Category Archives: answers

Awarded & A Giveaway.

Posted in answers, aspirations, blogging, give away, lists, love, melanie kristy by

How would you like to win a package with some Lush goodies, note cards and a handful of Zines I’ve collected? It’s the perfect way to smell good, keep letter writing alive and read the hard version of what came before blogs.

All you have to do is leave a comment in this post (be sure to include your email address) letting me know you want to win. For extra entries, follow me on Twitter and tweet about the giveaway or post about it in your blog (then let me know you did so in the comments here). Winners will be chose next Thursday.

Also, Halley from Life of Something New awarded MelanieKristy The Versatile Blogger Award and I am so honoured! Thank you Halley! And hello to any new readers who wandered over from Halley’s blog. It’s great to meet you!

RULES
1. In a post on your, blog, nominate 15 fellow bloggers for The Versatile Blogger Award.
2. In the same post, add the Versatile Blogger Award.
3. In the same post, thank the blogger who nominated you in a post with a link back to their blog.
4. In the same post, share seven completely random pieces of information about yourself.
5. In the same post, include this set of rules.
6. Inform each nominated blogger of their nomination by posting a comment on each of their blogs.
& so. Seven things about moi:
* I prefer iced lattes to coffee & I never drink them hot
* I really favor  “expensive” cheese. My favorites are: brie, fresh mozzarella, goat cheese & asiago
* I’m on a hunt for the best public places to write. I frequent coffee shops because I feel like I should be drinking someone while I’m writing
* My iPhone case is Hello Kitty
* My favorite countdown is always the one until the first day of spring (46 days)
* I’m not opposed to trying weird foods/ combinations (except weird meats) this includes putting cayenne pepper in a mango smoothie, ordering escargot rangoon (ok, that’s a weird meat) and mixing dry oatmeal into my yogurt.
* My favorite Disney movie in the Lion King, but Peter Pan and all of the fairy tales are close behind. My newest favorite is Tangled.
& the Nominees Are… (in no particular order, by the way)
Star Stuff – Erica writes about her life, the ups and the downs and she shares some of her art with her readers, too.
Ashley Lorelle – is a writer who is currently working as a Nursery Specialist at Lowes. She writes about her life, writing and most recently house plants.
The Good Groupie – is the girl who’s always going to shows, scoping out new music and writing about it. But she isn’t sleeping with the band. She is not what you might consider a band-aid.
Chocolate Covered Katie – posts recipes to all things sweet and delicious but guess what! Most of her recipes are sugar free.
Eat The Damn Cake – Kate writes about love, body image and every post has an “unroast” where she celebrates a part of herself.
A Little of Of This, a Little Bit of That – Currently a high school teacher in South Korea, Olga has been to all over the world and writes with depth that most blogs don’t have.
My New Roots – has delicious looking recipes. Now I just need to actually try them.
My All Natural Weight Loss  – Lorrie talks about losing weight. She talks about fashion and fitting her weight loss into her real life.
Little Reminders of Love – I love the pretty pictures and inspiring words posted on this blog.
Gypsy Love Warrior – Cassandra writes about living in the moment and slowing down. And she posts pretty pictures and little bits of inspiration.
Dear Sweetlings – Juli calls all of her readers sweetlings. She has rats named after Harry Potter characters and multi colored hair. She just started doing vlogs and she has the cutest voice.
Lost in Oversettelse – Kirstin is from the United States but living in Norway with her husband. Her posts are very family inspired & I love reading her updates.
Una Bella Vita – There are beautiful pictures on every single one of these posts.
Just a Titch – Amy shares bits and pieces of her life whether it’s snacking, running, working or getting healthy.
The Portrait of a Would-Be Artist as a Young Woman – Gillian writes her thoughts on books and authors with lots of lists.

January Recap and February Plans

Posted in answers, blogging, melanie kristy, self improvement, writing by

I may not have posted much in January, but a lot has been going on inside my head. I’ve been crafting ideas to share, thinking about doing a blog overhaul, contemplating my financial situation and more importantly I’ve been doing a lot of self work. I’ve been spending even more time alone. I’ve been filling the pages of my Pisa journal, writing a fairy tale short story and working on becoming.

A lot of times it feels like days are dragging, but the weeks go by so fast.

