Our New Project: Strong Sense of Place
My new project is taking all of my attention right now, and I'd love for you to join me for new adventures! It's called Strong...
Read More3-2-1-GO!
I feel like my noggin is playing an endless loop of motivational clichés these days:
Take a leap of faith!
Take the plunge!
Dive right in!
Jump in with both feet!
Um. OK! On February 17, I’m saying 3-2-1-GO! to a new life.
After four and a half years with these particular corporate overlords, I’m bidding them adieu and will be devoting myself wholeheartedly to my blog, my books, recipe development, and freelance writing. (Why, do you suppose, it’s always bidding adieu and not saying adieu? It feels so right that way, but I’m not sure why.)
What This Means For You
More Blog Posts: Now that I’ll be writing full time, I can get back to my preferred schedule of visiting with you beautiful people every day. The Clothes Make The Girl will have fresh stuff for you to read seven days a week.
Better Blog Posts: My research time right now is usually sandwiched between my morning workout and running out the door to the bus — or weekend afternoons when I should be outside soaking up Vitamin D. You read it here first: The Clothes Make The Girl will soon be Improved! Concentrated with Science! Thesaurus Empowered!
More Recipes: One of the great gifts of my new schedule is that Tuesday will now be known as Recipe Testing Day so I can deliver you a new recipe every week. Fun, right?!
Potential Face Time: I’ve been getting lovely invitations from CrossFit boxes and dino-chow enthusiasts all over the place to come and visit. I’m testing a presentation locally soon, and I hope in the not-too-distant future to be able to hit the road to talk dino-chow, sign books, and — most importantly — meet more of you face to face.
More Writing, Other Places: I’ve been dabbling in guest posts and freelance writing over the past few months, and I love the challenge — plus it’s a way to introduce you to other kickass blogs and publications. Look for more of that in the coming months.
Smupdates: Now I’ll be able to show you what our wily CEO Smudge is up to in real time — no more time-delayed photos from Dave back at Smudge Publishing HQ. For example, the photo below illustrates how Smudge, when she’s not being bratty, likes to sit on my lap and look out the window.
What This Means For Me
More Time, MY Time: I’ve always loved waking up early and kind of luxuriating in the feeling that I’m up before the rest of the world. Even when I was little, I’d wake up at 6:00 a.m. to read in bed before it was time to get ready for school. I’d watch my dad shine his shoes for work and revel in moving slowly before the day really got started. It’s made me sad over the years to adapt my schedule to waking up early to hit the ground running… dealing with that anxiety ball in my stomach, knowing that if I overslept by even 5 minutes, the whole morning would collapse in a big pile of fail.
Alarm –> workout –> shower –> breakfast while running around –> bus ride to work
I’m ridiculously excited about the new possibilities of waking up early and easing into the day with, perhaps, a cup of tea and Smudge’s belly for company — and I know how fortunate I am to be able to try this new routine for a while.
More Yoga: Now that my schedule is flexible, I’ll be going to yoga four times a week, sometimes in the middle of the morning! It’s scandalous! I’m giddy with the idea of waking early, writing for a few hours, then going to yoga. OMG, you guys. I’m transforming into the cliché of a blogger!
Sabbath: When Melissa and Dallas of Whole9 announced their Tuesday plans — they essentially take a total day off on Tuesdays — Dave and I agreed it was an excellent idea. We also agreed that until I had only ONE job, we couldn’t realistically adopt a similar plan. Between blogging, recipe testing, and cookbook creation, we’ve been working almost every free minute outside my 9-to-5, but now… weekends will be weekends. We’re adopting a real Sabbath! On Sundays, I will use no computer-y gadgets and will do no chores. The day will be for relaxing, family time, fun, and recharging our batteries. When I was a kid, no stores were open on Sundays. My family would eat a late breakfast, hang around the house, maybe go for a ride in the country. THAT is what I’ll be pursuing now. Can I survive a Sunday without Twitter?! We’ll soon see.
Breakfast in a Chair: This might sound gross, so I apologize in advance: I often eat my breakfast — butternut squash, chicken breast, broccoli, and coconut oil, these days — in the bathroom while I dry my hair and put on my makeup. Bite –> blow dry & chew –> bite –> eye liner, etc. I am beyond the beyond with joy when I think about sitting at the dining table to eat my first meal of the day.
No More Bus Commute: There’s plenty to like about the bus. It’s convenient, it gives me extra time to read, it helps me incorporate a walk into my daily routine. But there’s also a down side. The Austin bus system is not world class; it’s often late, crowded, and smelly — plus, there are ranty people. I don’t really like dealing with ranty people. My new commute is a 20m walk from our kitchen door to my home office in our backyard studio. That might be the sweetest gift of all! When we bought our house, a big selling point was the studio in back where we could both have home offices and a music room. My piano and my desk and custom pullup bars in the backyard have been waiting (im)patiently for four years while I toiled with the corporate overlords. On February 20, I’ll be back at my desk-made-from-a-door where I belong, looking out at the squirrels in the yard and hoping their plan of coordinated attack does not come to fruition.
