To Write Love On Her Arms Day

To Write Love on Her Arms is a non-profit movement dedicated to presenting hope and finding help for people struggling with depression, addiction, self-injury and suicide. TWLOHA exists to encourage, inform, inspire and also to invest directly into treatment and recovery.

So on November 13th, they are asking that you write the word "LOVE" on your arm. That's all. You don't have to buy anything, or donate any money. Just write it - to show some compassion for those who are suffering. But preferably not with a Sharpie 'cause you might want to be able to wash it off at some point.

To Write Love On Her Arms Day is a day where anyone can write the words love on their arms, to support those who are fighting against depression and those who are trying to recover.

For more information, click here to go to the website. Or click here to find it on Facebook. Actually, do that - because I'm sort of crashing from the combination of brown sugar and real butter in the fig bars I baked today and therefore couldn't concentrate on the directions.

I heart Philip Roth

It's 8.22am and I"m supposed to be writing, but instead I was just watching this interview with Philip Roth here.

I love that every time he finishes a book, he, too, panics that he's never going to come up with another idea. If Philip Roth is worried about that, then I don't feel so bad...

And now I'm going back to writing. For real.

Happy accidents..

There are always two people in every picture: the photographer and the viewer. ~Ansel Adams

My favorite thing in life is being surprised. Like when something -- or someone -- shows up that you weren't expecting. Because for me, there's something about that element of surprise that makes me even more grateful for it. And more humbled by it, because I had absolutely nothing to do with its arrival -- I didn't plan for it; I didn't will it. It just...happened.

I won't go into the whole story, but Carlo was -- is--a beautiful, sweet surprise in my life. He's also an amazing photographer.

If you click here you can see for yourself.

Molto bella, no?

And this one here, of the bed...this is one of his. I just love it.

Things are getting wacky at Casa del Palmer...

...because I just ordered a bakers rack. So I can continue this cooking thing I've been doing.

Crazy.

I know - this probably wins World's Most Boring Blog Post, but it's all I got at the moment...

Before you know it I may even turn the Food Network (is it called Food Network or Food Channel? I don't even know) on...

If you're bored...

...why not PRE-ORDER my newest book Little Miss Red by clicking here.

It doesn't come out until February, but that way you'll be all set and will be sure that you'll have a copy in case, you know, there's a giant stampede and they all go out of print.

Announcing the arrival of LUCY B. PARKER....

Okay, not the arrival-arrival, because that's not until next May, but I am pleased to share the cover of my latest book. The illustrator is the amazing Anne Cresci If you click on her name, it will take you to her Etsy store...ironically, she has an illustration of Little Red Riding Hood, which, of course, I promptly purchased because of LITTLE MISS RED.

I feel so thrilled that Penguin's design goddess Kristin Smith, who has done the covers for all of my books, found Anne because she completely gets Lucy.

Now if I could just get her to design MY wardrobe...

Obviously I was given a lobotomy while I was sleeping...

....or there's some body switching going on. Because last night, on my way home from work, I stopped at Bed Bath & Beyond and bought a crock-pot. Which is a device that is apparently used to make things like stews and stuff from scratch. Without the help of a microwave.

I barely recognize myself anymore.

Soup update....

It turned out fantastic. Other than the fact that I forgot to put in the garlic.

So fantastic, in fact, that I also ended up making this eggplant/onion/pepper/honey/chili pepper thingy. I'm not sure exactly what it is -- a soup? A stew? But it was delicious.

Next up: turkey chili. I smell a new obsession here. As long as I stay away from baking, I'm okay.

Big day today....

...I am going to attempt to cook. Accent on the attempt part. Because those who know me, know this sort of thing happens once every 50 years. And I'm only 40.

