My First Book Signing: Someday, Someday, Maybe

Two weeks ago (I KNOW FAIL BLOGGING) I went to my very first book signing with my friend, Ashley! We saw Lauren Graham, who wrote a book called Someday, Someday, Maybe. And guys, Anna Quindlen was the moderator. My Mom LOVES Anna Quindlen. It was a pretty exciting night!

We were one of the last people they let in, so we stood in the back, but we were beyond thrilled!

When she was done speaking, we waited on line for her to sign our books. The girls behind us were kind of weird and they kept spouting out random Lauren Graham facts. Such as, did you know she only has half siblings? So say the girls behind us.

I asked Ashley if she would support me if I broke out into the Gilmore Girls theme song as I approached the table. You know the song, the one me and my Mom sang every week at the beginning of the show? Ashley said she wouldn't, so I chickened out, but it would have been epic.

"IF YOU'RE OUR ON YOUR OWN, FELLING LONELY AND SO COLD...ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS CALL MY NAME AND I'LL BE THERE ON THE NEXT TRAIN!!!!"

Anna Quindlen was also signing books so obviously I got a copy of her new memoir for my Mom. No one was asking her to sign anything though, so when I went up to her I had to interrupt her conversation so that she could sign my book. It was super awkward but also super awesome!

I haven't started Someday, Someday, Maybe yet (I've got a serious book queue going on) but I'll let you know when I do!

Best Friends Forever: Mim and Holly

Last weekend, John and I headed to Pennsylvania on Saturday morning for our tasting at our venue and for our Pre-Nuptial Investigation with the Parish Priest (terrifying, I know). Everything went really well...we're thrilled with the food, and the church said that because we've never been married before and since we're not related by birth or adoption we can in fact get married in November!

All of this was pretty exciting but nothing was as exciting as the newly discovered love between Holly and Mim!

Here's how their relationship goes: we put Mim on the floor and Holly runs around her/licks her/pushes her around with her nose for as long as we let her.

Sometimes Mim ignores her and just lays there but other times she bats Holly's nose and purs like a crazily happy cat. Eventually though she gets punchy and then its time for her to go back upstairs to her prison (read: my bedroom). You should know that Holly does not accept her removal and chases me up the stairs. Once Mim is back in prison, she realizes how much she misses and loves Holly and then she puts her tiny kitty paws under the door and cries while Holly loses her mind in the hallway. This is how you spend an entire weekend!

Occasionally, John gets the idea in his head that Mim needs to experience grass and so he takes Mim and Holly into the backyard. Adorableness ensues!

You should know that when you pick Mim up after play time, she is literally wet from Holly kisses. Its both disgusting and adorably cute.

Happy Hump Day! 

A Conversation with My Mom

Me: "I started a book yesterday afternoon on my way home from work and I only have 40 pages of it left"

Mom: "What is it called?"

Me: "I Am Not Myself These Days"

Mom: "What's it about?"

Me: "A retired drag queen"

Mom: "A retired dry cleaner?"

Me: "No, Mom. Not even a little bit close. I'm going to put this on the blog tomorrow, OK?"

Wedding Wednesday: And Then I Fell in Love with Our Photographer

I used to think when people gushed about their wedding photographers, they were full of it. "They are just taking pictures of you," I thought to myself, "What is the big deal and why are they posting it all over Facebook?".

That was before I spent a whole day with our wedding photographer, Melania .

Note: This is not a Melania picture, this is a picture my sister took and that I Instagrammed!

And now, please allow me the opportunity to become one of those brides that gushes about her wedding photographer.

She was awesome.

John was incredibly nervous and self conscious going in, and he let her know it. "Let me tell you how this is going to go," she said to him. "I'm going to tell you what to do a few times and then you'll figure it out." In literally six pictures, with Melania laughing and making jokes the whole time, John was a natural! I have never seen him so comfortable posing for a picture ever and I've been conning him into pictures for more than five years!

