Why it Works: Cable Car

Time for another fashion-related post! I apologize again for the terrible photo-quality of these pictures. These are selfies. Again. But hey, if that is all a girl can manage and she can't figure out how to work her sister's camera so it will focus (true story) what can I say? Today's outfit I called Cable-Car. Probably because it combines a modern cable-knit sweater and jeans with some vintage glam. Yes, yes I know. I'm a goose. But a darling goose. You know you love me.

Why it works:

The sweater and jeans together would make a cute but slightly lumpy outfit. I have yet to buy a pair of skinny jeans but someday I would love to own one. All the same, well-fitting dark wash jeans are cute and flattering. Adding a pair of shiny black heels (yay for patent leather. I call them my beetle shoes) and the glitzy jewelry brings a touch of delicacy that the outfit alone would lack. Some people might say this outfit has a touch of affectation but hey: I specialize in bringing glamour to the everyday and if heels and crystal works, I swear by it. It's definitely a statement: when I commit to something that usually makes people think, "evening dress" and wear it with a chunky sweater, I'm essentially telling everyone who cares that you can work the glam 24-7, not just after 5.

I get the privilege, challenge, task, what-have-you of working with a curvaceous figure. Jeans and heels is a way to instantly lengthen the look of my legs and the sweater with the big cable down the front continues the line, making for a nice, smooth silhouette. It's a pretty sweater that begins pinkish orange at the bottom and by the time it reaches my throat, has become raspberry. The sweater already has this color scheme going on so I opted for the white touch of crystal/silver jewelry. I'm wearing chandelier earrings, a choker that just peeps out beneath the turtle neck of my sweater, and a silver wrap-around ring from Icing. You can't see terribly well, but I'm also wearing Essie nail polish in "Ballet Slipper". I picked up the raspberry theme in my lipstain which is something by Loreal that looks like a marker and bleeds if you don't wear something beneath it.

***

I hope to be able to do some shopping soon (having discovered I have little but campaign t-shirts and jeans), so I ought to have more outfit posts in the future, hopefully with some fresh items! Jenny from Adonis Ephemeral helped me choose an outfit for the Romania fundraising concert by Paid in Full and it was rather fun, knowing I had the Why It Works originator condoning my choices. Well, toodle-loo! Here's to adding glamour to the everyday!

{Forget Me Not} A Book Review

One of the things that is so fun about getting into the independent-publishing world is that you get to have sneak-peeks at many lovely books yet to grace the world. In January, my friend Rachelle Rea "introduced" me to author/editor Amber Stokes and Amber, in her turn, introduced me to Forget Me Not: her brand new inspirational historical romance. Amber published her debut novel, Bleeding Hearts, last year but Forget Me Not is actually the prequel which means I jumped onto the Amber Stokes bandwagon at just about the right time! It is now available for purchase so make sure you snag a copy! I am honored to be participating in the blog tour for Forget Me Not for this new friend! That being said, let's get along with the actual details of this pretty book:

Prequel to Bleeding Heart
Old hurts, new betrayals, and a love that survives them all...

Summer 1885

A startling revelation sends Elizabeth Lawson escaping into a stormy night - and tosses her into the arms of a young mountain man with secrets of his own. When he offers to take her to the Nevada mining town where her long-lost brother lives, she accepts. Suspicions and uncertainties are pushed aside as she struggles to forge a future for herself by meeting her past.

David has been hiding from his painful memories for years. The solitude and wildness of the Rocky Mountains are challenge and comfort enough for him - until Elizabeth's arrival. Fueled by anger and a sense of obligation, he strives to take control of his new situation...only to find control slipping from his grasp with each new emotion Elizabeth evokes in him.

When their journey leads them on unexpected paths, can two lonely hearts find the strength to remember the good amid the heartbreak?Inspirational Historical Romance

What I Enjoyed About This Book:

Amber's setting is quite believable and well-researched. I'm not the hugest fan of western fiction but she drew me into Virginia City and kept me there with vivid descriptions. When I read her historical note at the back of the book and found she had actually been to her location, that explained much. Amber did a fabulous job portraying a precarious, immoral town that masquerades as something fabulous. I liked the men of the book and the fact that David in particular is such a gentleman. Even though he had me roiling mad at moments, there was still a humility about him I find precious. Plus, I fall hard for brown eyes. Besides David, I appreciated Joe and got rather fond of Myghal, the Cornish miner. In subsequent books we apparently get more time with both of them so that's something exciting to look forward to! 

