Punky Princess

It all started with a pair of mismatched shoelaces.  

At the beginning of the school year, I bought the princess I pair of black and fuchsia sneakers.   They were the kind with two laces on each shoe, one fuchsia and one white.  Well at that time the princess was still trying to master the complexity of the double knot and because she had two sets of laces, it was inevitable that they would end up dragging on the ground.  After my attempts to have the dragging laces prompt her to really learn how to tie her shoes effectively failed miserably, I settled for removing the one set of laces on each shoe to make it slightly easier for her.  Well by this time the fushia lace on her left shoe was thrashed and unthreadable as was the white lace on her right shoe...I'm sure you can see where this is going.

When her dad saw her shoelace situation, he immediately told her she looked just like Punky Brewster.  This prompted her to pepper him with questions about Punky, the TV show, why she wore mismatched shoes etc.  By the time her weekend with him was over,  the princess' obsession was in full swing.  Now months prior I happened to buy a DVD of the first 8 episodes of the show when I saw it in a discount bin, probably out of nostalgia as Punky Brewster was one of my favorite shows growing up.  This put me at instant cool mom status with the princess and we proceeded to watch all 8 episodes and I tried to answer all of her questions...of which there were many.



"Mom, is Punky an orphan like Annie?" "Mom, why is one pant leg shorter than the other?" "Oh Mom, Margaux likes pink! Do you want to be her?"  "Mom, Henry is so old! He said he's 60! Is he going to die?"
"Look Mom, Punky has a picture of Michael Jackson on the wall! Are you so excited?"*  "Can we get a dog and name him Brandon?" "Can you paint my room like Punky's?"

I could go on, but I'm sure you get the point.

I thought the DVD fest would have purged her Punky love, but alas, this weekend she asked if we could watch all the episodes again, and we did.  She has decided to be Punky for Halloween, and has dubbed a stuffed puppy from her collection "Brandon."  She asked if we could go see Punky and meet her in person and when I explained that Punky is now Mom's age and has her own little girls, she refused to believe it.  I had to pull up Soleil Moon Frye on Google Images so she could see I was indeed telling the truth.  Her incredulity at her beloved Punky being older than her own mother was pretty hilarious.  I think her exact words were, "Wow, what happened to her?"or something to that effect.

A huge bonus of the princess' new interest?  I'll bet she'll never get locked in a refrigerator.


*Much to my chagrin, the princess continues to remain ambivalent on all things Michael Jackson related. 

Dash and Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan {Review}

From Goodreads:
I’ve left some clues for you.
If you want them, turn the page.
If you don’t, put the book back on the shelf, please.”

So begins the latest whirlwind romance from the New York Times bestselling authors of Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist. Lily has left a red notebook full of challenges on a favorite bookstore shelf, waiting for just the right guy to come along and accept its dares. But is Dash that right guy? Or are Dash and Lily only destined to trade dares, dreams, and desires in the notebook they pass back and forth at locations across New York? Could their in-person selves possibly connect as well as their notebook versions? Or will they be a comic mismatch of disastrous proportions?

Rachel Cohn and David Levithan have written a love story that will have readers perusing bookstore shelves, looking and longing for a love (and a red notebook) of their own.

Let the David Levithan love fest continue! I found this book to be so sweet and funny and clever I couldn't even stand it.  Dash and Lily's Book of Dares reunites David with the fabulous Rachel Cohn with whom he co-wrote Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist  and their chemistry is amazing.  I love the rhythm and flow of the story as we hear from each title character's point of view.  Also, my romantic heart is enchanted by the concept of finding the love of your life in a bookstore because it seems like the thing really good romantic comedy dreams are made of.

Anyway, I loved the plot, dialogue and characters in this book, not do Dash and Lily make you want to stay up past bedtime reading about their adventure, but there are also so many other colorful characters in this book that are laugh out loud hilarious.  I have never been to New York City (though it is on my bucket list) but between The Strand bookstore and all of the other different locations described in the book, I cannot wait to go there and have my own Dash and Lily tour!

The Lover's Dictionary by David Levithan {Review}

From Goodreads:
A sweet and touching modern love story, told through dictionary entries.

basis, n.
There has to be a moment at the beginning when you wonder whether you’re in love with the person or in love with the feeling of love itself.

If the moment doesn’t pass, that’s it—you’re done. And if the moment does pass, it never goes that far. It stands in the distance, ready for whenever you want it back. Sometimes it’s even there when you thought you were searching for something else, like an escape route, or your lover’s face.

