The good news is that my manuscript is submitted to my editor. All 258 pages of it. Holy Crap, holy, crap, holy crap, is what I said to myself when I uploaded it yesterday. I was sweating and my heart was beating fast. This is by far the biggest project I’ve ever taken on, the scariest, most doubt-inflicting project I’ve ever taken on. Writing a cookbook seems like such a glamorous thing, but to be honest it’s scared me to no end. I guess that’s a good thing? I still have 50 recipes to re-make and photograph over the next few weeks – that’s about 2 recipes and shoots per day plus blog posts. So, I’m definitely not over the hump yet or breathing a sigh of relief, but I’m getting there slowly but surely. When I took on this project I truly had no idea how much time it would take me away from this blog and that has been the most challenging part by far. I miss my regular blogging schedule and can’t wait to get back into a groove! Thank YOU for your patience with my crazy schedule over the past year.
More good news? Spring decided to finally arrive here in Southern Ontario! Mainly, the sun came out and it stopped pissing rain all day, every day. Well, I guess that was spring too, but I like this glow-y version much better. I’m fighting the urge to spend all day outside doing aimless things when I should be indoors working my tail off. People are out walking, running, cycling, swatting bugs, laughing, and otherwise just loving life. I’m totally feeling that whole New Beginning Vibe and the fact that it’s my birthday month (a big 3-0 birthday month!), makes it all the more inspiring to do good things with my life. I’m drinking a lot of these apple, beet, cucumber, carrot, lemon smoothies, for instance.
Yesterday, I went out for a few drinks on a patio to celebrate and then I came home and organized my closet. I’m not even joking. I’m one of those people whose house reflects the current state of their life/mind. My closet floor looked like Wal-Mart the day after Black Friday. Or worse? I’ve never been in a Wal-Mart on Black Friday or the day after, but I’ve imagined it many times. Why does it pain me so much to put something back on a hanger after trying it on? I don’t know how Eric puts up with me; he’s such a tidy man and the fact that he shares this chaotic space with me must drive him up the wall. I wrote nice things about him in my book, so I hope that makes up for it?
So that’s where my head is at lately. I’m trying to keep it screwed on tightly, but some days it spins uncontrollably. Such is life. I’m just enjoying this adventure and so thankful for those of you who stop by each week. If it weren’t for your words of encouragement I don’t know if I would have the motivation to see this through. Big hugs!
I believe I have a giveaway winner to announce…
A big congrats to Kiana for winning the Trio of Cookbooks giveaway! Kiana wrote, “I’m reading Salt, Sugar, Fat by Michael Moss. Good eye opener book.” I will shoot you an email today to collect your mailing info. Thanks for everyone who entered! I now have a long list of books to check out this summer. Ye-haw.
I’m really looking forward to reading your finished cookbook. I know that your blog has really helped me on my own vegan/health journey and your story is very inspirational. There needs to be more positive voices out there for all women. Thanx for spreading the love, especially in food! :)
Congrats to the winner and CONGRATS TO YOU for handing in your manuscript! What a huge accomplishment! Can’t wait to read your writing in book form! :)
Congratulations. I am sure your cookbook will be a knock-out drop dead beauty (just like your blog!). :)
Congratulations! I know the feeling of wanting to re-organize your room after a big accomplishment. I like to think I’m a neat freak, but then I look at my desk after a busy week of cooking. I’ve got notes and recipes sky high! “Clear-out” days seem all the more frequent now that I’ve started blogging. We had our first rain the other day in Winnipeg and it was a nice break from snow. Glad to hear its getting warmer in Ontario!
You just reminded me to clean my desk. hah. I totally get that feeling. I hope the rain melts your snow soon!
I’m excited to see your cookbook come together. I’m sure it’s been an incredible, exhausting journey :)
Wow I know once all that work is done your going to sleep for a whole month! I know it must being exhausting. I am excited to read your cookbook, I just love your recipes so much!!!
Congratulations! That smoothie sounds really good – can you post the recipe?
Hey Sharon, For sure I can share it – it’s a very rough toss-it-all-in type smoothie:
1/2-1 cup water (just enough to get the veggies blending)
1 medium beet, peeled and roughly chopped
1 small/medium cucumber, peeled and roughly chopped
1 medium carrot, peeled and roughly chopped
1-2 tbsp lemon juice
1 apple, roughly chopped
I think that’s pretty accurate to what I’ve been tossing in! You can skip the apple depending on how sweet you like it. It makes A LOT – 3 cups I think?
