Sara and Melissa Talk About...Kindness

We've been running a column series to get more personal with our readers. We are now into our sixth year!

This month, we are talking about kindness. It feels especially important to talk about this topic during the holidays. 

We're always open to topic suggestions, so please don't hesitate to share those in the comments. We'd also love to know if you can relate to anything we've said or hear your own thoughts on the topic. So don't be shy. 😊 We look forward to getting to know you as much as we're letting you get to know us. You can find our previous columns here, in case you missed them.

Melissa Amster:

There are so many directions to go with the subject of kindness. I've recently been thinking of something because of an influencer I follow: @yourbestiemisha (or Dontcrossagayman on Facebook). Misha is always talking about the nice things he does for strangers. It's inspiring and heartwarming to hear about everything he does to make someone else's life a bit brighter. However, I know he's received pushback from people who think he's bragging about his acts of kindness. 

That's what I want to talk about today: Should we share about our acts of kindness with others? 

I personally like spreading kindness and doing nice things for people whenever I can. I just don't like to talk about it on social media. To me, it feels like robbing someone of their dignity. Especially if it's a charitable act of some kind. So I'm private about doing acts of kindness. What's important to me is that the recipient benefitted and that it made their life just a bit easier. 

On the other hand, hearing Misha talk about the things he does for people is inspiring others to do acts of kindness and spread more joy whenever possible. It brightens my day to hear about something good he did for someone else. With all the cruelty in the world these days, it's refreshing to hear about someone just paying for another person's groceries or comforting them when they are crying in public. I do feel that Misha only talks about his acts of kindness in order to inspire other people to do them too. He seems to be all about love and light. Still, that doesn't mean that I feel comfortable going public with every single act of kindness I've ever done. To each their own, right?

This holiday season, I task you with doing one act of kindness. I don't want to know what you did or who you did it for. I just want you to brighten someone else's day. And if you need some ideas for what to do, go visit Misha on social media!

Sara Steven:

I had a tougher time with the topic choice for this month, mainly due to the current climate of everything going on around us. There have been a lot of tragedies lately, intertwined with a lot of dispassionate people who wouldn’t seem to know an act of kindness if it was staring them in the face. 

And then I saw this news clip about a skunk who’d gotten stuck in a dumpster, and the first thing that had come to mind for me was: how metaphoric.

The last animal most of us would ever consider assisting would be a skunk. The risk of helping–I mean, that alone might make most of us take pause. I’ve never been sprayed by a skunk, but from what I’ve heard, it’s pretty awful. Yet the local fire department reached out to the Southwest Wildlife Conservation, all in an effort to try to do everything they could to save the skunk, despite getting sprayed multiple times for over an hour.  

Maybe they were merely doing their job. For me, though, it was an ultimate act of kindness.

Life can be like that when we dole out our own acts of kindness. Sometimes the interactions we have or the situations we face when we try to help or be kind are a lot like dealing with a skunk; caustic. Troublesome. Smelly. But we still dive in, because being kind isn’t about reaping the rewards. It’s about doing something for someone else, often without that reward. Sometimes it seems that the person who is the recipient of the act of kindness could care less. They don’t seem grateful. Instead of being grateful, they might lash out because they are going through something we don’t understand. Much like the skunk, it could be fear that drives their reaction. And all we can do is say that we tried.

It can get to a point where we might feel like it’s not worth it. We keep trying to be kind, but at what cost? Getting sprayed over and over, multiple times, doesn’t sound like a lot of fun to me. Being kind can change people, though. It can make a difference, even if we don’t see it. Even if the recipient doesn’t recognize it–they might later on, when they are facing their own situations, make a choice in doing something for someone else. Paying it forward.  

Watching the video reminded me that it isn’t always easy to be kind, but given the choice between being kind and being dispassionate, I choose kindness, every time. Even if it sometimes means having to take a long-awaited metaphorical bath in a tub of hydrogen peroxide, baking soda, and dish soap to get the smell off.   

What are your thoughts on kindness?

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Sara and Melissa Talk About...Things We Love

We've been running a column series to get more personal with our readers. We are finishing up our fifth year!

This month, we are keeping it fun and positive, by just talking about the things we love, which can refer to people, places, objects, experiences, etc. A great way to close out the year!

We're always open to topic suggestions, so please don't hesitate to share those in the comments. We'd also love to know if you can relate to anything we've said or hear your own thoughts on the topic. So don't be shy. :) We look forward to getting to know you as much as we're letting you get to know us. You can find our previous columns here, in case you missed them. 

Melissa Amster:

There are plenty of things that I love, so I will try not to make this into an entire novel and just narrow it down to ten. I'm taking books out of the equation, since that's a given or this blog wouldn't be here right now!

1. My husband. We've been married almost 21 years and are thankfully still happy together.

2. My kids. I love them equally and could never, ever pick a favorite. They each have traits that make them special and it's been amazing seeing them grow into the remarkable teenagers they are. They also get along with each other, which is so wonderful!

July 2024

3. My family, as in my parents, sister, and nephew, as well as my aunt, uncle, and cousins. Even though we live far apart, we find ways to stay close.

4. My in-laws. I'm lucky to have in-laws I get along with. I'm especially close with my mother-in-law. 

5. My friends. I don't know where I'd be without them, whether I've known them all my life or just met them a few years ago. I treasure the friendships I have!

6. Musical theater. I love seeing shows on Broadway, on tour, and in local professional productions. I obviously love seeing my kids perform in musicals at school and camp. (They all love musicals, so it's really nice to share that with them.) I primarily listen to show tunes when I'm driving or doing chores.

7. Being Jewish. While it's been harder to be Jewish over the past year or so, it's also made me love it even more, if that makes sense. There are ways to find Jewish joy and I've seen a lot of it around. I will be participating in the #JewishBookstagramTour later this month (@mel_thebookfairy) and am excited to talk about what brings me #JewishJoy over there!

8. Humor. Give me a reason to laugh and it just brightens my day. I love seeing funny videos and memes, hearing a good joke (or pun), sharing inside jokes with my family and friends, watching comedic TV shows and films, etc.

9. My job. I've been doing book publicity work for the past few years and I'm really enjoying it. I've taken on some new responsibilities that go along with my job and have learned so much. I really feel like I'm in my groove. I also like the people I work with and feel valued there.

10. Baking challah and desserts. Enough said, right?!? Obviously, getting to eat the final product is the best part! I have been trying out some new recipes that I found to keep things interesting, too. 

