If I Stay by Gayle Forman {Review}

When I attended the LA Times Festival of Books this past April, this book was not in the forefront of mind. I went there with the goal of finally meeting two of my favorite authors, John Green and Meg Cabot, and getting my books signed. Luckily for me, Gayle Forman just so happened to be attending the FOB and my friend Jessica had just read and reviewed this book and raved about it. Naturally, when she raved about it Gayle couldn’t have been more gracious and awesome and it made me want to read her book even more, so I bought it immediately and she gave me a personalized signature. Seriously…for a book nerd like me, moments don’t get any sweeter than that. Once I read If I Stay, I wished I could have that moment with Gayle back again so I could tell her a) she’s an amazing writer, b) her book is phenomenal and c) thank her for literally making me bawl like a newborn baby.

The unbelievably superb writing of Gayle Forman is what drives home the emotion of this book. I don’t think I would have ugly cried half as much as I did had she not given me such accurate, honest characters to relate to. Often times, books like this can be pure emotional manipulation, and even though I end up crying I sometimes feel cheated out of my tears. Not this book. I felt like as much as I loved the characters, Gayle loved them even more and she took such great care of the throughout the story. The subject matter is fairly dark, but overall I felt threads of hope, the affirmation of life, and the love of a family. It’s one of the most heartbreaking and touching books I’ve read.

PS- I tried not to give away too much plot in this review because there is a sequel, Where She Went that releases in April and I am bouncing off the walls to read it!  Trust me when I say, If I Stay is a must read.

#25 - Watch 10 Foreign Films (1)

I can't believe this movie has been out since 2001 and I haven't seen it yet! Normally it's something right up my alley.  It's a quirky romantic comedy that takes place in Paris.  That's an absolute no brainer as far as my film choices go.  I knew about it of course but for some reason it always slipped to the back of my mind.  Luckily, my tendency to blog stalk (275 blogs in my reader thank you very much) helped bring it to the forefront of my mind.  On one of my favorite blogs Love Street, blogger Leslie is doing a 30 day photo challenge, and one day the challenge was a picture of her favorite movie which naturally was Amelie.  Seeing that made me remember how long I've wanted to see this movie and I instantly clicked on over to my Netflix queue and put Amelie right at the top of my list. (Funnily enough it was already there just waaaay down at the bottom.)

First can I say how much I love movies set in Paris? Paris always seems to become an additional character of the story no matter what the movie is about.  Amelie is such a beautifully shot movie, I wanted to sit right inside the Café des Deux Moulins and people watch.

The plot of the movie is absolutely enchanting! Amelie is a quirky, fun, and charming character and watching the dare I say shenanigans she gets into is absolutely delightful.  All of the characters are memorable and fun to watch, and there is such  a huge amount of heart, romance, and pure joy throughout the entire film.  I think I was smiling the entire time, even through reading subtitles and relying on my 3 years of high school French to fill in the gaps (sadly 14 years of not using said French does take it's toll).  Awesome movie! 1 of 10 down.

Do you have a foreign film you would recommend?

Mockingjay: The Aftermath

This post is spoiler free.  Didn't I mention how shankable I think people who spoil are?

I was up until 2am finishing this book.  My tear ducts are sending me hate mail, and my fuzzy mental capacity is reminding me that I am an old fart that needs to be in bed at a decent hour to fully function the next day. 

But I don't care.

I felt so many different emotions over the course of reading this book. Elation, devastation, fear, anxiety, hope, depression, anger, passion, all of it is in the 390 ish pages of Mockingjay.

Suzanne Collins, you are a mother flipping brilliant writer.  Thank you for such a powerfully written series. I enjoyed it immensely and plan on reading about Katniss, Peeta, Gale, and Panem again and again.  

I've been reading a few comments of people who have read it and they are nitpicking about this, that, and the other because it wasn't up to their heightened expectations I guess. I kind of have to roll my eyes at that because as a whole, the series is genius, and Mockingjay did for me, exactly what the final book of a series should do...it left me breathless, and I'm still thinking about it hours after reading it.

