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The California part of my book tour was so much fun! It all started in Los Angeles with my amazing author escort, Lisa. Actually, I now think of her as Wonder Woman because she made miracles happen. When she asked me if there was anything I wanted to see, all I could think of was Sprinkles. I'd heard that Sprinkles cupcakes rival Crumbs. I'd been lusting after Sprinkles for years. So when I mentioned Sprinkles, I assumed I wouldn't have enough time to go there and I'd miss it yet again and oh well. But that's not how things went down. Lisa took us straight over to Sprinkles, which of course was right around the corner when I mentioned it (hi, non-coincidence!) and I finally got to go! Here's Lisa at Sprinkles:



This is what I have determined. Sprinkles cupcakes are the best cupcakes in the world. Even better than Crumbs. I know! But it's true. Oh Sprinkles, how I will miss your deliciousness. Another treat I will never forget: In-N-Out. I'd been hearing about In-N-Out for years. Steve Carell said how after big events he likes to get In-N-Out and go home to chill. That made me want to go. My research showed that they didn't have a veggie burger, so I thought I would never get to join in the fun. But! One of my Facebook friends said that they have a secret off-the-menu item. Secret grilled cheese. And that I should get the grilled cheese animal style. Which I did. And wow, was that one of the best things ever. So. Freaking. Good. Thanks a million, Morgan!

We did some stock signings at various bookstores. I'm thrilled to report this breaking news: Barnes & Noble stores are doing stepladders of my books. Stepladders are types of metal floor displays that are much larger than the cardboard ones. If you're entering my Floor Display Contest, it sounds like you will probably see one of these displays. Righteous! I also saw some really sweet endcaps, which you could also document for the contest:



My first event was at Borders in LA. Can I just say that Lita Weissman is incredible? She organized an event that far exceeded my expectations. There were tons of huge displays of my books all throughout the store, including right when you come in. She had cool flyers and bookmarks made. She even had a huge birthday cake for me! With sprinkles and hearts!



Everyone sang when I came out. I just felt so welcome there. The readers who attended were fabulous and so was the staff. Thanks to everyone for making my first official book tour event one I will never forget.

I got to meet up with my friends Jordi and Fabien. It was funny - they lived in San Francisco before moving to LA like two weeks ago, but I didn't know they'd moved. So when I told them I was coming to San Fran, they were like, Drat, we just moved to LA. But then I was like, Sweet, I'll be in LA, too! I hadn't seen them in a long time. They were so LA with their cool summer fabrics and Cali boy ways. I had a great time walking around West Hollywood on a cool night with them.



The next morning, it was time to leave for San Francisco. I cannot even describe to you how awesome the ride to the airport was. At my Borders event, I mentioned Cast Away. I've seen that movie so many times and adore Wilson. That scene where Chuck loses Wilson o

I like marshmallow cereal treats (a.k.a. Rice Krispie treats), but my husband doesn’t. There’s no way I can eat a whole batch of them before they go bad. Lately I’ve been buying the pre-made treats; they’re good, but not as good as the homemade kind. So, last night I decided to experiment with a small batch, using Fruity Pebbles cereal, and it worked! The recipe is below if you want to try it too.

They’re so yummy – if you like Fruity Pebbles. Here’s a picture:

Fruity Pebbles Marshmallow Treats

It’s a little blurry because I took the picture with my cell phone, but I promise you that they are scrumptious.

Here’s the recipe for a small batch of marshmallow cereal treats:

Marshmallow Cereal Treats (small batch)

Ingredients:
- 10 marshmallows
- 1 Tbsp margarine*
- 2+ cups of cereal
- mix-ins**

Instructions:
- Melt the margarine in a sauce pan or in a large bowl in the microwave.

- When it’s melted, add the marshmallows and stir to coat.

- Put the mix back on the stove or in the microwave to melt the marshmallows (it takes about 75 seconds to melt, depending on your microwave).

- Stir the mixture 1/2 way through (at about 40 seconds for the microwave).

- Add the cereal*** and mix until it’s all coated (add enough cereal so that there’s no extra marshmallow, which will be different depending on what cereal you use and whether or not you need extra marshmallow to cover the mix-ins).

- Add mix-ins while you can still stir!

- Grease a small bowl or glass serving dish (use margarine) and push the cereal down into it. You can line the dish with wax paper or foil before greasing it if you want an easier clean up. Or, just use the bowl that you made it in and then transfer to wax paper when it’s almost completely cooled. That way you only have one dish to clean and it’s an easy clean up (if you soak the bowl).

- Cut squares and enjoy. Yum!

- Makes 4-6 treats, depending on how big you cute the squares.

* You can substitute peanut butter for margarine. I want to try this with chocolate cereal.

