Before you read this you should know two things:
- I changed the title of this post no less than 6 times.
- I’m writing this in my pajamas and it’s well past noon… I also may or may not be eating jerky for breakfast. Brunch. Whatever.
It’s fine.
A woman in one of my blogging forums reached out to me recently. She sent me a sweet, short message simply saying she enjoyed my blog. I was flattered and surprised and I quickly messaged her back to say thank you.
Later when she shared some of her own work in the forum I became an instant fan of her writing. Laura is funny, she’s gutsy, she’s honest, and she has heart. She is totally my kind of person. We’ve now formed the foundation of a friendship that I’m genuinely excited about, but the reason I’m telling you all of this is because it almost didn’t happen. This was very nearly a story with a different ending.
What I didn’t know when Laura initially reached out to me was that she couldn’t stand me. She couldn’t quite put her finger on it, but something about me drove her nuts. So she did what most women would not, and she reached out to me. Instead of quietly brewing any negative feelings she decided to squash them instead.
She wrote about the experience and our interaction. She said:
“It wasn’t too long ago that I joined a blogger forum. There was a woman in there, and I just couldn’t stand her. If you had asked I would not have been able to tell you why. But here is what I knew: Read More…
I’m in the middle of reading Mindy Kaling’s new book, Why Not Me, and can I just say that I am so in love with everything about it.
Here’s what I love about Mindy- she’s the perfect mix of confidence and self-deprecation. She laughs at herself. She laughs at the industry and it’s ridiculous standards. But she has gumption. She unapologetically believes in herself, her talents, and her general awesomness without taking it all too seriously. I dig that.
She’s also completely open about being a socially anxious elitist.
And who isn’t, really?
Everyone wants to be on the inside of some kind of club, and admittedly, Mindy herself is not exempt from such suffering. In both of her books, she essentially invites us to be in her club. It’s like she gave us the secret password and handshake, and for a few hours we get to sneak in through the back door and hang out at the party. We may be the fringe people of the club, but she invited us in and I love that about her.
Like any good friend would, she tells us secrets- like how she really feels about being “the funny one” of the sorority (no one wants to be the court jester), and how sometimes being equally grateful and ambitious in her career is like walking a tightrope (read: it’s a literal booby trap).
She tells us how basically everyone, everywhere in Hollywood wears fake hair.
I knew it!
I knew it in my knower!
Thank you for blowing the horn on that one Mindy. Me and my seven strands of hair don’t feel so bad about ourselves now. All of us girls with thin, lame hair are pumping our fist in the air, because we are liberated. It’s not our fault. We are not weird. No one’s hair is actually that amazing on it’s own.
In the last year I’ve read a few other books by some other funny ladies- Bossypants by Tina Fey, Yes Please by Amy Poehler… Not surprisingly they all seem to know each other and be friends, furthering my belief that there is an actual Funny Girl’s Club that exists, and all I know is I WANT IN. Read More…
I recently turned 36.
While it’s officially the oldest I’ve ever been, I decided to do something that felt admittedly…childish? No, that’s not it.
Indulgent?
No. Thats not it either.
I don’t know.
Let’s just say it felt wonky, but in the good kind of way.
Even though it was freezing cold I went outside to sit on my back porch (because being outdoors helps me think) and I brought my favorite spiral notebook- the one that reads “Be So Good They Can’t Ignore You” in shiny metallic gold lettering across the front.
It’s the notebook that currently holds all my most important words.
My ideas.
My notes.
My outlines.
My reminders.
My inner monologue.
It’s all there.
But I realized there was something MISSING from the book. Something so important that I can’t believe I’ve never bothered to write down.
My dreams.
///
As I sat on my porch casting vision for the year ahead and reflecting on the year behind, I realized that 2017 was full of surprises. It was a year full of dreaming bigger and saying Yes to pursuing those dreams. It was an impetus of sorts, and God wasted no time in drawing me directly outside of the comfort zone that I’d carefully created for myself.
