Rae Nudson

mark does stuff event

Have you guys heard of Mark? He reads. And watches. And just generally does stuff. And it’s awesome.

Mark is a blogger who, in his words, runs in an online book (or TV) club where everyone but him has read the book (or seen the show). He reviews things chapter by chapter, and episode by episode, and picks series or books that are generally pretty big in pop culture but that he hasn’t had any exposure to. It’s so much fun.

I found Mark when someone asked me if I heard of this guy reading Harry Potter for the first time online. Obviously, I was interested. He started this adventure by reading Twilight after it became the It Book of the week (year? decade? oof). After that, he moved on to Harry Potter, and then on to, well, a lot more. He now runs two main sites–Mark Reads and Mark Watches–along with videos, Mark Plays, and attending conferences and blogger events all over the country.

I love reading (and watching) with Mark. His background is so very different from my own and I love hearing his perspective. I, like Mark, also like to read the newest phenomenon to see what everyone is talking about. And hearing him talk about the same things I’m reading with an entirely new view helps me learn and grow.

I’m so impressed with him. He’s created his own blogging business and truly seems to make the most of it. And it works because he’s totally, completely, and sincerely himself. And he is an open, friendly, caring person who focuses on making his sites a safe space for all. No spoilers are allowed on anything Mark does, and neither are slurs or derogatory language of any kind. He also does the best he can to make his products and his events free or a very low price so everyone can come. I admire his reading and writing, but most of all I admire his spirit.

Last week, Mark came to New York on his tour. And I got to go! It was a blast. He read some terrible fan fiction and just hung out with his readers. Everyone who came was kind and enthusiastic, much like Mark himself. One of my goals this year is to plan an event, in the hopes of being able to actually host one in the future. I’d be lucky if it were anything like Mark’s.

And yes, I did forget to take pictures. But you can see a video of him reading the letter Regarding Twilight Sparkle at our event. (language–and topic?–nsfw)

game of thrones outfit inspiration: margaery

I’m so glad to be back in the TV land of Game of Thrones. George R.R. Martin has created a beautiful and dense world, full of intrigue and crisscrossing relationships. And the sets and dragons on the show are certainly nothing to sneeze at. Last night was the first episode of the third season on this HBO hit.

Margaery won the episode with her manipulative schmoozing at the orphanage and the dinner table. What to wear when having dinner with your hopefully future husband (and current psycho king) and his powerful and beautiful mother? Lets take a cue from Margaery and dress to our assets.

Margaery knows she’s beautiful, and she knows how to play that up. The cut outs are perfect. A flash of skin can be sexy and classy. It shows her confidence and beauty without trying too hard or going overboard. Understated kingdom-stealing with a positive, no-nonsense attitude is what we’re going for here. In real life, that might translate to something like this.

You are bringing your A game if you pair a cut out top with silver pumps, that’s for sure. However, if you want to make a good impression on your maybe future mother in law and aren’t trying to steal the crown from her cold, jewel-adorned fingers, I’d recommend showing a little less skin, but still showing off a little bit of a fun. Maybe like this.

Whether you want to show off your sweet or sassy side, I bet Margaery has a lot to teach us. Let’s check in again on our favorite wannabe kings and queens next week?

oodles of charm (embroidery no. 6)

I can have oodles of charm when I want to. This quote is also from Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut. I love his writing because there’s a darkness and a kind of rambling that has these brilliant quips and nuggets of truths.

Continue reading “oodles of charm (embroidery no. 6)”

march in review

Ok, I know it’s technically not quite the end of March. But I’d like to save the actual last day of March to post my latest embroidery, which isn’t exactly finished yet. So I’m counting it close enough to declare the month in review! The top viewed posts from March were….

project life. I am so in love with this project. I love doing it, I love looking at the pages that I’ve done so far, and I’m really excited to keep this going. I’m glad people checked it out!
project life: chicago update. See what I mean? Project life is so fun.
if you love me (embroidery no. 4). I’m making headway on my embroidery project. This quote was one of my favorites.
embroidery display. And I got to display them all this month! I love walking into my room and seeing them.
apartment update. It’s almost time for the Small Cool Spaces contest. See what I’ve done so far.

Here’s some pictures from this month. (you can follow me on instagram at raenudson)

March has been a good one. I had a great vacation and made progress on a lot of projects. It went by really fast. Are you guys ready for April!?

(almost) spring

Welcome to Spring. Officially it arrived last Wednesday, but yesterday it snowed so who can really say for sure. I’m past the point of all my tights this season having runs in them but not wanting to buy new ones because it’s supposed to be warm out. Which leads me to the wonderful world of pants.

Pants from Express a thousand seasons ago, shoes from Penneys (I think), purse from Target, sweater from Uniqlo, shirt from my mom.

I tried to welcome spring with at least a few bright colors, even though I’m still wearing layer upon layer so I don’t freeze. Hope at least some of you are getting nice weather! I’m getting tired of dressing for warmth.

embroidery display

No new embroidery this week–instead I got everything I have already done ready to put on the wall above my bed. A few weeks ago I was struggling with what to do above my bed, and I think this might be my new solution.

To get the hoops ready, I first had to paint them.

