For the past week, my friend/roommate Eia and I participated in something called a “Fiscal Fast” – a term we learned from watching Extreme Cheapskates on Netflix late one night. Now obviously, this is a show is meant to put “cheapskates” in a relatively negative light, but not everything you see on the show is a terrible idea. I’m not going to start enforcing reusable toilet paper in my home anytime soon, but a lot of these people have some ingenious hacks to save money and live on a budget. It made me realize there’s a lot of things I blow money on that are totally unnecessary and impulsive.

We picked up the idea of the fiscal fast from a guy who also eats food he finds in the dumpster, but I don’t think that makes the concept any less brilliant. Basically the premise is that you don’t spend any money for an entire week. Like no money, at all. I was intrigued by the idea… there were a few things we had to exclude: gas for our cars (but only for necessary trips), bills, and pre-planned activities. But as we were just coming out of the holidays, I didn’t actually have a lot going on, so it was relatively easy to not spend money for seven straight days. The places I slipped (or almost slipped) were extremely eye-opening as to what I blow my money on.

The times I slipped: Only twice! Once was to buy Joe a very inexpensive birthday present I couldn’t pass up (to supplement the other present I had already purchased for him BEFORE the fast began) while waiting for my books to be counted/totalled at Half Price Books. The other was to buy (big surprise!) another present for Joe that I might actually save for Valentine’s day since it’s right around the corner. It was something that was only available online for 24 hours, so I couldn’t wait until the fast was over. Looking back neither of these purchases were necessary, but I don’t regret them because I at least was doing something nice for someone else.

The times I almost slipped: There were a number of times I ALMOST spent money, particularly when I went to Half Priced Books. Usually I sell a big bag of books and replace them with 2-3 new ones using the money I made. Not a bad system to be honest, but it was also interesting (and difficult!) for me to actually walk out of the store having made money. I also cashed in some winning scratch tickets I had gotten for my birthday – usually I use winning scratch ticket money to buy more scratch tickets (why not, right?). But during the fiscal fast, instead of spending money that day, I went home having MADE $18 on scratch tickets and used books. It felt really good, but I won’t admit it was difficult to break those ingrained spending habits.

I also felt the pang to stop for fast food on the way home from a Job Hunters meeting, though that urge was a bit easier to quell. It’s really not too tough to just continue driving your car home rather than stopping at Arby’s. Before the fiscal fast I easily gave in to these fleeting urges because I tend to value convenience and quick reward turnover over, you know, being smart about food/money. If I was craving McDonald’s, I could easily get McDonald’s. But being on the fiscal fast, I found I valued having a strong reserve more than I valued these empty rewards. I craved the challenge more than I craved french fries.

Sometimes it was tough to figure out what to make for meals at home, since I couldn’t just pop to the store to pick up eggs or milk or Cap’n Crunch. It made me more inventive in the kitchen, and I managed to clear out some of the stuff that’s been taking up space in my cupboards for weeks that never quite made the cut when I could just order in Chinese food.

I think the absolute hardest part of the fiscal fast for me was two-fold. The first was online shopping. I get so many Groupon emails and ModCloth sale notifications delivered right to my inbox at all hours of the day – it’s honestly amazing I ever get any work done! It was actually alarming how difficult it was for me to keep from getting sucked in to those “deals” while trying to not spend money. I literally had to unsubscribe from a few of them, which was probably a good long term idea anyway.

The other was app-based micro-transactions. I play a number of games that gently encourage you to spend money to improve your game experience, and while I didn’t fall prey to these during the fiscal fast… I was definitely not so innocent in months prior. Those purchases add up if you can’t keep a handle on it, and sometimes it was physically painful to not beat a level I was so close on when I knew a quick 0.99 cent purchase would get me there. That’s not how gaming should be. The fiscal fast made me realize how much of a sucker I’ve been about that.

