Things have been NUTS for me this week! In a nutshell:
- I had HORRENDOUS jetlag. One day this week I woke up at 3:30pm. THREE THIRTY! I think I’ve finally gotten back on track though, but it literally took me until Friday to sort myself out >_<
- I’ve been kind of overloaded with work. I’m so glad that I’ve closed new projects. I just have to finish the ones on my plate then I can take a breath! That being said, the clients I’ve been working with are so amazing!
- I haven’t had time to finish the Novelist plugin because of previously mentioned overload.
- I’ve read some AWESOME and some not-so-awesome books.
- I’ve been drowning in horrible tax stuff this week. I’ve had to update all my systems, register for VAT, contact the tax people when shit wasn’t working… Ugh.
Books I’ve been reading
I have full reviews coming up, but I want to give an overview of what I’ve been reading lately. π Book covers link to Goodreads.
A Court of Thorns and Roses
It really does live up to the hype! It’s so interesting and smexy and I WANT TO LIVE IN THIS WORLD! Well, maybe I don’t because there’s some creepy stuff, but it’s sooooo cool.
The Sin Eater’s Daughter
I might actually start crying if I say too much about this one… Long story short, I thought I’d love it so much, but it reaaaally tanked for me. π I’m so sad!! Being disappointed sucks.
The Cage
This was a great book to read after the previous one because IT ROCKED! I didn’t expect to love it this much, but it was so interesting. I’m reaaally craving book 2!
Designs I’ve been working on
I’ve been a busy bee the last few months! Here’s a small taste of the design projects I’ve been working on the last few months:
Bookterflies
It was such a huge pleasure to work with Ε½iva on her new blog design. She and I REALLY clicked and shared this awesome vision. Go check out her blog so you can see for yourself. π
Harlequin Junkie
Sara from Harlequin Junkie was another great girl to work with. Not only do I love the design we came up with, but it was also fun to code some unique features and custom widgets for her site. Usually clients don’t ask for much custom coding work, which always disappoints me a little because those projects are so fun! But Sara had a lot of fantastic ideas that were fun to put into action.
More on the way!
I’m in the process of wrapping up a bunch more custom projects that I can’t wait to share with you!
Holiday pics
Here are a few photos from my trip to the United States over the holidays. π
You have been a busy little bee and I have done not much of anything..lol. I do start back to work on Monday..blah..so that will take up a lot of my time and make my blogging more cramped up cause I won’t have all day to play. π
Aw, going back to work isn’t fun!
I love seeing the designs you’ve been working on! They look fantastic. Can’t wait to see more. That sucks about the tax stuff though. Leave it the government to suck your bank account dry.
Thank you. π
I have both ACOTAR and The Cage, I just need to start reading them. I had the most horrendous cold this week and everything is so far behind now π
The new websites are beautiful and so are your vacation pictures π
I’m so sorry to hear about your cold. π Getting sick always makes me fall massively behind too!
I’m not even kidding, i feel like bowing down whenever I see your designs. Aw if only i was on WP haha!
I really want to read The Sin Eater’s Daughter, awwww. it’s too bad that you didn’t like it. Hope the next one will be better. And oh my gosh, your life sounds so eventful like it isn’t fair <33
Haha thanks Nova! π
I hope you enjoy The Sin Eater’s Daughter more than I did if you get around to reading it. A few people have given it 4 and 5 stars so maybe I’m just the odd one out. π
A Court of Thorns and Roses looks right up my alley. Definitely a must-read now. Thanks for sharing Ashley!
You’ll love it! π
Those look like fun sites to check out, based simply on how attractive your designs are, cause I haven’t visited them yet. Great job!
Thank you! π
Between different blogs, I wrote and/or published 10 blog posts this week! It felt amazing, especially since some of it was at work and writing on the job makes the not-fun parts of my position much more tolerable.
But I was a zombie while I did it. I had unused vacation days that expired January 5, so I took the last 3 weeks of December off work. I tend towards nocturnal when I don’t need to set an alarm, so by NYE I was sleeping from like 5:30 am until noon. So waking up at 6:30 am Monday morning was one of he hardest things I’ve ever done in my life! I’m almost back to a more normal schedule now, though.
That’s some fantastic work this week, Brittany! Three weeks off work sounds like bliss. π
Those designs look amazing, Ashley! And I could look at those sunset photographs for hours; they’re gorgeous.
