sarah · dessen

The Friday Five!

1. The Emmy nominations were announced today, and I have to say I'm a little unsettled that so many of the shows nominated I've never seen. Which I think is kind of insane, considering how much TV I watch. Maybe it says something about quality, not quantity? I don't watch The Closer or Burn Notice or Saving Grace, or really any of the basic cable shows that got noticed this year. But I DO love Tina Fey, who got tons of noms for herself and 30 Rock, although I hate to see her up against Mary Louise Parker in Weeds. They're both so good! Just like Rainn Wilson having to be up against Jeremy Piven. Decisions, decisions. I guess it's good I'm not an Emmy voter. I would be agonizing even more than normal.

2. I CAN now say that I've seen Mad Men, as I watched the first episode last night. I'm a little nervous, because it didn't totally blow my doors off, and I worry that it was hyped SO much that there's no way it can ever live up. Then again, I know better than to judge by just one episode, so I will certainly be diving back in, probably tonight. I have to say that I really like the look of the show. The clothes make you want to buy strappy shoes and pencil skirts and tease up your hair. Although I have to say the anti-tobacco folks must hate this show. EVERYBODY smokes. I want to cough just watching it. Still, I'm in. At least for the first whole disc.

3. It's watermelon time of year again, and I am reminded how much I really love this sweet, pink fruity snack. Last summer, while hugely pregnant, I was ADDICTED to watermelon. I ate it every night after dinner, and looked forward to it all day. Equally fun was going to buy the little seedless ones I loved at the grocery store, where I always got a little kick when they were rung up as "Personal Melon." I always thought that would be a GREAT name for a band. Maybe I should form one just to use it? Oh, right. No musical talent. Oh, well.

4. Today, I took one step closer towards the life of suburbia: we bought a station wagon. Not one of the wood-paneled, huge boat-like things of my childhood (although Courtney thought that was a great idea) but a nice, small used one that gets good gas mileage. It's very sporty and nice. But I still had that weird pang. Station wagon? Us? Really? Aren't we still, like, sixteen? Apparently not. Still, it seems like only yesterday we were just hanging out, listening to Personal Melon records....

5. It was five years ago today that How to Deal, the movie made from my first two books, was released. It was a crazy time for me, but I had just so much fun. So of course I'm feeling nostalgic, so I went looking on the web and sure enough, on the IMDB page, you can watch the original preview. Which I saw for the first time, I remember, on TRL one afternoon when it world premiered. Totally surreal. Anyway, just to celebrate, or at least note it, here's the link. I'm such a loser. I'm going to watch it again.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Last night, we finished the last season on DVD of Scrubs. There's a certain satisfaction, I've found, in following a series on DVD all the way until the end (or at least the end of what's available). It's like an accomplishment. For us coach potatoes, perhaps the equivalent of completing a marathon, say. We put in the time, worked hard, saw it all the way through. Victory! Which is quickly followed by a sense of letdown. Like, now what? For me, it's Mad Men, and then maybe The Wire.

Plus Project Runway, which I believe starts a new season tonight? It's hard to say because I've seen, like, NOTHING about it in magazines or on the air. Maybe because of the whole jumping to Lifetime thing, which I think might have made the folks at Bravo a bit peeved? It will be fun once it's on there, though, because so many of my friends who don't have Bravo (which is, most of them) will be able to watch it finally. I cannot wait to see new converts to the church that is Tim Gunn. Make it work, indeed! It's more fun than running a Scrubs marathon.

In other news, my daughter is giving me serious problems with her carseat. It's not the carseat, actually, as much as the covering OVER it. It's got this fuzzy kind of lining underneath, and she's discovered that she REALLY likes reaching under it, pulling it out, and sticking it in her mouth. No matter how many toys I give her---teether, stuffed monkey, Ugli Doll---she still abandons all for the fuzz. I sit there, at the wheel, and watch her in the her little mirror as she excavates it out, then eats it. Which leads to me pulling over, grabbing it from her hand, then trying the whole teether-monkey-uglidoll thing all over again. We put tape under the padding, but she's pulling that off now. Help! Do they even make replacement covers? Maybe made out of, like, steel or something? If anyone knows, fill me in. I'm a little desperate. For now, I'm putting on more tape. And more tape. And more tape.....

Have a good day, everyone!

This weekend, we decided to take Sasha on one of her big Firsts: first trip to the Flying Burrito. Now, the Burrito is where I worked for seven years or so, during college and then after while I was writing my first book (and my second, and then my third, which was the one I actually ended up selling, That Summer). Anyway, I LOVE the Burrito, and see it as a big part of my past and my life. Earlier this year, though, the original owners sold the restaurant, which was then closed for awhile while the new owners did renovations. Every time I drove by, I'd look over, wondering how different it was going to be. And then, this weekend, I got to find out.