Stephenie Meyer - take note. That's how you end a book series.

Happy Mockingjay Day!

Who else has been looking forward to this since they finished Catching Fire? I think I was pretty profuse in my exclamation of how much I love this series, but oh man am I STOKED!! I tried to be a sneaky sneak and order my copy from Book Depository in May hoping that they would ship faster and I would end up receiving my copy earlier.  No such luck, it shipped today and I had to hoof it over to Borders this morning to grab a copy.  Luckily the sent a 50% off coupon and also a deal to purchase a Mockingjay keychain. Almost a year ago I purchased a bunch of Mockingjay pins and gave them to friends who also love the series, but I forgot to get one for me!  Given my love of book nerd swag, you know I am in heaven!! 

PS- People who post spoilers deserve to be shanked!

PPS - Don't bother me, I'm reading.

Me & The Mayer: Round Two

After a brief Inception fueled hiatus where I was conflicted over the direction of our relationship, John wooed me back...just like he always does.

You might remember on our first date back in March when I saw him at the Staples Center in my first concert since 1999.  My seats at that time were um...less than stellar and so while I enjoyed the show because of course I was seeing John Mayer, I was at Staples, and I was wearing my dressy grey and black boots that make my legs look thin, there was a certain something missing. I figured I would have a long time to wait before I would get the chance to see him in concert again, but luckily just a few weeks after the show I saw, he announced a summer tour and this past Sunday night at the Hollywood Bowl, I discovered what was missing.  It's not even something I can name, but oh my heck did I have the best time EVER!

Let's break it down. Since I found out about the show right after it was announced, I was able to buy tickets during the pre-sale and scored really awesome seats, in the Terrace section which are only two sections away from the stage.  Given the seats I had last time, this was an ultimate score and only managed to excite me even further.  Day of the show I hopped a shuttle with my friend Melissa, and we made the bumpy ride up the freeway to the Hollywood Bowl and met up with my friend Jessica and after gathering the necessary provisions *cough,alcohol,cough* we sat in our fantastic seats and chatted and people watched while Owl City performed.

After they finished their set, I finally started to eat the Subway sandwich I had been carting around for nearly 2 hours.  I had just taken a huge bite when I looked up and saw former One Tree Hill star, Chad Michael Murray walking right past me looking hella gaunt and frowny face wearing a grey knit cap and hoodie.  I think I almost broke Melissa's wrist when I grabbed her, but that's only because I was about to choke on my sandwich, and if I die at a John Mayer show, I want to do it like a true fangirl and pass on during a melodic guitar riff, not on a sandwich and be this generation's Mama Cass.  I was kind of sad that CMM wasn't up to his standard level of hotness, it would have been nice to have a little Lucas Scott action right before the Mayer came out.  Be proud of me for not stalking him during the show, you know I was totally tempted. PS- we totally had better seats than him.

Just a few days before the show, John posted a note on his Tumblr telling us that he wanted to do something worthy of the Hollywood Bowl, and he would do a brief collaboration with just guitar and piano with fellow musician Brad Mehldau.  This brief little interlude of four or five songs pretty much summed why John is my favorite musician.  He and Brad were freaking awesome together.  It wasn't about production value or guitar face or what dumb thing he said in an interview...it was beautiful.  Not only did he perform "Stop This Train", which is one of my favorite songs of his, they also did this astounding cover of The Verve's  ''Bittersweet Symphony."  I lost my mind and turned into a huge puddle of girlish squee from that point on.

The actual set was of course ridiculous, John proceeded to rock out clad in a white v-neck tee shirt and Dockerish pants full on shaggy hair, and my favorite pretty red and blue guitar that I named "Swirly."  He played quite a few songs from "Heartbreak Warfare" which I loved like "Who Says" and "Perfectly Lonely", and I nearly hyperventilated when he played "I Don't Trust Myself With Loving You" from Continuum.  I don't usually listen to that song all that often because well, let's just say it does things to me.