Elizabeth is a peppy heroine that could easily have gotten sidelined with the reams of other high-spirited western fiction heroines except for the fact that she didn't. What I mean by this is that Amber Stokes managed to portray someone deeper than many characters of whom I've read. Yeah, she's headstrong and annoying in moments, but I found myself attributing this to the fact that Elizabeth truly is young and inexperienced...there is room and time for her to grow and for now her sweetness manages to win you past her flaws.

What I Didn't Enjoy About This Book:

I am admittedly not the biggest fan of love triangles and found myself frustrated for one character while at the same time dreamy-happy for the others. This is unavoidable in a love triangle and is thus only a quirk of my own personality. Amber played the triangle delicately and with a polished hand. Since this is a series, everything is not entirely resolved at the end and I can live with that, knowing the story goes on. :) 

The attraction begins at first sight in Forget Me Not and while this isn't my favorite manner of two people falling in love, it is undoubtedly honest (as I know from experience). I am, perhaps, idealistic and prefer people not taking into account physical appearance, but I think that's because I don't expect to win anyone myself by my ravishing beauty so I get a slight panicky feeling. ;)

All in All:

Forget-Me-Not is a beautiful story that takes delicate topics and weaves them into a web of forgiveness, mercy, and transformation. If you enjoy historical romance, you will definitely want to take a look at this brand new, precious story from Amber Stokes! 

Book Website: http://forgetmenotnovel.blogspot.com/

Series Blog: http://theheartsspringseries.blogspot.com/

About the Author (Bio picture attached to e-mail)

Amber Stokes has a Bachelor of Science degree in English and a passion for the written word - from blogging to writing poetry, short stories, and novels. After her brief time at college in Oregon, she is now back home among the redwoods of Northern California, living life one day at a time and pursuing her passion via freelance editing and self-publishing.

{This review is full of my honest thoughts and opinions. I was given a copy of Forget Me Not by the author to review under no circumstances but to give my honest opinion on the book.) 

{Snow} Scattered Beauty

It is snowing.

Not big fat flakes.

Not small shapeless flakes.

Flakes that are both tiny and perfect. Focus hard enough and you can see that each flake is like an impeccable, flawless spur, built of crystals and magic and perfect beauty. One flake is enough to make us marvel. One flake. One tiny little flake. And then, maybe, you realize that your eye is adjusting like a computerized miracle to be able to focus on that tiny flake, and then you let your eyes readjust and you see that the entire world is flurrying with millions of these self-same flakes; there are too many to inspect each one. Some of the beauty is going to be unnoticed by human eyes forever.

But it's still beauty.

It's fluffing down on us and blanketing the world in white. Large and broad and all-encompassing to show the purity of our God and how He views us through Christ's sacrifice. The snow is also tiny and small and not-a-one-is-identical to show that God cares enough to imagine each design and then create it. Does it matter to God that we won't see the flawless creation that is every single snowflake? Not really. The small ones pile on top of one another in a glorious display of perfection, salvation, mercy. Snowflakes are glory-screamers.

I wish we would take the time to realize that magic is real; that is, the magic of the fact that snow falls, or rain drops, or winds blow. They don't have to do that, you know. From a young age I always had a sneaking sense of living in a fairy-world when it came to creation. There was something about "the fragile beauties" that was extremely...thoughtful. Someone was conjuring these things out of pure pleasure. Someone was spreading beauty and it wasn't just because "that's what snow does." Then I read the essay on "fairyland" by Chesterton and understood:

“Because children have abounding vitality, because they are in spirit fierce and free, therefore they want things repeated and unchanged. They always say, "Do it again"; and the grown-up person does it again until he is nearly dead. For grown-up people are not strong enough to exult in monotony. But perhaps God is strong enough to exult in monotony. It is possible that God says every morning, "Do it again" to the sun; and every evening, "Do it again" to the moon. It may not be automatic necessity that makes all daisies alike; it may be that God makes every daisy separately, but has never got tired of making them. It may be that He has the eternal appetite of infancy; for we have sinned and grown old, and our Father is younger than we.” 

-G.K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy

Exulting in monotony. Who is patient and wise enough for that? But maybe the thing is, monotony--like snow--becomes more beautiful the stiller you are. That everyday grind you do? Have you tried adjusting your lens and seeing the fragile beauty of the day-to-day? To the casual observer, a world covered in snow might seem perfectly ordinary. (I hope not, but it could be) But to the person who knows we live in Fairyland with a Magician who breathes out every flake of snow to a form peculiarly His own fancy...that snow isn't a natural disaster that makes them late for work. That snow is a miracle and an allegory and a love-letter written from the heart of the Divine to His glory-displayers who are fuddy-dudding around like they weren't created for an incredible destiny.