Thank you, friends, for reading my blog and buying Well Fed. You have helped make this transition possible, and I am so grateful to you — and trilled that you’re kind of all my co-workers now.
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Rants & Rave: 25 April 2020
We could all use some happy distractions right about now, right? Here are some of the things I found online lately that made me happy....
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Hurray! This will be so good for you. And good for me when I get more recipes from this site :p
So excited for you, Mel! Last spring I quit my full time job to go back to school and work part time. The free time I gained has been so wonderful and I revel in the chance to read for pleasure, cook, craft, workout, and everything else with more pleasure and less anxiety. You will love it. 🙂
YAY!!!! So happy for you. I’m with you–I operate much better if I have some time to leisurely get into my day. And our Sabbath time is some of our most treasured, but also difficult to maintain if it’s not protected! Congrats!
This is fabulous/fantastic/wonderful!!!! So excited for you and this new beginning. 🙂
Mel, I am thrilled you for and the next step. congrats on working your tail off to finally be at eh point where you can focus only on your awesomeness, and what it brings to others.
Hmm, if I can ever play hooky I’ll have to hit you up to meet me at a certain S Lamar ice cream store for a noontime treat(they have dairy free options now, yahoo!)
Fabulous fabulous stuff (and yes, slightly jealous of taking the plunge!). Someday…Congratulations to you!
HeLL Ya! HaPPy for you and selfishly HapPy for me because it means we get more of you 🙂
Ditto!
Congrats! You gotta love going to work and truly enjoying what you do. Can’t wait!
Congratulations!! What a wonderful change… and super bonus for all of us – More Melicious! Good luck with the new changes. Sounds fantastic, enlightening, and empowering!
Congrats, Melissa! I quit my finance job in order to train at a CF gym last summer. I’m busier than ever, but I adore what I do. I live in workout clothes, ball caps, and I sleep until 7am almost every day. Nuts!
I’m particularly looking forward to more Smupdates!!!
Congratultions and best wishes as you set forth on this stage of your journey. Travel bravely!
You’re living the dream – congrats! I can’t wait to start loving your blog even more.
How exciting. Looking forward to reading and recipes.
Congrats to you! So looking forward to the amazing things you’ll be doing in the near future. 😀
Any extra info on the tester presentation? Will it be at the PaleoFX convention here in a few weeks?
Congrats!! sounds like a great things are on the horizon:)
Wow, congrats! Can’t wait for more posts and recipes.
That’s great to hear Melicious! Way to make your dreams come true 🙂
How inspiring! I’ve only been following you since December but given what I’ve seen so far I KNOW you will be an amazing success. I bought your Well Food book today and I can’t wait to get it 🙂 Looking forward to following this journey with you!
Congrats on a huge decision, and what is sure to be a huge success! Very happy for you…
I wanted to let you know I have really been using and enjoying your cook book. The first time I made your Pad Thai, I knew I loved you!!
YAAAAAAAAAAAAY! I’m SO excited for you! This is huge! Congratulations on taking this step…it can be scary, but it’s so totally worth it!
Can’t wait to see what new things pop up on the blog!
P.s. Tuesday is my recipe testing day too!
Great news! So excited for you and can’t wait to benefit from the fruits of your labor. A little jealous, too 😉
Congratulations!!!
Great news. I can’t wait for “Even Weller Fed”
WOW!! Mel!!! How wonderfully exciting. I am so happy to join you on your new journey and read along about all the wodnerful things you do. Cheers!
Congratulations!
WooooHooooo! Congrats Melissa. Working for yourself is the way to go. (At least for me, but I don’t always play well with others when they get to make my decisions for me.) It is ultra scary at times, but so absolutely worth it on a day to day basis.
What an amazingly wonderful splendid piece of news this is!! I’m so excited for you that you get to do what you love on a full time basis!! What a freeing feeling that must be. I can’t think of someone I’d rather have blogging on a daily basis than you chica 🙂 Congratulations lady proud of you for making this decision!
Congratulations Melissa! I wish you much success in your new adventure…and I’m so thrilled for me (oh, and the rest of your faithful followers) to be able to soak up more of your awesomeness!
many congrats to you! i can’t wait to see the awesome new changes to come!
How EXCITING! Did you think it would come to this when you first started blogging?
Well! I am absolutely pea-green with envy. And how absolutely friggin’ marvelous for you… and us, your readers!
Mazeltov!
Congrats! You’re hard work has paid off to make this moment a reality. I look forward to see more stuff from you! I’m sure the paleo community as a whole will benefit from this transition.