Just to give you some context, I have never watched any of those cooking channels on The Food Channel or that Top Chef show that people talk about all the time. I don't even know if The Food Channel is part of my cable package. I never saw the movie Julie & Julia and have no interest, even though I love Meryl Streep. And when they announced that Gourmet magazine was about to become extinct and all my friends started freaking out, I was relieved because the girl who used to live here apparently had a subscription and it keeps coming here which means I recycle it without even cracking it open. But I secretly wish I had some interest in that stuff. Just like I secretly wish that I was one of those people who loved The Container Store because I really had an interest in making the best use of the minimal amount of space that constitutes a NYC apartment. But I just don't (a) because I have become quite fond of the prepared food sections of Whole Foods and Lifetyme Natural Market (b) I like to think that disorganization is the hallmark of a very creative mind.

But what spurred on this whole cooking thing was that yesterday I spent the day writing with my friend Ophira Edut, who is one half of The AstroTwins , (her twin sister Tali--who just got married at Burning Man -- congrats, Tali--is the other half). Ophira is amazingly cool on a lot of different levels...not the least of which is that if you tell her the astrological sign of a guy you're interested in, she can tell you EXACTLY what he's like....and you can read all about that in their book The AstroTwins' Love Zodiac But even better than that is the fact that Ophira cooks. Not only that, but apparently, she enjoys cooking which is about as foreign an idea to me as the notion that one day I'll (a) perfect my French accent to the point where the waiters at Cafe de Flore don't grimace when I ask for my cafe creme or (b) I'll organize my apartment and find a place for my shoes other than the middle of my bedroom floor. So yesterday, as I sat there plugging away on Lucy #3, Ophria made lentil soup. And it was so good -- and so perfect for what was trying to be a beautiful autumn day but falling short because it was still on the warm side -- that I became very inspired. Inspired to the point where I asked her for the recipe, which, much to my surprise and dismay, was so easy that a 5 year old could make it as long as he or she had proper supervision during the chopping part.

I say dismay, because even though I have what I believe is the tiniest kitchen on the island of Manhattan (see above picture for evidence) the recipe is so easy with so few steps that I can make it here.

So because it's technically autumn, and because I'm still sick with with what I'm sure is some new strain of flu -- like, say, monkey flu -- and because I need to stop using that PMS excuse and stop eating sugar and start eating vegetables and protein again, I. Am. Going. To. Cook. Soup. (Is that even proper grammar -- does one "cook soup" or "make soup"?

Not only that, but I'm going to also make some sort of eggplant thingy while I'm at it. Or at least buy the ingredients for it which will probably then spoil in the fridge because I'll lose steam and interest during this marathon cooking session and walk to Whole Foods and get my usual quinoa/beet/tofu salad combination like I do every day.

I will, of course, blog about this all later.

Why is it so hard for me to blog on a regular basis?

Not that anyone is sitting there with bated breath waiting for me to wax on and on self-obsessedly (Did I just make that word up? I think I did.) but, still, I feel bad that it's been almost two months since I've written here.

That being said, I have a lot of very good excuses as to why I haven't. Like, say, my trip to Paris that I had to get ready for. And then the trip to Paris that I took. And then the glorious week after Paris that I spent improving relations between America and Italy. And then getting back into the day-to-day boring reality of real life after L'Italien went back to Italy. And then getting super sick with what I was pretty sure was swine flu even though people kept rolling their eyes and saying "It's NOT swine flu" every time I said "I think I have swine flu." And then working on the MTV movie Turn The Beat Around which everyone has to watch when it airs in January so it gets good ratings and I will continue to have a day job.

Oh yeah - and writing. That's a very good excuse as to why I haven't been blogging - because I've been writing books. Specifically, I'm on Book 3 of the YOURS TRULY, LUCY B. PARKER series which I'm totally loving. I just saw the artwork for the cover of the first one and I LOVE it. Really, really fabulous.

So that's why I haven't been blogging. Because I've been living. Who knew that could be so much fun?

I wish I could post my pics from Paris here, but honestly I'm too lazy to upload all of them and too technically-challenged to create one of those photo albums that anyone in the world can see. However, if you're my friend on Facebook, you can see them there. And if you're not my friend on Facebook, please become one 'cause a girl can never have too many friends.

In the meantime, here are a few of my favorites.....

And I'm going to blog more...I promise...

xox