Remember on Inside Out when Joy draws a circle for Sadness and tells her that her only job is to STAY INSIDE THE CIRCLE? It was kind of like that except I’d drawn my own circle, labeled it Comfort Zone, and planted myself there like a fool. We could really get deep here and talk about Joy and Sadness and how in reality, comfort zones are the easiest place to become miserable, but we honestly don’t have time for that today.
The point is, all of that changed the moment I began saying YES. Read More…
If you’re anything like me, then your favorite part of January is the prospect of a fresh new year stretched out before you, full of promise and hope.
And if you’re anything like me, then your least favorite part of January is that it turns into February all too quickly and without incident. Unless you count distractedness and a general sense of overwhelm as “incident.”
And if you’re still anything like me (at this point let’s just go ahead and assume you are, just for the sake of this piece, okay?) then that weighs heavily on you.
The distractedness and overwhelm, I mean.
Because at the end of the day you yearn for simplicity and focus, you just aren’t sure how to stop it from slipping through your fingers.
Finding that inner quiet you crave can be hard enough, but carrying it with you throughout the day is even harder.
The day is loud.
The day is full of to-do lists, commitments to meet, mouths to feed, and places to be.
Meanwhile it’s all set to the fast paced narrative of social media. That constant buzzing in the background; the pings and dings that remind you not only what you’re supposed to be doing, but what everyone else and their Aunt Fay is doing.
As humans living in an Internet era we’re expected to take in and process a huge amount of information at an alarming pace.
Like, an unnatural amount of information.
It’s easy to become overwhelmed. And I don’t mean to feel overwhelmed, I mean to actually be overwhelmed. Read More…
You now that feeling you get after a DTR that went better than you could’ve hoped for?
WELL.
Not too long ago I asked all of you readers what you want to talk about in this space this year. True, I’m the one writing and posting most of the time, but that doesn’t mean this is the Amber Show. I want the words shared here to matter to you just as much as they matter to me.
Anyway, I asked, you answered, and I’ve basically been high-fiving a million angels ever since then because if that was our first DTR (determine the relationship) then I’m pretty sure you and I have never been more on the same page.
I read every single one of your responses and I was so excited because it sounds like we want to talk about all the same things.
SO, on the chance that you’re still not sure what to expect in this space, why you’re here, or if you want to stay, I thought it would be a good idea to discuss where we’re headed in 2018 so you can decide if you want to follow along. (I really hope you do!)
I feel like I say this all the time, but I understand that your time is precious. Any 5 minute window you have to scroll is sacred because it’s where you’re choosing to give your attention. We have to guard and filter the voices we allow into our lives which is why I want to start with a heartfelt Thank You for allowing me into yours.
It’s also why I want to respectfully avoid any “bait and switch” feelings by clearly explaining what this blog can offer you. Read More…
You did it! You made it through January! Before we say another word, go ahead and give yourself a high-five.
Can we all agree that January is one of the wonkiest months of the year?
Is that just me?
The holidays are over and for some some of us that means we’re still barely processing the feelings and experiences that came with them, the bank account is still smarting, the goals and intentions for the new year have been set but it’s too soon to tell which ones we’re actually being successful at, the weather is cold and gray, and some years it all just leaves me feeling a little weird.
On the bright side, I do love me a fresh start, and January is the basically freshest start of all. It’s Day 1 of 365. Full of promise and possibility.
Whichever way you slice it, one thing is for sure- we made it through.
Go us!
I’m so proud of us.
Before we roll into February I wanted to write you a letter to fill you in on the highs and lows of our month over here.
Not just the highlight reel, the real reel too.
This is the stuff I share with my closest friends over coffee, but since most of you don’t live within a 30 mile radius of me (which is the exact distance I’ve deemed worthy of traveling for food or drink. *see last post regarding chipotle burritos*) I’ll just leave it here for you to read at your leisure.
These letters are a little longer and more personal in nature. I only write them once a month because I value your time and don’t want to waste it, so I choose to keep the blog more focused on encouragement and entertainment the rest of the time. But hey, maybe some of my regular day-to-day experiences will resonate with you, and maybe that will encourage or entertain you too. Who knows?
