Five For Friday: Dumplings, Bathroom Tile, STUMPKIN, SWEETY, And Other Stuff

What five things make me happy today?
(I could definitely go with five that don't make me happy but couldn't we all at this point?)

1. The soup dumplings at One Dragon in Houston's China Town. Yummy little water balloons of deliciousness. A mom and pop place for sure - I think there are like 8 tables and you wait outside if they're all filled which they often are.

2. The beautiful succulent plant in a cute little pot that I got at Trader Joe's. It prefers minor water and not much sunlight - perfect for a neglectful gardener like me.

3. The almost done bathroom remodeling that has filled this house with dust. I didn't used to be a person who got all gooey over new counter tops and shower heads and tile but I think I'm gonna throw a cocktail party in this room. Force our friends to get as excited as I am. Because this bathroom has been the original bathroom from whenever the house was built. And it was time.

4.  Two picture books that I've seen in F&G form that I am so excited about: Lucy Ruth Cummins' STUMPKIN, coming this fall, about a pumpkin who wants to be a jack o lantern except he lacks a sturdy stem, and next spring's SWEETY by Andrea Zuill, about a naked mole rat who just wants to be herself. (she wears fabulously homely outfits and has braces, complete with headgear and I am in love with her.)

5. The tiny ice cream cones (also from Trader Joe's). First because they are tasty. Second because the box lists not only the calories of one or three but the entire box, which while not my thing is certainly pleasantly aspirational for those just in case moments.

Til next time.

Three for Thursday

Can I keep it to three? Probably because it's almost seven AM and I'm excited to get the rest of a chapter written in the WIP before I get on with the rest of my day. This is how the magic happens lately--haul my tired self out of bed and get to it. In case you're keeping score, I'm in sleep pants and sweatshirt and for awhile I had a wool cap on my head because I took the dog out into the cold dark to do her dog thing and then I left the hat on because it was cozy. also fuzzy socks and Birkenstocks and well, it's quite a picture. But the words, they are getting written.

Anyway. Three for Thursday.

1. I'm liking Teddie (Teddy?) on Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. If she can keep herself distanced from the crazy crap, then I will like her even more, but the odds on that are pretty slim since it's kind of how the whole thing works. But yeah, John Mellencamp's daughter, I'm digging you for now. In a related topic, I dragged a friend to see Andy Cohen and Anderson Cooper in person a few weeks ago with their AC2 Live show and yes, it was wonderful and funny and fabulous--just two brilliant men dishing stories and making us laugh and I would go again if the chance arises.

2. And in another related story (because Lucy Ruth Cummins is a fab illustrator and story teller and one of the art directors at Simon and Schuster, and I met her when I was her ride from the airport at a Houston SCBWI conference and she met me at baggage carrying two Starbucks and while waiting for her luggage we somehow began talking about Bravo shows and a friendship was born!)--- Lucy Ruth Cummins and Carter Higgins have a new picture book out that YOU MUST BUY. It is called THIS IS NOT A VALENTINE and it is sweet and funny and clever and you will thank me when you get it. So get this book. Today.

3. And here is a bookseller/buyer tidbit for you: Do you know that I already have a growing list of the Halloween books coming out this year that I will probably buy for the store? (You can make these cool things called Collections on Edelweiss which is where the publishers have their catalogues and where we buyers put in our orders). It was sort of out of body to be listening to Christmas music last month and setting up future Halloween orders which meant that by the time those books were going on the shelf, my holiday book orders for 2018 would already be arriving and we'd already be talking about events for 2019.

And so it goes this morning.
Til next time.