Julia London's Blog, page 35

MY FAVORITE THINGS, Part 2

My last “Favorites” list was restaurants–this one is movies.  There are loads of movies I love to watch over and over–I’m a total sucker for any flick starring Hugh Grant and is there anyone on the planet who doesn’t love Colin Firth??  Naming my top two movies didn’t take any effort at all, but choosing one to slip into the number 3 slot was a real challenge as there are so many that I love.  Some of my faves that didn’t make the top three are Ever After; Crazy, Stupid Love; 50 First Dates; A Knight’s Tale; Two Weeks Notice; Pride and Prejudice (A&E version–actually a mini-series so I couldn’t really make it number 3); Gone With the Wind; Arsenic and Old Lace; and, oh, so many more.  But then there are three that rise above the rest, three that somehow transcend all the others and hold a special place in my heart.  And they are:

#3 Love Actually.  I love the way the stories in this movie intertwine.  I love Liam Neeson and his stepson.  I love Hugh Grant as the Prime minister.  I love Colin Firth playing a novelist.  I love the humor and the bittersweetness.  Basically I just love everything about this film.  There are so many stars in it your head will spin, and did I mention that both Hugh Grant AND Colin Firth are in it? Oh, yeah-I did

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Fabulous cast--you'll laugh and cry and fall in love

#2 The In-Laws.  I’m talking about the original version starring Peter Falk and Alan Arkin as soo-to-be in-laws.  This isn’t a film that would ever win an Oscar, but it sends me into fits of laughter with its over-the-top silliness.  We frequently quote from this movie and giggle every time we do.  I’ve never seen the re-make with Albert Brooks and Michael Douglas–I have no desire to mess with the perfection that the original represents to me.

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The In-Laws--such silly fun!

And my #1, all-time favorite movie is: Some Like it Hot.  Made in 1959 by Billy Wilder and filmed in black and white, this flick stars Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis as two Prohibition-era musicians who dress as women who join an all-girl band to escape gangsters.  Marilyn Monroe and Joe E. Brown round out the superb cast.  I’ve seen this movie so many times yet it never fails to make me laugh.  Lemmon, Curtis and Monroe are perfection.  I love the music and as for the dresses Ms. Monroe wears…WOW! She oozes sex appeal like no one else. 

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This movie was made more than 50 years ago, yet it remains timeless

What are your top three favorite movies?  Have you seen any good flicks lately?

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Release Week!

I considered posting the most witty, heartwarming and potentially viral blog post every in the history of the universe this morning…but, hey, it’s RELEASE WEEK, so instead I’m going to tell you about what I’ve got going on book-wise this week!

I’m super psyched because the fourth Shadow Keeper book (written as J.K. Beck) is on shelves now! And the next two books (WHEN DARKNESS HUNGERS and WHEN TEMPTATION BURNS) are following over the next two months. Yay!!!

Today, I’m hanging out at Get Lost in a Story. Come by and say hi and enter to win a copy of When Darkness Hungers and Carpe Demon. Why Demon? Because I’m about to release Book 6 in the series, PAX DEMONICA. Yay!!!!!

What new books have y’all bought lately? I recently bought DIVERGENT but, alas, haven’t had time to start it!

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Days Like These (My Pity Party)

Friday, my son’s 21st birthday, should have been an awesome day around here. 21! I got him all the way to grown-up from babyhood, in one piece, hoorah! But I wasn’t feeling it. I was feeling sad. Depressed. Worn out and confused. I wanted to cry for no good reason and I started to wonder if there was something wrong with me. Welcome to my pity party. [image error]

At least I had cake. Thursday, I’d gone out and bought a cake. A great big chocolate cake with chocolate frosting because birthdays mean cake and my son, not a fan of cake, will sometimes eat cake if it’s all chocolate. Well, it was a chocolate chambord cake, with blackberries on top, and I knew, in the back of my mind, that this could be a problem. He dislikes blackberries. The chambord could be strong. Maybe there was raspberry filling? But… he was turning 21 and chambord was alcohol, after all. Fitting, right? I told myself it would work out. Birthdays mean cake and who turns down cake on their birthday?