**Mix-ins can be anything you want, that would taste good with the cereal you are using. Some ideas: chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, nuts, dried fruit, marshmallows from Lucky Charms, M&Ms, gummy candy, cookie bits, or whatever your imagination comes up with!

*** The traditional recipe calls for Rice Krispies, but the Fruity Pebbles are good. Almost any cereal would work here if you like it and want to try it.

It's officially Spring! Oh, how I missed you, season of warmth and new life. There's just something so refreshing about officially putting my boots away and walking around in a tee and sneakers. Okay, so maybe I'm not walking around in a tee today - we were spoiled by some really warm weather last week - but I will be again soon enough. Emerging from beneath the layers is the best kind of spiritual renewal.

This year, I decided to celebrate the vernal equinox upscale style. First there was a sunset walk on the High Line. It was reassuring to see some early buds on the trees. There were even a few flowers blooming. Then we had a fancy dinner at Charles (which, by the way, is not on Charles Street). Fancy restaurants have been doing this thing lately where they'll take some kind of basic comfort food and give it a gourmet twist. It's fun. So I was excited about the truffle grilled cheese. But wow, I did not expect such excellence. This truffle grilled cheese was, like, one of the best things I've ever tasted. Seriously, if you're in the New York area you need to get yourself to Charles immediately. Or Crumbs, for this pretty spring Cupcake of the Week:



Improvements in weather also inspire me to go shopping for pretty spring things. I've found a few new shirts for my upcoming book tour at Forever 21 and such. There are so many gorgeous floral prints right now! Sometimes they psych you out, though. Like I'll see the most amazing jacket and turn it around and there'll be this big honking bow on the back. Why?

I'll leave you with these links to an interview with me at The Unprofessional Critic and this review of Something Like Fate at The Truth About Books. I was so impressed that Tricia got an ARC at the Books of Wonder signing, read the whole book, then whipped up this review all in the space of two days. That's dedication, yo.

After much delay, I finally got around to seeing It's Complicated. It was definitely the fun time I thought it would be. John Krasinski could not be more adorable. As a bonus, we get to see him in lady pajamas. He has some scruff happening, which I typically do not enjoy. But, you know. It's John.  



When Meg Cabot reviewed the movie on her blog, she said how she didn't like the scene where Meryl Streep is replacing a water cooler bottle and Alec Baldwin doesn't even offer to help. But I liked that she didn't need any man help. And I like how you can always count on a film by Nancy Meyers to have at least one scene with incredible food. I guess whether you write a screenplay or a book, your voice is recognizable. Which is a good thing.

Dude, what's the verdict on Nick Jonas and the Administration? I saw him play on Letterman and was less than impressed. Is his voice always that quiet?

My friend Eric informed me about this 100 Games Cupcake Game site. Some geniuses decorated cupcakes to reflect pretty much every old-school game you can remember. Regular readers of this blog know how much I love the old-school games. There was this Atari game called Adventure that I was absolutely obsessed with. It was so low-budge you would laugh really hard if you saw it now, but back when the Atari 2600 came out it was the the. You were a little square and you had to travel through this kingdom and everything you encountered came in these totally remedial shapes. Despite the early video game design, I was terrified about encountering dragons. They looked like this:



The green square is you and that arrow thing is what you had to pick up to kill the dragons.  I can't tell you how thrilled I am that someone else knows about Adventure, because every time I mention it (which would be more often than you'd think), no one knows what the eff I'm talking about. Pitfall Harry was also fun times on the old Atari. And of course Pac-Man! I ruled at Pac-Man. I was also very into this game called Simon, with its big buttons of flashing light you had to imitate.



Speaking of games, I'm still searching for a good Board Games Night to join.  I only have a few friends who like to play games.  Everyone else thinks they're too old.  I'm like, How can you ever be too old for a Cranium game?  Or Uno?  Luckily, I will be playing Uno and Set this weekend at my fave coffeehouse.  Hope you get to play some fun games this weekend, too!

Found him.



It's the Big Gay Ice Cream Truck! With Doug in the window! He's out a few days each week, but it's been so hot that I didn't want ice cream. Which I know sounds counterintuitive. It's just that when it's really hot out, your ice cream melts in like three seconds. How much fun is that? So I waited until it wasn't scorching and tracked down the truck. Doug is super creative with the toppings. He uses bacon to create the wildly popular Choinkwich. He has toppings like curried coconut, Nutella, Trix, pickles, and pumpkin butter. I'm sort of a purist when it comes to ice cream. I felt like an unadventurous dork getting my cup of vanilla with butterscotch and extra sprinkles. I prefer cones, but the cup was to prevent melting accidents. Unfortunately, the combination of my being a slow eater and August in New York resulted in the wind zinging melted ice cream right out of my cup. I've made a pact to return when it's cooler, when I will be more adventurous. Not that I'm always more adventurous when it's cooler. But this is a special occasion. The pumpkin butter sounds pretty good. So yeah, the Big Gay Ice Cream Truck is making quite a splash around these parts. Even NPR interviewed Doug. That's how much of a rock star he is.

