Sarah Pekkanen's 5 Do's and a Do-Over

We. Love. Sarah. Pekkanen. There-it's out in the open now.  We've been huge fans since her off-the-charts debut, The Opposite of Me. (Fun fact: she was our first author interview EVEH on CLIND!) Since then, we've been eagerly anticipating her follow-up, Skipping a Beat. And it did not disappoint!  We couldn't put it down and someone (Liz!) may have even bawled her eyes out for the last three chapters.  But even though Skipping a Beat can reach even the most emotionally unavailable robot with it's pitch-perfect insights on love and marriage, it's also a funny and heartwarming story that will have you thinking about it long after you finish.  Check out the book trailer for it here!

What would you do if your husband wanted to rewrite the rules of your relationship?

Julia Dunhill, a thirty-something party planner, seems to have it all: Married to her high school sweetheart and living in a gorgeous home in Washington D.C., she imagines her future unfolding very much as it has for the past few years, since she and her husband Michael successfully launched their companies.  But in her darker moments, she worries that her marriage has dissolved from a true partnership into a façade, but she convinces herself it’s due to the intensity of their careers and fast-paced lifestyle.

So as she arranges the molten chocolate cupcakes for the annual Opera benefit, how can she know that her carefully-constructed world is about to fall apart? That her husband will stand up from the head of the table in his company’s boardroom, open his mouth to speak, and crash to the carpeted floor… all in the amount of time it will take her to walk across a ballroom floor just a few miles away. Four minutes and eight seconds after his cardiac arrest, a portable defibrillator jump-starts Michael’s heart. But in those lost minutes he becomes a different man, with an altered perspective on the rarified life they’ve been living and a determination to regain the true intimacy they once shared.  Now it is up to Julia to decide — is it worth upending her comfortable world to try to find her way back to the husband she once adored, or should she walk away from this new Michael, who truthfully became a stranger to her long before his change of heart?

We LOVED Skipping a Beat-do yourself a favor and pre-order it RIGHT NOW (or pick it up at your favorite bookstore tomorrow, Tuesday February 22nd).  And check out her Do's and a Do-Over and you'll understand why Sarah had us at hello.

We also have FIVE copies to give away to lucky readers!  Just leave a comment and you'll be entered to win-how damn easy is that? We'll pick the winners on Thursday night after 6pm PST.

CHICK LIT IS NOT DEAD PRESENTS: SARAH PEKKANEN'S 5 DO'S AND A DO-OVER

5 Do's

1. Backpack through Europe After college, I threw some clothes and a Eurorail pass into a backpack and set off alone for three months. I was too young to be nervous; I was certain I'd have an amazing adventure, and I did! I slept on a sidewalk in Portugal with a group of Canadian travelers (we woke up to find stray dogs nuzzling up with us); arrived in Switzerland at a deserted train station late at night only to realize I had no money, had taken in the last train, and had no idea how to get to the hostel; and watched sunsets in Greece with a handsome rugby player from New Zealand. Sigh.

2.  Ask a girl out I'm not getting all Katy Perry on you - I mean it in a platonic way. There was a Mom at my kids' preschool who seemed like so much fun. She was always smiling and I loved chatting with her in the hallways, but I never took it to the next level. One day my husband said, "I think Rachel likes you. You guys should go out!" So I invited her out for drinks, and we spent the whole night laughing. Now she's one of the closest friends I've ever had.

3. Get a two-hour massage Pure decadence. It seems counter-intuitive, but there's nothing quite as relaxing as having a complete stranger rub your naked body with hot oil. After I sold my first book, I lay down on a table and experienced a hundred and twenty minutes of bliss. I felt like I was floating for days afterwards!

4.  Rescue a dog Stop counting calories - adopt a dog instead and keep eating cupcakes! You'll get an hour or more a day of brisk walking and you'll love doing it. My lab Bella is the sweetest creature alive, and even on cold winter mornings, I look forward to taking her out. I've gotten to know my neighbors and I notice little things in nature that I'd otherwise never see.

5.  Sing with a rock band I went to see the Rock Bottom Remainders - a surprisingly good band made up of authors Dave Barry, Scott Turow, Amy Tan, Mitch Albom, and guest singer Jennifer Weiner - in Philadelphia last year. It was a charity concert, and one of the auction items was a chance to sing back up on "Wild Thing." I won it and even though I can't carry a tune, I got up there and sang my heart out, then threw my kazoo into the crowd. (Surprising trivia: Amy Tan wore a Lady Gaga-style wig and at one point, began spanking the male members of the band. Had not expected to see that side of her!) One of the best nights of my life!

1 Do-over

I'd appreciate college so much more if I could do it again! I'd pay attention in classes instead of staring at cute boys, get to know more people, and learn more about myself. I went to college at 17 and was pretty young emotionally, and only now do I realize how much more I could have gotten out of the experience.

Thanks Sarah!  xo, L&L

To read more about Sarah, head on over to her website or find her on Twitter and Facebook.

Emily Giffin's 5 Dos and a Do-Over

Today is a VERY special day.  And it's not just because we have the incredibly awesome EMILY GIFFIN debuting our brand spankin' new feature, Five Do's and a Do-Over.  Or that we are giving away cool stuff, including a FLIP VIDEO CAMERA and FIVE copies of  Heart of the Matter(due out in paperback on March 15th).  It's because we are also celebrating Chick Lit is not Dead's TWO YEAR ANNIVERSARY! Yes, that's right. It's been two years since we bravely launched our first posts having absolutely no damn clue what we were doing!(Click to read Liz and Lisa's)  And since then, we've had such a blast hanging out with y'all.  We might be a bit biased, but we happen to think our readers are freakin' awesome!  So thank you, lovely and loyal ladies(and a few good men!) for taking time out of your incredibly busy lives to stop by to read about ours.  We truly appreciate your support these past two years.  And in case you were wondering, this next year is going to be even bigger and better than the last.

New Features!  More authors!  Bigger giveaways!

And speaking of all those things, it's our pleasure to debut 5 Do's and a Do-Over with one of our ALL-TIME favorite authors.  Not only has Emily Giffin written some of our favorite books, she's also incredibly fun and sassy(Not to mention hawt too!). Her best-selling books occupy prime real estate on our bookshelves and are destined to become Chick Lit classics!

And with the movie version of  Something Borrowed hitting theaters May 6th, (starring Liz's crush John Krasinski!) we've decided that Emily may be the Coolest. Author. EVEH! And stay tuned, because we'll be doing some fun things for the movie too.  But in the meantime, head here for all things SOBO. And make sure to like the official Facebook page for the movie too!

We're ecstatic that Emily agreed to share five things that must be done and one thing she'd like to redo. And once you've read her list, we think you'll be girl-crushing on her as much as we do-it's fantastic!

And OF COURSE we have an awesome giveaway to celebrate!  Leave a comment and you'll be entered to win a Flip video camera or one of FIVE copies of Heart of the Matter! We'll pick the winners after 6pm PST on Sunday February 20th.

