Sunday Best/For the Love of Possibility.

Welcome to the First Sunday Best Essay Series on StoryboardC. This is a story I am honored to have found to tell you and share how it has and is continuing to help me with my own current story as of late. My Doctor recently advised me to actively seek out finding others with trauma to triumph stories. To help me truly understand that I am not alone (nor are you) in the quest to embrace the startling changes that life brings us sometimes.  

Photo via Liz Murray Facebook/@lizmurraybreakingnight

Then enters Liz Murray. I 'stumbled' upon Liz via a Audible version of the book, Hero (2013).  Which is the latest from Best Selling Author Rhonda Byrne of ‘The Secret Film/Book fame.  Liz's remarkable story was one of the many featured, but hers resonated the most with me. How she became a authentic Hero of her own life and now is committed to helping others do the same. I was so blown away by her accomplishments despite all the circumstances stacked up against her. But, what most touched me was the love and hope she mustered up from a fractured upbringing.  She chose to not repeat the "destined" cycles of despair, but instead she chose to fall in love with the possibility of Life.   

Liz’s Story reads like a harrowing script from a Lifetime Movie (actually it became a Lifetime Movie, Homeless to Harvard: The Liz Murray Story. 2003). Liz and her older sister Lisa were born to loving, yet drug addicted parents. Lifestyle after effects of living the glorious 1970's drug and disco era of NYC. By the time she could remember in there family's modest Bronx apartment, her parents addictions were in full swing, but despite it all Liz still found love in their dysfunctional household. Yes, she and sister experienced severe neglect at times at one point sharing a chap stick and toothpaste to not use but eat. Any money that came into the house was to feed her parents addiction.  This was all she knew. But, there were still moments of love.  Especially while listening to her Mothers own dreams of someday getting clean and creating a better life for them. Those dreams never came to fruition, so at 15, Liz left home after her parents divorce. She got by on friends couches, public stairwells and even sleeping on the subway. She coined this time, Breaking Night (which later would become the title of her Best-Selling Memoir, Breaking Night: A Memoir of Forgiveness, Survival, and My Journey from Homeless to Harvard.).  What her friends and her called Staying up all night, actually it was her homelessness. Then at 16 she had the ultimate wake up call, her Mother’s passing from complications of AIDS due to years of drug abuse. Heartbroken, homeless and a High school drop out. She knew that her own Mothers 'One day things will change’ hopes would never come, but Liz still possibly had a chance for hers. 

Soon after burying her Mother in a cheap pine box, her life was significantly shaken... with only a journal, her clothes and a photo of her Mother at her own age (who as well experienced homelessness) decided to dream again. When most girls were planning for Prom, Liz was in survival mode and decided she needed to go back to school. Not applying for College, but just finding a high school that would take a girl who was too 'old'.  She received so many rejections and at one point she was truly ready to give up. Liz was hungry, tired and defeated. Liz then wrestled with breaking down and using her last money to buy a slice of pizza instead of catching the subway to apply to the last Alternative High School on her list. But, In a pivotal turning point she thought, “What if? Just What if this could my last chance?” So, the slice of pizza/hunger was put off and she chose to take action and the train... and the school did in fact accept her! Then soon after another 'What if' appeared,  What if she got straight A's? And She did! What if she applied for a New York Times Scholarship for College?  She did and got it! And during this time she was still homeless, but with the love and support of her high school she got through. She found that focusing on what is good, outweighed any struggle. Eventually after people heard her story about receiving the scholarship, letters of encouragement and help even flooded in. Then she pushed her 'What if' even further... What if I apply to Harvard? She did and got in!

Now Liz helps others look, 'For love of Possibility' in every circumstance.Teaching others to embrace the possibility of our own WHAT IF’s. The ultimate reminder that each and everyone one of us has a Potential that is Timeless. 

*Liz Murray is a graduate of Harvard (yes!), International best-selling Author, Inspirational Speaker, student of Masters at Columbia University, Researcher and last, but not least: a Mother herself. **Below in the StoryboardC Notes, I have featured all the links to interviews, articles and her amazing TED TALK that inspired this essay. 

