A few months ago, my sis-in-law invited me to join a book club. Despite working in book publishing for 7 years (omg, that seems scary long), I'd become a less than joyous personal reader. I spent my days working with authors, writing back cover copy, working on marketing strategies... I began reading only the books we were publishing and fell into the terrible rut of rarely reading for myself.

As an English major and a lover of creative writing, I missed it. Still, the madness of living in NYC followed by the move, the restaurant and other distractions, provided plenty of excuses to rush on to the next overscheduled moment.

During the past few months, I force myself to read at least a book a month. And guess what? I'm reading even more than that. On the agenda this month?

we think alone

Have you guys heard about the We Think Alone project by artist/writer Miranda July? It's a pretty cool concept.

By visiting this site and entering your email, you sign up for a weekly batch of personal emails from notable people. Each Monday's collection is organized by theme. So far, I've received "An email about fear" and "An Angry Email." Participants include Kirsten Dunst, Lena Dunham, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, the designers behind Rodarte and many more.

The project came out of the author's interest in reading other people's personal message. Even without complete context, it's an interesting exercise so far.

green juice: a love letter

In the chaos that was this summer (seriously, where did it go?), I found myself jumping on the juicing train in a big way.

Those of you who know me know can vouch for the fact that I have at most times in my life been the farthest thing from a health nut. Still, on the eve of opening a PIZZA restaurant, I found myself craving extra energy to get through this wild season in our lives. Surprisingly, I found that very thing from cleaning up what I was shoving into my trap.

Inspired by Mark Bittman's recent book VB6 (Vegan Before Six), I decided to give the famous foodie's approach to eating a chance. What's the plan then? Simple. You eat vegan until 6 p.m. each day.  This very regimen helped him lose over 30 lbs.

currently cooking: avocado toasts

S is back in NYC for business this week and (until my mother arrives at least!) I have been left to my own devices.

It's been busy and it's been hot. Due to these very reasons cooking a meal for myself has not been high on my priority list. Still, a girl has got to eat!

Answer? Avocado toast.

I got this idea after thumbing through Goop's new cookbook It's All Good. I wouldn't really call it a recipe because toast, mayo, a freshly sliced avocado and salt and pepper isn't too difficult an idea to grasp.

Still, I love the combo so much, I'm tempted to try different variations. The adorable cooking blog Annie's Hungry offers 3 delicious ideas:

-smoked salmon, cream cheese and avocado
- chicken, spicy salsa and avocado
-"naked avocado" served with a poached egg

Visit Annie's blog (here) for the full recipes. Deliciousness.

(original images by annie's hungry blog)

weekend come early

What's that you say? It's only Thursday? Well, that's okay by me.

After an insanely hectic few weeks, I'm cashing in some vacay time and starting this weekend early. Oh la la!

On the agenda? Sleeping late, getting a massage at this spa which boasts a rad star ceiling, spending time in the yard at the new house, visiting with pals B and R before catching a midnight showing of The Great Gatsby in 3D (insert over-the-top movie man voice here). I can hardly wait.

Setting aside Saturday afternoon to spend reading David Sedaris's new book Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls.

I've heard good things. To check out the always awesome Sedaris on NPR's Fresh Air a few weeks ago, click here.

(images via madewell and hachette)

currently cooking: classic roast chicken

This time of year begs for comfort food and there are few things more cozy on a chilly fall evening than the scent of a bird roasting in the oven.

Lately, we can't seem to get enough roasted chicken. Our favorite recipe includes lemon, rosemary, fingerling potatoes and is super easy to make.

The recipe comes courtesy of Miss Goop herself, Gwyneth Paltrow. Haters are going to hate, but I love GP. Her cookbook My Father's Daughter is worth purchasing for the salad dressing recipes alone!

fireworks

Fireworks make my heart go all aflutter. I don't think I'll ever lose my childlike fascination with them.

I've tried to take photos of them for years with very little success. From hanging off of fire escapes to standing too long in the street, I never have succeeded in capturing that feeling.

While perusing this pretty blog, I came across the above photos of Jessica enjoying Pierre Le Hors "Firework Studies." Aren't these grainy black-and-white images beautiful?

Click here to watch a video of the entire book.

