Easily Distracted by Shiny Objects

The Romance Writers of America conference is next week, and when my husband asked if I needed any new clothes this year before I went, I said "no." I had REALLY good intentions of not buying anything. Honest, I did. And then my friend wanted to go shopping because she was going to the conference, and ended up at Macy's. In the shoe department. In the middle of a clearance sale. Need I say more?

I'm easily distracted by shiny objects, particularly ones that have high heels and a red clearance price tag ;-). I had just been in Macy's a couple days before and bought two pairs of shoes. So I KNEW I shouldn't be back. (Not to mention the two pairs I bought online at DSW just a couple weeks ago. Aren't those black heels awesome? I loved them. They're still on clearance at Macy's, FYI, both online and in the store. But I didn't tell you that, LOL.)

So I should have been smart and completely bypassed the shoe department, going straight to the Petites, where my friend needed to go.

But the shoes CALLED to me. I swear.

So I stopped. Just for a second, I told myself. Like a sugar addict passing a candy counter, just to inhale the scent of chocolate.

I found several in my size on the rack, tried them on, and told myself I was only going to buy one pair. But the other women in the store loved them all and even the sales guy drooled over one pair in particular. (though that might have been more out of a guy stiletto thing than anything else). And so I was talked into buying ALL of them.

I don't have pictures of all...um...FIVE pairs of shoes, but I got some really cute black and white ones with bows on them, these neat Anne Klein pumps, some hot Guess stilettos, and a pair of simple denim slides.

And then guess where we ended up later that night? At the mall. Which had...a DSW (if you have never been to a DSW and you love shoes, you MUST GO. It is the HUGEST SHOE STORE EVA. A positive shoe MECCA. Try the online store for great buys, too).

But you all would be proud of me. Even though I came within an inch of buying some Jessica Simpson stilettos, in the end I talked myself out of them.

Because they didn't have my size in red ;-)

(and if you want to read more about my shopping expedition, plus see a pic of the really cute denim slides Cathy and I got for $7.50, marked down from $50, go to Cathy's blog today. She has a picture of the two of us, too, before we went shopping).

Shirley

Priority: Shoes, Before RWA Conference

I blogged over on eHarlequin today about preparations to get ready for the RWA conference. Zip on over and read it if you have a chance--and while you're there, don't forget to take advantage of the FREE 16-book download Harlequin is offering to celebrate their 60th anniversary!

Shirley

Another Birthday :-)

Today is my birthday, which is something at my age you have mixed feelings about celebrating, LOL. The number is the problem--not the gifts ;-) I've just decided I'm going to pick an age (I'm picking 35) and sticking with it for as long as I can get away with it.

I know, I know, I should embrace my age and be proud of it. Should go around proclaiming to the world that I'm now out of the 30s and into the 40s (ugh, ugh, ugh).

That picture, BTW, was taken at Isaac's restaurant in Plymouth, which is right on the harbor. My daughter took it (she's pretty good, and is planning on taking photography classes). We went to Plimouth Plantation that day and saw the Mayflower II, along with one of the Tall Ships. It was a great day--one of the very few days when we had great weather in Massachusetts, LOL.

Anyway, today I'm planning on having lots of cake ;-) and maybe buying myself something I wouldn't normally buy :-). My teenaged daughter wrote me the SWEETEST note ever--made me cry--and I think I'm seriously going to have to frame it. That alone is the best present ever, and makes me glad to be the age I am. If I wasn't, I couldn't have such a sweet 15yo ;-)

Shirley

Fourth of July Fun

Yesterday we went to Plimouth Plantation and the Mayflower. Did the whole tourist thing, talked to the re-enactors and learned all about the hardships the Pilgrims went through (stuff I learned back in grade school, the last time I toured PP, but I had forgotten since then, of course). It was a beautiful day, and we got to see, as a bonus, one of the tall ships. Had a blast.

Then headed down to Plymouth Beach and saw the fireworks on the beach and bonfires. VERY cool and fun. LOVED it, and LOVED being on the beach. Sigh. Makes me want to move back here.

