Sarah Dessen's Blog, page 37
October 3, 2010
writergrl @ 2010-10-03T17:34:00
Today was the first day we had to turn the heat on since...well, sometime last spring. There's something about that smell, of the heat coming on, a mix of dust and warmth. I was brushing my teeth and smelled it and thought instantly of sweaters and chili in crockpots and bonfires. Fall, fall. Fall.
With the first cold snap, I'm of course thinking about wardrobe. (What? You expected something else?) I am so sick of everything I wore this summer, but not sure what to get for this season. I wish I was all fashionable, but seriously without a segment on GMA a few weeks back I would not know that I need to at LEAST invest in a military style jacket, something camel colored and a pair ankle boots. The problem is, I worry that none of those things will look good on me. Can I wear a military style jacket and ankle boots to Whole Foods to buy apples? Not sure. I can wear the same Dansko clogs and Seven bootcuts as the last two years, but that's just so lame. I have always wanted to be one of those girls like my friend Dana, who can toss on anything and make it look stylish, fabulous and totally effortless. (She looks great in ankle boots, too.) I wonder if Tim Gunn makes house calls. Although I can only imagine what he'd say about my Danskos. *shudder*
In other news, I think my watch battery is dying. I say THINK because it keeps stopping, but then when I reset it, it works again until...it doesn't. I've read that nobody wears watches anymore, as everyone just uses their phones, and that's probably true. My current watch is a beat-up chrome Fossil that I got at an outlet in Florida about eight years ago. It is scratched and not altogether cute but I love it. I went to the Fossil place awhile back, thinking of replacement, but all they wanted to sell me was the white watch Sandra Bullock wore in The Blind Side because apparently it was very "hot," and "everyone wants one." The truth is, I'd probably be better off without a watch, as it might help me be in the moment more. I used to have this rule that I wouldn't wear a watch on Sundays or vacation for that very reason. But really, I think, for me a watch is like my own personal compass. Where am I? At three-fifteen, give or take a few ticks (or hours, if my battery has died). It just gives me a center, something concrete to go on even when everything else is up in the air. But maybe watches don't go with military jackets and ankle boots? Oh, whatever. I am never going to be That Girl. Maybe it is time I stopped trying.
And just so you know, right now, it's 5:31. You're welcome.
Have a good night, everyone!
With the first cold snap, I'm of course thinking about wardrobe. (What? You expected something else?) I am so sick of everything I wore this summer, but not sure what to get for this season. I wish I was all fashionable, but seriously without a segment on GMA a few weeks back I would not know that I need to at LEAST invest in a military style jacket, something camel colored and a pair ankle boots. The problem is, I worry that none of those things will look good on me. Can I wear a military style jacket and ankle boots to Whole Foods to buy apples? Not sure. I can wear the same Dansko clogs and Seven bootcuts as the last two years, but that's just so lame. I have always wanted to be one of those girls like my friend Dana, who can toss on anything and make it look stylish, fabulous and totally effortless. (She looks great in ankle boots, too.) I wonder if Tim Gunn makes house calls. Although I can only imagine what he'd say about my Danskos. *shudder*
In other news, I think my watch battery is dying. I say THINK because it keeps stopping, but then when I reset it, it works again until...it doesn't. I've read that nobody wears watches anymore, as everyone just uses their phones, and that's probably true. My current watch is a beat-up chrome Fossil that I got at an outlet in Florida about eight years ago. It is scratched and not altogether cute but I love it. I went to the Fossil place awhile back, thinking of replacement, but all they wanted to sell me was the white watch Sandra Bullock wore in The Blind Side because apparently it was very "hot," and "everyone wants one." The truth is, I'd probably be better off without a watch, as it might help me be in the moment more. I used to have this rule that I wouldn't wear a watch on Sundays or vacation for that very reason. But really, I think, for me a watch is like my own personal compass. Where am I? At three-fifteen, give or take a few ticks (or hours, if my battery has died). It just gives me a center, something concrete to go on even when everything else is up in the air. But maybe watches don't go with military jackets and ankle boots? Oh, whatever. I am never going to be That Girl. Maybe it is time I stopped trying.
And just so you know, right now, it's 5:31. You're welcome.
Have a good night, everyone!