It IS different. Like, the bar is on the whole other side, where the quieter dining room used to be. And the office is now a bathroom, and the wait station/kitchen is closed in, so you can't hear every word said (or, usually when I was there, shouted). Plus they took up the carpet, painted it this pretty yellow, and put lots of prints of cacti on the walls. All good. And the food was REALLY close to the same. I got my standard Flying Chicken burrito (chicken, rice, salsa, sour cream) and queso, chips and salsa as a starter. The baby loved the rice, and all in all, it was a good time. But the entire time I was there, I just couldn't stop thinking about the OLD space. "We're sitting right where the margarita machine was!" I said to Sasha, who did not care one bit. Everywhere I looked, I saw not the new, but what had been there before. Not the pretty, new leather booths, but the old ones, squeaky and held together with duct tape. (Nope. Not kidding.) Not the gorgeous, minimalist decor, but all the old clutter: Durham Bulls pendants, Craig Gurganus surfboard fish, and the little sculptures my old boss Phil called his "Mayan art" which were really these somewhat obscene figurines of people in various positions, um, together. He always insisted on keeping them right by the bar, where we were always moving them behind glasses and the lava lamps, they were so embarrassing. I missed the lava lamps, too, now that I think of it.

But this is just me. I am so stuck in the past, the queen of nostalgia. Anyone else walking in there would just enjoy the great food, and the blues music (which is a nod to the old place, as well) and the fact that it is bright and clean and open again, which is all that really matters. After dinner, I took Sasha out of her high chair and walked her around. "This is where I used to roll silverware," I told her, as we passed where the old hostess station was. "And this was section three, the hardest section of all, especially on a Friday night." Again, she was not that interested. I guess your history is only fascinating to yourself. But for some reason, I wanted to tell her all this anyway. Maybe so I don't forget, which it seems like you could easily do when something is spackled over, and repainted, and made new again. I lived a LOT of my life at the Flying Burrito. I cried in the walk-in cooler (more times than I'd like to remember) I danced on the bar, I slung a million Flying Chickens, filled a million chip baskets. It was the job that allowed me to become a writer, and for that, more than anything, I will be forever grateful.

Plus, that queso was GOOD. Yum!

Have a good day, everyone!

The Friday Five!

1. But, you say, it's not Friday. It's Thursday! We have already established, however, that I am a day ahead of myself this week. So that---and the fact that I have a very busy morning tomorrow, and time to do this now---makes it okay. So here we go.

2. This week, in the world of DVDs, both Heathers and Xanadu have been recently re-released in new editions. Now, these movies could not be more different, of course. Heathers is a dark comedy that gave us Christian Slater. Xanadu is a rollerskating musical that gave us Olivia Newton John as a muse. But, still. I loved them both at one time or another. Xanadu I was especially obsessed with, back in like sixth grade. It is SUCH a bad movie it is almost good. You know the type. Definitely worth a watch---as is Heathers, with a pre-9er Shannen Doherty!---if you haven't seen either of them already.

3. Over the Fourth of July weekend, I bought a bag of Fritos just for fun. Now, it is the bane of my existence. It is a FAMILY size bag, which means there are so many of them, and I cannot stop myself from eating them. What is it about Fritos? Just knowing they are in the house sends all my willpower out the window. And during bathing suit season, no less. NOT a good thing.

4. The other day, I had Regis and Kelly on in the background as I puttered around the house. They were having a "High Heel A-Thon," where basically women in three inch heels (!) sprinted for a $25,000 prize. It was INSANE. Kelly Ripa was participating, and she did her best, but MAN some of these women were fast. Like, crazy fast. In heels! The best part, though, was the sound of it, all these ladies running in heels. The woman who won ran track at Penn State. Where I am sure they did not run in three inch heels, which makes it that much more impressive.

5. My daughter has recently discovered how to shriek. Like, at will, and REALLY loudly. Ear-splitting, hair standing up on the back of your neck loudly. She's very proud of herself, but all I can think of is when we fly to Cape Cod later this month. If there is a Mommy God, I am praying to it that she will be okay on the plane. Maybe sleeping is too much to ask. But no shrieking? Please? PLEASE?

Have a good weekend, everyone!

So here's a newsflash: today is NOT Thursday.

