Detour : St. Joseph, MI.

by Leave a Comment

On our way home from a family wedding this weekend [yay Whitney and Jon!] my husband and I took a detour and stopped in St. Joseph, Michigan. We spent our  honeymoon there two years ago and wanted to revisit Silver Beach, which holds a lot of happy memories for us. Sunday was gorgeous : 78 degrees and sunny. The clouds rolled in as the sun was setting, giving us a spectacular lake view that we couldn’t help but capture with some snapshots. The first I took with my iPhone, the rest were taken by Matt with his Nikon D80.

matt in st joe's

DSC_0020

When I was young I didn’t appreciate the natural beauty of Michigan. Then again, most of what I new of the state was southwest Michigan, which really isn’t that spectacular away from the lake. Now though, I love that on our way home to Chicago we can stop and drink in a late summer evening, complete with Silver Beach Pizza and a GIANT waffle cone of Kilwin’s pistachio ice cream :

photo

Inspired By.

by Leave a Comment

It’s the weekend friends, and I’m pretty darn happy about it since I feel like I haven’t really had one in weeks. I’m about to head out for dinner and a movie with one of my besties, and tomorrow I’m going to a 40′s in the 40′s Party complete with pearls, t-strap heels, fellas in fedoras and 40oz Mickey’s for all. Theme : Keep Calm and Carry On, which is exactly what I’m aiming for right now.
Here are some sweet links from around the web this week:
Inspired by Sam’s book arrangement plus these other clever shelves, I rearranged my own collection the other night, and I’ll be posting photos of it next week in my bookish series!
Another encouraging post for bloggers on common misconceptions and ways to deal with them. Note: the comments are as good as the post itself!
Margaret Atwood’s 10 Rules of Writing. My favorite is rule number 8 :

“You can never read your own book with the innocent anticipation that comes with that first delicious page of a new book, because you wrote the thing. You’ve been backstage. You’ve seen how the rabbits were smuggled into the hat. Therefore ask a reading friend or two to look at it before you give it to anyone in the publishing business. This friend should not be someone with whom you have a ­romantic relationship, unless you want to break up.”

After a post from Jess early in July, I joined her email intervention program and it has really helped scale back my stress during my down time. Now, she’s doing another one for August, and I highly recommend you join the ranks of those that are keeping the office at the office, and home at home.
I’m a firm believer in the Oxford Comma, which is why I absolutely loved this post.
A really interesting [and true to my life] post about Why Our Generation is Afraid to Commit.
Doubt and Devotion? Creativity and Life? It’s All About Balance.
It seems like everyone has their spinoffs of the poster above these days, but this rendition from my friend Kat is my favorite.
And finally, I found this post really interesting, and it has prompted me to ask: how can I serve you better? What would you like to see more of on She Writes and Rights? Guest posts from other writers? More or less of my personal experience? More or less of my poetry? Thoughts on the process of writing poetry? My bookish posts: do you find them interesting or fluffy? Your thoughts are welcome here.
P.S. Looking for a guest posts from fellow writers and creative for the upcoming weeks. I’d love to have you; email me at shewritesandwrites[at]gmail[dot]com.
So keep calm and have a good weekend, friends.

book·ish : It All Ends 7.15.

by Leave a Comment

watch harry potter deathly hallows online (5)
As I write this, I realize I was kidding myself to think that what I feel for this beloved series would ever fit in a single blog post. But then, if you’ve been reading my blog and know me at all, you are likely a fan of the series, too. In which case, we both know that emotional connections to stories like Harry Potter cannot be explained in words.
Yes, I am tearing up even as I write this. Because the series that accompanied my adolescence, the characters that even now speak to me about bravery, friendship, and love that concurs death, are about to light the silver screen for the final time.
The books will always be here. The movies will be playing over and over for years to come. Still, there’s something about seeing this series come to a close that puts things in perspective: I am a grown-up now. Life moves on. I am no longer that 13-year-old, frizzy-haired, introverted word-nerd reading
The Goblet of Fire under my covers at 3 a.m.
The small, shining faces of Harry [Daniel Radcliffe], Ron [Rupert Grint] and Hermione [Emma Watson] seem adorably dwarfed and baby-ish in retrospect. Next to their matured versions, we have proof that although it feels like just yesterday, 10 years worth of yesterdays have passed since they first appeared in The Sorcerer’s Stone in 2001.
A lot has happened.
For them and for us.
We’ve grown, too, together and in our own ways. Just like these fictional characters that feel so deeply real, we have struggled to hold our world together, to step forward when no one else will, to accept those very different from ourselves, to understand our enemies, to cling to love and friendship in our darkest moments, to decide who we are and who we could be. And we’ve survived, too.
So Jo, thank you for giving my generation a renewed love for reading, a true understanding for the power of literature to influence lives.
Whitney, dear cousin, thank you for all the times you let me come over and read the newest installment within 24 hours, and for helping me sneak off to the theater to see the latest film.
Harry, it’s been a pleasure. Expecto Patronum.
~
book·ish/ˈbo͝okiSH/Adjective
 
1. (of a person or way of life) Devoted to reading and studying rather than worldly interests.
2. (of language or writing) Literary in style or allusion.
3. (of art and all manner of lovely things) devoted to the written word as a form of art and as a way of seeing the world.
4. (of SheWritesandRights.blogspot.com) anything of the aforementioned characteristics as they are found on the interwebs and reposted by Bethany, because bookish and writerly things always give reason for amusement.

book·ish : Women of Letters with Jane Flanagan

by Leave a Comment

A more perfectly bookish post, I may never publish. It’s all of my favorite things together: female authors, Etsy and Jane Flanagan of one of my daily must-reads: Ill Seen, Ill Said. In addition to sharing insightful thoughts and bits of inspiration, Jane owns the charming little webshop Coterie. Take a look at Jane’s curation of Etsy pieces, Women of Letters, a collection inspired by her favorite female writers including Jane Austen, Edith Wharton, Virginia Woolf and Flannery O’Connor.
gc_janeausten
And I love her thoughts on incorporating a love for all things literary into daily life :

 

“And while it’s unlikely that any of us would adopt the style of these writers verbatim, I like the idea of including a little nod, in your home or your wardrobe, to a favourite writer, character or book.”

book·ish/ˈbo͝okiSH/Adjective
1. (of a person or way of life) Devoted to reading and studying rather than worldly interests.
2. (of language or writing) Literary in style or allusion.
3. (of art and all manner of lovely things) devoted to the written word as a form of art and as a way of seeing the world.
4. (of SheWritesandRights.blogspot.com) anything of the aforementioned characteristics as they are found on the interwebs and reposted by Bethany, because bookish and writerly things always give reason for amusement.*

Must I Write?

by Leave a Comment

thesis-paper

“Find out the reason that commands you to write; see whether it has spread its roots into the very depths of your heart; confess to yourself whether you would have to die if you were forbidden to write. This most of all: ask yourself in the most silent hour of your night:

must I write? 

Dig into yourself for a deep answer. 

And if this answer rings out in assent, if you meet this solemn question with a strong, simple ‘I must,’ then build your life in accordance with this necessity; your whole life, even into its humblest and most indifferent hour, must become a sign and witness to this impulse. Then come close to Nature. Then, as if no one had ever tried before, try to say what you see and feel and love and lose.” – Rainer Maria Rilke

 

This is the voice that keeps speaking to me, whether I am busy and distracted, quiet and contemplative, alone or surrounded, coming or going, sleeping or waking. That’s how I know. That’s why I’m still trying, even when another voice in me tells me to quit.
What is it that motivates you? Don’t settle for anything less.

[Image found here.]