Round challahs I made for Rosh Hashanah

Sara Steven:

Some of the things that I love:

1. My family–but, that is a given. This photo is from my older son's high school graduation last year. My parents and mother-in-law are there too.

2. Being outdoors: I love the great outdoors, even if that means going for a long walk around my neighborhood, running on the wash trail by my house, or gardening in my backyard. I don’t feel like I’ve had a good day if I haven’t managed to get outside at some point. 

3. The smell of the desert after it rains: This ties in with being outdoors–there is a specific smell that comes from cacti and sagebrush after it rains in the desert. I’m sure the sandy terrain and gravel comes into play, too, creating the perfect aroma.

4. Theaters with dine-in options: I love the Majestic theater in Gilbert, Arizona. What can be better than getting to watch a movie in the theater, recline the seat, and have food delivered to you–not just popcorn and boxes of candy and hot dogs but an actual meal! When I saw Barbie at the Majestic, they had the most delicious Barbie bites offered up for an appetizer. It was this cream cheese corn thing and I couldn’t get enough of them, and the best thing of all–I didn’t have to cook or prepare anything.

5. Inside jokes: Sharing inside jokes with family and friends is a lot of fun. Melissa and I have a lot of inside jokes, too, which often shows in the gifts we give one another for birthdays and holidays. This one is a tie back to our 90 Day Fiancé viewing days:

6. Yoga: Yoga centers me. I’ve been doing it for the last decade and it’s become an integral part of my life. Lately, I do yoga as a means of physical therapy, to help with some issues I have with compressed discs and neck and back pain, and it really helps a lot. Hot yoga is my go-to.

7. Starbucks: I’ve had friends who were super into Starbucks and I remember scoffing when they’d pull up their Starbucks apps, but now I’m that person with the app. My husband has the app on his phone, too, for me. I love (I’m obsessed) with Starbucks. My day doesn’t feel complete without a tall hot chai, or after hot yoga, I indulge with a venti strawberry acai refresher. When I’m feeling a little saucy and need some caffeine, I’ll add a shot of blonde to my chai to make a dirty chai–something I’ve recently discovered and I swear it tastes like a slice of tiramisu.  

What are some things that YOU love?

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Sara and Melissa Talk About...Starbucks

We've been running a column series (for over two years now!) to get more personal with our readers. This month, we're talking about Starbucks. We both enjoy getting drinks from Starbucks, as do our kids. Melissa even got Sara a Starbucks gift card as a college graduation gift and we call ourselves Basic Bs whenever we get something from Starbucks and report back to each other about it. Coffee shops feature a lot in chick lit novels, so this is relevant to our blog, as well!

We're always open to topic suggestions, so please don't hesitate to share those in the comments. We'd also love to know if you can relate to anything we've said or hear your own thoughts on the topic. So don't be shy. :) We look forward to getting to know you as much as we're letting you get to know us. You can find our previous columns here, in case you missed them.

Sara Steven:

Hi there. My name is Sara, and I’ve got a problem. 

I’m a Starbucks addict.

It wasn’t always that way for me. I never understood it when friends would talk about their Starbucks apps. I couldn’t even fathom putting anything Starbucks-related onto my phone, let alone use an app to attempt to achieve coveted stars. I’d buy Starbucks gift cards, but it was always for my oldest son who is a self-professed Starbucks #basicB, and I’d roll my eyes when he’d beg me to take him through the drive-thru.

I’m trying to pinpoint the exact moment it changed for me. Maybe it was the discovery of their chai tea lattes–I get mine tall, hot, with no water added. And then there are the cheese and fruit and PB & jelly protein boxes that seem to pair nicely with my drink. My latest find is their grilled cheese sandwiches, and I’m not even a fan of sourdough bread ordinarily. Yet I like it! I joke and say that the key to anything from Starbucks is that the food and drink must be laced with something that causes an immediate addiction, and maybe I’m not far off from that assumption. All I know is, I need it. I want it. I gotta have it!

Now I’m just another Starbucks convert who deftly flashes her cell phone screen at the barista at the window, eager to collect the two for one stars–or more stars than that, depending. Sometimes they offer various specials and deals and I can really stack up those points in order to score some tasty freebies. (Yes, I realize they’re not really “free” since I had to pay for the merchandise in order to qualify for anything “free,” but let me live in my ignorance, please.) When my son says, “Mom, let’s go to Starbucks,” I rarely hesitate. I don’t even feel the guilt. It’s too easy when there’s a Starbucks located within our grocery stores and on nearly every corner. 

Like other Starbucks addicts, I think I can break the routine and live without my Starbucks. I tell myself I can go without my latte for one day. Or if I succumb to the temptation, that I deserve my drink. I earned it. 

And now with all of this reflection, I’m seriously craving my chai tea right about now…  

Melissa Amster:

My younger son is a barista...at our house. He loves Starbucks' Frappuccinos so much that he is now making them at home. My husband even got this Starbucks brand flavored creamer from Costco to assist in these efforts. He enjoys making them on his own and they look close to the real thing (at least the Vanilla Bean Crème kind). 

He's not the only kid in my house who is addicted to Starbucks. My older son and daughter love their strawberry açaí refresher and usually get that every time we go there. Sometimes my daughter will get a Frappuccino instead, if there's a new flavor that interests her. I'm mainly a fair weather friend when it comes to Starbucks...and that fair weather is usually the winter, when I can get hot cocoa, preferably with peppermint. Sometimes I'll get an iced tea during the summer and I am always glad to enjoy one of their delicious chocolate chip cookies, especially when they are warmed up. However, I frequent Starbucks in the winter. It may or may not be because of their festive holiday cups. ;)

I really like the atmosphere of Starbucks. The low lighting and soft music just add to the ambience and it feels so cozy every time. The baristas are always so friendly and courteous, as well.

My only complaint about Starbucks is that when they have kiosks in Target or Safeway, they don't work with the app and you can't get points on purchases at those locations. (The points that I usually use toward the aforementioned chocolate chip cookies.) I only go to these locations if I'm desperate for hot cocoa, now that I have had the experience of not being able to get points. (I hope Starbucks corporate is reading this post...) #FirstWorldProblems

One last thing: I heard this song at a show the other night and thought all you Starbucks lovers might appreciate it.

 

Do you like Starbucks? If so, what is your go-to beverage?

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Sara and Melissa Talk About...Pride

We've been running a column series (for over two years now!) to get more personal with our readers. This month, we're talking about LGBTQ+ pride, since it's currently Pride Month and there are a lot of books that feature LGBTQ+ characters or storylines. 

