Italy on my mind

Not a bad thing to wake me up at 4 am, that's for sure! Mind too busy checking off items on my to do list before we leave on Sunday. Today, getting Annabelle's palate expander put in, slogging through financial aid labyrinth, taxes, and stuff had my brain spinning. So I grabbed GJ and headed out into the rain for a visit to Dish, my favorite store here located in Warren, RI. (Go!!!!) Nothing like a 25% off sale when you're having some shopping therapy! An hour chatting with our favorite owners and trying on clothes (ok, and buying some too) lifted spirits and cleared my head. Dropped some homemade pesto at Gogo's, then home for some cooking therapy, which I admit works even better than shopping therapy. Laurie Colwin's tomato pie and, since our grill died, burgers on the grill pan. Have you made that recipe? I'm going to post it here. So easy and yummy. Don't be scared away by the mayo/lemon juice stuff. Somehow it works. If you don't know about Laurie Colwin, please read her. She was a columnist for Gourmet magazine and her books HOME COOKING and MORE HOME COOKING are delightful. She also wrote fiction, and when I was an aspiring writer living in Greenwich Village, I hoofed it over to Three Lives bookstore in a cold icy rain to hear her and Deborah Eisenberg read their short stories that were in The New Yorker that week. I arrived late, or just on time as they hadn't yet started but there were no seats, so I was directed to sit literally at their feet. The smell of steam heat and wet wool. Those two women writers. All of it added up to create magic, and somehow I left there knowing I could do it. I could be a writer. Sadly, Laurie Colwin died young. But I think of her every summer when the tomatoes are red and juicy and the basil hangs in abundance in our yard. 

http://oneforthetable.com/Vegetarian-Entrees/laurie-colwins-tomato-pie.html

A writer's work

I often get asked how many hours a day I write. Seems like an easy question, but so much of what I do is actually not writing. I try for two hours a day, but travel, book signings, talks, and book clubs--all of which I love doing--make up a lot of my workday. But I get to meet great people and hear their stories, always a humbling and thrilling experience. I've been at this long enough now that I know some of my fans! What a treat when I look up and see a familiar face, like Wednesday at the Brewster Bookstore on Cape Cod. Notice the great table, covered with authors' signatures. 

Cape Codders!

No, not the cocktail! People on or near Cape Cod today! I'll be at the Brewster Bookstore from 10-noon. Come say hi!

Spent a great afternoon here yesterday, eating lobster rolls and building sand castles. 

Summer day, summer day, summer day...

Enjoying NYC

Even though it was tough waking up for that early train after driving back from Ithaca Sunday night (traffic jam on the Mass Pike kindly added an hour or two to the ride!), as soon as my feet hit NYC asphalt I was happy. Annabelle and I met up with fabulous Erica, who whisked AB off to play in water and ride the carousel at Chelsea Piers. I went midtown for lunch and meeting with my editor, then walked back with a stop at Calypso (time to start thinking about fall, and to that end got a yummy brown skirt and some cream and brown tops). AB spent the evening with her buddy Ella while Ella's parents and I hopped over to the Wyeth Hotel in Williamsburg to catch the sun setting from the roof top bar. Two Hemingway's daiquiris later we made our way to dinner at Diner. Hipster waitpeople actually write the menu on your butcher paper table top. Food was good! Hipness forgiven, even bemused. 

Now AB continues to sleep. Coffee is brewing. She is off to more playgrounds and I am off to more meetings. Rumor has it I might be meeting Giada DeLaurentis this afternoon. Stay tuned. 

Haircut. Chinese take out dinner. A perfect NYC visit. Big sigh. 

Rainy ride to Ithaca

Lying here in bed listening to the rain, reading the NYT, drinking a very good cup of coffee, and willing myself to get up and make the tarragon chicken salad to complete the picnic I'm bringing up to Ithaca. Already packed the fixings for spaghetti carbonara, baked a strawberry rhubarb pie, bought a coffee cake, and packed up tomato mozzarella salad, cucumber dill salad, and toasted orzo salad, plus double chocolate cookies. All of this food equals one dinner tonight, breakfast, and aforementioned picnic. I got a condo on Groupon with a kitchen and 6 tix to a waterpark, so not only do we get to see Sam in Othello (picnic!) with Ithaca Shakespeare, but we also get to splash around and eat. Lots. 

Also need to pack a weekend bag. 

But oh this rain sounds so nice on my roof...

Home Sweet Home continued

Well, I posted the picture of Gogo and Gus and couldn't continue typing. Sigh. 

Anyway, I love newborn babies. Love them! And so had a happy afternoon cuddling Gus. And then came home and made a yummy dinner of salmon (smear with mayo, Dijon, lime juice, and fresh tarragon), my kale Caesar salad, and snap peas followed by berries a la Annabelle. Then watched first two episodes of House of Cards. Officially hooked!

Off to the Cape for two days. This afternoon a lobster and champagne lunch with the fabulous Anne LeClaire and the lucky raffle winners who won us (and the lunch!). Tomorrow an authors' luncheon hosted by Where the Sidewalk Ends. 

And on Friday it's off to Ithaca to see Sam in Othello. Might even finish my second Mara shawl on that long round trip journey!

Home Sweet Home

IIJet lag is working its bad juju on me--I'm either up until 3AM and sleeping till 10 or falling asleep in my dinner and up at 4. Guess which one it is this morning???

But the birds are chirping and the sun is shining so I decided to use the quiet time to catch up on all the things that need catching up on when you've been without wifi for two weeks. 

I had a great event Monday night at the Holy Trinity Church in Tiverton. And then yesterday took Gogo to visit Gus: