Your TGIM thought of the day is brought to you by this sweet sunset I watched in Mykonos. I spent part of today learning iMovie. Clearly, I have a lot more to learn. This video is jumpy in parts and the framing could be better. But I am learning.
One thing I'm learning is that, even though I perfectly edited "Orange Sky" by Alexi Murdoch as background music and it is the only acceptable sound for this video and I should be allowed to freaking use it because I am not doing anything evil, YouTube is not feeling any of that. So if you want to hear "Orange Sky" over the video, you can start the sound clip below first, then start playing the video.
For so long, I've been hearing that Santorini is the most beautiful place on Earth. But nothing could have prepared me for how amazing it was.
First of all, the view from our hotel room was spectacular (you can click on each photo to see it full-sized; my journal format cuts them off a bit):
Santorini is the result of a volcanic eruption. The island is a circular formation that's actually the rim of an old volcano, with many exposed rock layers along steep cliffs. Which means to get up or down the cliffsides, taking an alarmingly fast cab ride zinging around sharp curves is pretty much the only option. You could Google "Santorini caldera" to get an idea of the vast awesomeness of these cliffs. Homes were carved out of pumice in a uniform style, all curved and white with highlights of Aegean blue. Here's the town of Oia:
Our hotel had one of the top five infinity pools in the world. If you don't believe in love at first sight, then you really should have seen me with that pool. I spent every morning / early afternoon by it in my lounge chair. I don't know how to swim, but I clung to the edge of the pool so you could see what it was like:
The food was very fresh. I was totally getting my nutrients on:
Santorini is known for its beautiful sunsets, like this one:
I had to be pried from Santorini, crying like it was the last day of summer camp. We had a serious connection. However, it was good to visit some other Greek islands as well. Paros contained many cats. The cats come up to you with sharp eyes, scavenging. We ended our trip with a visit to Mykonos, where I procured some mati items. Mati means eye, and it protects against the evil eye, which is the collective negative energy. Mykonos also has a famous large pelican named Petro. Actually, there are three large pelicans, so it's a collective Petro:
So now I'm back, with two weeks of life to catch up on. For now, I'm celebrating the last day of summer with a rainbow snow cone. Cheers, everybody!
How refreshing was my long weekend in Vancouver? Sweater-wearing refreshing, that's how. It was cool and crisp. Vancouver is very vegetarian friendly, so I had good things to eat, like an elaborate fruit and berry plate that made me very happy.
Other happy Vancouver things:
1. Bike riding! I know this sounds like an extremely basic activity, but there's no way I'd ride a bike on these New York City streets with cars zipping by like two millimeters from my face. I'm into this living thing way too much. We went bike riding in Stanley Park. So. Much. Fun. Here I am in front of Science World with E. Lockhart's The Treasure Map of Boys, which was incredibly wonderful (I'll be writing about it soon).
2. Canadian politeness! It's both endearing and hilarious. This sign was outside of a parking garage. I love how it's all like, We apologize for the bad news, so let's make the sign all about how sorry we are and then maybe put the actual information you need in smaller font down there, as an afterthought.
3. Living things! Here we have a seagull attempting to snarf down a sea star (he was not a starfish, as sea stars are not fish, they're echinoderms). I'd never seen a seagull eating a sea star before. I didn't even know that seagulls ate sea stars. Far out.
We went to Chapel Hill, North Carolina this weekend for a wedding. Chapel Hill is a cute little town with impressive trees and sweet air. They love their Tar Heels! Sarah Dessen often raves about her Heels on her blog, but I just thought she was a fan. Now I understand it's more like a way of life. These were the wedding favors:
I had no idea what these cookies were supposed to be. Get it? Tar on the heels? Other things of note are the Pac-Man mint tins I scored at Chapel Hill Comics and a dessert place called Sugarland, which of course I had to visit.
So. We were at the airport to get our flight home when SP wanted to go in the airport Borders. He always wants to check out airport bookstores for my books. I never want to. Why would my books be there? Those bookstores are so small that there's only like five books in the teen section. I explain that I am not Meg Cabot. I explain that I have not written a book containing vampires. But SP isn't hearing any of that. He is my #1 fan. He always insists on checking.
And there it was. A copy of Take Me There.
It was a moment I've secretly been waiting for. Seeing my book in an airport bookstore was one of my goals that I didn't really have control over, but always wished would happen. I was a bit verklempt. Laurie Halse Anderson had been there on her recent tour and signed copies of Wintergirls, so I had to sign my book, too. SP did a happy dance, even though his neck had a crinck in it because he didn't see the pillow menu at the hotel and slept all crooked. That's dedication.
