La vie, toujours, la vie

Aw, guys. I really want to thank you for sticking with me - I know I've been all over the place lately, and I'm so glad you're still here.

My mom was visiting for the last week and we had the loveliest time. We ate at Resto, shopped at Ann Taylor (I bought this sweater), and visited the High Line. We also tried to navigate the insanity of the TKTS booth in Times Square (result: an hour in line and NO tickets to Mary Poppins). Here's the view of the insanity inTimes Square (photo by Mom):

And my mom is on a restricted diet as of late so making up a menu was a challenge: limited dairy and animal protein, limited wine, no refined sugar, everything multi-grain and whole wheat. Here is one thing I made while she was visiting:

Food and Wine's Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Cabbage and Pine Nuts, served with ricotta-topped grilled bread (I omitted the ricotta on my mom's plate).

I've also been busy working on my iTunes playlists. As you know (here and here, among others), playlists play an integral part in my kitchen and eating life. And with the new computer, I've had to work on reorganizing my 10,000+ tracks. A huge task but one I love, actually.

Also, those of you who have been reading awhile are familiar with the Soul Twin and her husband, My Other Husband. They've had a family tragedy recently that has left me feeling helpless and sad. Ugh. I'm just sick over the whole thing, and I don't know what to do. Cooking, hugs, love...sure, that's all great but it won't bring someone back who never should have left. Shit.  I just can't find words.

But I was going through the blog the other day and looking through past posts (from waaay back!) and thinking about things that I've done, what a full life I've had, and how much I've laughed.  And how much amazing food and drink I've had.  So if you'll indulge me, I'm sharing my trip down memory lane with you:

Back when I still blogged children's books, I went bowling during BEA with Chris, Jack, Scott Westerfeld, and David Levithan.

My first souffle!

Adam and Bug: one of my first photos with my new camera

Homemade calamari is so simple!

Relaxing at home while Adam was on a business trip (this was a Stratus Chardonnay).

A trip to Florida with the Soul Twin

My first taste of Cubanisimo's Rosado

My trip to Anguilla that I never did tell you guys all about, as I promised.

Mixing work and foodie pleasure with In-N-Out (thanks again to Liz Burns and Angie Manfredi for creating one of my favorite conference memories)

Golden Globes party with the Soul Twin 

Beer, sausages, and pretzels for breakfast

My first macarons at Bastille Day 2011!

Lastly, on a really high note, I have to share a video with you. I've been mum about it but now it's known worldwide that Dogfish Head Brewery and some Googlers collaborated on a beer together: Urkontinent. Guess who's Google-y husband spearheaded the project? Mine! Guess who's husband got to brew beer with Sam Calagione of Dogfish Head? Mine! I couldn't be prouder of Adam. The video is below. It's a little on the long side but I promise that it's entertaining and you'll learn some interesting stuff about the brewing process. Not to mention that there's a tall, cute blond guy for you all to look at. Enjoy!



Eat, drink, and let someone know today that you love them.

BEA Hangover

Not literally, of course. But I do have that head-hurting, body-aching, totally exhausted feeling after my BEA weekend. I blame the bowling. Here are the highlights:

- For a short time, SLJ has a picture up of the panel I was on during the Day of Dialog. A recap of the whole day is here.

- I went to a tea with children's authors where we sat at a table with an author and/or illustrator and had the opportunity to really discuss their work on a one-on-one basis. Among the authors in attendance were Jon Scieszka, Libba Bray, Suzanne Collins, Kristin Cashore, and many others (in particular, I heard glowing reviews from Sarah Dessen's table). I was fortunate enough to sit with Christopher and Walter Dean Myers, both of whom have books coming out with Egmont USA: Riot (written in the same screenplay format as Monster) and Looking Like Me, which is the picture book illustrated by Christopher Myers. It was a fun discussion with lots of good-natured jabbing across the table between father and son, as well as some interesting conversation about identity, race, and the human experience. Riot will be released in September 2009 and Looking Like Me is available in October.

- I saw Tiger Beat with Stacy and Jenn at Books of Wonder on Friday night and they killed. Libba Bray rocked both "Superstitious" and pink tights with Converse. Yes!

- Tiger Beat event was followed by KidLit Drink Night, which was SO much busier than previous KLDNs! But I had the awesome opportunity to meet Pink Me (yes!), MotherReader, and Rebecca Stead (who I talked to for waaaaay too brief a moment!). I also hung out with well-known friends and colleagues Bethany Hegedus, Kekla Magoon, Heather Scott, Molly O'Neill , Michael Santangelo, and Melanie Hope Greenberg.

But, wait! There's more!

- I attended a reception for Egmont USA's inaugural list at Hosfelt Gallery (swanky!). However, I was feeling rather anti-social by that point so I cornered Ellen Greene and made her talk to me the whole time. There was a fab band playing and a few authors even danced. Servers also passed around goodies and there was a fantastic mushroom flatbread that Ellen and I swooned over. Overall, a lovely soiree.

- My last event was bowling at Lucky Strike Lanes with Little, Brown in celebration of Geektastic: Stories from the Nerd Herd, their analogy edited by Holly Black and Cecil Castelluci (Jenn's review). Name a major YA author and they were there: Libba Bray, Scott Westerfeld, Justine Larbalestier, David Levithan, Holly Black, Sara Zarr, Barry Lyga...and those were just the ones I recognized! I also got to hang out with two of my favorite YA librarians, Jack Martin and Chris Shoemaker. The best part? Competing with Scott Westerfeld for last place honors - it's hard to be intimidated by your favorite authors when you're bowling with them!

