by Tish MacWebber | Apr 9, 2018 | Weekend Warrior
Another weekend is coming to a close. It was a busy one! Weekend Warrior started on Friday at about 4 pm. A friend needed to take me up on an offer to visit earlier in the week. She is recovering from surgery, and wanted to see some friends. So I rushed home, got the hubby to help me cut my large spaghetti squash, and I got my things together while it cooked. Picked up our other friend, a few things to complete supper, and off we went.
We made spaghetti squash mixed with tomato and veggie sauce, with multigrain garlic bread and played a game. We tried to watch a movie. It didn’t work out. The game was fun. It was a good way to wind down after the work week.
Saturday was slow to start. We went to see Ready Player One. It was great, but I don’t think the 3-D was necessary. We saw it in 3-D, and in my opinion, it wasn’t as good as I expected, but only in that way. The story was good, the pace was great, and all the Easter Eggs in the movie were on point, it is probably too hard to get them all the first time through. The other disappointment was that there was NO EASTER EGG at the end! With a movie that was full of them, start to finish, there should have been an extra scene at the end. It just felt wrong, and another young fan was feeling the same way. My husband was shaking his head as I was commenting about this, and then I found a kindred spirit that felt the same way. It was kind of hilarious.
I am reading a book to review. I am reading it before it is published. I spent most of the last week doing just that, and I am going to review it on my Blog on the Treasure Seeker Tuesday this week. I will share more about it then.
I also have a small issue with amazon.ca. I am trying to support my peers by downloading and reviewing their books after reading them. However, because I haven’t purchased anything from amazon.ca, I am not allowed to review the books I read there. I am not amused. I have found another way to help, but it isn’t the way that the authors would like.
Sunday I spent a bit of time working on my website. I cooked Chicken Bacon Ranch Casserole. I have 4 meals ready to eat now. I like prep cooking. It helps me to get out the door faster in the mornings. I highly recommend it.
I totally won this weekend. What did you do? Comments are welcome below.
#WeekendWarrior
by Tish MacWebber | Apr 4, 2018 | Treasure Seeker Tuesdays
This week in Treasure Seeker Tuesday, I want to write about someone very important. YOU! The world is a harsh place at times, and it is easy to get lost in the shuffle. People disappear in the mundane routine of work eat sleep repeat. I am writing today to tell you that you matter and that you need to stop existing and start living. Treasure Yourself! What do I mean by that?
Everyone on this planet is capable of making choices. Some people choose to fly under the radar and just sit in the background to avoid the spotlight. It isn’t for everyone to be the centre of attention all of the time. I think we all get our chances to shine in the world, but it is up to us to grab on and go for the ride. When it is your time to show the world what you can do, you need to own it.
I have spent many years of my life just surviving, and I have realized that I was meant to thrive. I am on a mission to tell stories, here in the Blog and also in my books. I do not know how successful this adventure will be, but I know that I am determined (okay, stubborn) enough to see it through to the finish line. I have literally come to life since I stumbled onto the path I am on, and I can honestly say that I have no regrets. It is lighting a fire in my soul called passion, and it is sometimes flickering but never extinguished. When I am on a low burn, that is when I need to find the desire to try something different or do the things I do not want to do so that I can get back to doing what makes me happy.
When I am quiet, and I let my thoughts roam, I come up with some brilliant ideas. They could be jewellery designs, topics to write about here on the blog, or plans for my current WIP (work in progress aka book.) I can solve problems, and create a solution just by sleeping on it. I can find so much joy when I press publish on a blog story like I will with this one because I know that I was inspired just before I decided to write, and it has a purpose and a message.
So do you. You are reading this because you are looking for something. Inspiration, guidance, hope. Something makes you read this category, or the title caught your eye. I am told that the featured pictures are getting stale, and that will be one of the changes I think seriously about this month. I need to work on this website. I need to edit my WIP. I don’t really want to do either of those things, any more than I want to clean my house from top to bottom or crawl out of bed to face the work week, especially on Mondays. Sometimes, you have to do the things you don’t want to do so that you can do the things you want to do. Adulting is hard.