Then I placed the embroidery back into the hoops and loosely sewed up the back. And then it was time to hang them up!

#fatcat helped.

It’s been really great to take a step back and see all the work I’ve done so far. I’m really proud of my progress as a new embroiderer and excited to see what I’ve made displayed in one place. I think I can easily add more as I keep going, which was important to me, too.

Back to a new quote next week. After my vacation I’m really inspired and am excited to get going on some new quotes!

This is part of an embroidery project I am working on to sew some of my favorite quotes from books and post the images here each Sunday. Let me know if you have any quote suggestions! You can see the other quotes in my embroidery project here:

my to-read list

Well, I finished Middlesex over the weekend, on the plane (Kindle version here). I don’t want to talk too much about it yet because I’m saving all my good discussion for Family Book Club. Don’t forget you have until the end of the month to read it to participate! But now what do I read?

I started Under the Dome because it was already on my Kindle. You guys know I love Stephen King, and so far I’m really enjoying it. I am only about 10% into it, and so far most of the characters I have met have died, but King does a really great job introducing people and making me care about them before he kills them off. And I have a good picture of the town in my head. As you can maybe guess from the title, a large dome drops down over a Maine town and encloses everyone inside. The dome is invisible, but you can feel it. This reminded me of something someone said in real life book club about Safe As Houses: The author could really make you see an invisible church. I feel that way about this invisible dome, too. I’m pretty into it so far, but it seems less urgent than all the other awesome books I want to read. [paperback, kindle]

I’ve also heard great things about Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg. It’s come out recently and has been all over the internet. Plus, I’ve gotten recommendations from friends. I’m really into reading about people talking about feminism and women in the workplace. Especially since I am a woman in the workplace. [hardcover, kindle]

In Cold Blood is this month’s book club book. I started this book a few years ago but gave up because I had a nightmare. So I’m excited to reread it as a more mature (??) adult who doesn’t get scared by detailed stories of real-life brutal murders. Also, I just talked to my dad, who is from Kansas, and he remembers when it happened. Exciting! [paperback, ebook, from Word]

I didn’t grow up watching much TV. I mean, sure, I watched the Disney channel, but it wasn’t until I got older that I realized the incredible storytelling of serial dramas. So I’ve made up for it, plus some. This book covers The Sopranos, Oz, The Wire, Deadwood, The Shield, Lost, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, 24, Battlestar Galactica, Friday Night Lights, Mad Men, and Breaking Bad, and how they changed TV. I just want to finish watching The Sopranos and Buffy before I pick it up, but I’m just about done with both of those series. [paperback, kindle]

Which book should I do first?!

(I bought these books on my own and am not being paid to write about them. But I am a part of the Amazon Affiliates program, so if you buy it through my links on Amazon, I’ll receive a little bit of money for it. I am not affiliated with Word; I’m just a fan.)

project life: chicago update

I’m home! I had the best vacation in Chicago. I am still not quite recovered. So instead of cleaning my house or making my lunch for tomorrow like a responsible adult, I updated my project life album from the weekend. You can see my first post on project life here.

I love looking through this album. And we’re only three months into the year. I used some quote cards from Elise Cripe’s blog and included the key from our hotel room and a playing card in a pocket. I also included screen shots of some texts we sent each other. But mostly I used the pictures we took from the weekend. I’ve been trying to take more pictures and really try to document 2013!

I am still obviously obsessed with project life, and I hope to keep going strong. With the fun things that are planned, it should be easy!

project life

I’m obsessed with this blog, Enjoy it by Elise Cripe. Completely obsessed. I love her crafts, I love her writing, and I love love love Project Life.

I’ve tried scrapbooking before when I was younger, but never kept it up. But Project Life makes scrapbooking really easy. Using photo pocket pages, you can easily stick in photos, decorative paper, or anything else that can fit. To me, this makes it more about documenting every day life and less about organizing the layout, which is wonderful but never something I’ve been able to do consistently.

So, I’ve finally gotten some project life supplies and jumped in. My friend Jewels at Oven Lovin has started on this project, too. You can see her project life pages here. With all this inspiration, I’m really excited to have gotten started.

And here’s a page I haven’t quite finished yet

My plan is to do this for all of 2013. It’s been a really great year so far and there’s more really fun things coming up. Like family vacation! And my best friend’s wedding! And my upcoming trip to Chicago this week!

gibberish (embroidery no. 5)

Have you ever noticed how in TV shows and movies, everyone is always on some sort of quest? The characters have to find all the horcruxes, go battle vampires (Buffy, not Twilight in this instance), or escape from a terrifying reality show and certain death.

Real life, for me anyway, is nothing like that. Real life is slow. Real life is researching at a desk instead of running around the world. Real life means planning, and meetings, and slow, constant frustrations.

That’s why I like making things. Each project is an adventure, even just from your own apartment. It’s a little way to create something, to do something new, and to accomplish something even when all the other frustrations seem like they won’t go away.

I had a week like that this week. Nothing big–we are all healthy and happy. But little frustrations have made it difficult to get things done. And it’s made me feel kind of like this week’s quote.

gibberish sprinkled with question marks embroidery

Continue reading “gibberish (embroidery no. 5)”

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