Need a vacay- dude! where's my focus????

I am experiencing serious burn out this week. I've been telling my co-teacher that ever since Monday my stars are out of alignment; from a mysterious missing page in my short story that I handed in for critique, to my atm card going schizo and a door that would not open, I am burned out! And from everyone else I've talked to, I'd say I'm not the only one. I think all of the good luck in Philadelphia this week went to one place-the World Series!!! Ok, so not the hugest baseball fan, but I'm still happy to hear that we won! Woot!

However, Phillies, now that you've won the World Series and are super champions and all that, can I please have my luck back? Seriously! I haven't gotten any further along this week than my new draft of chapter 1.

Sooooo behind schedule, ugh! Well, hopefully getting if off my chest in this blog will help bring me back to my focus. Otherwise I need to find a way to take a break, because I am clearly doing way too much.

On the plus side, I went for a physical today and I am in SUPER Astonishingly perfect health- who knew? :-)

Chapter One...it's alright!

No, it's better than alright, it's pretty great, I kind of love it, because it's a lot more fun and spunky than it used to be. So all in all, the rewrite was a good thing, but I just don't want to have to rewrite it anymore.

So listen Chapter One, I'm talking to you! I've rewritten your butt at least a thousand times (ok, maybe more like 500), but you get the picture. That's a lot of times! And I know that because you are the first chapter you think you are really important and crucial to the plot and introducing my readers to the story and getting everyone in the world interested in my book. And yeah this is all true, you are special my little chapter one. But hey, I've got another twenty or so chapters that need my attention too, ok? So let's just try to be perfect this time and not have to go through this mess again. Deal? Deal? Chapter One are you listening to me? Your other brother and sister chapters are getting jealous and claiming I play favorites and we can't have that because I love all of my chapters equally.
Chapter One, pay attention!!!

LOL, ok...my sanity may or may not have jumped the bandwagon. But in conclusion, revisions are once again going well, if not entirely on schedule.

Chapter One Redux- Waaaah!

Ummmm the title of this blog says it all...I've got some thinking to do, because there is something not sitting well with me right now about this chapter. There is something missing, something simple, something right before my very eyes and I can't see it. Once I do....it's smooth sailing...but please little secret missing piece of information that I need to perfect chapter one, reveal yourself to me!!!!!!!!

Raspberry Beret!

Today Eva, Jinee and I got to go to the wonderful fantabulous and always full, Arnold's Way monthly potluck. And as my offering...I made a chocolate raspberry pie. I normally don't work with raspberries, but a character in my book announced she was baking a triple chocolate fudge cake with raspberry drizzle, and I thought, yeah...I want to do that to, but raw.

So, I planned out all of my ingredients, intending to follow a variation of a recipe by David Wolfe and Shazzie from Naked Chocolate, except when I returned home...I discovered that my dad had a secret taste for cashews and had cleaned me out of my stash completely! Various other ingredients seemed to have walked away, so I had to improvise quickly.

And I came up with the following recipe.

Crust:
Almonds
Raisins

Filling:
Walnuts
Raspberries
Vanilla
Agave Nectar
Himalayan Sea Salt
Raw Cacao

Topping:
Agave
Raw Cacao

So first I started by putting the crust ingredients in the food processor. Always start with the nuts first, otherwise they won't get processed properly. Once you get a nice fine meal from them, add in your dry fruit and let the processor go until your mixture forms a ball. After that press it into your pan.



Then move onto the filling. Again start with just the nuts, letting them become a fine meal like texture, then throw in the rest. I used two cartons of raspberries to make the filling. Once everything is sufficiently mixed, pour the filling over the crust.



Because the filling was very soft, I ended up freezing it for two hours before I added the topping. For that I just simply poured agave and cacao into a cup and whipped it with a fork. Then I tried to do a drizzle, but I ended up basically covering the entire thing. I finished off with a random pattern of raspberries.