I am writing this on the the day after my last non-money spending day. It was a crazy week, but I am super proud of myself and Eia, because we didn’t just not spend money. We took an active step toward becoming more responsible about money, cutting out unnecessary purchases and impulse buys or at the very least making ourselves aware of those urges. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with buying Groupons or going out to eat or buying yourself new clothes every now and then, but it’s also good to look at why and how often we do those things. I’ve learned a lot about myself and my habits, and it’s almost kind of exciting to be coming back into the world of spending money with this slightly different outlook about it.

Have you ever gone a whole week without spending any money? It’s a lot harder than it sounds! Let me know in the comments if you’ve ever successfully tried, or if it sounds like something you might want to do.

Welcome, blog readers, to the Camlann Village Experience. What is Camlann Village, you ask? Well, only the quickest way to be transported back to 1376, to rural life in England. WHY would you want to experience rural life of the fourteenth century? Um, fun, obviously.

Last month my friends and I donned our warmest Renaissance gear (mind you, we go to Renaissance Faires usually in the general sweltering range of ninety to on hundred degrees, so this was no easy task) and piled in the car to head out to Carnation, WA, to the medieval living history museum known as Camlann. It’s a 501 non-profit educational corporation and it’s also the coolest place you’ll ever go. It’s also delightfully weird.

Let me preface this review by saying there is no technology of any kind allowed inside Camlann Village. This place takes itself TOTALLY SERIOUS with a capital “Thee”. I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if the owner felt a little twinge when patrons come in wearing glasses. That picture at the top of this post is so strange because we were literally asked to go outside to take it. In the rain. At night.

So, Camlann Village is open for various over the course of the year and their restaurant, the Bors Hede is open year round. We, however, were attending one of their choice Medieval Feasts, an event I recommend to all. This particular feast was of the Yuletide persuasion; myself and Ariana had been before but none of our friends had. Forty people sit around a large circular table set up in the basement of the restaurant to enjoy a three course meal served on trenchers – round slabs of bread used in the stead of a plate. If you eat your trencher, you’re out of luck for the remaining three courses of the meal. Also, there’s not really any silverware. I truly wish I could have taken a picture of this for you, but you’ll have to use your imagination here. Just like we’re back in the 1300’s! There was no way I was risking taking my phone out down there. I don’t for one second doubt they had some sort of medieval torture room for technological transgressions.

I would say about half the people in attendance dressed up. For the rest, there was either a costume rental area or the knowledge of sticking out like a sore thumb. No, I’m joking – it’s totally fine to not dress up, but it really does complete the experience.

The food was awesome and perfectly period appropriate. The queen of course got to taste everything first, and then dishes were passed around to her right and left after she deemed them worthy of our meal. We alternated between sawing into a whole boar, sampling strange almond puddings, and sneaking seconds of the delicious fenberry pie. My personal favorite was the almond fritters. There was spiced wine poured between each course and I found it delightfully strange as well that whole spices were given out to cleanse the palette near the end of the meal.

Of course no banquet feast is complete without a show, and the mid-course entertainment was surprisingly good. We had minstrels and storytellers and strange instruments I had never heard of before. Most of the entertainers and drink pour-ers didn’t take it quite as seriously as the guy who runs the place – but in a good way, in a “we’re all experiencing this strange thing together” kind of way. I got a few winks. Right after noticing my cup was filled to the very top. Score!

In conclusion, going to Camlann Village is one of my favorite things to do with a group of friends around the holidays. I can’t speak for everyone, but I love putting myself in vaguely strange and unusual situations, and the Yuletide Feast doesn’t disappoint. You will feel uncomfortable, you will eat things that look strange, but overall you will have an amazing night you’ll never forget. And at the end of it all, I promise, you really wont miss your phone all that much. Because strange as it is, it’s nice to just experience things every once in awhile. Don’t get me wrong: I love me some phone pics to commemorate everything I do, but I’ll have the memories of Camlann forever either way.

Hello, lovely blog readers! This is my first post of the new year, and cheesy or no, I thought it relevant to do a bit of reflection.