This is something I realized only AFTER I bolted from the house, grabbed the garbage can, and hurriedly dragged it down to the end of our driveway, worried that I was going to miss the trash pickup. It wasn't until I was almost there that I saw the recycling, still piled in the same place. Which means...today is Wednesday. Whoops! This is especially annoying, considering that our trashcan has been so completely taken over by the squirrels that I am scared to even approach it, much less touch it. I have to kick it, hard, before I try to open it up, just to send them all scattering out of the hole they've made atop of it, usually with pieces of fried chicken or moldy bread in their greasy little paws. It is us against them, and truly, they are winning. Sigh.

In other news, thanks to my newfound addiction to Twitter---thanks to everyone who found me there (I'm at sarahdessen), I am no longer unfollowed or unfollowing----I discovered what is probably the ultimate in narcissism, at least for me: The Sarah Dessen Diarist. This is a website (and podcast!) put together by a very devoted Australian reader, and I would lying if I did not admit that I have been very much enjoying her breakdown of Lock and Key, chapter by chapter, thus far. I MAY have also downloaded the podcast, although I am not willing to admit it, just yet. Okay, fine. I did. At any rate, it's very cool to see someone take such time and depth with the book, and for me, it's like getting to read over someone's shoulder, seeing their reactions as they go, which for an author is either terrifying or wonderful. This is the latter. I am very flattered.

Okay, so on GMA they're about to talk about pet separation anxiety. Maybe they'll cover Boston Terriers who bark insanely whenever you try to leave the house, and Boxers who nip at your purse to make you stay? Better go see....

Have a good day, everyone!

Okay: time for a confession.

So I had this iTunes credit I got for my birthday, and I'm tooling around on the site, looking for some new music. Bought a couple of Weezer songs, something by the Old 97s. And then, I see this thing about audiobooks. And they have Valerie Bertinelli's book, Losing It: And Gaining My Life Back, One Pound At A Time. Now, I've written here before about how I was basically obsessed with One Day at a Time when I was a kid. So of course, I click on it. Next thing I know, I have the entire book on my IPod, and I'm basically inventing excuses to go out in the car by myself so I can listen to it.

I mean, it's got everything! One Day At a Time, Eddie Van Halen (LOTS of Eddie Van Halen) food issues, dish about Steven Spielberg (he doesn't like garlic!). I know, I know. I should be listening to War and Peace or something. But it's just so fun. And the book I'm reading right now---Lionel Shriver's A Perfectly Good Family---is kind of heavy, so this is the perfect pairing. Of course, I live in fear that someone will pull up beside me and hear Valerie Bertinelli reading about her sex life, and I will somehow have to explain myself. It does NOT sound like War and Peace. But still, so fun. I think next I'll look for Tori Spelling's book. There is no end to celebrity bios! Imagine all I will learn!

(Or, maybe don't. That's probably best.)

Speaking of things to love, last night as everyone was watching Le Tour, I crept into the other room and opened up my DVD collection. There on the shelf was My So Called Life, the entire series, which my editor gave me for Christmas last year. Score! I put in the one with the World Happiness Dance, and it was so, so good. They do say "like" a LOT on this show, though. It's kind of like me with my "you know," the sort of thing that once you notice it, you REALLY notice it. But still. So, so good. I plan on watching my favorite one of all time "Self Esteem," next. If you're a MSCL fan, you know which one it is: where, at the end, she's in the hallway? And everyone's watching? And he....

Sigh. It's even better than dishing about being married to Eddie Van Halen. Seriously.

Have a good day, everyone!

Happy Fourth of July!

Just a quick note on this, one of my very favorite holidays. And what's not to like? It's summer, a three day weekend AND.....it looks like Brenda might return to the 90210 remake as well! (Don't believe me? Here's my source.) I also saw Luke Perry on Regis and Kelly yesterday (sporting a kind of unfortunate mustache, if I'm to be totally honest) but he nipped any speculation about HIM returning in the bud. Been there, done that, was pretty much what he said. Which I can appreciate. But still. You never know, right? Dylan always was a little unpredictable.

On a completely unrelated note, I know I mentioned my Twitter addiction here last week. I've been having some issues with my account---for some reason a lot of follower requests weren't coming through, or something---so I've set up a new one. My username is sarahdessen, so if you're on Twitter and tried to follow me but it didn't work, please try again! I am following no one right now and kind of lonely. *sob*

Okay, not really that sad. How can I be? It's the Fourth of July!

I hope you all have a great, safe, food-filled, fireworks-blasting holiday weekend. Now, to make deviled eggs....

My daughter is ten months old today. Say it with me: how did THAT happen? Yikes. But she is such a joy, I can't even tell you. Really, I can't. Even for someone like me, who is never at a loss for them, when it comes to her there are sometimes no words.

(As far as her first words go, she's still partial to "Da-da." I only seem to get a "Mmm-Mmm," noise when she is hungry or wants to be picked up. "Da-Da," is joyous, "Mm-Mm" whiny. Gee. I wonder what THAT means?)

