Author Archives: Shanella

Five Things (8)

Posted in Bookish, My New York, Plateful by

These five things are brought to you by the sunny days of summer!

— Thing One —

I took a plane to Canada for my cousin’s 30th (again) surprise birthday party. His wife put it together for him and he was very surprised! It was fun hanging with my family for the weekend. I don’t get to do to Canada often because the price of tickets are often ridiculous – I mean, the flight is not even an hour, do I really need to pay 400$ for a round-trip? – and when there are folks driving up I usually cannot go due to work.

I had a great time there, the birthday was fun and the food delicious but, the best part was the cake! Not only was it delicious it was a beautiful thing to behold.

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— Thing two —

I went up to a retreat at Nyack college. First off, that campus is AMAZING! The views from the campus are spectacular, the grounds are quaint and quite beautiful and the buildings are fun! The retreat was also AMAZING. I had a great time and hung out with friends and met some lovely people. It was rainy the first night, but the next day the weather was perfect. A few of us went into town and the stores in the town were so adorable! There was a bookshop called Pickwick (I know, cute!) and I wanted to go in to see if they had any Dickens. Such a lovely place, I’m so glad I went away for the weekend.

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— Thing three —

I was at a conference where the speaker was talking about the power of word of mouth advertising and he mentioned a speakeasy that exists in New York where you enter in via a telephone booth inside of a hot dog shop; when I heard this I knew I had to go visit!

It was definitely an experience. They took reservations on the day off, but you had to call after 3pm! I called about 10-15 times before finally getting through and making our reservation. I think it’s a great spot for a small group of friends to relax and have a good time. I loved that it wasn’t crowded and that we were able to hear each other talk. It was strange, but it was really peaceful, I’d go back again!

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— Thing four —

I have a set of pink clubs, I haven’t taken it to out in about three years – since my black car! A weekend ago I did take them out, I went with a friend and her hubby to the driving range where I attempted to teach him how to hit a golf ball. For me though, the best part of the trip was seeing that I was better than I expected. I hit the balls about 95% Of the time and got it out past the 100 mark most of the time – which is pretty amazing since I only recall barely making the 75 mark. There were a few times where I even hit it past 150! I was shocked!

I forgot how therapeutic hitting a golf ball was, I think I’ll have to do it again!

— Thing five —

When you get the right group of people, the right music and the right mood, Karaoke is pretty awesome. I definitely had the right group of people this past Friday. I loved it! We wanted to go for an hour more, but alas, the rooms were all booked!

You know, I really love New York. It might not be as old as European cities but there is a lot of history here. I also enjoy the cultural mix. The fact that I can go to a speakeasy one night, Karaoke the next night and if I want some Korean food with girlfriends, I can find it if I just walk down a block or two.

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~*~

From The Diary of the Mother of the Woman With the Issue of Blood

Posted in Stories, Thoughts by

Another exercise from the weekend. I really enjoyed this one, it was a stretch of the imagination. I will have to do it again! 

My missing daughter came home today, she looked shell-shocked. She went to her room, took all her things down to the river and began to wash them. I didn’t know where she came from, she was gone before I got up – which in itself was very unusual.

I followed her down to the river, “Where have you been?” I asked, trying to keep the accusatory tone out of my voice.

Her head turned towards me and she blinked slowly, like she was waking from a dream. “I went to see the teacher, Ima. He…” she stopped here, looked down at her hands through the water, and finished in a whisper, “I am healed.”

I had watched my daughter go from village to village, seeking out anyone who could help her; this wasn’t a new thing. I had to bite down the frustration that threatened to come spilling out; the tears that wanted to choke me as I thought about the times she would return, her strength leached out of her, the sickness making her pale as a ghost.

Twelve years I watched her sink deeper and deeper into despair, branded as unclean by everyone – alone. Twelve years of pleading with her to stop wasting her money on phony healers. Yet there she stood, telling me that she was healed, and all I could think of was, here we go yet again.

I braced myself and asked the question, “When you say you were healed, what do you mean?” Continue reading →

A Sonnet from the Weekend

Posted in Poetic, Religious Musings by

I told myself that I’m going to revise this sonnet before I post it, but who am I kidding, I am me, and being me I know that I’ll tuck it away and won’t look at it until a year or so later, at which point I’ll wonder why I even wrote it in the first place! 

But, this came out of a weekend away, where we did inductive bible study on some passages in Mark and where something struck me harder and a bowling ball on the head; my way is not necessarily God’s way and if I really believe that he’s all that, perhaps I should let him… well, have his way. 

So, here is first draft of a little poem I like to call…

Love – Not Always What I Expect

I want you to fulfill my heart’s desires
To listen to my wants and make them real
But instead I find frustration spirals
And tosses me as upon angry steel.

Now I must decide, should I keep telling?
Or should I pause, wait, see what you will do?
Suppose instead of telling I’m waiting?
Instead of demands, listening to you?

What if I let you do what you do best
And let you guide my paths and lead the way.
What if I let you handle all the rest
Would I find peace rather than disarray?

If I believe that you indeed know best
Then why not be amazed, truly impressed?

