Words are not scary...

I'm a winner! Yes, I completed National Novel Writing Month. I have the winner's certificate and the crippling addiction to salt and pepper Triscuits to prove it. It's been a month, well 26 days, and I'm looking forward to going back to the novel and fixing it. Editing is not the goal of NaNoWriMo; getting to the end is. There are lots of things I'd like to go back and add and finesse. And I will. After I take a little break from these characters and spend a little time doing other things like reading and eating real meals.

It's been an interesting month. I have spent at least 3-4 hours a day writing since starting the novel on November 1. This is in addition to going to work, seeing family and friends, running errands, doing chores, you know living life and all. When I wasn't sitting at my computer writing, I was jotting things down in my notebook or thinking about some plot point or little thing about a character. My daily word goal might have been 1667 words (although I did more than this almost every day that I wrote), but I was writing more that didn't make it in or was just for me to reference. There's actually an entirely different ending somewhere in the book. It would have been sadder but also true to the characters. However, other things would have had to happen that didn't for this ending to work.

Which brings me to the most fascinating part of NaNoWriMo: every single person I talk to wants to know either what I won or when my novel will be published. Here the definitive answers to both of these questions: a sense of accomplishment and I don't know. You don't really win anything by finishing a NaNoWriMo novel. There are contests you can enter that might help with the publishing part and we get offers for binding the book and other author-y things but there's not a novel that is voted the winner. Over 300,000 people participated in some way this year. How would a winner be selected? So my standard answer to what I won is a sense of accomplishment and knowledge that I can do this. I can take an idea (however small and odd to everyone else), create characters, figure out a plot, and get us to an ending that I enjoy. If you don't try something you'll never know what you're capable of and now I know that I am capable of writing a novel.

Then there's the second question: when are you going to publish it? I really don't know. It's not ready for publishing. First of all, it needs to be edited. I rarely went back and reread what I wrote. I knew that if I did that I would never finish because I would keep changing things and focus too much on something that may or may not matter in the larger picture of the story. BUT there are also lots of things I know I need to work on before I would feel confident letting people read it let alone consider publishing it. There are some plot points I want to tighten and a few I'd like to expand (I would like to spend more time with Marnie and Oliver in their first dating phase and definitely give Ms. Thompson and Mr. Webb some additional background) and I think I need to work a bit more on the Metro Counselor organization before we get to the big reorganization that takes place later in the novel. A month is not a long time and even if I had taken the extra four days (since I finished on November 26), I still would be exactly where I am today. So, maybe I will try to self publish it, maybe I won't. But I do promise that when I'm ready to, you'll be allowed to read it in its entirety.

So what does a finished novel and NaNoWriMo look like in numbers? Let's take a look at my experience this month by the numbers:

• Days to complete: 26 days 
• Average words per day: 1903
• Hours per day: 3-4 (although there were several days where I wrote all day and others when I wrote for 30 minutes)
• Pages: 100 (single spaced, 12 point Times)
• Chapters: 30 plus a Prologue and Epilogue
• Final word count: 52,217
• Words to finish (what I wrote on the last day): 3476 - this breaks down to 1259 to reach the 50K goal and another 2217 to finish the novel
• Number of Hallmark holiday movies watched while writing: 15
• Number of boxes of salt and pepper Triscuits consumed: 3
• Number of hours I owe Pumpkin in petting and attention: 624
• Number of times I asked myself why I was torturing myself this way: 75
• Number of times I listened to my "Lou Reed Dance Party" mix: 17
• Number of times I listened to the song "Gold Dust Woman": I wish I had kept track. I would estimate about 75
• New bands added into a writing mix during week three: 4 (thanks to those who suggested music)
• Glasses of champagne consumed upon completion: 1
  

Top five favorite things I wrote:

1. "Holy cats, Marnie! You've been Lloyd Doblered!"
2. "He hates scarves and unnecessary hats."
3.  "Later today I promise to walk into something in the office because I’m daydreaming of Oliver if that will make you feel better.”
   “Yes it would. Just don’t cause any real injuries. You have a presentation tomorrow and a press conference on the 30th. No casts, stitches or braces please.”
   “I make no promises.”
4.  Marnie and Oliver's second first date - second first dates should be a thing
5. A debate between Marnie and Oliver about the album Lulu (Lou Reed and Metallica) - I agree with Marnie that it will age well.