I'm back! It's always nice to come home from a trip and sleep in your own bed (although the Heavenly Bed at the Westin was quite heavenly). Grand Cayman was gorgeous, but I can never be away from New York City for too long.
Let's check in with my vacay goals...
1. Reunite with palm trees - major check. I loved how Christmas lights are strung on the palm tree trunks in a triangular formation to look like they're on a traditional style Christmas tree. And I love the sound of the palm tree leaves whispering in the breeze. It was an awesome reunion.
2. Find one of those touristy drinks - no check. We looked all over for a coconut or pineapple drink with the umbrellas. The island was not having any of that. At least, not near Seven Mile Beach. Oh well, the hunt continues. During our search, we saw a whole bunch of these buddies running around all owning the place:
3. Chill with iguanas - check. See my previous post for evidence of my iguana adventures. However, I did not see the blue iguanas, which are tragically almost extinct. These buddies are sequestered on the other side of Grand Cayman and it would have been a huge schlep just to see a few lonely blues. I felt so bad for them. They would have made me too sad to see, so I just chilled with the green ones. When we were having a fruity drink in the pool (you could actually sit on stools in the pool and have your drink), a huge iguana skittered across the marble bar and then dove right into the pool! He swam to the edge and climbed out. He was invincible.
4. Make some progress with book five - check. Retreats are always excellent inspiration for creativity. I got to know my characters and the story really started coming to life. I'm stoked.
Being in the tropics made me think more about how people decide where to live. This has always fascinated me. I mean, there are people who stay in their hometown or nearby for their entire lives. That's what works for them and they feel at home. Then there are others who know they would be happier elsewhere and make it happen. Several people I met on the island only intended to stay there for a few weeks and ended up staying for 27 years. How could they not? Beautiful weather every day, relaxed vibe, summer breeze no matter what season it is, amazing water colors:
Still, there's only one place I want to live. Wintery mix and all.
Tropical greetings! Going from 19 degrees to 86 degrees in one day was magnificent. I have reunited with the palm trees. While I have not yet seen the rare blue iguanas, I've made friends with some green ones. The big one on my shoulders was hungry for flowers:
and the little one practiced his future staring technique:
A bright green one with an extremely long tail clung to a palm tree for a long time. He kept hiding from me. There are also a lot of little geckos running around. I named everyone Buddy.
In between visits with the iguanas and beach time, I've been working on book five. I have names and a few chapters. It's a fun ride, seeing where the story takes me. This is the view from my desk:
and a personal palm tree that you can pet from the balcony:
I'm not sure if I'll be able to blog next week, as I will be away on a tropical retreat in Grand Cayman.
I have some goals.
1. Reunite with palm trees. Palm trees are my favorite type of tree. They're so peaceful and impressive. And if you're seeing one, that means you're probably not cold. I'm already over my hat and scarf and it's not even winter yet.
2. Find one of those touristy drinks (non-alcoholic) that come in a coconut or pineapple with lots of fruit and umbrellas sticking out. We found a coconut one in South Beach last year, but it didn't come with umbrellas. I am determined to score those umbrellas. Most people avoid these types of cheesy drinks so as not to look like a loser. I am not one of those people.
3. Chill with blue iguanas. I like iguanas. In Bonaire, the iguanas would come right up to you and tilt their head and stare at you with one eye. It would be like one big eye all up in your face for half an hour. They are very attentive. I named all of them Buddy. I hope to make some new Buddy friends that are blue.
4. Make some progress with book five. Writing on the patio when it's sunny and 82 degrees, palm trees swaying, ocean spread out in front of you, coconut drink at your side...that's the life. There's a reason why Meg Cabot and Judy Blume live in Key West.
If I'm not on here next week, see you after (hopefully with documentation of these activities)!
Montreal is always fun. This time we got to travel just outside the city to apple picking land, where I finally found maple sugar (in the shape of maple leaves, of course). I'd been looking for maple sugar for, like, ever. Sometimes you don't realize how hard it is to find something until you start looking for it. Also, there was a llama all up in my face. He seemed friendly at first. But after concluding that I was not food, he became a bit snotty:
In other nature news, Eric Luper (eluper) posted a Colasanti Tree update. My little tree is very determined. Thanks for taking such good care of him, Eric!
