Blog – Chic n' Geek

Hi and Welcome to Chic n’ Geek!

Posted on January 9, 2021

I’m making this post quick because, to be honest, I’ve been working on building this site for more than a month now and just need to send it before I drive myself and my family crazy (or even crazier).

If you already know me, first of all–hi!! Second of all OMG YES, I did get kind of carried away with what started as a simple “maybe I should just do a quick refresh of Chic n’ Geek” and ended obsessing endlessly over every single detail of a site that literally nobody but me even cares about or will likely visit. Apparently going on 10 MONTHS of COVID isolation manifests differently in everyone and I guess there are worse expressions of insane loneliness than cute clipart addiction? Oh well–hopefully at least someone other than me is cheered up during these dark times by the total extra-ness of the header and the other extra that I’ll probably be posting here for the foreseeable future. And also if you need styled stock images, I I bought enough for the universe over the past month, so I got you if you need any : )

Ok, so moving on…if you don’t already know me–hi and welcome to Chic n’ Geek!!

What is Chic n’ Geek?

To be honest, I’m not quite sure yet. I mean, obviously, it’s a blog. Originally I intended it to be a lifestyle blog about home decor, fashion and I guess some stuff about tech/blogging/social media stuff since those are the things I either do for a living, know about or just like. But the more I thought about it and started building it out (I should actually say rebuilding, since Chic n’ Geek had a previous incarnation from 2014-2017, which I decided to just delete when I revamped to have a fresh slate; here’s the archived site if you’re curious), the more constrained I felt building out yet another one-dimensional online representation of myself.

Yes, I love home decor and clothes and shopping and pretty things; yes, I’m also a nerd and spend WAY too much time online or otherwise immersed in some aspect of digital life. But I’m also not just those things or interested in only those things and it just felt weird thinking about creating this airbrushed, fluffy version of myself when it’s not really at all who I am as a person.

As I designed the site, it was like it somehow became less about the destination and more about a random journey of/through creative expression, if that makes any sense. I agonized over stock images for weeks (that was after learning that “styled stock images” are even a thing), finally deciding to try my totally amateur hand at graphic design, spending weeks creating version after version of the images throughout the site now. I also–in parallel–obsessed over learning more than I ever knew before about WordPress and web development–go figure. It’s probably weird that I’m even writing about it but yolo–that’s the beauty of personal blogging in the age of podcasts and video–probably nobody’s reading anyway, so may as well ramble, right?

So who knows–maybe my new obsession with graphic design will stick or maybe it’s just a pandemic thing–I guess time will tell.

One topic that felt important but also weird including here is mental health issues, particularly ADHD. I have lived with both for 52 years and know I’m far from alone struggling with; I also know that it’s a little weird (or maybe not?) to mix “light” stuff like fashion and home decorating trends with “heavy” stuff like depression and loss. But at the same time, it’s really not IMO.

So I guess right now I see Chic n’ Geek as part blog, part curated stuff to look at/listen to/watch and part digital garden to share and maybe explore the tons of things I’ve been obsessively bookmarking over the past few years.

So there you have it, at least for now. Chic and geek; sad and glad; light and heavy–these are the things I plan to showcase here. Guess we’ll see where it leads.

Coveting: Rocketbook Smart Reusable Notebook

Posted on January 9, 2021

Ok, I have not bought this but I am super tempted because it looks cool as hell. Granted, my handwriting is so bad it ruins anything that has to do with handwriting, but I feel like it might be cool enough to take the time to write SLOWLY to see if it actually works.

Here’s the link to it on Amazon if you want to check it out (disclosure: affiliate link)

My new obsession: Watercolor Monogram Crests

Posted on January 5, 2021

There’s a whole longer story to this, which I will write once I finally get this site launched, but for now, behold the thing I accidentally learned when I decided, two months ago, to just “update the look of Chic n’ Geek” real quick. I have seen these on Pinterest and oogled them but it never occurred to me that I’d be able to MAKE THEM MYSELF, seeing as I’m not an artist nor do I legit know how to do graphic design. Yet, here it is anyway–my first attempt at what has become my favorite thing ever lately.

Podcast love: Translating ADHD

Posted on December 30, 2020

If you already know me, you know about my love/hate relationship with social media. If not, if I ever get around to it, I’m sure I’ll write more about it here; if not, either you’re welcome for missing me rant or you can go down the 12 year-deep rabbit hole that is Mizz Information.

Anyway, the bottom line is that at this particular time in the US/the world, social media is such a cluster that it’s basically the reason I built this site to begin with–I wanted my own internet doomsday bunker because I mostly want to just get off the grid that is big tech/social media yet still be able to continue living a life that is (for better or for worse), spent largely online–especially during COVID. AKA I hate social media. With a few notable exceptions, the largest of which is ADHD social media.

That’s a much longer post for a time when I’m not frantically just trying to get this site launched already (also another whole long story…), but my point is that, ADHD social media is all the good of what social media started as/was originally meant to be before it all went to hell. Authentic, enlightening, full of things and people you never knew you had been missing your whole life until you found them via social media. And the best of the best of ADHD social media is podcasts, IMO. Randomly finding these podcasts this past year literally changed my life–as in literally literally.

The most life-changing? Translating ADHD. Even if you don’t have ADHD or know anyone who does, you should listen to this podcast just because it is everything you’d want in a podcast: interesting, entertaining, brilliant, full of insights I personally have never before come across in 52 years of a life of reading, going down a billion rabbit holes about various topics, etc. And just smart and endearing and original and awesome.

This episode is a good example of what’s so amazing about it–especially if you have ADHD.

Revisiting our ADHD Cause and Effect Metaphor: Above the Lunch Counter