And that was it, super easy and with an even easier clean up:-)

The potluck was really fun. We got to see Jean and Angela and the rest of their family who I adore! We got to hear from someone who is opening up a raw place on South Street which is super exciting, because...it's close and it's new and it's raw and YAY! Also met some cool new people including Jaime and Chad who seriously prepped up a storm with some amazing food.

And no one sent me the memo, but I somehow was on the same wavelength of everyone sitting in the back section of the store. We had ALL used raspberries in our recipes. Jean had raspberry flavors in her pie (delicious) and in her lemonade (also great!). But the best food award of the night goes to Chad, who made mini chocolate mountains with raspberries on top. I seriously saw those things from across the room and immediately went over to him asking what they were. I wish I had gotten a picture because they were so pretty and just as tasty. I got the recipe, and it's probably going to be the next thing I prepare, I can't wait!


Also I met with my critique group all morning long and I got some great feedback from them on my new revisions. The best part was probably Janine saying she loved it, because I haven't gotten her approval on anything yet. So that was a huge victory for me. I am really so happy with my new revisions. They actually feel like the sort of writing I would turn into my agent. So Im really happy. And I'm making wonderful progress. I should finish chapter 3's revision tonight, and hopefully knock out 4 and 5 tomorrow, because I really want to write chapter 6!!!
Everything is looking good!!!

UPDATE: Chapter 3 is DONE and DONE!!!!!! Yes, I rock:-)

Revisions!

Last night, I swear the sky opened up just especially for me and out dropped the answer to my issues with chapters 1-5. I'm still in the joys of my epiphany and working through it, but seriously its like 3:00 and I've been at this all day and I'm on page 3? Oy vey! Well they never said these things wrote themselves, but my gosh, I need to pick up the speed already because my plan is to tie up chapters 1-5 the right way and turn in chapter 6 by tomorrow. I can do it, I can do it, I can do it!!!


UPDATE: This is a total momentary procrastination but I thought it was worth mentioning that it's two minutes to 4PM and I'm on page 7-WOOT!

Raw Pie, Weekend Updates

So for Saturday's Raw Harmony Potluck, I decided to make the chocolate pie from aw Goddess Heathy's Blog. And it was so yummy and one of the first dishes to go at the potluck (success!). And now....I will share with you what I made, and how I made it with pictures!!

So ingredients: I didn't have exactly the ingredients that Raw Goddess prescribed, but I followed the recipe closely (enough).

Crust:
Dried Apples
Almonds
Agave Nectar

Filling:
Almond Butter
Raw Cacao Powder
Vanilla
Himalayan Sea Salt
Agave Nectar
2 Bananas sliced for a middle layer between the filling and on top for a sliced layer

So first for the crust, I took about a cup and half of raw almonds and put them in the food processor.



Once they were sufficiently grounded up, I added my dried fruit, apples, and a bit of agave.

Usually, the mixture should form a ball in the processor letting you know it's ready. I didn't quite get that effect because I was using more nuts than normal, but it still had a pretty good consitency. So I put everything into my cake pan, and pressed it into a crust and voila!


So then for the filling, I mixed all the ingredients in the vitamix until smooth and yummy looking. I poured half of it over the filling, and then sliced bananas, completely covering the pie.



Then I poured the rest of the filling on top of the bananas and lined the top layer with more sliced bananas.


This was so super yummy! If you haven't checked out Raw Goddess Heathy's blog and raw creations you absolutely must (check out my raw blogs on the side for the link).

Once my pie was made, Eva Elissa and I spent some time walking around the community harvest festival, enjoying the sun and warm weather.



Me and my Harvest Festival date

I SO love Halloween!


I also got to take a few pics of the park while we waited for Jinee and Minee's train to get in.



Once they got in, we all piled into my car and headed over to Jean's for the Raw Harmony Potluck, which was as always, tons of fun full of super sweet people and really sweet food!



Here I am with the lovely Jean!!! I love her!

