i am a bougie girl

First drafts are notoriously easy for me to breeze through.

Step #1: An idea pops into my head
Step#2:  I write about it.

The End.

However, the rewriting process has  proven to be more of a challenge for me.  I find myself questioning the passages which I jotted down in the first draft.

Should I mention the hilarious vignette about the nature hike gone wrong?  Will the readers be interested in the greater implications of what life is like in a town with a huge military presence?

Generally, by the time I reach this point in the rewriting process, I am breezing onto the next project. However, I am making a HUGE effort to break my usual pattern  with this untitled Newport memoir. I will not allow this project to fade into the realm of my infamous Purgatory for unfinished writing projects.

Each day, I toil on rewriting aspect of this project for at least 2 hours. The work has been slow but, I can see a huge difference between the crappy first draft and the one I am working on right now.

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I love cooking with penne pasta. It is versatile and it can add some heft to a simple dinner.

During my impoverished 20's, I did not cook with penne a lot because it was usually more expensive than pasta shells or bow ties. However, once my employment situation improved, I made the conscious effort to acquaint myself with the varied aspects of cooking with penne.
My penne recipes usually include: mushrooms, onions, shredded cheese, capers, and/or garlic. Sometimes, I add a half a cup of grilled chicken or braised pork to make it interesting.

I also find that penne also works well as a side dish.

BACKSTABBER by Bougie Girl Apparel

I am your friend...when it suits me. But, I gotta be honest most of the time...it doesn't suit me. Still, you are handy to have around. You give me class and likeability. I pump up your ego, so it works out for now. Now, don't go thinking that my smiling persona means that I am being loyal to you. Quite the opposite. See, I view you as a commodity. 
Whenever, you cease to be of any use to me then, I get rid of you...but, not before I completely ruin your reputation with a well-placed sort of truish rumor about one of your past indiscretions.
I destroy your credibility before you can reveal what a BACKSTABBER I truly am.

The first track that we end up on isn't always the one in which we are meant to stay on.  Why is it so difficult to let it go, even after we can clearly see that we have long since outgrown it? Are we clinging to this humble track because we never bothered to forge an identity outside of it? 
Perhaps, all of our friends and family still happily inhabit this first track and we can't bring ourselves to leave it behind. So, we drink, drug, and/or sleep around to distract ourselves from the fact that we need to ascend onto a higher track. Unfortunately, we can never seem to distract ourselves enough to escape the reality of what we ultimately must do.

It's tempting to constantly put the needs of others in front of our own.

 How can we not rush to the aid of the down their luck relative?

Why shouldn't we help our significant other through yet another identity crisis?

Over time, our "good deeds" can leave us spiritually dehydrated and full of resentment.

We must remember to keep our own soul hydrated.

Spring has not fully arrived here in the Enchanted Seaport. We have experienced a bit of mild weather but, for the most part there is a lot of cold breezes and dampness lingering in the air. Yet, even in these less than ideal conditions...flowers are blooming everywhere. 
I bear witness to the  vibrancy of their petals and the dignified way they defiantly  insist on blooming even with the harbor winds bearing down on them.

These flowers are on the precipice of blooming. It could be another couple of days or even weeks before their blooming process is complete.

While we are transitioning from one phase of life to another, we must avoid situations in which our "blooming" process could be hindered or even destroyed.

I Settled For A Loser And All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt by Bougie Girl Apparel

Ladies, how many times have you settled for a BS relationship or even a  crappy marriage? 
During the melancholy or even hellish ordeal did you ever contemplate the following?
1. Wow, why I am settling for this ridiculous situation? 
2. Is there something about me that just screams I-don't-think-I-deserve-any-better? 3. This man is not handling his business, refuses to grow up, and doesn't know how to respect me and yet... why am I staying again?
4. Am I staying because I love him so much and can't imagine being without him?  5. Am I  overly invested in the idea of being coupled up with someone because I am scared to be on my own? 6. Are there any long-term benefits to staying with a loser? (Besides, the prospect of getting a T-shirt out of the deal.)

Settling for a BS relationship/ romantic situation ain't for everyone. If you find it difficult to live La Vida Delusional, settling for a BS relati…