these boots weren't meant for walking...

It's been a while since I've had a giant sighting. But all you need is one to bring back the memories. This one has a particular Texan flavor, don't you think?

celebration

Even with the wonderful help of Ki-Ki and the Blue Rose Girls, I still was scrambling when the first guests arrived to the party. Punch wasn’t mixed (and never was), paintings were crooked and ice had been forgotten. But the party had begun!And it was wonderful. Who would’ve known that Lissy’s Friends would be such a appropriate book for the party? Because friends from everywhere, from all facets of my life came out on the cold, rainy day.

Author and artist friends like:

Mary Newell Depalma, Steve Engel (the artist that cuts all the snowflakes for Robert's Snow) and Nicole Tadgell.

Alissa Imre Geis

and Barbara O'Connor
Teacher/School Visit Friends like:

Pat Keough

Eisha (with Anna)

New Friends like:

Lily (a big Year of the Dog fan!)

and Scott Magoon

And old friends like:
Mike and Nancy (who came from Texas!)

Throughout the party, Ki-Ki and the blue rose girls were working the book table, selling lots of copies of Lissy’s Friends:


I kept getting unnecessary but extraordinarily lovely gifts from people. Thank you!

And Lolly from the Horn Book was podcasting:
See her trying to deviously pretend she’s not recording?

Kids seemed to like the cupcakes:
and the flowers:
And no one seemed to notice the lack of punch:

But I was still a bit scrambled. Time passed in a blur! I forgot to publicly thank the girls for all their help, do a book reading or even acknowledge the Lissy doll! I do remember that I did urge everyone to eat cupcakes, that I raffled my painting,and The Blue Rose Girls (sans Meghan) had a photo op:


So, I think Lissy and I had a pretty good birthday! Thanks everyone for celebrating with us!

safe arrival

After a late night, I woke up bright and early to prep for the party waking up Ki-Ki and Alvina (who slept over). Ki-Ki was particularly difficult to awake. The overload of sugar the night before left her in a state of food coma and I wasn't sure she was going to make it out of bed.

Now how does one transfer 144 cupcakes? I have a feeling I am one of the few people who have attempted this so I will just tell you the answer. You do it with the help of great friends like Anna and Elaine who are willing to chauffeur them and this cool gift from Alvina:


It's a Cupcake Courier! It can carry up to 36 frosted cupcakes at a time...and it does so perfectly. The cupcakes made it to Spark Studios (where my party was) in pristine and beautiful condition:



Other things that I was gratified to see make safely? The fruit arrangements:


And the books and dolls. Those were rushed in the day before from ChinaSprout. They had told me they weren't sure if my order was going to arrive in time...I guess just because a product is released on a certain day doesn't mean you actually get the product that day. But I begged and pleaded, as it is a little silly for me to have a Lissy's Friends Book Party when the book isn't there!



I rather enjoy this picture as it is the Lin sisters all together: me, Ki-Ki and Lissy, as a doll. Glad we all made it!

good friends

I think I just realized that throwing a book party is like getting married; or at least having a wedding. Or maybe it's just the way I do things--what's the book party equivalent to bridezilla? Book partzilla? Parthra (a la Mothra)?

And just like having a wedding, the success of the party is dependent on good friends pitching in. Lucky for me, I have those.

Alvina flew in straight from the International Reading Association conference in Toronto to Boston and pitched right in. Gosh, I needed her. Not only did the gift bags need to be finished (not everyone got chocolate rats; I had to start making chocolate faster so I was using all my molds--turtles, pigs, roses, seashells. Not very themed, but oh well!); I had cupcakes to make!!


144 to be exact: 48 carrot cupcakes, 48 pink velvet (supposed to be red velvet but I ran out of red food coloring) and 48 lemon. We used 3 boxes of butter! Alvina and I spent the day baking and I finally feel justified in having a fancy mixer.

Then after work, Ki-Ki, Anna, Bruno, Luke and Ranida came over to help frost. This actually didn't take that long...




