2022 was quite a year, both in challenges and blessings, but one thing is quite clear to me as we roll into 2023: I let chaos into my house. Actually, I kind of invited it in…gave it breakfast…dragged its suitcase in the house…unpacked its bags…and invited it to stay forever. Yikes! I’m now working on clearing clutter and organizing everything back into a home…and it’s painfully obvious to me that my needlework WIPs (Works In Progress) are out of control.
I spent some time this weekend shooting a Floss Tube video that catalogues all of the WIPs in this house. It’s a bit scary because every time I thought I was done gathering up the WIPs that were tucked into various spaces in the house, I’d find MORE. It ended up with a storage ottoman full of them, plus 3 more boxes. Argh!!! Want to see them? Check out my Floss Tube video.
So one of the things I’m challenging myself with this year is getting thru as many of these WIPs as possible. In order to be as organized as possible as I dive into this chaos, I’ve made up a simple Excel spreadsheet that shows me everything I have.
The final count: 81 WIPs. Holy crap on a cracker! Some more detailed stats are as follows: 39 of these projects are smalls, which means I can get them completed relatively quickly. 27 are medium sized. 15 are large projects that will take some significant time to get through.
So…how many of these will I get through in 2023? I can’t even begin to guess. I would love it if I could reduce them by half. That would make me happy. Since so many of them are smalls, I think I have a relatively good chance of doing that if I stay focused. And yes, I do plan to work on more than one at a time. Probably a small and a medium at the same time. Most of the large projects will have to wait until next year…with a few exceptions.
How will this play out? Well, you’ll have to stay tuned to find out. I’ve already started working on my first small: this tiny sampler. I bought the kit while visiting Betsy Ross House in Philadelphia in 2019 and I started it the following year during Stitch Maynia…then tossed it into the storage ottoman and forgot all about it. It’s time to gitter done. 🙂
Betsy Ross House Sampler
I hope you’ll follow along with me and enjoy the process. Happy New Year!
I’m over it, y’all. Just tell me what I need to do…I’m ready to do it. I am masked up, my hands are dry from washing them all the time, I am triple vaxed…and I am freaking over this whole pandemic.
I can’t believe it’s been two years. We have lived in a Covid twilight zone for two effing years! I should be in London right now. I had the trip all planned out and booked…and then the new variant made everyone crazy and new restrictions happened. I cancelled the trip. This is the 3rd year in a row that I have missed seeing the Christmas lights in London, which I dearly love to do.
Today is a big day for someone in my family. They have medical news coming and we all need it to be good news. It’s not a life or death diagnosis yet, but this person’s entire life has been upheaved…and ours as well since we are supporting them…and today we all need some good news. Our family member needs to have their normal back. And so do we.
Normal. What is that even? After two years of this BS, I’m not sure what normal looks like anymore. But I need it. And I miss it. And I feel lost without it.
I’m sitting here missing my normal…lamenting the fact that I’m not in London right now…and worrying about the family member and what we’ll hear today…when I open my desk drawer and see a bag of World’s Best Tasting Gummies that I’d forgotten all about. These things are freaking delicious, y’all. They’re an indulgence. They make me happy. And when I saw the bag, well…I nearly cried. Seriously. My chin actually quivered. Over freaking GUMMY BEARS. That is how much I need something good…ANYTHING good…to happen right now, my friends.
I nearly cried over gummy bears. What the actual fuck.
I’ve been so busy lately that I haven’t had a moment to stitch and there’s nothing that helps my mental health more than pulling a needle and thread through fabric. But there’s light at the end of the tunnel…especially if we get good news today.
So I’m just putting this out there for everyone right now: hang in there. Some days you’ll walk around this earth like you own the place. Everything will go your way and you’ll feel invincible. Other days you’ll cry over gummy bears.
It’s gonna be okay. You go ahead and cry over those gummy bears. They’re freaking delicious.
Want some cry-worthy gummies? These are worth the tears.
Hello, Hot Messes! I’m back with another great find in the book world: Birth of a Unicorn, by Heather Wilde. After my review in the next paragraph, you’ll find a delightfully wonderful guest post by the author herself! I thought it would be fun for her to share 10 things you didn’t know about her new book “Birth of a Unicorn”…and so that’s what you’ll find below. I love it!
