An Exciting Vacation

Over the last two weeks, I was on vacation visiting Boston, Salem, Nova Scotia, and Bermuda. It was all amazing and such an experience. My thoughts on these places:

Boston: Beautiful city full of historic sites with tons to do. My husband and I explored North End and Little Italy, we visited the first official park in the US - Boston Common attached to a wonderful public botanical garden - we tried a bunch of local food (we even waited in line for over an hour to get a cannoli at Modern Pastry), we visited a couple different warfs, and walked around a lot just taking in the sites and exploring. There was plenty of little unique shops and we went into all of them that we could.

Salem: I was most excited to visit Salem! The city had an eerie vibe which only added to what it had to offer. We visited the witch trials cemetery and memorial. I went to a reputable psychic (per a podcast I listen to) and had my fortune told. She was very knowledgeable about who I am before I could say anything. My husband and I walked around Salem and took pictures of very interesting things that were just everywhere. There were lots of souvenir shops, spooky/historic museums, and a few haunted tours and witch tours. We ate lunch at Turner's Seafood, which was spectacular.

Halifax, Nova Scotia: My whole group of friends and family climbed to the highest point in the city at the Halifax Citadel National Historic Site, and were able to get there just in time to see and hear the big canon go off at noon. There wasn't as much to see or do in Halifax, but we made the most of it. We tried poutine, ate and drank some local candy and drinks, and visited a few little hole-in-the-wall stores.

Bermuda: Gorgeous. Just straight up beautiful. We visited Horseshoe Bay Beach and experienced the pink sands there. I only got slightly sunburned. We took a tour of Crystal Cave and we were told many stories about it by the tour guide. Then we went to Swizzle Inn and had the local favorite drink, The Rum Swizzler. It was delicious! We had two pitchers of it! We then took a tour of the island on a bus. The whole place had stunning scenery and exceptional, well maintained homes. The next day, we took a ferry around the island to St. George's and souviner shopped the day away. The people here were so friendly and helpful.

We visited all these places through a round trip cruise that ported out of Boston. The cruise was great, but the places we visited were the main attractions and where we had the most interesting and fun experiences.

Sorry for the long blog post. I was just very excited to share my happenings these previous two weeks.

Thanks for reading!

~Jade

The Proofreading Process

Sounds boring, yes, but it's important information to show the process of proofreading. You also gain a great sense of accomplishment when you find out that you've helped an author make their story, book, poems, etc., better. Now to get into the nitty gritty:

Proofreading is the final stage of editing, where a proofreader carefully checks a document for small errors before it is published or submitted. The goal is to ensure the text is clear, consistent, and free of spelling, grammar, punctuation, and formatting mistakes.

1. Review the Document Carefully

A proofreader reads through the entire document slowly and attentively to identify obvious errors and get a sense of the text.

2. Check for Specific Errors

Rather than correcting everything at once, proofreaders often focus on specific types of errors during each pass, such as spelling, punctuation, grammar, or formatting.

3. Read the Text Aloud

Reading the text aloud can help a proofreader notice missing words, repeated phrases, or awkward sentence structures that might be overlooked when reading silently.

4. Verify Consistency

Proofreaders also check that formatting, headings, capitalization, and numbering remain consistent throughout the document.

5. Check Important Details

A proofreader reviews important details such as names, dates, numbers, and references to make sure they are accurate and written consistently throughout the document.

6. Complete a Final Review

Once corrections are made, the proofreader performs a final read-through to confirm that all errors have been addressed and the document is ready for publication.

Following a structured process allows proofreaders to catch small mistakes and ensure the document is polished and professional.

The proofreading process may seem boring when written like this, but it is so much fun to proofread a story or book or something that has you really tuned into the story. Being sucked into a whole other world is the most fun!

Wishing you the best,

~Jade

Festivity Across Every Celebration!

Hello everyone! I hope you're enjoying your holidays, whatever that may entail!

I'm especially looking forward to hearing stories about all the different types of holidays observed around the world! Including (but not exclusively):

• Mawalid al-Nabi in Islamic tradition

• Thanksgiving in a few different countries

• Bohdi Day in Buddhism

• Las Posadas in LatinX Christianity

• The Winter Solstice as a Pagan tradition

• Panacha Ganapti in Hinduism

• Chanukkah in Judaism

• Kwanzaa for those of African Heritage

• The beginning of the New Year in America

• and Christmas celebrated world-wide

These are the end of year holidays I am aware of. If I'm forgetting any, please feel free to add your special holiday tradition in my comments. I would love to know how you commemorate your holidays!

I hope that everyone had, and will have, a great time during their holiday(s) that they celebrate at the end of the calendar year.

I wish you all the best in the coming new year! Hopefully, 2026 has a lot of great adventures and excitement and is super productive for all of you! I'm not going to say "this is our year" simply because we have no idea what the future holds for us, and saying such a thing is just asking for disaster lol. Let's just do the best we can and try to make it an amazing year!

Peace, cheer, and good vibes for all! Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year!

~ Jade