July came and went so very quickly, much like June did. I had some other unexpected things that didn't end up working out that threw my month off track but I'm over it at this point. Onwards and upwards, and maybe those experiences helped clarify some things for me about the direction I want life to go. Let's do a quick July roundup of everything that went on this past month!
Blogging
I have two amazing new logos! Ooh, ahh. I'll have more on that in tomorrow's post. I am excited to work on my personal branding in this way and it feels like a continued slow march towards... something. I'm still trying to figure out what that something is.
In other freelance related news, I have been working on this new method of focusing where I just do it instead of mentally dithering around and further frustrating myself. It's pretty groundbreaking stuff but so far it's really been helpful as I determinedly cross items off of my daily and overarching to-do lists!
It's kind of a cross between the Pomodoro method where you settle in and focus on one only task for a set amount of time, say 15 minutes, and good old fashioned forcing yourself to do a thing. Wouldn't you know, once I get started, the task generally becomes pleasant or enjoyable. It's all about the mental battle to just get started that really sets me back. Turns out, Nike has been right all of these years.
PLUS, and this is a huge one, the first issue of The F-Suite, the startup magazine I have been helping to get going, came out with its very first print edition! It's really cool being in on this from the beginning and seeing it go from a thought to reality.
Home Improvements
This month saw a bit of a home improvement tear in what we call the wood room. It's the room that sees the most traffic because we enter the house through a door into this room and we let the dogs out into the backyard from the other door in here. We call it the wood room because it's floor to ceiling tongue-and-groove knotty pine (which I haaate but Patrick loooves).
My mom really made me want to rip the carpet up in there and put down something that would not aggravate my allergies so, and I was all set to pay to have it tiled until the wood-wall lover became dead set against tile. I was dead set against carpet or hardwood. Then I remembered my dad had put down click together engineered wood in his house, and it came from Ollie's of all places. For less than $300, we'll be putting this stuff down this weekend so in a way, thanks Patrick, I GUESS.
In a continuation of the garage project, I ordered a new back door for it, and at the same time, a new back door leading from the house into the backyard because as I pointed out, a roach riding another roach could crawl through the space underneath the door. I am too into being energy efficient to want to continue that situation, so hooray for financing through Lowe's. We'll have two new doors installed by September, they claim. And with that, I need to cut it out on home improving, even though I am daydreaming hard about re-doing our mid century modern bathroom.
Recipes
It was a pretty delicious month overall. I made the most of the summertime bounty, with lots of zucchini, corn, and tomatoes, plus blueberries ... ON A PIZZA. This is more controversial than pineapple, but some people just can't open their minds to new possibilities. Sucks to be them!
Tomato Cobbler with Pimento Cheese Biscuits
Chef’s Weeknight Grilled Chicken
Red, White and Blueberry Bacon Pizza
TK in August
August doesn't have a lot on the docket yet. I am subconsciously not planning much before our big trip in September, plus the stupid month is going to zoom by anyways!
Just kidding, I am actually going to do a lot of work on the blog to bring more traffic, and write more posts! Let me know in the comments if you want to see a particular type of recipe, or have a cooking or food question!
I do want to go to the lake once, and take an overnight trip to Charleston and the beach though this month. It's imperative that I see the ocean once a year to prove it still exists. This is my way of holding myself accountable, as I let the last two months slide away in a hazy blur.