Anyway. In other news, it's July, and supercool writer Laurie Halse Anderson---aka halseanderson---(author of Speak, and Twisted, and many others) has begun a month long writing challenge. All she's asking is that you commit to fifteen minutes a day, and she'll even help you with prompts. I mean, how often do you get to write alongside a famous, amazing author? And who doesn't have five minutes to spare? (Okay, new moms, you are excused. Seriously. If you have fifteen minutes, you should be laying down, preferably asleep.) Anyway, it's a great thing, and perfect for a summer activity.

Finally, we are fast approaching my favorite holiday, The Fourth of July, and the beginning of Le Tour (on Saturday) so blogging may be spotty over the rest of the week. Not that you all care, as you will probably all be at the beach, sitting in the sand. Lucky you! I will be here, trying to come up with The Perfect Holiday Meal. We've decided we cannot do hot dogs: that is too basic. Lobsters were a possibility, but they are seriously high maintenance (and who wants to have to put them in the water? Eeek.). So maybe fish tacos? Or SHRIMP tacos? Or maybe we should go with serious Americana and bust out the shishkabobs. (Yes, Spellcheck, I know that's not right. Nor do I care!) I always like to do a big thing for the Fourth, when we celebrate summer being in full swing. So tonight, I'll sit down with my cookbooks and recipe lists and really brainstorm. In the end, I might end up running to Bojangles for the Tailgate Special. But see, that's okay too! That's the great thing about summer. Anything goes. Even fried chicken. ESPECIALLY fried chicken.

Have a great day, everyone!

Recently, someone left a comment asking me about time management, i.e. how I juggle the mom thing, and the writing thing, and the TV/Pop Culture thing. I've been hesitant to respond, because I worry that in doing so, it will seem like I actually AM able to juggle all of this, which I am not entirely sure of. Honest truth: it is day to day.

I used to be incredibly disciplined about my writing. I wrote seven days a week, two hours a day, until a book was done. If I skipped a day, or even cut one short, I felt horribly guilty and stressed out. Since I had my daughter, though, I don't have the luxury of control over my own schedule like I used to. I AM very fortunate to have wonderful babysitters, though, who come five days a week (when all is running as it should) for a few hours in the afternoon, so I can work. It is always tempting to spend that time doing laundry, or paying bills, or working out (which I desperately need, let me tell you, especially since I have to put on a bathing suit in a few weeks) but I have to be REALLY disciplined and sit down at the computer instead. It is My Time, the Only Time I Know For Sure I Can Work. So I do. And if the babysitter cancels, or it's a weekend, I just don't get to write. And you know what? Contrary to how I felt the last few years, the world does not end. In fact, I am tempted to say that the book I am working on right now might be even BETTER for the breaks I've taken from it, here and there, to mull things over and rest. But I guess only time will tell.

So mornings are for my baby, and errands, and my To Do list. Afternoons are for work. Early evening: bath, books, and bed. (For the baby, not for me. Although it is tempting, at times, to go down with her, even if it IS still light outside.) Then, I usually get to eat (if I'm lucky) and settle down with my DVR (super lucky) for a little escapism, or get into bed early with a good book (finished Tom Perrotta's latest yesterday, SO GOOD!). The next day, rinse and repeat. With, of course, allowing for the crazy variations that always come up. The truth is, some days are great. Some are terrible. Some days I feel like I'm actually making headway, others I am sure I have gone backwards, if not downwards. But that's the way it is for everyone, right? We are all just, as Owen Armstrong would say, doing the best we can, under the circumstances. And that is just fine.

Hope that answers your question. Maybe not. But like I said, it's the best I can do.
Have a good day, everyone!

The Friday Five!

1. Recently, I purchased a new toy for my daughter. It's called The Happy Home, or something like that, and is basically a large plastic thing with a door she can open and shut, and a fake mailbox, and about a million really irritating sound effects that come from a little fake radio attached to the back. We just set it up yesterday, and right away she hit one button on the radio, which then said, "It's bumper to bumper on the rainbow bridge!" My husband and I just looked at each other, totally creeped out. Because, if you don't know, the Rainbow Bridge is the thing they always talk about when pets die. There's a famous poem, or something, about how they cross the rainbow bridge but are still with us, or something. So you can understand why the idea of traffic on said bridge being bumper to bumper is a little morbid, to say the least. Luckily, my daughter does not yet have this association. Still, I think we'll turn the sound effects off. I have enough to worry about.