CHICK LIT IS NOT DEAD PRESENTS: EMILY GIFFIN'S 5 DO'S AND A DO-OVER

5 DO’S

1.  Invest in a quality camera and capture lots of random moments. Other than actually making the memories, there are few things more important to me than recording them. At times I feel as if I'm living the moment through the lens of a camera, but I never regret the photographs later.

2.  Live alone at least once. It is great fun having roommates and I'm a big believer in living with boyfriends if it feels right. And of course, it is wonderful to be married and build a home and life with another person. But I will always cherish the few years of my twenties in which I lived completely alone, and I think everyone should enjoy this serenity and independence at some point in their lives.

3.  Travel somewhere exotic and unexpected. There are certain obvious destinations that everyone should try to see--London, Rome, Paris, the Grand Canyon. But try visiting a place off the beaten path--a place that isn't so obvious and that few, if any, of your family and friends have ventured. For me, this list includes swimming in the Blue Lagoon in Iceland, celebrating Midsummer's Eve on a remote island in Sweden, and wandering through the tiny medieval streets of Bruges. In addition to actually having these experiences, it makes for great cocktail party fodder.

4.  Break a heart and have yours broken. It is part of life and everyone should experience both. So live and love with wild abandon until both happen to you at least once.

5.  Cut bait on toxic friendships. Although there are few things as precious as old friends, don't become so nostalgic and sentimental that you maintain unhealthy ones. Life is too short, and if a "friend" consistently brings you down, then she isn't one. Jettison her and make room for a new one.

1 DO-OVER

One of my favorite quotes is by Mark Twain:

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

I so believe in this, but it took me a while to really internalize the truth of it. I wish I could go back to my twenties and apply this philosophy. Live life a little more on the edge, instead of chasing the next accomplishment and trying to please others. Fortunately, I finally figured this out--which is how I found the courage to quit my job as an attorney, move to London and write my first novel, Something Borrowed. It was a huge risk, but one of the best decisions I have ever made.

Thanks Emily!!! xo, L&L

Want to read more about Emily and see pictures from her last book tour?  Then head here. And don't forget to check her out on Facebook and Twitter-she's a lot of fun!

Lit IT Girl: Debut Author Karen Bergreen

Between life, kids, babies, breast pumps, careers and running this site, we've always thought we've had a lot of sh*t on our plates.  But that was before we met our latest Lit IT Girl, Karen Bergreen.  Not only is she a debut author, she's also a stand-up comedian, former lawyer AND stressed-out mom!  We are officially handing our over-committed crown to her! Karen's debut novel shows off her wicked sense of humor.  Following Pollyis the perfect combination of laughter and mystery!

Would you call Alice Teakle a stalker?  Or just someone with an, um, healthy obsession with golden girl Polly Linley Dawson?  No one much notices Alice: not her boss, not the neighbors, not even her Mother.  Besides, everyone follows Polly: her business selling high-end lingerie you can imagine only her elegant self wearing, her all-over-the-social-pages marriage to movie t follows her a little more….closely.

And when she loses her job and starts to follow Polly Dawson one Manhattan autumn afternoon, Alice stumbles on the object of her attention sprawled dead on the floor of a boutique.  Alice is forced to become truly beneath anyone’s notice. Invisible, in fact. Because she’s accused of murder.

But can another obsession help save Alice with the fallout?  Charlie is Alice’s longtime unattainable crush.  He might be able to help her out of the mess she’s in…in return for a favor or two, that is.    And how will Alice find out if Charlie is really the man Alice thinks he is?

We think you'll LOVE this hilarious novel.  That's why we have FIVE copies to give away!  Just leave a comment and you'll be entered to win.  We'll choose the winners on Friday night after 6pm PST.

And stay tuned-next week we'll be rolling out a new feature with one of your FAVORITE authors.  Can you guess who?

CHICK LIT IS NOT DEAD PRESENTS: LIT IT GIRL KAREN BERGREEN

1. How many agents did you query before you found "the one"? I was very lucky.  A close friend in publishing enjoyed a draft of a novel (never to be published-believe me, it's better this way) to a well-regarded literary agent.  The agent thought I had some talent. I happened to mention my idea for a new novel: a loser with promise becomes addicted to following people, and one of them ends up dead. She urged me to drop the 368-baby I had produced and instead start from scratch.  She took me on.  I felt incredibly lucky.

2. What was your rock bottom moment during the process? I'm glad this is your next question because I am not that lucky.  The agent from the last question (there is no need to learn her name as you will soon realize)  had problems with the book, namely,  I needed a plot. She tried to tell me this, but she couldn't speak my language and I couldn't speak hers.  She dumped me.  I didn't tell anyone for three days.  Not my husband, not my friends, which is a big deal as I am not a private person.  Finally, I told my friend, Victoria Skurnick, the one who had introduced me to the agent to begin with.  Victoria, prominent in publishing, had recently become an agent herself.  She offered to take a look at my plotless novel.  She fell in love with Alice and because she knew me, she knew how to tell me exactly what I needed to do to transform the pages into an actual book.

3. How long did it take to write your book? I wish I could say I wrote it on a napkin at The Olive Garden for the 23 minutes I waited for my Sicilian Scampi, but it was more like two years.

4. What did you do to celebrate your book deal? I stopped hating myself for 24 hours. The best part was this:  Polly in the novel is Alice's arch enemy from college, someone who has prospered in the face of really bad behavior; I have a couple of people like that in my own life and when they asked me "How is that novel of yours going?" I savored saying St. Martin's 2010.

5. Knowing what you know now about publishing your first novel, what would you have done differently? I would have made it about vampires.

6. Who is your writer crush? Susan Isaacs.  And when I met her, I, the chattiest person in town, had absolutely nothing to say.  After twenty minutes I uttered, "Duh, I really liked Almost Paradise."

7.  What's your biggest distraction or vice while writing? You ask the question incorrectly?  It should be: what isn't your biggest distraction while writing? Then I could say, with confidence, "taking my kids to the park."  I hate the park, by the way.  I am likely to be distracted by TV, which is sacred, hunger, boredom, sickness, health, and getting the mail.

8.  GNO drink of choice? champagne or a rich red wine.

9.  Favorite trashy TV show? I don't watch TV. just kidding.  Is the Good Wife considered trashy?  I love that.  I like things that get canceled.  I loved Mercy on NBC.  I was in deep love with James Tupper.

10.  What celeb would you love to have a Twitter war with? Bill Maher because he is the only person I violently agree and disagree with.

Thanks Karen! xo, L&L

To read more about Karen, head on over to her website or find her on Facebook or Twitter.

Mommy Monday: Is Spit Up The New Black?

I'm baaaack. Did you miss me? ;)

It feels good to step out of the "baby cave" for a minute. To be doing something other than debating the merits of sensitive baby wipes vs. regular baby wipes or trying to figure out how to keep a burp cloth clean for longer than five seconds.

Since giving birth to my daughter thirty days ago, I've come to a very important realization. It doesn't matter how many books you read or bad eighties videos you watch in your birthing class, until you actually become a mother, there is no way you can fully comprehend two words.