First, the review. Frankly, I’m in awe at Heather’s adventurous spirit. Reading about her life leading up to her time at Evernote was an experience in itself – especially for me, the control freak. I would never be able to let go enough to take the chances this amazing woman has taken – and so, for me, it was inspiring and eye opening to have a view into her thought processes as she went through the experiences that shaped her beginnings.
It’s hard for me to talk much about her six basic steps to success without giving away the experience of reading this book, but I have to say the book put a smile on my face and a spring in my step. Whether you’re a control freak like me or a brave explorer like Heather, there is something to be learned from Heather’s charming account of her success with Evernote. And, let’s be honest, it was the Evernote thing that got me. I’ve been a huge fan for years…it’s an amazing tool!
Without further hoo-hah, here is Heather Wilde’s guest post on the Ten Things You Didn’t Know About Birth of a Unicorn:
This is Heather’s Second Book About Evernote
During my years at Evernote, I had created a training guide for internal employees as part of their new-hire orientation. This helped people unfamiliar with the software platform to get started using it quickly and then be able to move on to the other important parts of their job.
As many of the concepts it covered were relevant for new users as well, I adapted it slightly and released it as an ebook.
It was started as a Homework Assignment
As part of my initial coach certification training, I needed to be coached in a series of sessions. During one of those, I was given an accountability exercise to write down the story of “how I got to where I was now.” I was also tasked with “sharing that story with the world.”
The Main Action Almost Took Place Somewhere Else
While the bulk of the story took place in Mexico, originally I was supposed to start my own business in the country of Mauritius. While that detail changed, I’m fairly certain that Phil still would have dragged me into working for Evernote, no matter where I was.
The Original Concept Was Very Different
When I started writing, I had plans to chronicle the story of Evernote from its earliest beginnings through its IPO. After a combination of things (Evernote’s IPO was delayed, there was a CEO change, and a general flood of tech startup books on the market) I decided to focus on a different type of book.
The Whole “Family” Had Passports
Traveling with animals is definitely a difficult consideration and traveling with them overseas brings increased complexity. Both Bastian and Morgan were microchipped with their current vaccination information and relevant visas loaded, and we travelled with all their paperwork printed out in case the chip readers weren’t working or available.
We would stay at the same hotels which would have litter pans and food bowls available for us on arrival.
Tony Hsieh Was an Alpha Reader
The former CEO of Zappos was an investor in my post-Evernote company, and a huge fan of Evernote. Upon hearing I was writing the book, he asked for a copy.
He sent back his notes – in Evernote, of course.
More Stories Got Cut Than Made It In
Over the 13-year span of the book, including the six years at Evernote, there were many great examples and anecdotes that could have been included. Due to the structure of the book, however, I carefully selected only those that worked toward the narrative.
Additionally, I aimed to include anything truly important that happened in Evernote’s history during that timeframe.
You Can Walk in Heather’s Footsteps
As this book is a true story, you can visit all the places mentioned. Here’s a map to help you explore the places within:
Howard Jones is an incredible artist – and one that I still feel was worth driving across the country at breakneck speed for.
Decide for yourself, here:
It Is the First Book in a Trilogy
One of the questions I got most frequently from the alpha readers was “why did you stop it at that point?” The easiest answer is I wanted to present a life in stages – and this book is about the birth, and what happens as you’re growing up. The next book is about what happens while you’re adjusting to all that growth, and the third is about giving back.
Each will be focused on a different company, with different business tips and frameworks that can also be easily applied to any reader.
And a bonus thing you may not know – 100% of the author’s proceeds of this book go to the nonprofit Serenze Global, whose aim is to educate underserved individuals in technology fields and help them upskill into new jobs.
I’ve been feverishly working behind the scenes to get a better grip on the scope of my blog’s message. If that makes sense. I’m not sure it does. 🙂 A bit of back story:
I started this blog a thousand years ago under the name “Battle of the Butt”, solely for the purpose of documenting my weight loss efforts. Within a year, I realized that weight loss encompasses a lot more than a good bathroom scale and a loving relationship with rice cakes. I renamed it “Hot Mess Princess” in honor of the fact that I am quite a hot mess, but also should be treated like royalty because…hey…shouldn’t we all?
Hot Mess Princess has focused mostly on weight loss, but also on self care and mental wellness…and dealing with your own personal ghosts. I like all of that and I intend to keep it – but last year proved to me just how much needlework has meant to me in terms of keeping me sane in a Covid world and I want to bring that into the fold.
