Last Thanksgiving, I raided my mom's closet.

Now, to give you a little background, you should know that my little sister constantly "borrows" things from my mom because she's in college and is back at home a bunch. My mom is something of a packrat, which means she hangs onto clothes forever. To boot, she has a flair for fashion and most of her stuff is really timeless. In other words, it's a rare treat for me to dig through her closet. One of the things I pulled out was this fantastic trenchcoat that was in perfect condition. A basic, belted trench, double-breasted. Mom said she got it in the early '80s. I tried it on, and it was really perfect. So, I swiped it. Obviously.

Well, I didn't end up wearing it last year because it had these shoulder button-strap things, which are meant to hold up the sleeves if you roll them up. You might know what I'm talking about. Really more function than fashion. Well, last week, I got to looking at the trench, and realized that the straps were sewn on externally, and it would be a snap to remove them. So I did. Obviously.

With the cooler, blustery weather, I've been wearing the trench almost daily, in the mornings especially. I love the feeling I get from it. Just knowing my mom wore it more than twenty years ago gives me this strong sense of connection to her. I also found a ticket in one pocket from a jazz concert that my little sister went to. Which means that at some point, she stole it, too. How I managed to get it in the end, I'm not sure. But I plan to keep it. Obviously.

Why, American Heart Association, why?!

I could have gone a long time without reading this.

In a fitness article I just read yesterday, I saw a little piece of information, direct from the American Heart Association. But before I break the traumatic news, I want you to keep in mind that this article is titled "Killer Tone-Up, Trim-Down Workout." Sounds good, huh? Tell me more about this killer workout! The explanation and exercise moves look great. I think I'll incorporate them into my 30 minute, 3-days a week workout. Cool.

Not so cool. In a little pull-out box of text, I read that the "American Heart Association now recommends the new fitness guidelines of 30 minutes of exercise per day to maintain your weight and 60 minutes a day to shed pounds." It says nothing about my old faithful 3 days a week routine. In fact, if I were to up my ante and complete my workout on a DAILY basis, I would still only maintain my current weight. Sure, I wouldn't gain, but let's be honest. How many of us, including me, have tons of cute clothes we're still hanging onto for that far-off dreamy day that we might fit back into them again?

So what now? I could just quit. Because what's the point? OR--and this is the philosophy I'm going with--I could be bittersweetly grateful that I read what I did, and accelerate my workout to 60 minutes, EVERY day. Yes, there will be days that I don't make it. But if I get it done most of the days, I may begin to see a difference on the scale and might even be able to wear said cute clothes in the back of my closet again.

My German roots have finally caught up with me.

Something happened about a year ago. We had been back on meat for a while, and I started craving bratwurst. Then, schnitzel. Then, I started to think, my tastes have changed a lot in the last few years. What about trying some kind of...beer, just for kicks? I thought that given my German heritage, I owed it to myself and my ancestors before me, to try....beer. Before long, I had developed a taste for what I liked and didn't like, and then one day, I finished a full bottle. I believe it was a Dos Equis. Since then, I've moved on. Enough so that I can even recommend my top ten brews, perhaps even give a quick run-down of what they taste like to me. In no particular order...

