Hey, it’s my birthday! I guess what better way to kick off my new blog?

I’m Alix, and this is my blog, Bohemian Free Spirit. Thanks for visiting!

I was born in a micro-generation between the GenX-ers and the Millennials- I started 1st grade with corded wall phones, spending hours outside on the swingset, and watching library-borrowed VHS tapes on the weekends. I graduated high school with a flip phone that charged for text messages and the number of minutes you talked, a MySpace account, and a cassette adapter for my car so I could listen to CDs.

In 5th grade, I sent my name and address into a kids magazine to be added to the “Pen Pals” list, and exchanged letters with a dozen other little girls (maybe? hopefully? how did the adults think it was safe to do that???) for a few years until we all grew up and apart in high school (I still think about you sometimes Lindsay from Illinois!). I won Summer Reading every year, and once won a bookmark design contest for “The Plant that Ate Dirty Socks” and the prize was a copy signed by Nancy McArthur. I related so hard to Michael. Cleanliness is overrated. As an aside, I have several books signed by Nancy McArthur- one my mom got signed when I was little, and others I had signed when she appeared at different library events. She was the first real author I had ever met, and my memory of her is that she was very kind.

I was homeschooled and the oldest of my siblings, and turned out very independent, competitive, and self-aware. Maybe that was because of the ADHD though. I wasn’t diagnosed until I was in my 30s, but spent most of my childhood and young adult life struggling without knowing why.

I’ve had so many- too many!– interests throughout my life. The ones that have stuck are reading, sewing, biking, and solving mysteries. Not that I find too many mysteries to solve, haha. I love doing research and genealogy because it’s like solving a mystery. I have a MA in History that I unfortunately wasn’t able to use for a dream museum career- apparently those are rarer than I was led to believe in all my job statistics research. But I love the skills I developed in the process of getting that degree, and it’s true that no one can take your education away.

I should head off to bed now. I have two kitties, and one of them is very particular about bedtime. I’m surprised she isn’t yelling at me right now that it’s past time for treats and sleep. I tried Treeline’s vegan garlic and basil goat cheese today, and it was DELICIOUS. Such a good birthday treat. I also got myself flowers, just because. It’s so hard having a January birthday, it’s just dark and grey and cold and snowy. I might just celebrate it in June instead.

Thanks for reading if you’ve made it thus far! I plan to have more planned out posts, but wanted to get this thing going.

Be peaceful.

Alix