So let’s lead with the fun stuff, shall we?
For starters, we brought two more little baby goats home to the farm and I am low-key obsessed with them.
They’re Nigerian Dwarfs so they’ll stay small, only growing to be about the size of our dogs.
They were aptly named Todd & Margo by our 8 year old son, after our favorite line in Christmas Vacation…
“And why is the carpet all wet Todd?
I don’t KNOW Margo!” Read More…
So I’ve made a huge, tiny mistake…
I’m hunkered down in a cute little Airbnb in Oregon for a few days of uninterrupted, intensive writing time. ALONE.
Well, almost alone.
I decided to tag along with Amber for the weekend. Which is not some weird, third-person reference by the way- my best friend’s name is actually also Amber. (I know, how kitschy, right?)
She’s here to begin her yoga certification and I’m here to get some serious writing done. And by serious I mean there will be lots of GIFs involved and hopefully one or two morsels of actual creative writing thrown in. And snack breaks. Because priorities.
So I sit down at the desk this morning full of hope and good intentions, open my laptop, and go to plug it into the wall only to realize I’VE LEFT MY CHARGER AT HOME.
Classic Salhus. 🤦🏼♀️
I did manage to bring my iPad as backup, but failed to remember the keyboard that goes with it.
Can you tell it’s my first writing getaway? (Don’t answer that.)
So I’m sitting here writing to you because, well, for starters I needed a break from book proposal stuff, and for enders, I just love you guys so hard and I needed some of our good ol’ fashioned banter.
Can I make a confession?
Writing to you here is my favorite kind of writing.
Sometimes when I’m having a hard time knowing where to start, what to write about, or just feeling stuck in general, I just sit down and start typing to you. I don’t know why, but I feel safe with you guys, like I don’t have to filter myself or try to hard. I feel laid back and easy with you, like we’re sitting on a couch with a glass of wine just catching up on our things.
So tell me your things, dear friends. Read More…
~ Guest Post by Amy Steingard ~
Hey you. I know what you’re thinking today.
Yesterday, you said, “Tomorrow I’m going to start that thing, dream, book, calling, work.”
You know what your thing is. It’s tap dancing right on your heart, and it’s impossible to ignore.
And then this morning hit in a flurry of cereal with spilled milk, lost homework, dirty diapers, and the middle child home with the stomach flu that you know will run through your entire family. You surrender to your circumstances and say a defeated, “Tomorrow.”
I’m with you, sister. There’s a dream in my heart, too, that sometimes feels buried under the clutter and weight of motherhood and life. I feel like I am never going to get there…never going to have the time or the emotional fortitude to make that dream happen. A bad day with my kids can cause me to question EVERYTHING about myself and the work I want to do.
Hi, I’m Amy. I yelled at my kids today and ate chocolate in the bathroom with a screaming toddler 6 inches on the other side of the door, but my passion in life is to be an encourager of women.
Hypocritical much?
I will blame motherhood and lack of time all the live long day. I will blame my kids, my husband, my house, my lack of resources. I make excuses why I can’t do the thing right now, and while all those are valid and persuasive reasons to not pursue my dream, deep down it’s all an underhanded cop-out.
Those things that we claim hold us back, that’s just life, and, frankly, life has wisdom of it’s own. Life and, most specifically, our imperfections are what makes us endlessly fascinating. Kathryn Craft explains this better than I ever can, “[Life] dumps s— on you and stirs you up until your soil is fertile. Accept the challenge and plant some seeds. This is how artists grow.” Read More…
~ Guest Post by Karen Gavreau ~
Thanksgiving is a reflective time filled with gratitude for blessings.
We bullet point the many good things we are grateful for.
Thankful for health. Thankful for children. Thankful for shelter. And on and on. That’s what we’re supposed to do, right?
But in the middle of the night, when my insomnia and inspiration collide, I start thinking about the tough things I am also thankful for as a Mom – the less obvious ones. The things they would never put in a Hallmark card.
Midnight quiet can bring clarity. Read More…