And even Arnold from Arnold's Way came!


So onto the writing update. I finished another revision of chapter 5, and I'm not so happy with it. I think an event I had planned for this chapter does not really work here at all, and maybe needs to be moved to like chapter 1 or 2, I don't know, and I'm kind of freaking out about it at the moment, though I'm sure it will be ok, but atleast I know it's some good stuff I'm working on, just maybe a little misplaced. I've been working from a very detailed outline I put together for the revision, but I think my attempt to stick with the outline is starting to feel a little bit too forced. I see too much of myself moving the plot along, instead of Lilliana (my heroine) driving all of the action. So I may just (EEEEEEEKKK) start over again with a blank slate on the outline-not throwing it out, but keeping it vague in my head so I don't feel so confined by it. I don't know. Revisions...ugh, they're tough. But this will all be worth it soon!

As for book reviews-two are on the way
I'm currently listening to The Other Queen and reading Graceling

Choco-Coco-Nana-Hemp Shake!!

Last night I decided it was time to make myself a special treat to ward off the new cold temperatures at night. It's one of my all time favorite raw smoothies to make, the Choco-Coco-Nana-Hemp Shake! Yummm! It's based off of a recipe from David Wolfe and Shazzie in their book Naked Chocolate.

Here are the ingredients!

Young coconuts, bananas, agave nectar (for a little extra sweetness), hemp seeds, hemp seed oil, and raw chocolate powder. The hemp keeps the smoothie from being overly sweet, and it adds a nutty taste and texture that is delicious and also great for adding protein and omegas into the drink.

First thing you need to do is open the young coconuts- not the easiest thing to do. But the way I usually go about it (with not great materials) is to take a really long thick knife and slice away the top of the coconut. Then crack into the shell just enough for the water to come out.

And pour everything into the vita mix, or whatever blender you use.

Yummy!


Then, crack along the edges of the coconut, the top should come off in the shape of a circle.

Using a spoon, scoop the rest of the coconut meat out and add to the blender.

Then you can follow with the rest of the ingredients.





I don't really measure out ingredients ever, I try and use my intuition for that and common sense. If you want something super chocolatey, add more chocolate, for more nuttiness use more hemp seeds. But I did use two young coconuts and two bananas.

Then blend...

Until Smooth...

And enjoy...

And be happy:-)

Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist Review

So I saw this movie on Sunday afternoon (very strange time to see movies btw-I was so confused when we left and it was still light out), and it was FABULOUS!!!

The characters were all very funny and realistic, and Norah, the sorta shy-yet super confident take charge Jewish girl who takes care of her friends after they trainwreck on drinks all night SO reminded me of myself in college-so I couldn't help but love her (and her hair, it was great) A LOT!

Nick played by Michael Cera...uhhh-very funny, realistic believable character and trust me I LOVE Michael Cera, but I don't looooooove Michael Cera, if you know what I mean. And having him as the romantic lead is just a little, ummmm...really? You like him?!? Really??? Ok Norah, you do have some fabulous hair!

Supporting characters, Nick's all gay band-the funniest and sweetest guys on film in a long time-I want them to be my friends! And Norah's train wreck drunk friend-I think we all know at least one of those girls and we love them anyway.

Then there's Tris, Nick's ex who doesn't like him but won't stop playing with his heart and chasing after him as soon as she realizes he might like (OMG) someone else... I know some Tris' in real life too.

The ending was a little cheesy and too neat, but I still enjoyed it. The only thing about this movie that kind of bugged me was that none of these kids seemed like they were in highschool. They all seemed to be in college-I mean how do they know where everything in NYC is when they are in highschool in NJ? Ok, maybe that's true for kids growing up right outside the city, I don't know. And second, they have NO curfew-out til 6am and they don't need to call in and check with their parents AT ALL-I still have to check in sometimes and I'm 25! Also, they got in EVERYWHERE-how did they do that? Fake IDs? Well, anyway, it was an awesome crazy fantasy night in NYC where there were no parents, no curfews, no lines for clubs and no id checks. Pretty awesome.