I made the same jump back in December. It’s terrifying at first, but it’s the best change I’ve ever made in my life.
Congratulations on making the brave leap! I can’t wait for the bigger, badder blog content!
The only thing I hate about this is how unbelievable jealous I am. Congratulations…this is huge!
So jealous! Breakfast in a chair! Imagine! Well done Mel for taking the plunge. Looking forward to reading my Favourite blog more often. Cheers xxx
Congratulations! I am so happy for you and for us your devoted readers, more blogs, more recipes, more love!
Congrats! Your leap is well-deserved.
I am new to Well Fed (4 days and 12 meals) but could not be MORE thrilled that we get to reap the benefits of your plunge. Bring on the recipes and insightful words!
Cheers!
That is awesome!! I recently got to transition to my dream job and love it!! And as I finish the last few days of the whole 30…. I am pumped for once a week recipes!!!
Congratulations!
Yes, yes, YES! This is awesome. I’m so happy for you and your blog! Power to the paleo people!
Love your book so much! Congratulations! I’ll be looking forward to more posts. Your posts always give me something to think about, not just “zone out on”. I love what you stand for.
Thank you and congrats again!
What a gift to us! Congrats on this new adventure!
Congrats Mel! Working from home is awesome. It feels good to be free, doesn’t it?
Congratulations! I’m so excited for you (and a bit jealous too). Please please come to San Francisco! I’ll wait patiently for you to come and autograph my copy of Well Fed.
Smudge seems very please. (I’ve been a lurker on the edges of your blog and have enjoyed its evolution. You deserve all the good things coming your way.)
That is truly wonderful – good for you!
Will you be at Paleo FX? Me & hubby just signed up
Terrific news! I congratulate you on making life on your terms.
An inspiration!
This is awesome news! Congratulations and I wish you the very best.
Congrats! So happy for you and looking forward to the new content. Most of all – enjoy your “ME” time!!
Yes to more yoga. I love your priorities.
I’m so excited for you! What a great new adventure!
Oh Melissa! You have no idea how super this is going to be. My Corporate Overlords “retired” me, kicking & screaming, 8 years ago. Half-way out to the parking lot after my exit interview, I suddenly realized what a whole new life this would be and haven’t looked back since. Be prepared for Extreme Joy! Even after 8 years, my first thought every day when I wake up is: “isn’t freedom wonder-full”. So happy for you … enjoy, enjoy! And selfishly, I’m really looking forward to real-time Smupdates (loved this one, so cute!), as well as your great posts, of course.
SO happy for you! And happy for us! Making dreams come true…hip hip hooray!
Yay, more smupdates!! Congrats on ‘rolling the dice’! I have a feeling you’re gonna come up lucky in that ‘we make our own luck’ kinda way. 🙂
I’m so happy for you! It will be great to see more of your blog and your great words in my reader!
(ps;I bought Well Fed and I absolutely love it…I think cookbooks really need to adopt your “know what you can do with that?” strategy.)
You are going to be wildly successful. I’m so so excited for you and cannot wait to follow along with what’s next.
Love and fairy dust,
Kathleen
Congratulations on taking that leap!
Congratulations,Mel! That is awesome! Good for you for taking that big step & quitting the C/O job!
Wow, exciting! Congratulations on this! Also, that team-zombie-hunter pic of you is made of awesome.
Mel, Congrats on dumping the corporate overlords! Hubby and I took this plunge about 8 months ago, and while we’re still working on details of the new life in small-town Texas, we’re loving avery minute of the pace. Even the dog is more relaxed…
!!! I was so hoping the news you hinted at earlier would have something to do with you becoming a full-time blogger- hooray!! This is truly good news for all of us 🙂 Sending you good juju from Virginia!
Oh, and good luck with that squirrel uprising 😉
So exciting! Congratulations!
Congrats! Enjoy the time. I’m a tad jealous. 🙂
I… I… this… it’s so… it’s full of win! I’m so excited for you – and so excited for the rest of us too!
More encouragement, more inspiration, more giggles and grins, more awesome!!!!
YES!
Awesome! I cannot wait for more recipes and updates on your new life!
Very excited for you Mel. Just bought your book, but have been a devoted follower for a while. You don’t know it but your one of the main keys to me losing 100 pounds this year and getting my health back. Keep the recipes and the humor coming and looking forward to seeing your stuff more regularly!!
I was just wondering this week HOW you were doing everything you do! The speaking and interviewing just seemed like it would put you over the top!
It’s so amazing that you are making this happen. For what it’s worth, this longtime blog reader believes 100% that this will be a successful change!
How amazing to be able to use your talents to pursue your passion! What a rewarding and physically and emotionally healthy life you’re building for yourselves. Inspiring! I have loved folowing your blog over the years, and can’t wait to see where it all goes now! Congratulations on all your successes!