Sleep. Deprivation.

Sure, everyone tried to warn me while I was still pregnant. Get your sleep now. While you still can. And of course I didn't listen because I was unnaturally obsessed with things like reorganizing the kitchen and cleaning out heating vents.

And now- a month later- although I'm basically running on fumes from the aforementioned lack of shut eye and all of the following things were written in a varying state of delirium (as this post is now), I've recorded some of my other observations from my first month of motherhood:

Day 1- Water breaks at 10:00 p.m. while watching Top Chef. Think I peed my pants. Ask hubs to help me figure it out (I'll let you fill in the blanks on how we did this). Decide this is okay because if I truly am in labor, he's going to potentially see a lot worse once we are at the hospital.

Day 2- If I could do it all over again, I'd skip the Five Guys Burgers and Fries cheeseburger with jalapenos. No fun to have the burger sitting in my stomach while in labor. Tell this story to everyone and anyone who will listen after I've been given my epidural.

Day 3- Nurses keep coming in and marveling at the fact that I'm not 300 lbs with all the Oxycotin I've been taking for my post c-section pain. Can you say Lisa Limbaugh?

Day 4- Totally, deeply and madly in love with my little girl. She is the best thing I have ever done in my life. Hoping when she's old enough to weigh in on that, she'll agree.

Day 5- We're home. Talking to Matt. He says something about Maria. Who's Maria?, I ask. The nurse who helped us every day at the hospital! he exclaims. Oops. Realizing that I don't remember much of my hospital stay. See Day #3- Oxycotin.

Day 6- Up all night. Haven't done this since pulling an all-nighter in college. But at least that involved lots of coffee and sugar and, er, I was only twenty!

Day 7- Check on the baby for the millionth time to make sure she's breathing. Will I ever stop doing this?

Day 8- Decide I have the most beautiful baby in the world. Me and every other mother.

Day 9- Major accomplishment. Can Facebook and breastfeed at the same time. I feel 1/16 human again.

Day 10- Need to remind myself to stop bragging about how good Baby D is. Every time I do this, she decides to throw the schedule we've been keeping out the window as if to say, Don't forget who runs this show, mommy!

Day 11- Discovered I can hide in the shower- if only for a few fleeting moments. Who knew a three minute hot shower could change my life?

Day 12- Thinking about the woman from Africa who's in the documentary, Babies. She gives birth in a hut without medication and minutes later is breast feeding her baby in one arm and hauling water in the other. Remind myself not to get frustrated that my hospital grade breast pump doesn't work perfectly and/or I can't hear my Real Housewives of Beverly Hills episode over the pumping sound.

Day 13- Decide the hubs and I should have our own middle of the night reality show. We make absolutely no sense when we talk to each other because we are never fully awake. I think we're hilarious but not sure anyone else would laugh. Might be worth taping ourselves to find out.

Day 14- Wake up in the middle of the night and frantically search the bed for my baby. This keeps happening. Baby is always safe and sound in crib. Has never slept in our bed. Not sure where this is coming from.

Day 15- Pediatrician called me Mom. I looked over my shoulder for the mom he was talking to. Guess it's going to take a while for this new title to sink in.

Day 16- Is spit up the new black? I'm beginning to think so as it's my main accessory with every outfit.

Day 17- Lying in a pillow covered in spit up. Too tired to care.

Day 18- Silently cried listening to the baby cry after I put her down for a nap. With tears streaming down my face, I sneaked into her room for the umpteenth time and peered into her crib without letting her see me. Feel like weird baby stalker.

Day 19- My poor mother is on the receiving end of a major sleep deprivation meltdown. After the hubs intervened and forced me to nap, I wake with no memory of the content of the meltdown. Scary.

Day 20- Liz arrives. She becomes my breastfeeding coach- determined to help me stock up on milk supply so I can sleep and someone else can feed the baby. Friendship taken to a whole new level when I attach pumps and pump with abandon right next to her on the living room sofa. Matters more to me to have milk for the hubs to feed baby than Liz seeing my areolas. But I do believe Liz was traumatized. Very traumatized.

Day 21- I was "that wife" today. Called the hubs at work to talk about poop. And formula. And nipples. Had to hang up mid-talk as I rose about my body and realized what I was doing.

Day 22- The baby smiled at me. I don't care what anyone says, she didn't smile because she had gas. She was really smiling!

Day 23- The baby burped a nice, deep, truck driver belch. Am more excited about this than when I was nominated for an Emmy.

Day 25- Baby asleep. Have the house to myself. Drinking coffee (shh...). Watching You're Cut Off marathon (another gift Liz gave me while here- turning me on to such a bad TV show). Feel like I've won the lottery.

Day 26- Another major accomplishment. Played Angry Birds- with my left hand- while feeding the baby!

Day 30- Baby had to get a shot. Decide that if I were to get shot with a double barrel shot gun in the face, it would hurt me less. Welcome to motherhood.

xoxo,

Lisa, a.k.a. "Mom"?!?!

What's on Jill Kargman's Bucket List?

So we're finally warming up to the LOL.  Not the actual act of laughing out loud-we do that all the time!  But the use of the term LOL.  Not gonna lie, we used to be too good for it.  Thought all these LOLers were bullshitting a bit.  Because although we've been known to be funny here and there, we had a hard time believing that all these people were really LAUGHING OUT LOUD at our texts and emails.  But lately we find ourselves actually LOLing(the actual act) and typing LOL too.  One of the reasons?  Jill Kargman's latest, Sometimes I feel Like a Nut, her high-larious collection of essays-out tomorrow! We promise you'll be LOLing from page one. Jill Kargman is a mother, wife, and writer living the life in New York City . . . a life that includes camping out in a one-bedroom apartment with some unfortunate (and furry) roommates, battling the Momzillas of Manhattan, and coming to terms with her desire for gay men. In this entertaining collection of observations, Kargman offers her unique, wickedly funny perspective as she zips around Manhattan with three kids in tow.

Kargman tackles issues big and small with sharp wit and laugh-out-loud humor: her love of the smell of gasoline, her new names for nail polishes, her adventures in New York City real estate, and her fear of mimes, clowns, and other haunting things. Whether it's surviving a family road trip or why she can't stand Cirque du So Lame, living with a mommy vagina the size of the Holland Tunnel or surviving the hell that was her first job out of college, Kargman's nutty self triumphs, thanks to a wonderfully wise outlook and sense of fun that makes the best of everything that gets thrown her way. And if that's not enough, Kargman illustrates her reflections with doodles that capture her refreshing voice.

We think Sometimes I Feel Like a Nut is the perfect way to de-stress after a long day.  And we have FIVE copies to give away!  Just leave a comment and we'll choose a winner on Wednesday after 6pm PST.

CHICK LIT IS NOT DEAD PRESENTS: WHAT'S ON JILL KARGMAN'S BUCKET LIST?

1. Before I croak I'd love to have lunch with my idol, Woody Allen. I worship him and met him a couple times but it was at crowded parties where it would've come off as stalkerish and Kathy Batesian to start worshipping him.