What I personal have learned from Liz's Story:

Our Potential is Timeless.  We all have heard the old saying, “It's never too late...” A lot of us balk how unrealistic it might sound. But, I call total BULLSH*T! What I have learned in my own life in the last year is we make the decision of CAN’T, which is actually more of a WON’T. I won’t do it because... I am afraid of failure or being alone and the list goes on and on. But, You Can do anything you put your mind to and yes it might not work out as you expected. But, you Can try your darnedest and just maybe you might even be surprised that something better comes along:) No effort is ever wasted!

We always have a choice... either to give up or keep going.  We all have challenging times.  But, even when things seem bleak and hopeless, we still have one thing CHOICE on our side.  The Choice to not give up and Keep Going. Liz recently reminded me of The Serenity Prayer (and you Have to check out (here) How a Gift from a Drug Dealer through his own Moral Choice made a lifelong impact on her own life, "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference". I can't change many things in my life or past. But, I can change the little things I do have control over. Turning fear into Action. And making the choice to forgive myself and the past.  
 

Compassionate Forgiveness. The strongest lesson I have learned from Liz is the power of forgiveness. Every time Liz spoke of her Mother Jean her voice would crack with deep compassion and love. There never was one ounce of Judgement or Anger. Reminding me for true Change we must forgive others, our past and even ourselves. I know this is something very hard to do, maybe even the hardest of all human virtues to practice especially when regarding compassionate forgiveness towards our own past indiscretions. 

I want to conclude this essay with you beginning to think of your own What if's  Right Now. What is the first thing you think of when you wake up? That Heart's desire you want to accomplish. That Dream in your life you have put on the Back Burner. That One day I will do it thing? 

The TIME is actually NOW. For the LOVE of POSSIBILITY, Begin.  

Love, C.  

StoryboardC. Notes: 

-NPR One Woman's Journey from Homeless to Harvard, 09/09/2010

-For the Love of Possibility (TEDxYouth), 09/12/2012

-How a Gift from a Drug Dealer Changed My Life, 08/08/2012

-From the New York Streets to the Halls of Harvard. Oprah.com, 04/20/2004

The Lonely Heart Club.

A year ago I would've cringed at the thought of writing this post on loneliness… But,  my own current Lonely hearts club isn’t a sad solo meeting in a church basement or a drunk sing-along A La  Bridget Jones Diary anymore.  Here I want to share about how I turned believing loneliness was a curse into a big old gratitude fest of celebrating my own company.

This topic in the past was something I looked at as taboo and shameful. Thinking something was inherently wrong with me for being alone and comparing my single status to others that are not, “Wow if they can find somebody, Why Oh Why can’t I?” or judging other single folks. As you can see over the years I have done a lot of self negative talk on being by myself and it has seemed to spill over into many other aspects of my life. But, always back to ‘What the heck is wrong with me’ ?  Now I realize there is absolutely nothing wrong with me, maybe there are things I need to change, but not for the sole reason of finding a mate. Clearly, on a daily basis flawed humans date, marry and even procreate:)

So, what changed?

Staring Loneliness Head On. When I learned that I needed Heart Surgery and was scared sh*tless of doing this alone or worse dying alone.  Yes, I had some remarkable individuals step-up to the plate and I will be forever grateful to know I actually wasn’t as alone as I thought. But, not having my Father, Mother, Step-Father or my Ex-husband there was excruciatingly hard. Looking back in some ways for most of the pre-surgery journey. I spent a lot of time doing the All or Nothing attitude. I wanted my Mommy and that unconditional love by my side or nothing at all. But, even though I did the ‘feel sorry for myself loneliness dance’, something happened… I wasn’t really alone. The Hospital Staff, amazing Chaplain and a Priest were there for me. My friends and family pushed through my loneliness to be there. I realized that my ideas of what I didn’t have was fulfilled in so many other amazing ways. Reminding me that loneliness is a choice we make sometimes out of fear and facing it truly takes it’s power away.

A Book.  Last Fall, I listened to a Podcast interview via The Lively Show on the topic of Consciously Completing a Relationship with Author Katherine Woodward Thomas. Currently then and now I am Single, so the topic wasn’t too useful, but I was curious and so glad I listened because I heard Katherine's own story of her own challenges of being single and a previous book she had written called Calling in “The One”-7 Weeks to Attract the Love of Your Life. I was fascinated to know how at my own age she finally found the One and to read the insights she had collected.