Friday dawned. I felt lacking from the start. Where was that burst of energy? Who stole my happy? I considered sleeping an extra hour. But– I’m a wife. I’m a mom. I had pages to write before noon, when the husband was taking the day off early to start the birthday celebration. No matter how much we tell ourselves that we don’t have to do it all, to be everything to everyone, that superwoman is a myth, we still try. I try. So why wasn’t I superwoman?[image error]

Maybe I was just menopausal. I’m 43. My hormones levels could be raging. Sure, I haven’t really had many symptoms of menopause, but whenever a woman isn’t feeling quite right, don’t we jump right to the menstrual cycle, as if everything we do or say or think is somehow filtered through our reproductive system? That wasn’t it, I knew. I told myself it was okay to feel less than my best for a day and not have to place blame on my hormones (though, could have been hormones, who knows). [image error]

My daughter got up and saw the cake. “You know, Mom, Nick really doesn’t like cake. So don’t be offended if he doesn’t want any.”

She hit on it. Right there. The cake! Birthdays mean cake, and my son doesn’t like cake, might not eat cake on his birthday.  My life, my traditions, all the things that meant something to me growing up now meant nothing to my kids. I’d failed as a mother!

Or, maybe it was just cake. I set it aside and pasted on the happy face. We went to the movies (The Avengers, which was actually good), and out to dinner. My son ordered a beer in a restaurant for the first time. I wanted to be happy, but I was still just going through the motions. In the back of my mind was the cake, and the rejection of cake that was sure to follow. [image error]

And sure enough. We got home. It was time for cake. My son saw the cake on the counter. “Thanks, Mom. But you know I don’t like cake. I’ll be upstairs.”

And I still thought, well, fine, but I’ll call him back down when I have candles on the cake and we’ll sing happy birthday. And all will be right. But. I had no candles. Birthday candles! I’d forgotten the most important part of birthday cake. Maybe all my fears were true. I really was a failure. My son had blown out a candle on his ice cream at the restaurant, but would a birthday count as a birthday without candles on a cake? I ruined my son’s birthday! F*ck it. I opened the cake box. I was ready to let it go.

My daughter must have seen me opening the box and she ran to get her brother. Suddenly, he was there, ready to pretend to enjoy cake just because he knew I wanted him to. But it was too late. I snapped. I didn’t want him to eat cake just because I wanted him to eat cake. Clearly, he didn’t care about cake.

“It’s just cake,” I said, trying to mean it. I cut three slices, one for husband, daughter, me- none for the birthday boy. “I don’t have candles anyway. Don’t worry about it. Happy birthday. It’s just a cake.”

But my kids looked at each other and looked at me, and they knew. It wasn’t just cake. But maybe it was just cake. Three of us ate cake in silence, and my son went back to his room.

The next day, we had to prepare for a family party, which meant more celebration, another cake. I wasn’t sure I was up for it. Until my daughter had a brilliant suggestion. Ice cream cake. AHA! And this time, I would remember the candles. My mood shifted. Suddenly I was happy again.

And sure enough, my son blew out candles and ate cake. And all was right with the world. 

Have you ever felt the pressure to be Superwoman? Crumbled under pressure? Did somebody warn you there would be days like these? Do you like birthday traditions? What’s your favorite cake?

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Fajitas and Guacamole

[image error]Someone asked for my fajita recipe and I’m happy to share although it’s really simple:

I use either skirt steak or chicken breasts, and usually both !   I cook the meat either on a grill (when I was in Texas) or in the skillet (here in New York).   I marinate the meat beforehand in either a little lime juice, orange juice or sometimes Italian dressing, the latter being my husband’s favorite.   With the juices, I usually add salt and pepper.  About thirty minutes will do it.

I cook the meat (with the barest amount of oil if it’s the skillet) whole and cut it into strips after it’s cooked.

For the onions and peppers, I use a yellow onion cut into strips and usually a green and either red or yellow bell pepper also cut into strips (the extra color looks really nice).  I either steam them in water in a separate skillet (with the lid on, until soft) or sometimes I use the marinade to cook them—still basically steaming.

Serve sliced meat and drained peppers and onions with warm flour tortillas, shredded cheese, sour cream, guacamole and, if you’re my husband, jalapeño slices.

Robert’s Guacamole Recipe:

Two avocados –soft to the touch (you should be able to push your thumb into the skin and leave an indentation)

One small white onion (chopped)

Two small tomatoes (plum work best—less water) (chopped)[image error]

A clove of garlic (or two) (minced)

Splash of lemon juice

Salt and pepper to taste

One to two tablespoons salsa depending on your preference (I like it best without the salsa—R likes it best with two tablespoons.)

Peel the avocados and mash.  Stir in the remaining ingredients.  Test with a chip or two to adjust the flavors as needed.  Then enjoy!!!

How about you?  What’s your favorite Mexican recipe?  What do you like to fix for a summer outdoor meal?  Or a picnic party?

