Lisi Harrison's Blog, page 20

Another By-atus

Hey everyone,

The time has come for me to sign off for the rest of the year. I have a ton of family coming for the holidays and a I have  learn how to cook before they get here.

I will be back January 4th with plenty of good cheer. I will hopefully be able to tell you about my brand new series (if the contracts get signed by then) and look forward to hearing about your time off.

Please continue to chat amongst yourselves. I am hoping for tons of comments when I get back. It's been a comment famine over here and I am getting hungry for some serious feedback.

If you have exams, good luck.

Happy H-ALL-idays!!!

Happy New Years!

I seriously can't wait for 2012. I have a ton of new stuff for you and I can't wait to share.

TTYWJ4th,

Lisi

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Thanksgiving and Thankstaking

There can't be an up without a down. There can't be a good without a bad. And unfortunately there can't be a thanksgive without a thankstake.

Allow me to explain…

You all know Webmaster JJ, right? If you don't, she is the beautiful and talented web designer who has been keeping my site humming along. She is also the greatest friend a girl can have. Which is why, right before Thanksgiving break I gave her a bag containing two items.

1) A thick folder filled with your artwork. Drawings, sketches, cards, photos, handmade jewelry…Things I have been collecting from book tours and fan mail. She was going to scan them and upload them to the FROM U section of my website.

2) A gift for her sister Camille who just had a baby.

JJ was going to give Camille the gift over the holiday and then spend the weekend scanning your artwork and updating the site. The good news is Camille loved her baby gift. The bad news is JJ lost the folder.

She told me on Saturday while we were hanging out. I became heavy with grief. My smile went south. I wanted to puke on her cute new Nike's.  She felt terrible. I felt worse. After a very honest talk we decided to stop working together so we could keep our friendship love alive.

You see, usually when someone you hire does something like that you fire them. Done and done. But with JJ it was a hard conversation to have. Because we were friends first. And the last thing we wanted was for work to come between us. And last Saturday it did.

Have you ever had a crush on your guy best friend but agreed not to hook up because it could ruin your relationship? Well JJ and I should have had that talk. Because friends and work usually don't work. Remember that. If you learn anything from me let it be that.

The good news is, JJ and I are so tight we were able to move past this. The bad news is (aside from having to find a new webmaster) your work is gone. But I saw it. And I ah-dored it. So thank you.

Losing your art feels awful. Trust me, I know. I lost the entire Dylan book from the Clique Summer Collection when my computer crashed. I had to start again. It was devastating.

But I've also lost a best friend and that was worse.  So I have chosen to look at this whole situation and find a way to be thankful. And I am. The art may be gone but we're still here.

Back to the drawing board.

TTYW,

XXXX Lisi

Epilogue

The Dylan book turned out better the second time around. Your pictures will too. JJ and I are tight as Spanx.

BFENR

10 Things You Didn't Know I Was Thankful For But I Am!

There is nothing I despise more than the use of cliche. Truly. It feels like lazy unimaginative writing to be and it's a bigger turn off than a Doritos burp.

That said, I am about to post a cliche blah-g because what else can I do on Thanksgiving Eve but think of things I am thankful for. What I will try to do is come up with non-cliche things to say so it feels fresh and so you don't call me a hypocrite. So please know I am beyond thankful for my family, health, career, friends, pets, freedom, pilgrims, Native America Indians, tofurkey, and you. But if I wrote those you'd be so bored with me so here are:

10 Things You Didn't Know I Was Thankful For But I Am!

1.  I have never puked from drinking alcohol.

2. Spell check.

3. Google

4. I love being alone.

5. Sushi

6. Steve Jobs

7. People over 50 who text. (No offense mom, seriously)

8. My friends for not being mad that I decided to not host thanksgiving this year.

9. If they are mad they aren't telling me.

10. Activists.

Happy (American) Thanksgiving!!!!

TTYW,

Lisi (Canadian but still thankful to be living here)

CURSE 'N' BOOTS

Will the person who put a curse on me last week go ahead and remove it now? You made your point. What ever I did I am truly sorry. Please restore my settings back to good luck mode. Why you ask? Here's a recap:

Monday 11.7.11: Volunteered in a kindergarten classroom. On my way back to work I decided to stop off at home and grab a soda to avoid paying $2.13 for one at the Circle K. As I was pulling into my driveway I thrashed the side of the car my stone pilaster (look it up).  This is the guy assessing the damage. [image error]

That soda now cost me $402.13.

11.8.11: I was racing to a yoga class and jammed a bottle of water in my purse. The bottle leaked all over my iPad 2 (The one I waited outside the Apple store for for 5 hours) and destroyed it. Namaste.

11.9.11: I woke up with a fever. Lay in bed all day whimpering like a puppy. Couldn't go to the office to Blah-g.

11.10.11: Went to the Apple store to get my iPad 2 fixed. They told me they would not fix water damage but offered to sell me a new one at 50% off. Of course I did it. UGH!