I took my son down to the beach for about a half hour and just sat on the sand (before it got dark). It was so peaceful and pretty. I really, really love the ocean.

Then I woke up this morning to a nice surprise--Barbara Vey of Publishers Weekly is featuring THE WELL on her blog, with a review from a teen who loved it! a nice way to start a holiday!

Hope you all have a great Fourth!

Shirley

Martha's Vineyard--Fun Even in the Rain

We just got back from two days on Martha's Vineyard--a lot of that spent in the rain. You'd have thought, since I grew up in Massachusetts and spent more than half my life here, that I would have gotten to the islands at least once in my life.

Nope. Never. This was my first trip there.

It was GREAT. Very pretty and cool shopping :-). We only spent one night there at the Mansion House Hotel and Spa. A really nice place to stay, if you're looking for a hotel (and one where you have your own bathroom, LOL. Lots of them have shared baths). Very luxurious, and had a great pool and fitness room (and yes, I did get up early and work out this morning).

The hotel also had a rooftop patio with tables and chairs, which is where I took this photo--which doesn't show Vineyard Haven in all its glory, but it was...surprise, surprise, RAINING AGAIN. I think they're gearing up for a second arrival of the Ark out here in Massachusetts, LOL.

But we had fun shopping, went to the Black Dog bakery, and bought a bunch of things in the gift shop, too. We went over to Oak Bluffs, saw the gingerbread houses and the Flying Horses (the oldest still-operating carousel in the nation).

On the ferry ride back, it started pouring rain, thunder and lightning. We all got drenched, but at least it was at the end of the trip, not during. We did get in a little beach time the first day (enough to get a slight sunburn ;-) and lots and lots of walking.

Oh and FABULOUS food. For dinner, I had crab cakes...so much better here on the East Coast when you know the crab is so fresh. For lunch, I had lobster on a salad (divine!). And tonight, when we got back, my stepmom had Boston Creme Pie for dessert. Heaven :-)....though I think it pretty much negated that early morning workout, LOL.

Shirley

Witches and Authors, Oh My

We went to Salem, Massachusetts yesterday and had a great time. The weather started out terrible--rainy, cold, miserable. Eventually the rain stopped and the sun came out. It was in the 70s, and muggy, but hey, NOT RAINING. :-)

We went to the Salem Witch Museum (very interesting!) and Count Orlok's Nightmare Gallery and my daughter and I toured the House of the Seven Gables (the one Hawthorne based the book on) and even climbed the VERY tiny and VERY narrow secret staircase.

That photo above is of my daughter and I at Finz restaurant on Pickering Wharf (I had the most amazing coconut-mango gazpacho with crab and then a really great pan-seared scallop salad with a mango dressing. I like living in Indiana but I MISS SEAFOOD). After walking around Salem all day, the family apparently hadn't had enough walking, LOL, so we zipped over to the North Shore Mall for some power shopping. Okay, the GIRLS did power-shopping. The guys mostly sat and waited for us ;-)

I loved Salem. Loved all the history, all the cute little shops, loved being where The Scarlet Letter was written (one of my favorite books). It was fun.

Off to explore the Vineyard today for a couple days, and no laptop coming with me, so I'll be back later in the week!

Shirley

I traveled 16 hours for this?

The family and I drove sixteen hours on Saturday (up at 4 a.m., got here at 8 p.m.) to come to Massachusetts for the holiday weekend to visit my dad, stepmom and brothers. When we left Indiana, it was eighty degrees. Sunny weather predicted, a beautiful week.

Here, it's been 62 and rainy.

I'm near the BEACH. And it's yucky. We were hoping to go to Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard, all the nice, BEACH stuff and it's MISERABLE weather. It's like someone forgot to tell Mother Nature that it's summer out here in Massachusetts.

Yesterday, I put on a sundress (my 11yo took the picture) in hopes that it would coax the sun out of its hiding place. Didn't work. I had to cave and change to jeans by 1 that afternoon.