Take a minute to look at the snow.

Remember the mercy.

Praise the One who imagines Beauty and scatters it over the land.

{Ensemble Cubes}: Fashion is back!

Jenny Freitag happens to be an excellent writing friend of mine. Author of The Shadow Things and blogger at The Penslayer, she also doubles as a fashionista at Adonis Ephemeral. I feel about Adonis Ephemeral as I feel when I'm in DC walking through the streets wearing a business attire or when I step into an upscale department store or attend a swanky political event: Posh. It's posh. It's a glamorous, simple, elegant site that I missed while Jenny was away in Scotland for a term, and she recently re-opened the blog with "Why is The Grocery Store Universally Acknowledged as a Place to Wear Pajamas?" which I consider a post full of ripping good sense. In the comments section, Jenny mentioned that she would not be adverse to seeing my "ensembles" (i.e. outfits that you like and that work) some time. I haven't done much fashion stuff on this blog recently but I was just thinking the other day how I ought to take my own challenge and get back into it. That being said, when I got dressed this morning, I thought I might as well a snap a few pictures of this casual outfit which is perfect for a day of publicity/marketing/writing in my Lair.

The Outfit:

(in an "ensemble cube")

First of all, I should like to apologize for the rubbishy photo-quality. Sarah is the photographer and Sarah is gone (with her new camera) which leaves me with a mirror, my tablet, and selfies. C'est la vie. Like I said, this outfit is a casual one and not terribly creative but it shows what one can do with a limited wardrobe:
1.) The jeans are medium-wash straight-leg jeans that are impossibly long. I mean, I am 5'6 and I once upon a time thought I couldn't wear them. Started rolling up the bottoms for a cozy-prep feel and there you are.
2.) Shoes are just brown ballerina flats. Bor-ing.
3.) This green top is of the baby-doll variety that can look impossibly maternal if you aren't really careful. What's fun about the addition of this brown small-ribbed corduroy jacket is that it gives the green shirt a bit of a waistline (always leave your bottom button un-done) while still allowing the flattering flow of the top to show up.
4.) You can't see it terribly well in the photo but I am wearing a triple-necklace with accents of gold, pink, and green. You know the ones: they always somehow manage to get in an intricate bungle by the end of an hour? I'm also wearing tiny genuine amethyst/gold/diamond drop-earrings which you can't see because I'm not that cool with a mirror and my tablet.
5.) I swear the makeup picture is not over-exposed by any black art of my own. It's the weird effect of these halfway-snowing skies and my bedroom light. Que sera, sera, people. If you happened to be able to see anything, you would realize that I am wearing eye shadow in purple hues to pick up the amethyst earrings and help the shirt bring out the green in my eyes. And then I have Revlon "Stormy Pink" matte lipstick on to pick up the pink in the necklace and the pink in my face. It's a nice lipstick.

That is the whole of my ensemble today, Jenny! Sarah comes home this evening so let us hope she will help me next time so you won't have to succumb to a crazy tablet photo-op next time. :) Cheers!

You can now gawk and goggle at its pretty face! {Fly Away Home}

Hay-low Lovelies! This is the 15th of January and that means this is the day you officially get to see the cover of the book that I am independently publishing! The novel is not available for purchase just yet (gotta  wait till Valentine's Day for that!) but it will be in under a month and I will be certain to let you know when you may purchase a copy! This movement is quite premeditated (the whole publishing thing) and for the story of that, I shall refer you to my writing blog: the inkpen authoress. For now, business!

Fly Away Home, 1952 New York City:

Callie Harper is a woman set to make it big in the world of journalism. Liberated from all but her buried and troubled past, Callie craves glamour and the satisfaction she knows it will bring. When one of America's most celebrated journalists, Wade Barnett, calls on Callie to help him with a revolutionary project, Callie finds herself co-pilot to a Christian man whose life and ideas of true greatness run noisily counter to hers on every point. But when the secrets of Callie's past are hung over her head as a threat, there is space for only one love, one answer: betray Wade Barnett to save her reputation, or sacrifice everything for the sake of the man she loved and the God she fled. The consequences of either decision will define the rest of her life. 

Self-preservation has never looked more tempting.

