the YA one) sounds fantastic! I would love to take a course like that. :) I'd be pretty excited to get started, too! I think it's great that you're working on writing in any form, whether that's your WIP or song lyrics. It's all writing! I hope you have a great week, Kaitlin! :)
ReplyDeleteI'll definitely be posting details about the class once it starts in August! :) Have a great week too, Jaime, and congrats on the YA Buccaneers launch! I plan on stopping by the site on a regular basis, that's for sure. :)
DeleteYou get to read TFIOS, THG and IIS for class? Um, I want to go back to school. Beloved Husband thinks I'm a career college student (I'm not because I can't stand the homework). But, if I could sit in on classes everyday I would totally do it. Every. Day.
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of a 365 picture a day project. I might have to try that myself. :) Good luck with your goals this week!
I would LOVE to be a college student forever! I don't even mind the homework that much, believe it or not (unless it's busywork for a class I don't care about).
DeleteI'm 3 days into the 365 project, and I'm really liking it so far. We'll see if I keep up with it! A lot of people go crazy and post pictures with their super fancy cameras, but I'm doing everything from my phone so far. Nice and simple!
Good luck with all your goals for the week, too!
They just announced that Hunter Hayes is performing in Philly's July 4th concert tomorrow - last minute replacement for Demi Lovato - wanna come visit? ;-)
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of a 365 project. How fun it'll be to look back on all the pictures and have a documentation of your year! And speaking of pictures: love the ones from the wedding and can't wait to see more!
I JUST SAW that on Twitter, that he's a last minute addition! It makes me crazy that he'll be so close!!! I saw him back in 2011 when he opened for Taylor Swift (the same weekend of our beach trip), but his album wasn't even out yet. I thought he was adorable, though, and that hasn't changed. :)
DeleteThat's why i started the 365 project. My days all blur together when I look back on them, and I think it'll be nice to have little reminders of my day-to-day life.
Also, I owe you an email! I'll get to it soon, I promise. I'm flying through SOT now...I looked down at the page number for the first time in a while this afternoon and realized i'm over 2/3rds of the way done!
Oh my gosh, that makes me so happy (especially since you got stuck with the long version ... sorry about that!)! I'm so, so excited you're enjoying it! :)
DeleteI'm trying to drink more water too! Hello, summer!
ReplyDeleteAaw, weddings are very emotional. Such beautiful flowers ^_^
Good luck with next week's writing!
I highly recommend straws when you drink water. I'm on my 5th glass today (I also work in an office where there's not much to do, so I plow through the water). Straws work wonders for some reason!
DeleteGood luck with your writing goals, too. :)
YA Lit was totally my favorite class in grad school (mine was for English Ed.) I totally want to see the whole reading list! I did mine a few years ago and I already feel like the selection is dated (although some, like The Book Thief, will never go out of style.)
ReplyDeleteAnd OMG, that is a brilliant point about water and straws. I might have to try that myself--I do this bad thing where I don't realize when I'm thirsty and I forget to drink all day. Oops.
Some other books for the class are THE CHOCOLATE WAR, THE ABSOLUTELY TRUE DIARY OF A PART-TIME INDIAN, and CHANDA'S SECRETS. I'm so excited to get started!
DeleteI'm normally awful about drinking water, too, especially when I'm in school, but my goal for the summer is to drink a TON during work and while I watch TV. Yay hydration! :D
It's weird, but yeah, I'm more likely to drink something with a straw in it, too! I think I need to get one of those tumblers, because my Coke Zero habit is getting out of control and I really need more water in my life.
ReplyDeleteYour friend sounds like a super considerate bride! And the flowers were beautiful--sounds like you had a lovely day :)
I highly recommend the tumblers! I bought one from Walmart that has the ice pack gel built into the lining, so you can freeze it and it'll keep your drink cold longer. Idk who thinks of these things, but they're amazing!
DeleteAnd my friend was the best bride! Zero bridezilla tendencies. Which made me much more willing to crawl around her hardwood floor on my knees, buckling her shoes for her! ;)
You get to read those books for school? WHERE CAN I SIGN UP?
ReplyDeleteAnd usually it's such a bummer when goals aren't quite reached...except when you write 18K words. That's fantastic! It sounds like you're getting in a lot of writing, even if it isn't quite up to what you were planning. I hope you have a great writing week!
I'm still in disbelief that these are my textbooks! I'm thinking this bodes well for my first semester of grad school. ;)
DeleteHappy writing to you too!
Oh wow - can I take your lit class?! Those books are some of my favorites! Also, it looks like you had a blast this past weekend and you didn't fall that short of your goals! So, go YOU!
ReplyDeleteI hope this next week is wonderful in the writing department! Enjoy!
I'm so excited about this class, I'm sure I'll be posting updates once I start. They're some of my favorite books, too, and it'll be nice to have already read them. Maybe it'll give me a leg up in the class? At the very least, it'll save me a little time (although i know I'll read them again along with the class...any excuse to reread THG!)
DeleteSounds like you've had a really wonderful week. I loved those few years after college when it was wedding after wedding after wedding. So much love. <3
ReplyDeleteI, too, would stay in college forever if I could. Best of luck with your writing and water goals this week! :)
I would be SO happy just being a student forever (or at least for another few years). My parents are currently ignoring my hints at pursuing another degree after my MFA... :p If only school wasn't so expensive!
DeleteGood luck with your goals for the week, too! :)