We're always open to topic suggestions, so please don't hesitate to share those in the comments. We'd also love to know if you can relate to anything we've said or hear your own thoughts on the topic. So don't be shy. :) We look forward to getting to know you as much as we're letting you get to know us. You can find our previous columns here, in case you missed them.

Melissa Amster:                                                                                                  This past Sunday, I attended Pride Fest in DC. I hadn't been to a Pride event in such a long time. Probably not since I attended a Pride parade in Chicago in the early 2000s. If more cities did the parade on Sunday, it would be more of a possibility, but at least Pride Fest was an option this year and I didn't even know it was happening on Sundays in the past. (I still wish the parade would be on Sunday too though...) Anyway, my husband and I took two of our three kids (all are pro-LGBTQ+, but one is an introvert and doesn't like crowds). The two who attended had such a great time. They couldn't stop talking about it afterward. We met up with our cousins whom we hadn't seen in a few years due to the pandemic, so that was really nice too. 

If you combine the Renaissance Faire with Rocky Horror, that's what the experience felt like. I mean this all in a good way. I loved that everyone was there for the same reason and we were all on the side of pride! It was so much fun to see all the outfits everyone was wearing and people just felt free to be themselves and live it up. It was all so wonderful and I loved basking in the pure joy all around. Plus, they had really good hot buttered corn on the cob like you get at a carnival. 

While I loved being there with my family, it made me miss my two gay best friends and how we would hang out around Halsted Street in Chicago and go to the clubs or attend street fairs. We all attended the Pride parade together one year too. However, it also made me glad to see that the LGBTQ+ community is still going strong even with oppressive forces at play. I'm keeping this post short in order to share a few pictures from Sunday's event. 

Throwback to the Chicago Pride parade in 2001

Sara Steven:

Years ago, while living with my grandparents, I’d been tasked with walking over a mile to the city bus stop in order to catch a ride to my high school. I’d start my mornings in total darkness, a fun side effect of living in the great Pacific Northwest, never knowing whether I’d have to bring an umbrella with me or risk the potential for muddy shoes–so often, that was almost always the case. It was cold and dreary, and even when I’d begin to see the sun peek out from beyond the horizon, it was never enough.  

At some point, a young man joined me on my morning walks. I can’t remember how it started or when it happened. Zach lived in the duplex next to my street, and one fateful day he’d happened to leave his place around the same time I’d turned the corner, and that was that. 

At the time, I was a meager freshman who hadn’t made a whole lot of friends, the kind of kid who hadn’t really found her identity yet. I wore stained white Keds and jeans some jerk senior referred to as “highwaters” when he’d seen me standing in the lunch line the first week of school, and it really stuck with me. I didn’t know what it meant to be “cool,” but Zach–well, he was all-out cool.

He reminded me of Pauly Shore from the 90s. He wore bell bottoms and trainers, with his pant legs dragging along the watery banks of Skyline Rd., red fiery hair flowing effortlessly into the wind. He wore vests and chokers and he talked about the music he listened to, most of it Lynyrd Skynyrd and Fleetwood Mac and Led Zeppelin, the kind of stuff I’d listen to on the classic rock stations. 

We bonded over our mutual need for the bus stop. Waking up before dawn, the walk of shame for two high schoolers who weren’t old enough to have their driver’s licenses yet. I don’t remember how old he was, but I always felt like he was so much older than me. He probably was. He made the mornings so much more bearable, and it was even better when I’d find him waiting at the same bus stop in the afternoons to take us back to our respective homes. How lucky was I to be in his presence twice in one day?

I don’t think we hung out at school. I’m sure our circles never touched, but when we’d see each other, it felt like two long-lost friends who hadn’t seen each other in years.

I don’t remember when he’d felt safe enough to confide in me that he was gay. It might have been at the start of our friendship, or towards the middle. Back in those days, there were a lot of preconceived notions of what that meant, and he vented to me about how trapped he felt, how there were many times he felt alone in his feelings.

There were two important lessons I’d absorbed and held onto from my friendship with Zach. The smaller lesson had been about relationships–we both felt that at our age, romantic relationships were like stepping stones of learning and growth that would eventually lead us to our people; lessons that would teach us what we wanted or didn’t want, what we needed or didn’t need, in order to find the “perfect person.” A moment of brilliant clarity for two kids who really had no clue what it meant to be in a relationship. 

But the other lesson, the big lesson, had been about the right to love whomever we choose to love. I didn’t come from the kind of household or background that supported LGBTQ+, terminology that was just beginning to become more known to me and to others at that time, in the early 90s. Zach opened my eyes to the disparities he faced, to the frustration he felt at not feeling as though he could be himself without persecution or judgment. Times have changed a lot since then, but it’s still there. That disparity. I’ve seen it. I’ve felt it.

Zach moved away, and I remember feeling lost for a long time after that. I don’t think he realized how much I learned from him in the brief amount of time we spent together–the lessons in grace and love that have extended out into many other facets of my life. Sometimes when I listen to Fleetwood Mac, I think of him. Or when I see wayward teens hanging out at a bus depot, it reminds me of our time together. 

It sounds so simple in theory, but seriously–Love is Love. It really is as simple and beautiful as that. 

I know that June is Pride month, but Pride should be celebrated every day. It’s important. Out here in Arizona, the Phoenix Pride Festival will happen in October this year from the 15th-16th, and if you live in my neck of the woods, I hope you’re able to attend, too.  

Did you attend any Pride events this month? Tell us about your experience!

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Sara and Melissa....Interview Each Other!

We've been running a column series to get more personal with our readers. This month, we're doing something a little bit different and interviewing each other instead. We hope you will enjoy getting to know us in this way. If there are any questions you'd like to ask us, please share them in the comments and we will answer in a different post. 

We're always open to topic suggestions, so please don't hesitate to share those in the comments. We'd also love to know if you can relate to anything we've said or hear your own thoughts on the topic. So don't be shy. :) We look forward to getting to know you as much as we're letting you get to know us. You can find our previous columns here, in case you missed them.

Melissa's interview with Sara:

Which book first got you into reading chick lit?
I used to sneak my stepmother’s historical romance novels when I was ten years old. I have always been an avid reader and I remember feeling like the ultra thick, hundreds of pages long books would be a huge challenge for me. When she discovered that I’d dug into her stash of bodice rippers, my stepmother shocked me by sharing them with me. I guess she figured most of the steamy scenes would go over my head, anyway. Or maybe she felt it was a way for us to bond over a similar interest. The romance in the stories paved the way for other genres for me, like chick lit. I appreciated that chick lit focused on a heroine-centered narrative and I’ve yet to pick up a historical romance novel since my teen years.