How does one talk about love? Do we even have the right words to describe something that can be both utterly mundane and completely transcendent, pulling us out of our everyday lives and making us feel a part of something greater than ourselves? Taking a unique approach to this problem, the nameless narrator of David Levithan’s The Lover’s Dictionary has constructed the story of his relationship as a dictionary. Through these short entries, he provides an intimate window into the great events and quotidian trifles of being within a couple, giving us an indelible and deeply moving portrait of love in our time.

This book is absolutely delightful.  I read it one sitting and loved every single entry.  David wrote this book as a Valentine's Day gift to his friends, and you can literally feel the heart on every single page.  I want to write a brilliant review that makes you want to buy the book, but I would just feel like a fraud trying to compare my words to the beauty of David Levithan's.  In promoting the book, David created a Twitter account and tweets definitions that didn't make the pages of the book, but are still absolutely amazing.  Here are a few of my favorites, some funny, some thoughtful, some sad, but they do paint a better picture of what you can find between the pages of this captivating novel. 

 

Grievances

Dear Facebook,

I get that you need to pay the bills and post ads on your site, but why does every ad on my particular page have to do with landing a man or losing weight? I mean seriously FB, I have a mother, a child, and various happily married friends to make remarks on my endless singledom, you too?  You too? 

Xoxo,

Spinster Sally

Dear Blackberry,

Remember how you kept dying on me?

Remember how I'd try to make calls and you'd freeze for several minutes at a time?

Remember how I had to call my wireless provider for a replacement phone 4 times in 13 months?

My new Android phone and I say, Deuces Biatch!

Xoxo,

Bet You Can Hear Me Now

Dear Princess,

Four rounds of Miley Cyrus' Ordinary Girl is really enough.

I promise.

Xoxo,

No Mommy's Ears Are Not Bleeding

Dear Teenagers Next Door,

Shut the hell up. You're too loud.  I do not need to know whom was giving whom what under where at so and so's house, while the princess and I are trying to master compound words.  Learn to respect others around you and perhaps I won't run you over with my car next time I see you.  Thanks a bunch.

Xoxo,

Get Off My Lawn

Dear New Health Insurance Premium,

You suck. Seriously. Thanks for nothing.

Xoxo,

You Could Have At Least Bought Me Dinner First

Dear Co-Worker,
There is no such thing as a mute point.

You're welcome.

Xoxo,

Gertrude the Grammar Lady

Dear Oprah,

I heart you. Really I do. Did you have to go to Australia and make it look so amazing? Now I feel as though my life won't be complete unless I too experience the magic of the land Down Under! Thanks for giving me another thing to add to my growing list of impossible dreams.

Xoxo, 

Sophie McSinglemothersbudget

Dear Winning Lottery Ticket,

That custom pink dream house on the beach and dream trip to Australia can't buy themselves.

I'm right over here. kthxbai

Xoxo,

All About the Benjamins

Dear Butt,

Shrink.

No. Faster.

That is all.

Xoxo,

Forever on a Mission: Deheiferization

The Mockingbirds by Daisy Whitney {Review}

From Goodreads: 

Some schools have honor codes.
Others have handbooks.
Themis Academy has the Mockingbirds.Themis Academy is a quiet boarding school with an exceptional student body that the administration trusts to always behave the honorable way--the Themis Way. So when Alex is date raped during her junior year, she has two options: stay silent and hope someone helps her, or enlist the Mockingbirds--a secret society of students dedicated to righting the wrongs of their fellow peers.
In this honest, page-turning account of a teen girl's struggle to stand up for herself, debut author Daisy Whitney reminds readers that if you love something or someone--especially yourself--you fight for it.

This is a quick and engaging read that really made me think days after I read it.  I absolutely loved the heavy influence and reference to my favorite book of all time, To Kill a Mockingbird.  I was really impressed that the author was able to convey a message without becoming overly preachy or schmaltzy like a bad PSA or even worse one of those Lifetime movies.  The story was enthralling and full of memorable characters, the plot moves quickly, and I enjoyed the overall themes of justice, paying it forward, and standing up for yourself what you believe in.


It also looks like there's going to be more than one book about The Mockingbirds which is exciting for me. I am looking forward to seeing how the characters in this story develop in the next one!

Hollywood's Prom

Am I the only geek who loves award shows?  I love the Golden Globes a lot more than the Oscars because everyone's drinking and tripping over each other as they navigate through those huge tables.

Sidebar - I actually have a recurring dream where I win a Golden Globe (Best Screenplay fyi) and my dress gets caught on Meryl Streep's chair and I trip and fall into Leonardo DiCaprio's lap.  Instead of getting upset that I've landed all of my plus size arse on top of him (though in my dreams I'm always a LOT thinner), he does a scoop and hold like Kevin Costner did to Whitney Houston in The Bodyguard and gets me to the stage.  I KNOW right?