The weird thing about the Hollywood Bowl is that it's not really a stand up and rock out kind of venue.  The seats are folding chairs contained inside of these little boxes and you're about six deep in a box.  It's kind of awkward to stand up because your arse is directly in the person behind you's face, so I sat for most of the show and danced in my chair, although during "Gravity" I did have to get up and sway for a minute. (That song kinda owns me.)  For his encore, he played "Edge of Desire" which was a pleasant surprise to me, it's one of my favorite songs on the album, and to hear it live was such an awesome experience.

I was really conflicted about writing this post because I knew I would basically fangirl throughout the entire thing, and that since I don't have a fancy pants camera my pics aren't super fabulous, but seriously...I can't even explain the high of watching the man you love musician you have admired for nearly a decade do what in my humble opinion, he was put on this Earth to do.  His songs have been the soundtrack of my adulthood, and judging by the thousands of people packed into the Bowl who were singing and swaying right along with me, I'm not the only person who feels that way.

I wish he would just propose already.

Book Review: Beautiful Creatures by Margaret Stohl & Kami Garcia

Another paranormal teen romance?  Why yes, yes it is.  I really love the premise of this book.  A male narrator, a relationship that is not all heat, longing, and intense looks across the room, but awkward conversations, even awkwarder interludes, family interruptions, and a centuries old mystery of the paranormal variety? Sign me up!

I actually had not planned on reading this book because of all the reasons you might think.  When I went to the Festival of Books last April, I was fortunate enough to sit in on a paranormal YA panel that included one of the authors of this book, Margaret Stohl.  She read a passage from the book and I was immediately intrigued and wanted to immerse myself in the world of Ethan and Lena, and the town of Gatlin.

This story is not your standard cutesy YA fare.  In fact, I daresay it has a very dark side and the paranormalness is (if you're a chicken like me) quite intense. I was fascinated by Ethan and Lena's pull toward each other because it really seemed to be instantaneous and I wanted to see where it led.  The story takes a very long time to come together, I found myself having to turn back a couple of times to remember names or places or specific paranormal gifts to make sure I was on the right track.  Even after reading the entire thing, I'm not sure I understand exactly what happened, but I do know that I want to read the second book in what I'm guessing will be a trilogy when it's released in the fall.  Given my love for book two of series, I'm sure I will be even further convinced that being slightly freaked out by the scary is absolutely worth it to spend more time with Lena and Ethan.

Book Review: Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

Normally I'm not a fan of hype but when I kept hearing so many wonderful things about this book I had to buy it.  I really loved this story, and I hated it too.  It is frustrating, cruel, exciting, unfair, and beautiful.  I was convinced that reading about a girl who kept living the same day over and over again would be boring and repetitive.  I could not have been more wrong.  I ended up reading this book in one sitting because I wanted to know what happened so badly. I was so impressed by the realness of the characters.  Lauren Oliver paints such an accurate picture of a modern day high school, with the typical social hierarchy and the effect of the pressure of popularity.

I was not a fan of the main character Sam in the beginning.  She was such an obvious follower, so focused on keeping her spot at the cool girls' table at any cost.  I knew girls like that in high school.  Heck, I know grown women who still behave that way, and believe me it is not pretty at any age.  I love that Sam has to come to terms with this fake person she's created by reliving the same horrible day over and over again.  As the day kept repeating, I felt like I got to know the real Sam, not the popularity hungry Mean Girls clone she turned herself into.  In fact, as the story unfolded and the inevitable conclusion became clear, I found myself feeling teary eyed, wanting to keep Sam from doing what ended up being the only way to make the day stop repeating.  (Is that spoilerish? Sorry if it is)

When reading about this book in the blogosphere, lots of people compared it to the Bill Murray film Groundhog's Day.  I guess it has that same sort of premise, but I really loathed that movie.  I did not loathe this book.  Lauren Oliver is another debut author, and she has another book coming out next February called Delirium.  I for one, can't wait to read it!