~*~

Five Things (7)

Posted in Bookish, Gardening, Thoughts by

These Five Things are brought to you by the letter S and the number 7.

— Thing One —

Shanny, Shanny, quite contrary, how does your garden grow? My sister, father and I went to Home Depot and Lowes one bright Saturday morning – far too early for a Saturday morning might I add – and bought the necessary equipment for planting a small vegetable and flower garden. Later, my sister and I spent four hours digging up the earth and laying down soil and compost (mmmm, compost), and finally, planted our garden! In the front we have Burgundy Blush, Silver Star, Sensation Deep Rose and I later found some English Lavender which has a wonderful smell! I cannot wait for late spring/early summer when everything will be in bloom!  In the back we planted some tomatoes and basil – I suppose we can make it into sauce. I want to plant some peas, cucumbers, mint and maybe lettuce, we’ll see how these take.

I’m not too worried about the flowers, they are pretty low maintenance, but I am a bit worried about the tomatoes, I already see issues with the leaves so I’m going to have to do some more research on taking care of them. I am happy to report though, that they have grown in the last few weeks which makes me hopeful that they will last! Maybe the black thumb curse has been broken!

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— Thing Two —

That one time I built a reading fort, one free Sunday afternoon. One of my poles got a bit messed up after this adventure, but I think it will still be able to support the tent. There’s really something fun about pitching a tent, even if it’s in your backyard.

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— Thing Three —

If you’ve seen The Princess Diaries then you’re acquainted with her work. Meg Cabot came to visit New York and I got a book signed by her! Yay! She’s hilarious, as you can see from her blog, and she writes for kids, teens and adults. She writes a lot! After signing the books she warned us about the weather and reminded us to take umbrellas. Author and meteorologist, is there anything Meg Cabot cannot do?

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— Thing Four —

There is this place in College Point called Spa Castle and it is wonderful. That is all!

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— Thing Five —

My dad, my sister and I took a drive from New York to Pennsylvania to visit my uncle and his family. They recently moved west and we haven’t visited them since. It was a great day for visiting, no rain and with hardly any traffic (looking at you GWB) the joys of cruise control was experienced.

A lot of country jokes were made, my sister decided to play Hunger Games because they had some “woods” (see clump of trees below) and someone might have spotted a “bear” or two. However, the best thing was the welcome we received from my little cousin, Nate, as he saw us pull in – the screaming and the hugs that we experienced were priceless.

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~ * ~

Five Things (6)

Posted in Thoughts by

Five things come trotting across your interwebs …

— Thing One —

I was invited to an imprint launch, in April, for Harlequin Teen; it was excellent! A full report is posted on my Book Blog, and I’m glad I bumped into a few people I already knew as well as getting the chance to meet new people. This event actually caused me to think a bit more about networking. While I think I’m generally social, my shyness often leads me towards passive interactions with new people at events. Something like a book event, where I don’t necessarily know a bunch of people personally, is pretty tough because it means I have to open up and talk to others; on the other hand it’s easy to talk about books, so I didn’t feel completely pressured. However, something did catch my attention while at this event. I gained a lot of business cards, but only contacted two people, my reason being, these people actually took time to talk to me. I’m not sure what is the best tactic for networking, but personally, I feel more inclined to connect to someone if they take the time to talk to me and ask a few questions about me before moving on to the next person.

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— Thing Two —

I’m not generally spontaneous, I’m a planner at heart. I like schedules, calendars, lists and that sort of thing. However, every now and then I just feel like doing something different and a spontaneous side takes over. I love having friends and family that are also into spontaneous hangings; whether it be dinner or movies or just geeky events! I found three amazing eating places from spontaneous hangings in April. The first was Ryan Maguire’s Ale House in the financial district – which was only a mile walk from my office – they have the most delicious Grilled Salmon! Next were lunch places in SoHo, there was Great Jones Cafe, I had the chili, it was wonderful and then Ceci Cela whose Salmon Quiche was stupendous! I loved Ceci-Cela’s decor, I can picture myself going there for a tea break during the summer, sitting in the back with tea and a petite madeline while reading a book! So excited 🙂

— Thing Three —

There are people still cleaning up after Hurricane Sandy and we don’t necessarily hear about it because the media has moved on. I was fortunate to notice a Facebook post about a volunteer opportunity and since I was free that Saturday, I decided to go to Far Rockaway to volunteer with some New Lifers and Starbucks (that’s right, Starbucks!!). It was a very long day, and I was with the gardening group. At the end of three hours we cleaned up the garden and the plot and planted some herbs and veggies. It was a lot of hard work, but definitely worth it!

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— Thing Four —

I went to a networking event for work where I got a chance to be a part of a wine class that was taught by Kevin Zraly – owner and instructor of Windows on the World Wine School. It was more fun that I could imagine! I love learning new things and I definitely learnt much more than I’ve ever known about wine!

— Thing Five —

The first pedicure of the year, what an excellent feeling! The last Saturday in April was a bit of a girls day! J and I got our nails done, then took my sister to the mall where she got a chance to look at some prom dresses. The day ended with burger from Bobby’s Burger Place and some family time. Pretty much a perfect Saturday.

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