I had a blast doing this and will definitely do it again next year. I plan to work on The Metro Counselor a bit over the holidays so hopefully I'll have something that I feel comfortable showing people sometime in the new year. Today is the last day of NaNoWriMo so if you know other people who are participating make sure to cheer them on in this last sprint to the finish. The last 5000 words are the hardest. I want to thank Neek Confessional and Bad Shakespeare for being my two biggest cheerleaders this month and for sharing their own novels with me (and the world). I wish Jessica and I had thought to get #hemingwaywasadrunk trending but alas, we did not. Maybe next year. They're both hilarious and great writers so if you haven't checked out their blogs, you should. It's good for your soul.

So you if you want to relive my NaNoWriMo posts, here they are in order starting at the beginning of the month:

• Let the writing commence!
• My main character is probably me
• That was unexpected
• Lou Reed Dance Party

I guess I should also thank the late Lou Reed. I had not intended for him to be such a big part of the novel but it happened. I like that his music was playing when my Marnie meets Oliver and that they share that musical moment. I like that Oliver made Marnie a mix tape called "Lou Reed Dance Party." I'm not entirely sure Lou would enjoy this novel but I hope he doesn't mind that he inspired some of it.

Up next on the Island: One month left in this leading lady quest so we'll check in on my progress and see what's left to do this year. And I promise the return of Lazy Movie Weekend with a holiday themed entry.

Hello Chanel, La Troisième Partie: My leading lady fashion moment

I have watched awards shows forever. The Tonys and Oscars are my favorite - I love the fashion and the drama of awards shows. There's always going to be that moment when someone thought they were going to win and they don't. Of course, the camera stays on the loser as they make a horrible face or something. And of course, the gowns. More than the show itself, I truly love the fashion recap shows and articles that run for weeks after. I also secretly hope someone will trip in their enormous gown (thank you Jennifer Lawrence). Makes the celebrity seem more human.

My company hosts an annual meeting and awards program every year. It's a way to come together to celebrate the accomplishments of the year and to celebrate those who made significant contributions to our success. We can it the H'Oscars (ha ha) and I am actually a two time H'Oscar winner. This year, the event planning team announced that the theme of the awards portion would be black and white. It would also be less formal (cocktail attire). I opted for a statement purse. 

About a month ago, I started chronicling my fashion moment, creating a purse made out of Legos (part two can be found here.) I found the idea through a Buzzfeed post and decided to attempt to make this for an upcoming work event. As I started working on the purse, I decided to drop the pencil box version (although I did complete it and am staring at it as I write this) and go for a purse made entirely out of legos. I mean, if you're going to make a statement you should make a statement. Right?

Last weekend I finally finished the purse. The last stages of construction included figuring out the hinge situation and making the interior pocket and cover so that my phone and lipstick wouldn't make noise or move around the night of the event. I had no idea how to make the hinging portion of the purse work. I had the two halves of the purse and there wasn't a ton of room to add a hinge. I didn't want to make it bigger; that would make it harder to carry. So I did what any girl would do when approached with a construction question: I asked my dad. My dad and I measured the space and he figured I could use a medium size hinge and glue it so that the purse would open and close with little to no gap. We also attempted a closure but it didn't work (and wasn't necessary).

Dads know everything! The glue worked perfectly for the hinges and the weight of the purse keeps it closed so there was no need to have a clasp. I'll figure out clasps on future versions of the purse (and there will be future versions).

The final stage in construction was lining. Legos are plastic and if you put anything in a plastic container and move it around there's going to be noise. Since I made both versions of the purse, I spent my last construction day lining them with plain black fabric. For the purse I would be using, I made one of the sides a pocket instead. I thought that it would be more usable if I could stash my ID and room key and lipstick in a pocket rather than letting them roll around. My cell phone got its own side. Pumpkin decided to help me measure and cut the fabric. You know how she likes to help.

Both versions turned out better than I expected. And this wasn't that difficult of a project to complete. It's time-consuming but not a hard craft project. The most challenging part was the design phase since I kept going back and creating different patterns before I finally settled on the design on the left (one of my friends described it as "way more Chanel than Chanel" - probably not true but a nice compliment.)

I packed the purse in a velvet jewelry bag and eagerly awaited its debut at the H'Oscars. At the airport on Wednesday, I showed it to some of my friends as we waited for our flight. Their reactions were fun; I don't think any of them really knew what to expect even though they had seen photos or read the previous posts. That's part of the fun of fashion right?

People love legos. And they love lego purses. I'm sure this isn't something that they thought they'd love but love they do. Everyone wanted to hold the purse and would ask if they could open it (since you should never open a lady's purse without her permission). Some of the greatest reactions came from the men - I don't think most of them realized that legos could do that. I also talked to 2 or 3 that wanted pictures to show their daughters. I thought that was exciting. I loved legos as a little girl and now I can make them into fashion. And they can too.