1. Pyramid -- Apricot Ale. Fruity, crisp, sweet without being too malty. One of the first beers I ever tried, and really turned me on to the fact that there are ALL kinds of beer out there.
2. Lindemans-- Cassis (Black currant) Belgian Lambic. We also like their cherry lambic. They also brew a peach, but it's a bit too sweet for my taste. Lambics are pretty much the champagne of beers. So bubbly and punchy that I'm not even sure they belong in the same category.
3. Real Ale - Full Moon Pale Rye. Nice and hoppy without being bitter. Real Ale is a brewery in Blanco, Texas, which is about an hour away.
4. New Belgium Brewing Co. -- 1554 (Brussels Style Black Ale) We just found this one a couple weeks ago. The label says it has a "clean, chocolately finish" and surprisingly, it does.
5. Spaten - Oktoberfest. Bold, bitey. Those Germans know what they are doing.
6. Dogfishhead -- 30 min. IPA. Despite the off-putting name, this brew is nice. A bit on the stout side.
7. Fireman's #4. Every time I've had this one, it has accompanied steaming slices of pizza from the Parlor. Pretty light, just a little hoppy. Another one of my gateway beers.
8. Full Sail -- Session Lager. This one is smooth and well-balanced. Not a usual you'd find in the regular grocery store, but don't let that stop you from looking.
9. Pyramid -- Curve Ball (seasonal) I picked this one on a whim, and I'm glad I did. Has a little kick.
10. Bass Pale Ale. This beer was originally brewed in 1777, and I read that it was a favorite of Napoleon, Edgar Allan Poe, and Buffalo Bill. Oh yeah, it's also great. Big, hoppy, I like it.

This stuff is genius.

This week I had that feeling. You know the one. The uh-oh-I-think-I'm-getting-sick-and-I-don't-have-time-for-that-right-now feeling.

I thought about buying some of that medicine I've seen that you're supposed to take right at the beginning of feeling cold symptoms. I talked to three different people, and this is what they said:
Dana (a friend from work): You mean Zycam?
Lora: Are you talking about Mucinex?
Nathan: Uh...I don't know. Echinacea?
Me: No, I'm pretty sure it's called something else.

And it is. It's called Airborne. It's that stuff that you may have seen that was created by a school teacher who was tired of getting sick all the time. I can relate to the teacher part, but not the getting sick part. Excuse me now for the following personal testimony/unpaid endorsement. This stuff is packed with antioxidants, herbs and vitamins to boost your immune system so that you can actually fight a cold. The formula dissolves in water like Alca Seltzer, but tastes a lot more like Blue Sky soda. I bought the pink grapefruit variety, and the Walgreens version, Wal-borne, because this stuff isn't cheap. I did also spring for these Airborne gummy throat lozenges that have a smaller dosage of the formula.

It's FANTASTIC. Every time I have taken my little tonic, I seriously get this boost. The website says it doesn't have caffeine, so I think it must be the blend of natural herbs and all the vitamins. This stuff is insanely magical. I know that I'm not sick right now and I should be because of this stuff. And I, for one, am very happy about that.

Best voicemail ever.

This morning I saw the little annoying blinking light on my phone telling me that I not only had one, but two messages. While I am inundated with email throughout the day, it is a rare occasion to get voicemail messages, and the majority of them are either hang-ups, or parents who are very angry--and vocal about their anger--who demand that I call them back right away. I know my return phone calls will almost always end well, but I digress. Voicemail blinking lights are NOT a welcome sign.

To my surprise and delight, I was wrong.
This is the transcript of the two voicemail messages that I hope to keep forever.

Hi Mrs. Russell.
I love you, Mrs. Russell.
You are my favorite teacher.
Bye!
(click)

Hello...
This is Casandra and Jayla...
We just wanted to know...hi!
I mean, we just wanted to SAY hi. (laughter in background)
And we love you.
Bye!!
(click)

Dedicated to all those who have an Abigail-sized hole in their hearts.

Just now, and I mean, right this very second, I was about to post about my stressful day in which I had three meetings, two that were before 9 a.m., and then a siren went by, right as I was signing into blogger.

A second later, I heard Abigail howling out on the patio. All the tension of my day slipped away like in one of those commercials for scented candles. Just hearing Abigail belt out her little low-pitched howl made me smile and realize that I have a pretty nice life.

On the heels of my junk food post

I think it only appropriate that I delve into my latest fitness craze--the NYC Ballet Workout!
I love, love, love it. Perhaps it's my formative years that were spent in ballet class, I don't know. But my unrequited desire to be a ballerina will be satisfied, and I plan to burn some calories in the meantime.

