20 Cornelia Street

Monday, August 25

The Accident/My Birthday Party

I was feeling so much better due to all of your cards, phone calls, and well-wishes, that I went ahead with my birthday party on Saturday as planned. I'm putting those pictures first, and then at the bottom, the photos from my accident, just so you can see how far I've come. The party was so much fun!!!

Ryan's girlfriend, one of Jamie and Ryan's fraternity brothers (I can't remember his name), and Ryan Lewkowski - Jamie's best friend!

Cousin Kate and I - she made the most delicious cupcakes for the party, Martha Stewart must be rubbing off on her

Deb, Sarah, and I

The first day after the accident - fractured eye bone, fractured clavical, gash in my thumb, hurt knee, and chipped teeth

Sunday, August 24

River Weekend!

Two weeks ago I was lucky enough to join my dad, Becky's dad - Frank, Becky and Gavin down at the river. We had SO much fun playing, going on boat rides, swimming, swinging and all the other fun things there are to do down there. Gavin is so sweet and just the happiest little boy. He never stops smiling and laughing - what a cutie!!!

Becky and Dad helping Gavin with his life jacket. His favorite word is "boat," he must have said it 100 times while pointing out the window toward the water!

I don't think I've seen Gavin walk yet...he only runs fun speed ahead!

Dad, Frank and Gavin going for a Gator ride

Gavin's first hair cut! He was getting a hint of a mullet so despite how well that hair style would go with the camo outfit, Becky decided it was time for a trim.

Friday, August 22

Counting Crows Concert

This actually happened back on August 1st, but I had some trouble with the Internet connection for a while (plus, as most of you know, I kind of got hit by car two weeks ago - more on that later).

It was such a fun outdoor concert! This is Emily and Jillian beside me. And even though we were disappointed it was a dry venue (!!) the Counting Crows were just as amazing as they were when I last saw them ten years ago.

Jones Beach - in New Jersey

Monday, July 28

Half-Marathon!

This past Sunday my friend Deb and I completed our half-marathon! We've been training for a few months, and were really excited to see if it was going to pay off. The course wrapped around Central Park then cut down to Times Square where there were all sorts of bands playing. We finished up the last four miles going South on the West Side Highway to end at Battery Park. 13.1 miles in all. My goal was to complete the race in 2:15:00, and ended up with a time of 2:04:42! A 9:31 split. I placed 5347 out of 10,506 runners - not too bad! Deb finished just three minutes behind me with her personal best! It really helped to have our friend Sarah, her boyfriend Russell, and of course, Alex, out there cheering for us. I can't wait for the next race!

Russell and Sarah

Alex trying on new sunglasses...he didn't buy them because he looks like the Terminator

Tuesday, July 22

Beach Weekend!

I am SO lucky to have a good friend, Jillian, who invited me and our whole group of Random House friends to her beach house this past weekend. It reached 102 degrees in the city, but we were nice and cool sitting in the ocean breeze on the Jersey Shore. We laid on the beach and read all day, then cooked out before hitting the dance floor in town. It was such a great break from the city heat!

Jillian and I

Dave and Al with their sand castle

Chastity and Emily

Jillian, me, and Emily dancing

Monday, July 14

Bachelorette Party/Bridal Shower

Ten years ago I did an exchange program to New Zealand. I was scared to death to go, but then I met Katie Gortz and I quickly forgot all about my fears. We bonded over an amazing experience, and stayed in great touch for a number of years. Then, somehow, we lost touch after a visit in Boston in 2004. I never thought I'd say this, but thanks to the power of Facebook - a service I was so hesitant to sign up for as it seemed only "kids" were using it - we reconnected a few months ago. I found out she's been living in Madrid for a few years now and is engaged to a Spaniard. What a coincidence! Luckily she was in the states for a few weeks at her house in Connecticut with her fiance, Ruben, and I was able to join her for her bachelorette party and her bridal shower. Ruben cooked up an amazing spread of Spanish tapas and we all made plans to meet up in Spain with Alex in tow over the coming year. I can't even express how wonderful it is to be back talking to my dear, dear friend! Thank you, Facebook.