October 1, 2010
The Five!
1. It's the last day of vacation here, and the good news is...it's not raining. It's not exactly SUNNY, but considering the weather we just endured over the last few days, it might as well be picture perfect. As we were hit by first one rain system and then the remnants of Hurricane Nicole, it rained, and and rained. The wind howled and the house whistled, the roof and windows leaked. With the final burst last evening, the roads flooded outside and we still can't get out of the driveway. BUT! It's not raining. So all is well.
2. The fact we've been inside a lot has meant we've been having to work even harder with the two toddlers here to keep the peace. My daughter is three, her cousin just turned four, and so sharing is the rule of the day. We are better with it some times than others, which is to say if it's awhile until I hear "Mine!" that would be just fine. The easiest solution has been to have two of everything, so at least we're starting out on even ground. I have decided, though, that my cousin Lucy, mother of the four year old, could negotiate peace with ANYONE. She is so patient and logical I think we should send her to the Middle East. The quote of today: "Hey, girls. Before we argue, let's just say, 'Here. Have mine.'" She makes it sound so easy! I am taking lessons.
3. This is the first beach trip I've had where it's rained more than been nice---or rained the entire time, but whatever---so it's been a real lesson, also, in optimism. The whole glass half full, and all that. Yesterday, it was pouring, but some friends arrived and they wanted to swim anyway. So out we went, all of us, into the pouring rain, and jumped into the pool. How often, really, do you get to be out in the rain and really not care at ALL about getting wet? So, see, that was good. And how often do you get to be outside at the beach and not have to worry about sunscreen? Well, never, now that you mention it. So that's good too. It's all in how you look at it. And if we CAN'T get out tomorrow because the road is still too flooded for the car to get through, then, well, we get more time at the beach. Add it to the list!
4. Another reason we HAVE to try to get out today: I have not yet had a shrimpburger from the Big Oak Drive-In, and that is just not right. Fried shrimp, with slaw and cocktail sauce, on a hamburger bun, with incredible onion rings? It might be October, but it's the best summer food.
5. And it IS October today. Whoa! How did that happen? It means things are speeding up, up, up. I'm still gathering info about the tour and publicity plans for my next book, What Happened to Goodbye, and I'm hoping to be able to show you guys a cover sometime in the next few weeks. (Fingers crossed!) Plus, there's this little matter of this crazy thing I'm doing to promote both the book and my website. Remember I told you it was blue and goes fast? Here's a bit more. My friend Evan, who races cars, was in the market for a sponsor. I'm looking for a fun way to promote my books, thinking outside of the box and all that. So we're working on putting together a car that has the colors of my website, as well as some images from my books. Can you even imagine? A race car with pink details and photos of bare feet in flipflops, zooming around the track at a hundred miles an hour? Is it crazy? (Possibly.) Will we be laughed out of PW? (Probably.) Is it going to be hilarious and just SO much fun to blog about? You bet. Stay tuned....
Have a great weekend, everyone!
2. The fact we've been inside a lot has meant we've been having to work even harder with the two toddlers here to keep the peace. My daughter is three, her cousin just turned four, and so sharing is the rule of the day. We are better with it some times than others, which is to say if it's awhile until I hear "Mine!" that would be just fine. The easiest solution has been to have two of everything, so at least we're starting out on even ground. I have decided, though, that my cousin Lucy, mother of the four year old, could negotiate peace with ANYONE. She is so patient and logical I think we should send her to the Middle East. The quote of today: "Hey, girls. Before we argue, let's just say, 'Here. Have mine.'" She makes it sound so easy! I am taking lessons.
3. This is the first beach trip I've had where it's rained more than been nice---or rained the entire time, but whatever---so it's been a real lesson, also, in optimism. The whole glass half full, and all that. Yesterday, it was pouring, but some friends arrived and they wanted to swim anyway. So out we went, all of us, into the pouring rain, and jumped into the pool. How often, really, do you get to be out in the rain and really not care at ALL about getting wet? So, see, that was good. And how often do you get to be outside at the beach and not have to worry about sunscreen? Well, never, now that you mention it. So that's good too. It's all in how you look at it. And if we CAN'T get out tomorrow because the road is still too flooded for the car to get through, then, well, we get more time at the beach. Add it to the list!