Here is a shot of myself doing one of the more basic maneuvers (with Nathan helping me, of course!)



By the way, on the second volume of the ballet workout, there is a combination routine that I think we should all learn and perform together! In the spirit of Oompa Loompa. Who's in?

When you have an insanely hectic day

from start to finish, there are few things on Earth that will make you feel as good as a steaming slice of Conan's deep dish pepperoni pizza and a cold glass of Pyramid's apricot ale.
Nice.

Top 5, okay 3, Patriotic Movies that Make You Feel Good about Our Country

I tried to think of 5, so that I would have a nice round number, but could only think of 3. So, here they are, my top 3 Patriotic Movies...

1. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
2. The American President
3. Dave

Aren't these great movies? For some reason, I love them, and they make me want to stand up and sing in the spirit of Pollyanna, "Amerrrrica, Amerrrrica, God shed her grace on theeeee, and crooooown thy gooood with brrrraaaaaaaatherhood, from seeea to shinnniiiing seeea!"

Updates in Brief

School is back in full force, three weeks in to be exact. And I am tired, spent, brain-dead, any other synonym you can think of.

1. My classes are going well. Other than having the highest numbers I've ever had, I'm feeling good, working like crazy, and loving (almost) every minute of it.

2. I wrote past my 100th page in my book! I'm meeting every other week with a friend who is also a writer of YA fiction, and just having that meeting time motivates me to pick up my writing when I don't feel in the "zone." By the way, the "zone" is a load of crap, and just a really good excuse to be lazy.

3. Not working out every day like I did in summer, but between all the running around I do at school, up and down the hill between the building and my portable, and the fact that I haven't had a lot of spare time for snacking in front of the tele, I'm still on the weight-loss track. I think it's the tortoise-variety, the "slow and steady" weight loss track.

4. Nathan scored tickets to the symphony tonight, which featured Joshua Bell, the world-renowned violinist. I almost cried more than once.

5. It is almost 12:30 and I am still awake. But it's also a three-day weekend. So lay off.

Summer in the city.

Erika doesn't fully realize just how great she is. I know this for a fact.
One small example I can tell you right off the bat is that she and Rob came down for little visit about a month and a half ago.
When they were here, they forced us all to go out to the pool, (which we had made friends with last summer, but were not really "clicking with" this summer). At the pool, Rob and Erika led us in a series of relay races with these dive toys they had, and I'll go ahead and say it. It was not only fun, it burned calories. After Erika and Rob had to go back to their city, we rekindled our relationship with the pool, and even purchased some dive toys of our very own.





Also, I would like Erika to know that we assigned point values to each of our dive toys in the order of the most dangerous, with a man being 50 and a sea horse being 10. Sharks are 40, and so on. Some might argue that sharks are more dangerous than man, but come on. Have you seen the planet lately? Also, Erika, if you're reading this, I would like to suggest a new game. You have someone throw ALL the toys at once and then dive under to get as many as you can before they hit the bottom. A variation of this game is for one person to throw the toys in 3-5 second intervals at whoever is diving. They can breathe and surface as much as they want, but can't get toys once they hit the bottom. Nathan is pretty good at this, and throws the toys back out at me, and most of the time of the time they stay in the pool area.

I have a confession to make...

which has nothing to do with the produce section at HEB.

So you know those cable channels which are specifically targeted at women, like Oxygen and Lifetime? Unfortunately, I just confirmed TWICE this weekend that I am a prime audience for these crap channels. Sad, but true.

First, I stayed up until midnight watching the Hallmark Channel's presentation of the made-for-TV movie of Love Comes Softly, the film version of the Christian book by Jeanette Oke, which is set in American pioneer days. The book, which I read in sixth grade was, at the time, the most fabulously moving thing I had read, romantic and inspiring. Let me just tell you, this movie was so heart-warming that I actually welled up with tears, although none spilled out.

