Author: Staci

Staci blogs about travel at TheVoyageer.com.

Year of Focus: Check in 2

I’d originally planned on checking in on my New Year’s Theme at the end of every month. So I did January. But I hadn’t been putting up many blog posts, and I didn’t want my only posts to be “Year of Focus” check-ins, so I skipped a month. Then I skipped 5 months.

2016 Year of Focus

Here we are at the [almost] end of June. Halfway through the year. I’d like to think that I have been more focused this year. Things have been busy (vacation!!) but I am feeling much less scattered than I did last summer. Pulled in fewer directions.

Travel: We focused our energy and money on two big trips this year, and now they are behind us. Washington DC in March was great! I haven’t blogged about it because it was very cold when we were there—then when we got back things instantly turned to spring/summer and all my bare tree photos just seemed really discordant. So, I’ll be posting a trip review on that in the fall. We just got back from Europe last week and I’m working on posts and photos from London, Paris, and Madrid. We had a wonderful time and took some great photos (if I do say so myself). It troubles me to see what the UK is going through this morning. Now, naturally (I’m such a planner), I’m working on the next trip, which will be around Christmastime.

Business: So after last fall semester, my business plan is completed. This spring I took a graphic design class which I think will help me in my long-term goals. My short-term goals involve pursuing Typecrafters clients, selling a bit more on ebay / etsy, and doing any side gig that comes my way to stash money away (bit by bit) towards my eventual opening. Oh, and getting introduced to potential investors which is really scary, intimidating, and exhilarating.

Personal: Last time in the personal section, I wrote about how our iMac was on the fritz. I’ve been working hard and putting money away and last week I bought a new computer. YAY! Now I can get down to business on the blog and on business-related things.

So, we’ve made it halfway through an overall, pretty rough 2016 so far. Did you make a New Year’s Resolution or pick a theme for 2016? How are you doing on it? 

Designer Insights with… Me!

I was invited to do an interview with UK based fabric and interiors store Terrys Fabrics about what influences me in home design, blogging, and inspiration. It is live today! Click on the image below to go to their site.

Courtesy of: Terrys Fabrics

Oh and a couple of the pictures up top? I have an updated home tour in the pipeline for July (can you believe we’ve lived in the condo for two years already?) so make sure to subscribe to the blog or follow me on facebook, twitter, or insta for updates!

“Ready Player One” Book Review & June Selection!

YES! I haven’t read a book that pulled me in and kept me turning the pages like this since The Hunger Games. Now, I realize that is a bold statement to make, so I’ll work on backing it up without giving too much away.

This post contains Amazon affiliate links.

book-club

There are a few things that I love in books that are all present in Ready Player One, including:

  • Friendship amongst youngsters
  • Taking place in the future
  • Adventure and strategy
  • David vs Goliath themes

Ready Player One

So, the premise of the book is that the world of the future is such a horrible place that everybody spends the majority of their time in a free-to-access virtual reality world called OASIS. This VR world began as a gaming console then expanded to include socializing, school, and shopping. As a result of this, the inventor of the system became the richest man in the world– and also an eccentric hermit. When he dies, he reveals that there is an “easter egg” in the OASIS that will reward the first finder with the whole inheritance. To find the easter egg, it’s like a scavenger hunt with 80s pop culture as the clues. Oh yeah, and video game battles.

I’m not a “gamer”in the way that actual gamers would give me the title, but I’ve had my toe in geek culture enough to really get into this book. I know enough people that have been into D&D and WoW that I get the concept, and I’ve played a fair amount of Final Fantasy in my day. This said, I don’t think that the heavy amount of geek culture and 80s references will come as a roadblock to anyone who tries to read this book—it is accessible even if you don’t get all the “secret language.”

The most compelling part of the plot, and I think many would agree with me, is that the main character, Wade, and his VR best friends (who he’d never met in real life) are essentially racing against a giant corporation whose sole purpose is to find the egg so they can control—and begin charging subscription fees to—OASIS. Especially considering the current political landscape of, well, the world, this theme really grabbed me. As the race to find the egg ramped up, so did my impatience to finish the novel and I stayed up late on many nights to finish it. The themes of us little people vs. large companies, and that of close friends that have never met in the real world, are ones I think a lot of us can connect with in this age where we spend so much time online. Perhaps the OASIS is not as far-fetched as it sounded at first…

I would LOVE to read your reaction. Libby and Stephanie will be posting their reactions too so make sure to find out what they thought! Have you read this or are you planning to? Please leave a comment!

Now, I can announce the June book choice—The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd. This has been on must-read lists for over a decade… Libby and Stephanie and I were talking about how none of us had ever read it. So, by the end of June, I’m sure we’ll all be able to cross it off of our reading list! Please read with us? Join our little club?