A life update featuring school-year survival, camp adventures, Philly heat, soccer, creative block, Disney songs, and several current obsessions.

So.

It’s been two months since I last posted anything.

I’d love to tell you I was meditating under a waterfall, having an Eat, Pray, Love journey across Europe, or frolicking through lavender fields in a flowy sundress.

Yeah…none of that happened.

To put it simply, I got writer’s block.

Specifically blog post writer’s block, which is crazy. I could still write stories, outline books, and obsess over fictional men – but blog posts? Suddenly impossible. Every time I opened WordPress, my brain shut down.

But here I am and everything I’ve been up to in the last two months.

The School Year Ended, and I Survived

The school year came to an end, which always feels less like a graceful conclusion and more like everyone crawling across the finish line on broken glass.

By the last couple weeks, the kids were already mentally on vacation, the adults were exhausted, and even the copy machines gave up.

But we made it.

Safety Town

The week after school ended, I volunteered for Safety Town, where I helped small children learn road safety, stranger danger, water safety, and other important skills designed to keep them from wandering directly into traffic because they saw a cool leaf.

It was a adorable, educational, and occasionally like organizing a flock of very enthusiastic ducklings especially when we went on our field trips to the police station and fire station.

Still, it was a great experience watching them learn and build confidence.

Even if most of them were mainly excited about riding the bikes.

Teen Travel Camp Entered the Chat

Literally just a week after Safety Town ended, summer camp started. I went from preschoolers to herding middle schoolers across New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

Middle schoolers are fascinating creatures. They’re old enough to have extremely strong opinions but young enough to yell your name from across a field and immediately forget what they wanted as soon as you answer.

Teen Travel means field trips, swimming, bus chaos, questionable decisions, and constantly asking:

“Whose water bottle?”

“Why are you running?”

“Why are you climbing that?”

“Why is this wet?”

It’s tiring.

But it’s certainly never boring.

4th of July in Philly

For the 4th of July, I usually stay at home and watch Hamilton.

Instead, I went to Philadelphia with friends to the FIFA Fan Fest, the One Philly: Unity Concert for America, and fireworks.

Because apparently this year when given the choice between an acclaimed musical about the founding of America and standing outside in record-breaking heat surrounded by soccer fans, I chose the second one.

Character development?

A cry for help?

Probably both.

We watched the Canada vs. Morocco game, and I had a great time despite not knowing a lot about soccer.

I mean, I understand the basics.

Ball.

Goal.

The offsides rule (which is dumb).

People falling dramatically.

Fans experiencing every human emotion possible within 90 minutes.

Beautiful.

The concert was amazing and literally all I care about is that I got to see Will Smith, the Fresh Prince himself. Seeing Jill Scott, the Roots, and Meek Mill was cool too, but let’s be real, I’m a millennial and getting to scream the Fresh Prince theme at the top of my lungs was a win.

Speaking of screaming…

Bop to the Top Tour

I also went to the Bop to the Top tour, which is basically a giant party for people who still know every word to Disney Channel songs.

The music of our childhood is officially nostalgia music.

I’m not emotionally prepared to discuss that.

The event was incredibly fun and confirmed something I have always known:

2000s Disney was Disney at its prime.

Currently…

Currently Reading

I am currently in the middle of:

• Cleopatra by Saara El-Arifi
• A Phoenix First Must Burn anthology
• The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of 9/11 by Garrett M. Graff
• A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas
• Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

Yes, I’m reading two Sarah J. Maas series at once. I have 0 regrets.

Currently Watching

• Kept up with the World Cup and watched Spain take the win! ¡Viva España!
• Rewatching Degrassi: The Next Generation – why was no one at that school allowed to ever have a normal school year?
• Watched Voicemails for Isabelle and cried through 94% of the movie.
• The Legend of Vox Machina which has magic, an alarming amount of violence for an animated show, found family, trauma, terrible decisions, and attractive animated people who desperately need therapy. Needless to say, I’m invested.
• Started Netflix’s Little House on the Prairie despite the fact that I LOATHE the book. Not dislike. Loathe. But I’m giving the show a chance. Also…Pa’s kinda hot. (I believe in honesty.)
• Also started Ride or Die on Amazon which is actively hilarious. I wish I could find out one of my friends is a spy. Actually, no I don’t…that would be sooo stressful.

Currently Playing

I’m still playing Dragon Age: The Veilguard on my slow and steady playthrough where my Rook is an Antivan Crow.

Because when given the choice to create a character, I chose an assassin with excellent hair, complicated loyalties, and endless personal drama.

I restarted Red Dead Redemption 2 from the beginning. Apparently, I woke up and decided I wanted to experience emotional devastation in high definition again.

Arthur Morgan, I have returned.

My heart has not recovered, but here we are.

Currently Writing

Look, there’s a lot of projects swirling in my mind right now and at least two of them aren’t even just book ideas. I have franchise ideas…which is a problem. Like, literally, we’re talking at least 20 books a piece for both possible series:

• a superhero/cosmic horror series called The Anomaly Cycle in which a group of friends find a mysterious object, accidentally touch it, discover they have powers, and then everything starts going to crap.
• a paranormal romance mystery series in which a witch gets hired as a consultant for the Magical Crimes Unit of a small town where magic is just a thing and she becomes the partner of a detective who hates magic…we all know where that’s going…I might have already planned 5 different spin-off series and I’ve only written three chapters of the first book in the main series…

I also have two standalone books I’ve been working on.

And I’ve gone back to writing fanfiction when I’m stuck on what to do next in my actual original projects or I use a random writing prompt and just let myself get words onto the page.

I’m still journaling where I’ve been writing about literally anything that comes to mind.

So…What Now?

I’d love to say this post marks the beginning of a perfectly consistent blogging schedule.

But lying would be wrong.

So instead, I’ll say this:

I may not have been posting, but I have been living.

I’ve finished my 10th year working in my school district, helped tiny humans learn safety, traveled with teens, watched soccer, screamed Disney Channel lyrics, read too many books at once, restarted emotionally devastating video games, and continued building entire fictional worlds in my head.

The blog may have been quiet, but my life definitely wasn’t.

And now I’m back with stories to tell.

I’m still reading.

Still writing.

Still creating.

Still singing.

Still collecting chaos.

And definitely still up for more stories, sips, and shenanigans.