Dare to be Divergent

You don’t get better without criticism. As a writer, I need honest feedback about my work to make my writing better. 

I learned that in college. One of my professors kept pushing me to write more honestly, and the voice of Tris (the heroine of Roth’s blockbuster Divergent trilogy) really developed as a reaction to that. 

I still work with critique partners, and that’s only valuable if you don’t get defensive. 

Part of being a professional is about getting over it, meaning you have to separate yourself from your work and realize that if someone is criticizing your writing, they’re not criticizing you. 

I am bigger, more complicated person than any book. 

Every human being is a crazy festival of thoughts. 

You have to have a life outside your work. 

[Veronica Roth, author of the Divergent series] 

Being Chic

I am such a fan of fashion. Good styling says so much about a person. 

Girogio Armani says, "Being chic is a way of carrying one-self. Style is not identified completely with fashion, but means capturing the spirit of the times and making it one’s own."

That is why I have such an appreciate for costume designers! Characters of TV, movies, and theater are more convincing when their 'look' is on point. 

My @Chexie04 Pinterest has boards dedicated to the clothes of the shows Reign and Revenge. My only interest in watching Scandal is because of Lyn Paulo, the show's brilliant costume designer. 

Here are some tips she provides for dressing well in real life:  

Put your best footwear forward 

How you walk is so important. If you stride across a room, you exude confidence. So make sure you have the right foundation - which is your shoes. As the day goes on, you don’t want to be hobbling around the office. It’s okay to have six pairs of shoes under your desk to change into. I do! 

Express Yourself 

When I spoke to Shonda Rimes, Scandal’s creator. I told her that I didn’t want Olivia Pope to be another woman in a masculine suit. It’s detrimental to women. Being a woman in the workplace doesn’t mean you have to dress like a guy. 

What’s your biggest strength at work? 

I am very organized. I don’t have a lot of patience for clutter — either verbal or literal. 

What’s your best interviewing tip? 

Be confident, dress the part, and if you’re being interviewed by a woman, carry an absolutely amazing purse. 

Scandal collection at The Limited

New Girl Fangirl

The Galusky family recently re-watched the first few seasons of New Girl and came to appreciate its witty script and show plots all over again! Hannah Simone (aka CeCe) is still my favorite character, whereas my husband is A LOT  like Schmidt than he cares to admit. 

Here's a fun story that Hannah Simone shared with Elle magazine: 

My most cherished article is my grandmother’s necklace that she had her whole life — a black and gold cameo. 

It’s a woman’s profile in silhouette, and though you don’t know the woman’s story, you get this strong, beautiful, feminine quality, which is so much like the women in our family — so much like my grandmother. 

She was half German, half Italian, and was a nurse in Germany during both World Wars, and that necklace was always a segue  to her incredible stories: She was engaged, her fiancé was killed. She started to realize that the men she treated would often not come back. 

I remember once asking her, ‘Were you ever engaged before?’ And she laughed. She said, ‘Hundreds of times. Everyone who asked, I said, “Yes!” ‘ She said, ‘It was a no-lose situation. It gave them something to live for and me something to hope for.’ 

She passed about five years ago. The only time I’ve ever worn it, because I’m very careful with it, was when I did this episode about how much I loved my grandmother on New Girl.