When the Book arrived at my local Barnes and Noble,  I slithered shamefully in and picked it up. Once home I worked that book like Therapy Appointments for weeks. But, instead of finding the ‘One’. I began to truly allow myself for the first time EVER to be OK with my Solo status. Katherine really brought home that you must ‘Start creating your best life to bring in your perfect partner’. So, the advice that so many of us singles hate to hear is actually TRUE. Work on yourself and the lover will arrive;) Wink. Wink. Or in my case now you celebrate solo in the meantime.

Some Movies. While laid up after my Heart Surgery this summer, one of my dear friends from work brought over a extra Laptop and DVD’s for me to watch. Included in her selections was the 2003 Romantic Comedy, Under the Tuscan Sun starring Diane Lane. I had surprisingly never seen it or as I would like to believe… maybe it wasn’t the right timing until then:) But, whoa each time I watched the story about divorced, American writer Frances Mayes embarking on her ‘I am sick of being afraid’  adventure about fixing up a ramshackle villa in Tuscany, meeting unique characters and taking a chance on herself.  It felt like big embrace of  ‘It’s cool to be alone right now’ and even more rad to accept it.

And there is another movie favorite that recently reminded me that I was on the right path of embracing time by myself and that Harrison Ford is still hot:)  Sabrina, the 1995 version with Julia Ormond and Greg Kinnear. Do you remember the scene when Sabrina is in Paris and walking with her French Mentor? And she says to Sabrina, “You seem embarrassed by your Loneliness. Don’t be. It is only a place to start …”

A Slap in a face reminder that We shouldn’t be embarrassed of our Loneliness ever. I have firmly come to believe now and know it is where some the greatest adventures of our lives do start.

Other Cool Lonely People. Another big thing I have learned recently is not shy away from other lonely people for fear of misery likes company mentality. After all, not all Lonely people are miserable:) Get to know their stories, let them know your story and do things together.  Embrace the chance to make new friends. I know that idea can be a frightening one as adult, so many of us stick with old friends just out of comfort and honestly that can even make you more lonely.  Getting outside of our comfort zones might be scary at first, but who knows a new friend might introduce us to our next relationship:)  Even if not, it is still worth cultivating new pals.

Gratitude. I know I have been talking a lot about Gratitude lately. But, it is a discipline that really works in the loneliness department as well. Being Grateful for the time alone to focus on the things we love and self-care. And I am not just talking about running a bath or going for a walk. Those things definitely matter and bathing is always a good idea;) But, Gratitude for self-care when related to how we treat ourselves mindfully. The things we say to ourselves.  If we are talking trash about ourselves, loneliness will be a prison of sorts. But, if we change that trash talk into gratitude talk, loneliness becomes a possible place of happy:) In my daily Morning Gratitude Practice, I try to say kind things about my current relationship status and even find myself saying, “I am Grateful for loneliness and all the lessons I am learning.”

I know many of you might think, I have falling off the Lonely Ladder:) But, Seriously it is pretty amazing to feel so at peace with this Single Moment in my life. Yes, of course I would love to find someone and I will. I never have had a problem with it in the past.  But, I don’t want it be about desperation and embarrassment. I have learned from that kind of  Loneliness, when we panic we attract like minded relationships or allow people into our lives that we normally wouldn’t. Just for the sake of not being alone.

So, I really hope all this Lonely Hearts Club talk might of helped you as well and if you have any other ideas of enjoying loneliness let me know. I would love to hear from you. Because I am Lonely and All;) wink. wink.

Love, C.

This Story/Table.

A table of Generations. 

My Grandparents sat at this table. My Mother, the youngest and her four siblings sat at this table as well. Family meals in a small Apartment in central Minnesota happened at this table. Homework, Baking and late night adult conversations were at this table. Prayers were said at this table.

Then my Mother and Father sat at this table together. Newlywed laughter and novice cooking happened at this Table. Late night get together's with college friends were at this table. Then my Mother wrote letters at this table telling loved ones that  know longer would two sit there, but three.