2013 was an interesting year. It feels like I didn’t actually accomplish very much, but that’s mostly because I spent a LARGE majority of the year working on a project that still isn’t finished. Last year was the year of Job Hunters, and Season 2 is set to premiere in the next couple of months… so the accomplishments of my team will feel like a real tangible thing, you know, soon. Very soon. But! last year we managed to raise over $50,000 to make the second season of our show a reality, and that’s nothing to scoff about. I am so excited that we’re getting this close to the release of it, and I am even more pumped to imagine the looks on your faces when you get to see what we’ve created. I’m extremely proud of this project, and I really hope everyone loves it.

I also made a GAME in 2013! Jetpack Unicorn was an experiment in so many ways: in designing a game, in writing, in working with a company to realize a vision… Sometimes I totally forget it exists, because it felt so overshadowed by Job Hunters. But my game is currently available in local game shops all over the place and on Amazon! I think the whole experience is actually tied for largest accomplishment with kickstarting and filming my web series. Even if the only things I did last year were 1. make a game and 2. film a web series, I would still be ridiculously proud of myself. I threw every ounce of my creativity into these projects and for that, I had a very creatively fulfilling year.

But that’s not all I did last year! I also started this blog as another outlet for my writing and my thoughts, continued to cultivate and build the Team Hypercube community that’s come to be such an integral part of my life, and threw a badass Halloween party (the largest one I’ve ever “directed”). I helped raise over $2,000 for Extra Life with our 24 live stream, helped the Foundation to Decrease Worldsuck raise over $800,000 dollars with the Project 4 Awesome, and started my second rewatch of Battlestar Galactica, which I feel is extremely noteworthy and important to add to this list.

Each year I wonder how I will possibly top the one before it, and 2013 certainly set the bar high. I have a lot of plans and ideas for 2014, among them being learning to sew so I can start cosplaying, turning the new Answerly Book Club into a seriously awesome place for book nerds to hang out, and… well… you should just keep an eye on Team Hypercube. That’s all I have to say for now.

I hope the rest of you are standing at the edge of this new year with as much hope and energy as I feel right now! I know there’s a camp of people out there who think resolutions are stupid, but I don’t see any harm in starting the new year with a few goals. I would love to hear yours in the comments.

Thanks for sticking with me, guys. I’ll be updating much more regularly in the new year. xoxo

I love gettin’ all decked out for Christmas, and this year was so exception. I’ve got green tights from Target, red boors, a black lace skirt and my favorite basic grey sweater. The reindeer earrings were a new addition (love the front and back for each side) as well as the giant candy cane bow. I loved it. I picked both up at Claire’s. The Christmas light necklace is a holiday staple for me… I wear it every single year and bought it at a craft fair when I was young.

The holiday season has been anything but relaxing, but it’s been a lot of fun regardless. First we started off the week with a Christmas game night, which ended in a way no one could have imagined. I had a handful of friends over (most of which are mega Harry Potter nerds) and for old time’s sake, we decided to play Harry Potter trivia. Somehow, the two least knowledgable in Harry Potter managed to abuse the card-stealing mechanic of the game to take home the win. It was a rough night for most other parties involved.

My friends and I celebrate Christmas a few days early with each other, before we all go home for our family Christmasses. I really enjoy having my own tree and a night of present exchanging with my friends. We really are like a little alternative family and I love them all so, so much. Especially when we do dorky things like taking a “Battle Camp Christmas Picture” together:

Then my family got together for a Christmas football game. I don’t normally go to football games (as I’m sure you can tell, sports aren’t really my thing) but my dad has had season tickets for years and really wanted my brother and I to experience the craziness that is a Seahawks game as of late. So I donned what minimal sports gear I owned and headed down to the stadium.

It was, of course, the WORST game of the season and the only home game our team has lost in years, but you can’t deny the environment of a sold out football game is a sight to see.