4. Another reason we HAVE to try to get out today: I have not yet had a shrimpburger from the Big Oak Drive-In, and that is just not right. Fried shrimp, with slaw and cocktail sauce, on a hamburger bun, with incredible onion rings? It might be October, but it's the best summer food.
5. And it IS October today. Whoa! How did that happen? It means things are speeding up, up, up. I'm still gathering info about the tour and publicity plans for my next book, What Happened to Goodbye, and I'm hoping to be able to show you guys a cover sometime in the next few weeks. (Fingers crossed!) Plus, there's this little matter of this crazy thing I'm doing to promote both the book and my website. Remember I told you it was blue and goes fast? Here's a bit more. My friend Evan, who races cars, was in the market for a sponsor. I'm looking for a fun way to promote my books, thinking outside of the box and all that. So we're working on putting together a car that has the colors of my website, as well as some images from my books. Can you even imagine? A race car with pink details and photos of bare feet in flipflops, zooming around the track at a hundred miles an hour? Is it crazy? (Possibly.) Will we be laughed out of PW? (Probably.) Is it going to be hilarious and just SO much fun to blog about? You bet. Stay tuned....
Have a great weekend, everyone!
September 28, 2010
writergrl @ 2010-09-28T08:44:00
Good morning from the beach and my vacation where it is....raining. Not just sprinkling, either, but seriously pouring, day and night, and it's not supposed to let up until....the day we leave. Oh, well. I had such good weather on my other trips I guess I was due this, so we are making the most of it. With TWO toddlers to entertain, what else can you do? I'd be lying, though, if I didn't say I've increased my ice cream intake. You do what you have to do.
One bright spot is that the Glee episode that is All Britney Spears comes on tonight. Score! Plus I hear there is a cameo by Brit herself. This just makes me happy. Remember what a hot mess Miss Brit was just a year or two ago? Serious downward spiral, hospital trips, the whole thing. And now she's on Glee. It gives me hope for all the other celebrities I am currently entirely too codependent about, but mostly Lindsay Lohan. I mean, I LOVE Lindsay. I loved Freaky Friday, and Mean Girls, and I was really thinking she'd go on to grow into even better roles. But she's hit a bump, or two, and now she's back for another rehab stint. Which is sad. I hope she pulls it together. Does she care what I think? Nope. But this is what happens when you read too much US Weekly and Google Entertainment News. What else can I do when it's like a monsoon outside?
Well, you can read, actually, if you can sneak the time when the kids are asleep. I finally finished This Is Where I Leave You, by Jonathan Tropper, which I loved so, so much I stretched it out, not really wanting it to end. Then yesterday in a free moment, I started Kate Atkinson's When Will There Be Good News, and it pretty much blew my mind in the first twenty pages. WHOA. I've read some of her other stuff, but forgotten how good she is. You know, that's another thing we can do in the rain: hit the local independent bookstore, which is AWESOME. Shop, eat. sleep, read watch the clouds to will them past. And repeat. And repeat, and repeat...
Have a good day, everyone!
One bright spot is that the Glee episode that is All Britney Spears comes on tonight. Score! Plus I hear there is a cameo by Brit herself. This just makes me happy. Remember what a hot mess Miss Brit was just a year or two ago? Serious downward spiral, hospital trips, the whole thing. And now she's on Glee. It gives me hope for all the other celebrities I am currently entirely too codependent about, but mostly Lindsay Lohan. I mean, I LOVE Lindsay. I loved Freaky Friday, and Mean Girls, and I was really thinking she'd go on to grow into even better roles. But she's hit a bump, or two, and now she's back for another rehab stint. Which is sad. I hope she pulls it together. Does she care what I think? Nope. But this is what happens when you read too much US Weekly and Google Entertainment News. What else can I do when it's like a monsoon outside?
Well, you can read, actually, if you can sneak the time when the kids are asleep. I finally finished This Is Where I Leave You, by Jonathan Tropper, which I loved so, so much I stretched it out, not really wanting it to end. Then yesterday in a free moment, I started Kate Atkinson's When Will There Be Good News, and it pretty much blew my mind in the first twenty pages. WHOA. I've read some of her other stuff, but forgotten how good she is. You know, that's another thing we can do in the rain: hit the local independent bookstore, which is AWESOME. Shop, eat. sleep, read watch the clouds to will them past. And repeat. And repeat, and repeat...