All of this to say…I’m going to be spending some serious time over the next couple of weeks reworking the content for the blog, my Facebook fan page, and my Instagram page in order to bring you more consistent, fun, and uplifting content. As I get started, I really want to hear from you so that I can understand what content you enjoy from me and what kind of content you’d like to see in the future.
Please feel free to either comment here, on my Facebook fan page, or send me an email (check the image below to see how) and let me know your thoughts. You’re welcome to share anything you want, but here are some questions to help you get started:
What content have you enjoyed from Hot Mess Princess?
What types of content would you like to see in the future?
Would you be interested in learning a basic needlework technique if a kit and tutorial was available?
Are there any other types of crafts that would be interesting to you?
What kind of video content would you like to see?
What else would you like to share about what you like or don’t like…or would like to see from Hot Mess Princess?
Thanks so much for helping me to generate content that has meaning and is helpful to you, my tribe, my hive mind…my peeps. I truly appreciate you!
I wasn’t sure what I’d find when I opened the pages of MeaningFULL by Alli Spotts-De Lazzer, but the fact that it contains life-changing stories of conquering dieting, weight, and body image issues…well…I was curious enough to want to read it.
If you’re relatively new here, let me just share that I have chalked up a wealth of experience in battling these issues myself. I was the fifth child of six in an alcoholic, dysfunctional family. The quiet kid. A people pleaser. When I was 9 years old, my dance teacher (and the most consistent male figure in my life) stood me in front of a mirror in the dance studio and pointed out all the parts of my body that were too fat. I learned to hide my feelings and be agreeable. When I was 15 years old, I was being stalked by a boy at my school and bullied by the popular girls who wanted to date him (he only had eyes for me…shudder). That same dance teacher pulled me aside to tell me that I should be grateful for the boy’s attention because I wasn’t skinny and I bit my nails, and had too much hair on my body. The fact that any boy wanted to be with me was amazing to him. It got worse from there, but suffice to say I grew up with a horrible self image, a lot of self hatred, and feeling like I was less than every other person on the planet.
MeaningFULL Voices
More often than not, I found a little bit of my own hot messness in the stories in these pages. The further I got into the book, the more I felt less like I was reading a book and more like I was sitting around the house talking to a bunch of old friends who understood exactly how I feel about my body and my choices relating to food and exercise.
I related to so many of the voices that lifted up from these pages: the dancer without the classic dancer’s lean, long body…the Jewish girl with the fuzzy hair, driven to cover every part of her body…Aaron, the dietician who heard the message loud and clear that it was only acceptable to be in a larger body if he was in the process of changing it to a smaller one. Reading their stories and getting a glimpse at the moments that helped them embrace change and let go led me to a few of my own…
My Totally AH-HAH and Holy Sh*t Moments
After reading MeaningFULL, I’m finally connecting with what the universe has been trying to tell me for awhile: the tools that have served me well in the past are not the tools that will get me through this next part of my journey. Like many, I grew up using the scale as a tool to measure my value as a person – but in the past six years, I’ve learned how not to do that. I’ve grown to a point where the scale truly is just a tool for me to learn how many pounds I weigh…and there is no other value attached to it. But I’ve still struggled lately, in this Covid world, and have found that the tools I’ve relied on to lose 132 pounds (so far) are not helping me much at present.
The stories in MeaningFULL are from a diverse group of people who had many different experiences, but there are some central themes too – and that’s helped me understand that I need to adjust my focus. Overall, the message of self-care, self-acceptance, and allowing one’s self to be open rang true for me. Reading about the AH-HAH moments of others has led me to realize it’s time for me to turn away from the scale, the mirror, and the tape measure and embrace the self care tools I’ve been inconsistent with up till now. That is what I need to work on.
As I read on, more of these moments floated easily to the surface for me, including:
Realizing that my dance teacher was not my only abuser. I am also my abuser. Oh. My. GAWD. I truly never thought of it that way, but…it’s true. There’s probably another blog post coming along about that. I need to dive deeper.
Understanding that the personality traits that help me to beat myself up about my weight are just my super powers being used for evil instead of good. I can flip those around and use them to my advantage.
When I dive into needlework, which is my safety net when I need mindfulness, I don’t need to feel guilty about it. I need to let myself enjoy it and understand that I’m practicing self-care.