3 Things

Happy Friday! Just a few things on my obsessive freak show of a mind!

Thing 1 -Young Adult books
This entire summer, all I've read are YA books and I have loved pretty much every single one.  I am constantly hearing/seeing/reading about people who have attitude over the idea that a rational thinking responsible adult (like myself) would find anything remotely interesting in stories for teenagers.  Let me share my theory. The people who are writing YA books now are in my age range.  I think I relate so much to Maggie Stiefvater, John Green, Sarah Dessen, Megan McCafferty, and the like because they aren't just writing for teens, they are writing for the teens that they were. 
 Again, it's just my theory, I'm not an expert or anything but when I was a teen (back in the dark ages), the YA books weren't always readily available or they were written 10 or 15 years prior to me reading them for the first time.  It's not that those books weren't great, but they were just insanely outdated.  Are You There God? It's Me Margaret had me believing that feminine hygiene products came with belts.  I had a hard time relating to Stacy McGill's so called "cool, urban, and hip" wardrobe because the descriptions of her outfits were from the 80's and I didn't start reading The Babysitters' Club until the early 90s.  Now the YA genre has exploded into so many different avenues! The writing is almost always dead on, poignant, and honest and I usually find myself transported back to a simpler time when I wore babydoll dresses and combat boots and wanted nothing more than to get an A on my English final then marry Leonardo DiCaprio.  Sorry book snobs, YA is the poo, so take a big whiff. (Snaps to anyone who knows what movie that's from!)  Oh and read this New York Times essay on adults reading books meant for youngsters. Very insightful!


Thing 2 - Joseph Gordon Levitt
Ok, we all know I have a tendency to fangirl. I would pretend to be embarrassed about it, but really, why bother?  I've decided that I need to marry Joseph Gordon Levitt.  I've always liked him as an actor, and enjoyed his movies, ((500) Days of Summer anyone?) plus he is in what is quite possibly my favorite teen movie of all time 10 Things I Hate About You (RIP Heath).  After watching Inception, where I was so freaked out by his pimptastic performance, I almost forgot about Leo (I know, right?)  I went from respect and admiration to full on Team JGL!

Usually when I become crushed out on someone new, I may or may not spend my quality time Internet stalking checking into their background in the least psychotic way possible. Now that my um, investigation is over, I've come to a serious conclusion.  I love him.  He speaks French, plays the guitar, wears suits, and he founded a production company for aspiring artist types to have their original work used and viewed via collaborative efforts of other aspiring artist types or something like that.  Very cool.  Oh and when he doesn't shave, he can look remarkably Heath-esque.  Did I mention that I love him?  Oh and watch this (thanks YouTube and NYT!) 4 minutes of heaven which I basically consider his proposal to me.



Step it up John Mayer, you now have some serious competition.

Thing 3 - Words I Dig

Boyfruits is my new favorite word.  I have to use it in a sentence at least once a day.  I'm going to try and cut back because I don't want to annoy myself, but thank you Maggie Stiefvater for introducing this word into my regular rotation! (It's used in Linger btw).  

Speaking of Maggie, (see what I just did there?) the winner of the blog contest for a signed paperback copy of Lament: The Faerie Queen's Deception is:

Ashley!

Congrats Ashley! Your book is on it's way to you (or at least it will be once I go to the post office today)! Thanks for entering everyone!

What  are you currently obsessed with? Is there a boy that makes you tingly? (I know I'm not the only one!) What books are you into right now? Should I lighten my hair or leave it dark? (something else that's on my mind)

No Day But Today...