Then it was nearly time for real Christmas. I made the short journey to my parents’ house and was happy to see our tree all set up just like I remembered it. Our extended family lives all over the place so we don’t usually get to see them for Christmas, which has made for a lot of quiet Christmasses over the years. I don’t really mind it that way. It’s nice to have a couple of days to just spend at home with my parents and my brother.

I got a lot of lovely presents and gave even more away, and now that it’s all over I’m just gearing up for my birthday. 26 will be the first depressing birthday I have (goodbye dad’s healthcare!) so I am making up for it by having a Frozen themed birthday party, just like I’m a kid again. Hopefully it helps, somehow. Also it’s impossible to get any work done at my parent’s house while they’re home, so I’m going to end this blog post here and leave you with this picture I found of my very first ugly sweater.

Merry Christmas everyone, and I hope everyone has fun plans for New Year’s!

I have been truly terrible at keeping up with my blog this month! I was doing so well for awhile there, and then NaNoWriMo just crashed its way in and wrecked my whole flow – and then, well,  December just sort of speaks for itself in terms of getting off schedule. The holidays are in FULL SWING, and the road trip I was on since Monday didn’t help at all.

But that’s not to say the trip wasn’t totally amazing. I will walk you through a few of the highlights, right now.

Joe and I hit the road early Monday morning but it wasn’t until about midday that we hit snow for the first time. I was a bit worried about getting my Fiesta through the snowy mountainy part of the drive, but it was never really an issue.

I am a rather seasoned road-trip connoisseur, so I filled Joe in on the art of finding good places to eat when you have no idea where you are. All you have to do is look for diner names on the “Food at this Exit” signs, bearing a couple of rules in mind. First of all, you never pick a place you already know. You’re out exploring the open road! Subway can wait! No, when you’re on a road trip, you should always find new places to discover. The best way to pick them (when in reality you have absolutely nothing to go on) is to make sure they match one of two criteria. Rule #1 is to find a restaurant with an actual person’s name (like Rudy’s, or a Glenn’s, or Tracy’s). If the name sounds friendly, the food will probably be delicious. The friendlier, the more delicious. It’s direct variation, folks. Second is to pick a sign that’s written in cursive (or some other cute font). The cuter the font, the more adorable (and subsequently, delicious) the restaurant will be. For example, here’s one of the places we ended up eating at by following this standard set of rules:

Cutest font! And it was delicious! And they had amazing blackberry cobbler!

On the first day of our trip, we made it all the way from Seattle to Redding, California. It was a pretty intense day of driving, but it was made much easier by the beautiful sights as well as the massive amounts of Nightvale Radio we listened to. Joe and I learned you should probably only listen to 3-4 episodes of Nightvale Radio in one sitting. We learned this by listening to at least 12.

The next day we were back on the road where we made a stop-off outside of Sacremento to visit the offices of Wyrd, the makers of Jetpack Unicorn. Which is now available on Amazon, by the way. Our next stop was San Jose, but that may need to wait for its own blog post. I may or may not have accomplished a bucket list item there.

Thanks for sticking with me while I’ve been so crazy busy! There will be many more updates on this blog in the coming days, and in the mean time, please go catch up on my YouTube channel and gaming channel! We just started playing the Adventure Time game and it’s a lot of fun, so don’t miss it.

How’s your December going? Tell me one fun thing you’ve done this month in the comments, and I’ll be back with another post tomorrow.

I’m not sure how it happened exactly, but the Hypercube house mascot has, over the last year or so, become the world’s grumpiest cardboard cutout of Gale (from the Hunger Games). We dress him up for parties, hide him in each other’s bedrooms, and you can always rest assured that if you’re trying to relax in the living room, he will be silently creeping on you from the corner.

Christmas Gale, however, really took it to the next level:

Most people say “it’s not really Christmas until you put up the tree” or “until it snows” or “when my Starbucks comes in a red cup!” But for those of us who live here at Hypercube, it’s now officially Christmas because Gale will spend the remainder of the month silently judging us for having fun. Also, he hates his new hat.