Which household chore do you like the most and which do you dread the most?
I don’t know if I can say I like any household chore, but if I had to pick one that I tolerate, it would be the laundry responsibilities in my household. I don’t mind washing laundry, folding it, or putting it away. What I dread, though, is having to clean toilets. Can there be any worse chore, particularly when your children are boys?

If you could time travel back to any point in your life, which would you pick and why?
I’m a forty-two year old college student. I’d attempted to get into the college game when most people do, shortly after high school, yet I wasn’t ready for that sort of commitment. I spent several years of my life thinking I wasn’t meant for higher learning. When my youngest started kindergarten, I decided to take one single college course, just to see how I’d feel about it. One class turned into two, which turned into several more. Once I made the decision to go for it, I signed up with my community college to enroll in a program that allowed me to earn my associates degree, then transfer on to a four year university. I now have my associates, and my bachelor’s degree journey begins next month. If I could go back in time, I’d try to better understand the value of an education. Maybe I’d put more effort in, not downplay my intelligence or feel as though “that world” wasn’t meant for me. I had a lot of preconceived notions back in those days, and who knows what could have been had I tried harder. Yet, I don’t think I would have ever had the commitment or motivation to do as well as I have now, in my more mature years.

Since July is our birth month, share a favorite birthday memory or two. :)
The first thing that popped into my head was my fortieth birthday. I had such a great time. I spent it with my husband, my kids, and good friends, with food catered in. It was a nice, relaxing, yet fun experience. A perfect way to ring in a milestone birthday.

Which celebrity would you like to switch with for a day (like in a Freaky Friday way)?
Can I swap with a celebrity’s spouse? As in, Mark Wahlberg’s wife? Ha! No but, in all seriousness, I’ve wondered what it would be like to trade places with Jennifer Lopez. She’s amazing.

What is your go-to comfort food? What do you consider your comfort movie and comfort TV show?
Ooh, comfort food. I’m pretty basic when it comes to comfort food. A bowl of macaroni and cheese with hot dogs always does the trick for me. Or, a big slice of cake, preferably tuxedo cake. As for a comfort movie, something funny, like a Mel Brooks film or something from the 80s, like a John Hughes film. As for TV, anything from this list that Melissa and I had posted for last month’s CLC TV show topic works for me!

Sara's interview with Melissa:

You're a whiz at offering movie casting suggestions for the chick lit novels you read. Are there any particular characters and the potential actors or actresses you've movie cast that stand out the most for you?

Here's my secret: I usually comb through IMDb to find the right casting fits. Honestly, I do get some ideas into my head while watching movies or shows, but the majority of the time it's like doing an IMDb scavenger hunt! Some picks I did come up with that I really liked:

Meghann Fahy as Kyra in In the Swim of Things by Tracie Banister

Haley Lu Richardson and Annie Murphy as sisters Bree and Natasha in She's Faking It by Kristin Rockaway 

Oscar Isaac as Dom in How to Save a Life by Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke

Jane Levy as Annie in Waiting for Tom Hanks by Kerry Winfrey

Sarah Levy as Grace in A Little Bit of Grace by Phoebe Fox

(Can you tell I watch too much Schitt's Creek with some of my casting choices?)

I love when authors tell me that I nailed a casting choice for them. That makes my day!

Where do you see yourself in five years?

With a child in college. Gasp! Honestly, I don't know. Probably still at my same job. Maybe with an established side gig in the publishing industry. You never know. 

I'd love to hear your favorite birthday memory or two, as well, considering we share a birth month. What are some of your favorite birthday memories?

The sort-of surprise 30th birthday party my husband threw for me. I knew it was happening and handled the invitation list, but I didn't know the theme or where it would be held. I also didn't know what he had planned for the cake decoration. It was a picture of me looking like I was doing a hula dance. (The theme was Hawaii.)

My 33rd birthday, when my friend and I took my older son to see an Ice Age movie (the dinosaur one) and then went bowling and out to dinner (our husbands joined us for the latter two activities). It was just a nice day, enhanced by the embarrassing question my son asked when we were in the bathroom. 

My 22nd birthday, which was celebrated at the Neo-Futurarium (this theater that I was obsessed with at the time) to see Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind.

What are some of the most meaningful bits of advice you've received over the years?

I usually give advice more often than I receive it. I give advice to new moms to tell them not to listen to anyone except for themselves and their pediatrician. I hated getting too many opinions over how to do things when I was a new mom and like giving permission to others to not have to put up with that. Who cares how we feed our babies, as long as they are getting nutrition and the doctor is okay with it?!?

I also give advice to other bloggers about how blogging is not a competition and that we are all in this together. Just make your blog something personal to you and that's all you need. When I was first starting out as a book blogger, I did actually receive some advice from a publicist and that's what helped make this blog as successful as it is! At the time, I was embarrassed about how I had gone about things the wrong way with trying to reach authors to feature at the blog, but after she told me to hang back and let them come to me, things flowed smoothly from there.

What is your biggest fear?

Death. That's all I really need to say.  

What book has impacted you the most?

She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb. I think because I could relate to Dolores in terms of being bullied a lot and then eventually how she came into her own and didn't put up with that anymore. The book actually motivated me to get my first apartment in college. It's been 22 years since I last read it, but I still think about it and always recommend it. 

Can you relate to any of our answers? We'd love to learn more about you too!

Go-to-Gay: Back to the beginning

We welcome Go-to-Gay Keith Stewart back to CLC today to help us kick off 2019. He has some insight into resolutions and some fun cultural facts to share with everyone. Happy reading!

GOOD INTENTIONS, BAD FOLLOW-THROUGH

I have a love/hate relationship with New Year’s festivities. I am a sucker for the chance to reflect and renew, to start over, to become a better person. But then, I am also pragmatic. I know how hard it is a person in his forties to change anything about himself, no matter what the reason. What usually happens—it happened again this year—is that on December 30th and 31st, I sit around and contemplate the year that just passed, and then decide on some goals to shoot for in the next three hundred sixty-five days.

Inevitably, I always choose the same thorns that poke me every day of every year. I want to get in shape. I want to make all my writing deadlines. I want to send birthday cards to my friends and family. I want to lose weight.