Okay, maybe it did.

cute food I won't have at my party

Just to be mean, Ki-Ki sent me these images of super cute food that I won't have at my party. Even I know there are limits. As cute as those adorable octopus made out of hotdogs are I'm not foolhardy enough to attempt to make them myself (if I tried to make 87 of them, Robert might just kill me). And the piggies in the kimonos? Imagine cutting the seaweed decorations, much less trying to attach them to whatever the wrapper is. Still, I have to admit I was slightly tempted by the froggie sandwich...

japanese fiesta

Perhaps because it is Cinqo de Mayo, but Robert's reaction to my paper flower plethora was, "Wow, it looks like a Mexican fiesta in here."
"Mexican?" I said, suddenly realizing perhaps that theme wasn't quite in keeping with my girl-folding-origami-animals-book, "But my book isn't Mexican! It should look Asian!"
"Don't worry about it," he said, "Who cares?"

Well, I cared. After an unhealthy panic attack and brainstorm, I quickly folded some paper cranes to aloft lightly amongst the flowers.
"Does this make it look more Asian?" I demanded.
Robert paused, realized he was taking his life into his own hands, and then said a tad to heartily, "Oh, yeah. Now it works. Looks great!"

Methinks he was lying, but I have over 50 paper flowers that I refuse to let go to waste. Let the Japanese fiesta begin!

Party Preparations!

It's raining outside,very dreary and grey. But I don't notice too much because I am deluged with bright tissue paper, making a garden of paper flowers.

These flowers are going to be decorations for my party, I'm hoping to make a gigantic amount of them, a virtual "bower of flowers." When Ki-Ki heard that, she groaned, "You're not going to try to make 1001 of them are you, like the story of the paper cranes?" No, not 1001...but maybe 100!

Because party plans are going full steam ahead. I've been reading the advice of fellow book launchers and have been trying to think of ways to "theme" up my party. I thought maybe I would serve all Japanese food, as Lissy's Friends is about origami--even thinking about making wagashi--those cute little Japanese sweets. Ki-Ki quickly brought me to reality:



"Wagashi are hard to make," she told me bluntly, "They are made out of azuki beans!"
"But they are so cute," I said, "And there's no way I can buy them. Maybe I can make the simple square ones." (Wagashi are also really expensive).
"Even if you could, it'd be a complete waste," she said, "Those taste like ---."

You can imagine the last word. And while her opinion isn't exactly true (I think they taste pretty good), I have to admit she does have a point. Compared to a luscious cupcake, a dry rice-flour, bean filled block isn't very appetizing. Besides, I do have my hands full making paper flowers.

The Amazing Chia Hat

I definitely need one of these:


TheChia Hat!

scarf envy

I've decided to take up knitting again. Two years ago when Robert was rediagnosed and waiting room sitting was routine, I taught myself how with internet instructions; it was strangely calming. Like our life, I could concentrate on one stitch at a time.

And for a while, I became a prolific knitter of scarves. Unfortunately, I didn't become a skilled knitter--I was never able to create anything more elaborate than my lumpy striped masterpieces.

But, after taking out my yarn again, I thought maybe I should start making some different kind of scarves, with different patterns or something. I looked on the internet for some inspiration.

And I found this scarf on Etsy:

Then I found these scarves, by a Twinkie Chan:



She also knits salad:


And (I've saved the best for last) CUPCAKES!!!

I'm so jealous! I want to knit cupcakes (and toast!). Somehow I think it might be beyond my knitting capabilities, though. At least for now...

thanksgiving

Yes, instead of the traditional picture of the matriarch carrying a roasted turkey, this is a picture of me carrying a trayful of turkey cupcakes. I know you're not surprised. This year, I traveled to Chicago to my sister's for Thanksgiving. While she and her husband slaved over the turkey, sweet potato tarts, cranberry bread and pumpkin pies, I contributed the turkey cupcakes.


These were made with (or in spite of) the help of my niece Lily, whom despite other's proclamations is the cutest niece ever. And while this photo doesn't even show a quarter of her cuteness, I had to include it as it shows one of her own turkey cupcakes (can you guess which one?)



These cakes seemed fairly popular with the kids, who promptly ate the decorations, licked off the frosting and then asked for another. However, with 2 pumpkin pies, an apple pie, a pecan pie and champagne jello, there were a lot of turkey cupcakes leftover.



And these are a lot harder to make sandwiches out of.