i believe in unicorns!

I recently went to Rochester, NY for work and I think it was my favorite work event I have done so far. One of our awards is a lecture that features a famous children's author or illustrator to give a speech about their life/work, etc. I won't go into detail but you can read more about the May Hill Arbuthnot Honor Lecture here if you are ever interested. : )

We stayed just outside of Rochester in Pittsford which was very cute, small, and ritzy! They have little restuarants, (expensive) shops, a local dairy farm, and a river walk. It would be a very romantic place to go for a short weekend trip. Here are few pics from my Pittsford adventures:

main street...beautiful weather!

dairy farm...moo

river walk

This year the lecture was given by Michael Morpurgo, you've probably heard of that Steven Speilberg movie, War Horse, well that movie is based on Michael's book, War Horse. He is also the author of other amazing children's stories: An Elephant in the Garden, Kensuke's Kingdom, Private Peaceful, The Butterfly Lion....I could go on forever.

I had a chance to visit with him a few times and he told me I was the first person he has ever met from Oklahoma! Michael then went on to say how much he loved the musical Oklahoma...it was very cute. ;)

At the end of his wonderful lecture he read one of his stories to the audience but didn't tell us what he was going to read. When he started to read I knew what story it was and I was sooooooo excited, I almost jumped out of my seat!

Hearing Michael read I Believe in Unicorns out loud was such an amazing experience and I will never forget it for as long as I live. I was able to get a pic of just us after the lecture and I was so nervous and excited, haha. It's pretty blurry but so happy I have it.

Bookapalooza!

Work had me MIA again the past 2 weeks because...it was Bookapalooza time! 

Every year after the book awards are announced our grant committees select 3 schools or libraries who apply to receive all the year's submissions of books, videos and audiobooks. 

This was my first year sorting and packing the books for the 3 libraries because I'm still a new-bee! buzzzzz....

Anyhoo, I packed over 80 boxes and it was exhausting! But it is gratifying to know that all these wonderful books are going to good homes! 

This is a shot from the FRONT section of the hallway. There were way more boxes further down! They ended up being 3 rows of boxes after I was done and I only got injured once! From the packing tape teeth...

 

working out sucks

Today is officially my "get with it and lose some pounds" day. I took a two week break from the gym due to traveling, awesome TV, double sicknesses and being just plain tired. But now I feel better, my mood is up and I can't wait to workout again.

And it was perfect timing for me when I picked up this book, Working Out Sucks, at work last week and it has really started to motivate me. I have to say that I really like this book, it is funny and very honest and makes you go "duh, I need to get off my lazy ass!"

I'll keep posting more quotes from this book but for now I'll start with this one that made me laugh out loud:

...thanks to smartphone technology, you can now order a movie, get a large pizza with cheese-jammed crust, download a newspaper, walk your avatar dog, and talk to your friends and family without exercising anything more than your thumbs...

This made me laugh because I LOVE my Pizza Hut app on my phone...ha ha ha.

hunger games!!!

So I've always wondered what it felt like for fans of Harry Potter and the Twilight books to have to wait for the movies to come out...were they anxious, excited, full of glee!? Well now I know and yes they were! Every time I see a photo or a trailer or one of the stars from the movie I get sooooo excited! I am completely obsessed with these books and the characters and the story. I am so obsessed with them I will talk to ANYONE about how amazing the books are. For example:

I'm getting on the L and find a seat next to this girl who is probably about my age (I always try to find a seat next to a girl, safety first!). She had a punkish cool style to her, short bright red hair and cool biker boots. Anyhoo, I sit down next to her and pull out my current book (I'm reading Pet Sematary...it's creepy) and I see her pull out none other than THE HUNGER GAMES. Eyes wide and grinning I turned to her and said "Oh my god, I LOVE that book!" She kinda gave me a -I can't believe this girl is talking to me- look but then I think she realized I was a normal person....ha ha. She smiled back and said, "I actually just bought it, my roommates are obsessed with all the books." I'm thinking, tone it down Caroline, don't FREAK this girl out. I finished the small convo by saying (with a big grin on my face because that is what these books have done to me whenever I get a chance to talk about them) "They are the best books...you'll really like them." Then we both go to reading our said books and I couldn't help but feel utter jealousy that she was starting on page ONE of THE HUNGER GAMES.

See how these books have made me crazy! I feel like I need to find like a Hunger Games support group in Chicago where I can discuss the books until my head hurts. Sigh...if only a group like that really existed.

trader joe's challenge

One thing Sean and I like to do together is make challenges for ourselves. And we have come up with a new one that I am really excited about doing. Why you ask? Well...it involves food of course!

Challenge! We are going to only shop at Trader Joe's for the next four months! Trader Joe's is a really great grocery store here in Chicago that has an uncomplicated selection of everything you need, organic meats and produce, and great wines. But the big thing about this store is that it is really cheap!

Sean and I are slashing our budget in half for the summer so we thought this would be a great way to save money but we also just wanted to see if we can do it! No more V8 juice and Hot Pockets for Sean and no more Lean Cuisines and Fiber One bars for me!

Another plus to this challenge is that Sean got me this great Trader Joe's cookbook for Christmas. Everything in the book is from the store and it shows you what products go well together. Check out this website where you can find the books and other fun cooking things to look at!

discovering the king on halloween

Having read every single book in my library I was in need of more books to read while riding the train to work. I came across an old box of Sean's in our storage closet and to my luck it was full of Stephen King books. I thought "perfect for October!" My mom always read Stephen King when I was growing up and so I always ended up watching the movies with her once she finished a book. FYI - never let your 7-year-old watch Stephen King's IT, I was deeply disturbed by that move and my 7-year-old self did not sleep for weeks and had nightmares about that creepy clown! I even tried to read the book in high school and the clown came back in my dreams so I had to quit!

Well so far I have read Salem's Lot (another crazy scary movie), The Dead Zone (suprisingly political based, and not very scary), Thinner (gross and creepy), and I just finished CUJO yesterday!

OMG...Cujo is really, really scary!!! I am a grown woman and I found myself looking at our bedroom closet at night for monsters AND at times Cami (our dog) has made me feel a little uncomfortable...

Doesn't she look kinda suspicious? What is she thinking?

I think today I am going to go buy IT at Borders and challenge myself to read it...I'll let you know what happens...