Most of us are sitting for a large chunk of the day, whether at home or at an office somewhere. We are doing freelance, working on our [...]]]> Next Wednesday, September 8th, I’m hosting a one-time meme here called “How I Work,” mostly to finally answer my husband’s daily question, What did you do all day?

Most of us are sitting for a large chunk of the day, whether at home or at an office somewhere. We are doing freelance, working on our blogs, tweeting, or doing whatever we do at the computer, but we all have our method. If you are blogging from your lanai on a private island, I don’t want to hear about it. Okay, I do. Kind of.

I’m always wondering what people are doing and where they are when they’re blogging or tweeting, in a non-perverted way, of course. I’m frequently in my bed with a laptop, but I’m mostly working at my desk with a steady steam of coffee and chewy Spree. The point is, we are all doing our thing somewhere in our own special way.

Write a post that sets the scene and shows how you do it. You might answer some of these questions:

Where is your desk and what does your set-up look like? Inspiration board or dart board with someone’s face?

What is your view? A view of the city, or a window to exotic happenings in suburbia?

Is it quiet or are you listening to music, news or self-help audio books?

What are you drinking, eating and wearing (details please)?

Is your cat in your lap, your dog under the desk, or your baby on your boob?

How do you keep from getting distracted? I don’t. It’s a problem.

If you have kids, how do you get them to let you blog in peace? Oh, the controversy.

With all that sitting, how do you keep from going numb from the waist down?

And anything else that is part of the “process.”

We want pictures! Show us your view, your neighbor, the unfolded laundry piling up around you, or the back of your irritating co-worker’s head. And the pets! Pets photos are cute.

Forward this to anyone you think would want to join us, and grab the badge my friend, Maria, graphic design and website genius, made for me.

Come back here Wednesday morning and link up your post. See you then!

<img src="http://laurinevans.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/blogwork.jpg">

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Feed enhanced by Better Feed from [...]]]> I found this adorable Tumblr site called Hungover Owls. What a riot! Here’s my favorite little guy from the site. If you show your kids, watch out. Some of those owls have a real potty mouth.

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Or with them here:

Instead, I am here:

Working on a deadline. Next weekend…

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Feed enhanced by Better Feed from [...]]]> I want to be here:

Or with them here:

Instead, I am here:

Working on a deadline. Next weekend…

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What is my point? Yes, there is a point. Said hair is [...]]]> Most of you know I have a lot of hair. A lot of hair. Have you seen my new landing page at LaurinEvans.me? It’s basically a shrine to my hair, thanks to my talented friend, Maria, who took the photo and had me pose thusly.

What is my point? Yes, there is a point. Said hair is wavy and thick. See also voluminous, poufy and, when humid, frizzy. I don’t like doing my hair every day because it is an arduous process that leaves my bird-like upper body trembly and tired. But, I like clean hair! But, I can’t possibly dry and style my hair every day! But, I like the fresh hair smell!!!!!!

Enter dry shampoo. I have tried a few different brands since discovering this miracle product a few years ago. Two of my favorites are both made by Oscar Blandi. One is a powder that smells vaguely like Fruit Loops, and the other is an invisible spray that also smells delicious.

Both the powder and spray work like a charm to absorb excess oil, revive and volumize your hair, and give you a freshly-washed scent. I can go up to four days between shampoos now. Honestly, I don’t know how I got along before dry shampoo.

In my last post, I told you today was the launch of my OpenSky shop. I chose dry shampoo as my first product because it really sums up why I wanted a shop in the first place, to let my readers know about amazing products I can’t imagine living without. Dry shampoo is at the very top of that list and I am always meeting people who don’t know it even exists. The people need to know!

To celebrate the launch of 300 or so new shops today, OpenSky is offering free shipping today through August 16th. Use the code FREESHIPPING when you check out. If you would like to buy either of these products, you can do so without ever leaving my blog. Really, it’s easy. Just click the links for the products below and a shopping cart will pop up for you.

Click to buy Oscar Blandi Pronto Powder

Click to buy Oscar Blandi Pronto Spray

If you have any questions about how any of this works, send me an email at laurinevans (at) gmail (dot) com. I would love the feedback. If you are a supplier and would like me to feature one of your products, let me know. If I love it, I’ll tell everyone I know. You know I will.

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Her very best friend recently got her ears pierced and OMG, how could I refuse her after that without officially gaining [...]]]> In a moment of complete and total capitulation, I let Erin get her ears pierced this past weekend. After telling her for months that she had to wait until she is much older, I gave in.

Her very best friend recently got her ears pierced and OMG, how could I refuse her after that without officially gaining the title of Meanest Mom Ever/Crusher of Childhood Dreams? This line of reasoning obviously doesn’t apply to future situations like curfew, dating, wearing hoochie clothes and the like, but it finally occurred to me that it’s just pierced ears.

So we set off on Sunday for Claire’s, with Erin fairly vibrating with joy and not an ounce of fear. We had an extremely traumatic experience when she had to give blood a couple of years ago and I wondered if her bravado would eventually collapse and we might return home piercing-free, or with a single pierced ear. It turns out that Claire’s avoids that outcome by piercing both ears at once. She didn’t even make a squeak.

After some celebratory Dippin’ Dots, we left the mall with Erin happily sporting tiny square cubic zirconias and with me feeling pretty awesome, actually.

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1. It’s 2AM and you are not home. You are more than likely:

In the ER.

2. What’s the last thing you spent more than $100 on?

Repairing our AC. Doesn’t count? Okay, a trip to Whole Foods.