2. I just started reading Tom Perrotta's latest, The Abstinence Teacher, and I am LOVING it. I just really adore how he writes. His stories are just so real feeling, and he's one of those writers that just makes it all look so easy: descriptions, dialogue, everything. I'm pretty much in awe whenever I read his stuff, and I wish this book would last forever, or at least until he has another new one. As it is I keep sneaking off to read whenever I can, slacking on just about everything else. The laundry is piling up, but I blame Tom Perrotta. I can't help myself.

3. I can't believe it is almost July. In fact, I had that moment of panic today that always comes when I realize the summer is going by entirely too fast, and I need to be enjoying it more. I mean, I haven't even been to Maple View for ice cream yet! And I've only made deviled eggs once! I think we've been so busy with everything that's going on that we haven't been able to just SLLOOOWW down the way I like to, come summer. Maybe in July, though...

4. Maroon 5 is on GMA right now. They just played a new song, but now they're doing "She Will Be Loved," which is one of those songs that came out ages ago but is ALWAYS still on the radio. Remember how in Just Listen how Owen says how a song can bring you back to a place, or a time, and never changes? It's weird, because this song for some reason has always made me think of Just Listen. Not for any specific reason, just that it was popular when I was writing it, I guess. But every time I hear it, I think of that book. Odd, I know. But you can't control these associations, I guess. At least it's a nice song, though.

5. Finally, my cousin Ben recently convinced me to sign up with a service called Twitter, and it's a little scary because I am already kind of addicted. It's like Facebook status updates, but just that, and all the time. You can even set it up so that you get people's updates via text message, which I did with Ben, because I have all these text messages as part of my plan and never use them. It's pretty neat, I have to say. I'll just be hanging out with the baby, singing Old MacDonald or whatever, and my phone will beep. I'll check it, and know that across the ocean, in the UK, Ben is deciding what to eat for lunch, or just bought a new CD, or is going to bed. It's just sort of fun. Also, the only other text messages I tend to get are from my babysitters when they have to cancel on me, so I kind of had a bad association. Now it's like, "It's Ben!" Which makes me happy. Like Tom Perrotta, and "She Will Be Loved." But not the rainbow bridge. No!

Have a good weekend, everyone!

Okay, so you all know I am obsessed with Good Morning America. Today they had a segment on summer reading and...Lock and Key was there!
Okay, so it was in the background. And they didn't specifically mention it (they did talk about E. Lockhart's latest, so yay for her!). Still: VERY exciting. My book was within a foot of Chris Cuomo!

I think I need to go lie down now......

I'm feeling a little wistful that I won't be attending the American Library Association conference, which is happening this week. I didn't get to go last year (too pregnant), and maybe I could have swung the trip this year if it wasn't in California. I'm just not ready to have an entire country between me and my daughter yet (and even if I could, my husband's surgery and subsequent restrictions on movement and driving would have made it a no go anyway). Still, I love the ALA conference. Partially because I love librarians (who doesn't?) but also because it's always so fun to catch up with other writers who I never get to see except at conferences. Plus, this year I would have gotten to see my VERY FAVORITE librarian, who is now also a newlywed. Congratulations again, Matt and Jenny! Anyway, if any of you are going, have a blast for me. I want all the details!

We were supposed to go to Cape Cod next week, but now that's been postponed as well. Which means only one thing: we are back on for The Tour de France this year. Regular readers of this space know that my husband LOVES the Tour, and we have watched it faithfully for the last three years or so, ever since our neighbors, who are avid cyclists, got us into it. It is always a production. Big meals, lots of wine, LOTS of TV coverage, lots of people sitting around drinking said wine, eating said meals, and watching said coverage. Now, I'm a social person. I like having people over, especially now that my daughter goes to bed early enough so I can actually hang out and enjoy the company. But every year, I love the Tour....for about a week. I mean, I want to appreciate it the way everyone else does. I WANT to see it as the nail-biting, edge-of-your-seat event that it supposedly is. But after a little while, it's just wheels going round and round for me. And it goes on EVERY DAY (with a couple of days off) for pretty much an entire month.

In the interest of keeping peace within my marriage, I'm coming up with alternative viewing options for myself. I figure I can have the meal, the wine, the cheese, and the socialization. Then, I can creep into the other room where....I have the DVD of the BBC Pride and Prejudice, which I am saving for July. Like the Tour, it's set in Europe, there will be people in tight pants, and it's full of tradition and history. When I'm done with that, I think I'll move onto Mad Men, which I hear is GREAT. And if I run through that (entirely possible, I do have an entire month) there's all the chick flicks I've missed lately. Like Definitely, Maybe (which just came out on DVD) and Dan in Real Life (which is not a chick flick, but seems kind of emotional anyway). Plus a new season of Intervention, which I stopped watching last year (too pregnant and emotional) but am now, I think, ready to take on again.