DO you cook your beets first?
I don’t bother b/c the Vitamix can handle it, but if you have a less powerful blender you might need to gently cook or steam them beforehand.
YUM this sounds so good! Do you think a Ninja could handle a raw beet?
Not sure- never used one! Maybe someone else can chime in if they’ve tried it. :)
Can you used canned beets for this? Our one and only grocery store doesn’t carry fresh beets!
I can’t see why not – just start with a small piece and add to taste.
Thank you!
Congratulations! All I can say is, wow! After all the time, effort, and love you’ve put into it, it must feel good to know you’re in the home stretch. And as for having a spotty schedule making blog posts… I honestly have no idea how you manage to fit it in at all! I don’t think you have anything to worry about, anyway. We (your readers) aren’t going anywhere! Can’t wait to see the finished book! :)
That smoothie looks great! Do you have rough amounts for each?
I’ve been making one lately that rips off a Booster Juice smoothie: carrot juice, apple juice, strawberries and beets.
So funny you mentioned that Booster Juice smoothie – Eric just got that yesterday and it was really good! I told him I’d try making it at home sometime. It almost tastes like there is frozen yogurt in it, but I guess that is from all the frozen fruit. Oh and I just posted the rough recipe above in the comments section if you are interested.
Congratulations!! 258 pages?? That sounds fantastic! I’m so happy for you.
I also cleaned my closet out yesterday – must be a spring thing! I hope it distracted you from the playoff game last night…
omg how depressing was that game!! Oh well, we’ll get ’em Saturday. ;)
Congrats, Angela!! That’s so exciting!!
Congratulations on accomplishing a huge goal! We are all incredibly excited to get our paws on the final product :) You may have said already but do you have a publish date in mind?
My mum used to always say “Tidy space, tidy mind” and I definitely see that reflected all over my apartment when I’ve been through a busy period; my first instinct is to tidy up!
Hey Laura, It’s expected to be out Spring 2014 as far as I know :) I will update when I have more precise info though!
Looking forward to it! We’ll be glad to have you back to a regular blogging schedule before the craziness of a book launch!
Congratulations Ange! I am looking forward to (hopefully) being able to order your book in the UK! Love your blog!!! xx
Congrats to you on your accomplishment and to the giveaway winner! I can’t wait to read your book :)
Angela, what an inspiration you are ~ including that closet fix-up!
I don’t know how my husband puts up with me either ;) lol
All that hard work will pay off soon – Congrats!!! xo ella
Congrats Ange!!!! Such a huge step in your journey to publishing the most amazing cookbook ever! Can’t wait to get a copy :)
Congratulations! What an accomplishment to hand in a first manuscript! I wish you the best of luck and more ease from this point and I cannot wait to get my hands on your cookbook!!
Congratulations Angie I am so excited for you! Simply can’t wait for the book!! PS…. You are not the only one with a closet floor that looks like walmart gone awry. …another question… why is it so hard to fold clothes as the come out of the dryer… seriously it takes ten minutes and you feel great once laundry is done but on average my clean clothes sit in a pile for 2-3 days before I actually put them away… silly!
Congratulations on getting out your manuscript! I agree with everyone else, cannot WAIT to read your book! Your recipes and story have inspired me in so many ways… I have made a lot of them since discovering your blog about a year ago. Thank you for putting yourself out there. The comments on this post are evidence of how many lives you have touched.
Congratulations! I can’t wait to read your cookbook! I absolutely love your blog (you make being a vegan so easy!). Hopefully your life will calm down soon but as one of your devoted readers, I can hardly contain my excitement!
Woohooo!!!! Doing a little victory dance for you. I realize there’s still a lot of work to do, but that’s got to feel pretty good getting past that huge hump. I can not wait for the book to come out. I’ll be the first one in line ;)
What a better way to celebrate your milestone birthday, but with the making of your book cookbook, congratulations !
Wow congratulations on finishing (mostly) your manuscript! It truly does sound like an exhausting process. I hope you have a BIG vacation planned for once you wrap up the cookbook.
Congrats on your work so far! That’s so exciting. I definitely hear you on the closet situation. We just moved so I have bags of stuff EVERYWHERE.
I am so looking forward to the cookbook!
HUGE congrats!!!!!!!! You are over the hump!!! Yes!! Sending hugs! xoxo
Congrats on submitting your manuscript! Sounds like a LOT of work – you will deserve a vacation or something when this is over! :)
Congrats! Can’t wait to see it, you deserve a few more drinks on a patio : )
Congratulations on submitting your manuscript!! I cannot wait for your cookbook to come out…How exciting! :)
“that’s about 2 recipes and shoots per day plus blog posts.” — I have been there. And it’s hard, hard, hard, hard.