Have a good day, everyone!
September 23, 2010
The Five!
1. What is it about this time of year? It makes me so nostalgic, in all the good and bad ways. I was just driving home, watching the leaves fall, and the Cure came on the radio. Just like that---bam!---it's 1987 and I'm a junior in high school, with all the mixed emotions that entails (I write about high school: that doesn't mean I've made any kind of peace with it, or the girl I was then). It doesn't help matters that I recently added XM's 90s channel onto my presets. A push of a button take...
September 21, 2010
writergrl @ 2010-09-21T16:43:00
It's already 4:30? Really?
I don't know where the time goes these days. It's like we hit September and the universe moves everything into warp speed. My calendar is packed, my inbox constantly filling up, and I still fall into bed every night fully aware of everything I didn't get around to doing. Whew!
Tonight, though, EVERYTHING stops for Glee, which has its season premiere at 8pm. It has been a looong time since the season finale, hasn't it? I'm so excited it is just a little bit embarrass...
I don't know where the time goes these days. It's like we hit September and the universe moves everything into warp speed. My calendar is packed, my inbox constantly filling up, and I still fall into bed every night fully aware of everything I didn't get around to doing. Whew!
Tonight, though, EVERYTHING stops for Glee, which has its season premiere at 8pm. It has been a looong time since the season finale, hasn't it? I'm so excited it is just a little bit embarrass...
September 20, 2010
writergrl @ 2010-09-20T12:41:00
I was all ready to take a break from Sunday night blogging. We were having a hot dog party with friends (one of our finer traditions) I was busy, and due to toddler recovering from yet another cold I'm still sleep deprived and can barely put two coherent thoughts together. Plus, I'd given myself permission to switch things up. But then, two things happened. First, it just felt weird not to blog yesterday, like I'd left the iron on or something. Then I read Laurie Halse Anderson's latest
blog...
September 16, 2010
The Five!
1. The word on the street---which is to say, Twitter---is that Oprah has picked Jonathan Franzen's new book, Freedom, for her book club. This after the whole kerfuffle when she picked, then un-picked his first, The Corrections, way back when. Not sure what this means? Is it about forgiveness? Closure in her last season? Can we look forward to Tom Cruise un-jumping the couch, too? Hmmm.....
2. It's Movie Night Out tonight for me and my girlfriends, and I could not be more excited. For those of ...
2. It's Movie Night Out tonight for me and my girlfriends, and I could not be more excited. For those of ...
September 14, 2010
Questions...
Regular readers will remember that occasionally---as in, when I'm lacking any ability to do a cohesive entry--I will pose questions that are currently on my mind. Are they rhetorical? Answerable? Life-defining? No. But here they are anyway:
1. How is it possible that one of the acts that performed on the VMAs, Florence and the Machine, I have never even HEARD of? Seriously. Not just haven't heard the music, but was unaware of their entire existence. For someone who reads as much entertainment...
1. How is it possible that one of the acts that performed on the VMAs, Florence and the Machine, I have never even HEARD of? Seriously. Not just haven't heard the music, but was unaware of their entire existence. For someone who reads as much entertainment...
September 12, 2010
writergrl @ 2010-09-12T15:55:00
It's the end of the weekend and I'm feeling a serious sense of the Sundays. Thankfully, there is something to look forward to: the Video Music Awards. (What, you thought I was going to say Masterpiece Theatre?) I always have to approach the VMAs with caution, as I am old enough to remember the very FIRST one (and life as it was before MTV existed at all, back when we painted on cave walls and thought the world was flat). Every year when I watch I am reminded how much I have aged out of MTVs t...
September 10, 2010
Wait! Hold on!
I'm on my way out the door, with some free time for once (and of course, it's so rare I have no idea what to do with it) but first I decided to read the comments on yesterday's blog post. And it made me so sad that so many folks thought I was giving up this blog altogether. No, no, and NO. Promise! I just am not going to stick to my strict Sunday night, Tuesday night, Thursday night schedule. I'll be switching it up, doing different days as I feel like it, NOT disappearing. I get more enjoyme...
