We’re preparing for our journey to Wisconsin with our three-year-old. Red eye from Honolulu to Phoenix, five hour flight to Minneapolis, four hour drive to my husband’s parent’s house. Everyone keeps telling me: bring stickers. Stickers? My travel checklist:1. DVD player2. Morphine drip3. Nanny4. Upgrade5. HBO producer sitting next to me [...]

“Ow. That hurts. I’m in pain.” These are a few things my husband will never say. After a snowboarding mishap he blacked out, woke and noticed it hurt when his friend kept jabbing him in the stomach. He googled his symptoms and figured he was bleeding internally and he may [...]

In author questionnaires, interviews, and casual conversation I am often asked if I’ve won any awards to which I reply, “No. I have not won any awards. There are no pictures of me in magazines crouched on my knees and looking up into the lens like it’s a hand offering kibble. I [...]

Laura Fraser knows best. Really. She’s an expert on books, writing, food, fashion, Italy, San Francisco, the list goes on. Her book, An Italian Affair, is one of my favorite memoirs ever written. It chronicles her journey to Italy after being left by her husband after one year of marriage. [...]

“Try this diet rule: Look at the food and ask, Do I want that glued on my butt?“–O Magazine.
(Yes, but would a broccoli crown look better glued to your butt than a Twinkie? I don’t think so.)
“Try this diet rule: Go to a grocery store. Look at the food. Really look at [...]

My previous sex life is now on display right here in the San Francisco Chronicle. They did a review of Dirty Words: A Literary Encyclopedia of Sex. The reviewer notes some of the words assigned to the different writers, but only my essay is really quoted. Now, I was fully aware this [...]

This weekend I’m going to a cocktail party on the Kennedy’s sister yacht with my husband’s firm so I’ll need to step into that phone booth and become The Domestic Housewife. A few things that have helped my dueling personalities get along…
DVDWeeds, Season 3What: It’s 4:20 in suburbiaWhy: You’re going green
EATBrownies
READThe Little Black Apron: [...]

So I went to the doctor for a clomid check. Yes, clomid is a fertility drug and yes I’m only thirty-two and have a child, but for some reason, like Tina Fey’s character in Baby Mama, I have a poorly shaped uterus. They just figured this out a year later because Kaiser [...]

Yeah right. This has to be the lamest author chat Library Thing has ever had. I must be the worst author guest ever featured. I read other authors’ chats on the same site and they had such high thread counts! Like one girl had 190 conversations! I’ve had [...]

Apologies to our founding fathers, but The Fourth of July is about food and beer. Here’s a menu I stand by.
Cornbread SaladThis was featured on the Today Show by minimalist chef, Mark Brittman. Matt Lauer looked skeptical, but I was sold on the color and simplicity.
Mango Buffalo WingsI got this from [...]

I am participating in a Library Thing author chat if you want to stop by and ask me questions. I prefer superficial questions about things like makeup and The Hills, but will talk about books and writing if necessary.