Yippee

My brother sent me a link to this video when he learned marriage had been granted to gays. He said that marriage equality reminded him of this song. His gesture quite touched me. Happy marriage equality everyone! Oh and the 80's rock!

Vacation from Vacation

After reading a few entries of this blog you’ve probably picked up on the love theme. Authors, actors, shows, I’ve even discussed what I love about romance novels.  This week I’m writing a little more of the same, with a twist. This week my adoration is focused on vacation. There is almost nothing in this world I love more than vacation, particularly summer vacation. The sun is shining, breezes are warm and I don’t have to be anywhere for two months. Let me tell you, there is nothing more seductive than knowing that you don’t have to do anything or go anywhere or see anyone (unless you want to) for eight weeks. Can you tell I’m an introvert?

Vacation is rejuvenating, and relaxing and full of adventure all at once. During my vacations I get to see friends and family, stay up as late as I want, sleep in, sit on my couch for hours (I kid you not) and do whatever the hell I want. I usually have goals I want to meet during each summer, and many times they fall by the wayside (the seduction of lazing the day away can be hardcore). Here I am ten days into my vacation and I haven’t  written a word (this blog post not included). Not that I didn’t have good intentions. I took my honey to a romantic cabin in the woods to celebrate her birthday and I brought my Alpha Smart with me. Yeah, I didn’t even open the bag I had put it in until the second to last day we were there, and then only because I had to find a power chord. I kept telling myself I have plenty of time, I had a rough year and deserve a break, there are plenty of days left. Say the phrases enough times and they can sound very reasonable.

Heck, I even contemplated bailing on this blog post because it is a reminder that I should be producing pages. And then it happened. I was surfing Amazon looking for another book I don’t need to read, when I decided to read the author bio. The book was a Rita Finalist and I was curious about who wrote it. The author, it turns out has written several seemingly successful books (hence almost getting the Rita) and I was impressed. But what stopped me cold in my tracks was learning that the she started writing after taking a short story class in January of 2012. Yup, 3.5 years ago this chick was taking writing classes and now, well now she’s certainly more successful than me. And I realized she didn’t earn that success by avoiding writing her stories. So vacation for me is over or at least the carefree I don’t have to do jack part of vacation. From here on out I need to be producing pages so that soon some writer can read my bio on Amazon, or Goodreads or somewhere else and get inspired to put her butt in the chair and write. As always, wish me luck!

Wedding Love

Weddings, I love weddings. I always have. Again, not surprising since I’m a romance writer. I think I love them so much because they are a part of my childhood. My mother had a beautiful voice and was often asked to sing at folks’ weddings. She didn’t want to go by herself and so I kept her company as her plus one. When I was young, watching brides and grooms pledge their love for each other was nice, but not the main event for me. It would take my teenage years for me to actually appreciate the ceremony. Back then, I had different priorities. Mainly, the cake. My mom would usually hang around for the meal but had little desire to stay for the whole reception. And yet I insisted that we stay long enough to watch the couple cut the cake, and for me to sample it.  Even then I knew what was important in life J

I still adore wedding cake, and won’t leave an affair without having a piece. Heck, even bad wedding cake is still pretty good. Now in my mature years, my favorite part of the wedding is the dress. I’m obsessed with wedding dresses. My favorite television show is Say Yes to the Dress. When the show aired for the first time, I said to myself ‘finally they figured out what people really care about’. Now every Friday (and some weekends if there’s a marathon) I get to indulge in my favorite past time, drooling over wedding dresses. Tulle, lace, taffeta, sweetheart necklines, oh the sight of them makes my heart flutter. There is nothing more satisfying than seeing a woman choose an amazing dress.

My college roommate’s wedding was this weekend. Guess what I obsessed about? Yup, the dress. Okay, I was a little obsessed about the food too—my friend knows how to throw a party. Full disclosure, three weeks before the wedding my former roomie enlisted her friends’ help to find what looked like from the picture she sent a blue tutu and white tank top. I was petrified she wouldn’t find anything she liked in time and then I was petrified the vision in her head would not work in real life. I worried for naught. What was a blue tutu and tank top in the picture she sent became a light blue tulle skirt and sleeveless blouse with a cowl neck. It fit my friend’s personality to a tee while being fun, elegant and beautiful. Even though I didn’t get a chance to see her walk down the aisle in a traditional white gown, she looked fabulous. Wedding dresses, it seems, can be amazing even when they aren’t dresses.

Oh and her cake was pretty awesome too!