I don’t have to tell you what happens by the second week of January, do I? I didn’t think so. In case you aren’t sure, I just ate a piece of fried chicken while finishing this post that was due to the editor last week. Sigh. Good intentions, bad follow-through. This year, I decided to look around the globe to see if I could find some other tradition for starting a new year that I could sign up for and keep my promise for longer than ten days. Let’s go!

There is a small town in Peru that hosts the Takanakuy Festival for the new year. During this festival, villagers who have grudges against each other face off in the boxing ring for an actual fist fight which is overseen by local policemen. After the fight is finished, the participants forgive and forget past grievances and start fresh for the year.

While this has its advantages—there is no long-term commitment, you are in and out in one round—it also has many disadvantages, especially for me. I am not really a fighter. Just between us, I am delicate. One good punch on the arm and I would be down for at least a day. Also, I would never forgive the person. I would carry a bigger a grudge than I had going into the rumble. So, I am moving on from Peru.

In Denmark, people save up old, unused plates and crockery throughout the year. Then on New Year’s Eve, they run amok and hurl them at the front doors of people they love. Apparently, waking up to a front porch full of broken glass on the first day of January is a sure sign that you are well-received in Copenhagen.

While that sounds fairly tempting, I don’t ever recall having spare dishes throughout the year to use for this project. Also, the sound of glass shattering is one of my least favorite noises in the world, and I think that hearing dishware chucked against your front door all night would make you think you were living in a real-life “Purge” moment. Sorry, Denmark, I can’t play.

There is a Spanish tradition of stuffing twelve grapes into your mouth as the clock strikes midnight on New Year’s Eve. If you can fit all twelve in there by the time the countdown is done, you will have success and good fortune throughout the coming year.

OK. Now we are getting somewhere. This is a challenge that has my name written all over it. I have been told my many people I have a big mouth. I think sticking twelve juicy grapes in it would be a breeze. The payoff is good fortune for a year? I’m in!

But wait, we have one more stop on our search.

What’s that, France? You have an easier and more delicious way to ensure good health, wealth, and luck? Eating PANCAKES?!

Leave it to the French to know just how to do it just right. These people know how to live! That settles it. If y’all need me, I’ll be sitting here in a café, with a giant stack of luck-producing goodness and enjoying my 2019!

Bonne année mes amis!

Keith Stewart is the author of Bernadette Peters Hates Me – True Tales of a Delusional Man. A native of Appalachia, he splits his time between his hometown of Hyden and nearby Lexington, Kentucky. His blog is www.astrongmanscupoftea.com. You can find him on Twitter at @Shiglyogly and Facebook at @AMSCOT (A Strong Man’s Cup of Tea). He is a regular contributor to HumorOutcasts.com and the GoodMenProject.com. He lives with his husband, Andy, and their two dogs, Duke and Dudley.

Chick Lit Cheerleader: What a year!

Introduction by Melissa Amster

One of the things that made me really happy in 2018 was that our Chick Lit Cheerleader, Jen Tucker, moved to my neck of the woods. We're now an hour away as opposed to 11 hours away! We got together last week with our families for a fun afternoon of bowling and Chinese food. What more could two chick lit lovers ask for?!? I hope that we will get together many more times in 2019 and beyond... Next time, we'll be hanging out in "The Jam." (Jen knows what that means.)

Jen is here today to tell us what made her happy this year. 


Where in the world did 2018 go? Anyone? Bueller?

It’s so true that as my years fly by they’re travelling at warp speed. Yet the irony is that I really don’t want time to slow down. I love my memories and experiences, and I also like where life has me right now. The bumps and bruises, the highs and lows, and even the praises and preposterous markers we encounter in life make us who we are at this very moment. Plus, I don’t have the skills or technology to turn back time, so I’d rather focus on the sweetness than the suck-y-ness on any given day.

Here’s my short but sweet list of getting happy in 2018. Please, hold your applause until the end…


Jen’s Top 5 Happy Moments of 2018
(These are in no particular order…as far as you know)

1. My jeans from last year still fit after a long Maryland summer in shorts! Can I get a hallelujah?!
2. Mike, my beloved, and I re-binged the series Breaking Bad and it had a different ending. At the end, everyone lived happily ever after and Marie broke up with the color purple, replacing it with pink shades of “blush” and “bashful.” No—wait—that’s Steel Magnolias. Never mind.
3. I have discovered that gin doesn’t taste like Pine-Sol when combined with the correct ratio of tonic water and a squeeze of lime. This was life changing, friends. And it took me twenty-five years of being married to a bartender to find this truth. Things that make you go hmmmmm.
4. Three months is the longest Mike and I have been separated from our nineteen-year-old college sophomore, Ryan, since he entered our lives. I burst into tears as Ryan and I embraced amongst Thanksgiving travelers in the baggage claim area at BWI airport. His visit was short, yet so very sweet. And now he’s home for Christmas. He packed only a duffle bag containing, mostly, his PlayStation 4 paraphernalia. This is how college men pack for three weeks at home. God, I love that guy.
5. I’ve happily learned I’m not too old for adventure. Like moving to the east coast with four-fifths of Team Tucker. Most mornings, I awake to deer foraging in our backyard and that doesn’t suck. I only live a short road-trip from so many friends that were once too far away to see often. That my Midwestern crew, who are now father in distance, are but a quick text or inappropriate meme away. This is the truth that sticks with me: no matter where you go in this world, your love for others goes with you.

On behalf of the entire CLC family, I want to wish you and yours only the best in 2019. May peace and joy surround you and your loved ones.

XOXO,
Jen

Jen Tucker is the author of the funny and true stories, The Day I Wore My Panties Inside Out and The Day I Lost My Shaker of Salt. In September 2012, she had her children's book, Little Pumpkin published as an e-book. She also blogs monthly for Survival for Blondes. She currently lives in Indiana with her husband, three kids and two dogs. You can find her at Twitter, Facebook, her blog and on her website. And in case you missed them. check out her previous Chick Lit Cheerleader posts here.

Kristyn Kusek Lewis' Top 5 of 2018...plus a book giveaway

We're pleased to have Kristyn Kusek Lewis at CLC today to tell us about her happiest moments in 2018. Her latest novel, Half of What You Hear publishes at the end of this month and thanks to HarperCollins, we have TWO copies to give away!