Remember a few months ago when I reviewed Anthony Rapp's memoir, Without You?  That was the time I confessed to never having seen the musical RENT performed live?  Well shortly after I wrote that post, the schedule for the Hollywood Bowl summer season came out and it turns out Neil Patrick Harris was directing a production of the show for HB's Summer Spectacular series.  Thanks to one of my Twirlies, dubrillionaire, who has her finger on the pulse of all that's cultural in Los Angeles, I along with some of my other fab girlfriends were able to score great seats for an awesome price!

I'm going to admit to being a horrible blogger because I took no photos.  It's hard to document something when you're full of squee and bouncing up and down for three hours! We rode the shuttle into the Bowl which is an excellent tip because parking is pretty much a cluster! The only downside was on the way back home we had to deal with four overly excited girls who decided to basically scream at each other the entire ride back to the shuttle stop.  30 miles in Los Angeles traffic listening to one girl make an incredibly loud and passionate argument of why Soulja Boy is better than Lady Gaga.  I really wish I was kidding.

So anyway, the show was absolutely fantabulous! I was really worried that since I had been waiting 16 years to finally see it live, my expectations would be unrealistic, but the show has the exact impact that I was hoping for. I was so happy to see all of my favorite songs performed, like La Vie Boheme and I'll Cover You.  I was so excited and I couldn't help but sing along! (mostly quietly)

A definite standout moment for me was Nicole Scherzinger's performance.  She is definitely not Idina Menzel, (who is the musical theater goddess I worship) but she sung the hell out of Take Me or Leave Me with Tracie Thoms who was also phenomenal.  Tracie played Joanne in the movie version of RENT, so I knew she could sing, but seeing her live on stage was another story.  The two of them brought the house down, I had to stop myself from having a Hallelujah moment!  Blatantly stolen from YouTube:



Another highlight was for sure Wayne Brady playing Collins! I think the world at large knows how talented he is, but his voice was made for Broadway! He was freaking fantastic, especially during the "I'll Cover You Reprise which is sung after the death of Angel. (spoiler alert)  That's the one time I cried.  It was a pretty cry though, a few streaming tears I was able to quickly swipe away.  See for yourself. (Yes I stole it)



I could show a bunch of clips forever, but the main point is RENT is pretty much running neck and neck with Wicked as my favorite musical of all time.  I can't wait to see it again!   I even bought a t-shirt! Kudos Neil Patrick Harris, it was one of the best experiences I've had this year!

Linger by Maggie Stiefvater {Review}

I think I must have second book fetish.  I always seem to love the second book of a trilogy or series more than I loved the original novel. This is true for New Moon, Catching Fire, Second Helpings...I could seriously go on.  I absolutely loved Shiver, the first book of this series.  Maggie Stiefvater's writing is lyrical, descriptive, and poetic. She just makes me want to live in the world she creates.  (This is saying a lot btw, I'm from California and can't imagine volunteering to live where the temperature drops below 60 degrees.)  

Linger picks right up where Shiver left off.  Grace and Sam are together but neither feels certain about the future.  There is an introduction of a new wolf named Cole, and we are able to read from his and Isabel's POV in addition to Sam and Grace's. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this change. Normally I find multiple POVs confusing but it was a refreshing outlook to see inside of Cole's head, and Isabel is always a snark and a half which I love so it was great to see where she was coming from as well. I was pleased to see that the angst, longing, and intensity did not disappear from Sam and Grace's relationship dynamic, in fact I would even say it was that for me it seemed heightened given their circumstances.  I love the way Maggie fully indulges the emo. I also love that her books are in colored ink.  The ending is yet another cliffhanger and it freaked me out more than the ending of Shiver.  I am only disappointed that I have to wait a whole year to find out what happens in the third and final book, Forever.  

Reading this book makes me even happier that I met Maggie and had my copy signed. Speaking of the book signing, if you read Maggie's blog recap of her book tour, you will see my big head in the audience! 

Also don't forget to enter my giveaway for a signed copy of Lament: The Faerie Queen's Deception! It ends August 12th at midnight!