Then I too sat at this table, first in a high chair making silly faces back and forth with my Dad while my mother playfully said, "Quit it you two." Then once again there were family dinners, birthday celebrations and special guests at this table.

Then we moved to a bigger house and this table became a secondary one. Replaced by a new 70's version with finer pleather cushion seats. The old table eventually moved to Sun Rooms or Basement Playrooms for me.  But, this table still was my favorite.

Then my Parents divorced and the table stayed with my Mother.  Years forward,  My Stepfather joined her at this table. New traditions of Thanksgiving and Christmas meals were served at this table. New laughter and family members also sat at this table. Again Prayers were said at this table.

I said long Good-byes to my Mother at this table. We organized her pills together at this Table while she was in Hospice.  She passed away in the same room as this table.  Heartbroken I opened many condolences cards and my Stepfather and I planned my Mothers funeral at this Table. 

Then my dear Step-Father passed away 6 months later,  This table became solely  mine.  It 'lived' in my storage unit until I was ready to use and really see it again.

Now nearly 5 years later, this table is home again. Sitting as if my Grandpa made it to perfectly fit in my little Studio Apartment.   Now I write, eat and create at this table. I polish it with lemon pledge each week just as I did when I was little.  It now holds my paper and odds with ends of life that I straighten before I go to bed. But, most all This table holds generations of love and the hope for many more.

Love, C. 

*She Tells Stories Technique : I used repetitive journaling as a way to convey the importance of this beloved object of affection from my past into its present place in my life. I plan on creating a scrapbook with This Story Series or integrate into them into my Project Life album. But, for now I am Ok this Story lives on my blog. A reminder to just tell our stories in whatever way works best in the moment. 

**This Story will be a New Bi-Monthly Modern Memory Keeping Feature/Prompt focused on Celebrating the People, Places and Things that make up our Life Stories.  

Be Happy Action/Give in.

  •I wrote this over a month ago when I was initially designing my new blog site. I am blown away how this spiritual exercise has blossomed in my life. Now my life each day is transforming with such clarity and insight. I still want to post what I originally wrote below. I hope might help you as it has helped me over the years. Love, C.

The past few weeks I have been feeling so restless and anxious. Trying my darndest not to give up on my current circumstances that leave me feeling pretty hopeless at times. I am such a optimistic person by nature, so this feeling of hopelessness really hurts me. It brings me to a place of giving up... and I don't want too. So, while laying in bed on my day off. I decided to give in instead. It is something I have learned to do in times of deep worry or fret. It is the opposite of Giving up. I relinquish to God my need to control the situation with forced positivity. I sit real and raw. Allow the vulnerability of my current existence wash over me. I reflect on the situations that are making me feel afraid, hopeless and tired. I then ask God for help. Lastly with a calm Give In attitude, I make a sort of white flag wave to doing the things I can control with gratitude not fight.

This Giving In exercise over the years have served me well. It usually is the beginning to the end of some sort of struggle and I find myself understanding the purpose of this trial more clearly.  Sometimes it's sole reason is as simple as getting off the sidelines of some funk and being more proactive with the everyday things I can control or making a positive shift in my attitude. Whatever it might be Giving In always helps.

Is there area in your life that you need to not Give up, but Give in to? I hope this little idea can help you and remember:

"Be Happy where you are, and use that energy to Create something Amazing" -Brooke Castillo

Love, C.

Be Happy Action/Gratitude.

Awesome! with Alison Podcast. 

Yeah, I am freaking Grateful!  Over the past month, I have been listening to a lot of Awesome with Alison Podcast's. Usually on my daily bus commute to work or in the evenings while I am trying to chillax. Alison (The Alison Show) and her husband Eric's (Pleasant Pictures Studios) weekly saucy segments and tantalizing topic's have definitely helped me put a much needed pep in my self step again. Ha, it sounds like I am describing a cooking show?!? But, my  favorites podcasts, Ep. 23: WHAT IS a gratitude practice?! And how can it change your life?! We’ll tell you!  and it's follow-up, Ep. 24: I’M FREAKING GRATEFUL: A gratitude practice to help you love your life! do "cook" up some good old helpings of Motivation. And I am not kidding people... it definitely has pushed my own gratuitous nature to new heights. Some Big life-changing shifts and that is why I am sharing it with you!