 

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Wear Blue to Remember the Fallen

Kim Myer, a reader who follows me on Facebook, asked me if I would wear blue on Memorial Day and pledge to run a few miles to remember the soldiers we have lost in the wars.   There are runs and walks around the nation on Memorial Day, or you can do it on your own.

I will be running by myself, but I pledged five miles and I will wear blue to remember. Here is the information about the Wear Blue to Remember movement. 

If you are going out for exercise today, maybe you could wear blue and remember, too.   Have a wonderful day

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Seduction of Lady X

ON SALE MARCH 27

The would-be Earl of Ashwood sets his romantic sights on a forbidden prize in the enchanting third novel from Julia London’s addictively sexy new series.

The surprising news that dashing steward Harrison Tolly, illegitimate son of the Earl of Ashwood, is the rightful heir to his father’s estate comes at a most inopportune time. With a wedding on the horizon and a baby on the way, a new life of privilege and prestige would be a blessing but for one problem: his heart belongs to another woman.

Harrison keeps his desires for his employer’s wife, Lady Olivia Carey, so hidden that even she does not know of his devotion. Her callous husband, Marquis Carey, went into a rampage after Olivia’s troublesome younger sister returned from her tour of Spain pregnant, and Harrison impulsively stepped in to save the entire family from scandal. Now, like Olivia, he is trapped in a loveless arrangement. When a tragic accident claims the marquis’ life soon thereafter, can Harrison seize his chance and cast aside one sister for another? Or will doing so expose the Carey family’s darkest secret—and ruin his only chance to win Olivia’s heart?

For a behind the scenes look at Hadley Green, please visit the Hadley Green scrapbook

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Three Day Weekend!

Memorial Day is upon us, the start of summer, the end of school, the Day of the Watermelon. It is also a time to remember everyone who has served our country.

My grandfather was from Muleshoe, Texas. He was a farmer by birth, but he drove freight wagons to Amarillo, which made him a mule skinner. That’s what they called those early day truck drivers. So when World War One rolled around, he was a perfect candidate to drive the ambulances of the time–wagons pulled by mules. He was stationed in France. He pulled soldiers off the front line and hauled them back to the hospital camps. We were talking about him not too long ago, trying to remember what he said about that war. The only thing any of us could remember is that he didn’t like the French and said they were lazy. Now, I don’t think an entire nation of Frenchmen were lazy. I think he ran across one or two who didn’t do things like he would do them. But wouldn’t I love to know what happened to him? What fighting that war was like? How they got mules and wagons to France and back? And I would also like to hug him. I did love that old man something fierce and even though he has been gone since I was twelve, I still remember him vividly and fondly. So this Memorial Day, I am thinking of Leon Devotie Winn, eating some watermelon, and swimming with a couple of kids who have no idea who he was or what he did.

Are you honoring any soldiers this weekend? Are you doing anything special for Memorial Day? Will you cut open a watermelon, take a swim, see a movie, or do something else in America that we can do because of the sacrifice of others? Whatever your plans, have a safe and glorious Memorial Day Weekend!

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MY FAVORITES, Part One

I’m going to devote my blogs for the next few weeks to My Favorite Things.  Up first–my top three restaurants of all time.  Over the years I’ve eaten in some really good places, so it was a challenge to narrow it down to three.  Unfortunately two of them aren’t in the US, so I haven’t been to them in a long time–but the memories of the meals I’ve enjoyed in them do not fade. 

My #3 favorite restaurant–The Bone Island Grill.  This is a local restaurant near where we live in ATL and we love it.  Not only is the food delicious, but we love their weekly trivia night.  Prizes are gift certificates to the restaurant (that you can use for that night’s dinner!) and we always have tons of fun there.  Excellent food and fun games–can’t beat that!

#2–Casa Paco in Madrid, Spain.  I used to frequently travel to Madrid and on every visit I’d make it a point to go to this fabulous establishment.  It’s where I’ve eaten The Best Steak EVER.  I haven’t been to Spain in years, so I can only report on how it was the last time I was there–only waiters (no waitresses), photos of the owner Paco (a dapper older man who walked through the restaurant chatting with the patrons) posing with hundreds of celebrities (these photos took up every bit of wall space).  Fabulous garlic soup and flan.  And the house red wine will render you giggly in three sips.   The waiters run up and down the narrow staircases delivering sizzling platters of the tenderest beef on the planet.   Ooooh–I can almost taste it now!

