I recently took my homemade Sangria to a Manual book signing and the Mommies loved it!  Lapped it right up. One of the moms said I should post it on my website, so here you go. It's actually good for you because it has Vitamin C!!!

Mommy's Fruity Sangria

Pour 2-3 bottles of red wine (cheap if you want) into a large pitcher. Add 1 cup sugar. Squeeze 5 oranges into it. Slice 5 oranges and cut slices into quarters. Add to the mix. Slice and add any other fruit you have such as peaches, apples and plums. Add a lemon or lime if you like. (This recipe is for a crowd so cut in half if you are small.)

Let sit in the frig for 3-6 hours. It will not taste good if you drink it right away.

Pour over ice, Add a splash of 7-UP to the top. If you don't want the extra sugar, use soda water for a bit of fizz.

YUM YUM!  Enjoy and have a fabulous FOURTH of JULY. You deserve it.

A fabu event featuring local author Lisi at my favorite bookstore with Laguna Beach. I want that Swag bag!:

On July 8 at 7 pm Laguna Beach Books is pleased to host an event for bestselling author Lisi Harrison, who will read from her new book Kristen: The Summer Collection.

The first forty attendees will be receiving a free Summer Collection swag bag. Come down to the store to pick up a ticket and reserve your spot! Or call 949-494-4779.

My babies are home! Oh, it is SOO sweet to kiss their cheeks and
hold their little bodies in my arms. My 6 year old hugged me so
tightly tonight and said, "Mommy, I love you so much." Probably
because...

While I was desperately missing my kids last week, I heard their
little voices begging me for a Disneyland trip, like the one we did
when I worked the Pirates of the Caribbean movie premieres. So in a
state of complete insanity, I booked us into a hotel with promises to
go for TWO days. Lordy, what was I thinking?

I always like to ask the Princesses what their job was before this
or something outside world related. Cinderella will look at me with a
royal glare and says, "I have always been a Princess."

Do you think they have Mommy Lock-up in the Dland? I do know they
have lots of chocolate and coffee which should keep me going, as long
as heat stroke doesn't get me first.

Do you think it would be fun to have your kids stay with your family
and be in your house alone? It is good for a few minutes but not much
longer. Here are the things I have done in the past twenty-four hours:

1. Cry because I miss them
2. Sort through email
3. Try to write an article
4. Realized I can't write while they are gone
5. Do the dishes and laundry
6.. Watch the movie Mad Money
7. Eat chips and salsa
8. Stare at the ceiling
9. Eat more chips
10. Watch The Bucket List and cry some more.
11. Take a bath at midnight
12. Fall asleep in the middle of the bed
13. Go grocery shopping
14. Make Kraft Mac and Cheese
15. Try to write again
16. Read the whole Sunday NY Times (except for magazine)
16. Make a ton of food for my kids
17. Put on make-up (shocker!)
18. Drive to airport
19, Get my kids and husband
20. Cry kiss kiss, cry kiss kiss, cry kiss kiss.

God, I love my kids. And hubby, too.

I vow not to complain about being a mom (at least for a week!).

I have to say that the Kraft Mac 'n Cheese was not all that I
remembered it to be. Basically tasteless.

It's good to know that my gluten-dairy free world is not all that bad.

Since I am waiting anxiously-not patiently-for my kids to come home
from my in-laws, I decided to make some Kraft Macaroni and Cheese. I
NEVER get it to eat the junk because of the dairy/gluten factors in
my household. It would be too cruel to make it when everyone is home.
YUM YUM. I am watching the water boil up that white pasta-have my
packet of cheese sauce, tiny bit of milk and butter standing by...

Let's hear it for the return of BLUE FOLDER!! It's amazing how many people have asked me about BLUE FOLDER since I wrote Three Ring Binder.

So here is my new column, BLUE FOLDER, PART TWO. Now everyone knows what a complete weird-O I am, including all of my neighbors. 

Check out this Writer's Digest interview with Academy award winner Diablo Cody (Juno). Makes me want to quit my day and night job and go write a screenplay and then win an Oscar and then write another one and then get a TV show and then...