Think you'd like to read it? Fly Away Home will be available in e-book and print formats on Amazon.com (or you may order print copies directly from me) in a little under a month. This book debuts February 14, 2014. I can't wait! As trite as it sounds, this really is a dream come true. :) If you would like to join the blog party, go on over tothe inkpen authoress and enter for a chance to win this "Coziness Package" which includes a really lovely little character-themed mug I did by hand.

Toodles! Hope you're having a bang fine day!

Koinonia: A Crazy Blessing

Throwback to the last night in Romania

I had meant to write that post about Orthodoxy and The Mind of the Maker like I said, but tonight something else came across my path and, being the little fox I am, I took a detour for a bit. This post was inspired by a post by my friend, Brittany Barden, on The Ivory Cubicle. Her article is excellent for many reasons, (a testimony of her recent mission's trip to Uganda--you should read it), but there was one section that tapped me on the shoulder with a "prickle of recognition". She mentions that she left America prepared to be changed, convicted, and challenged, but said that she did not expect the experience to feel so normal.

I didn't expect to sit in a mud hut, hearing that young boys and old grandmothers are the same the world over. I didn't expect selfies to be a thing with little African kids intrigued by my iPhone. I didn't expect to hear normal conversations about meeting friends for coffee, movie nights with neighbors, or a crisis pregnancy center on the other side of town.

This next bit was what really struck me:

My expected--even desired--lesson of better stewardship to result in greater giving flew out the window of that crowded van as God gently lectured me.

"These people do not need YOU or your money. They already have ALL that they need for life and godliness because they have Me. And before you can help them, you must first realize how much they have to teach you."

This is exactly how I felt when I went to Romania. I didn't expect to find people there who were exactly like people here. I didn't really think I'd be the one who felt given-to. When I came home from Romania and would talk online to the friends I made there, there was this funny give-and-take:

"You challenged us so much!" we would say.
"No, you challenged us!" they'd reply.

 It's a constant thing within my church-fellowship and among other believers that we're always deferring to the other person. That's a biblical trait, yes, but we take it too far. I can be guilty of discounting the effect I have on other people, telling them (in essence), "Oh, you certainly can't be feeling blessed and exhorted by me because you're the one teaching me stuff. I haven't done a gosh darned thing."
 Though my intentions are right (trying to be humble), I can sometimes actually begin to rob the blessing of being used by God by telling the friend that I didn't mean to bless them. We want to put others before us but we are also called to be aware of our ministry.

Maybe my Romanian friends and I were correct. Maybe the Ugandians and Brittany are both right. Maybe this is the principle on which the secret joy of Christian fellowship hangs. Too often in my life I have discounted the great strength which is to be found in fellowship with other believers. I mean, think about it; the word "fellowship" holds about as much meaning for us these days as terms like "get-together", "hanging out", "getting to know that seriously attractive person in a group setting" and "OH GOSH, SHE JUST ASKED ME ON CAMERA WHAT I LIKE ABOUT THIS CHRISTIAN CAMP." But what does "fellowship" really mean?

The term "fellowship" when used in the New Testament comes from the Greek word "koinonia". I remember when I was little we attended a church where they had a time before the service that we were always too late to attend; it remained rather shrouded in mystery and eclat for that reason. They called it "koinonia" and in my young mind, the word held associations of being successful (early enough for once!), getting Amish friendship bread, and something about cornucopias. (Don't ask me why about the last one.)
But back to koinonia. The word itself has roots meaning "joint participation". It comes from a family of words among which are meanings such as "the willingness to fellowship" and "partnering".

Koinonia...fellowship. Willingness to be a part of something. Willingness to be used in a partnership of mutual blessing. I think what Brittany felt in Uganda and what I felt in Romania 9 months ago and in my home just this afternoon...that humbled sense of unconsciously ministering and consciously receiving ministry...I think that's the real definition of fellowship. Perhaps we are more susceptible to realizing the beauty and importance of koinonia while away from our normal surroundings, surrounded by a peaceably foreign normalcy. The need for the richness of our sisters and brothers in Christ does not leave us when we board a flight back to America. It doesn't leave us when we've almost forgotten the heart-rending pain of having to leave that vivid willingness to fellowship we experienced while abroad, nor does it abate when we have begun to wonder if it was quite so beautiful as we remember it after all.
The hunger might be staved off, the pain might be dulled, and we might be like the dwarves in The Last Battle who convinced themselves their mired stall was a gilded hall. But we taste the koinonia sometimes when we least expect it, even here at home when our minds and hearts are dulled by the old normal,  and that is what makes one feel like crying in the last scene of The Return of the King when the fellowship is breaking up: they were a family of fools, gone through fire together, holding onto the light unflinchingly. They did life together. They had each others' backs. When one was weak, the other was strong. Sometimes they were all weak and in those moments someone would at last manage a grim smile and mention something about what they were doing on this Quest anyway, and they straggled onward and upward in the homely comfort of knowing they were in the company of those fighting for and against the same things.

