Hey There, It's Christa!

What I've Been Doing on My "Summer Vacation"...Part 4

While our perpetually balmy temps are certainly no indication that fall is even close to being around the corner in DFW, all those school supplies I'm seeing at at the nearby Target are basically saying "it's a wrap."

And really, I couldn't be happier...I see many less frizzy days in my hair's future.

Plus, I've always had a thing for school supplies, and August always brings out the proverbial cream of the crop. Whether I need them or not, I simply can't resist the allure of new three-subject notebooks, post-its and hot pink highlighters and will pick them up, regardless of the fact that I haven't taken a class since 1998. 

And now to officially celebrate fall's imminent arrival (the school supplies never lie, I tell ya), I'm presenting my final installment of "What I've Been Doing on My 'Summer Vacation'"...

1)Celebrating Miss Adelyn Grace's third birthday...Yeah, I can hardly believe she's already three (!!!) since I've been blogging about the cutie patootie since she was an itty bitty baby. As always, I had a wonderful time in gorgeous, humidity-free Colorado, and it's been such a pleasure to be part of every one of Adelyn's b-days. She even liked the cake this time, which hasn't exactly been the case in the past. Plus, I got to see her with her first pet, a pretty hot pink betta named Louie. And because Louie is named, well, Louie, I taught Adelyn how to sing "Hello Dolly" like Louis Armstrong. Trust me, there's nothing funnier than hearing a tiny little girl imitating me imitating Louis Armstrong...in fact, I'm cracking up just thinking about it.

2)Catching up on my reading...After enjoying The Help like the rest of the human race did months, even years ago, I plowed through Commencement by J. Courtney Sullivan (a two-star read in my humble opinion...really, I only finished to find out what would happen to April, the story's most outrageous character) and Jennifer Weiner's latest Then Came You, a compelling story about classic class struggles, surrogacy and women whose lives intersected in rather intriguing ways.

For the record, now I'm reading Jane Green's Promises to Keep, which I'm told I'm going to need tissues nearby for. After that, I'm going to (finally!!!) see what all the fuss is about The Hunger Games. Everyone I've talked to says it's "intense," so we'll see....

3)Learning to love green tea instead of grande, non-fat caramel macchiatos...yeah when it's iced and has a squeeze of lemon and lime it's not so bad. But it still doesn't taste like caramel.

4)Still loving "Food Network Star" (we're down to the final three...go Sandwich King!) and contemplating what I'd do with the mystery baskets featured on "Chopped." Yeah, that's my kind of reality TV...

5)Working on my novel....yep, Tuesday Nights in Italia is coming along beautifully. Can't wait to for everyone to read it in the not-so-distant future.

6)Rediscovering the gym...because walking outside in triple-digit temps isn't an option. Plus, when you're treadmilling you can watch multiple forms of entertainment at once—the CNBC folks going on and on and on about just how bad the stock market is, a bunch of older gents (in cowboy hats, natch) playing racquetball and a yoga class that I'm pretty sure I'd get kicked out of after five minutes. How everyone's that flexible is one giant mystery to me!

7)Playing Scrabble, Words With Friends and Lexulous. Yes, I love competitive word games, what can I say?

8)Enjoying new music from Fountains of Wayne and Mat Kearney (Young Love is easily his best yet), watching one bad movie after another (exceptions being One Day and Crazy Stupid Love) and being thrilled to pieces that the NFL lockout is over so I can watch my Packers defend their title. Plus, that gives Jim Rome a lot more to "burn" about, so that's always fun, too.

Yes, I Finally Got Around to Reading...

When it comes to those "it" books that everyone seems to be reading, I'm usually a little late to the party. And the same holds true for Kathryn Stockett's The Help, which everyone has been oohing and aahing about since it released in 2009.

For whatever reason (and it had nothing to do with the quality, mind you), I'd read a few pages here and there and then moved on to something else. But since the big-screen version of The Help is hitting theaters soon, I wanted to be prepared for the forthcoming film vs. novel debate if I ended up reviewing the movie for Crosswalk. So I decided to finally finish it once and for all.

And wow, I'm sure glad I did...

Not only is The Help quite the page-turner from a pure storytelling perspective, but it was the sort of book where the three-dimensional characters really began feeling like family. Stockett does such a wonderful job of setting the scene and creating memorable, three-dimensional characters with unique voices and perspectives. In fact, if my own writing deadlines hadn't been looming, I probably would've finished in a couple of days rather than a week.

Plus, given that I wasn't alive during this particularly volatile moment in history, I was thankful for the perspective. My heart was just breaking for the maids and their families who lived through such hateful prejudice day in and day out, and reading was such a powerful reminder of where we've been as a nation, how far we've come and the challenges that still lie ahead with the issue of racism.