11.11.11: Hoped the presence of all those 11's might somehow break my curse. All it did was break my wireless keyboard. Every time I hit the letter G it typed gggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggg.

11.12.11: Dropped my new NEW iPad 2 and the glass cracked. That'll be $200 miss.

11.13.11: Showed up at a friend's son's party one week early.

11.14.11: Got keyboard fixed and put in fresh batteries. I keep getting a Low Battery message on my computer. Ready to start handwriting my books in a candle-lit cave.

11.15.11: My mom came to visit and the airline lost her bags. Way to go AIR CANADA!

11.16.11: I spend six hours writing and ended up with one paragraph. (It happens. I hate when it does.)

11.17.11 (TOMORROW) The official end of my curse (positive thinking.)

Wait was that a jinx? UGH! There's that Low Battery message again. It might have been.

TTYW,

Lisi The Lucky (positive!) Sure things could have been worse. And for that I am grateful. But come awn!

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WHO INVITED THE HALLOWEENIE?

How was everyone's Halloween? Remember I said I would give out signed books to anyone who came to my house dressed as Monster High character? Well, I am pleased to say there were four Ghoulia's!!! And they all got books.

I gave up the Day of The Dead idea because I happened upon an AH-MAZING unitard that I was dying to wear. So I was a Cirque du Soliel performer instead. This is me and Kevy, my ring master.

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According to a New York Times article (which was mostly about young girls dressing in inappropriate costumes)Frankie Stein was one of the top ten most worn costumes this year. Unfortunately, this is the only Frankie who made it to my house.

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Thankfully, these cuties helped me get over the trauma of that dude.

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SHOUT OUT to Ariana for cracking me up. She posted a comment that said my lashes are longer than Kim Kardashian's marriage. Nice one!

TTYW,

Lisi

Lashing Out

We all have our physical insecurities and my biggest one is the shade of gray/green color my skin turns when I have lost my summer tan. No offense Frankie Stein. I try self tanner but that gives me zits. I toy with the idea of a tanning bed but that gives me angst. I begin Googling last minute trips to Cabo and that depresses me because I can't just pick up and go. So what's a girl to do?

Well, if you're anything like me (impulsive, restless, and desperate for instant change) you drive to Costa Mesa in the middle of the day to get eyelash extensions from a girl, we'll call her N, on my friend's tennis team. Now, I am all for looking natural when going unnatural. And I stressed that as N taped my eyelids shut and my eyes began to tear (Kind of like barfing with your mouth closed). And N said she got it. I just wanted a little something to give my pale face and weakening ego a boost. Well, let's just say that when I sat up (two hours later) and N saw me, she giggled nervously.

"Wow, they are really long," she mused, like she hadn't been the one gluing for the last 120 minutes. Now that I think about it maybe she hadn't. My peepers were taped shut.

I reached for the hand mirror. I went from mascara to mascarry! I would have widened my eyes wide in horror but it was hard to lift my lids. I was about to lash out at N but realized that any time I do something unnatural to my appearance I run the risk of looking like a fun house version of myself. So I held my tongue (which was now shorter than my lashes) and booked to my car. I thought about freaking but instead I called my friend and cracked up. Will this stop me from messing with my looks every time I feel pale and insecure? No way. But it reminded me that it's risky. And if I'm not prepared to laugh I should think twice about doing anything at all.

So laugh it is. Feel free to join me. (notice the self-tanner zits?) 8 months until summer…

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TTYL

LISI XXXXX

HAPPY HALLOWEEN.

DRESS TO DISTRESS

Is everyone obsessing over the ultimate Halloween costume? Because you should be. Twelve days and counting my friends. TWELVE DAYS AND COUNTING!

"So what?"

"It's not prom!"

"Twelve days is not for another, um, TWELVE DAYS! In the next week alone I have four tests, a soccer game, dance practice, two birthday parties, a sleepover, and A LIFE to deal with! Maybe you should try getting one yourself, Lisi."

Fair enough. Maybe I am a little anxious. But I have every right to be. Some of my past costumes have been terrifying and not in the good spooky way. More like terrifyingly mortifying.

Fancying myself creative and no one's sexy cat, my goal was to hit the streets in something that said, "Look at me! I'm clever and not afraid to look ugly! So take that sexy cats! And double take that guys who like sexy cats!"

Where did that get me, you ask? Alone. For some reason I thought going to a college Halloween party dressed as a toilet with puke in it would have them lining up to hang with me. But when has anyone ever wanted to hang with a barf-filled toilet, real or otherwise. I had gone too far. Not that I learned my lesson. Nope. I just went farther. I have dressed as MacDonalds french fries, a couch potato (see: Layne in Best Friends For Never!), Ugly Betty, a tampon, and the bottom of a table with gum stuck to it. Forget rainy Sundays. For me, Halloween was the loneliest day of the year.

So now, to keep you from making the same mistakes I made, here are five costume ideas for you and your friends that will score you points for being creative while keeping you from making total Halloweenies of yourselves.

