When the Heck is Snuday?!

This sign needs a tr stat! (That's copy editorspeak for transpose.)

Design Advice From Vern Yip

I love Vern Yip. He's such a great designer. He was on the first four seasons of Trading Spaces, and more recently, he's one of the judges on Design Star and has a new show called Deserving Design. He stopped by the People offices yesterday to give some holiday gift guide suggestions, and we got to ask him questions. I asked him for some of his favorite home/furniture/design stores in Atlanta. He was surprised! I told him that I was moving back to Birmingham. So he was very helpful. It was awesome.

Stephen Colbert

Last night I went to a Stephen Colbert booksigning with Heinz and my friend Christy. We got there an hour early and saw the line and said, "No way do we care enough to wait in line!" and went to the cafe. But once he started signing I had a change of heart...we were so close! Heinz went home while Christy and I toughed it out...Stephen Colbert signed for more than 2 hours. There must have been 1,000 people there. Even toward the end, he was still smiling and being nice to people. When we got up there, I said, "I just recently realized that you're Ace!" (From SNL's Ambiguously Gay Duo) and he said, "Yes, I'm Ace!" and then he started doing lines from the sketches in his Ace voice. It was awesome. So in my opinion, it made it all worthwhile.

Foreign Tourists

There are a lot of foreign tourists here right now. Especially Europeans. Because the dollar's in the toilet. Just sayin'.

Wow, I have a lot of insightful comments on the state of the U.S. economy.

Weekend in D.C.

While I'm already blogging at 2:00 in the morning, I thought I may as well blog some more.

We went to D.C. for the weekend to visit our friend Bryan. I'm sorry that I didn't get any pictures of Bryan. I meant to and forgot. I'm still getting used to carrying a camera with me everywhere. He'll be here in a couple of weeks so I'll get a picture then.

Yes, we're almost matching. I'm all, "Uhh?" because the sun is in my eyes.

Please Tell Me This Is a Halloween Tree

PopCandy Meetup

Last night we went to the PopCandy meetup. It was fun to meet Whitney and other people who read her blog.

We're off to D.C. for the weekend to see our friend Bryan. We're riding the Chinatown bus, so wish us luck! (You can't beat $35 round-trip.)



Me with Whitney



I ran into Drew, a graphic designer that I worked with at Time for Kids



Sorry your eyes are half-closed Heinz, but your shirt is awesome!

Poet for Hire

I was walking out of Trader Joe's this afternoon, and this guy was sitting at a little table outside with a typewriter and a sign that said "Poems." I was intrigued. I got out my camera and took a picture. I was about to walk away when I thought, "Why don't I get a poem?" He said that it's pay what you can, and apparently you give him a topic. He was just finishing up a poem for someone. So I told him that I wanted a poem about New York City (so I could share it with my blog readers, of course). He asked me my name and I told him that I was from Alabama and living here for just a few years. This is what he gave me. I think that what he's doing is really cool. I never feel compelled to give anyone money on the street, but someone with a typewriter with a sign that says "Poems" is pretty ingenious. He made a carbon copy of every poem that he wrote. I think they would make an awesome book.

Miranda July

I went to a Miranda July booksigning the weekend before last at the New Yorker festival. I read about her new book of short stories, No One Belongs Here More Than You, on the Pop Culture blog that I like. Miranda July is on the current Bust magazine cover.

Harry Potter at FAO Schwartz

When we took Grandma to FAO Schwartz a couple of weeks ago, we discovered that they had lots of Harry Potter stuff. They have all of these stuffed animals...one of the big dragons can be yours for $5,500 to $7,500. Upstairs is a Diagon Alley. We went back to see it again this weekend with our visitors. I was disappointed that Flourish & Blotts didn't actually have any books.

My New Favorite Cereal

Grand Central Station Looks Like the Set of SNL!

The first time I saw Grand Central Station, I said, "It looks like the set of Saturday Night Live!" Heinz still laughs about this. We didn't take a picture of the ceiling, but it's really cool. It's light blue with constellations on it. It was restored about a decade ago and that was found underneath years of dirt and soot and stuff. Also, there used to be some huge signs hanging over some windows and when they were removed, people who came there every day were amazed at how much lighter it was inside. We saw this on some History Channel show or something.

Gilbert Blythe!

Well, it's actually Jonathan Crombie, who played Gilbert Blythe in the Anne of Green Gables miniseries. Last night was his last performance in the lead of The Drowsy Chaperone. I saw him in it two weeks ago when Grandma was here. When I saw his name in the playbill, I was so excited! And he was amazing in the role. I heard that Bob Saget was taking over, and I wanted Heinz to see him while he was still there. And I had no idea that it was his last night! Whew, just in time! But after Heinz took the picture, I said, "We love Anne of Green Gables!" And he was like, "Oh! One of those!" But he was so nice. Not a lot of stars will take pictures with you like this.

"I was looking up..."

You know that line from An Affair to Remember, that they also mention in Sleepless in Seattle, where Deborah Kerr is referring to the Empire State Building? Well, the Everyday with Rachael Ray magazine offices is just half a block from the Empire State Building. I didn't even realize how close it was until one day I had crossed the street and I was like, "What are all these tourists doing here?" and I realized that I was standing right in front of it.

So I took this picture today while I was out for lunch. I think that it turned out pretty well, if I do say so myself.

Pumpkin Card

By request from Katie, here's the pumpkin card that goes with the hat. It's not fancy, but I wanted something that matched. I got the idea for it because my mom still calls me "pumpkin." And sorry about the shadow.

Pumpkin Patch Kid

This is Madeline, Cristine's little girl, wearing her pumpkin hat that Will first modeled. I want to mention that this hat is what inspired me to learn how to knit. I knew that I had to make one for everyone I knew having a baby! The pattern is from Susan B. Anderson's Itty-Bitty Hats, and there's a link to her knitting blog at right. She has a new book out called Itty-Bitty Nursery, so there are some more cute baby stuff that I'll have to try out. If you want to learn how to knit, Itty-Bitty Hats is a good place to start!

And the Great Pumpkin Rose Out of the Pumpkin Patch...

There's a really good crop of pumpkins this year. This one especially looks good...just look at his cute tummy!

This Is Just Embarrassing

I don't even have a comment to make about this news story.

Public Service Announcement from the ER

You know how when parents go to spank their kids, and the kids are used to getting spanked, so they put their hands over their bottom? Before you spank your kids, make sure they're not holding any long, pointed objects in their hands. Because if it's something like a pencil, then it could go all the way through your arm. The More You Know. A Public Service Announcement from your local friendly ER doctor.