Say It With a T-Shirt

I’m in an awesome writers group that posts writing challenges each month. Members share how much they intend to write during the week, 2-week or 1-month period to follow and how they plan to reward themselves.

I’d like to make my reward something yummy (like an entire pineapple upside down cake), but that won’t help my other cause, which is getting healthier by working out daily courtesy of DailyBurn.com.  So this time I opted to go with something I’ve always wanted but hadn’t gotten around to getting: graphic T-shirts.

Why haven’t I purchased them before? One: for a long time it was rare to find one that wasn’t designed for anyone whose shape was more eraser than pencil. Second: When you did find one, the price was more than this penny pincher frugal person was willing to pay.

Enter the age of do-it-yourself T-shirt websites. 

Now you can find T-shirts for everyone that support any cause or share just about any sentiment. It’s also super easy to make your own. I created a to-buy list of graphic tees I wanted and I’m rewarding myself with one or two whenever I hit a new goal or deadline. When I turned in Book #2 of my upcoming Pleasure Cove series with Harlequin Kimani Romance, I bought myself the following two graphic tees:

SUCK IT UP BUTTERCUP

Fell in love with this shirt the instant I saw it. It’s perfect for those moments when:

• I don’t feel like working out.
• I’m working out but I feel like I can’t do one more squat/pushup/crunch/plank move, etc.
• I should be writing or revising, but I’m not (like now)
• I am procrastinating about doing what I need to do, preferring to do just about anything else (seriously…like now)

I chose purple because…Prince…and the purple and green are a throw back to Lou Ferrigno’s Incredible Hulk with those crazy purple pants and his you-done-made-me-mad-now green skin. Makes me feel slightly invincible and like I could do a split in heels while playing a guitar. I’m just sayin’.

A LITTLE HOOD, A LITTLE HIPPIE

Anyone who knows me well knows that though I grew up in the hood, I have always been very much a hippie. So, as noted in the conversation with my husband (see below), it would be more accurate to say a little hood, a lot hippie. And as if I didn’t love this shirt enough for the graphic, the fabric is so soft. I could live in this thing. I’m thinking of belting it and wearing it as a dress. Just kidding! (Or am I?)

Anyhoo…my husband, whose obsession with Aldo shoes is one of the many reasons I lovingly refer to him as GQ Jones, and I had the following conversation this morning:

GQ Jones: Can we change that to A Little Hood, A Lot Hippie? *smirks*

Me: You do know this refers to a flower child, philosophical hippie, not someone with a lot of hips?

GQ Jones: You do know I’m not the only one who is going to be confused about that.

Me: *shrugs* Either way, A Little Hood, A Lot Hippie still applies. If someone makes that shirt, I’ll definitely buy it.

Okay, time for me to get back to work so I can earn my next graphic tee.

How do you reward yourself for a job well done? Or are you more of the just-shut-up-and-do-it type who doesn’t worry about rewarding yourself? (If so, I wanna be you, but I’m totally okay with the fact that I never will be.)

Happy Reading!