1. Fearleaders (scary cheerleaders- much cooler than the straight up wannabe sexy kind.)

2. The Seven Deadly Sins (give each girl a sin- pick sins out of an ah-dorable hat to keep everyone from fighting over "lust")

3. Dress as each other. (Put names in a hat and pick. Don't reveal who you got so it will be even funnier when you get together. It's the only night you can rip off your besties signature style without getting unfriended. So have fun with it.)

4. Celebrity kids (Suri Cruise would be hilarious)

5. Day of The Dead. This is what I'm doing. [image error] Not this exact look but this idea. Scary good, not scary off-putting. Turns out there is a difference. And it only took me a few decades to figure it out.

SPECIAL HALLOWEEN OFFER!!!!!!! As I have mentioned, I live on a very popular Halloween street in Laguna Beach and thousands of people come trick or treating. If anyone shows up at my house wearing a Monster High or Clique costume I will put a signed book in your bag. If not, you get a box of Nerds and a leftover chunk from my college days.

TTYW,

LISI

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ROCK YOUR LOCK!

The New York Times just reported a new trend (stick with me here…) that would be perfect for Kate who commented last week on wanting a new hobby. This one is all about pimping your locker and taking it from drab to fab. Miniature furry carpets, motion-sensor-equipped lamps that glow when the door opens, mirrors, decorative flowers, and magnetic wallpaper in floral and leopard-print patterns and chandeliers. Buh-ring it AWN!

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The article mentioned places to buy these accouterments like: The Toggery, Lesters, Target, LockerLookz… but you can also get creative and DIY. Here are some of my suggestions.

1) Go to a paint store and grab (swipe) a bunch of those free color swatches and tape them up. You'll feel like you're inside a kaleidoscope every time you open your locker.

2) Make curtains from old jeans, t-shirts, or scarves.

3) Cover the walls with the wrappers from your Halloween candy.

4) Make a chandelier out of big colorful gumballs.

5) Deodorize with perfume samples from magazines.

6) Hang a picture of ME surrounded by flickering flameless candles. (I look better in low lighting)

Should you decide to be a lock jock please post photos so I can add them to my site. Or simply help inspire Kate and others like her by adding to my oh-so creative list of ideas.

Now go rock your lock!

TTYW,

XXXX LISI

Si-lent Write…(sung to to tune of Silent Night)

If you tell me a secret I really don't tell. The problem is, I can't interact with the person who the secret is about because I feel like I'm lying to them or cheating on them or something. And that's kind of how I feel with you guys. I am working on two new books and since my deals aren't done I'm not allowed to talk about them. So I'm having a hard time talking at all. I feel like I'm lying to you simply by saying nothing. And yet I am dying to spill. I am so excited to bring to characters to you guys. New stories, new angst. But alas, I must remain silent for a little while longer. Wait for me…

Until then…here are some pictures from the OC Children's Book Festival. I spoke there last Sunday with Garrett Sander from Mattel. He's the genius who designs the dolls. We chatted about how the dolls influenced the books and how the books influence the dolls. But the best part, as always, was meeting you guys after and hanging out.

Here is me and Garrett with Bebe. She had a killer black lace umbrella to shield her Vampire alter-ego from the sun. She is so inspiring. [image error]

This is Jordan. This voltage girl makes incredible hair bows and other accessories from duct tape. Check this out.

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She gave me an ah-mazing one at Barnes and Noble that I will be posting in the FROM U section along with her killer Monster High, Clique, and Alphas collages so keep an eye out for those.

I'm off now. Yes this was short but I told you, the only way I can keep a secret is to keep quiet. Stay tuned…

TTYW,

Lisi

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TONIGHT WE'RE GONNA PARTY LIKE IT'S 5772

First off if you're Jewish, Happy New Year!!  It's the year 5772 for my people and I have a good feeling about this one. I am working away developing some new series and I am super excited about them. I can't wait to announce them. And when I do you will be the first to know. I'm not sure exactly when I can go public with the news but I promise it will be before 5773.

Thanks so much to everyone who came out to see me this week in Huntington Beach.  Check out the OF U gallery on my site for photos of the event. Webmaster JJ will be uploading them tonight so they should be up in the morning. Here are a few sneak peeks..

[image error]These cuties had me sign their books "To the Gonzalez Ghouls"

[image error] I signed Mila's Monster High-pink cast.

[image error]And of course there's Bebe!!! Third time. She is dominating my photo gallery. I can't wait to see her this sunday…

(Perfect segue alert!!)

…at the OC CHILDREN'S BOOK FESTIVAL.

I will be there at 11:30 am with Garret Sander- the guh-enius Monster High doll designer from Mattel. We will be on the YA stage talking about the third book in the series- Where There's A Wolf There's A Way and his voltage dolls. We'll talk about how we collaborate, how we don't, and will be taking questions. If there's time we will do a dance number.   After that we will sign what ever we can get our Sharpie's on.

So please come see us. Bring your books, your dolls, and your clawsomeness.

For all the details go to http://kidsbookfestival.com

TTYS,

LISI

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