I have always considered myself a pretty grateful person and try to see life and its daily challenges with a positive twist.  Especially this year with my heart surgery in April. My gratitude meter has been on overdrive and I really wanted to find better ways of putting all this new Gratitude to action. Then came along Alison's Episode 8 podcast, reflecting on her recent weight loss and and a little introduction into how gratitude played a big part of her own transformation. So, when Episodes 23 and 24 came along sharing more Gratitude Attitude.  I knew I needed to get in gear. 

Morning Pages Transformed. First it began with reworking my 20 plus year old  daily routine of Morning Pages  (writing 3 long hand pages of whatever comes to mind) to a One Page Gratitude Practice instead. Why? The Artist Way Morning Pages have served me very well or the years. Taking the mind chatter that has discouraged my creativity and turned it into positive thoughts. But, for the last few years I have found it becoming more of a hum drum habit with little creative results. And obviously since doing morning pages since my Early 20's and now being 42. My creative needs have changed. I know longer need to keep my inner creative critic in check. I am actually pretty confident in this area now:) But, don't get me wrong this always be a creative tool I will hold dear and suggest to anyone. 

Then after using Alison's gratitude practice for a few weeks, which simply consists  of naming and honoring your gratitude while being physically active. I decided then to take it a step further by creating my own twist. I began experimenting with writing one long hand page of gratitude with my Morning coffee. 

A Gratitude Page. I first begin with a clean page and a quick Hello to God. Next I begin each sentence with I am grateful...

 I am grateful for my coffee. I am grateful for a good night sleep. I am grateful for falling at work last Friday to remind myself to slow down and take care of my health first. I am grateful for my new blog and how it has refreshed my love for this hobby. I am grateful for my love of design and how it keeps me growing creatively. I am grateful for *** not responding back to me and the reminder that I need to invest in people, who invest in me. I grateful for being alone right now in life, so I can relearn to be my own friend and advocate. I am grateful for September and all it's seasonal inspiration. I am grateful for a clean house and a fridge full of groceries. I am grateful for podcasts to fall asleep too. I am grateful for my job that allows moments like this. I am grateful for my bus rides and the quiet reflection it creates. I am grateful for my family. I am grateful for love. 

Above was a little sample of my own, so can get idea how easy it is.  I can't begin to say how much I have learned and shifted personally in the last week or so  from doing this everyday. I have reworked what normally,  like a recent fall at work would be considered negative to positive affirmation. Remembering that everything does happen for a reason. I also love celebrating the everyday things that I usually would totally take for-granted and even turning my loneliness into a gift. 

One aspect of this Gratitude page practice I didn't share above is how amazing it is to also be grateful for goals and personal projects as if they have already been done and met. I believe if we name, claim and show gratitude for things we want to see in our lives. It opens us up to their possibility.     

Happy Action Challenge: Now it is your turn:) I would highly suggest you visit the above Awesome with Alison podcast links and listen up! Then create your own unique gratitude practice or share with me how Gratitude is already a part of your life and remember:

"Be Happy where you are, and use that energy to Create something Amazing" -Brooke Castillo

Love, C.

Blog/Finding Design Inspiration.

So, what does a pair of Pom Pom earrings, 70's television and a Font have in common? My new blog design and I am excited to share with you today a little sneak peek into my design inspiration process. If you caught yesterday's Welcome Post, this is kind of a second act:)  Also this post is great for new bloggers or in the same boat as myself (seasoned and always wanting to improve). A new blog design can be overwhelming at any level of expertise. We're bombarded with so much style influences on the web these days and it has a tendency to clutter our own style preferences. You see what others are up to and you think 'well that might work for me'.  But, I knew when I made up my mind to redesign StoryboardC.. I needed to go all the way my style or go home:) No copy here. I first began with taking pen to paper. Making lists upon lists of what I wanted my design to be. Color Schemes. Fonts. Banner or No Banner? I focused solely on the design, not the content in my brainstorming list. That would come next on the Blog Re-do agenda (more about that later next week).  Once I had some design ideals cemented. I took the time to find them and narrowed it down to three key elements of inspiration.