Time to get back to work. I'm in the middle of my second draft of Something Like Fate and anticipating the copyedits for Waiting for You. Thanks to everyone for all of your sweet comments about the cover. I'm stoked.
I'm off to Montreal for SP's family reunion. It will not be like Toronto was last weekend because a.) there's a lot more to do in Montreal and b.) it will be cold. Below freezing cold. Which means only one thing. Time to bust out my toque.
For those of you unfamiliar with Canadian speak, a toque (pronounced "tuke") is one of those really warm hats with the ear flaps and pom-pom on top. The bigger the pom-pom, the more fabulous the toque. Mine has a medium-sized pom-pom, so I'll be looking for a bigger one while I'm there.
On the plane, I'll be reading I Am the Messenger by Markus Zusak. Dude, this book is so freaking good! I love the whole Pay It Forward theme with a twist. And Markus is such a sensitive, entertaining writer. Good on you, Markus!
This weekend, do something radical. See you on Tuesday.
I'm back from a long weekend in Toronto, where I went to an incredible night wedding at the Royal Ontario Museum. It's always fun to go to weddings at cool locations like museums. Congrats to Marcus and Kathy!
1. For the wedding, SP and I picked out my gorgeous dress at Morgane Le Fay. I've never owned anything this nice before and I'm a bit paranoid about taking it to the dry cleaners. I've heard horror stories about things getting lost at the dry cleaners. I'm sure the dress feels out of place in my closet, mingling with the other dresses that do not come close to its quality. But it's always good to make friends with others who are different. The dress:
2. The World's Biggest Bookstore is a.) not actually the world's biggest bookstore and b.) straight out of 1971. I was seriously expecting skinny John Travolta to come sauntering out, all like, "Don't touch the hair!" It was like a time capsule with the lights and music and fonts. And I love how it says booklovers hangout on the wall. The bookstore:
3. Going up the CN Tower is apparently the thing to do in Toronto. It's the world's tallest building at 1,815 feet, 5 inches. Now I can say I've seen Niagra Falls without ever having been to Niagra Falls. The view:
4. One of the awesome things about Canada (in addition to free health care for everyone, so you can actually go to the doctor's when you're sick) is that the garbage cans on the city sidewalks also have slots for paper and bottle recycling. Every garbage can in NYC should be replaced by one of these:
5. The Canadian dollar store, where I scored some sparkly colored pencils and glitter glue. How did I resist the maple leaf spatulas? The store:
We're going back to Canada next weekend, this time to Montreal. Toronto's weather was amazing, but I think I'd better pack my toque for Montreal, eh?
TeensReadToo is having a contest to win copies of When It Happens and Take MeThere. You can also win some other hot reads, so get over there and enter.
And you can still enter my very own first official contest. Here's how.
Yeah, this heat wave is pretty freaking hot. So to help cool you off, check out these spectacular iceberg photos from the Antarctic.
These cool blue stripes form when water freezes quickly in pores of an existing iceberg:
This is a wave that broke through the ice and froze almost instantly when it came into contact with the surrounding air:
With the heat index approaching 106 degrees today, I'll try to imagine that I am this frozen wave. That might actually work for a full two blocks. Thanks for these, Fabien!
My weekend South Beach vacay was awesome. Not only because it was in the 80's and sunny every day (the high temp on Sunday was 91 degrees - a new record), but we stayed in the surreal art deco district and that totally rocked. There are lots of restored buildings with sweet neon lights and cool shapes and they all have signs with hot fonts. The best detail involved cut-out circles and palm trees:
Our hotel was such a rock star that it was just called The Hotel. This is the rooftop pool where I spent too much time in the sun:
Of course it's fun to see art deco during the day, but I way prefer looking at night, with all of the colors and lights ablaze:
The view along Ocean Drive:
Where else can you see architecture like this:
and details like this:
Even the lifeguard stands are cute:
Like Mr. Bauer sitting on the rooftop pool lounge chair next to me Friday afternoon said, "This is the life!" Life would have been even better if his first name was Jack, but I loved it there. Copy that.
Here in New York, Real February has begun. Up until now, this month has pretty much been Fake February, with its record-breaking 68 degrees on February 6 and another day in the 60's last week. That's done. Now it's cold.
Times like these make me reflect on sweet summer days (conveniently blocking out the deathly heat waves and crazy humidity) and fun vacays to warm places. I'm going to Miami Beach next month (but before the vernal equinox, because it's so rock star to relax on a rooftop pool while it's freezing winter back here). But today, I want to share my photos from my Cali vacay. I wrote about my trip to San Diego/LA/Malibu/La Jolla here and these are the photos to go with it.