Oh that's right-she doesn't have any little children or big children (husbands) to occupy her hours and hands.

Anyway, even though I am a jealous beeyatch, I still support her and think she is FABU! 

I am back from my attempted romantic jaunt with hubby for our
anniversary. It was fun, but it is good to be home. My girls are
still back east with my mother-in-law. I miss them so much that I
feel ill.

I know I should be either

A. relaxing and watching chick flicks and reading chic lit and
eating bon-bons
OR
B. catching up on all the work I need to do so when they come home I
can play

But I can't seem to do either one. i miss my babies so much it hurts.
Only two more days till they come home to whine, cry, fight and make
me happy!

Okay-no one is answering any of the questions.

So share a proposal story or just a story about why you should win this great DVD set of Definintely, Maybe; Love, Actually; and Notting Hill.  C'mon-this is too fun of a set to pass up!

Well hubby and I were supposed to head up to the wine country for our anniversary today, but HELLO-Napa is on fire. (I only discovered that after my kids were looking for cartoons this morning!)

Mommy has asthma. Daddy has allergies. We no go near smoke. Of course I had to cry my way through cancelling our reservation and trip (which I planned for MONTHS-research, phonecalls, blah, blah). It has been a huge family effort with my mother-in-law taking my kids and such.

Oh well, tomorrow we will go to a hotel nearby for a couple of nights of clean sheets and air conditioning. At this point, maid service will make my year! 

First Tim Russert and now George Carlin. I can't take it.

I loved George Carlin from the first time I heard one of his records in high school. He sure did make us laugh with all his naughty words and outrageous ideas (at least they were when I was fifteen!).

Thanks for the laughs, George. Sorry you missed your Kennedy Center award, but you would have made fun of it in one way or another.

Hugs to his family who lives are going to be a lot less fun.

I went to our most swanky readings yet today in San Diego. The tea was hosted by John Laing homes and Yummy Yummy!  (bye, bye diet!)

Jennifer Davis, one of the MFM writers, and her mom were fabulous hosts. We had a great time reading and eating and of course raffling off prizes. A cutie won the MH Tiara! 

Another gorgeous Mom, Madeline (who writes for Babble.com) won the MH Tiara at the Long Beach reading on Friday  at the New City Public Schools. The director Debbie and her husband Ramon played Bolivian music for us before the poets shared their words. What a beautiful and soulful night.

The writes in the picture below are Barbara Eknoian, Sheila Golden, Tamara Madison, Moi, Regina Nervo and Donna Hilbert. Four poets and two essayists! 

I have not written a new column in ages...talk about Writer's Block. This is how to get it. Publish a book in three weeks. And then promote it so you can pay the outrageous credit card bills because you didn't know what you were doing!

Somehow, I gathered together a few brain cells and wrote a column to calm down my 'it's summertime' panic.

Here is Summer in Laguna.  Even if you don't live here, it has some fun ideas.  

Oh and thank you to my gfriend Nina who gave me most of the entertainment ideas. I seriously want to move into her house and spend the summer with her. She is a FUN mom, not a 'hide on your computer' mom like MOI! 

Delilah, Sheila Golden, myself, Cynthia Jenkins and Ingrid Miller celebrate a Mom's Night Out reading The Manual for Motherhood.

These pics are from the book signing party in Santa Ana on June 19th at the incredibly groovy eco-store, The Road Less Traveled.

My 7 year old had her two dance recitals today as a little Shirley Temple, tap dancing away. It was the cutest thing, I was crying just to see her face so full of joy and happiness as her little feet moved back and forth.

And the show that the Kyne Dance Academy put on was incredible. I saw it twice and was completely entertained both times. I feel so blessed to have her teacher in our lives. And that my daughter got her father's coordination! 

I want to bottle this day (except for my sweat) and save it forever.  

I sweat so much today I think I launched myself into Menopause and hot flashes!  There was a river running down my back. I must have lost at least 12 pounds, AT LEAST!

We have no AC and very few fans. My husband wants to cut a hole in the roof. That, he says, will cure our heat wave in the house problem.  He obviously has no idea what is best for him and his safety.