Tag: kindling words

Kindling Words update TK

- Stacy

Oh, and I keep forgetting to post about Kindling Words, which I’ve been back from for over a week. I was able to take pictures, and got some really great ones of Ashley Bryan, our keynote speaker, who was the best keynote speaker I’ve ever heard speak, and he didn’t even have a speech.

But for today, I have a book to finish reading, a chapter to finish writing, and a lot of business stuff to work on. I think the business stuff might be of more general interest, anyway, and a photo post will have to wait until I can carve out some time to craft it.

The fashion report, New York, and cameras

- Stacy

I’m sitting in my friend’s New York apartment having just finished a rousing discussion on each of our personal existential crises. There’s always something that makes you think, "What do I *really* want to do when I grow up?" isn’t there? As things change, you have to adjust, and there’s always some negotiation as you figure out how you fit in the bigger plan.

Also, I’m making chocolate chip cookies.

And finishing a critique (you know who you are! almost done!).

I was going to spend the afternoon at a museum or something, but it’s rainy and slushy out, and I decided it was time to just sit and not be running around. Plus, the heel part of the sole came separated from the leather one of my shoes as I was taking it off last night. Random. But I th
ink it’s fixable. I just need to find a good shoe repair place at home. They’re much less common in Orem than they are in bigger cities.

So as I was heading back to my friend’s house from a quick visit to Alvina’s office this morning, I stopped by at a Payless and found a cute pair of boots on sale, which makes me happy because I’ve been looking for boots. The shoes that broke are Mary Janes–cute, but impractical even if you’re just running through the snow from the car to the house and vice versa, and even more so while running around New York in the slush.

But obviously they’re new boots, and they have a little bit of a heel, so they need some breaking in to be comfortable for everyday wear. It was either them or a pair of flat white suede boots with really weird leather fringe trim, and that was just not happening.

But I’m happy to have some cute boots before I head up to Vermont, even if it’s not the most practical thing to have un-worn-in boots, because they’re calling for snow and I think I want to go out on the snowy trails. I wonder if there’s snowshoe rentals up there? I had a great time earlier this month going snowshoeing with my friend in Utah. I don’t believe I ever shared anything about it on this blog at the time, because I was still trying to figure out how to get the pictures off my phone. Well, here you go:

Yes, that is me falling over. It happened several times. Have you ever tried standing up again from snowshoes in five feet of snow? That tree behind me? It’s the top limbs of the tree I fell in. It’s normally at least 10 feet tall.

But that won’t stop me from going again. It was a great workout–very invigorating. When I wasn’t feeling how impossible it was to get back up from falling.

Also, while I’m at it, a fun shot I took with my cell phone at the Salt Lake Library. Boy, do I miss my good SLR! But it’s fun to get some nice shots out of a little 2 MP camera.



If you ever get a chance to see the Salt Lake Library (the downtown branch), definitely check it out, by the way–it’s gorgeous.

I just found a great point-and-shoot camera (Sony Cybershot, 8.1 MP), so at least I’ll be able to get my snapshot fix while I work on replacing the good camera (and actually, the shoe and cookie shots are made with that camera). But I’m still sad and going through photography withdrawal.

Treat time!

- Stacy

But on a brighter note, less than two weeks from Kindling Words! I’ve been very blessed for it to work out for me to go again this year, and I’m looking forward to seeing everyone. I might even be able to make something for it–one tradition the retreat has is to bring along your snackable goodies, which are then left out for everyone to munch on between sessions. So the biggest question I will be tackling come a week from Monday: chocolate chip cookies or something more exotic? I usually make a mean chocolate chip cookie, but I found that living in Seattle changed how it baked and it ended up all floury and melty at the same time; very weird. What’s weirder was that living at sea level in Boston didn’t do the same thing–perhaps it was the humidy?
Now that I’m back up to high-elevation cooking, perhaps I should try it again.