Kristyn Kusek Lewis is the author of Save Me and How Lucky You Are. A former magazine editor at Glamour and Child, Kristyn has been writing for national publications for nearly twenty years. Her work has appeared in the New York Times; O, The Oprah Magazine; Real Simple; Reader's Digest; Glamour; Self; Redbook; Cosmopolitan; Marie Claire; Parents; Allure; Good Housekeeping; Cooking Light; Health; Men's Health; the New York Daily News; and many more. Kristyn is a graduate of the College of the Holy Cross and the Vermont College of Fine Arts, where she earned an MFA in creative writing. She lives in the Washington DC area with her family.

Visit Kristyn online:
Website * Facebook * Twitter * Instagram

Synopsis:
From well-loved women’s fiction writer Kristyn Kusek Lewis comes a breakout novel about a woman moving to a small community and uncovering the many secrets that hide behind closed doors—perfect for fans of Liane Moriarty and Elin Hilderbrand.

Greyhill, Virginia—refuge of old money, old mansions, and old-fashioned ideas about who belongs and who doesn’t—just got a few new residents. When Bess Warner arrives in town with her husband Cole and their kids, she thinks she knows what to expect. Sure, moving to Cole’s small hometown means she’ll have to live across the street from her mother-in-law, and yes, there’s going to be a lot to learn as they take over Cole’s family’s inn-keeping business, but Bess believes it will be the perfect escape from Washington. She needs it to be. After losing her White House job under a cloud of scandal, she hardly knows who she is anymore.

But Bess quickly discovers that fitting in is easier said than done. Instead of the simpler life she’d banked on, she finds herself preoccupied by barbed questions from gossipy locals and her own worries over how her twins are acclimating at the town’s elite private school. When the opportunity to write an article for the Washington Post’s lifestyle supplement falls into Bess’s lap, she thinks it might finally be her opportunity to find her footing here…even if the subject of the piece is Greyhill’s most notorious resident.

Susannah “Cricket” Lane, fruit of the town’s deepest-rooted family tree, is a special sort of outsider, having just returned to Greyhill from New York after a decades-long hiatus. The long absence has always been the subject of suspicion, not that the eccentric Susannah cares what anyone thinks; as a matter of fact, she seems bent on antagonizing as many people as possible. But is Susannah being sincere with Bess—or is she using their strangely intense interview sessions for her to further an agenda that includes peeling back the layers of Greyhill’s darkest secrets?

As Bess discovers unsettling truths about Susannah and Greyhill at large, ones that bring her into the secrets of prior generations, she begins to learn how difficult it is to start over in a town that runs on talk, and that sometimes, the best way to find yourself is to uncover what everyone around you is hiding....

(Bio and synopsis are courtesy of Amazon.)

Five Happy Things that Happened in 2018

1. My third book, HALF OF WHAT YOU HEAR, is receiving lovely reviews prior to its New Year’s Eve release!
With just a couple of weeks to go until my new novel comes out, I’m finding it difficult to think of almost anything else! I’ve been thrilled that the book has received lovely early reviews. Kirkus Reviews called it, “Perfect for fans of Big Little Lies.” (!!) And InStyle magazine said, “Detox from the holidays with this novel of a small and well-to-do Virginia town, its meddlesome residents, and the decades of secrets within its walls.” This story is an escape with a capital-E and I am so excited to share it with readers!

2. We added a sweet Golden Retriever puppy to our family.
We are big dog people in our house, and were so excited to bring home Rosie, our sweet Golden Retriever puppy, at the start of the year. She joins our four-year-old mutt, and the two of them keep me company while I write, often even squeezing under my desk while I’m working.

3. I found inspiration in unlikely places.
Like the gym! I’m a lifelong runner, a practice that is essential given how much time I spend sitting at my desk. Running clears my mind like nothing else does, and often helps me untangle a tricky plot detail when I’m working on a story. But this year, inspired by a friend, I joined a strength-training gym that has pushed me physically and led to several new friendships. The bonus: I get lots of story ideas from the women I chat with during class.

4. I had an excellent reading year.
I read so many good books this year--Michelle Obama’s memoir, Curtis Sittenfeld’s story collection, Katherine Center’s How to Walk Away, as well as tons of new releases by writer friends, including Susie Orman Schnall’s The Subway Girls, Jamie Brenner’s The Forever Summer, Kristin Harmel’s The Room on Rue Amelie, Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke’s Girls’ Night Out, and so many others.

5. I spent lots of time in libraries.
At the beginning of 2018, I volunteered weekly at my kids’ elementary school library. For a book lover, there is nothing quite as fun and encouraging as watching kids get excited about books. The experience even inspired one of my 2019 projects: My first children’s book! I also took advantage of my local public library, checking out dozens of books and attending author talks. Libraries have so much to offer, they’re the true cornerstones of our communities, and I feel so lucky to have an excellent library system where I live.

Thanks to Kristyn for visiting with us and to HarperCollins for sharing her book with our readers.

How to win: Use Rafflecopter to enter the giveaway. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us. If you have trouble using Rafflecopter on our blog, enter the giveaway here. 

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Giveaway ends December 26th at midnight EST.

Linda Smolkin’s Top 5 of 2018…plus a book giveaway!

We’re pleased to have Linda Smolkin join us at CLC to tell us her top five happy moments of 2018. Her latest novel, The Secret We Lost, was published in September and, thanks to the author, we have five signed ARCs to give away!

Linda always wanted to be a writer—ever since she saw her first TV commercial and wondered how to pen those clever ads. She got her degree in journalism and became a copywriter. Linda landed a job at an ad agency, where she worked for several years before joining the nonprofit world. By day, she writes articles, ads, email campaigns, scripts, and website and social media content. At night, Linda works on her novels and there’s usually chocolate (and sometimes wine) involved. When not in front of the computer, she’s behind the drums (slightly) annoying her neighbors. Her debut novel, Among the Branded, was published in May 2017, and her second book, The Secret We Lost, released in September 2018.

Visit Linda online:
Website * Facebook * Twitter * Instagram 

Synopsis:
Three generations. One secret. A life-changing twist of fate.

It’s 1993 in Washington, DC, and Elsa Kartchner isn’t getting any younger. But the passage of time is the last thing on her mind. Instead, she’s focused on her free-spirited daughter, Laura, who’s about to leave for a year-long trip to Russia.

To cope, Elsa devours Laura’s letters from St. Petersburg and indulges in chocolate she keeps in her nightstand. But her stash of sweets isn’t the only thing she’s hiding. That’s because Elsa and her mother Millie have a complicated past. A buried secret haunts them both, and Elsa must decide whether to tell Laura. Fearing that Laura may discover the secret when she returns, Elsa wants to confess. She travels to Russia hoping for acceptance, but while there, gets a surprise of her own.