2. I want to do Natalie Portman-style crash course in ballet for like months on end and totally be Black Swan-worthy. Minus the fucked upness.

3. Scotland trip. I love those accents.

4. I want to see my three kids find love and be settled and happy. And I want tons of grandkids! I miss fat little feeties.

5. When I'm 94 or so I want to become a junkie. I'm not even kidding. I'm a relative drug virgin and I want to go nuts in old age and try it all.

Thanks Jill!  xo, L&L

To read more about Jill, head on over to her website or find her on Twitter.

BabyLover by Liz

Today's the day!  I'm jetting off to Chitown to meet Lisa's new bundle of joy.  It's been three long weeks since she arrived and I can't wait to see them both!  Lisa's excited for my arrival, but mostly because I promised to be her bitch for the next four days. Cooking?  I'm her Top Chef! Cleaning? I can do things with a mop you've never seen before! Poopy Diapers?  I handle that shit like no other!

But I have a small confession to make.

I'm not a baby person.

Before you get all Judgey Mcjudgerson on me, it's not that I don't like babies.  I just don't LOVE them the way many of my girlfriends do.  While y'all sit there goo-goo and ga-gaing over the blobs babies, I'm admiring them from a few feet away.  And while you might beg to babysit that screaming gurgling love bug, I'll be the one to help mom escape to have her first glass of wine in ten months. So you see, I'm not a baby hater, more like a baby liker.  That's okay, right?

And the funniest part?  Babies LOVE me.  It's like that whole wanting what you can't have thing starts at a very young age because I've got MAJUH game with the under one set.  They reach for me, fall asleep on me, and are generally really f*cking happy when I'm holding them.

I haven't broke the news to Lisa yet that I'm not going to goo-goo and ga-ga when I get there.  But I would think after 22 years of friendship that she knows I'm going to do my best Auntie work after age 2.  After all, she watched me muddle through the baby stages of both of my children-how can she NOT know?

But in honor of my visit, I thought I might try to become more baby-friendly.  So I've come up with a list of all the reasons why babies are the best.  *speaks into megaphone* Say it with me: BABIES ARE THE BEST! (Did that sound convincing?!!??)

WHY BABIES ARE THE BEST

1. A baby won't tell me my new haircut makes me look like Dora the Explorer.  Or yell at me when I'm a few minutes late picking them up.

2. Babies still get excited by and appreciate my boobs.  Even if they just view them as a food source.  Whatevs.  I'll take it.

3. Babies give me an excuse to nap during the day. (But do I still get to do that if it's not my baby?)

4. They can be a conversation starter at Starbucks. Because nothing says talk to me like a baby in a bugaboo.

5. They give me an excuse to carry an extra ten pounds and scare my pregnant friends with delivery room horror stories.  Ripped vaginas! Bad C-sections!  And my personal favorite?  Pooping on the delivery table!

See?  Babies are the BEST!!!

What do you think?  Leave a comment and you'll be entered to win one of TWO copies of The Inadequate Conception: From Barry White to Blastocytes: What your mom didn’t tell you about getting pregnant by Lori Green.  You can also check out her blog here.  I'll choose a winner on Sunday night after 6pm PST.

xo, Liz

What's on Laurie Frankel's Bucket List?

OMG- So many great books, so little time to read them!  We are LOVING what we've been reading lately, many from fabulous debut authors that we have a feeling will steal your heart with their fabulous novels. Today we have Laurie Frankel and her debut novel Atlas of Love. And even though she's totally wearing our Lit IT girl crown, she's sharing her bucket list with us today-we couldn't be happier about it! (And we hope she figures out that whole teleportation thing-that could come in handy!)

When Jill becomes both pregnant and single at the end of one spring semester, she and her two closest friends plunge into an experiment in tri-parenting, tri-schooling, and trihabitating as grad students in Seattle. Naturally, everything goes wrong, but in ways no one sees coming. Janey Duncan narrates the adventure of this modern family with hilarity and wisdom and shows how three lives are forever changed by (un)cooperative parenting, literature, and a tiny baby named Atlas who upends and uplifts their entire world. In this sparkling and wise debut novel, Frankel’s unforgettable heroines prove that home is simply where the love is.

We think that reading Atlas of Love would be a lovely way to spend your afternoon.  Log off Facebook and log into Frankel's sparkling debut!  And we have FIVE copies to give away!  Just leave a comment and we'll choose the winners on Friday night after 6pm PST.

CHICK LIT IS NOT DEAD PRESENTS: WHAT'S ON LAURIE FRANKEL'S BUCKET LIST?

This is the first “bucket list” I’ve ever made.  The term strikes me as a funny one -- I guess it’s about “kicking the bucket” (itself kind of a strange phrase) but it reminds me more of a hope chest, a repository for important things you want to carry, hold near, and maybe tote to the beach with you.  It’s also a funny thing for me to do right now.  In my 70s, I imagine the list will be wild adventures and final physical feats: skydiving or going walkabout or biking through France or something.  In contrast, I could go skydiving this weekend.  I mean I’d need to get babysitting.  But that’s really my only barrier.  That and I don’t really want to go skydiving.  I don’t especially like to fly.  It’d probably be really cold too.

My mid-30s bucket list then -- things I sincerely hope I’ll do soon enough, possibilities I want to keep with me and tote along to the beach -- isn’t especially glamorous.  It’s much more practical than all that.  I’ll still need babysitting though.

1. My first plan is to get really rich. Actually, I don’t need to be really rich.  Just a little rich.  Rich enough to quit my day job.  Not that I don’t like my day job.  I do.  I teach college, and I like it a lot.  But it’s interfering with all the other things I need to do.  I need to get rich enough for my husband to quit his day job too.  You can rearrange your life and make new priorities and plan and organize all you want, but you still need to sleep and shop for groceries and make dinner and walk the dog and pick up the 424 cars all over the living room rug every day, and your two-year-old isn’t going to entertain himself OR prevent his otherwise certain death from climbing up the bookshelves or over the back deck or under the lawnmower or on top of the stove.  Something has to go, and the day job seems like just the thing because what I really want to do is...

2. Write another novel. Hopefully several more novels.  And a play or two.  And see them all win awards and become bestsellers and receive lavish praise and brilliant stagings and get turned into gorgeous films so that I can go to the Oscars with my husband (must get babysitting) in one of those awesome dresses I always covet but never buy because where am I ever going to wear it?  It’s not like I live in Paris circa 1925 and might don something like that for a simple evening out.  Speaking of which, any minute now I’m going to...

3. Move abroad. I do love London.  You could talk me into almost anywhere though.  I hear wonderful things about the weather in South Africa, so maybe there.  Or Sydney or San Sebastian or somewhere Scandinavian or Costa Rican or Turkey or Malaysia.  I’m pretty flexible really.  Someplace warm and sunny would be nice.  And with a beach so I can bring my bucket.  Europe would be especially convenient because they have those super affordable airlines so you can go to Ibiza for the weekend.  I’d like to go to Ibiza for the weekend.  But I’m going to need some babysitting.  The best option for which is to...