We got this great new tree from my parents this year and we had a ton of fun last night setting it up and hanging all our sentimental ornaments in the perfect order. Pictured above are just a few of the best: Rapunzel, and the ones us girls bought at the Nutcracker last winter. I also have a Pinkie Pie, a big sparkly pink unicorn and a glitter coated pickle [not pictured].

I know it’s totally cliched and people are probably already sick of hearing about it, but the holidays just make me feel so happy. There are so many fun plans in the next few weeks, and I love giving presents to people, and decorating for holidays is just the best.

I really can’t wait to watch Christmas movies snuggled on the couch in my footy pajamas. Especially now that Eia and I have the perfect hot cocoa mugs!

What are you favorite Christmas ornaments? You know, the really special ones you most look forward to hanging on the tree each year? Let me know in the comments!

Well!

It has been quite the month. I apologize for taking so much time off of this blog – I really, truly enjoy updating it nearly every day, but that last stretch of NaNoWriMo just made it really difficult to do anything else, not to mention another writing intensive project. But! I made it through victorious, yet again. 

I’ve been working diligently on on editing my “film myself every day of November to show the craziness unfold” video project, and it should be going up on my YouTube channel tomorrow. If you’ve ever wanted to see a first hand account of what true insanity looks like, you’ll probably enjoy this video.

In other news, I am SO EXCITED about Christmas stuff. My roommates and I are decorating our tree tomorrow night, and then I have my first holiday party on Thursday (with many more to come). There will definitely be ample blog posts about everything I have coming up in the following weeks. It’s been all sweaters and pine scented candles at my house lately, and we’re just getting started.

I’ve just been in such a good mood lately. Not only was Frozen amazing (Eia and I cannot stop dancing around the house to the soundtrack) but I finished my eighth NaNoWriMo novel and we’re entering the month of parties, parties, and more parties. Also I turn 26 this month. But we’ll get to that later when I have decided whether I’m excited or depressed.

Please, give me updates on your NaNo experience this month, if you took part in the marathon. Or tell me what you’re most looking forward to for the holiday season. Or what you want for Christmas! I’m having a hell of a time figuring out what I want this year.

Here’s hoping it snows soon. I love the first snow.

Despite being in San Francisco for specific writing marathon purposes, Liz and I managed to fit a whole lot of sight-seeing into our weekend there. Among these were probably two of the most opposite extremes: landmarks for the family friendly Full House, and a tour through the most notorious Federal Prison in all US history.

First we checked out the actual house used at the Tanner residence. It’s just a house that random people live in now, with a “No Tresspassing” sign out front. Clearly they aren’t fans, since they also chose to recently paint the iconic homestead a dark, jarring blue. Without knowing the address of this famed location, you’d hardly recognize it anymore. Whatever happened to predictability, am I right?

The Painted Ladies, however, are a San Francisco staple. These lovely houses sit along the ridge of a hill next to a bustling and beautiful park, and can be seen in the intro/theme to Full House, when they’re all having that picnic. Fun fact; apparently aside from an episode when Comet goes missing and they search the streets of SF for him, pretty much every other scene in the show was actually shot in LA.

Next stop was Alcatraz. I visited “The Rock” as a pre-teen, but Liz had never been there. My memories of the place were fuzzy, so I was more than happy to go back.

It was just as I remembered. Cold, creepy, and full of fascinating tidbits. The audio tour is narrated by actual ex-guards and inmates, which just makes the whole experience that much more surreal and spooky. We had such a great time exploring the island, soaking up the history, and learning the lesser known details and uses of this crazy island along the. Sure the place is heavily inflated by bad Hollywood movies, but that doesn’t make it any less of a worthwhile place to visit.

Homey, isn’t it? I can’t imagine spending any amount of time here let alone the numerous years most inmates endured. What a strange place. What a massive amount of history locked within the icy grip of the bay. I highly recommend you take the tour if you ever get the chance.

Next post will be my Night of Writing Dangerously wrap-up, which is also my very first bucket list item! I’m looking forward to sharing my thoughts on the event with you all.