In THE SECRET WE LOST, love and redemption vie for attention against an intercontinental backdrop, as Elsa struggles with the truth. This moving family saga is the second novel by Linda Smolkin, whose debut AMONG THE BRANDED was called a “fascinating novel that will keep readers hooked” by San Francisco Book Review.


Five Happy Things that Happened to Me in 2018

1. My son started his first year of college.
Friends (and even strangers) told me that I'd feel sad sending him off and seeing him leave home. Some even teased that I'd weep. But that wasn't the case at all. I haven't shed one tear. In fact, I couldn’t be happier—because I'm so happy for him and this new chapter in his life. Or maybe it’s because I don’t miss hearing him say there's no food in the house (even though I’d just gone shopping the day before)!

2. My second novel was published.
After years in the making (or writing and editing I should say), my second novel, THE SECRET WE LOST, was released. It has been a long road, but it's a great feeling to be able to share my story and characters with book lovers near and far.

3. I started traveling more.
I started planning more trips this past year, even before my son left the nest. I've been visiting friends and going to new places or cities I haven’t visited in a long time. It's great to just get in the car, put on your favorite playlist, and drive while singing at the top of your lungs. (Yeah, that was probably me that you heard. And yes, I should probably sign up for some singing lessons.)

4. I was able to meet a wonderful author that I've followed for a long time on social media.
While I was in Miami in November, I had lunch with novelist Rochelle B. Weinstein. I adore her and her books. She has always been so nice and has given me advice when I was on the fence about some career-wise stuff. She's just as nice in person as she is virtually!

5. I went to an event I’ve dreamed of attending for years.
For ten years, I've been listening to Jew Rock Marathon on DC101, my local rock station. Jew Rock Marathon is an event hosted by the station during Hanukkah. They play rock music by Jewish musicians, serve delicious food, and have special guests. All these years, while listening at home, I’ve thought, “wouldn’t it be great to actually be at the studio.” This year, I had the chance and even got to chat with my favorite DJ on air (and shamelessly plug my books when he asked about them). It’s definitely a highlight of my year and a day to remember!

How to win: Use Rafflecopter to enter the giveaway. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us. If you have trouble using Rafflecopter on our blog, enter the giveaway here. 

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Giveaway ends December 25th at midnight EST.

Kim Gruenenfelder's Top Five of 2018...plus a book giveaway

We're pleased to have Kim Gruenenfelder back at CLC to celebrate the recent publication of her latest novel, Hangovers & Hot Flashes. She's here to tell us what made her happy this past year and she has one copy of her book to share with a lucky reader.

Kim Gruenenfelder lives in Los Angeles with her husband and son, and continues to avoid anything even remotely resembling a real job. Her acclaimed debut novel, A Total Waste of Makeup, has been published in six languages and eight international editions to date. In addition to her other published novels, A Total Waste of Makeup, Misery Loves Cabernet, There’s Cake In My Future, Keep Calm and Carry a Big Drink, and Love the Wine You’re With, she has written feature films, episodic teleplays and two stage plays.

Kim also created the word “eciah” (featured in Love the Wine You’re With), and is the founder and curator of the website eciah.com. Kim loves her fans and readers, who can contact her at her website, as well as follow her through Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. (Bio courtesy of Kim's website.)

Synopsis:
Michelle, Zoe and Alexis are friends who have one thing in common. They are all in their 40s and all wondering the same thing: “Now what?”

Zoe, the mother of 17 year-old twins about to abandon her for college, misses the romance of her twenties, and desperately wants just one more first kiss. Thinking outside the box, she convinces her husband Carlos to embark on an open marriage. Which leads to a new set of problems and questions: How does she pick a “non-skeevy” swinger’s club, do men of a certain age even want sex with no strings attached, and does ordering a glass of Syrah these days really signal to would be suitors that you just want to f*@# them in their car? Most importantly, will getting to be with someone else help or hurt her marriage? And if that someone else is an ex who effortlessly morphs into a fantasy man who says and does all the right things, how does Zoe choose between the life she has and the road not taken?

Michelle has made it her routine on her way home to stop one block from her house, park, stare into space, and dread the next few hours of her life. She’s tired of juggling her very full time job as a real estate agent with the full time job of parenting two kids (without much help). She and her husband Steve have not had sex in over a year. Michelle doesn’t have a road not taken, but she’s at a fork in that road. Does she take the easy path, and spend the rest of her life with a man she loves but no longer likes? Or go the hard route: Divorce. Living life with one income, single parenting, lonely Thanksgivings, and kids who may never forgive you. And how does a girl start dating again when all the rules have changed since she took herself off the market years ago?

Alexis is the self-made multi-millionaire we all aspire to be. She’s the creator of a slew of hit TV shows and the head of a wildly successful production company. She’s got the dream car, the stunning house on the beach in Malibu, the black AmEx. Everything is going exactly according to plan, and there’s a lot to be happy about. But she also has Connor, her on-again/off-again boyfriend of twelve years. Plus she’s going through early menopause, and now wonders how she forgot to have kids. Her life plan is suddenly thrown into further disarray when Connor shows up with a stray dog, which he leaves with her. Which is just the beginning, as that mangy mutt leads to a teenaged dog walker, a middle-aged widower, and her Sunday morning brunches possibly being replaced by church.So what do you do when nothing in your life is working the way you saw it in your head, and the unplanned life might make you happier?

Knowing their girlfriends will always have their backs, Michelle, Zoe and Alexis confront their new realities with honesty and humor, while trying to find happiness amidst hangovers and hot flashes. (Courtesy of Amazon.)

Top Five Favorite Moments of 2018

1. Going to New York for a long weekend to see the 50th anniversary production of Boys in the Band.
 
I had seen the movie adaptation of the play with my mother as a kid, and it deeply changed the way I saw the world at that time. The cast included Jim Parsons, Zachary Quinto, Andrew Rannells and Matt Bomer, and was one of the most superbly acted plays I have ever seen. Which was certainly part of what made it a top five moment. But when I gave it some thought for this essay, I realized my top moment really came from the decision to go. I desperately wanted to go, and wanted my husband and son to see the play. But it was in New York, and we live in Los Angeles. And it seemed like a ridiculous waste of time and money to fly out for just three days. But then I realized, “Why is it a ridiculous waste of time and money? This is really important to me, and it’s an opportunity I will never get again.” And sometimes you have to follow what your heart tells you to do, and not your head. Not always, not every day, but occasionally. Because life is too short to always play it safe.

