Posts Tagged "My Favorite Things"

• How to Live Like a Romance Heroine: Drink Tea

  On this week’s installment of “How to Live Like a Romance Heroine,” we have a topic very near and dear to my heart – tea!

  

  A proper English tea in the tearoom at Brighton Pavilion - May 2008

  I love many types of tea, but my go-to drink while writing is strong, hot black tea with milk and sugar. My obsession started young, when I reread The Secret Garden every week for months. In my Iowa youth, the only tea I had was Lipton in a bag, and I compensated by having a sugar:liquid ratio that should have given me far more cavities than I actually suffered. Now, though, I am much more refined (read ‘snobbish’) in my tastes – only loose-leaf will do, and only in a proper mug. Tea is delicate enough that I swear I can taste the paper if it is served in a to-go cup. But where can you find these teas, and how can you make them yourself?

  Pray, tell me more! →

  
  Posted on 12 January 2011 * Add a Comment
  Tags: Delicious * Edibles * My Favorite Things * San Francisco *

• RWA 2010 Day 0: Settling In, Catching Up, and Trying Not to Be a Fool

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  The 2010 RWA conference doesn’t kick into high gear until tomorrow, but I overscheduled myself as usual — rather than giving my poor California body clock a chance to catch up, I forced myself out of bed at 7:30am (4:30am at home, alas), into a dress AND makeup AND defrizzed hair (miracle of miracles), and downstairs in time to attend the Beau Monde retreat. The Beau Monde is a special-interest online chapter devoted to all things Regency; I joined a couple of months ago, and am consistently impressed by the quality and quantity of historical knowledge demonstrated on the loop.

  Pray, tell me more! →

  
  Posted on 28 July 2010 * Add a Comment
  Tags: Delicious * My Favorite Things * RWA Nationals * Writing Life *

• My Favorite Things: Hair Tinsel

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  Occasionally I intend to post things that I currently love. Top of mind (and head, ha) right now is hair tinsel! One of my friends got it last week, and I just had to copy her; I adore sparkly, shiny accessories, and luckily my day job allows me certain freedoms in terms of my ability to occasionally act like I’m sixteen. Since I have never dyed my hair and do not intend to start until the grey starts its inevitable assault, hair tinsel is an appealing option for adding some flare to my hair without damaging it.

  Essentially, the tinsel is hair-width metallic fibers that a stylist ties to individual strands of hair near the roots. Once tied in place, the strands stay there until the hairs fall out. The tinsel can be shampooed, styled, blow-dried, etc., just like normal hair — but I would swoon with ecstasy if my normal hair could ever turn to tinsel on command.

  Ten strands of metallic purple tinsel later, and my long brunette hair suddenly has an edge to it that I adore. It’s not over-the-top noticeable, but I love when the metallic strands catch the light. While it’s not something I would do all the time, I’m pretty sure I will have to do it again for the RWA conference — perhaps a color to match my Golden Heart Award Ceremony dress?

  To see what hair tinsel looks like, check out this site; I got the tinsel put in at a salon in Silicon Valley. Enjoy, and comment if you decide to get tinsel!

  
  Posted on 11 May 2009 * 1 Comment
  Tags: J'adore * My Favorite Things * Writing Life *

• Dehydrated but Productive

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  One of the problems that I have when writing is that I forget to take breaks. Another problem is that I like to write on my laptop while lying on my couch (as I am right now), and due to the unfortunate placement of all of the tables in my living room, this means that any drink in my vicinity is placed directly behind my head. So, while I have the remnants of an iced tea not two feet away from me, I’m still feeling parched because I don’t want to stop typing long enough to sit up, drink the tea, return to my prone position, and adjust my laptop for optimal typing. Then again, I’m *really* thirsty, so perhaps I should reconsider…

  Okay, I’m back. I was quite productive today, but almost all of it came between 6:30pm and 10:30pm. I also had a brief spurt for an hour and a half this morning, but between dropping off and picking up my car from the service station, mailing some stuff, eating lunch, reading a couple of chapters out of a creative writing textbook, and buying waaaaay too much stuff at Sephora, I had quite a lazy afternoon. I like to think it was just what I needed, though, and I’m feeling much more relaxed and ready to tackle more writing this weekend.

  I wrote 3258 words today, or approximately thirteen pages. This got me through the rest of Malcolm and Amelia’s wedding scene, and I’m about halfway through the subsequent breakfast. I intend to finish that scene tomorrow, then go back and revisit the first three chapters leading into the wedding to make sure they flow properly and are fast-paced enough to build reader interest. If I’m going to accomplish all of that tomorrow, sleep is imperative tonight, so I suppose I should go to bed!

  
  Posted on 17 April 2009 * Add a Comment
  Tags: Dreaded Rewrites * My Favorite Things * Sloth * Writing Life *