(images courtesy something concerning everything occurring)

then again

Have not been able to put Diane Keaton's memoir Then Again down since I purchased on the way home from the airport Sunday.

I won't go on and on about how awesome it is. The book has certainly gotten enough good press to trump anything I could say about it here.

What I will say is this. After reading about and reviewing images of Keaton's mother's precious handwritten journals and pasted collages over the past few days, I was suddenly okay to have left my iPad at home. Holding an actual book felt pretty cool.

(images courtesy ew and the citrus report)

reading at the plaza

After a wonderful trip home for Christmas, we had little time for the "Christmas blues." We returned a few days ago to a jam packed NYC still decked out in holiday decor.

Prime example? Why, The Plaza Hotel!

I was lucky enough to do a reading of my book Hootenanny! there yesterday afternoon in the oh-so-very-pink Eloise room.

The kids were adorable (see above) as was the venue. Little girl heaven!

Thanks to my dears who were able to be there. And, for my sweet pal R who was stuck at the office, here is a pic of the pink tree as promised.

(image courtesy ejb)

hootenanny!

I love my job as a children's book editor. I also love writing for children. So, you can imagine my excitement over the recent release of my first ever picture book Hootennany!

Adorably illustrated by the fabulous Jo Brown, this bouncing story features a hilarious cast of jazzy owls. One by one, they get ready to "holler and hoot" at the party on Saturday night. At last, they are all ready to get down at the hootenanny!

Jo's owls are out-of-this-world amazing. They are bright and hilarious. They also dance, wear hats, boogie and more! Your eyes do not deceive you...one even sports a bow tie.

There's even an awesome song to accompany the book (hear it here).

As if working on this book wasn't fun enough, Jo and I received the news yesterday that Hootenanny! was selected as a 2011 National Parenting Publications Award Winner! How rad is that?

I'll be reading this book at the Apple Store in NYC on 10/22. Feel free to stop by if you're in town!

Party time, indeed.

(images courtesy simon & schuster)

currently cooking: magnolia bakery's icebox cake

When my Mom came to visit for her birthday a few years ago, we spent several minutes ogling the icebox cake in Magnolia Bakery's case. While we "settled" for cupcakes that day, I secretly spent months after the encounter trying to rationalize a reason to buy the whole $26 cake!

That is until now.

This week I received Magnolia Bakery's cookbook thanks to a special giveaway at my office (hooray for working for the publisher). I immediately set my sights on creating that scallop-edged beauty of a cake at home.

First note? This cake is no bake and requires very few ingredients. In short? Score!

The first order of business is to create the whipped cream.

Since this was my first foray into whipping cream, I relied on my handy mixer to take the mixture of heavy cream, sugar and vanilla extract from liquid

to thicker liquid

to (finally) whipped cream!

The next step is simply assembly.

Place six chocolate wafers on a flat cake or cake stand (5 in a circle with the sixth placed in the middle) and add 3/4 of a cup of your freshly whipped cream between each layer.

Keep arranging the wafers in the same formation and adding your whipped cream until you've gone through one and a half packages of the wafers....and almost all of your cream.

The last bit of whipped cream goes on top. Add thinly sliced strawberries for a summery touch.


Refrigerate for at least five hours before serving and brace yourself for mad love from all that sample ...or eat half the cake (you know who you are)!

Check out a more detailed recipe here.

spicy sriracha

I, like many people, have mad love for the spicy Thai sauce sriracha. Named for the coastal city Si Racha in Thailand, this sauce is composed chili peppers, vinegar, garlic, sugar and salt.

For any of you who haven't tried it, it makes a pretty killer universal hot sauce for everything from scramled eggs to buffalo wings.

The Sriracha Cookbook: 50 "Rooster Sauce" Recipes that Pack a Punch takes love for the hot sauce to a whole new level. The cookbook even has a blog all about...sriracha! How fun is that?


Excited to try some of the recipes that run the gamut from pesto and glazed salmon to burgers and

ceviche. Spicy!

(images courtesy the burnt pot, apartment therapy and amazon)

end of vacation blues?

I love New York. Who doesn't, right?