So that's my plan. The Tour de Sarah. A full month of movies, TV, and maybe some deviled eggs thrown in for good measure. I will keep you posted on my standings and progress, starting on July 1. It's not ALA (what is?) but it should be fun anyway.

Have a good day, everyone!

I am back, after a busy weekend that included not only my last local reading for awhile, but also my twentieth high school reunion. Whew! The reading, at the North Regional Library in Durham, was great. Everyone was so nice, and I got probably the best introduction ever from Skip Auld, who performed, a capella, "The Potato Song" from This Lullaby. It was AWESOME. Thanks to him, and Angie, and Autumn, and everyone else there for making me feel so welcome. It was a great way to wrap up my Lock and Key stuff, at least for the time being. I tell you, all this promotion stuff was really fun, but MAN am I sick of myself right now. I am sure everyone else feels the same way.

Then, a few hours later, it was onto nostalgia, and my reunion. I attended with my friend Lars, who was also my date for the senior prom back in 1988. I think this confused a few people, who thought we were still together. Still, it was wild to see so many people after so many years. I ended up doing a lot of Mom Talk (par for the course these days, I suppose) and fighting this total sense of insecurity that hit the minute I pulled into the parking lot. Yeah, that's right, I'll fess up: I was nervous. Like, REALLY nervous. It's like I got within twenty feet of the door and regressed twenty years. How crazy is that? Lars and I sat in the car for a few minutes, freaking out together. Which, we realized, was a lot of what we did in high school, as well. But then we finally bucked up and got out and went in, and it was all good.

I don't know, I think I have a different connection to high school than most anyway. I mean, I do spend part of my professional life thinking about it, just about every day. It's a job requirement. So I guess it makes sense that those years carry a heavy weight for me. I'm still working things out, on the page. Maybe I always will be? Yikes.

I REALLY wanted to post my prom picture with Lars here, along with a shot from Saturday night but 1) I can't find my prom picture anywhere and 2) I think I might regret it, as I had both a big hair and a big dress, and do I really want that on the internet? Probably not. Some things are best left in the past, I think. Yeah. Definitely.

Have a good day, everyone!

The Friday Five!

1. Okay, so it IS Friday, right? I've been so thrown off of the days, not to mention the date lately...I swear, we've been so busy scrambling with everything it's like it all just runs together. But okay, yes, Friday. Good to know!

2. My daughter has suddenly decided that she does not like her breakfast anymore. Like, at all. Used to be, she'd happily wolf down her multigrain rice cereal and bananas, but now she's on a hunger strike and won't tolerate either. Is this normal for nine months? She does like Cheerios, but you can't just eat Cheerios. Can you? I have no idea how all this works, I swear. I can't believe they let me come home with an actual human to raise. It's kind of mind boggling, honestly. And I LOVE bananas, so this clearly isn't my genes talking.

3. Weeds is back on Showtime, and I love it, as always. But ever since my friend Courtney pointed out to me that Mary Louise Parker almost ALWAYS is chewing a straw, or eating something, or jingling ice in a cup, I cannot focus on anything else. Is this supposed to be a character trait? Or is it just a M-L P. thing? It's like when someone smacks their gum: once you hear it, you can hear NOTHING ELSE, ever. That said, loved the premiere, totally psyched for the new season. Straw chewing and all.

4. Speaking of TV, I keep seeing ads for this hospital reality show called Hopkins which is apparently like a real-life Grey's Anatomy (or at least that's how they're plugging it) and is starting soon. Now, I know it's summer and there's not much on, but I just don't know about this. I feel like I've spent enough time lately thinking about all things medical, and don't know if I have it in me for more health-related drama. Those shows are always more fun when they have nothing to do with your actual life. Following that logic, though, what I SHOULD be watching is So You Think You Can Dance, as I am doing no dancing whatsoever lately. Also, my friend Courtney and awesome writer Sara Zarr are both totally addicted to it, and we tend to like the same things. So, yes. Dancing over Doctors. Now there's an idea for a show!

5. Finally, someone recently sent me the link to this video a reader put together for This Lullaby, and I liked it so much I have to share. I don't know who or where you are, but thank you:



Have a great weekend, everyone!

Since we learned that my husband can't lift anything or drive for six weeks, life has changed around here considerably. And by changed, I mean that suddenly I am having to do a lot of stuff that I took for granted because HE was doing it for all these years. Like, say, bringing in the huge water bottles. And emptying the trash in the bathroom. But the biggest of all is the cleaning.