Sigh. I want SUN. I want to put on my new swimsuit that I worked SO HARD to fit. The weatherman promises better weather later in the week, but if you've read Really Something, you know I often wonder where weather people get their information ;-). [I did interview a real and very knowledgeable and very accurate weather person for the book, BTW, so it's no reflection on her capabilities, but some of them...that's where the Crazy Eight ball reference came from. DD and I were joking one day about how on earth they predicted a day of sun and nice temps and we got six inches of snow. And I said they must be using a Crazy Eight ball].

Anyway, my hopes are still high. We're planning something indoors today JIC, and holding out hope for the beach as the week goes on. I've got lots of shorts and flip-flops and only one pair of jeans with me.

Optimist all the way, even though I was raised in New England, LOL, and should know better ;-)

Shirley

Reading: Michael Connelly's THE BLACK ICE (just finished THE BLACK ECHO and loved it)

Working Out and Working

Last year, I hit the big 40 (though if you ask me, I'll deny it, LOL, and my darling teen daughter is backing my story of being in my mid-thirties still ;-) and at some point this year it hit me that I either get in shape now or I'm going to look like the Hunchback of Notre Dame crossed with Dumbo by the time I'm 50.





So, DH and I cashed in some reward points and used them toward a shiny new Nordic Track Elliptical machine. Those who are faithful readers of my blog know that I once sold my treadmill so I could buy a recliner. LOL. And you wonder why I have an issue with needing to work out??



(I've also been on a ridiculously tight book deadline, and trying to eat really lean, which is why the recipes have been pretty sparse around here, folks. Sorry. No baked fettuccini for me for a while ;-).


I was excited about the elliptical machine but not really sure I'd commit to it. I had, however, been doing pilates ab exercises for several weeks, though, and noticed a difference already in my waist, and was anxious to see something happen with the other seven million body parts, so when the Nordic Track was installed, I went down to the basement, with good intentions.





I think I lasted eight minutes the first time ;-)





Now I'm up to at least 30 minutes, 5 or 6 times a week, followed by a 20-minute free weight/floor work routine that varies from day to day. And a few days a week, I walk a 3.3 mile loop with my friend Marci. It's taken since the end of April (I came back from the Writer's Police Academy, saw a photo of myself online and had MAJOR motivation after that), but I'm down three sizes, and have shaved six inches off my waist. I've lost 20 pounds, which to me wasn't huge, compared to the major difference in body shape.





Geesh, if I'd know exercise could do all this, I would have done it years ago, LOL.





Seriously, I DESPISE exercise. In all forms. I b*tch and moan my way through my workout every single time (I truly think lunges were created by a masochist), and when I'm done, wish the scale and mirror would show Cindy Crawford's body so I never, ever have to go near that equipment again ;-).





But it's working, and while I may never reach my exact goals, I'm pretty darn happy with where I am right now. Every day I get to go "shopping" in my closet for things that have been waiting years to see the light of day again. And that alone is incentive enough to get back down there and put in another 30 minutes of quality time with my Nordic Track.





Shirley

THE WELL is on Amazon!

Since I had a reader ask me about it, I've been checking Amazon here and there, to see if Houghton Mifflin has put THE WELL up--and TODAY IT WAS THERE!!! So excited to see it there! Check it out!

Now to wait until September for it to hit stores! My daughter and I have our first signing set up September 11 at the Barnes and Noble at Jefferson Pointe in Fort Wayne. She's already practicing signing AJ Whitten ;-)

Shirley

Working...working

This month, I'm workng like crazy, which means I don't have the time to do the cooking that I love to do :-( Probably a good thing for my waistline, but not a good thing for my blog readers who are probably looking for some great recipe tips.

My recipe tips this month? Bertolli's frozen meals, ready to cook. They're actually pretty awesome. I made the Sausage and Rigatoni one the other day, and have made the Garlic Shrimp and Cherry Tomato one, as well as the Steak and Portabello Mushroom one. Loved all three. They're easy to make, darn high quality considering they're frozen food, and they have a nice variety that's a bit out of the standard fare.

There's also the Joy of Cooking frozen meals. These ones are a little pricier than other brands, but wow, the ones I've tried have been fabulous. Whenever they go on sale, I pick up a couple. Both the sides and the entrees have been hits in my house.