The outfit of the day portion of this blog post is coming, I promise. It’s a journey we’ll take together, this time.

So last week Thursday, my good friend and roommate Liz Leo and I set out on the most ambitious roadtrip we’ve ever taken, just the two of us. The trip was for NaNoWriMo and the Night of Writing Dangerously, which we’ve each done successfully for the past 8 years (7 for Liz) but never been to the huge write-a-thon party held in San Francisco each year. We powered down to Springfield, OR, stayed the night, then made our way all the way to Stockton on Friday. There was a lot of music listening, switching off who’s driving and who’s writing (we’re hardcore), appreciating how beautiful our corner of the country is, and hunting down the best roadside places to eat.

Then finally, on Saturday… we made it!! San Francisco is a crazy place, and man it feels good driving across the Bay bridge and knowing you earned being there, after 2 straight days in the car. Traffic or no traffic, we had arrived at our destination.

Of course the first thing Liz and I agreed to do was go to the Walt Disney Family Museum. I really didn’t know much about it, and we thought we’d just stop by and poke around for an hour or so… What really ended up happening was over three hours whizzing by without us even realizing it. The museum is FANTASTIC. I really enjoyed myself and I’m so glad we remembered to check it out.

The weather was beautiful in the city that day; sunny and clear but crisp in temperature, perfect for sweaters without jackets. I wore my brand new floral sweater and black skirt from Forever21, my red ankle boots from ModCloth, and coral colored socks I got from a cute little independent shop on the Ave by UW. It was a perfect outfit for traveling – comfortable enough for a long ride in the car, but fun enough for tourist pictures! I also bought myself some goodies in the museum gift shop, including a few gifts for people, so I wont be sharing those quite yet. If you ever get a chance to check this museum out, please do! It was wonderful.

I was so dedicated to not falling behind in word count on my trip to New York, but I came home exhausted and about 2,300 behind anyway. I was disappointed, but, by some crazy force of madness within me, I managed to write something like 6,000 words in 2 days and hit 20,000 right on time last night in an hour long word sprint I hosted on Twitter. It’s been a crazy couple of days, guys.

And it’s only about to get crazier.

I’m heading down to San Francisco tomorrow on a road trip to finally, finally attend the Night of Writing Dangerously, a party/write-a-thon for donors to the Office of Letters and Light. It’s a time to dress up fancy (I hear the theme is Noir) and raise a glass (and a pen) to the organization that tirelessly brings us NaNoWriMo, year after year. I couldn’t be more pumped.

I have always wanted to go, but it’s never been practical before to figure out a trip to San Francisco amidst the already crazy time-management of writing 50,000 words in a month. However, this summer I had the pleasure of meeting NaNo staff at LeakyCon, and combined with the perfect storm of also still having my Ford Fiesta, my main writing buddy Liz and I knew this year was the year. We’re taking turns driving (and, subsequently, writing) as we embark on the trip of a lifetime. What should I wear? I haven’t even started packing!!

I’ve been running a funding page for the event I’d like to point you in the direction of – the amount you need to raise for the event is $250, but this program has done so much for me that I am really trying to raise double that. My goal is $500 and ultimately this project will be the video I make for the Project 4 Awesome this year, so I really would love if people could check it out. Donating to my page sends the money to the same place as if you donated it directly to the Office of Letters and Light. Helping them reach their funding goals ensures we have NaNoWriMo for years to come!

On that note, who’s on track with 20,000 words today? How crazy is it that we’re nearly at the halfway point? This November is flying by, and I’m happy to report I am still enjoying my story this year. But then again, I haven’t hit the 30,000 blues yet…. that should happen right on schedule around the time of the Write-a-Thon this Sunday, so hopefully being in a room full of insane writers (I mean that in the kindest way possible; I’m one of them) will help drive me through that.

Let me know your mid-month NaNo thoughts in the comments below, and I’ll be sure to report all of the fun goings-on at the event this weekend.