I used to go around cranky saying that I hated being responsible. I was really miserable deep down inside before I rekindled my love for writing. The answers are within you, and being cranky all of the time, as a victim of circumstance is not one of them. I am writing today to tell you that you have to do some soul searching to find your answers.
Just like everything else, anything worth doing is never easy. If it was, we would all be doing it already. You have to ask yourself the tough questions, and then be patient enough to learn the answers.
Bad things happen. To everyone. The hardest thing is to pick yourself up by your socks and move on. Move over. Move around. Whatever obstacles stand in your way, it is up to you to find the way to crush them and seize your answers. If you just take a little tiny step, you will see that you can take another one. After that, you can keep moving forward, one baby step at a time, until you are moving forward by leaps and bounds, bracing yourself at the sharp corners, and tumbling like a pro when something dares to try to slow you down. You will stumble, and you will fall. The only thing to do is get up and try again. The only thing I ever gained from giving up was being cranky all of the time. I don’t want to be that person. Go find your baseball glove and start throwing the curveballs. Don’t dodge them. Catch them, and throw them right back where they came from.
Do you remember reading the Choose Your Own Adventure books? I used to love them. I would read the first ending, and then I would reread all of the other options until I had learned every scenario. That is how you need to approach life. We don’t know how it will end until we try all of the possible scenarios. Choose wisely, and start living to your fullest potential. I am only beginning to discover just what I really am capable of doing. The world is not ready for me yet. I am full of surprises, and I am going to keep pushing my boundaries as far as I can. The only thing standing in my way is myself. I choose to Treasure Myself and trust in what feels like I am meant to do. Treasure Seekers, do it. Treasure Yourself. Open your heart and mind to the possibilities, and believe in yourselves. I can do more than I ever thought was possible. So can you. Go get it!
#TreasureSeekerTuesday
by Tish MacWebber | Apr 3, 2018 | Weekend Warrior
This Weekend Warrior is going to be about a little bit of rock and roll. This past weekend was Easter Weekend. I did have to work on Good Friday. I also went to a concert. One of the bands I like to support when they are in town had a show here on Friday night. I did keep the no meat rule for Good Friday, and I was not drinking. I drove myself to the show and was able to drive myself home after. Having the car made me not have to think about having anything stronger than ginger ale. I am still taking antibiotics, and have decided to stay out of the wine until I am better. One of the prescriptions I had taken for a week was not to be mixed with alcohol, and I am just trying to be careful when I am not feeling my best.
Although I did not see The Hypochondriacs play, I bought their CD. I also bought the latest CD from The Stanfields, Limboland. I decided to buy a t-shirt and got a tote bag for free. Then I made sure both bands signed the new CDs. It is something I have always done when I buy the CD at the show if I am able to do so. Here is a picture of what I brought home.
The Stanfields Swag and The Hypochondriacs CD
Late into the night, I had a chat with a new friend. It is something I have really liked about taking on the journey to becoming a published author. I am involved with a few writing groups, and the ones that I am wanting to be more involved with are providing me with a safe place to vent, share my projects, the highs and the lows of my journey. Friday night, I discovered another perk. I have a new friend that I started chatting with.
I have been going through some stalling on my projects. I have picked up the beads, which is okay, but I still haven’t done any writing outside of the blog, and the E-Zine I wrote an article for. (If you missed the Creatives Rising E-Zine Spring 2018 Issue, the online publication FOR Creatives, BY Creatives in affiliation with @CreativesRising and @CreativeEnergyGoddess
#CreativesRising2018 #CRZine #amwriting #HappyWriting)the link to subscribe and check it out can be found in Treasure Seeker Tuesday #24 When Opportunity Knocks. I have a pending Guest Blog that I really need to find time to work on, but the thing I am not giving the attention it needs is the book writing. I had some revelations about this while I was chatting with my new friend.