Then, today, I watched four hours, I repeat, four hours, of the 2-part TV film, Sybil, starring Sally Field, which aired on WE. I was so engrossed in the story, that I neglected to work out, work on my book, get dressed, or even wash my face, and almost forgot my one errand of the day, to get to the bank before 4:00.

This film, which is a tragic, true tale of one woman's triumph over her childhood of abuse resulting in 16 different personalities, makes me want to read the book, but mostly makes me want to die of embarrassment that I am so susceptible to these shows and programming.

Oxygen, WE, Hallmark, and Lifetime, you have won. I am putty in your hands.

In true Russell/Prien fashion,

Nathan and I carried on a 45-minute conversation over iChat today without either one of us remembering that today is our 6th anniversary. Then, some time later, we both said "Um...forgot to tell you something....Happy Anniversary!"
It was pretty funny, but also a nice reminder of why we might just be perfect for each other.
So to celebrate tonight, we took a night off from cooking and a night off from our diet and ordered a fabulous Conan's pepperoni pizza which we just polished off with some ice-cold cherry Coke.
We also have some skittles (sour for me, and classic for Nathan) lined up for our double feature of crappy movies that we got on Netflix.
Last year for our anniversary, we went to a ridiculously decadent fondue restaurant. This year, it's pizza, Coke and Netflix, and I couldn't be happier.

Unfortunately, tonight's episode

of one of my favorite shows, So You Think You Can Dance, really lowered the bar by featuring the ever-so-classless Pussycat Dolls.

As I watched them, slightly revolted, but not so revolted as to stop watching, I realized that I was reminded of another group of girls from the not-too-distant past...

Fascinating resemblance, no?

More happy stories from the diet front...

Tonight, Nathan made a fabulous spicy, breaded baked chicken. The crazy part of the recipe is that you actually use yogurt instead of egg to bread the chicken, and no one would believe it's diet food, it tastes so good.

Well, Nathan's chicken inspired me to look online for dessert recipes that would be just as creative, and just as guiltless. Plus, we were watching an episode of Take Home Chef on the food network which featured a chocolate mousse for dessert. I found a very interesting dark chocolate mousse recipe that called for tofu, I repeat TOFU, instead of heavy cream. Feeling brave, I ran to the store to pick up some tofu, since we had everything else on hand. An hour later, may I just say, wow. Rich, decadent, and no guilt! Who would have thought of using tofu (even if it doesn't have a flavor) in a chocolate mousse recipe? Genius, pure genius.

Try it and see for yourself.

Good News/Bad News

Good News: Everyone I talked to this weekend (by everyone, I mean agents) asked for me to go ahead and send my proposal packages to them. Proposal packages include a query letter, synopsis, and first two/three chapters or so.

Bad News: I don't have said proposal packages....yet.

Good News: Repeat: I did make connections with very receptive and friendly potential agents.

Bad News: They all said I need to finish my book before sending them anything.

Good News: The editor that I had a consultation session with wanted me to pitch my book to her.

Bad News: I didn't know how to pitch, and could only babble and beg her to look at my first page.

Good News: She read my first page very attentively and then said, "The good news is that this is great."

Bad News: She went on to say, "The bad news is that I can't use it. The imprint of my publishing house is looking to acquire young adult fiction that is multi-cultural."

Good News: She said some other highly positive things that I will remember when I get rejection letters in the near future.

More Good News: I ran into a friend who used to work at Dobie, and she is also working on young adult fiction. We plan to hook up soon to share work.

Even More Good News: I learned so much and feel motivated to work toward my goal of finishing this summer, ideally END OF JULY. That way I can send my proposals to agents I met in a timely manner.

You may notice that in the end, I have more Good News than Bad News.
That is the good news.

OK. I am officially freaked out.