Side note: You don't want to go bat shit crazy with too many ideas. It will be too overwhelming when you go to implement your new blog design. I know I have made that mistake in the past. Ugh... Less is truly more. Three key inspiration elements sounded like a good number for me, but up to five would be my personal suggested max.

Then once I had my Three, I collected those ideas in a private Instagram account (A secret Pinterest board has also worked for me in the past too).

1. A Color Scheme for all Blog Seasons. First things First. I wanted Clean and Simple. White Background with splashes of my favorite colors. The Main Splash, a pale pink inspired my childhood bedroom. My Secondary Splash  color of choice was a Orangey Red inspired by favorite lipstick color Heat Wave (Francois Nars). Last, but least colors to balance, I chose a little Gray and Black. This color scheme might sound familiar, it is definitely a new twist on my old blog design. I wanted to have that continuity and comfort for my readers and myself. It was cool that I recently found 'it must be color scheme fate'  in a pair of Pom Pom Earrings (Bauble Bar) I bought for myself.  See, inspiration does find us in the everyday:)

Side note: When thinking of your own color scheme, choose colors that YOU are drawn too. Incorporate your favorite shade somehow or a color you have long admired (you will see a bit of yellow on my blog from time to time, it was my Mothers favorite). Make sure it makes you Happy and Inspired. Remember You will be looking at your blog design more than your blog readers:) You want to really love your color scheme! Another Tip is Downloading PANTONE Studio iPhone App. It is a great way to pull colors when inspiration finds you.

2. That 70's Shows. Old Sitcoms are my Happy comfort place. I also get so much inspiration from them. The 70's was for sure not afraid of color and nor am I:) And you shouldn't be either. I was reminded of this over the summer watching on Hulu a million re-runs of my favorite shows. The pink and Orangey Red came from the Brady Bunch Girls bedroom. Another reminder that our color preferences sometimes never change. Once upon a time these colors inspired my own childhood bedroom:) Now they live again on my new Blog home. *And did you catch the Brady Girls room was the background for my coming soon cover page?

What were some of your own childhood color inspirations?

Side Note: Home Sweet Blog Home. I have long considered my blog a personal extension of myself. I want it to mirror my own home. Where readers feel comfortable and I do too. As I mentioned above, you will be spending as much time or maybe more looking at your blog. You want it to be comforting and inviting as if readers are really hanging out with you in person. I even take this approach in how I write. More of a conversational style and writing imperfections are always welcome. I hope you will keep this in mind if you are creating a blog for the first time or wanting to change things up.

3. Fonts make a Woman. I take my Fonts very seriously:) Fonts make and break a site in my book. And there is a real creative readable science behind it. I will link below a few posts that helped me remember this...

I have been a longtime fan of Fonts since I can remember. It is kind of been a OCD thing since childhood. I use to collect old Life Magazines to study the Copy Lay-outs and spent oodles of hours on my Grandpa's computer making imaginary Book covers and banners in Print Shop back in the 1980's. Yes, I was born to blog or totally missed the time machine boat to for print magazine back in the 60's. 

Speaking of Mid-century... That is why my number one go to for Fonts is House Industries. I dream of owning all their collections, but in the meantime I am a huge fan of their Photo-Lettering App and Website. I love how they are honoring the past by digitizing vintage Fonts for present and future use. I chose from their collection my New logo font,  Cooper Nouveau. I just love it's record album vibe from 1960's and 70's. Reminding me of my Dad and his awesome record collection back in the day. Cooper Nouveau even graced the cover of a Gordon Lightfoot album (If it is good enough for Gordon, it's good enough for me:) and the font title even brought me back to high school... reminding me of my epic crush on a guy with the last name Cooper. Fonts  definitely make a memorable  impression. And for my subtitle blog post font, I decided to stay with my old House Industries stand-by Neutraface. I love that font and spy it all the time on old mid-century schools and office buildings. See, I am a total freak of fonts:) But, They do matter! 