At least four people asked if I would make them one (the answer: probably). The lego purse was the exact fashion moment that I needed. My dress was a simple black cocktail dress. The purse elevated the look and was truly a statement piece. This, my friends, is what fashion is supposed to do. And it was fun and whimsical - you know I love whimsy.

While I didn't win a H'Oscar this year (although I was nominated), this was a particularly successful event for me both professionally and personally. I presented twice this year (as part of the general session in front of the whole company and at a breakout session later in the day). Both were extremely successful. The feedback I received was overwhelmingly positive. It's both gratifying and humbling to be considered an "expert" in anything and then to be told that you are by your peers and the senior leadership of your company is just, well, amazing. Work has been a challenge recently and an event like this helps to put that challenge into perspective. Does it fix the problems? No, but now I have some thoughts for how to better approach my job and to feel proud of what I accomplish.

And, of course, we had fun. I have never worked for a company that has an event quite like this. It's really meant to be experienced not explained. Now to catch up on sleep and word count for NaNoWriMo (I fell a little behind this week).

(I call this last photo "At the Club".)

Never a party girl

I would like a nice, powerful, mind-altering substance. Preferably one that will make my unborn children grow gills. 

Mary (Parker Posey), Party Girl

He-he-hello!

The movie Party Girl was one of my favorite movies when I was in high school. At that time, my goals in life included living in New York, being a struggling theater artist, and generally being awesome. I wanted to be like Mary in this movie (minus the drugs since I don't do drugs). I envied her shoes, ability to wear tights and not look like she was trying to hard, and the fact that she felt no shame in "closet shopping" at a party ("Hello Chanel"). Also, she ends up wanting to be a librarian. Perfect.

Everyone loves a party girl. I thought that this particular type of personality would make my life better and you know, funner. Everyone wants to be funner. But being a party girl is hard. You have to go out all the time, be "on" all the time, have a high tolerance for nonsense and shenanigans, and drink excessive amounts of alcohol. No shame might also be a good trait.

You know what else party girls have to do? Dress like party girls. I don't and never have had the wardrobe. Like Cher in Clueless, I'd rather veg out in comfy clothes because party clothes are way too binding. And the shoes! As much as I love my heels, I don't know how anyone can wear them all the time. How is it possible that any woman makes it through the night without hobbling foot pain or having someone carry her (which I did witness when I got back to Clarendon and was walking to my car)?

Towards the beginning of the evening...

I am not a party girl. I am the most the most responsible person in the room. And when you're the most responsible person in the room, people get a little surprised in those instances when you do go out and enjoy yourself. It's like when you were a kid and you saw your teacher at the grocery or the mall; it was odd and surreal. You couldn't believe they were a real person and did real person things. Well, the same thing is true with the responsible people - when you stay out late and bar hop or whatever it is that you're going to do, people are amazed.

I've spent the past two Fridays out with friends from work. Some of the group were part of my ill-fated trivia team. My team captain skills have left something to be desired and trivia has fallen by the wayside (sorry friends). Anyway, I guess I normally only hang out with the majority of these friends in the structured confines of the after work happy hour. We work in Clarendon so you can literally throw a rock outside our office building and hit a passable/enjoyable happy hour location. Normally, our evenings end early (it is a school night usually) and no one leaves Virginia until they're ready to go home (for those who live in Maryland and DC).

Required stop at a CVS to act silly

But Fridays tend to be a different story especially when it's the last two Fridays before holiday break. Why wouldn't you go out until 2 am? Or move the celebration from Clarendon to DC? What time does the last Metro run back to Virginia? In my quest to be more of a party girl, I can't say no to any of these ideas. Yes, I want to go into DC for one more round even though it's already 11 pm. Sure, let's walk even further away from the Metro for more fun. And a much better jukebox - why didn't we just start here in the first place?

Inevitably at some point in the evening my responsible self kicks in. I decline another drink, switch to water, and start to plot exit strategies. I check my Metro app to see when the next train is and start herding people towards it. The mother hen in me takes over and I start taking care of people. Erin Counselor (what some of my friends call me) comes out and I have to start making sure we're all making smart life choices. Because that's what Erin Counselor does - she makes sure that people make smart life choices.

And this is why I will never be a real deal party girl. I have come to terms with this and I guess I've accepted it. I'd rather sit in a dive bar and listen to good music all night, joking and talking with my friends than to wear heels and an inappropriately short (for the weather and for life) skirt and have to be on the whole time. The world is made up of all types of people. The Erin Counselors and the party girls coexist to keep the natural social order in place.

Video from youtube.com