Eat, drink, and thanks to all the publishers and authors who made BEA so much fun!

SLJ Day of Dialog; or The Day I am Over-Chicked

The news is officially out: I am going to be on a panel at School Library Journal's Day of Dialog, which will take place before BEA begins. Here is all the info:

Panel I: THE BLOGGER, THE BOOK, AND THE BUZZ

Are bloggers having an impact on what we read, what we add to collections, what we recommend? Here what avid bloggers Liz Burns (A Chair, a Fireplace, and a Tea Cozy), Laura Lutz(Pinot and Prose), Cheryl Klein (Brooklyn Arden), and author Libba Bray have to say about it.

Moderated by Betsy Bird, SLJ blogger and librarian, New York Public Library

We'll be on from 9:15 - 10:15 a.m...which is wicked early for me to get from Queens to Brooklyn. Dang. The magic day is Thursday, May 28th.

So a few years ago, I did something awesome for the Husband...I don't remember what it was now. But Adam shook his head and said, "Dang, I am so over-chicked." I was, like, "What is that????" He explained that it was a phrase he picked up at work, and it is meant to describe a man who is with a woman who is just waaaaay too awesome for him. Or, for instance, when you see that couple out on a date and she's dressed up smash-bang beautiful-awesome...and he's the schmuck in jeans? Yep, he's over-chicked.

So I'm feeling insanely over-chicked on this panel. I mean, have you seen this group?! I'm over-chicked big time. It will take everything in me not to start laughing in the middle of it all and exclaim, "What am I doing here?!?!"

Nevertheless, I'll keep it under control, make sure to look really cute, and have a great time. With this group, I expect lots of sarcasm and laughter...not to mention that I'll learn a crapload of new stuff, I'm sure.

Be there or be square, dudes.


* Anyone else see the spelling error in the panel description? It's torturing me slowly and painfully...please change it ASAP, SLJ...before I lose it...

Linktasticness: The Young Readers' Edition

I'll admit it: children's literature has gotten short shrift from me lately. I know, I know. It's just that, with all the bacon and wine out there, I was momentarily distracted. But I'm about to remedy that and give kids' books their due.

• Teen blogger extraordinaire, Miss Erin, has a new look to her blog. Lovely. It inspires me to change my look at some point, as I used the generic Blogger design when I started up. Someday soon...
  
• So this is late of me to be reporting, but SLJ has kicked off their 1st Annual Battle of the Books. BOB has their own blog, and Brown Bookshelf also had a great post about it. I've filled in my picks and I'm hoping my friend/colleague Lori will compete with me: winner gets a bottle of Casa LaPostelle Sauvignon Blanc - one of our shared favorites. Like everyone, I can't believe the Frankie/We Are the Ship match-up...come ON!


• I just got the inside tip - and hopefully it's okay to share - that School Library Journal will be hosting their first-ever Day of Dialogue (but they're spelling it Day of Dialog?) at BEA this year. It will be on Thursday, May 28th. Stay tuned for more news!
  
• Books of Wonder here in NYC is having a ridiculous amount of events coming up. I would love to meet Dan Yaccarino and, while I don't feel the need to attend the event, I do have to compliment Viking for Troll's Eye View: A Book of Villainous Tales : that cover is absolutely wicked awesome! Not to mention that the book is a veritable who's-who of children's and YA authors. Well done!
  
• I was forunate enough to meet one-on-one with the Director of Children's Publicity and Marketing at Chronicle Books recently to hear about their upcoming titles. It doesn't come out until September, but I am particularly excited about Creature ABC by Andrew Zuckerman, which is a concept book version of his adult title Creature . It's stunning and will appeal to a large age range - keep an eye out for it.


• At a publisher's preview yesterday, a couple of us were bemoaning the fact that we hadn't read anything truly exciting lately. What's going on? Even if I'm hearing buzz about the book, it usually has a cover that so turns me off that opening the book becomes all but impossible. Lots of meh. Especially in the middle-grade fiction department: I keep joking with my YA compatriots that they get all the good stuff! Picture books are faring better - here are a couple of the books I'm really excited about*:

- The Lion and the Mouse by Jerry Pinkney (Little, Brown, 9.09)
- Tsunami by Kimiko Kajikawa, illustrated by Ed Young (Philomel, 2.09)
- Birds by Kevin Henkes, illustrated by Laura Dronzek (Greenwillow, 2.09)

- Rhyming Dust Bunnies by Jan Thomas (Beach Lane, 1.09)

- Dinotrux by Chris Gall (Little, Brown, 6.09)

- Wink: The Ninja Who Wanted to be Noticed by J.C. Phillipps (Viking, 3.09)

• Eli, Peyton, and Archie Manning have signed with Scholastic to publish a picture book called Family Huddle. I'll admit it: I'm totally judging this before I see it. And so are you.
  
  

* Based on what I've seen so far. For instance, I haven't seen Goldilocks and the Three Bears by Gennady Spirin or A Book by Mordecai Gerstein yet. I also really want to see Redwoods by Jason Chin.