Side Note: I always suggest to anyone  asking  me about blog design to put a lot of thought into their font choices. Do research on the subject and even take courses. The number One thing you need to keep in mind especially with blog text is readability. You want your readers to feel at ease and if a font is too shocking (size and width). They will stop reading and we don't want that:)  I try also to keep my blog content type size between a 13 to 16, currently I chose 14. I would rather be bigger than smaller, though personally at a glance I enjoy the look of smaller type, but my own eyes hate it for reading:) Lastly another important factor in fonts for content is color. I usually go with a dark grey instead of black on a white blog background . Dark grey is far easier on the eyes than a stark contrast of black. But, always keep in mind your background color. If it is Grey then by all means do a black.  If you have more questions about, please feel free to ask me. I love this subject. Maybe I will do a future post soon. In the meantime, here is a few posts that you might find helpful: 

*Finding, Choosing, and Pairing Brand Fonts/ Elle&Co.  This a great resource for beginners wanting to know more about fonts. I love how Lauren breaks it down and you will come away with some Graphic Design know-how. 

*10 Best Font Pairs for Squarespace. Recently working on my own blog redesign on the Platform Squarespace. I came across this awesome post about font pairing and I was also excited it was created by a previous Instructor of mine in a On-line Course on Blogging by A Beautiful Mess (it's currently unavailable, but I will link to it when it is!) Promise Tangeman is a graphic designer, certified digital marketing strategist and owner of the Webdesign firm, Go Live Hq. She is a wealth of information worthy of a follow. 

Finding your own Design Inspiration. This is where I challenge you to look around. Brainstorm and take action! I can't begin to tell you how much this redesign has pushed me to look even at my other aspects of designing my life. I am eager to see this enthusiasm spill over everywhere:) Again please feel feel free to leave comments below or email me about questions. I am here to help. Blogging doesn't have to be a solo gig! Lets create a community of support. Remember there is room for all of this in this fabulous hobby. We each have unique stories and talents to bring to the Blog table. 

Love, C. 

Ooh La La! Welcome!

Image: maddy nye for DesignLoveFest/Dress Your Tech 201

Hey! Hey! Hello! Welcome to the New StoryboardC.! I am so glad you came by to check it out! Can you tell I am excited?!? So, many exclamation points right? This Blog Redesign has been in the planning/daydreaming stage for nearly 3 years now and while over the summer celebrating 10 years of blogging (wow time flies). I decided to get off the sidelines and make it finally happen. I definitely had  some Mega Motivation pushing me... a little Open Heart Surgery action (Please know I am not taking it lightly, I am just having a hard time still grasping the enormity of it all) and binge listening to THE AWESOME WITH ALISON podcast (SOOO worth a listen if you get a chance or YOU seriously need to Make a Chance!) on my public transit commutes to work. Now I am DONE and sharing the fruits of my design labor with you. This will be a wordy post, but maybe  just maybe it might help you with your own new Blog Design adventures.  If you have any questions or even need a little help let me know in the comment section below or my Contact Page. I would love to hear from you either way:)

Now let's get this redesign party started! First things first...

Platforms Baby. And I am not talking about Shoes here. My first goal was changing Blogging Platforms. I have been with Typepad since the dawn of blogging time. Back in the day (2007) it was where Everyone, who was Anyone in the blogging Scrapbooking niche was (yes, I scrapbooked and still do:).  I liked Typepad and I even paid for it, but never was in love with it. So, over the years, I tried every blogging format known to crafty woman or man.  Blogger, WordPress, Virb, Tumblr and even Squarespace back in 2013.  But, I always went back to Typepad... I was comfortable there and I learned to work around it's limitations. But, eventually I found it outdated for my needs and seeing how the blogging world was evolving into beautiful seamless sites of near perfection. I wanted that for myself, but without spending my time deciphering Custom CSS or spending oodles of money to hire someone to design my ideal on-line blog home. Plus, I knew I was more than capable of doing the design work myself. But, I still craved a easy transfer of sites and after doing a whole heck of research this past year. I decided I needed to be on Squarespace again.  I still hymned and hawed. But, Last November I made a small move towards this change by investing in my own domain name through Squarespace, something that has been on my blogging bucket list forever. When I first began blogging I had know idea about the power of Branding yourself and picked the most obvious, yet not ideal choice: my name. Whoa, it was a long one with my added ex-husbands last name! Obviously at the time I had know idea how much this hobby would grow for me and would lead me creatively. ACTION SIDE NOTE: to any new bloggers out there reading this... Take time to choose your name and really wear it on with your blogging goals before committing. Now, I am officially www.storyboardc.com and feel so good about it. 

