Aug 17

Always on a Sunday…Pancakes!

For the last few years Sunday morning means pancakes or waffles and a chance for the family to sit down for a leisurely breakfast. The tradition has been especially fun since my son, Jonathan of Jonathan’s Thoughts, and my grand-daughter Alex began spending weekends with us. Alex joins me in the kitchen and we whip up an old scratch recipe from Homemade Bread by the Food Editors of Farm Journal that just can’t be beat for taste and texture. This is an old book, first published in 1969, and given to me by my Aunt Elsie. It’s a treasured addition to my antique cookbook collection. I’ve seen copies available on eBay if you’re into making bread and looking for a variety of traditional recipes.

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Aug 08

Crash landing…not really, but

Crash landing…not really, but when you end up in the hospital two days after a wonderful trip, it is definitely a hard landing. The five hour flight from San Francisco to Orlando caught up with me, and a blood clot made a little trip of its own to my left lung. I recognized the symptoms early because I had pulmonary emboli (clots in the lungs) in 2002. When the stabbing pain in my left rib cage and a slight shortness of breath didn’t ease up after a few hours, I took myself to the doc and let them figure it out. I’ll be home in a few days with some blood thinning meds and won’t be taking any flights for a while. Continue reading

Aug 02

City Lights Bookstore

When a book lover visits San Francisco a visit to City Lights Bookstore is a must, so on Saturday I stole a little time away from the RWA Conference with good friends Debbie Pfeiffer and Nancy Robards Thompson to stroll through Chinatown with the landmark bookstore as our destination.

Strolling down Kerouac Alley, we stopped to read the quotes inset in the bricks, appreciating the insight and wisdom of some of our most famous authors and spokesmen for a generation.

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Aug 01

Chinatown–beautiful, tacky and souvie central

From the first stage plans for my trip to San Francisco, I knew a few things would make it complete. First, I wanted to happen upon a Huey Lewis and the News concert in a small venue. No luck with that one.

The second thing on my list was an old fashioned souvenir pillow complete with the Golden Gate Bridge embroidered in glittery red and gold thread on creamy satin and trimmed with flashy gold fringe. I think I remember my grandmother having something like that on her sofa, and I just adored it. It was about the most beautiful thing my child’s eyes beheld.

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Aug 01

Girls just want to have fun…

And man, oh man, did we have some fun at the annual Harlequin party during the RWA National Conference in San Francisco! There’s just nothing like gettin’ on your groove with a bunch of smart, talented and light-footed women while the DJ spins hits from “Sweet Home Alabama” to “Sexy Back” with all the good stuff in between. These photos of girls in action were taken with my iPhone in the midst of the dance frenzy. From left to right we’ve got Cindy Rutledge, Nancy Robards Thompson, Mary Louise Wells, Me, Katherine Garbera, Debbie Pfeiffer and Nancy again.

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Jul 31

San Francisco’s Top of the Mark and the Pact

While our famous published author friends had their noses to grindstone attending publisher’s cocktail parties and schmoozing with editors at the RWA conference, “The Free Three” (Debbie Pfieffer, Mary Louise Wells, and me) slipped off for a snack, a drink, and a fabulous view of San Francisco from The Top of the Mark at the top of Nob Hill. What a place! Incredible 360-view with glimpses of the Bay Bridge, the Golden Gate, Alcatraz and the skyline.

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