I am the first to admit that I hate doing housework. I am good at the little stuff: organizing the island, putting things away, doing a quick vacuum of the living room. But when it comes to all-out cleaning, I am LAZY. At least I can admit it, right? My friends were always in awe that I managed to find a guy who did housework, and the truth is my husband is really good at it. He is all about the Clorox Clean Up, and the rubber gloves, and getting down on the floor to do baseboards. Me, I kind of walk through, swatting a rag around halfheartedly, and call it done. It's always worked out, though, because he knew this, and we agreed I'd focus instead on what I was good at, like keeping up with all the household bills and fixing the computer and making lots of lists. This is marriage: you divide and conquer.

Now, though, that's not really an option. So my house is kind of a mess. I am trying to do better, really I am. But between taking care of the baby and the dogs and the husband, things are, well, falling a bit by the wayside. In fact, I SHOULD be vacuuming right now, while Sasha is sleeping, but instead I'm....playing to my strengths, and blogging. (See how I justified that? That's another thing I'm good at.) On the brighter side, it's been one week today since the surgery. Which means only five to go!

*sigh*

Okay, I have to go clean the bathroom now. I'll just check a few websites first.....

Have a good day, everyone!

After a weekend spent getting readjusted to not having to go back and forth to the hospital---which I am SO glad to be done with---things are slowly returning to somewhat normal around here. So much so that we have already moved onto new issues, such as the recently discovered fact that my daughter appears to be chewing the inside of her crib. I just noticed this yesterday, and I honestly don't know when she's been doing it. Plus, she only has two teeth! I mean, how much damage can you do with only two teeth? Apparently, more than you'd think. So today we have to pack up and head out to go look for something to cover the rail with. I am somewhat relieved that by the very existence of such products, as it means my child is not the only one who does this. But still.

In other news, a quick plug: I'll be reading at the Durham County Library this coming Saturday, the 21st, at 2pm. So if you're looking for something cool to do in the heat, come say hello. It's the same day as my (gulp) twentieth high school reunion, which is kind of crazy. If you'd told me back then that in twenty years I'd be reading at a library from my EIGHTH book, I would have laughed in your face. Suffice to say, I did not have high expectations back then for my future. If any expectations at all....

Finally, can I just say how sad I am that Top Chef is over? We've been so into it, watching the previous seasons (which they were running on weekends) and the new one, but last night we watched our VERY last one on the DVR (the All Star cook-off) and now....well, I don't know what. My husband refuses to watch Flipping Out, Work Out is over (and I was less than into it this year, for some reason). We are still working our way through Scrubs, which brings me so much joy I can't even tell you. I'm thinking about trying The Wire, which is one of those shows that people who love, LOVE LOVE LOVE. They're like I am about Friday Night Lights, that devoted. But it looks kind of depressing, which I'm not sure I can take right now. And then there's Weeds, which starts a new season tonight, hooray! It's the whole reason we have Showtime, no joke, Finally, it will start to be worth that extra ten bucks a month again. And at least it won't make me hungry like Top Chef did. I swear I was eating more at night than ever before. NOT good for bathing suit season.

Okay, time to pack up baby and husband and head out to run errands. I am caretaker extreme these days. Need something carried? Opened? Tended to? I am your girl!

Have a good day, everyone!

Just a quick note to say thanks for all the kind wishes for my husband. The surgery went fine and he's resting now, hopefully will be home for the weekend. Blogging will probably be a bit sporadic for awhile, though, if only because the doctors just told us that he can't lift anything---including the baby---for six weeks. SIX WEEKS. Yikes.

But you know what? I'm just not going to think about that right now. I'm just going to sit here, and listen to the nurses chat outside, and watch the Jonas Brothers on Live with Regis and Kelly. They seem like very nice boys, those Jonases. Although their pants are REALLY tight. God, I sound old. Sigh.

I promise, next week, I will return with my normal, innane entries about television and food. Enough drama, right?

I hope that you all have fun, broken-bone-hospital-trip-free-able-to-lift-anything-including-babies weekends!

So I thought about just writing an entry all normal and all, but in the interest of full disclosure I feel compelled to share that I am writing this from a hospital waiting room, where I am sitting while my husband gets his surgery. You may be thinking, "Good God, if there was ever a time NOT to blog, this must be it!" but the truth is I REALLY need a distraction right now. So here I am.

Also, it is FREEZING here. What is it about hospitals and hotels? No matter what the temperature outside, the A/C is always cranked.

Anyway. So I'm here, with all these other folks who are waiting. And a woman who is blantantly eating in front of a sign that says NO FOOD, which I have to admit is somewhat admirable (especially because I just trucked down two floors to eat a banana: I am such a rule follower, I swear). I have never really been comfortable in hospitals, even though I know that they are workplaces, like any other. You'd think that the fact that I've been watching Scrubs pretty much nonstop for the last few weeks would have desensitized me a bit to the gurneys and wheelchairs and hospital gowns and all that, but it's still a little unsettling. Between my mom being sick and having the baby and now this, I've been here a LOT in the last year. Let's hope this is the last time for awhile.