I definitely recommend this movie, it was really funny!

Raw Model is Smart!!!

OMG, I was just over at Anthony, the Raw Model's blog www.rawmodel.com and he is not only one of the most beautiful men on the planet, but now also I think the smartest one, because he is putting a MANGO TREE in his green house, special ordered tropical and everything. I SO want to do that!!!! Seriously the minute I have a place of my own big enough to add a greenhouse onto, or you know, just a place with a yard, I'm going to be ordering MANGO TREES up the wazzooo!!! BEST IDEA EVER!!!

The Duchess! Lay All Your Love On Meeeee!

TGIF!!!

So I spent the earlier part of my evening at Barnes and Noble and when I was walking in, who should be there but my friend on the bike who officially gave me my most random moment ever. He tried to totally randomize me again, by asking me if he could ask me a question. I said "sure" this is feeling really deja vu, and he asks me if I've seen Honey I Shrunk the Kids. This time, to avoid further deja vu and because I knew how the conversation would go since we've already had it, I said no.


Then Laura and I headed off to see The Duchess which we've been trying to see for weeks except it only came out at first in limited release. But first, I had to stalk Hot Topic for this corset lacey thing that my secret inner goth girl is in love with for Halloween. Sadly they didn't have it, but I have to say, I've rarely met such helpful and sweet employees at a store before. I'm going to try another Hot Topic tomorrow, and see Atiya who is home for the day from DC (SQUEEEEE!!!!).

So anyway, onto the movie. Basically, we have Georgiana (such an awesome name-I think I will keep it for future use) who is remarkably beautiful and accomplished, and stylish. She is married off to a much older less remarkable, but VERY rich Lord Voldemort-I mean the Duke of Devonshire played by Ralph Fiennes. And he sucks at being a husband.

At first it seemed he was completely uninterested in sex, like Louis in Coppola's Marie Antoinette, which this film reminded me of very much in a way---however this movie was great and didn't try to put me to sleep out of sheer lack of dialogue and confusing scene transitions.

But it turns out, the Duke Lord Voldy is a major adulterer. So Georgiana (played wonderfully by Kiera Knightly) has two daughters with her husband (only sons are acceptable) and makes a friend, Bess (Julie from Brideshead revisited -I don't recommend that movie at all) who she takes home to live with her. Everything is great with her and her BFF and her realization that she is in love with Hottie McHottie from Mamma Mia, until she finds out that her husband and Bess are having an affair, and there ends that happy threesome...or not.

This movie was very well done, and some of Kiera's scenes were truly heartbreaking. Alot of Ralph Fiennes lines made the audience laugh out loud hysterically, and I'm not sure if we were supposed to find his delivery so humorous or if it was more the irony that got to us. But everytime Mamma Mia Hottie came on screen, all I could hear in my head was "Don't go wasting your emotion, lay all your love on me!" And then when Kiera is going for him "Gimme Gimme Gimme a man after midnight, won't somebody help me take the shadows away."

So all in all, a very touching portrait of Duchess Georgiana of Devonshire, with many funny moments by Lord Voldemort of Devonshire and super Lay All Your Love on Me Hotness. I am a really big fan of Kiera Knightly, but I normally have trouble understanding half of her lines in movies. I really feel like I need subtitles with her, because so often she is puckering her lips more than moving them apart in normal speech patterns. BUT...I understand every word she said in The Duchess-Yay!!!

So, all in all, two thumbs up. And now...too bed!

Revisions!

Ugh so I just spent the last two days revising chapters 1 and 2 and they don't even sound like they make sense to me anymore. I'm going to believe that this is because revisions make you a crazy person unable to see clearly rather than jump to my usual conclusion of I've just written crap. All I know is I can no longer look at or touch these chapters for a few weeks. But anyway, I must be getting on with chapter three!