Last night's Globes were a bit of a mixed bag.  I was happy to see The Social Network win so many awards but I was really hoping something would go to Inception as well since for me it was the best movie of the year, maybe even my life.  Some of my favorite moments:

• Chris Colfer winning for Glee and saying he left his heart somewhere between Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore. Really his entire speech was awesome.
• Paul Giamatti not being able to get over the fact that Halle Berry presented him with his Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy award
• Robert DeNiro's Cecil B. DeMille acceptance speech. Totally awkward despite the fact that he's the greatest actor of our time.
• Toy Story 3 winning Best Animated Film. (I may or may not have gone into the ugly cry when they showed the clip)
• Jim Parsons winning Best Actor in a Comedy for "The Big Bang Theory." Bazinga.
• Aaron Sorkin's acceptance speech for Best Screenplay. "Elite is not a bad word, it's an aspirational one."
• Melissa Leo screaming "Mama I won a Golden Globe!" after her supporting actress win
• Joseph Gordon Levitt's enthusiastic intro to the Inception clip.  Hello adorable dimples.
• Ricky Gervais making everyone in the audience profoundly uncomfortable which was hilarious to watch.  I have to laugh at some of the celebs' reactions about him being mean spirited and what not, seriously go dry your eyes with a $100 bill.

Now my favorite part has always been the fashion! I love when everyone brings their A game and dresses up in all their fancy finery.  I'm not a fan of Joan Rivers-esque critiquing so I'm only going to show the dresses I loved.

Anne Hathaway.  Very 80s inspired but I thought she pulled it off beautifully and I especially loved the low back. 

Mila Kunis. Loved the color and the drama. She looks like a movie star should look. I think everything about this dress says "suck it Macaulay Culkin"

Christina Hendricks. I have such a girl crush on her. I love a girl who knows how to work the va-va-va voom. Plus she's a ginger!

Emma Stone. My girl got nominated for Easy A! I loved that movie and thought she looked young and fresh and very ingenue-ish. Well played Emma.

Claire Danes in my favorite color. Although I loved her Emmy dress much more than this, I think she looked beautiful and classy and was excited to see her win and get another chance to ogle her cutie pie British husband Hugh Dancy.

 

Really Halle? Really? Really? I totally understand Paul Giamatti's befuddlement.  This is just unfair to the rest of us mere mortals.

 

Did you watch the Globes this year? What was your favorite part? Who's dress did you love or hate?

“Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and consciencious stupidity.” - Martin Luther King Jr.

Recently I've been feeling less than hopeful and defeated about the direction our country is headed.  It seems as though rhetoric and bluster have replaced common sense and diplomacy.  I don't get political on this blog or anywhere else usually because I am fairly passionate in my beliefs and I get all riled up.  

In the spirit of looking ahead and harnessing hope, I wanted to share Dr. King's famous speech in it's entirety with you all today.  I can't ever watch this speech without crying.  Truly one of the greatest speeches in the history of the modern world and it always makes me fills me with gratitude for every person who came before me.  I won't pretend that I've never experienced racism but I have never had to experience the civil injustice my grandmother's generation experienced like being in a segregated school or having to protest my basic civil rights as an American. I recognize and appreciate this every day and feel so blessed that even with all of the imperfections of this world, we wake up every day to possibility.

Enjoy and feel hopeful today.

An Evening with David Levithan

David Levithan is amazing.  Let's just get that out of the way first.  If you have never read a book of his, you are truly missing out on a key element of happiness.  His writing connects with me on a level that I can't possibly describe (not well anyway).  It's as though everything I think about myself or about life, or about people in general is absolutely positively validated within the pages of his books. 

David usually sticks to the YA genre, but at the beginning of this year, he branched out with his first adult fiction book, The Lover's Dictionary.  I had the chance to meet David at the Festival of Books last year but as we know I also met John Green simultaneously and I was so high on the Nerd Love that my interaction with David is unfortunately fuzzy.

Recently, I was lucky enough to get the chance to redeem myself when David came to LA for a signing! It was held at Book Soup in West Hollywood on a Monday evening.  I am not a fan of driving into LA proper and it was a school night, the princess' first day back after 3 weeks of winter break no less but the chance to see David again and be less of a freak show was completely worth it.  I don't think I would have made the trip for anyone else (except John Green of course).

I had never been to Book Soup before this since it's over an hour's worth of traffic away from me and I tend to be a bit of a Borders girl.  It's an awesome indie book store with incredibly high shelves and all sorts of random books with particular interest to books about Los Angeles.   The store is located right on Sunset Blvd so naturally parking was an issue.  I circled and circled and circled trying to find the parking lot but I finally gave up and found a parking garage about two blocks away ($12 thank you very much).  I was slightly bummed that I would have to walk so far to get back to the book store but in the spirit of seeing the glass half full...now I totally know where the restaurant Ketchup is which I'm sure you fans of The Hills can appreciate.