4. Live nearer to more of the people I love. I live in Seattle, Washington.  My parents live in Columbia, Maryland.  My sister lives in Colorado.  My cousins live in California.  My best friend from high school lives in Virginia.  My best friend from grad school lives in South Carolina.  This sucks.  If everyone I loved lived in the same place, I’d move there.  But if I just picked one, I’d be missing only one fewer of those people than I am right now.  Plus my friends in Seattle.  Hopefully everyone will move abroad with me, but if not, I’d like someone to...

5. Figure out teleportation. What is the holdup on that anyway?  Physicists are supercolliding atoms under France and recreating the birth of the universe and developing really strong nanotubes of carbon, and NONE of that is doing me any good at all.  Teleportation, on the other hand, would be really useful.  That way I could spend the day on the beach in Kauai, have dinner at that great pizza place in Trastavere, and then go see a play afterwards at the Donmar Warehouse in London.  And the best part is...free, high-quality babysitting -- plus my mother’s french toast in the morning -- in Columbia, Maryland.

To read more about Laurie, check out her website or head on over to  her Facebook page.

What's on Cathie Beck's Bucket List?

There are few things that we love more than a good book.  But a glass of wine is right up there.  Which is why when we saw the memoir, Cheap Cabernet: A Friendship by Cathie Beck, we knew we had to take a closer look.  Because we figured anything about friends and wine just had to be fabulous! Originally self-published, Cheap Cabernet received with so much praise that it was picked up a major publisher. (You go, Girl!)

Cathie Beck was in her late thirties and finally able to exhale after a lifetime of just trying to get by. A teenage mother harboring vivid memories of her own hardscrabble childhood, Cathie had spent years doing whatever it took to give her children the stability— or at least the illusion of it— that she’ d never had. More than that, through sheer will and determination, she had educated them and herself too. With her kids in college, Cathie was at last ready to have some fun. The only problem was that she had no idea how to do it and no friends to do it with. So she put an ad in the paper for a made-up women's group: WOW . . . Women on the Way. Eight women showed up that first night, and out of that group a friendship formed, one of those meteoric, passionate, stand-by-you friendships that come around once in a lifetime and change you forever . . . if you’ re lucky.

We think you'll love this honest and hilarious memoir.  And guess what?  We have TWO copies to giveaway!  Just leave a comment and you'll be entered to win.

CHICK LIT IS NOT DEAD PRESENTS: WHAT'S ON CATHIE BECK'S BUCKET LIST?

Ah yes … bucket lists – where we get to literally throw caution and inhibition to wind and declare that which will make our lives complete, should we get the chance to attain them before our last breaths.

One item on my “for real” bucket list was to publish a book. It took ten years and ten more years off my life (read the Poets & Writers story at www.cathiebeck.com/press). But on July 20, 2010, Hyperion Books published “Cheap Cabernet: A Friendship” – a wild ride of two women in the 40s who drink lots of wine and get into some trouble. But they’ve got good hearts and the friendship rocked both our worlds – changing our lives in ways we never saw coming. Bet you know a friend or two like that.

In the meantime, here are a few things that are “must-dos” on my bucket list. In no particular order:

1.  Date Alec Baldwin.  I don’t mean just go on one of those sad, Oprah-episode, “you get to LUNCH WITH ALEC BALDWIN!” dates – I mean I’d really like to hang out with him and date him. Like where we watched movies (imagine!) and he took me to good restaurants and when he had a Hollywood function to attend, I’d be “His Girl.” I know he’s a cad and I’m not talking about marrying him, but I’d love to go meet his parents and his brothers and then I’d love him to fall madly, deeply in love with me. Oh please. Why not?

2. Jeff Bridges. See “Date Alec Baldwin.”  Since Jeff is married and devoted to his 30+-year-long marriage/wife and since it is then completely unrealistic that we’d ever date, you should know that I’d throw Baldwin backward in a heartbeat for a Bridges opp. Jeff, are you reading this?

3. Lunch with Bill Clinton. Yes there’s a tiresome and obvious theme playing out here, but at least it’s a brainy, interesting theme. The lunch I’d have with Bill Clinton would be one of those loooonnng lunches, where he  go off the wagon and have one too many “Jim Beams & 7s” and he’d start telling risqué jokes and maybe even slightly flirting, though that’s not what I’m after. What I’m after is a loose-lipped Clinton all full of himself (and of Jim Beam) and willing to divulge tidbits that never hit the headlines. Just for the fun of it.

4. Win the Nobel Prize in Literature.  There, I said it. I know full well how ridiculous and egotistical that sounds. I cannot help it. Did you SEE the great gown and the pomp and circumstance when Tony Morrison went to England to accept the Nobel? I just want to wear the cool gown and eat with British Royalty and courtesy. Whatever it is I have to win to do that.

5.  Sing a song, live, with Al Green or Bette Midler. This one’s creepy and I hope that Rev. Green and The Divine Miss M don’t seek court protection after this runs -- but the truth is that I melt whenever I see either of them live (now, probably 6 times each). If they are unavailable and/or freaked out about this the very thought of this, Jamie Foxx would work too.

Thanks Cathie! xo, L&L

To read more about Cathie, head on over to her website or find her on Facebook and Twitter .  You can also email her at Cathie@cathiebeck.com.

Cash & Carry by Liz

So I think I've mentioned or maybe you've just noticed that I can be a bit of a control freak sometimes. But there's always been one aspect of my life that I've had no control of... My spending habits.

Yes, I can calculate the calories in those chips and guacamole in an instant but am unable to balance my checkbook properly.  I have the willpower to completely cut out food groups(cheese? Who needs it?) but cannot resist the Nordstrom half-yearly sale.  Or that adorable Calvin Klein dress.  Or ANYTHING at The Container Store. (Damn that place! Who really needs a onion saver??!!!?)

And I don't need to pay a therapist $300/hour to tell me that I buy things to make myself feel better.  Having a bad week? Shaking my ass in that new little black dress will make the world feel right again. Feeling fat? Buying all those pink acrylic glasses at Target made me feel light and dainty. Bored? Nothing like online shopping to fill the hours.  For me, there was no better high than a shopping one.

Until that damn American Express bill showed up.  Was I actually supposed to pay that freakin' thing off each month?  Oops.

But that ginormous monthly statement never seemed to stop my love affair with my gold card.  No matter how much we made, we would somehow manage to outspend it by ALOT.  And all along I told myself that it would be IMPOSSIBLE to cut one thing out of our budget. That there's no way I could live without sushi, Starbucks or a Brazillian Blowout.

I was wrong.

I don't remember exactly when it hit me.  Maybe it was what seemed the millionth time the hubs and I were having the same conversation about money.  We always look and each other and stupidly ask Where does it all go? without ever having the balls to actually look and SEE WHERE THE MONEY ACTUALLY GOES. Because it's much easier just to buy what you want and pretend that living within your means is just impossible than to try to cut back.  And we had so many things to blame!

The cost of living is so high in Southern California!

I could buy a BMW for what we pay for daycare each year!