Why, oh, why didn't I bring a sweater? Or at least wear long sleeves? You'd think I would have remembered this whole arctic cold thing.

The craziest part about this whole thing is that while we were waiting, my husband's nurse started talking to him about his bike accident, and it turns out HE'S a big mountain biker as well. I mean, honestly! Here I am trying to get my husband to consider a safer hobby (like, say, stamp collecting, or needlepoint) but what is he doing in the minutes before going in to get his broken sternum repaired? Talking about the one thing that caused it in the first place with as much excitement and enthusiasm as ever. Honestly.

Okay, there HAS to be a warmer spot in here somewhere. Maybe I'l go sit under a light.....

Have a good day, everyone!

We are in the midst of a MAJOR heat wave here, with record breaking temperatures the last three days in a row. Now, I'm used to hot weather. This is North Carolina, it comes with the territory. But usually we have a gradual build towards it, of sorts. Not this year. We went from eighties to triple digits, with no time to get adjusted. So can I just say, WHEW! Even at 6:50 this morning, when I was out for a walk, it was steamy. Even the deer---which are EVERYWHERE at that hour, and not at all fazed as you come towards them, which is somewhat unsettling---looked hot. I have to say, though, that even these hot hot days are not as bad as last August, when I was nine months pregnant, it was REALLY hot and I was driving a car with no A/C. Also, a stick shift, and because my belly was so big I couldn't get close enough to the clutch, so I kept stalling out. My point: it's all relative. Even the weather.

In other news, a book recommendation. I was lucky enough to get an advance copy of Nina de Gramont's Gossip of the Starlings a few weeks back, and I absolutely loved it. It's a story about wealth and private school and the dark side of friendship, and now it's out, just in time for summer reading. Nina's an NC girl, like me, but I swear I'd love this book even if we didn't, as a rule, stick together. For serious.

Finally, regular readers will remember a post I did last year about how, when I was pregnant and craving watermelon, I was so excited when a fruit bouquet from Edible Arrangements arrived at my door. My elation was quickly followed by disappointment when it became clear that it was not for me, but my neighbor, who was not home and so they brought it to us, hoping we'd be able to keep it in their fridge until they arrived home. Which we did, even though it was TORTURE to be looking at all those strawberries, and watermelon, and melon, and not be able to have it. But! For my birthday, my best friend Bianca remembered all this and sent me my very own arrangement. I have been eating chocolate strawberries all weekend and lo, it is good. Yay for Bianca! I only wish she was here to share it with me, as she also REALLY likes chocolate covered strawberries. But her birthday is in August, so.....

Okay, off to get some stuff done before it gets over ninety. Have a good day, everyone!

Following tradition, here are 38 things I am thankful for on this, my 38th (gulp) birthday:
1.My daughter, who made this year the best yet, hands down.
2. My husband.
3. My family.
4. My dogs.
5. My friends.
6. Red velvet cake.
7. The return of 90210!
8. Ben Lee.
9. Lock and Key being released and well received.
10. Deviled eggs.
11. Top Chef.
12. David Sedaris has a new book out!
13. Air conditioning. (Especially today, when it's going to hit 100.)
14. The Moonakis River and Waquoit Bay.
15. Sleeping in. (All I want for my birthday, truly.)
16. My baby's laugh. (The best sound in the world.)
17. The lilies blooming on my porch. (Squirrels be damned!)
18. New Nars blush.
19. Lantern Restaurant, Chapel Hill, NC.
20. Scrubs on DVD, so many seasons to go!
21. Shrimp burgers at the beach in September.
22. Dark chocolate.
23. The smell of honeysuckle in the early morning.
24. The possibility of a Sex and the City sequel.
25. Tim Riggins. Tim Riggins. Tim Riggins! (so nice, gotta say it thrice)
26. Birthday money to spend on a pedicure.
27. The Democratic primary race is finally over!
28. Having learned to ignore my email occasionally.
29. Daylight past 8pm.
30. Goodnight Moon.
31. Havianas flip flops.
32. The word "ya'll," (said without mockery).
33. Naps.
34. Clem Snide's "All Green" ("Summer will come, with Al Green and sweetened ice tea....")
35. The last sentence of the writing day. Especially when it's a good one.
36. Carrburritos, Carrboro NC
37. Being done with Ebay forever!
38. A brand new year, starting today.

I hope you all have a great weekend. Stay cool!