Flashback Friday

Flashback Fridays were started by the fabulous Jacki at the equally fabulous book blog, Lovely Little Shelf to showcase books that we loved from our childhoods.

The Ramona Quimby series by Beverly Cleary was a huge favorite of mine as a little girl.  The last book in the series I ever read was Ramona Forever and it is most definitely my favorite.  I was completely smitten with Ramona probably because unlike my insecure childhood self, she was fearless.  She always seemed to follow her first instinct and didn't spend time worrying about what other people thought...well not until later at least.  Ramona Forever is a great story because so many big changes happen in the Quimby household.  Mrs. Quimby has a baby, Mr. Quimby finally gets a stable career, Aunt Bea gets married to Howie's uncle, Beezus becomes a hormonal teen, Picky-Picky the beloved family cat passes away, and Ramona actually manages to save the day at Aunt Bea's wedding.  I loved these books so much as a little girl, I was sad to see the series end.  Luckily, there's another book Ramona's World which released after I was too cool to read books about elementary school kids.

This past weekend I spent a little quality time with the princess and took her to breakfast and to see the new Ramona & Beezus movie.  I pretended to be ambivalent over which choice of film but thank goodness for Selena Gomez who was the deciding factor in us seeing it.  The movie was very well done, and very true to the entire spirit of the books.  I may have teared up a few times during the particularly poignant scenes between Ramona and Mr. Quimby (played by John Corbett).  I think it made me emotional because I realize that I identified more with Mr & Mrs. Quimby now, and that princess is a totally a Ramona. 

What's This? A Giveaway?

Remember when I was so excited because I got the chance to meet Maggie Stiefvater? Remember how I got there HOURS before the signing?  Remember how I had her sign my books and acted like a big freak? Well what I failed to mention is that the copy of Lament: The Faerie Queen's Deception that I purchased isn't personalized, just signed. So...how about a giveaway?

My reasons for hosting this giveaway are two fold. Fold one, I'm benevolent like that. Fold two, my friend Jessica hosts a book club on her blog and the August selection is...you guessed it! I figured hosting this contest early in the month would give me enough time to mail the book to the winner so he/she could read it by the time the discussion happens Monday, August 29th and Tuesday, August 30th.

So in short, enter to win a signed paperback copy of Lament: The Faerie Queen's Deception by Maggie Stiefvater! To enter, just leave a comment below.  Yep, that's it. Oh and you have to pinky promise you'll participate in the discussion on Jessica's blog, not just win the book and show it off to your friends. (I know how we book nerds operate)

• Contest ends on August 12, 2010 at midnight PST
• You must be a follower of this blog to enter
• You must be at least 13 years of age
• You must live in the US or Canada (if you're from the UK and have a hot brother/uncle/single, young looking silver fox of a father we can talk)

Good luck to everyone! I'll announce the winner on that day and give instructions how to claim your prize!

The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson {Review}

From the first sentence, this book captivated me.  It is hard to believe that this is Jandy Nelson's debut novel, she writes with such richness and honesty.  I loved every single character and was reading as slow as I possibly could in order to savor every word.   The Sky is Everywhere is the hauntingly beautiful story of Lennie (named after John Lennon) and her slightly unusual family who are still recovering from the death of her older sister and best friend, Bailey. A book nerd and band geek, Lennie doesn't know who she is without the beautiful and vibrant Bailey. To help her along the way are her sister's grief stricken boyfriend Toby, her cannabis loving, handlebar mustached Uncle Big, her sage and gardening Grandma, and the new boy in town, Joe Fontaine. 

Let's just have a small moment of inappropriate girlish swooning over Joe Fontaine.  Where were you when I was in high school? Where are you now? Seriously. 

Ok anyway, in all seriousness this book is masterfully written.  It is a poetic, understated beautifully worded portrait of a young girl's grief and self discovery.  There's nothing but real, raw honesty in Lennie's voice.  Even though the circumstances and particulars of the plot may be shocking to some, every single moment rang true for me. I experienced all the colors of emotion reading this, I laughed, I ugly cried, I laughed and ugly cried again, I swooned over Joe Fontaine (I know I'm such a fangirl).  I loved this book.

