Goddess, I Am.

I’ve decided that Polyvore is the bane of my existence. I’ve known of it for ages, but I have never really gotten around to using it until the fabulous Meream of Bored and Crafty asked me to contribute to her Book Style series. Two Thorn Birds-inspired concepts later, I was addicted. And the rest, as they say, is history. (Articles on Hinkley lighting and canker sores be damned!)

Now, for the longest time, my sister has been trying to get me to create my own vision board. She’s a huge believer of The Secret (I know, right?), and she thinks I’m hopeless enough to actually need a huge billboard-type thingy to remind me of the things that I want in my life. (She, of course, is content with chanting in the shower. But that’s beside the point.)

And so it was that I conceived this idea of using Polyvore as my personal vision board. (What an excuse to use it more often than I should, huh?) The thing I want most is to gallivant all over the world – Europe, especially – so why not plan what I’m going to wear as early as now? Never mind that little, old, practical me won’t be caught dead in 4-inch ankle boots on a trip to Paris packed with a gazillion activities, but, hey, a girl can dream, right?

So without further ado, this is me in Paris:

And Rome (I wasn’t kidding when I said I wanted to go in a toga):

And Venice:

And I’m definitely not done yet! I made an entire collection out of this concept, so I daresay I’ll be Polyvore-ing more ‘travel’ outfits in the days to come. Man, oh man, what did I just get myself into?

Oh, and if you want to see the Book Style I made for Meream, you can find it here. I just love The Thorn Birds!

And no, The Husband is NOT a priest. Though he probably would’ve made a damned good one, in my opinion, because he certainly can preach! But don’t tell him I said that!

I read a lot, so if somebody asked me who my favorite author is, I would probably end up with a list to rival that of Extenze’s cache of sexual enhancers. (Please don’t ask me why or how I know.) But if I were to pick one (author, not sexual enhancer) who I love most, I wouldn’t bat an eyelash when I say Colleen McCullough.

The first McCullough book I ever picked up was Antony and Cleopatra, and from the very first page, it was love – love for the story, love for the history, and love for the author. Because of that, I spent the better part of last year acquiring and reading her entire Masters of Rome series. I thought my love for her books would end there, but then I found an old copy of The Thorn Birds (definitely among my top 3 favorite stories of all time!), and she got me hooked once again. Since then, I’ve been making it a point to find copies of all her stories, which really isn’t an easy thing to do when there aren’t a lot of her books floating around. So far, I’ve managed to acquire 10 of her books (from the most unlikely sources, mind you), including the 7 Roman ones, and I’m still on the lookout for more.

I love how she writes, and I won’t even try to describe why when, for me, the reasons are intangible. All I know is she writes about the very things that I personally would’ve liked to write about but could and would never ever give justice to. And it’s because of this that she almost feels like family – so much so, in fact, that I now ‘know’ her writing well enough to recognize styles that are unique to her, such as her penchant for throwing in a Roman nuance or two even in her most un-Roman stories, be it as a character’s name, or a subtle metaphor. I find myself smiling each time I see a Roman-esque word or phrase in one of her books. I like to think of it as her personal tribute to that period of history she loves so much, and I join her in that tribute.

Thank you, Colleen, for giving me Caesar, Ralph de Bricassart, and Joshua Christian. I look forward to finding more of your stories in places where I least expect them.