My week has been slow and quiet, just the way I like it. Although I did finish editing one of my books and started querying for it again, so I’m constantly checking my e-mail now >_>
Thanks so much! π I love slow and quiet weeks—that sounds lovely. Good luck querying!
I love those designs! I got a physical ARC of The Sin Eater’s Daughter and I started it a few weeks ago. I should get back to it but the info dumping is … a bit much. I’m so jealous you got to read A Court of Thorns & Roses! And I have The Cage too. π
I hope you end up liking that book more than I did. I seriously felt like I was reading a history book for the first quarter. >_<
EEEEE, so happy the Maas book is good. And such beautiful pictures. I don’t know if it’s weird to say, but you look so skinny in the photos!
Thank you! π The low carb diet is working wonders! Today the scale hovered at 139 before settling at just over 140 (baaaah). But it feels good to know that I’m ALMOST in the 130s!
Awhhh, those pictures of you and your husband are adorable and what a beautiful sky. The new designs you’ve made look great. I’m currently reading A court of thorns and roses and YES, despite all the horrors so far it sounds like a pretty cool place.
Thanks so much! π THE BOOK IS AMAZEBALLS!! I’m glad you’re enjoying it too (but how could anyone not?).
NOOOOOOO don’t tell me bad things about The Sin Eater’s Daughter! I am so so excited about that one! I really hope I like it, it looks and sounds amazing. I love the layout of this post by the way. Very easy on the eye! I hate when I have to scroll down loads in a post (like in my own!) I wish I was good at coding and prettifying things!
I’m sorry!!!! π π π
I’m so sad too, especially because one of my friends loved it so then I was even MORE confident that I’d love it too! …then I didn’t. π
Jetlag sucks and I’ve never had to do one as long as yours. Four hours difference is the most I’ve ever had to deal with. Glad you are finally back to normal. You’ve still gotten a lot done. The designs look great.
Normally I don’t even get jetlag. I think the problem was that:
* We didn’t manage to upgrade our flights coming back to the UK so we were in World Traveller Plus. That’s kind of like a glorified version of economy.
* Due to the uncomfortable seats and upright positioning, we weren’t able to get much sleep on the 11 hour flight at all.
* Then we arrived in London at like 10am so we still had the WHOLE day ahead of us. At least if we’d arrived at like 5-7pm we could have forced ourselves to stay up a few more hours then go to bed early, but it didn’t work out that way. π
Sorry to hear that Ashley! Hope your next week is more relaxed. I didn’t have a jet-lag but I am really stressed about my uni assignment which means I can’t sleep which results me in feeling like a zombie the next day and not being able to focus on work -_- I have kind of got my schedule back on track and my uni starts back tomorrow. *sigh*
I love the designs! Can’t wait to see what new designs you have in store for us this year. π
I hope you manage to get your uni assignment done! I know exactly how you feel though. My jet lag has been making me unable to sleep and then when I’m super tired the next day it makes me soooo unproductive. It’s a horrible feeling!
You always design such wonderful blogs. I really like it. I’m sad to hear that you didn’t like The Sin Eater’s Daughter. I’m glad to hear that A Court of Thorns and Roses is good. Looks like you had a good holiday, those pics are really pretty. Hope your upcoming week is more relaxed.
Thank you Grace! π
I have been suffering a personal jetlag from my shifts at the hospital..specially from the night shifts like today…got headaches etc π
Loved the work designs…specially “harlequin junkie”…the other design i just think it’s hard to read the yellow on the book info π
amazing pictures from USA trip…one of my dreams is to go there π i had that crazy dream when i was a kid of going to hollywood to be an actress hehe…seeing New York live would be stunning…i would fate probably XD
π
Ashley, Thanks for the wonderful design, it was a pleasure working with you. I’m sitting here thinking of new plugging you can code for me as I type this π Thanks again! Beautiful Photos.
Lovely designs! Those pictures are amazing too, the ones of you and your hubby are so beautiful! I love that last one. I’m so sad to hear that you didn’t like Sin Eater’s Daughter, I was really looking forward to that one π I’m DYING to read ACOTAR! I’ve got The Cage from EW and haven’t had a chance to get to it yet, but you make me want to pick it up asap!
I HOPE YOU LOVE THE CAGE!!
And ACOTAR, obviously.