And then, if you’re really lucky, your son will walk out of the theater and say, “I want to direct that play when I get older. That was amazing.” And all will be happy in your world.

2. Watching my son play the lead in a Shakespeare play.

My son Alex played Bottom in his high school production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream earlier this year. And you would think, “Three hours of high-schoolers botching Shakespeare?” (Or at least that was what I thought before I saw it.) But his school specializes in the arts, and many of the kids have parents who are professional actors. They’re really good. More than a bunch of 16 and 17 year-olds have any right to be.

My exact favorite moment came not when Alex was on jumping stilts as ‘donkey Bottom’, although that’s a very funny and probably the most famous scene. But the moment that really hit me was when he popped his head out of the curtain as ‘actor Bottom’ performing for the Duke. And he commanded the room.

And if I had never been a parent, I would have never had that moment.

As anyone who is a parent knows, it can be hard, expensive, so so constant, and you’re frequently not sure if you’re doing it right. Plus, it doesn’t look anything like you thought it would. My first inkling of this was when we were trying to get pregnant, and I imagined having a little girl I could shop with, and dress in frilly pretty clothes. Instead, I got a boy. A really awesome boy, but one who, when I dragged him to the Bloomingdale's Home Store to shop for a wedding gift, spent the entire time glued to his phone. At some point, after giving him the pluses and minuses of buying a place setting of formal china vs. a collection of super soft towels, I muttered in exasperation, “Can you please give me your opinion?!” And he looked up from his phone to say pleasantly, “Oh. Whichever one will get us out of here the fastest.” Frilly clothes? He wears combat boots, black jeans, and a combination his father’s old concert T-shirts from 80s rock bands and current concert T shirts from Green Day, Queen and Metallica.

So, it didn’t look how I thought it would look. And what a gift. Because, man, I frequently watch that kid do stuff I could never do, and I am constantly in awe. My dream could have never included watching my son do Shakespeare (my favorite author of all time), but only because I didn’t dream big enough.

3. Seeing the galleys (which are the printed books sent ahead of time to give you one final chance to make corrections) of Hangovers and Hot Flashes for the first time.

Those of you who have read me know I write romantic comedy novels about women who are around thirty. And I have fun doing it, and am proud of my work. But Hangovers was a creative departure from my previous five books. The characters are all in their mid-forties, and they are dealing with totally different problems from characters in my other books. I still write about dating, and I’d like to think I’m still funny, but I was trying to do something a little more soul searching this time around.
When I first pitched the idea, several editors told me not to write the book. I heard, “Women in their forties don’t buy books.” And/or, “Women in their forties will buy a book about women in their twenties, but women in their twenties won’t buy a book about women in their forties.” I was warned spending a few years writing it was financial suicide.

Then one night I was talking to my agent, Kim Whalen, about what I really wanted to write next, and I told her all about the characters in my head and the challenges they would face, and she smiled and said, “Do it!” I then described the scene where Alexis talks about early menopause and she burst out laughing.

So I spent a few years writing something totally new. And the book might very well be financial suicide – it just came out December 11th, so I don’t know yet. But my #3 moment is similar to moment 1 in that I let my heart guide this one. And rarely has my heart made the wrong decision.

4. Writing a chapter about Charlie and Drew: two of my characters from A Total Waste of Makeup and Misery Loves Cabernet.

Okay – there’s kind a weird story behind this. So a writer friend of mine asks me about my mailing list, and I say, “I don’t have a mailing list.” and she has a hissy fit. It is quickly decided by a table of women writers that I need a mailing list. I ask how I should compile one. My friend Quinn suggests I put on all of my social media that I am compiling a list, and that anyone who agrees to go on the list can vote for 2 characters for me to write about, and I’ll write a free scene to show what they’re up to these days. Over 90% chose Drew and Charlie (which is interesting because they are from books that are over 10 years old, and Drew isn’t even a main character.)

Misery Loves Cabernet ended Thanksgiving night, so I started the chapter very early the next morning as Charlie opens the door to her boss Drew (a movie star) inexplicably dressed in a tuxedo. I had no idea why I wrote him like that, but had faith he would let me know within the hour why he was dressed that way. And he did.

Within a few hours, I had written Chapter One of what could be a third in the series. It turned out, I had missed these two, and I spent my evening after my writing day kind of floating on air. The next day, I cleaned the chapter up a little and sent it off.

And got fan mail! And several people asking if I was writing a third in the series. So I started writing more, and even wrote my ending to the book (just the last paragraph). Now – I have since been distracted with Hangovers and another little non fiction project, so I haven’t given it my full attention, but I’m kind of digging the idea of continuing with Charlie’s journey. And, after so many years of being the insecure writer wondering if anyone out there even really likes my work, reading that fan mail was absolutely my top moment #4.

(By the way, if you want to catch up with Drew and Charlie and get on my mailing list, I’m at kim@kimgruenenfelder.com.)

5. Tyra Banks saying to me, “You get it, because you’re skinny like me.”

Okay, I know, that’s a ridiculously shallow top five moment. But when a former “Sports Illustrated” cover model tells you that you look like her in any way, shape or form, that’s a topfive. It just is.
I’m kidding. Kind of. Tyra was actually in the middle of telling me a story and when she said that, I put up my index finger and said, “Hold that thought. I have to text my husband to tell him a Victoria’s Secret Angel just said I was skinny like her.” Then I typed, hit send, looked up at her and said, “Okay, go.” And she finished her story.

I directed her and her mother Carolyn earlier this year when they recorded Perfect is Boring, a light, empowering, nonfiction book I highly recommend for teen and tween girls. The first time Tyra walked into the studio she wore sweats and no makeup, and she was so ridiculously stunning that I thought a little jealously, “What? Did God give with both hands, both feet and an ear?” But then I started talking to her, and it was like we had been friends since college. She is one of the most supportive, loving, “girl power” women I have met in a long time. During lunches and breaks, we’d talk about parenting, dating, eating (we shared 4 desserts on our last day together, how much do I love this woman?) and modeling. Okay, I did not talk about modeling. I listened. But I learned how to take a selfie and that I should get my hair out of a ponytail more often. I guess I could say my top five moment was the reminder that successful women don’t need to compete with each other.

Nope. “Skinny like me”. Still Number Five. Just let me have this one.

Thanks to Kim for visiting with us and for sharing her book with our readers.

How to win: Use Rafflecopter to enter the giveaway. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us. If you have trouble using Rafflecopter on our blog, enter the giveaway here. 

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Giveaway ends December 18th at midnight EST.