So,Why Squarespace? I just love how inclusive it is, One Stop Shop for your domain name and no bothersome outside hosting.  I also love how design friendly it is and  Squarespace's use of content blocks for customizing your individual pages and even in blog posts is so easy.  It might sound confusing to you if you are not familiar, but once you dig into Squarespace you will know what I am talking about and their support forum is fantastic. I also stumbled last year upon amazing on-line resource Elle & Co. (Seriously, Lauren the creator  gets my Numero Uno shout out for her 'Sharing is Caring' attitude and Don't worry I will link to her useful Squarespace info below). 

Honestly I could do a whole post on the merits of Squarespace and probably will in the near future. But, for now I want to focus on what went into the new features here on StoryboardC. 

What ABOUT the FAQ's Ma'am?  My old Typepad blog did have these link options in the Navigation Bar, but I was never crazy about the limited amount of Fonts and the outdated style available. For years my contact and about links resided in my sidebar, but I always wanted a more cleaner and user-friendly format. Here at Squarespace the ease of adding pages and content is crazy awesome.  Don't get me wrong you need to have some design willingness and time. But, once you pick a Blog friendly template out of their oodles of choices (My personal favorite is Hayden,    which I use because I really fell in love with the idea/challenge of customizing it differently to Elle&Co.'s version). Customizing is truly at your fingertips and the Squarespace Help Support/forum is wonderful. My only advice is to have patience and focus. Make a list of Pages you want and take your time before getting started. 

My About Page was one of their easy drop box template options. All I needed was a new photo and introduction. I did take my time with writing my introduction. Informal and real. One of the many things I have learned over the years of Blogging is being yourself. I know that is said a lot in the blogging world... but truth it is! Do you:) ACTION SIDE NOTE: I do suggest checking out some of your favorite blogs for inspiration and Pinterest has tons of ideas as well. But, again remember to take your time and be yourself. 

My FAQ page was fun to write up. I brainstormed all the questions I have gotten over the years about blogging and other subjects that have interested my readers.  Then I took the time really answering them and making sure they contained valuable/ usable information.  ACTION SIDE NOTE: Even if your readership is small. I still like to include a FAQ page. It is another way that current and future readers get to know you. If you don't know what to write about or new to blogging, I suggest doing a brainstorm of what you think others might want to know about you you or services you have to offer if you are a business. 

I Got Mail and Favicon's are Cool. These were two things that have been on my blogging bucket list forever and I am thrilled that I finally made them happen. The mail was so easy to sign up for and Squarespace had a direct link to G-Suite (Pro version of Gmail, where you can use your domain name). So, now I have my own email: cynthia@storyboardc.com and it is directly linked to my new contact page. How cool and legit am I:) I also did this for future growth, if I want to add contributors to my blog someday, they too will have their own email:) 

So, now what the heck is a Favicon? Don't feel bad if you don't know either and if you do know, Go on with your bad self! I always saw on people's polished blogs that little personalized logo on a open tab. I really wanted one myself and never knew what they were called until Elle & Co. came into my on-line life. I was bound and determined to have one. Even designed it myself. What fun I had playing with styles for this tiny little Icon. So, make sure to read this on a regular computer sometime to check out my Favicon:)  Little details do feel good. 

What's next on the design Agenda? I have been plugging away at a lot of new blog content and have about 10 posts ready for you! I am also trying to figure out how to move my old blog archives over here from Typepad. I truly hope it will not be a manual transition. *Update: I contacted Squarespace and unfortunately at this time Manual import of Posts is only available. Total Bummer, but archives are slowly in the works.  

My last order of business in this Welcome post is telling you that I had originally allotted a month for this transfer of blogging power:) And it only took three days. So, if you are on the fence yourself. It is totally doable. Please know I am here for you. If I don't have the answers, I will try to find them.

Thank you again for being my blog friend and reading me over the past ten years! I am so excited for what is to come here at StoryboardC. going forward and am glad you are along for the ride!

Love, C. 

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