3. What do your bank checks look like?

I use one [...]]]> I saw this on Avitable’s blog today and just felt like doing it.

1. It’s 2AM and you are not home. You are more than likely:

In the ER.

2. What’s the last thing you spent more than $100 on?

Repairing our AC. Doesn’t count? Okay, a trip to Whole Foods.

3. What do your bank checks look like?

I use one per month, so they are the standard ones.

4. Where did the shirt you are currently wearing come from?

It’s a white (natch), sheer, batwing tee I got from one of the secret sale sites I haunt. Probably Rue La La or Ideeli.

5. Name something that will be on your Christmas wish list:

Perhaps the iPad or a new lens for my Rebel.

6. What color is your toothbrush?

White with black bristles and accents.

7. Name something you collect and tell us about it.

Candles. I try to quit them, but it doesn’t work. I’ll light up the house like I’m having a seance just so they’ll burn down and I can buy more.

8. Last restaurant you ate at. Who were you with? How was it?

Crabby Bill’s for a 7 year-old’s birthday party. Service and food was great. Kid behavior was hideous, like stab yourself in the eye hideous.

9. Who was the last person you bought a birthday card for?

My husband.

10. What is your worst bad habit?

Driving all the way to Tampa just to go to Alessi Bakery, where I buy elaborate iced sugar cookies that are $2.50 each. I do this more than I’d like to admit.

11. Name a magazine you subscribe to?

Lucky.

12. Your favorite pizza toppings?

Goat cheese, spinach, extra cheese.

13. Whose number were you looking up the last time you used a phone book?

For a business that can come clean my grout.

14. Other than family, who is the person that you love most?

My friends.

15. What is the last thing you cooked?

Grilled salmon with Chai Thai Teriyaki sauce.

16. Name something you wouldn’t want to buy used?

Shoes.

17. Which shoe do you put on first?

Left.

18. What is the last thing you remember losing?

A point and shoot camera with a lot of pics on it. I’m still not over it.

19. What is the ugliest piece of furniture in your house?

An antique Victorian barrel chair with orange fabric that I plan to have re-upholstered soon. It’s been three years and my husband doesn’t believe me. But then it will be the most beautiful piece in the house.

20. Last thing you bought and ended up returning?

A shirt from Target that was too small.

21. What perfume/cologne do you wear? If none, why?

La Vanille in 4 different scents.

22. Your favorite board game?

Scrabble.

23. What was the last board game you played?

Candyland.

24. Where did your vehicle come from?

The Honda dealer.

25. If a movie was made about your life what would the theme song be?

“Because I Got High” by Afroman. Just kidding.

26. You’re sad, who can cheer you up easily?

My friends, including the fabulous ladies of Skype.

27. What was the color of the bridesmaid dresses of the last wedding you went to?

Green. I think. All I remember is the cake.

28. What house cleaning chore do you hate to do the most?

Cleaning the toilets the men in my family use.

29. What is your favorite way to eat chicken?

Buffalo nuggets dipped in blue cheese.

30. It is your birthday. You hope the cake is?

Huge. Chocolate with peanut butter buttercream from Publix.

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I knew the answer to this question at a very early age, I just ignored it for over thirty years.

Putting that aside for the moment, the first red herring career I decided upon was being a veterinarian. I was constantly [...]]]> Today’s theme at Girl Talk Thursday is “What did you want to be when you grew up?”

I knew the answer to this question at a very early age, I just ignored it for over thirty years.

Putting that aside for the moment, the first red herring career I decided upon was being a veterinarian. I was constantly reading as a child. I was the one with a paperback wedged inside my textbook at school, and the one in bed with a flashlight every night after lights out because I just had to finish a book.

The series of books by James Herriot, the pen name of an English country veterinary surgeon and writer, made a large impression on me. I just knew my calling was to be a large animal vet. At the time, I was living on an historic plantation in Natchez, Mississippi and had three horses of my very own. Things were working out nicely until I became a teenager and nearly overnight lost interest in anything not directly related to getting through high school without being eaten alive.

In college I blindly followed the lead of one of my guy friends who was an accounting major and planning to go to law school. I signed up with the plan that an accounting degree plus a law degree equaled big money, despite the fact that I despised facts and figures with a passion. I didn’t say it was a good plan.

Luckily, an internship with my hometown’s District Attorney the last semester of law school allowed a passion for criminal law to blossom and saved me from the fate of crunching numbers as a tax attorney at a big firm. After graduation I moved to Tampa and landed my first real job as a felony line attorney at the Public Defender’s Office. I loved it, but it wasn’t really a forever job. It was the ideal training ground to be a litigator, though, and I moved on to work at a law firm, and then to my own firm with a partner.

My years as an attorney never gave me a sense of fulfillment, despite the fact that I was fairy good at what I was doing. I stopped working for a while to have kids, then worked in real estate off and on. Real estate paid well and was the perfect flexible job, but it never felt like a perfect match.

When I became aware of the world of blogging, I jumped right in and it felt like a revelation. Finally, an outlet for all of my creativity and a way to get the gratification of publishing that my unfinished books, screenplays and sitcom pilots weren’t providing.

It was only when I started a blog and began freelance writing that I recalled my first passion from long ago. I was a writer in first grade. I wrote a short story about a classmate’s brother and asked to read it to my class. Asking to speak in front of my entire class was so not my nature growing up that I know with certainty that writing and needing to share my work was a powerful force in me.

I was not able to tap into my true calling until I was 42, but that’s okay, at least I know I am now grown.

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