I realized that my cover for book 1 has me feeling doubt. I played a little in Canva. I am finding my way and doing as much as I can. I had some criticism when I was getting down to my final choices. The picture is not high quality. The fonts are too hard to read. The tartan is too much. I should just write the book, and not try to do all of the different things involved with it. I tried not to let on that it bothered me, but it did. Not enough to make me quit. It did slow me down, though.
I realized that I need to go with my gut on this. I am still a little nervous, but I finally realized that not everybody gets me, and that means that not everybody is going to get my design choices. That is okay. If they don’t get it, maybe it isn’t the book for them. I know in my heart that I need to write, and I need to tell the stories inside of this book. People have heard me tell some of the stories over the years, but nobody has heard them as the cats might have narrated them. That is why this book is going to be special. It is from my heart, and it uses the talents I was born with to tell the stories.
I made a decision in the wee hours of Saturday morning. I decided to set a deadline in September. I don’t want it to be released too close to the day that my friend passed away, but I do feel that it is the best way to honour her by releasing it on September 30th. That is my tentative launch date for my first book to be published.
I have been speaking with a colleague that does editing in her spare time. We haven’t discussed details yet but she is interested in editing the book for me. I will be glad to have someone I know to give it a good read through. I will do my own editing first, and then I will need an editor to help me perfect it before publishing. I am hoping that this plan will work out.
Then I got up Saturday, with the idea for the second book cover. I plan to have book 2 published in December. I have it drafted, I just need book 1 finished so I can get right into writing book 2.
That Tartan that I designed for my pen name? It’s going to be sticking around. I will have help to get the perfect pic of me for the cover of book 2. The idea is going to be something I don’t share with too many people yet. I can say it is going to be fun!
Saturday I didn’t do a lot. I preoccupied myself with reading the latest Writer’s Digest Magazine for a part of the day. It was a quiet night at home. I have been trying to rest up as much as I can. That doesn’t always add up to sleeping in. I didn’t sleep too late on Saturday.
Sunday was fairly quiet also. We just needed a quiet weekend. I needed to sort out what was holding me back, and figure out how to get things going again. I think I was able to get a good amount of time to figure out what I need to get my momentum going again.
Since I had a bit of a mixed up weekend, loud and quiet. I am calling this weekend a draw. There were highs and lows. I had time to have a little fun, and I had time to think about what was holding me back. I feel good about it.
#WeekendWarrior
by Tish MacWebber | Mar 19, 2018 | Weekend Warrior
In this week’s Weekend Warrior, an am happy to report that I had A Productive Weekend for a Change. I have done some cleaning, hosted a craft night, and went out to see a movie. I wanted to get a lot more accomplished than I actually did, but that is okay. Tomorrow is a new day!
Friday night was spent at home, starting the cleaning for Saturday. I experimented with Kalimotxo (cal-ee-mo-cho). It is popular in Spain, and Uruguay, according to the video my friend sent me to check it out. I tried 2 different wines, with Coke and Pepsi. My final verdict was if the wine tastes “sour” the Coke evens it out. The Italian Bardolino Doc is better with Coke. The dry wine from Romania Castel Bolovanu was a stronger flavoured wine, so I would recommend a dry wine with Pepsi, as the flavours seem to mix better, to me, even if the flavours seem to be fighting. I did not like the dry wine with Coke at all.
For the record, I tried 4 different combinations, but I only actually finished one glass of wine. I wasn’t in the mood for having a lot of wine Friday night. Maybe a total of 2 glasses if you combine it all. It was an experiment, to see if it was something that I liked. It was okay, but
Saturday was busy. Cleaning all day, in the living room and the kitchen. It took a while. I am happy to say that I even had time to sweep the floors. Then it was time to get ready for the craft night.
We were going to go through magazines and create vision boards. One friend was making a bucket book. It was nice to sit around the kitchen table, have snacks, and sip on a glass of wine. We caught up and talked about things. We worked on gathering art and words for our projects.