Things I’m looking forward to in February:
Starting a new journal
Finding some awesome dance DVDs
Doing spring cleaning early (and finishing before spring!)

Things you can look forward to here o this blog:
Wanderlust posts on travel
Songs that mean the world to me
A random giveaway
Discover different fiction
How to be Your Own Valentine

What are you looking forward to in February?

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How To Start a Blog (Or, How to Stop Being Over-whelmed and Get Things Done)

Posted in answers, blogging, how to, passion by


(weheartit)

So, I overwhelm myself very often. There are things I wish I had accomplished that I should have started five years ago. I look back on this and get frustrated. Then I make a list of all the things I want to do or have done or be in the process of doing and… I get overwhelmed. There’s so much to do! Some of these things are SO hard! They require discipline. They require consistency. I feel like I don’t even know what these words mean.

If you can empathize with anything I’ve said up there, or if you’re just looking to stop fearing (!!) the blog world so you can start your own, this is the place to be.

1. Make a list of what it is you want to do. This is more for if you want to do more than just create a blog. This is in case you want to lose a hundred pounds, write an entire novel, create a successful blog and start training for a 5k.

2. Separate each goal and write out steps that you think you need to take in order to achieve this goal.
To start a blog:
* Need a name
* Choose a client. I use WordPress. You can also use Blogger or Tumblr or whatever else you choose
* Think about what you might want to write about. This doesn’t have to be a definite thing, you can figure it out as you go along. Or you can narrow it down right this minute.
*Write entries. What kinds of entries are you going to have?
* Publish entries. Decide if you’re going to publish on a consistent basis. Try to do that.
* Advertise somehow. I publish my blog posts on Twitter and Facebook.
* Comment on blogs so that bloggers can become familiar with you and your url.

3. Are you overwhelmed yet? I sort of am, an I’ve already done most of those steps. So once you’ve figured out what you think you need to do, at least the basics, get started.

4. Think: What is it that I can do TODAY. And do that today. (Write a blog post? E-mail a blogger whose posts you enjoy? Ask for some guest posts?)

5. Think: What is it that I can do TOMORROW. And the NEXT DAY. And do those things.

6. Don’t give up if the progress is slow. (Only give up if you decide that you hate what you’re doing. Though it’s okay to hate your blog every once in a while. If, over all, you love it, then don’t give up. Keep on writing.)

Remember: Blogging (and probably anything else you want to do) is hard work. You have to be willing to do the hard work, whether or not you really want to. If you get bored, find more ways to spice things up. In a year, you’ll be proud of yourself for publishing your 200th blog post.

7. Something else to keep you going: write about it. Blog about your blogging experiences, write in a blog about how you are learning to lose weight, make candy, eat your weight in cheese, etc. It’s nice to be held accountable somewhere, even if it’s just via Facebook statuses.

What do you do to get things done?

To My Post Academia Self

Posted in answers, aspirations, love, quarter life crisis, self improvement by


(weheartit)

It’s been four years since I’ve left an academic setting. I’ve had full time jobs and been unemployed, I’ve lived at my house and in an apartment. I’ve gone to Italy, New York and California. I co-wrote a book, started a blog and met a ridiculous amount of people. I’ve planned trips that didn’t pan out, and I’m in the process of planning more.

If I could tell recently acquired self anything about the future beyond academia, it would be these things:

Pick something to do and do it. It doesn’t matter if you end up hating it, it matters that you’re doing something and giving it a chance to work out.

Go back to school if that’s what you really want. Go back if you don’t want to. Keep learning, the cost is worth it.

Cut up your credit cards. They’re only going to keep you behind where you want to be.

Make plans to travel more.

Your friends will always be there. Don’t feel the need to cling. They’re also going to move on. Don’t feel the need to cling and stay stagnent because they won’t.

 

There will be guys, you will do dumb things. Let your heart get broken. It will heal stronger and with more power. Let them in anyway.

You have sleep apnea. Get tested now. Use that stupid CPAP machine. Lose weight and get healthy so you don’t have to use it any more.

Start learning self discipline now. It is hard but it is necessary for everything.

Also, watch Conan O’Brien’s Dartmouth Speech. Or read it, at least.

What would you tell yourself, or me, four years ago? Or when you graduated?