For the rest of the week, I'll be unplugged from the Internet. I'm going to Vancouver, where it's supposed to get down to the 50s at night! Yay for a cool, refreshing break. I like to do a technology cleanse every so often, so four days away from the computer will be restorative. Otherwise known as How Things Were Not Too Long Ago. Catch you next week. Stay cool!

Earlier this week, I was in one of those situations where my neighbor forgot to turn his alarm off before leaving for Europe. So every morning at 5:00 (or maybe 4:00 - I was too groggy to tell time, even on my digital clock), his alarm would go off and I got to wake up super early. Fun times! It was one of those alarms that get angrier the longer you don't turn them off. It would start of all normal, like be-da-lee-dee...be-da-lee-dee. But then it would get all loud like EH-EH-EH. For an hour. There was no going back to sleep after that rude awakening. I think my super finally found a key, because the alarm didn't go off this morning. Either that or I was so exhausted I slept through it.

This might not have been a problem if I was a morning person. My circadian rhythm dictates that I am a night person. Back in high school, it was always so hard for me to wake up early. I usually stayed up way too late. Every day of my teen life being the worst day ever didn't motivate me to get up early, either. Getting up was easier when I was a teacher because I actually wanted to go to school, but it was still horrific to set my alarm for times like 4:45. No one should be awake at 4:45. That's just wrong. So since I like staying up late, I couldn't get myself to adjust to my neighbor's alarm clock by going to sleep earlier. If I'm not making much sense right now, we can totally blame him.

In all of this huffufle, I wasn't able to track down the Big Gay Ice Cream Truck. The dude is away for a few days, so I'll have to report back to you on that next week. Good thing Crumbs is always around. It's been a while since I've shared any Crumbs cupcake adventures with you, so I stopped in to see what's new. They are getting seriously creative with cupcake names. There was the Half-Blood Prince and the Elvis. When I saw the S'mores, I knew I had to document one for you:



For now, I need to catch up on sleep. I also want to find a power strip with a plug that fits flatly against the wall. I have a new Crate & Barrel entertainment cabinet that I wanted to push back against the wall, but the plug on my power strip behind the cabinet is so massive that there's this annoying space between the cabinet and the wall. I guess a trip to Bed & Bath is inevitable. If I wasn't such an organization freak, I'd think this type of preoccupation was a result of sleep deprivation. But no, it's just me. Cheers!

Congrats to last week's contest winner Ashley T.! She will be receiving a signed copy of When It Happens.

Remember Taylor's amazing bokeh photos? Well, I received a most excellent gift. Taylor sent me a few prints, including my favorite one. I'm still searching for the perfect frame.



It's obvious from your comments that Veronica Mars should be the next show in my Netflix queue. I've heard so many people rave about this show with total fanaticism. I'm all over it.

Karma shined its light on me yesterday. After years of going to mean doctors who are so rushed they don't let you ask questions, I found the best doctor ever. His nurse is also the best. Even the receptionist rocks. I just felt so good, having my annual checkup without the drama. It didn't even bother me when they took blood, the way it usually does. It's a sad commentary on the state of health insurance in this country (because the quality of your insurance usually determines the quality of in-network doctors available) that I'm excited to finally receive basic care. Without anyone yelling at me.

I'll leave you with this warm fuzzy from Crumbs, which is expanding locations at warp speed. Their Valentine's Day cupcakes were just as cute and tasty as you'd expect.

The party's already started over at Crumbs... 

Does anyone celebrate Festivus for real? If so, what do you do with your Festivus pole? Does it just sit there, or do you dance around it or something?

Allison and I had our annual gift exchange at Crumbs yesterday. Crumbs featured snowflake cupcakes and assorted holiday cookies:



After we unwrapped everything, it looked like this:



Highlights included the new Neil Young Sugar Mountain (for her) and Street Gang: The Complete History of Sesame Street (for me).

I'm off to the chilly Canadian tundra. SP's ma saved the Christmas tree for me to decorate tomorrow morning because she rocks like that.

Have a wonderful week of holiday celebration!  I wish you a time filled with laughter and happiness, friends and family, hope and light.