I had made a trip to the Dollarama for supplies. I got some different tapes, decorations, and papers. I had to buy a sketchbook for my project. I never got far enough to start any pages, but I had a successful gathering of things to put into it. I don’t have kids, but sometimes I like to do something nice for my friends. I had seen owl tote bags there, and they were $4 each. I bought 4 for us all to keep our supplies in. They were a hit! I kept the purple owl, and one of our friends didn’t make it, but I am holding hers here for her next visit. Now that I have done this, I am looking forward tot he next time.
Here are the bags I bought:
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Rebecca’s Owl Tote Bag for Craft night
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Tish’s Owl Tote Bag for Craft night
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Becca’s Owl Tote Bag for Craft night
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Kathy’sOwl Tote bag for Craft night
Sunday was busy with writing, and we went to see a movie. We went out to watch Annihilation with Natalie Portman. I have never personally experimented with drugs. That movie was a scientific trip if I was ever going to take one. I can’t say it was horrible, but it was kind of messed up. Now, for some unexplainable reason, I have the munchies…yup. I am having the side effects of being stoned after watching a movie sober. If that was what they were going for…mission accomplished. There were not enough Hazmat suits on the actors. I think the audience needed them also. It was an out of body scientific trip of a movie. I am settling for a glass of orange juice and some cheese. Then I am calling it a day.
What did you do this weekend? It was a total win for me!
#WeekendWarrior
by Tish MacWebber | Mar 13, 2018 | Makeup Monday
In this, the third Makeup Monday, I’ve got my eyes on the prize. I have been dabbling a little in make-up, and thinking about a new hairstyle. Oh, and now I have new glasses to work with. I am really liking them!
I tried to do my hair Saturday, and it did not cooperate. I want to try the beach hairstyle. If you google it, you will know what I mean. It was not meant to be. I might try one more time. But it didn’t happen this time. I made it work.
I am trying to learn a new eyeshadow and eye makeup technique. I have made a friend that sells Younique, and I have been watching her videos. I saw one that I want to share here so that you can see the look I am going for. Stacey gave me permission to link to her video here.
Stacey Killam’s Eyeshadow Palette video.
I am not using her makeup, but I wanted to try out the technique. After purging my makeup last year, I have 3 palettes with 4 colours in them. I have 2 eyes. I decided to wear the same palette on both eyes Saturday night, and today after work, I used the other two, one for each eye. As I am testing mascaras out, I used 3 different mascaras also.
Top: Maybelline Mocha Motion palette, L’Oreal Blackest Black Voluminous Butterfly Effectwaterproof mascara, with Marcelle Expresso Waterproof Eyeliner. Bottom: left Revlon Illuminance Wild Orchids Creme Shadow, Maybelline Lash Sensational Full Fan Effect Mascara, center worn on both eyes, essence Gel eye pencil waterproof gunmetal eyeliner, and on the right, Lancome Colour Design Sensational effects eyeshadow and essence Lash Princess False Lash effect mascara.
Saturday’s look was the full makeup, and the lipstick was actually applied after I grabbed the pics. Here is a collage of before and after.
I was happy with the look, although I don’t see the depth of colours after I blend the eyeshadows. It is the top makeup the picture above.
Today I just did the eyes. The left is the purples, and the right is the Sensational Effects Eyeshadow Palette.
2 Different eyes, 2 different looks.
What I learned is that I do not know how to make the ‘v’ or the ‘7’ properly yet. The essence mascara is sticky. The Loreal mascara from Saturday looks great, and although the brush is weird, it did an okay job.
I don’t know how to get the colours on properly, and the creme eyeshadows I applied with my fingers. Then I tried the blending brush, but I really don’t know if I was supposed to or if I should blend with my fingers, or not at all.
Makeup is fun. I will keep playing. I will do something different for next month.
#MakeupMonday
