Creativity Archives - Audrey JoAnn

EASY TIME MANAGEMENT HACKS THAT EVERYONE CAN USE

September 21, 2018

I went to Sprouts the other day for groceries, and after paying, I started pushing the plastic-bag handles onto my wrists, stacked like several very heavy bracelets on each arm. I’d already gotten my car keys out of my purse and was at the ready to put the shopping cart in its inside lineup before loading my groceries into the car in one seamless trip.

I was not about to waste time on bringing the cart out with me and then having to take even more precious seconds to put it to one of those cart parking spots that seem to never be conveniently located. Psh. The cashier stared as I loaded about 15 grocery bags onto my arms and, (rightfully) full of judgment, asked, “You’re not going to use the cart?”

SELF CARE IS NOT SELFISH

September 13, 2018

The other week, I drove to this field of wild sunflowers outside of my neighborhood with a pair of scissors and snipped about a dozen of those golden beauties to take home with me. I had just bought a new vase and couldn’t wait to set up these freshly picked flowers on a bookshelf to brighten our living room. So thrifty am I — I didn’t need a $9 bouquet from Whole Foods! All I needed was some scissors and the patience and grit to pull stickers off the ankles of my socks for 15 minutes when I got home. In the field, which is more of an overgrown empty lot, I cut the flowers from their mother stems, and each oozed with sticky juice that even the strongest of dish soap with water couldn’t remove from my hands when I got home.

I also realized, after a short drive back to the house, I transported a couple of small, eight-legged friends home with the flowers. When I saw the spiders scuttling and burrowing deeper into the center of the sunflowers, I promptly freaked out, dropped the bouquet in the kitchen sink, and gave them a quick rinse. Mentally, I’m still scarred that they were IN THE CAR ON MY LAP for approximately three minutes. Finally, my quick attempt at a free spruce-up of my living room came to a close when I patted them dry with a paper towel, filled my gorgeous new vase with water, placed them on their new shelf home, and prayed the spiders had found their new home — down the drain.

The flowers died the next day.

5 PODCASTS YOU NEED TO SUBSCRIBE TO

August 9, 2018

I fell in love with podcasts like a lot of people did. Serial. Season 1. I never knew I was a true crime fan until I uncontrollably devoured episodes of Serial at a time and finished the season within one week. I also didn’t know my phone had its own built-in Podcast app until after I listened to every episode of season 1 on Serial’s website through my phone’s web browser, and my mom sent me a concerned text asking why our data usage was so high so early into the month. Oops.

She was surprisingly cool when I told her it was because I started listening to podcasts more (although I didn’t mention that I just learned there was a way to listen without using, like, all of the data), and she answered, “Me too!!!” Podcasts were the thing to do, apparently for my mom and me and the rest of the world. This was about three years ago, and since then, podcasts, and my love for them, has only grown.READ MORE

THE BIG ONES: MAJOR LIFE LESSONS LEARNED IN 2017

December 19, 2017

I’m not sure where I’ll be by the end of 2018. John will get his graduate degree in May, and while we are dying to stay in Nashville, it all depends on his job offers for now. With that uncertainty (which, to me, is actually kind of fun and thrilling) in mind at the close of this year, I’ve been reflecting a lot lately on where 2017 has taken me.

We’ve been in Nashville since July of 2016, and even though I’m freelancing and nannying, I’ve never felt happier or more stable in my career. Even so, there has been a bunch going on. After turning 26 in November, I’m now officially past the mid-20s mark of 25; John and I have taken some huge relationship steps; I’ve traveled more than ever before; and HGTV has become one of my staple channels. I feel like I’m growing up and finally adopting this whole adult state of mind. (HGTV is obviously the biggest indicator.)