 

To my 16 Year Old Self:

Posted in answers, love, passion, quarter life crisis by

On Twitter semi-recently there was a trend going on where tweeters wrote words of advice/comfort, etc to their sixteen year old selves. My friend Miranda over at The Good Groupie blogged her words and I found myself thinking more about it. I had nothing to say to the sixteen year old me because I couldn’t reassure her of anything. The place where I am in my life right now does not stand out as a place where I would have wanted to be when I was sixteen, and frankly I felt a little ashamed for her. But thinking that way is nonsense. I’ve come a long way since I was sixteen. It’s been ten whole years since I started learning to drive, ten whole years since I had sixteen candles on my cake, and I’ve come a long way since then.

Dear Sixteen-year-old Me,

I remember the way you danced at your sweet sixteen party to Dancing Queen. That whole night was one big party. Dad rented a restaurant out, you played the first ever mix cd you ever made. Your favourite band is going to stay your favourite band, as many times as you doubt them, they’re going to keep you dancing.

I applaud you for staying as close to yourself as you could be. I admire that you didn’t break out into some frenzy of rebellion, make too many drunken mistakes at parties or regret spending any nights with guys. At sixteen you never had any question about your future, and you need to remember that ten years later.

You have no idea how hard it’s going to be, but you’re going to get through it either way. You’re going to experience so many different places and people you’ve never imagined. Every one of those people will leave an amazing impact. Every place you go you will hold in your heart and feel homesick for. Don’t lose that feeling.

You’re going to keep on writing. You’re going to feel like you’ve lost your words more times than you could ever count, but don’t lose hope. Those words will come back over and over again.

You’re going to feel like you’ve lost yourself. You’re going to struggle wondering who you were and where you are going. And in the end, you’re still going to be that same person. Don’t let experiences make you bitter. Remember to open your heart to the world around you.

Keep on dancing. Even if it’s just in your bedroom. I’m sure you realize it’s the only “sport” you ever stuck with. You’ll dance for a while in college, even. Keep dancing after that. Keep the music in your heart and express the movement as much as possible.

I feel like writing to you at sixteen could be similar to something the 36 year old self would write to the 26 year old person that I am right now. And that’s okay, because we’re all on this journey together. It doesn’t matter if we’re sixteen or twenty-six or if we’re celebrating fifty. We are every age we’ve ever been wrapped tight into this mind. Don’t lose that.

<3.Melanie.Kristy

Am I Good With Today?

Posted in answers, passion, self improvement by

I wish I was lying when I said that every day is a struggle. It starts as soon as the alarm goes off and I’m startled into reality. This time of year I’m freezing and I don’t want to move at all. Since I’ve started CPAP therapy as soon as I wake it’s almost like I’ve forgotten how to breathe. But beyond all that, beyond not wanting to get dressed and go to work it’s the little things that I struggle with. They all add up, fast.

Those parts of being a “responsible adult” that are lost because I feel just so tired. Those moments right after work when I ponder what I am going to do with my evening. If I make plans, I’ll be able to distract myself. If I can’t make plans, more then likely I am headed home to read, watch TV or cruise around online. Somehow in all of this time at my house I manage to forget to shower, keep my dirty clothes from reaching the washing machine and not once manage to make a lunch for the next day.

Why? When I am home during those hours, why can’t I manage to bring my trash out or put my books away?

Now that I’ve made it sound like I’m a slob and I’ve completely changed the tone of this post, I want to point out that yes I realize that this is part of something so much bigger. But at the same time, my awareness is what pulls me aside and makes me see myself for my actions. And maybe the larger picture is really just made up of all of the tiny little pictures that haven’t quite been put together yet.

Today I read a post that Amy from Just A Titch wrote. (I also borrowed the title of this post from something she talks about in hers.) I feel like she summed up everything that I struggle with, especially lately in ways that I couldn’t quite put into words. She certainly did it so much better. It’s about showing up to life. It’s about having the courage to do the mundane and working through that before getting caught up in the larger picture.

Read her post here: On Showing Up, Everyday…

What are some everyday things you struggle with doing?

<3.Melanie.Kristy

A Burst of Inspiration, or: Things I Love Today.

Posted in answers, aspirations, blogging, goals, love, passion, self improvement, tilt, writing by

This is Chance. I love him a lot.