I have to get my hair done every month-I'm going gray! (Sad to say this one actually very true...)

But most of it was bullshit.  Yes, it is ridiculously expensive to live here and I dream for the day we don't have to pay for daycare anymore.  But the real problem was not with those things.  It was with us.

My issue was living like I was a millionaire.  And my hubs?  His problem was saying NO to my spending.  He had been my YES man for a long time.  And as much as I loved him for always telling me I deserved that new pair of shoes, I finally had to admit that he was just enabling a terrible habit. But was was the solution?

Cash  & Carry, yo.

I had always been a cashless wonder.  I was the girl who always took your cash for the meal and paid with my credit card.  Parked in a parking structure?  I'm the one begging for five bucks so I can get out.  And I'd always have to avoid eye contact with the homeless people holding signs by the freeway.

Now I would be given a cash allotment each week.  And and I had to learn to *gasp* THINK about what I was spending.  Groceries, Starbucks, happy hour.  It all had to come out of my piggy bank.  But if I was able to hold my shit together and not overspend, we would only spend what we made. (Novel concept, right?)  And then, if we could do that for awhile, then we could do this other thing we never do.  Save money.

It was tough at first.  My Starbucks baristas just couldn't get over the fact that I was paying them in cash and I had to save for three weeks before I could get a mani-pedi.(And forget about any extra massage!)  But as sad as I was not to buy that adorable dress at Loehmann's, the feeling of gaining control over my finances was exhilarating.  Spending was one area of my life that always felt out-of-control-like a addiction I couldn't shake.  And each week that I was able to stay in my new budget felt like a small victory.  I finally came to realize that the world was not going to END if I didn't buy Hanky Pankys in every color.  (Although having them in every color would be really awesome.)

And even though we got a bit off track with the holidays(The Coach boots were on sale, I SWEAR!), I'm actually looking forward to getting back to our cash & carry routine.  Because when you don't buy every damn thing that you want, it makes the things you do buy seem that much sweeter.

How about you?  How do you save money?

xo, Liz

What's on Susan Elizabeth Phillips' Bucket List?

We're so excited for all the fantastic books coming out in 2011.  And you know you can count on us to have all your fave authors and books here! First up?  New York Times bestselling author Susan Elizabeth Phillips.  Susan soared onto the NYT bestseller list with Dream a Little Dream.  Now comes Call Me Irresistible-out January 18th, which intersects characters featured in in three of her most beloved novels. Lucy Jorik is the daughter of a former president of the United States.  Meg Koranda is the offspring of legends.  One of them is about to marry Mr. Irresistible—Ted Beaudine—the favorite son of Wynette, Texas. The other is not happy about it and is determined to save her friend from a mess of heartache.

But even though Meg knows that breaking up her best friend's wedding is the right thing to do, no one else seems to agree. Faster than Lucy can say "I don't," Meg becomes the most hated woman in town—a town she's stuck in with a dead car, an empty wallet, and a very angry bridegroom. Broke, stranded, and without her famous parents at her back, Meg is sure she can survive on her own wits. What's the worst that can happen? Lose her heart to the one and only Mr. Irresistible? Not likely. Not likely at all.

Sound good?  Click here to pre-order it!

Fun and sassy, we think that Call me Irresistible is the perfect way to start off the new year!  And we have FIVE copies to give away. Just leave a comment and you'll be entered to win!  We'll pick the winners on Friday night after 6pm PST.

CHICK LIT IS NOT DEAD PRESENTS: WHAT'S ON SUSAN ELIZABETH PHILLIP'S BUCKET LIST?

1. I’ve been working on my bucket list for the past few years, starting with some amazing walking and hiking trips in Europe, Central America, Canada, and Alaska. Still on the agenda: ¾Morocco, Greece, and more of the British Isles.

2. Master a big girl camera as opposed to my trusty point and shoot.

3. Learn how to bake a great pie.

4. Learn how to eat a small portion of great pie instead of , say, half the sucker in one sitting.

5. Satisfy my unhealthy fascination with Oprah by becoming her second best friend, after Gayle. Do you think I need a shrink?

Thanks Susan! xo, L&L

To read more about Susan, check out her website or find her on Facebook.

Mommy Monday: An extra hour a day away keeps the b*tchface away

So far, I'm loving 2011.  I'm ROCKING those damn bangs like nobody's business and Lisa's bundle of joy arrived late last week. (More details from Lisa to come later this month-so all I'll say is that both Mom and baby are healthy and gorgeous!)  The Bears are heading to the playoffs(this makes the hubs happy) and I've already lost those annoying Wii-induced 5 pounds that were giving me the worst muffin top EVEH. And we all know that it's freakin' IMPOSSIBLE to rock jeans with boots when you have muffin top. So how did I lose them so quickly you ask?  Did I finally open up the P90X?  Did I decide to take the stairs?  Did I get swine flu?  Nope.  I lost the weight the old-fashioned way.

Stress.

Don't worry-it's not the things are going terrible and I can't eat stress.  It's more like I'm so busy that I can't breathe or text or eat stress.  I knew 2011 was going to be crazy but it still knocked the wind out of me last week.  I found myself wishing for just one more hour in the day to get things done.  And when I fell into bed Friday night, I began daydreaming about what I would do with that hour.  Oh, the things I would get done! I would be so much nicer!  So relaxed!  Because let's face it: An extra hour a day would keep the bitchface away. You know, that secret bitchface that lives inside all of us?  Don't even try to pretend like you don't have one.

And here it is, so just in case I actually ever get that extra hour-I'll be ready!  Or maybe I'll just play Wii. (Damn you Grandma and Grandpa for buying the kids that time suck!)

If I had an extra hour a day, I would....

1. Get a mani-pedi with extra massage. I'd even finally let them draw that flower on my toenail they're always bugging me about.

2. Pour a huge glass of wine and watch the latest The Millionaire Matchmaker . (Did any of you see the one recently with the PR millionairess that looked like a crayola exploded on her face and the gold digger?  Dude! You. Must. Watch.)

3. Put on super cute workout clothes and pretend I was going to the gym and then find something else to do instead. Because it's the thought that counts, right?

4. Take my new dog to an animal psychic. Because I just have to know why that bitch keeps running away.  She went from a cold animal shelter and horrible mange to belly rubs, treats, walks and two kids that worship the ground she walks on. I don't know how to convey to her that it's not getting any better than this.

5. Tackle my TBR pile. Oh Vey.  Super Mario Brothers has really set me behind on this one. But I have three ARCS that I'm excited to read in the next two weeks- Best Kept Secret by Amy Hatvany(out in July), The Violets of March by Sarah Jio(out April 27th) and Here, Home, Hope by Kaira Rouda(out in May).  Oh, and speaking of ARCS, you're going to LOVE Sarah Pekkanan's Skipping A Beat(due February 22).  I read it one day last month-I laughed, I cried, I loved it. Do yourself a favor and pre-order it.  And Leave a comment here to win an ARC of Sarah Jio's The Violets of March!