When you said you’re done, I was like wow, that was fast!! And then, I read that you have a mere FIFTY recipes to shot. Omg. That’s an entire book right there. Whoa. I can relate and know the pressure of what it’s like. And when the chips are down, closet reorganization is wonderful :)
Seriously, congrats, Angela! Glad that the big giant is (kind of) off your back. And now you can just remake…50….recipes. My head is spinning for you! :)
I know you’ve been there! Too bad you couldn’t be here to help me eat all this food we’re going to have over the next month. :)
Your cookbook is going to be so great!! I CANNOT wait!
Congratulations! I used to work in publishing, so I know how arduous a process it can be sometimes. Looking forward to picking up your book when it comes out. :)
Congratulations on submitting your manuscript!! I can’t imagine how hard you must have worked but I know it is going to be fabulous when all is said and done. I can’t wait to see it! :)
Hi Beauty! That is so exciting. You are amazing in all that you are doing! We are “movers and shakers”… right! :)
Can’t wait to see it!!!
Thirty, flirty, and thriving! Turning 30 was amazing. I finally felt like I was no longer an idiot! LOL.
Keep taking your time, devote your full attention to your book, we will all be here waiting when you get back! I can’t wait for it to come out!
Congrats! Can’t wait for your book!
I am there with you…I have no idea how it happens but I come home and there are clothes all over the place! Who’s ransacking my bedroom while I’m gone?!
Yay! Very happy for you, but even more selfishly happy that I am that much closer to having your cookbook in my hands. Keep it up lady! Good luck in the final stretch.
Hooray and congratulations! The whole cookbook writing process sounds like a truly Herculean task, and it’s awesome that you’ve pushed yourself to do something so monumentally awesome yet terrifying. I can’t wait to buy it as soon as it comes out! (And that that point, I hope you’ll be able to take some much-needed R&R!) :)
I can completely relate to needing to clean/organize your physical space — and to the idea that it often matches your mental space. I’m a neat freak (ok, full disclosure: I’m totally OCD about it), but when I get really busy, my space starts looking like a war zone. Stacks of papers, receipts, general detrius…but as soon as I clean it up, I start feeling like I’m actually on task. :)
Congrats again on submitting the manuscript — it’s awesome to watch your journey and this project unfold, and I can’t wait to see the finished product!
I cannot wait for your book! Your food is so inspiring and creative and gorgeous!
Do you have a rough estimate of the publication release?
Thank you Wendy :) It’s planned for spring 2014 release right now :) No official month or day yet, but I will be sure to update when I know!
Congrats – you deserve it.
Dannii – Hungry Healthy Happy.
So happy for you!! Its so inspiring to see you tackle and accomplish your goal!
:) Looking forward to reading it.
I am super excited for you!!!! And also I just tried that smoothie. Wow. Wow wow wow.
Congratulations! I’m definitely buying your book as soon as it comes out!
I can’t wait for your cookbook. I never buy cookbooks anymore because I move and travel all over the world- so bookmarking blog posts is much easier to take with me than books. However, I have been hooked on your blog since I found it a few years ago. I have really been missing your regular posts, as they were often inspiration for my shopping list each week. I can’t wait to see all the things you’ve come up with– I have sent many people to your blog over the past few years, and so I also have a list of people who will be getting your cookbook when it comes out.
Wahoooooo! Major congrats Ange! I know how long this has taken you and how hard you’ve worked, and I’m so proud of you for getting through it all. I know it will all be worth it for you in the end, and that the book will be huge. Amen to spring finally being here. Smoothie season is in full swing for me as well, and I’m thoroughly enjoying not having to drink them from under a fleece blanket!
Congrats on the cookbook! So exciting!
Let’s have a joint birthday celebration (I’m fairly certain that we share the same birthday!) although I’m not turning 3-0. I hope that’s ok ;) haha
Congrats! I can only imagine how much work and creativity that must have been. Looking forward to buying the book and even more so to having you back blogging on a regular basis
we’ve definitely missed you, angela, but i’m so looking forward to the product of your labor/absence!
Congrats on submitting your manuscript! That has to be an awesome feeling. Now if only I could borrow some of your organizing motivation to tackle our “hobby room” turned “junk room” (I’d rather just shut the door and pretend it isn’t there).