I am so happy for you!…and also so happy for us (all of your devoted readers)!!!! Hooray for you and this next adventure!
I’m so excited for you, and so jealous!! I’d love to stop working for the corporate overlords . . . . Just can’t see a way clear to do it just yet!!
This is so exciting – I’m super excited for you. How amazing to be able to do what you love. This makes me think of this fortune cookie fortune I just saw: Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness.
I wish you both freedom and happiness on your new adventure!
Rock on, sista! Can’t wait!
Congratulations Mel. It was only a question of when you would start it full time. Seriously, well don. You should be proud of what you achieved with Well Fed.
Hi Mel, congratulations from my side too. I am new with your Blog, got your E-book and I am trying your recipes….which I really like (only me…my husband likes only salt-pepper-sweet paprika…. so I cook for me always something different. I got some ideas which I would like to share and you may try like mayonaise and sauces made out of a hard boiled egg (yolk)…. I am surprised and happy..another way to keep diseases out of our way….. or the magic bread which I am baking very often…. Thanks so much for your inspiring story. Love Ingrid
I’m so very happy for you! This will add so much positivity to your life. I hope to make the same leap as well, sooner rather than later. Good luck and I look forward to even more wonderful posts, recipes and book reviews!!
That’s AWESOME!!!!
This, btw, is the first blog of yours that I’ve ever read. I just purchased your book Well Fed and it arrived yesterday and I can’t wait to read the rest of it and try out recipes! I love your writing style 🙂 You’re inspiring! So glad to hear you’re going to devote yourself to this full time. We’ll all benefit 🙂
All the best!
~Geri
Congratulations!!! I am SO happy for you! Can’t wait for the new & improved blog…it is always a pleasure to read your perspectives and recipe ideas, and it will be a blessing to receive even more! 🙂
Congratulations! Looking forward to reading more from you 🙂
Mel,
What wonderful news! I am absolutely ecstatic for you and giddy with anticipation! As I read this post, my mind immediately took me to Nov. 11 when you announced your Healing Experiment. While your experiment focused on body composition and physical things, I believe 100% that this new transition is a symptom/side effect/positive outcome of said experiment. Well done Melissa! I am so proud of you!
Congrats and kudos for the tough decision. Guaranteed the overlords are seriously bummed. And your office is pumped 😉
Congratulations! Already licking my chops in anticipation of what this means in terms of new recipes…
Yay for you! Enjoy every single second.
Hey Melissa: I am soooooo very happy for you!!! Welcome to the wonderful world of being self employed!! I LOVE working from home–setting my own schedule (play time, cook time, travel and workouts) around deadlines at “work”. My husband and I are ready to start looking for a home with similar studio set up. We are very excited about it. Here’s to your transition. It’s always a bit scary to go out on your own, but you are going to be AMAZING!!! YOU ROCK!!!
t
Great effort. Tried my first recipe from well fed, rogan josh. Big thumbs up! Loved it. This year I am goIng to try more recipes. Had great fun scoping all the ingredients and putting it together. thanks! Keep on, keepIng on 😉
Congratulations and good luck! It kind of saddens me, as I’m going the other way (from part-time-work-at-home to full-time-at-the-workplace), but I’m glad you are taking the leap. I hope sometime soon you can come speak in the Nashville area!
I am so excited for you! I just left my 6+ year job yesterday. A little bit of fear but a whole lot of excitement. It still really hasn’t sunk in that I’m not going to work on Monday! I’m looking forward to following your journey as I take my own.
Congrats! Well done, you!
Congrats, that is awesome, so happy for you!
When you start doing more stuff locally, i’d love to come!
Sounds so so wonderful! Excited to come along for the ride! Congrats!
Oh yay! Leaving any overlord is a good thing, probably. 😉 So glad to hear you’re going to be blogging more, and I can imagine that your stress levels have dropped considerably. I LOVE your cookbook, and I’m already anticipating another one from you. Lol.
Congratulations!
i am jumping up and down and clapping like a giddy little girl that just found her first puppy! I AM SO HAPPY FOR YOU!!!! ah, sweet release. and this means more good stuff for all of us that are infatuated with MELWORLD! yay! so when i get down that way ill call ya up for something leisurely! dreams do come true!
Hooray, Mel! No overlord’s office is big enough to contain your spirit, creativity, enthusiasm and general awesomeness! This is great on so many levels! Congrats!
You guys… thank you. Seriously. All of your sweet words just lift me right up — not in that corny “wind beneath my wings way” but in that totally badass, “I can do anything with these people in my corner” way. More like Rocky!
Just pretend that I can somehow really hug each of you individually. That’d be good, right?!
Thank you. For real.