6. Read the stack of Entertainment Weeklys sitting on my desk. Because drooling over Jake Gyllenhaal half-naked on the cover is not actually considered reading.

7. Learn how to bake. Because I'm tired of my daughter saying, Oh, Mommy! when I pull lopsided, burnt cookies out of the oven.

8. Shop by myself. I don't care where.  Although for some reason I find Target very relaxing(until I get to the cash register and realized I've spent $200 and bought NOTHING I actually need).

9. Have happy hour with the girls. Because an hour with good friends, a Grey Goose dirty martini and an onion ring stack can make just about any problem melt away.

10. Have a conversation with my hubs that has nothing to do with snot, poop, time out, or Wii. Is that really too much to ask? And if I got an another hour, I might actually kiss him with some tongue.  In fact-let's declare 2011 the year of the married make-out session! All I need is a shot of tequila to help me forget about all the other things I should be doing instead and I'm in!

What would YOU do with your extra hour? Leave a comment and you'll be entered to win an ARC of Sarah Jio's upcoming debut, The Violets of March.  I'll pick the winners on Wednesday night after 6pm PST.  Good luck!

xoxo, Liz

5 Steps To A Better Me by Liz

I'm not gonna lie-I'm not too sad to say goodbye to 2010.  While it was a year with some awesome highlights(Lisa's wedding and pregnancy, so many AWESOME authors and giveaways...), it was also a year of transition(new job, juggling blog and aforementioned new job and my daughter's first year of kindergarten...).  And geez, could any more of my fave celebrity couples call it quits?  Even though there's part of me that is sooo stoked my celebrity crush and complete HOTTIE Ryan Reynolds is single again, it always bums me out to see people throw in the towel.  And was I the only one that thought that Courtney Cox and David Arquette were going to make it for the long haul?

But what makes 2011 most special is Lisa's special delivery-due ANY MINUTE.  I wish we lived in the same state so I could bring her over a casserole (Do people still do that anymore?) and a Xanax after the baby arrives.  Just kidding.  She really doesn't like casseroles.

As you might have guessed, Lisa's on maternity leave for the next month or so.  So since she's not available, I made her New Year's resolutions for her.  And I think I did a damn fine job, if I do say so myself!

Lisa's New Year's Resolutions

1. Get baby to sleep

2. Get myself to sleep

3. Mop floors. Again! (Did I mention her cleanliness obsession?)

4. Repeat above steps.

And me? On NYE, our family declared our resolutions for 2011.  My daughter resolved to try to be less annoyed by my son and my son resolved to stop using he words POOP and BOOTY in every single sentence. (See why she gets annoyed?)  And the hubs?  He resolved to win Streak for the Cash-the ESPN online contest that he's obsessed involved with.

But what about me?  I mean, I've got a ton of shit to get done in 2011.  And that means I need more than just one resolution, right?  Right!

And speaking of resolutions, I have an advanced copy of Here, Home, Hope by Kaira Rouda -it's a story about a woman resolved to make some major changes in her life.  It doesn't come out until May but you can win it here!  Just leave a comment and you're entered! I'll choose the winners after 6PM PST on Friday night.

Liz's 2011 Resolutions

1. ROCK my new bangs- So... I'm not sure what I was thinking last week.  But I'm going to make the best of it.

2. Get a literary agent- It's been a long road but I have a feeling that 2011 is the year we go BIGTIME.  Or at least that's what my spiritual counselor told me anyway.

3. Start P90X- Getting six pack abs is the least I can do after I forced asked my husband to meet some creepy guy from Craig's List in the Walgreen's parking lot so I could save $50 on it. Related resolution: Lose the five pounds I've gained sitting on my ass the past two weeks playing the Wii we got for Christmas. Damn you Super Mario Brothers! Related resolution #2: Come to terms with the fact that the Wii has brought out latent "gamer" tendencies in my husband that I had been previously unaware of. *gag*

4. Complete third manuscript- Oh, this one will be easy.  With Lisa's new bundle of joy and my work schedule, I'm sure we'll have plenty of time to do this!  Besides, Lisa and I always work best together when she's sleep-deprived and I'm overwhelmed. *cue girl fight*  I'm just kidding!  I'm actually really looking forward to getting back to writing again.  It will be like visiting an old friend I haven't seen in a while.

5. Learn how to spell resolution-Seriously, what would I do without spell check?  And why do I want it to have two "u"s in it so badly? Clearly, I was absent the week it was on the spelling list.

Happy New Year to each and every and every one of you!  I hope all your dreams come true in 2011.

xoxo, Liz

The Best of Chick Lit Is Not Dead 2010

2010 has been an AMAZING year. On a personal note, Lisa schmoved across the country to be with her man, got married and is soon to have her first baby (due Jan 3rd!). Liz celebrated her ninth wedding anniversary (next year is the big 10! What's the gift for that? Paper? Hmmm..Lisa better figure that one out soon.).

On a professional note, We're very excited about the tremendous support Chick Lit Is Not Dead received from all of you and we again must shout THANK YOU from the top of our lungs for being so freakin' awesome! And although it hasn't happened overnight (WTF with that anyway?!), we're confident our manuscript, The D Word will find a home. And we're super excited that we've already planned our next novel and will begin writing it in early 2011!

But back to CLIND. We love this site because we can write about one of our favorite things-reading. We can share our favorite books and authors with you. And of course, we love having an outlet to tell our personal stories that we find so amusing (hopefully you do too?!). And with so many magazines doing the "Best of 2010", we were inspired to pick our favorite blog posts of the year or what we consider the Best of CLIND 2010. 

You'll notice this won't be including any author posts-we found it impossible to choose just a few! We've loved having each and every one of them on sharing their 5 things we didn't know or their bucket lists with us. Each in their own way, they've been funny, insightful and honest. And we look forward to having many of them back next year and also meeting some new ones too!

And if you leave a comment today, you can win bundle o' books of some of our favorites of 2010 including, Life After Yes by Aidan Donnelley Rowley, Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang by Chelsea Handler, Love In Mid Air by Kim Wright, You Had Me At Woof by Julie Klam and Gunn's Golden Rules by Tim Gunn.  We'll choose the winners after midnight EST Friday, Jan 31st.

So grab a glass of champagne and review the year in CLIND with us!

CHICK LIT IS NOT DEAD PRESENTS: LIZ & LISA'S BEST OF CLIND 2010

1. Mommy Monday: Till Death Do Us Part When Liz's beloved German Shepard was diagnosed with cancer, she struggled with how to explain death to her kids without scaring them to, well, death! And when she passed away a few months later, Liz considered this post as her swan song to her.

2. The Bride Card by Lisa- Lisa's wedding in February was a shining moment for both us in 2010.  And because Lisa AND Liz had so much fun playin' that Bride Card during (before and after!) Lisa's wedding, we had to choose this post.

3. Maternity Monday: Open Letter to the Third Trimester We're happy that Lisa's struggles with the last trimester of her pregnancy (heartburn!  Waddling like a duck!) made y'all LOL a bit.  And Liz was just happy that she finally understands why she was so cranky during her third trimester!