A willingness to fellowship. Koinonia.

So next time you feel that odd sense of having gone somewhere to be a blessing and achieved nothing but having gathered blessing for yourself, don't freak out that you've somehow missed the ministry you hoped to have. Chances are, God has used you in a gracious display of koinonia. Chances are, the people you have gone to were ready for your message and you were ready for theirs. This is always our Father's way; just when we think there's a limited quantity of blessing, He grins and dumps something like honest to goodness fellowship in our laps in that insanely generous way of His.

The Partnership of Mutual Blessing...Just think how awesome Heaven's going to be.

Things an' Stuff. And Sherlock. Always Sherlock

If I seem to have neglected this blog, that is because I have been working too hard at publishing my debut novel, Fly Away Home! Yep, that's right! My debut novel is going to be available February 14th (Valentine's Day!) of this year! I am finished with formatting and cannot wait to reveal the cover this coming Wednesday on my writing blog: The Inkpen Authoress. Most of you will have read about it on Facebook or already follow The Inkpen Authoress, but for those of you who don't, here's a quick synopsis:

Fly Away Home, 1952 New York City:Callie Harper is a woman set to make it big in the world of journalism. Liberated from all but her buried and troubled past, Callie craves glamour and the satisfaction she knows it will bring. When one of America's most celebrated journalists, Wade Barnett, calls on Callie to help him with a revolutionary project, Callie finds herself co-pilot to a Christian man whose life and ideas of true greatness run noisily counter to hers on every point. But when the secrets of Callie's past are hung over her head as a threat, there is space for only one love, one answer: betray Wade Barnett to save her reputation, or sacrifice everything for the sake of the man she loved and the God she fled. The consequences of either decision will define the rest of her life.
Self-preservation has never looked more tempting.

It's an awesome feeling, "officializing" things. I decided to go the independent route for various reasons, not the least of which is because I like to be...well...independent with my writing! It's been a lot of hard work, a lot of fun, and will all come to a climax on February 14th when the book will be available for purchase!

So that's what has kept me away from "normal blogging". Let's see. I am praying about going back to Romania this spring/early summer so if you would pray that I would be able to have clarity about that decision. I have been so busy with my book that I haven't thought too much about it. On one hand, the idea of not going and seeing all the friends we made last time and having that experience again seems like agony; on the other hand, I want to be certain that this is the right thing for my year. It's not just a two-week trip: it's fundraising, planning, preparing, etc. As of now, I am headed toward going, but I want to put more thought and prayer into it before getting too far ahead.

How could a mission's trip not be a good thing? Of course it is always a good thing. I just need to know if it is my mission for this year. Last year was a beautiful string of travelling hither,thither and yon. It was awesome and definitely the exact right thing for last year. But outside of traveling and mental-spiritual-intellectual-relational growth, I didn't get all that much done. This year I'm starting off with a bang: publishing my first book. I have more books I am in the middle of writing and last year I was in such a perennially penniless state that I feel I need to do something about that situation so I can at least keep myself shod. That means I'll need to keep at my writing as well as try to get more writing students and see what else I can do to collect funds. :)

Anyway, that's what's wandering around my brain at present. Sooner or later I want to do a post about these big old vague ideas I've been reading over in G.K.Chesterton's Orthodoxy and Dorothy Sayers' The Mind of the Maker, but that's all a bit much for a sleepy Saturday morning, don't you think?

On a more exciting and random note, I have seen the first two episodes of Season 3 of Sherlock and just let me say: Gatiss at the wheel has in no way been a slight on the show.

These two episodes were brilliant, satisfying, and wonderful. There were so many moments of "D'AWWWWWW!" and a few nervousing moments and quite a lot of John which is always a wonderful thing, and more Mycroft (Jeremiah Lorrig looks like a young Mycroft, by the by) and then you have Mary of course, which is a beautiful thing. I have heard the final episode of this season is gonna be a thriller/nail-biter/screamer and you've got to stay through till the end of the credits or something. Everyone's taking after Marvel these days.

Well, toodle-pip, everyone! May your weekend be blessed with the richness of Christ!