But like we've been told again and again, it only takes one person to make a significant difference, and I love that an awkwardly tall woman with uncontrollably frizzy hair named Skeeter was able to do that through the power of the written word. An aspiring journalist who hoped to write about something more substantial than simple household tips, she was encouraged by a Manhattan publishing company to tackle something of substance that mattered to her. 

Even though she took quite a few risks by doing so, Skeeter decided to write about how black maids were treated by their white employees back in the early '60s—the good, the bad and the ugly. Naturally, this wasn't an easy subject for these women to open up about, considering they'd lose their jobs if their employers ever found out, but with persistence (and Skeeter never, ever gave up), their stories were eventually told in an anonymous book that really shook things up culturally.

To say much more would ruin it for anyone who late to the party like I was. But I will say this, if you were on the fence about reading, I'd definitely recommend it. I don't remember being this moved by something I've read in a good long while.

Don't you love how well-crafted fiction can do just that? Reading books like that definitely motivates me to keep writing, that's for sure.

What I've Been Doing on My "Summer Vacation"...Part 3

When I haven't been working, hanging with friends and family or flying the friendly skies, my summer fun has often involved my personal entertainment trifecta—TV, music and movies.

While my DVR is certainly less crowded than usual, there are two guilty pleasures that have kept these warmer months interesting, namely "Next Food Network Star" and far, far more embarrassing reality programming, "The Bachelorette."

More than any other season in recent memory, "Next Food Network Star" has been a total trainwreck—and yes, I've absolutely been lovin' it. Unlike last season where the focus was clearly the food, this time around it's the contestants (and their respective drama, drama, drama) that's taking center stage.

Whether it's Penny the sabotager formerly known as "Stilettos in the Kitchen," Alicia the perpetual cryer who couldn't remember her famous cupcake recipe when duty called or Chris, the loud, beer drinking frat boy who's determined to show the judges that he's mature enough to be a star (yeah, right), it's been so delicious to watch.

As for who I think will succeed the lovable Aarti, last season's winner, my early favorites are Jyll, Orchid and Whitney—although I like Justin, the bow tie guy from Minneapolis, too. I'm pretty sure Justin would capture a demo that's been missing on Food Network since no one really has that geeky professor thing going, except maybe Alton Brown who is a little too sarcastic for his own good (and this is coming from a girl who's fluent in sarcasm).

Moving on to "The Bachelorette," lemme just say that I never, ever intended to watch this season. After surviving Brad's journey to find love, I was o-u-t. After all, weepy, boozy Ashley was nothing short of annoying, and I couldn't fathom watching an entire series featuring (gasp!) her.

But when I was flipping through the channels that particular Monday night, it happened again. I don't remember what it was exactly, but slimy Chris Harrison and his cohorts hooked me yet again.

So now I've basically signed up for several weeks of Ashley whining about Bentley (guess she must have skipped the obligatory single girl reading, He's Just Not That Into You), Ashley questioning whether the guys are really there for the right reasons and Ashley declaring how totally perrrrrfect Thailand is. Like every locale on "The Bachelor" or "The Bachelorette," it is the perfect place to fall in love, after all.

Yeah, I'm mocking, and yes, I already can't wait to watch next Monday night. Or make that Tuesday night since I'll be suffering through the third installment of Transformers while Ashley is handing out roses and reconnecting with Bentley in what's likely to be the most controversial episode of The Bachelorette ever! (Those joining me in watching will be the only ones who'll get the significance of that last sentence...ha ha!).

Of course, summer isn't summer without great movies and music, too. Truth be told, most of the summer flicks haven't been worth all the hype (especially you, Pirates of the Caribbean: Could've Used Some Even Stranger Tides.

Thankfully, J.J. Abrams rarely lets me down (the verdict's still out on "Fringe" mind you, since I've never bothered watching), so Super 8 has definitely been one of the highlights, as was Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris, which was pretty much the perfect valentine to the glorious City of Love I visited only months ago.

Musically speaking, I've been loving the new singles from Coldplay and Gavin DeGraw, not to mention the latest album from Death Cab for Cutie. But for some reason, I seem to be stuck on an oldies but goodies kick. So everyone from Rosemary Clooney to Ella Fitzgerald to Miles Davis has been providing the soundtrack to this summer...not a bad way to make it through those tragically hot months if I do say so myself...

Now it's your turn...what's been rockin' your world entertainment-wise this summer? Anything I should be adding to my DVR or iTunes pronto?