Monday, July 7

July 4th / 10 Year Reunion

I had such a fun week at home with mom, dad, Aunt Connie and the Maneckes. I ran in the Firecracker 5, rode on my class float in the parade and then we all went to Jeff and Susan's for ribs and Kate's top hat cake. It was delicious and we had such a great time we're making it a tradition!

The next day was my 10 year high school reunion. It was out at Spring Valley, which was strange because it's now a park instead of a pool, but lots of fun. Not all of my friends made it back, but Drew was nice to go with me, and what friends were there, I had a great time catching up with!

Me, Sara Bauman, Jenn Jacquet, Jenny Dixon and Lauren Kornowa

Jenn brought her Barack cardboard cut out for us to pose with, isn't this a nice family portrait of Jenn, Genevra and I?

This is at the after part at Adam Kessler's: Ron Dunlap, Stephen Caldwel, Brein Herbst, Adam Kessler, Andy Scarpitti, Erica Salkow, me, and Brian Merritt, with Henry Senn in front.

Jenn Jacquet, me and Erica

Book Reviews

Are you there Vodka? It's me Chelsea - This is Chelsea Handler's second book of humorous essays. I've never seen her show, but all of her books have been on the bestseller list FOREVER so I checked it out out of curiousity. SO funny! Some are kind of shocking - think Sex and the City extreme escapades, but many made me laugh out loud. I'm definitely getting the other two now. If you need a quick, fun read, and aren't too easily offended (and a woman), read this!
Let the Great World Spin - This won the National Book Award last year and it's so well deserved. The writing is just beautiful and it's a great portrait of NY in the 70's.
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies - If you like Pride and Prejudice, then you will love this. Somehow, this author worked in zombies and ninjas into this Austen classic. It is hilarious!
Saving Sammy - This book just came out and is the best thing I've read since Born to Run. It's about a boy who very suddenly starts to display OCD symptoms at the age of 12. It gets to the point where this previously brilliant math student, outgoing, friendly kid, stopped bathing, eating, and was so debilitated by his ticks that he couldn't leave the house or sleep. His mother perserved with doctor after doctor and finally found the cause that saved his life. It's hear-breaking, but worth it, as it does have a very happy ending.
Born to Run - I know I label almost every book on here as soooooooo good, but the truth is, I only post about the ones I really, really like. And this one tops them all. I'm not kidding, this book is incredible. It will inspire you to not only get out there and run, but to be a better person. There are so many interesting things in this book I can't begin to list them all. Let's just say I learned about a native Mexican tribe of the fastest runners on earth; ultramarathoners who run 100s of miles through mountains and deserts; and how homo sapiens overcame the neanderthals by becoming long distance runners and so much more. And it's told in a narrative story that keeps you turning the page. Read this book.
The Lost City of Z by David Grann. This is a nonfiction account of a great explorer in the early 1900s who was one of the first Europeans to map out the Amazon. It's incredibly well researched and written, and is a thrilling adventure story.
Nabeel's Song (aka The Poet of Baghdad, as it was renamed in paperback) This is the true story of the poet, Nabeel Yasin. He was born and raised in Baghdad in the '50s before such a harsh regime took over. Universitites flourished, women were encouraged to go to school, and opposition to the government wasn't punishable by death. He had to flee in the '80s when he was persecuted for his writings and continues to this day to live in Europe with his family. It's such a good book! Very well written, you would think it's a novel. What a different look at a city that we only hear about in terms of war and bombs.
Ship Ablaze. This is an incredible book! It has a bit of a morbid theme, as it focuses on a 1904 steam boat fire on the Hudson River that killed almost 1000 people, but don't let that stop you! The author describes in such fascinating detail the people aboard the ship and what it was like in turn of the century New York. I highly recommend it!
Marley and Me, by John Grogan. For anyone who's a pet lover, especially a dog lover, this book is for you. It is such a sweet story of a man and his out-of-control dog. It's funny and sad - just a great read.
