 Stella (left) and Mitzy (right) duke it out on the rough streets of New York
Finally back and settled into being home and enjoying every moment. I should be outlining plans for the next book (an am, if my editor or agent happen to be reading this, I really am), but it's just been such a lovely summer so far.
In book news, Barnes & Noble chose to feature all three books ( TDWP, EWK, and CHW) on their stepladder this week. If you get a chance, stop by and see the awesome displays they have set up at the entrance of all their stores. Thanks to B&N for their incredible support.
Otherwise, not too much to report. Spending way too much time at the new Whole Foods that just opened in Tribeca (been there every day for the last five), playing with the dogs, and alternately shaking my head at the masses lined up 10-deep to buy an iPhone and wishing I were one of them. Oh yeah, and outlining! Constantly outlining. As always, I invite you to write in with any story ideas. You'll get zero acknowledgement/credit (and I'll vehemently deny taking your idea), but if you don't mind that, send away! xxx
Home Sweet Home
Happy Belated Fourth of July to everyone! It might be Monday, but hell, Nicole Kidman doesn't seem to know that (she named her Monday-born kid Sunday today), so I'm going to pretend I don't either. It's indescribably wonderful to be back home after nearly five weeks on tour. Not that it wasn't fun--because actually getting to meet you all was the great part--but I definitely started to fantasize about sleeping in my own bed. Upon returning last week, I promptly slept for two entire days and then spent time reveling in the small things: taking a Diet Coke from my fridge without getting charged $6, roaming around in only a T-shirt without needing to post the "Do Not Disturb" sign on the door, and my personal favorite, taking a bath without having to envision what grossness may have preceded me. Home has been so wonderful, in fact, that I refused to leave it. Unlike most fellow New Yorkers, Mike and I did something blasphemous this Fourth of July weekend: we stayed in the city. I know! It's horrifying to admit, but we actually had a long overdue NYC weekend. We saw Tell No One at the Sunshine Cinema and both loved it (not only was it well-written and acted, but it was also subtitled, which had the added bonus of making it feel like a cultural undertaking instead of just an awesome movie), had a BBQ with friends on their roof deck, hit some golf balls at Chelsea Piers (and by "hit" I really mean "attempted to make occasional contact with said golf balls"), met some other friends at Dean's for brick-oven pizza, walked the dogs along the Hudson River, and generally ate more Pinkberry than anyone should admit to--ever. Merely reporting this has exhausted me, so I'm off to find more yogurt and another nap, in that order. xxx
Hometown Visit
Well, not quite hometown, but hanging in Philly has been great (not to mention highly caloric). Yesterday was a fantastic brunch party at the Four Seasons, where it was wonderful getting to catch up with so many Allentown folks and a take a breather from the book tour for a couple hours. Sending out a huge hug to Eric Allen, the catering manager there, for making everything so wonderful for us--it really was a perfect party.
Don't think that heaping quantities of pastries, blintzes, Bloody Marys, fruit, bagels, lox, and the most incredible omelette bar I've ever laid eyes on was sufficient, though--no, no, no. A mere three hours after brunch was over, a group of us made our way over to Geno's for cheesesteaks (and Diet Cokes, natch). For you purists who would appreciate this, I ordered mine with onions and Cheese Whiz, and finished the whole gigantic disgustingly delicious thing. This morning I finally got back to work (this is a book tour, after all, and not--as I seem to think--a reason to eat my way through every sizable city in the continental United States) with an interview on Good Day Philadelphia. I panicked slightly when Chanel asked "Do you think there's a readership for books like yours?" ( Uh, I hope so. I'm praying that it's not only my immediate family buying those books out of guilt and obligation), but overall it was quick and painless. Went directly from there to Marathon Grill, my all-time favorite brunch place in Philly with my friend Alli for--you guessed it--yet another meal, and I'm headed out now to read tonight at the Barnes & Noble on Walnut Street. Come say hi if you're nearby, and if I miss you tonight, there's always DC tomorrow night.....xxxx
Canada AM
I won't go so far as to say Canada AM this morning was fun, but it definitely wasn't torturous either. Which is something. Everyone I met who worked for the show--in the green room, make-up, on-air--was absolutely lovely and welcoming. However, just as a teensy point of constructive criticism: next time it would be great if you could keep the gaggle of 6-foot, 115-pound models there for a different segment in a separate room from the rest of us. Live television is stressful enough without having to face an entire pride of leggy girls at 7:30 a.m. Thanks :)
Click here to watch me saying the exact same thing I've said in the past 2,000 interviews.
I spent the rest of the day recovering from my run-in with the models at the super swank Spoke Club in Toronto. Simon & Schuster kindly installed me there for the day to have lunch, do another round of interviews, and drink my body weight's worth in coffee.
And thanks again to last night's Indigo crowd! Sending a special shout-out to the guy who's making an imminent trip to Tiffany in preparation for popping the question (you know who you are). Congrats in advance on your total rock-star plan! xxx
Go Indigo!!!
 I'm delirious with exhaustion and happiness, but I wanted to send a quick thank you out to everyone who joined me earlier tonight at Indigo. You Torontonians are pretty great, eh? Seriously, it was awesome getting to meet each and every one of you.
Tune in tomorrow at 8:40 a.m. to watch me deer-in-headlights on Canada AM....
More when I recover from the inevitable humiliation. xxx
CBS Early Show
 Grinning maniacally through the terror. Maggie was as nice as they come, but television scares the hell out of me....
As luck would have it, my recent visit to The Early Show at CBS was taped instead of live (and I'm sending out huge thanks to whatever cosmic force caused that to happen). As a result, the producers kindly edited out my stammering, flustered one-word answers and cut the clip in such a way that viewers could possibly believe that English is actually my first and only language.
The Road Show Hits San Diego...finally!
 Getting ready to head into Warwick's, nervous as always before readings Rick and Kiley came by to say hello and show us the ropes in La Jolla (note: terror on Rick's face at the thought that his wife might force him to read this book) Answering great questions from a lively San Diego crowd.....
There are definitely worse places to visit on a book tour than San Diego, and not surprisingly, we had a great time. Granted, it was absolutely freezing (San Diego has the world's best PR--ask anyone who doesn't live there, and they'll swear it's got the best weather in the country), but we survived so-called June Gloom like champions (translation: we complained the whole time to anyone who would listen).
Mike met me at the airport and we proceeded downtown to the W Hotel, a super trendy place with an awesome terraced "beach" complete with fire pit and all sorts of beautiful people. Or so we heard. We spent most of our time there alternately huddled in multiple layers of all the clothing we'd packed and riding the pitch-black, disco-fabulous elevators up and down, all the time wondering who thought to put strobe lights in hotel elevators.
When we finally forced ourselves into the harsh cold world, we headed to the hills for the night's reading. Warwick's, an awesome independent bookstore in La Jolla, hosted a great event. Afterwards, we had dinner at George's with friends Rick and Kiley (featured above), and while gazing out over the majestic Pacific, briefly wondered--as every New Yorker who visits San Diego inevitably does--why the hell we don't live there. Then a blast of arctic air hit, and we remembered: New York might only have two decent weeks of weather a year, but when they happen, they're heavenly.
That, and you don't have to drive. I hope the Hertz people aren't reading this--or, come to think of it, the S&S publicity department--but we returned to our trusty rental car after dinner only to discover we'd lost the keys. Rick finally noticed that the idiot New Yorkers (who haven't driven on a daily basis in ten-plus years) had left the keys in the ignition and the car doors unlocked for no less than five straight hours. And no one took the car! If that's not reason enough not to love La Jolla, nothing is....
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