Category Archives: Just Me

Making heroes flawed (writing exercise #14)

Just Me, Writing, Writing Exercises, ,

A little catch up before we begin for regular readers…if you’re just here for the writing exercise, go ahead and jump to that.

I’m back from a month-long hiatus from the blog, in lieu of some Big Life Changes going on.  You’ll probably notice some changes with the blog as well.

I’ve already announced a break from my most popular category I wrote about the most, the Difference Betweens.

You might have also noticed a few categories that didn’t really take off – Tara’s Tutorials With Baking, which was great in theory but time consuming and now I’m going to be moving, and won’t be just down the street from my baking expert sister-in-law.

Then there was Operation Declutter, which is actually still an ongoing process in real life, as it has died on the blog. As I got into it, I realized there were uh, things I was getting rid of that I didn’t really want to broadcast on the internet. I still very, very much believe in decluttering and having less Stuff around, but this has turned into more of a private process.

As I’ve started a new, full time writing job, I’ve stopped my main freelancing gigs, so I’m not writing as much at home anymore. Although I took a break from ErinNudi.com as I got settled into my new, awesome job, oddly enough, I’m actually going to have more time to blog than I did before.

And the whole not freelancing thing also leaves room for another passion of mine: fiction writing.

I wrote a novel a couple years ago, Sober in Connecticut. The whole thing. About 96,000 words. I put it out there to publishers and didn’t get a bite. That will probably be revisited at some point.

Over the course of several months, several months ago, I wrote roughly half of the most difficult short story I’ve ever worked on – about 10,000 words – and had to stop. I hope to revisit this one as well. We’ll call it “The Animal Story” (a working/terrible title).

As I jump back into fiction, I wanted to start fresh with a new story.

I know, I know. It’s classic to start stories and not finish them, and I swear I don’t normally do that and “The Animal Story” is a fluke.

But a story idea just came along recently, like they often do, and I’ve been plotting it out and doing some character development before I dive in…

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Difference between: coffee and decaf coffee

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Okay folks, small blog update before I get into this one.

I started a new job this week. 

I’ve transitioned from being a freelance writer on the side, to being an actual, full-time, writer and editor for a well known marketing company. This is awesome.

In lieu of the big changes happening in my life, I thought it was time to take a gander at the Difference Between category on this blog – the one I post in the most frequently.

I started this blog in April of 2013. (Three year anniversary!) My first Difference Between post was in July of 2013, on Russian dressing and Thousand Island dressing. I’ve done a Difference Between post once a week, with few exceptions, for two years and nine months. 

And I think it’s time to switch it up.

I have an idea of what I want to take my once-a-week post place, but I’m not sure enough to announce it just yet.

In the meantime! Feel free to continue emailing me with Difference Between post ideas, because I’ll probably pick it up at some point.

Here’s the last Difference Between post for awhile: coffee versus decaf coffee.

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2015 book club books – part one

Books, Just Me,

I’m in a book club. 

I use the term “book club” loosely, as there are two of us – me and my favorite guy friend who lives across the country. 

On and off for the past several years we’ve taken turns picking out a book each month. Sometimes, we discuss it in detail. Sometimes, it’s more of a, thank-God-that’s-over-with-let’s-just-move-on, kind of deal.

As another end of the year post, I thought it would be fun to reflect over the books we chose this year. Ian was kind enough to give me a write up and rating for each one which I’ll share here. 

I’m splitting the year’s books up into two posts, as Ian has not yet finished December’s book. (Cough.)

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Happy New Year!

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Happy New Year!

I’m opting out of my usual “Food History” post this week.

Instead, we’re going to have a little Erin history.

I’d like to share some personal thoughts in lieu of the New Year. I’m reflecting upon the most exciting one of my life so far, 2014 – and the years leading up to it. And, what my New Years resolution will be for 2015.

So, what can I say. . .

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My top 5 wedding surprises

Just Me, Wedding

I took wedding preparations very seriously. It was a two year engagement, so I had a lot of time to plan for every teeny tiny thing. And I did. With the help of several significant people, the wedding was pulled off successfully.

Admittedly, towards the end I stopped caring about the minute details.

There was a noticeable crease on the guest stone sign – I did not reprint it. A jewel came off of the center of my dress – I let that roll off my back. I should have touched up the roots of my hair one more time before the big day – I couldn’t be bothered.

Of course, no amount of preparations can assure a completely surprise-free wedding.

Here are the top 5 things I wasn’t expecting. (This is separate from the major things that went wrong, which you can read about here.)

All photos in this post except the first one are courtesy of our fantastic photographer, Jim McLaughlin.

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Wedding showers

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My wedding shower – or bridal shower if you will – was this past Saturday. It went perfectly, other than the fact that it flew by so fast I didn’t get a chance to speak with everyone individually as I wanted to.

In the majority of my wedding posts I talk about the planning process, questions to ask vendors, etc. I hope as I write about my wedding journey I can advise and occasionally amuse others along the way.

In the case of the shower, I had nothing to do with the planning and didn’t know where the location was until I was driven there. It was so wonderful to be out of the loop, to have one less thing to worry about.

Consequently, I don’t have a solid list of how to plan a shower, but I would like to share what was done for me – I’m sure great ideas can be sparked.

To start out with this, this was the cake, courtesy of my very talented future sister-in-law. I’m pretty sure all guests were shocked that she is not a cake person or baker by profession.

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