New Things, Old Things

I've decided, after nearly a one year hiatus, to try to start blogging again. It's been something I've wanted to do for a very, very long time, but due to life circumstances have not had enough time, motivation, or mental stamina. The past year and a half of my life has been very strenuous and difficult (I might go into it more in future posts but for now all I can say is it was very taxing), but now I finally feel I have reached a point where I am able to once again devote time and healthy, positive energy towards this blog.

Many things have changed over the past year, and I feel I've really grown as a person and learned many things about myself, both pleasant and unpleasant. The past few months, in particular, have been like emerging from a dark cave I hadn't realized I had been trapped in. I feel a fresh, invigorating new appreciation for life and an ability to once again see things clearly! It's been amazing.

Lots of exciting things are happening right now, too, which I feel are really propelling me towards a positive future. In order to reflect all the many things that have happened and are happening, I decided that a new blog design was crucial to my renewed desire to blog. My old blog design, which I lovingly designed and took many hours to perfect, was made when I was 19 and still (relatively) fresh faced and oblivious to the trials and tribulations of life. It was lovely, but also rather gaudy. I feel like this new, muted grey and floral look is a much more accurate representation of myself at this stage in my life.. and I think it's much easier on the eyes! I hope you agree.

While my interests and thus the content of this blog will for the most part stay the same (cooking, fashion, film and television, health and fitness), there will be some new things dominating my time and thus likely playing a part in this blog! For instance:

Over the past year, I have become very interested in sewing. I even have my own craft room at my current house! A couple weeks ago I opened up my own Etsy shop, which specializes in fabric housewares, accessories, apparel, and upcycled vintage clothing. There is a new link for my shop at the top right of my blog and I hope you will visit it as I begin to add more items! On this blog, you can expect to see some DIYs, patterns, and updates on my crafting and shop.

As always, I am very interested in nutrition, healthy eating, fitness, and weight loss. I gained a fair amount of weight over the past year as a result of depression and alcohol abuse and while I am very pleased to no longer have issues with either of these terrible ailments, the weight has stuck around as a bitter reminder. Through menial exercise and daily calorie counting I have already managed to lose 15 pounds in about a month and a half, but I still have quite a few pounds to go. Expect to see low-calorie, delicious recipes and perhaps my thoughts and experiences with various workout regimens that I experiment with as I whittle my way back down to my ideal size. For recipes that already exist on my site click here, and for my current weights workout routine which I supplement with various forms of cardio, click here.

I am going to be graduating with my BA in Film and Televison (formerly known as Media Arts) this December, meaning I am a quarter way through my senior year at the moment. As I near this exciting turning point in my academic career, you may see many things relating to my current school work and film studies on this blog.

And finally... this isn't much of a change and it won't really influence this blog, but my darling Clementine turned TWO today! What a big girl! Here she is the day after I got her, at 5 months:

On her 1st birthday, last year:

And now at 2 years old!:

Hm. Looks like she's gotten scruffier and her dresses have gotten fancier. Don't worry, I'm not one of those people that always has their dog dressed up. Just on her birthday!

Well, I hope to be able to write in here at least a couple days at week. I'm busy with school and work (at Brooklyn, still!), but I am very eager to get back on this train and continue doing and writing about the things I love.

Thank you for being here after all this time!


Love, Em