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Casa Paco, Madrid

And my #1 favorite restaurant–Casa Botin in Madrid, Spain.  This place was also a favorite of Ernest Hemingway.  Their specialty is roast suckling pig and if you like pork, it’s the best you’ll ever have.   The rooms are dimly lit and atmospheric, lined with fieldstones, and it’s fabulously rustic.  The sangria comes in earthenware pitchers you can buy (and you should) and like the house wine at Casa Paco, the sangria will put a sonrisa (smile) on your face.  If you’re ever in Madrid, you MUST go here.

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Casa Botin, Madrid

So how about you?  What are your top three fave restaurants?  Any restaurants that you’d love to visit? Hope your week is going well!

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I’ve been taken over by aliens

it's so pretty and sleek.....

I am giddy–GIDDY–at the arrival yesterday of my Swiffer Vacuum.

Clearly, this means that I’ve been taken over by aliens and y’all should all search for pods in the basement (except that I live in Texas and we don’t have a basement).

Maybe I’m growing up. Maybe I’m turning into my mother. Maybe plowing through the crumbs left by two kids (and a husband) on the floor around the breakfast bar has finally made me snap. Whatever it is, I am giddily, scarily, gloriously happy to have this little contraption. (Our regular vacuum cleaner is amazing…but bulky. A pain to get out for little jobs. A motorless Bissel just doesn’t get the job done. A broom and a dustpan is a no-thank-you-very-much-ick situation.)

It arrived yesterday evening. I unpackaged it, looking lovingly at the sleek lines, the noble arch of the handle. This is a device that can get the job done.

Alas, it had to be charged up. I checked on it twice in the night, and the little light was still red.

Sigh.

Anticipation sucks.

But this morning, when the light was still red (12-18 hours of initial charging? seriously, Swiffer folks, we bought this thing b/c we NEED it. Like, now!). Call me a wild woman, but I used it anyway. That’s me, a total anarchist. Bwahahahahahaha.

And it worked.

Like a charm.

My kitchen floor is crumb free.

Bliss.

Even if I do feel like a walking commercial.

To add to that theme: since this Swiffer Vac will save you time, clearly you need something to read in all that spare time you have. Check out my re-release of THE CAT’S FANCY. This was my very first single title, and it holds a special place in my heart. Read all about it on my website!

Got a favorite product to pimp? Share! Share!

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Swept Away

When my daughter is away at college, she makes me jealous by telling me of all her adventures in New York City (a short train ride from her campus). Well, not all. I’m sure there are many adventures I have not heard about. So be it. She’s in college. But now that she’s back home for the summer, my husband and I decided it’s our turn to play. We left the kids in charge of the house (and dog) and went off for a romantic weekend in the city. 

My husband, the frequent business traveler, had accumulated a lot of Marriott points, so we chose the Carlton on Madison Avenue (around 28th) and I knew it was the place for me as we approached on our walk from Grand Central Station (we parked in CT and took the train in). I was instantly transported to Edith Wharton’s New York. I could just see myself in 1904, when the Carlton was the famous Seville Hotel (pictured pre-renovation).

In my head, I was wearing this:[image error]

And as luck would have it, the hotel restaurant was celebrating it’s reopening of the original 1904 entry by giving lunch away at 1904 prices! $1.25 for a light appetizer-entree-dessert, plus cups of coffee for a quarter. We didn’t line up for the 1904 prices, but it was a very popular campaign.

Inside, the Carlton has all the modern conveniences, but I couldn’t shake my Downton Abbey state of mind. We went walking around the city and I was seeing everything through my 1904 filter, the buildings, the shopping, the people.

In a shop window, with Julia London's renovations in mind.

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Well, maybe not this guy. He stripped down to his Speedo to catch some rays in Battery Park. Only in New York, kids.

Walking by the New York Public Library (yes, the one with the lions) I noticed an exhibit to take me even deeper into my historical delusions of grandeur: Shelley’s Ghost, a display of letters, journals, and artifacts from the poet Shelley and his (second) wife, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley.

My husband was in an indulgent mood, because he agreed to go in with me! I’ve loved the Shelleys for years. A bit obsessed, really. So it was a fascinating exhibit for me (and even the husband wasn’t bored- it’s small).

On our last night, we ended up at a romantic French restaurant and I got to keep on imagining my life as a Whartonesque heroine.

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Our garden table was lit with a taper that kept burning down to the nub. Our host Philippe was friendly and indulgent. The food was outstanding. If you’re in New York, try Gascogne. I don’t think you’ll be sorry. 

New York City isn’t as old as some cities, but it still manages to carry me away. 

Are you fascinated with history? Do you ever imagine yourself to be in another time or place? If you could choose any time period to live in, which would you choose? What’s your favorite city?

 

 

 

 

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