What I Loved Most
After each person’s story, Alli pops in with her amazing therapist superpowers to help guide the reader through the helpful takeaways of every Storyteller’s experience. For me, that had huge value, especially when reading the stories of the people I felt less in tune with. There was always something there that I could learn from and her insights helped shine the light right where it needed to be.
Alli Spotts-De LazzerMeaningFULL: 23 Life-Changing Stories of Conquering Dieting, Weight, & Body Image Issues by Alli Spotts-De Lazzer
Publisher: Unsolicited Press (January 26, 2021)
Category: Self-help, Non-Fiction, psychology, memoir, health/wellness, inspirational, eating disorder recovery, weight loss, & body positivity
Tour dates: March-April, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-950730-69-8
Available in Print and ebook, 282 pages
Every story is unique and has something to learn from. Here’s an excerpt directly from the book:
My Body Wasn’t the Enemy (Anonymous)
MY FATHER, AN Orthodox Rabbi and hands-on dad, made sure my siblings and I understood that “God loves you, and there’s nothing you can do to change that.” My mom had eight children within 12 years and worked full time. With practicality and a smile, she’d explain not getting her nails or hair done: “Your nails and hair are dead.”
I grew up in a home with zero focus on dieting, the body, or weight loss. We ate in a balanced way—lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, proteins, starches, and also good amounts of ice cream and treats. So long as it was Kosher, any food was okay.
I was on the slimmer side and an adventurous, healthy eater. I had a good relationship with food. (I would say I had a good relationship with my body, too, but I was still a young girl who wasn’t aware of her body yet.)
Like many tweens in middle school, self-consciousness abounded. I looked different because of my hand-me-down clothes. I felt different, too. While most of my classmates lived in multi-million dollar brownstones and penthouses in the city, my family, all ten of us, lived in a basement apartment. I remember I cried on the subway ride home after my 8th-grade pictures. I thought I was ugly with my untrendy, uncontrollably frizzy hairstyle, faded blouse, and glasses.
Right before my freshman year of high school, my mom’s friend gave me a compliment that definitely woke me up to the fact that I had a body. We were saying our good-byes while getting ready to move for my father’s new job. She announced, “You look great! You’ve grown taller and lost weight, and you look fantastic. All that baby fat is gone!”
I filled with pride. I stood straighter. I beamed.
Why I was proud baffled me because I hadn’t actually done anything to earn such praise. It felt good, though.
A few weeks later, my family settled in, my father met his congregation, and I started my first year at an all-girls, ultra-conservative religious high school. It was much more right-wing than anything I had known. My new and stricter Modesty Code required that long sleeves and tights cover any flesh not concealed by my uniform. No more nail polish or flip-flops. Teachings about God went from loving and positive to “if you don’t do this, God’s going to punish you.”
None of this felt like “me,” but I had to do it. For the first time ever, I experienced strife and disconnection with my parents, my culture, and myself. I felt depressed.
That compliment from my mom’s friend rang in my ears. Although I wore a junior’s size five, I believed that if I could just lose a few more pounds, then that pride, that inner beaming would come again.
I didn’t know much about dieting, but I figured it couldn’t be that complicated. I understood very little about human physiology, except that the fewer calories I ate, the more weight I would lose. My grand plan was to go on a water diet for a couple of days.
I lasted half a day, and then I broke my water diet. I felt out of control. As soon as I arrived home from school, I raided the refrigerator and kitchen cupboards. I scarfed down food to the point of feeling sick. That was my very first binge.
I had failed at dieting, but I would try the next day again.
And the next.
Let’s Get MeaningFULL : Win a Copy!
This book was helpful to me in ways I did not expect. I usually loan out books once I’m done, but I’m keeping this one close. If you’ve ever struggled with diet, weight, or body image issues I think you’ll find this book inspires you with hope and gratitude.
Want to win your own copy of this amazingly inspiring book? Here’s a direct link to enter a raffle for just that purpose.
Alli Spotts-De Lazzer is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor, and a “CEDS” Certified Eating Disorders Specialist, and a person on the other side of her own decades-long struggle with food battles and body dislike. She has presented educational workshops at international conferences, hospitals, and graduate schools and has published articles in trade magazines, academic journals, and online information hubs.
A believer in service and advocacy, Alli serves on multiple committees and created #ShakeIt for Self-Acceptance!—a movement embodying its message.
