Starbucks' Mini-Birthday Cake Donuts

These are the cutest donuts ever! They pack incredibly only 130 calories per donut, but cuteness never tasted so good. The pink icing is sweet without being overly sweet. The donut "cake" is moist. Yummy. I tried to treat myself on Friday afternoon, but they were sold out. Don't delay, get there early!

Starbucks' sweets are improving. The last time I tried a slice of lemon cake I found it fakey. The lemon was out of a can. Their iced passion tea is refreshing on a hot summer day!

This Is Where I Leave You

My brother loaned this book to me. It's funny (and heartbreaking) which I suspect is difficult to write. It's easy to make someone cry (kill the dog!), but it's way more difficult to make them laugh. Judd's world falls apart when he catches his wife in bed with his boss, then his father dies. The family agrees to sit shiva for their Dad...who didn't believe in religion. Over the course of 7-days, Judd reunites with his brothers, sister (Wendy -- who's never really developed as a character), and Mom. Great set up for a book. Interesting characters, but the female characters are one dimensional (Madonnas, whores, shrews).

I appreciated that the ending does not tie up all the loose ends. This never happens in life so why should it happen in a novel?? Good read.

Please, Do Not Judge

Stella and I shopped on Saturday. She was in a spectacularly great mood. We headed to Michael's to pick up a plastic bottle (for "flooding" sugar cookies), one #199 decorating tip, plus candy melts. Stella kept her hot pink Cinderella sunglasses on as we shopped...just barely perched on the tip of her nose. One couple stopped to say hello. The woman exclaimed that Stella was such a doll with such big blue eyes and the man called her a movie star. Stella glowed in the attention. We found the items, then headed for the check out.

While we waited in line for the clerk to resolve an issue with another customer, Stella started to joyously shriek. Note, that this was not a scream. She was in a playful mood. The woman in front of us was not in such a great mood. Each time Stella shrieked, the woman would turn around and glare at us. Seriously, she did this 7-8 times. I started to feel that I needed to quiet Stella...because I was being judged as a bad mommy. I could feel the redness spread across my cheeks in embarrassment. Luckily, I stopped myself just in time from reprimanding Stella for acting like a babygirl. Some might say I actually encouraged Stella to express herself louder...more defiantly...more powerfully.

I won't be shamed into unnecessarily disciplining my babygirl to make up for another person's shitty day.

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

I tried to avoid this book. I ignored pleas by friends and family to read this book. I ignored news articles on this book which was quite difficult since its really saturated the mainstream media. Then my sister put it a copy of the paperback in my hands and told me: "you must read this book." Okay, I buckled and read it. I pushed through the first few chapters which are super slow...and just about the time I decided it wasn't for me, it got me! I was hooked once Lisbeth Salander appeared. She's an interesting heroine. Damaged, tough, vulnerable, intelligent, researcher (the nerd librarian in me loves this!), beautiful/sexy in a punkgirl way, junk food connoisseur, anti-social, abandoned, hacker.

Don't try to avoid this book. Give in. Embrace it and enjoy it for what it is: a thriller with captivating characters.

Word to the Hollywood movie producers: please do not give the role of Lisbeth to Kristen Stewart. I love Kristen, but Lisbeth needs to be strong. Daniel Craig will make an awesome Blomkvist.

Why blog now?

Good question! I started using twitter about a year ago. Condensing my thoughts into 140 characters is an exercise in discipline. Occasionally, I find myself needing more space...which lead to this blog.

The world is complicated which sometimes makes my head hurt and my heart ache. I like to unwind by reading a good book, blog, magazine, or newspaper. Stella was born almost 16 months ago...hence the title of my blog: Reader, Interrupted. I still love to read, but I also love to spend copious amounts of time with Stella and Paul, my husband.

I also love to bake. A good friend once told me "when the going gets tough, the tough bake cookies." I agree. I'll share my successes and failures here, too. I baked Mark Bittman's lovely olive oil cake over the weekend. Posting to facebook and twitter just didn't feel right. This is where I should have posted that information.