And the best part? If you get the cooking done really fast, and stash the bags the food came in down in the trash, no one will know you didn't make these dishes from scratch ;-).

Shirley

100 Calorie Snacks...A Good Idea?

My local paper ran an article about 100 calorie snacks you can make yourself (okay, I like to cook, but even I'm not sure I'd go to that much work for 100 calories. Those people at Nabisco have handily done it for me already).

Then there's the serving issue. The recipes make servings for more than one.

Well, when you have a 100-calorie snack, WHO STOPS AT ONE SERVING? It's so easy to say, just another couple. It'll only be...10 calories. Then a couple more. Another 10. Before you know it, you've eaten the entire dish and racked up a few hundred calories instead.

I'll all for low-calorie snacks, BTW. Especially considering the insane amount of time I've spent on my elliptical machine in recent months. But I need them to come with a lock and key. A real limiter--no more after 100. Like a in-house vending machine.

Now THERE'S an idea I could get behind. A home vending machine for dieters. You plug in the number of calories you want to eat for the day, and the machine only spits out enough food for that amount of calories. No more. No less. It's like having armed guards standing in front of your kitchen cabinets ;-)

Now, if McDonald's could just make a 100-calorie double cheeseburger meal... ;-)

Shirley

I Need a Valium...

That's the message I sent a friend yesterday after the first time I sat in the passenger's side as my teen daughter drove my baby (the Aspen). My daughter had a newly minted Driver's Permit and wanted to break it in, so she drove us from the BMV to a shopping plaza a few miles away.

The whole time going "OH MY GOD. OH MY GOD. OH MY GOD." And me, trying to be calm, but internally going "OH MY GOD." LOL.

(incidentally, I have not been purposely ignoring my blog; the other day was my first full day out of bed. After my last post, I got sick, then I hurt my back, and then got sick AGAIN, and still am sick. It's been insane here. I've slept a lot, LOL, and still feel exhausted!).

So, DD is driving, and I'm clutching the door, but talking calmly to her. "Try to stay in the middle of the road." "Watch those mailboxes." "Slow down a bit." "You're doing great."

And as I'm speaking, I'm thinking about how this is all kind of a metaphor for the years ahead. I want her to try to watch out for the roadblocks ahead, the ones that can really hurt her--the mailboxes, the telephone poles. To try to pay attention to the things that come up--the pedestrians (!), the animals, the pretty views. To try to take the middle ground and not get too hung up on being on one side or the other. And most of all, to be sure to slow down and enjoy the ride.

I don't say all this, of course, because I'm too darn busy thinking "OH MY GOD" while she's driving, LOL. She didn't do too bad, but we had a few scary moments where she didn't realize a light was red and when she drifted to the side of the road.

I know we have many months ahead of us--white-knuckled months--but she's a good, smart kid, and I'm praying she'll use the good sense we've worked hard to instill in her. And in the end, she'll end up as a smart driver and a smart adult.

And my car will emerge unscathed ;-)

Shirley

Try Lying Quiz Today!

I'm sick (and there's nothing I hate more than being sick when the weather is wonderful, not to mention a holiday weekend). And not been cooking much lately because I'm working on LOTS of projects at once. But I wanted to pass on a VERY cool post today over at the Publishers Weekly blog today with the very informative, totally awesome Margie Lawson:

Want to learn how to decode body language? How to sort truth and lies?

Take Margie Lawson's TRY LYING Quiz on PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY Blog on TUESDAY, MAY 26th.

Post a comment and you may win a LECTURE PACKET from one of Margie Lawson's six courses.

The TRY LYING Quiz will be on Barbara Vey's BEYOND HER BOOK blog: www.publisherweekly.com/BeyondHerBook The link (above) is to the Publisher's Weekly page. The blogs are listed in the center of the page.Click on the BEYOND HER BOOK blog.

Don't miss the TRY LYING QUIZ on Tuesday!

Zip on over there--it'll be a blast!

Shirley

Featured on the Graveyard Shift!

The uber-cool Lee Lofland has me featured on his blog, The Graveyard Shift, today. Stop on by to learn about my writing day or ask me questions!

Shirley