Your TGIM thought of the day is brought to you by my fave cupcake shop, Crumbs. Allison and I are loving their Halloween cupcake assortment. We went a little crazy:

You know how sometimes when you go to sleep, you get your pillow all puffy and there's a cool summer breeze blowing in and it's like you've achieved perfect sleeping conditions?  That was me last night.  And still me this morning.  With a dream about John Krasinski (we were doing spin art on the boardwalk) in between.  So it was not the easiest thing to get out of bed.  But!  I am finishing a book three polish for my editor today (the line edit is next), so I sprang out of bed all excited to get that done.  Springing out of bed is not something I did when I was a teacher, because springing anywhere before 6:00 a.m. can be hazardous to my circadian rhythm.

From my latest Crumbs excursion.  The flower part was extra delicious.



Freedom to eat cupcakes made me think about what's going on in Los Angeles.  This whole ban on construction of new fast-food restaurants in low-income neighborhoods is hardcore.  Residents of urban areas definitely need access to affordable fresh fruits and vegetables.  It's beyond upsetting that so many kids don't have the chance to develop healthy lifestyles because they eat so much fast food and aren't exposed to fresh produce.  So yes, we need to eat less junk food and more healthy food.  But should anyone have the power to decide what everyone else is allowed to eat?

Here in New York, we are now trans fats free.  And smoking has been illegal in bars for years, which I love because that means I can hang out with my friends and drink my Shirley Temple (or Roy Rogers; sometimes I get a little crazy) without my contacts burning into my eyes.  But how far is too far?  Where's the line?  What's next - a ban on free sugars?  I can totally see a future where black market cupcakes are sold on sketchy street corners on the DL, next to the crack dealers.  And I'd really rather get my fix at Crumbs.

The last time I called to renew my subscription to CosmoGIRL!, the guy was like, "Oh, that must be for your kids."  I didn't feel the need to tell him that a.) I don't have any kids and b.) just because I'm an older girl doesn't mean I don't enjoy my teen mag fix.

When I got my August issue yesterday, I was alarmed to see "Hottest Back to School Looks" on the cover.  New York City public schools just had their graduation a few days ago and now we're already talking about going back?  When can kids get a mental academic break around here?  That's wild.  But then I saw page 53, and it turned into a good kind of wild.  There's a half-page ad for Take Me There, right under an ad for deodorant! 

In other sweet news, Allison tried the Artie Lange cupcake during our latest Crumbs excursion.  I was feeling old-school and went with my vanilla sprinkle.



Feel the summer breeze...

So of course I couldn't wait to get to Crumbs for a special Easter cupcake.  I wanted one with pink icing and a bunny on it.  And guess what?  That's exactly what I found!  Plus, I got to share the experience with a very special visitor.

Here's Daria Snadowsky adultolescent, author of the ravely-reviewed Anatomy of a Boyfriend.  Daria is all about the red velvet cake, so she got Crumbs' famous red velvet cupcake.  Bonus:  We're totally wearing color-coordinated cupcake clothing.  Unplanned!



These are our cupcakes, up close and personal style:



And yes, they tasted as good as they look.

We interrupt the progress of this third draft to bring you important breaking news. 

So I was in the corner card shop looking for heart glitter (why am I always running out of that?) and I go up to the register to pay and you know how some places have those candy racks under the counter?  A box of Lemonheads caught my eye.  And then wham!  I saw them!  Coffee Crisps!  Sitting right there in the corner card shop!  Which means, and this is major, that I can have a Coffee Crisp anytime I want.  That's deep, yo.
 
Do you have zero idea what I'm talking about?  Well, I first discussed the Coffee Crisp problem in this journal entry, about how they are like the best candy bar ever and you can only get them in Canada.  And how you can complain at their website if your state doesn't have them.  I mean, it's a Nestle product, I really don't see what the problem is.  But!  Nestle is now marketing Coffee Crisps nationwide after a six-year persuasion campaign, so be on the lookout.  According to the Coffee Crisp blog, where you can report sightings, they've even been spotted in the remote Dandy Mini Mart upstate.  Righteous!

Now here's the thing.  You know how sometimes when you can't have something you want, it makes you want it more?  And when you finally get it, you don't want it as much?  For me, a lot of this has to do with anticipation.  The anticipation builds excitement and that makes the Coffee Crisp, in all of its coffee creme filling / light crunchy wafers / smooth chocolate coating glory, taste even better.  I mean, how could you not want a delicious Coffee Crisp?  But now that they're just around the corner, my longing isn't as intense.  Like, I can have them anytime I want?  Where's the fun in that?

First, that is not a typo. Nash titled these little things Limicks and without finding any hard documentation I believe these were his invention, an abbreviation of a short-form Limerick: short one line, each line short three syllables of a traditional Limerick. I read once (or did I dream it) that some have confused the Limick with a Clerihew but (nerd alert) The Limick's rhyme structure is