He was so comfortable I barely even had to convince him to get on this lion with me! Magical, I tell you...Melania our wedding photographer is a wizard who transformed my Fiance into a man who mounts a lion statue with me and laughs while doing it.

Note: This is not a Melania picture, this is a picture my sister took and that I Instagrammed!

We are still waiting for all of them to be posted, but if this was the only picture we got out of that day I would be totally thrilled.

End gushing.

Thank You, Thank You, Thank You-A Relay Post

To say that I was one proud big sister on Saturday night would be a major understatement.

To say that I was crying on the Hofstra Intramural Field when Alyssa started to speak would be telling the truth. Thanks to some of you, Alyssa surpassed her personal fundraising goal of $1,000.

And the Hofstra University Relay for Life surpassed its goal and raised $111,000 for the American Cancer Society. Thank you to everyone who donated and/or sent Alyssa encouragement over the past few weeks. She worked so hard and all the effort and work was so apparent on Saturday night...it was a wonderful event.

So proud of you, Alyss! Love you!
(Please excuse our crazy eyes in the picture below!)

This is a Post about Smoothies

Let's talk about breakfast, shall we?

Breakfast is a struggle for me. Namely because I have two other living beings to feed and help go to the bathroom (in Mim's case) and because even though I say I'm going to make my lunch the night before, I almost never do. Ever. Suddenly its 8:00AM and I have ten minutes to figure something out before I have to run to the subway and WHAT am I going to make? 10 minutes is not enough time to make eggs, and I don't feel like cereal and its the Spring which means I no longer want oatmeal.

Enter: the breakfast smoothie.

Here's the deal with a breakfast smoothie...you can throw everything in the blender and do other things. Such as make your lunch, feed your cats, put your baby cat in the litter box!

The other perk of breakfast smoothies is you can sneak green things into it without your taste buds knowing! Here's my kick this week:

-1 cup skim milk
-1 pack vanilla carnation instant breakfast mix
-1 banana
-2 giant handfuls of kale (I know, KALE!)
-handfull of frozen mixed berries

Blend it up, throw it in your go cup and run for the F train!

While this all sounds wonderful, there are some downsides of the breakfast smoothie. First of all, my blender is kind of rickety and sometimes it takes 2 minutes to blend my smoothie and sometimes it takes 8 minutes. Who knows why, but I think it has to do something with the order in which I throw everything in the blender. Also problematic is that sometimes I get more smoothie than other times? I think sometimes I go overboard with the kale, but who knows.

A final pro of the breakfast smoothie is that you can eat it for dinner, too! Like yesterday? I had two. Fear not, I didn't have banana in the evening one (too many bananas can be a problem, guys) and I threw a yogurt in instead of instant breakfast but there was no cooking involved and very little clean up!

And there you have it guys...basically the most cooking advice you will ever get on this here blog!

Happy Birthday, Becca!

On Saturday night, we celebrated the birthday of my bestest friends ever, Becca! The theme (because who doesn't love a theme?) was "Dress Like Becca".

Becca was worried that this theme would come off as vain and self centered, however I think the general consensus was that it was hilarious but only because we love her so much. Take note that if you are not loved, you shouldn't have a party where your friends dress like you. But I guess if you weren't loved people wouldn't come to your party? Anyway...

This party also proved that Becca has a particular style. Namely: plaid, vests, crocs and coziness! She also used to have her nose pierced (until she lost the piercing in Iceland) so Stephanie and I stuck some bedazzles on our noses. Worriers of Instagram, take note! I did not pierce my nose six months before my wedding (though I have always wanted one so maybe after the wedding!).

Becca is also pretty known for her faces! Below, please find "Excited Becca" and "Angry Becca"!

In honor of her birthday, Becca did some incredible dancing to NSYNC. Below, please find her "No Strings Attached" dance moves.

Did I mention Stephanie download a meme maker app for her phone? Ugh, we had so much fun with it all night! Below, please find another Becca classic: hair twirling with the angry face!

Happy Birthday, Becca! We love you!