The Kabul Beauty School, by Deborah Rodriguez is the best book!! It's such an incredible true story about an eccentric hairdresser from Michigan who picks up and moves to Afghanistan to open a beauty school. The point is to help the women there gain some independence from their husbands and earn money for themselves. It's a crazy story, I can't believe it's true, but such a good read.
The Geography of Love, by Glenda Burgess. This is a nonfiction WONDERFUL love story. It's so beautifully written and is so touching. It's basically about a woman finding love late in life and then how she deals with her love's cancer diagnosis. Read it (with a tissue)!
Mr. Sebastian and the Negro Magician, by Daniel Wallace. Wallace is the author of Big Fish, you may have seen the movie. I wasn't a fan of it, but this title intrigued me and I really enjoyed it. It takes place in the 1950s South and follows Henry, a magician, through the tales of his circus coworkers. It's very moving/entertaining fiction. It's a quick read that is tough to put down. I finished it with a better understanding of that time period and our perception of truth. I recommend it.
The Appeal, by John Grisham. At first, I really hated this book. It's rather slow, and there's not too much action like A TIME TO KILL or some of his other classics. It's more of a, "I'm John Grisham, and I've written so many bestsellers I don't need to worry about that anymore, instead, I'm going to teach you a lesson about the law." Well, I wanted a commercial, mindless, action/thriller, not a law lesson. So I ened the book in frustration. Then I thought about it a bit and realized, learning isn't so bad. Still, I wouldn't recommend it.
The Sex Lives of Cannibals, by J. Maarten Troost. Okay, get over the title, and this book is a really fun read. Maarten and his girlfriend move to Tarawa, a remote island in the South Pacific and spend two years trying to make sense of a conflicted culture torn between tradition and modern day. The setting is at once an island paradise, and an imploding infrastructure. Maarten writes with humor and candidness, teaching the reader about this distant land and making you laugh out loud while you do so. (Plus I'm helping to edit his next two books, so I'm a little biased).
Unaccustomed Earth, by Jhumpa Lahiri. I've been hearing people rave about this author for a long time, but shied away from her stuff because so much of it is fiction. However, that was a HUGE mistake! She is amazing. And even though she writes mainly about Indian culture and the clash of older, Indian generations, with younger, Americanized ones, underneath the surface her themes are universal. Everyone should read this collection of stories!
The Unlikely Lavendar Queen, by Jeannie Ralston. This was a great book! She's a successful journalist who meets a National Geographic photographer and they fall in love. She loves Manhattan, and he needs the country. Somehow he convices her to move to Texas in the middle of nowhere and then manages to get her to try planting lavender fields. She's a great writer who puts a comic spin on life's ups and downs. She's a bit whiny at times, but this is a great memoir of a life turned upside down.
The Lace Reader. This book was all the rage at BookExpo America as the big summer book, but I thought it stank. Well, maybe the hype was just too much so my expectations were too high, but the storyline of a family who can see the future by reading lace, just didn't do it for me. I recommend you skip this and read something with a more cohesive plot!
The Lovely Bones, by Alice Sebold. This book would be really hard to read if you have a daughter. However, if you can get past the gruesome act in the beginning, it is a beautiful story told from the point of view of a young girl. It's also a very interesting look at the after life and what happens to us when we pass. Some parts were hard to hear, but overall, it is an amazing read.
A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers, Xiaolu Guo. A fictional account of a Chinese girl studying English in London. This is her perspective on Western culture and its sharp contrast to the Chinese way of life. It drags a bit in the middle, but is definitely worth the read for a new perspective and a good laugh.
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly - Jamie mocked this guy, but I think it's pretty incredible he wrote the entire book while paralyzed, by blinking his left eye. Insane. Aside from that, it's a beautiful, while heart breaking, look at life and freedom. I was so impressed by it.
sTORI TELLING, Tori Spelling's autobigraphy. I'm not ashamed to say I read this...and LOVED it. For any 90210 fans, it's a guilty pleasure/must read.
Devil in the White City, Erik Larson - Highly Recommend!