What I've Been Doing on My "Summer Vacation"...Part 2

When it comes to music, I've always been a bit of an old soul...

Even when I was a kid, I always liked the artists my friends hadn't even heard of, let alone listened to. In fact, when my peers were rockin' out to NKOTB, I was still in my Billy Joel phase. 

Basically, while everyone else was hangin' tough and crushin' on dreamy Jordan Knight, I was wishin' that Billy had written "Uptown Girl" about me instead of his model-perfect, now ex-wife, Christie Brinkley.

When I'd had my fill of Billy, I moved on to Duran Duran (and yes, I believed frontman Simon LeBon was my future hubby even years and years after "Rio" and "Hungry Like the Wolf" were radio singles) and eventually, my attention turned to the Fab Four when sporting flannel and listening to Seattle's finest was the thing to do.

While the grunge scene and The Beatles shared very little in common, I still felt pretty cool listening to them, even if seemed "dated" to my fellow high schoolers. Whether it was the happy pop of their early years or the crazy, tripped-out vibe of their records toward the end, I knew I'd stumbled on to something revolutionary every time I listened. To me, great songwriting and spectacular hooks never went out of the style, even if the accompaniment didn't exactly scream "now."

And like the girls back in the era of Beatlemania, I was very taken with Paul and those big, sad brown eyes of his. Truth be told, I've always said that if I were required to cry on cue (and I'm not sure exactly when this scenario would play out, since my acting ambitions are, oh, non-existent), all the director would have to do is play the first few bars of "Eleanor Rigby," and the waterworks would show up right on schedule.

There's just something about Paul's voice and poetic songs that has always resonated with me, so you can only imagine how excited I was when Will surprised me with tickets for his recent show in Vegas. Really, it was like two presents in one since Will and I always have so much fun in the city where we said "I do" five and a half years ago now.

Now I'll fully admit, since Paul is gettin' a little closer to 70, I tried to keep my lofty expectations in check. After all, there has been the odd award show—or even that halftime Super Bowl performance a few years back—where he's sounded a little rough. Thankfully, that sooo wasn't the case during the Vegas show. Funny enough, you could've told me he was 40, and I would've believed you. He looked that young and was full of energy—and his cheeky jokes and quippy stories between songs were a hoot, too.

Not only did his voice sound terrific, but he played flawlessly for nearly two and a half hours. And with 22 Beatles' songs on the set list, not to mention the best of Wings and recent solo efforts, it was a longtime fan's dream come true. Both Will and I felt like we were experiencing something truly special that night, namely one of the best shows we'd seen in a long, long time.

As an added bonus, Yoko Ono was even in the audience, too. And no, she didn't get onstage and sing or do performance art in a box. However, we did spot her joining in on "Hey Jude," which was pretty darn cool considering the song's context.

When all was said and done, the whole night was as close as I was going to get to seeing the Beatles play, which was pretty much the perfect way to spend part of my "summer vacation."

What I've Been Doing on My "Summer Vacation"...Part 1

In honor of the first day of summer and my utter shock about the calendar actually reading June 21st (seriously, where has this month gone?), I thought I'd blog about what I've been doing on my "summer vacation."

Now you might notice that I put quotation marks around summer vacation, and trust me, that's intentional. See, when you're a freelance writer, there's really no such thing as a true vacation—let alone a summer break like all the school-age kiddos and their long-suffering teachers get from June through August.

But if you work ahead on your assignments, you may be able score a few days off, so that's precisely what I did when my sister Lindsey and my cutie patootie niece Adelyn (see left for evidence of her sheer adorableness) came to town from Colorado Springs a couple of weeks ago.

I have to say it was really fun shopping in the ol' toy department at Target before they came. Not only did I get to buy a new edition of Candy Land, one of the best board games on the planet, but Memory, a hot pink beach ball and a ladybug pillow pal, too.

With my cart full of all things pink and enough groceries to feed a family of sixteen, I was so excited for them to arrive. And even though our time together went way, way too fast, having Linds and Adelyn stay was clearly one of the highlights of Will and I's summer—especially when Will taught Adelyn how to shoot a super soaker. Let's just say she was a quick study and didn't mind getting us all wet, which was actually pretty perfect considering it was about 1,464 degrees.

Other highlights of our time together include...Adelyn's impromptu performance of "Jack in the Beanstalk" at Barnes & Noble (I'm convinced she's a future thespian), Adelyn's first ride on the mall's merry go round, fajita night at Mi Cocina, our homemade chocolate chip waffle breakfast that Adelyn decided were cookies and lots of catching up with the coolest sister on the planet while watching LOST.

All in all, a really great time. Now I'm already looking forward to Adelyn's third b-day next month...