Favorite Haunts in Austin

I just hit Texas for the Austin Teen Book Festival (which is AMAZING AND YOU MUST GO!), and though it was only my second time in that kickass town, I felt like I was seeing an old friend! Plus, I finally got to meet fellow TFC'ers Jessica Brody and Alyson Noel in person! YES.

My 2009 release, Lovestruck Summer, is set in Austin, and the characters hit a few of my favorite haunts, including...

Ironworks BBQ!

Shady Grove

Anywhere you can see the bats fly at night!

And my new favorite Austin haunt? The Friday Night Lights field! OMG, I adored that show so much. Here's me in between fellow fangirl Jenny Han and future fangirl Coe Booth. Future fanboy John Corey Whaley drove us out here. EPIC!

Don't you love it when a city has a lot of favorite haunts? 

Tweet

Favorite Haunts + Little Women and Me/Crazy Beautiful Giveaway!

It's still summertime, time to be a little lazier - yea!

Here are some of my current favorite summertime haunts:

- The movie theatre. On hot days, I love going to matinees with my daughter. And my favorite thing to do there with her is take over six seats in the back row, three for each of us, and lie down on our sides head to head to watch. Since she's gotten a bit older and has always had more mature tastes, this has been the Summer of the Inappropriate Movie for us. Probably tied for first are "Friends with Benefits" and "Horrible Bosses".

- Shopping at J Crew. Everyone knows by now how short I am, but at J Crew there's always at least something that fits and the clothes last and last.

- My own dining room table. Every Friday night for over 10 years now, I've hosted a writing group in my home. It's something I always love but particularly in summer, when I can also have my (beleaguered) Mets on mute on the living room TV and when we take breaks outside the weather is conducive to sitting for a spell over a glass of good wine and good gab.

- The bench outside my front door. Over the course of the day, I take several 10-minute breaks outside to recharge. While I'm recharging, I'm also always reading. I read all year long but there's something special about summertime reading, that nostalgic feel of hot days with no responsibility but plenty of time to lie by the pool or under a shady tree and gorge on books. I'm like a tick when it comes to books. Did that image just gross you out?

- The couch in front of the TV. "General Hospital" in the afternoons, "Glee Project" on demand with my daughter, catching-up-on-movies Saturday nights with the lights out - I love it all.

So those are my summertime haunts. OK, maybe you'll think they're lame, with a serious homebody bent, but they're mine.

How about you: What are your favorite summertime haunts?

Oops, almost forgot! I'm offering a signed ARC of LITTLE WOMEN AND ME and a signed paperback copy of CRAZY BEAUTIFUL to one commenter below. Just leave a comment between now and midnight Friday and I'll randomly select the winner. Please do leave your email address if it doesn't automatically follow from your name link so I'll have a way to notify you. Thanks for playing!

Be well. Don't forget to write.

Tweet

Favorite Places

The topic this week is supposed to be favorite haunts, but I'm altering it just a little bit because I'm pretty sure a place I've visited only once hardly qualifies as a haunt...

My daughter and I just returned from our trip to Italy and Greece and came home with a whole new list of favorite places to visit:

In Verona: We were kind of sad that the note wall we saw in Letters to Juliet is no longer a feature at Juliet's house, but it was still worth the walk to visit her home and sit in the courtyard.

In Venice: The entire city is amazing. We rode up and down the Grand Canal, of course, but some of the most beautiful finds were tucked into back alleys and canals.

In Pisa: After ooh-ing and aah-in over the leaning tower, we found an old fortress that had been converted into a public park and garden.

In Milan (which, for some reason, I can't say without an Edna accent-"Milan, dahling...") The Duomo is absolutely gorgeous, and there's a castle down the road (and panini and gelato street carts between the two!)

In Corfu: We rented a car and drove around the island and found this little beach a short hike from the road.

On Santorini: Oia is stunning. I little hike out to the old fortress was the perfect place to take pictures (and watch the sun set.)

On Delos: Amazing ruins. It used to be one of the busiest, most prosperous cities in that corner of the world. Imagine if New York City one day ceased to be.

In Elis: At Olympia, we walked on the original Olympic field and saw where the Olympic torch is lit for each of the modern Games.

So, those are some of my favorite places. What are yours?

Tweet

Favorite haunts... for the kid in me

So next weekend, le husband and I have our first date day in several months. We used to try to do them every month but, alas, our schedules have been so crazy this fall/winter that they've been nearly impossible to coordinate.

Since we don't get to do them as often as we'd like, I wanted to make it special and fun. After wracking my brain, I came up with... lunch, The King's Speech matinee (which I've been dying to see), and dinner.

I. Am. So. BORING.

I don't know what it is. I like to do fun stuff, but when it comes time to make a fun date I always seem to run out of ideas. For scheduling reasons, it has to be during the day which rules out evening things like comedy shows (one of our favorite pastimes). But the more I thought about it, the more I thought that just because we're grown-ups doesn't mean we have to do "grown-up" stuff. And so, next weekend, we will be embarking on a new and improved date itinerary: lunch, The King's Speech, dinner and...

That's right. It's Monster Mini Golf time at Casa Cassidy. If you've never been to one of the Monster Mini Golf locations across the country, they are not to be missed. It's indoors, all black light with monster images and creepy obstacles to golf around. We've been a few times before and it's always a good time. And be sure to wear white so you glow in the dark!

What kinds of kid things do you love to do?

Tweet