This weekend I am taking a big step forward for myself as an author. At the recommendation of a friend, I signed up for a Writer's League of Texas Agents and Editors Conference here in Austin. I have an appointment to meet with an editor on Saturday afternoon and get some feedback on my novel. There are also breakout sessions on everything from finding an agent to crafting fiction to marketing yourself.

I am weirdly optimistic, but more than anything freaked out. I know that I'll come away learning some valuable things, but I think the reason I'm nervous is because I found out about this conference at the very last second and decided to go at the very last second and revised my first chapter at the very last second and then went and made copies at the very last second.

I always was under the impression that I had to be done with my book completely before pursuing publishing, but that's really not the case. In fact, on avaerage, it takes so long to get a book accepted for publication, that it would be smart of me to go ahead and begin the process. It also motivates me to work toward finishing it.

Wish me luck!

In the '80s we made mix tapes.

Now we burn CDs from our playlists using itunes.

In honor of summer, (and my boredom,) I have created two new fun and exciting playlists. On the first one, I tried to pick songs that you would want to sing at the top of your lungs driving down the road while you blast the AC, or with the window down if you don't live in Texas. The second playlist is more like what you would play while you sit on your patio/porch in the evening. I would love to burn CDs for everyone, so if you are in need of a new mix CD, let me know or drop me a comment and I will send them to you. Seriously, this is my idea of fun.

Here is the lineup, just to whet your appetite.

Side A: Songs to play on a Summer Day
1. I Can't Get Next to You - Al Green
2. Come Together - The Beatles
3. Solsbury Hill - Peter Gabriel
4. The Woman in You - Ben Harper
5. Down to the River to Pray - Alison Krauss
6. The Skin of My Yellow Country Teeth - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
7. We Didn't Start the Fire - Billy Joel
8. Eternal Flame (live) - Susana Hoffs
9. Sweetness Follows - REM
10. Tiny Dancer - Elton John
11. Spring Provides - Matt Pond PA
12. Love is a Battlefield - Pat Benetar
13. Just What I Needed - The Cars
14. Wake Up - The Arcade Fire
15. Hallelujah - Leonard Cohen

Side B: Songs to play on a Summer Night
1. By Your Side - Sade
2. Every Breath You Take - The Police
3. Universal Traveler - Air
4. How Sweet It Is - Joan Osborne
5. The Moon Softly Weeps a Lullaby - The Autumns
6. A Case of You (live) - Diana Krall
7. Ain't No Sunshine - Bill Withers
8. Hide and Seek - Imogen Heap
9. Cannonball - Damien Rice
10. Way Over Yonder - Carole King
11. Unchained Melody - Cyndi Lauper
12. Songs We Used to Sing - Edie Brickell
13. Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me - Elton John
14. What a Difference a Day Made - Dinah Washington

Updates...

1. I agreed to help out Amy Chapman w/ watering all her gorgeous plants while she and Derek are in Europe until August. I've enjoyed the work so far, and am happy to help them out.

2. I am on Day 11 of a 30 Day workout plan. I have been working out every single day (with the exception of one day a week), and I am drinking a ridiculous amount of water (easy) and TRYING to cut back on drinks with empty calories like soda, wine/mojitos, and coffee with sugar and cream (not so easy). I've been doing all different kinds of workout routines like yoga with weights, hiphop, ballet strength training, kickboxing, tai chi, you name it. I have reached the wonderful place where your muscles aren't in pain anymore, but are humming with energy. At the end of the 30 days, I may go another 30, we'll see. I will definitely be more motivated if I see some results. In the meantime, getting older sucks.

3. I have been avoiding working on my book for no good reason. I wrote today, and ideally, I'll work on it a little every day so that I really will be close to finished when summer is over.

4. If you haven't watched So You Think You Can Dance, you need to. I mean it.

It's that time of year again...

Time for the return of quality television.
Time for anticipating prime time more than ever.
Time for exciting, creative, performance art on both Wednesdays and Thursdays.
Time for...