Well, I've spent some time perusing this amazing book (originally spotted on Cup of Jo) and I must say...I, myself, am feeling "relatively neutral" about New York.

This hilarious (and wonderfully designed) book is courtesy of two dudes who know and love NYC enough to point out the awesome along with the bad.

Here are a few of my most favorite pages.

On Lady Liberty....

and riding the subway.

(images via wikipedia and my modern met)

midnight in paris

Pretty, pretty stoked to see Woody Allen's latest Midnight in Paris.

The movie has been getting great reviews (check out NY Mag's here) with critics comping it to the "good ol' days" of Allen comedies like Annie Hall and Manhattan. This sounds MUCH better than 2009's Whatever Works and much lighter than 2005's wonderful, but dark, Match Point.

Most Woody Allen flicks have great casts, but I'm really routing for Owen Wilson here. He looks quite charming in the role and has always been my favorite Wilson brother. Luke seems like such a mimbo (=male bimbo)!

Check out the trailer below. Rachel McAdams and Micheal Sheen look fabulous as well.

P.S. Saw it. Loved it. Currently rereading A Moveable Feast.

little bea

(image courtesy harpercollins)

Brooklyn-based illustrator (and dear friend) Daniel Roode's super sweet debut children's picture book Little Bea hits shelves next week. D's artwork is gorgeous, and he's created some seriously sweet characters that kiddies (and their grown-ups) are sure to fall in love with.

Check out the glowing Publisher's Weekly review here, and click below for the adorable Little Bea trailer.

P.S. Want to know a fun fact? The Little Bea character is based on L and D's sweet tabby cat, Beatrice. How cute is that?

rainy sunday

(image courtesy we heart it)

Hooray for a rainy, lazy Sunday. Isn't it funny how you never realize how tired you are until finally STOP GOING?

The hubs and I had a wonderful, relaxing day that included an intense treadmill race at the gym (we actually tied!?), shopping for pretty Spring flowers to brighten up the ol' apartment,

service and more.

We just ended the day with a mediterranean tuna pasta (check out the recipe from the fantastic pasta cookbook Pasta Fresca here).

Now? Bring it, Monday.

The Imperfectionists

Currently reading The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman.

(image courtesy the last word)

This book takes place at an international newspaper based in Rome. The newspaper's somewhat motley crue of characters continue to chug along despite the knowledge that their paper (like most newspapers these days) is no longer what it once was.

Each chapter is told from a different character's point-of-view. As you weave your way through their stories (some incredibly sad, some sweet...most somewhere in between), the reader begins to recognize characters they've spent a chapter getting to know as they pop up in their colleagues' portions of the book.

Through the use of this crazy clever writing device, the author invites you into his characters' minds, only to have them show up later, and through those appearances, change everything you thought you knew about them.

This book came highly recommended by my lovely mother-in-law who always has great taste in reads.

Read the New York Times review by Christopher Buckley here.

"all my thoughts and the heart talks"

Did you guys ever keep a journal? Like most ladies, as a youngster, I kept a diary full of girlish ramblings (side note: now, I really wonder what happened to it...how embarassing).

These days it seems almost foreign to write with pen and paper as opposed to typing on a keyboard. Still, the romance of a handwritten journal still moves me.

Currently enjoying writing in this nifty journal gifted to me by my dear friend L. Ah, she knows me too well!

(image courtesy rare device)

Looking for your own new journal?

Check out this cool rainbow colored option with a pretty braided closure

or this neat journal made out of an old painting on canvas.

Very inspiring indeed!

(images courtesy anthropologie and oh happy day!)

festive florals

During this time of year, when the sky and the buildings that stretch up under it are the same unfortunate shade of dirty gray as the endless drifts of snow that refuse to leave our New York streets, the thought of sunlight, warm breezes and blooming flowers can seem like a distant dream.

To combat the lack of color outside, I've spent the last week avoiding my favorite all black ensembles in favor of bright, mood lifting colors and floral patterns.

Anthropologie came to my rescue with this playful knit dress


and this flowing top.

(image courtesy anthropologie)

Cuddling up under a blanket with this awesome book of hilarious essays

(image courtesy booksuniverseeverything)

next to this delicious rose scented candle.

(image courtesy monster)

So long, winter blues!