Shortly after arriving and purchasing two more of David's books (Love is the Higher Law & How They Met and Other Stories) my book signing buddy Jessica and I were browsing when we noticed preparations being made for some sort of cocktail mixer.  Apparently before the signing there was food and drink being served in David's honor.  Now Jessica and I suffer from the safe affliction called Awkward Turtle Syndrome.  We briefly conferred together deciding on whether or not the party was invite only or if it was open to the general public.  In the midst of our conference, who walks past us but David Levithan himself looking completely adorable in a lavender button down and purple patterned tie!  He looked right over at us as he passed and said, "Hey guys!"  OMG...like he totally knew us!

Be proud of me people, I did not freak the freak out! Instead I did a mild fangirl gasp and resumed my conference with Jess on whether or not we would attend the mixer.  Now given the nature of our disease, instead of asking someone if it was invite only we just lurked in the corner.  Now don't panic, being socially awkward means we have lurking down to a science so there was no creepy mental patientish behavior, we just browsed the YA section while subtly eavesdropping and staring at the back of David's head.  We are so awesome*.

By the time the reading rolled around, my friend Jana had arrived and we all sat right in the front while David read entries from sections A & B of The Lover's Dictionary.  Funnily enough the reading took place in the erotic fiction corner of the bookstore which David mentioned several times and even picked up a few of the books and read their titles.  Hee.  I think it's fair to say I felt slightly swoon-y  while listening to the reading, not because I have romantic feelings for David (which would be totes futile btw) but because I'm in love with his writing.  He is freaking brilliant at capturing the complexities of the human experience.  To me, he is one of the most divinely inspirational authors in the world.  He makes writing look effortless when I can tell you from experience that it is so mother flipping not.  (This blog post took me 4 days to write btw.) 

After the reading we all trailed back to get our books signed.  I made sure to tell Jess not to let me spaz out this time and to give me a shove if David started to look creeped out by me.  When I handed him my books he gave me a smile and this look like the two of us were in on a secret.  I have no idea what the secret is, but I think it was that he wants us to be BFF.  As he was signing each of my books I would blurt out things like, "I really love that one!" or "OMG where was Dash when I was in high school?!?" or my personal favorite when he got to Love is the Higher Law, "You told me I would LOVE that one and you were right!"  His response was a slight chuckle and then, "Well that was presumptuous of me, I'm glad it worked out."  Um, mortification party of one because I really meant that we talked about the book during the FOB and he told me the he *hoped* I loved it since I hadn't read it yet. Then Jess being the true friend she is murmured to me to mention the now famous ARC tour of Will Grayson, Will Grayson from last year and my fangirl systems were at full go when he lit up and said "Oh yes! That was you guys! You know we actually couldn't decide who would take it home so we ended up...and this is so horrible, but we actually flipped a coin and John won."** Be proud of me again people because on the inside I DIED but on the outside I just excitedly said, "that's so awesome! Maybe you guys could do joint custody or something."  Then a bunch of other stuff happened that I don't remember because as I previously mentioned, I DIED.  Thank goodness the girl behind us asked if we wanted a picture because I would have completely spaced otherwise! (I almost wish I had spaced because that pic of me is horrible!)

Then it was over and I was sad to leave but also happy and incredibly inspired.  I don't presume that I will ever write as well as David Levithan, but if I can write something that affects someone the way he has affected me or write something that comes from such a real and true place as his writing comes from, then I will consider myself successful even if no one ever reads it but my mother.

*Dear Jess, I hope you're not mad at me for publicly proclaiming our joint affliction.  The first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem, or so I'm told.


**OMIGOD! OMIGOD! OMIGOD! THEY FOUGHT OVER OUR ARC! THEY EACH WANTED TO TAKE IT HOME! OMIGOD! MY SIGNATURE IS INSIDE OF JOHN GREEN'S HOUSE! MAYBE IN THE SAME ROOM WHERE HE RECORDS HIS VLOGBROTHERS VIDEOS! MAYBE HE STARES AT IT AND THINKS ABOUT ME! MAYBE I'M A PSYCHO! MAYBE THIS IS THE BEST THING THAT HAS EVER HAPPENED TO ANYONE! OMIGOD!

Happy New Year Darlings!

I haven't posted in what feels like forever. FOR.EV.ER.

I am definitely resolving to get back to updating the blog a lot more regularly. Life kind of kicked my arse through December but now I'm here and looking forward to sharing all kinds of fun times, good books, and rambling stories!

Oh and I gave the Pinkysphere a bit of a makeover for 2011.  What do you think? Too pink? (As if that's possible!)