So normally today I’d be listing things that I love. It is Thursday after all (except that the time on WordPress is off and I can’t figure out why it already thinks it’s Friday…). But, while I am going to find a way to list loved things/ appreciated people/ foods I can’t stop eating / characters I wish were real, I plan on doing it on my own time. On whatever day I please.

Um, guys, seriously in the past three hours I feel like my entire mood has changed. I spent most of work feeling sort of panicky/ anxious and I must admit that most of my week has felt that way. I may have shed a secret tear or few at work. I even found myself heading to Marylous for some fantastic iced coffee on my lunch hour today in hopes that they caffeine would take over my brain and make me giddy (it does that, but only sometimes…). I ended up absentmindedly getting back on the highway, though,  instead of turning onto the street where Marylous’ is. So I settled (yeah, right) for a Pumpkin Spice Frappuccino instead. Pumpkin is back! That makes me happy! But moving on…

The problem? Well, it’s me. It’s always me. I am my own problem. And I’ve always felt like I’m constantly dealing with myself. My mind and I battle daily, and I always tend to give in. Sure, mind, let’s forget to exist for a while. Let’s swipe that debit card, load up on new books and pizza and let’s pretend that’s my answer.

The other day I was so frustrated because I felt like I need a hobby. I have hobbies, sure. I have writing and reading and movies and TV and doing a lot of thinking about doing other things but not really doing them. They’re all too wall flower-y for me to do all of the time. I need some sort of passion. I need to be involved.

Right now I feel so inspired. I’ve found tons of new blogs to read, left lots of loving comments, eaten some Chunky Monkey, conversed through my blog and realized; hey, this is what I want to do. And I think I’ve just found the beginning of the sense of community that I’m craving right now. Blogging, my new hobby. No one is surprised, really.

I have big plans for my week next week. Big, big plans. I’m hoping that I keep up with them, because I’m excited about the possibility of change.

How was your Thursday?

<3. Melanie.Kristy

Curious Tuesday 08.17.10

Posted in answers, curious tuesday, lists by

It’s Tuesday, so that means it’s time for curiosity to take over, I answer Gala Darling’s five questions of the week and you can, too!

1. How do you feel about marriage as a concept? Realistic? Romantic? A pipe-dream?
I don’t know, marriage to me is realistic and romantic, but I think it’s for certain people and it shouldn’t be regarded as an expectation for anyone. I think it’s a wonderful concept, but many people rush into it because, well, for whatever reason.

2. Do you think you’ll ever want to get married?
Maybe, but it won’t be the end of the world. I would absolutely have to meet the right person, and I would have to know that this was someone I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. This would require me being with (and living with!) this person for quite some time before ever coming to such a conclusion.

3. If you did get married, would you want a big blow-out celebration or would you keep it low-key?
I don’t know. I  love parties, but I don’t feel it’s necessary for a wedding to be huge. Why? Because I’d rather spend quality time with people I love. Also I’d rather be able to afford an amazing small wedding than try to be cheap in order to accommodate too many people.

4. If you are married now, how has that changed your relationship?
N/A

5. If you’re married, how did you celebrate it? Knowing what you know now, would you have done it differently?
N/A

<3. Melanie.Kristy

Curious Tuesday

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Each Tuesday Gala Darling posts five questions to her readers to answer, this is my attempt to participate :)

1. What is your style direction for the upcoming season? Style? Ummm. I don’t really think about my style until I’m standing inside a clothing store wishing I had the funds to do so. I would really like to think more about this, but at the time it’s not a priority.

2. What is your favourite song right now? Hanson – Give A Little. It’s sensuous, upbeat and has a dirty double meaning ;)

3. What’s your best love advice? I’m the last person to give love advice, but if we lived in a perfect world I would say: believe in love and be willing to let your heart get broken.

4. Who is the most exciting person you’ve met recently? My cousin’s kid Natalie is full of life and adventure. She’s three years old and recently had me running all over my house playing with bubbles, chalk and silly bandz. My room is a mess and I told her that before letting her in and go figure about an hour later she goes up to my mom and says, “Want to see the messy room?”

5. Are you doing anything wonderful this week? What is it? I am partying with Olga on Saturday (between work shifts, that is). Hopefully I am seeing my best friend from childhood, Jen. And I’m also hoping to make it to yoga tomorrow night. All wonderful.

<3.

Melanie.Kristy