If you don't read any other book I review (and you should since I have awesome taste but whatevs) please read this one.  If for some reason you have attitude about reading YA novels (shame on you if you do) you should read this one.  It is literary, smart, dynamic, complex, and heartbreaking...it's brilliant.  

Did I mention that I loved this book?

Chagrin/Delight

July was full of highs and lows.  Here are some highlights.

Chagrin - My ex got into a really bad motorcycle accident and needed to be hospitalized for nearly two weeks. 

Delight - He's ok now, and the princess doesn't have to worry about not having her daddy around anymore.  Double delight - he's selling his bike and getting a car like a normal person, and his wife and I have reached what I feel is a good place in our relationship.

Chagrin - I found out that because of my vast wealth, (note sarcasm) I do not have enough financial aid money to go to school in the fall.  This setback sent me into a deep spiral of emo in which I contemplated life as a mime, becoming a high class call girl, or selling my kidney on the black market.  It was not pretty.

 

Delight - The idea of not having papers to type or textbooks to read does give me the gift of more free time. I can work on my writing, read the zillion books I've got sitting on my bookshelf, take the princess to the La Brea Tar Pits, which are all things I've been putting off because school was such a huge priority.  It still is but I know it'll always be there for me to go back to, and in the meantime it's not like I'm starving or destitute.

Delight - I used my one week vacation to take a trip to Vegas with some girlfriends and had the best time ever.  I also had the chance to meet and hang with some of my fellow online book club nerds.  I'd go into more detail, but really what happened there should totally stay there.  Those Vegas marketing peeps totally know what they're talking about.

Chagrin - What is up with summer SoCal?  We had one week of heat and now it's been chilly and overcast.  Did you not get the memo that it's mid freaking summer?  Get your act together!

Delight - I met tWitch! If you are a hardcore fan of So You Think You Can Dance (and I am) you'll know that tWitch is a mega talented hip-hop/freestyle dancer who was runner up on Season 4.  He's also really good friends with my amazingly fabulous and awesome friend Leah and just so happened to be in Vegas while we were there and I got to meet and hang with him for a little bit.  He was really nice and did not judge me for my fangirling.  I am so sad that I hadn't seen his routine with Alex Wong when I met him because I didn't get to freak my freak about it...on second thought that was probably a good thing.  Oh and for those who are curious, he's super hot. Definitely. Incredibly. Hot.  That is all.

Chagrin - I spoke earlier about wanting to get back to concentrating more on my writing.  My Nano novel was garbage but I'm glad I finished it last year.  Right now I have a WIP (work in progress) but it's really raw and in the beginning stages.  I feel really frustrated like there's a story in me that just wants to get out but I'm not sure how to get it from the tangles of my mommy brain.

Delight -  Inspiration to write came in the form of a meet and greet with one of my favorite people.  Heather is a friend (and future NYT Bestselling author if we're lucky) who came to sunny SoCal for a writer's conference.  Her blog always gives great tips and helpful hints to aspiring writers like myself, but while I was waiting for her in the lobby of the hotel, some other people attending the conference involved me and eventually Heather in conversation about our current work, I felt so impotent in that moment...I literally had nothing to say.  I was so jealous that she and Jessica (another future NYT Bestseller) would be attending the conference and getting all this great info and insight, but mostly I was mad at myself for procrastinating and not believing enough in myself or in my talent as a writer to actually just write the damned thing so that I could be the conference if I wanted to.  After I had dinner with Heather and Jessica, I went home and spent an hour brainstorming and frantically scribbling about my story, what my author voice is, what I want my book to say, and so on.  Now that I have the time, the means, and the motivation, who knows? Maybe there's room for me on that bestseller list too.  

On to August.