I like animals (not to eat, just to chill with). When I'm traveling, sometimes I develop bonds with iguanas or pelicans or fat cats. I have a tendency to name them all Buddy. I do not know why I do this. In Bonaire, I was out on a pier and this massive iguana scrunched in real close, all staring at me with his big, yellow eye for twenty minutes. He was the original Buddy.
These Buddies were on the Santa Monica Pier:
They let you get really close. For comparison, here's a Buddy flying away:
By observing the seagulls, I learned that they are quite territorial about streetlamps. Only one Buddy per streetlamp was allowed for as far as you could see.
One of the many awesome features of the Santa Monica Pier (besides Skee-Ball - woot!) is the Big Wheel. There are some sweet views from the top:
Every Sunday, you can visit a temporary memorial next to the pier called Arlington West:
Each white cross represents one American soldier who has died in this stupid war. That's almost 4,000 deaths. You can read more about Arlington West here.
I love how green California is. There are lots of recycling bins and environmental initiatives and solar panels happening over there. Peace out, my West Coast neighbors! You guys rule. This was a holiday store display (I forget which store, though):
Rudolph the Recycling Reindeer! Love that.
This is the rooftop beach at the amazing San Diego W Hotel:
The sand was heated. And they had a bonfire, but no marshmallows to toast. They might want to rethink that decision. We also stayed at the Beverly Hilton, which was so decadent and fancy. There's a big aquarium built into a wall with lots of Buddies, but my photo was too dark.
I took these in La Jolla on the day with the enormous waves:
You might not be able to see, but there's a whole group of pelicans on the rocks. The pelicans like to chomp on their feathers.
If you're also freezing cold these days, do not worry. Only one more month until spring!
So I'm back from a week in southern California (LA, San Diego, Malibu, La Jolla) and man. Was it butt fricking cold in New York while I was gone or what? I mean, snow? That's harsh.
But! I am holding onto palm tree memories and warm sand memories and surfer memories and would like to share my Cali Vacay Top Five with all of you friendly neighbors. Since I am kickin' it old-school with the disposable camera / convert to CD thing, I don't have photos yet. Look forward to those, though. I even have a palm tree montage all planned out for your viewing enjoyment. Big, fluffy ones and small, sprigly ones.
Until then, here's the best of what happened on the West Coast (and, yes, I saw the Hollywood sign. Icon viewed, check.).
1. Skee-Ball on the Santa Monica Pier! And vintage Pac-Man! It's hard to find one of those nowadays with a working joystick (sadly, down was nonexistent. And Skee-Ball! I haven't played that in years and it's definitely on my Top Five Games list. It took a while for me to get into the groove and by then SP was over it, so I didn't accumulate the 73 meters of tickets I usually do, but hey. I traded them in for foil heart stickers, a Super Ball, and one of those things where you blow into it and it makes a siren sound. Oh! And we went on the Pacific Wheel! Which I get is a lot like going on the ferris wheel on Coney Island, but it is much more exciting to ride the ferris wheel after you've traveled 3,000 miles to do so.
2. Huge waves on December 5! Swells forecasted up to 25 feet! It was crazy. Usually La Jolla is quiet this time of year, but everyone came out to see the surfers. This is the best video of Big Wednesday:
3. Crumbs of Beverly Hills! I am not even making this up. As we all know by now, the best cupcakes in New York come from Crumbs, my newly discovered cupcake obsession. So imagine how thrilled I was when I just happened to see a Crumbs among the palm trees of Santa Monica Boulevard. They had a lot of the same flavors as here, but with added treats like key lime, cotton candy, and fluffernutter. It's the first ever Crumbs outside of New York. Breaking news, people.
4. The W Hotel in San Diego! Not only was the Cool Corner Room a place where I could easily live for a month while I finish the second draft of book three, but they have a rooftop beach with heated sand. I know. In other hotel news, the decadence of the Beverly Hilton was dazzling. They have an amazing aquarium and the Christmas tree was unreal. Photos of both forthcoming. The Cool Corner Room was this:
5. Discovering this quote at the Morrison Hotel Gallery (not another hotel, but an actual gallery), a cool place with rad Jackson Browne and James Taylor photos: "I still believe in love and peace and positive thinking." Who said that? John Lennon. When? December 8, 1980. The day he died.
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rejuvenated
relaxed
excited
crazy
hot
energetic