4. Mommy Monday: Mommy is Tired! When Liz sat down that Sunday to write her Mommy Monday, she was so tired that she could barley lift her fingers to the keyboard.  In fact, she couldn't think of anything else except how damn tired and cranky she felt.  So she did the only thing she could-she wrote a post about it!  And she was overwhelmed by the support it received from other Moms were also so f*cking tired they couldn't see straight.

5. Writing Wednesday: Does this manuscript make my ass look fat? We can't remember which rejection letter sent us over the edge, but we're so happy it did because we finally realized that our manuscript might be giving us camel toe... We had a blast writing this one.

As much fun as we had writing these posts in 2010, we can't wait for 2011!  We've got some exciting things planned for our 2nd anniversary and as always, we'll be bringing you the very best authors and books.  Oh, and we'll still be ROCKING the giveaways too!

So cheers to all of you-because without you guys, we'd just be two girls talking to ourselves.  Happy New Year-we love you guys!

xoxo, L&L

Lit IT Girl: Debut Author Giulia Melucci

You know we love a good memoir.  And we've had plenty of great ones on the site this year!  So when we came across Giulia Melucci's I Loved, I Lost, I Made Spaghetti: A Memoir of Good Food and Bad Boyfriends, we knew we HAD to read it. and after we read it, we knew we HAD to crown Giulia as the next Lit IT Girl.

When Giulia moved out of her family's Brooklyn home, she dreamed of finding the perfect guy-but fresh ingredients proved scarce.  After years of dating, she found herself with a heap of tempting recipes she used to both seduce her men and console herself when the relationships ended. From an affectionate alcoholic, to the classic New York City commitment-phobe, to a hipster aged past his sell date, and not one, but two novelists with Peter Pan complexes, Giulia has cooked for them all. She suffers each disappointment with resolute cheer (after a few tears) and a bowl of pastina and has lived to tell the tale so that other women may go out, hopefully with greater success, and if that’s not possible, at least have something good to eat.

You'll love Giulia's hilarious commentary and your mouth will water as she prepares each recipe. (She even includes them for you to try yourself!)  Fun and heartwarming, we think y'all will enjoy this delicious memoir.

And we've got FIVE copies to give away!  You know what to do-leave a comment and we'll choose the winners on Sunday night after 6pm PST.

CHICK LIT IS NOT DEAD PRESENTS: LIT IT GIRL: GIULIA MELUCCI

1.  How many agents did you query before you found "the one"? I was turned down by three; the fourth was the charm. The one who took me on was perfect, and all those others would have been wrong. Just like all the men who turned me down were all wrong for me and the one I’m with is just right.

2.  What was your rock bottom moment during the process? Getting rejected by agents was discouraging, but not for long. I believed in my project and I knew the right one would come along. (Again, like love, because everything is like love.) I found having the book out more painful than the business part and the writing part. Then it was just out there and there was nothing I could do for it. Lots of people liked it; a few did not. It was out of my hands, my baby had flown the coop. I had a hard time letting go. I became obsessed with checking my Amazon numbers. I did all the things you shouldn’t do.

3. How long did it take to write your book? It was a year of writing and a month of recipe testing. I had lots of dinner parties that month.

4.  What did you do to celebrate your book deal? I think I went home and cleaned the kitchen the night it happened. Though a couple of nights later I had planned a party for work friend who was moving to Hawaii. I expanded that event into a little fete for me too. I celebrated with my friends from Harper’s Magazine, where I had been working when it all went down.

5.  Knowing what you know now about publishing your first novel, what would you have done differently? I knew plenty about publishing already, having worked in the business for nearly 20 years, still, that didn’t stop me from having huge expectations. I thought I was above all that but I was not. I was very happy with the amount of attention my book got. But I was certain it would coast on the New York Times Best Seller list for months. It did not. That was disappointing. Still, I can’t say I wish I had lower expectations. I’m happy that I had the biggest dreams for my book. If I wasn’t going to, who would?

6.  Who is your writer crush? Rob Sheffield, who wrote Love is A Mix Tape and Talking to Girls About Duran Duran. There was a piece about him in the New York Times “Beliefs” column a couple of weeks ago. It was about his Catholicism and it mentioned he was looking for a church in Brooklyn. I wrote right away to tell him about my fabulous Brooklyn church. He hasn’t written back yet. Maybe he thinks I’m stalking him. “Rob, I’m very much in love with my boyfriend. I only worry for your soul!”

7.  What's your biggest distraction or vice while writing? I do not shut down the internet. I go back and forth from the page, to my mail, Facebook, Twitter. Oh, and I need regular snacks.

8.  GNO drink of choice? Wine, red or white depending on my mood, the weather, and the menu.

9.  Favorite trashy TV show? GOSSIP GIRL!

10.  What celeb would you love to have a Twitter war with? Make Twitter love, not Twitter war. That’s what I always say.

Thanks Giulia!  xo, L&L

To read more about the fabulous Guilia, head on over to her website or find her on Facebook and Twitter.

What's on Kim Gruenenfelder's Bucket List?

Even though we absolutely believe Chick Lit is not Dead, we've featured all kinds of fiction this past year.  Everything from memoirs to YA to non-fiction.  Because we know that like us, y'all just like to read something great, no matter what the genre.  But that being said, we still get a little flutter in our stomachs when we find really great Chick Lit. Because sometimes our brains need a fantastic vacation from all the other sh*t we've got going on! And Kim Gruenenfelder's latest, There's Cake in My Future is a perfect escape from whateveh you've got going on.  And Liz loved it so much that she gave them a blurb. Her first blurb EVEH!  And you know what they say, you never forget your first....

Want to hear what she thought?

"A delightfully witty story about friendship and love, There's Cake in My Future sparkles from start to finish!"

After listening to her closest friends’ latest travails in love, parenting, and careers, superstitious bride-to-be Nicole believes she has the perfect recipe for everyone’s happiness: a bridal shower “cake pull” in which each ribboned silver charm planted in her cake will bring its recipient the magical assistance she needs to change her destiny.  Melissa, still ringless after dating the same man for six years, deserves the engagement ring charm.  The red hot chili pepper would be perfect for Seema, who is in love with her best male friend Scott, but can’t seem to make their relationship more than platonic.  And recently laid off journalist Nic wants the shovel, which symbolizes hard work, to help her get her career back on track.  Nic does everything she can to control who gets which silver keepsake – as well as the future it represents.  But when the charmed cake is mysteriously shifted from the place settings Nic arranged around it, no one gets the charm she chose for them. And when the other party guests’ fortunes begin coming true, Mel, Seema, and Nic can’t help but wonder…. Is the cake trying to tell them something?

We loved it and we think that you will too-it really is a fun read with a lot of heart.  And Target agreed-they've named it as a "Breakout Book of the Month" for January. It comes out tomorrow, Tuesday December 21st, and you can click here to pre-order it!  Also be sure to check out Kim's other two hilarious novels, A Total Waste of Makeup and Misery Loves Cabernet.

And we've got FIVE copies to give to you!  Just leave a comment here and you'll be entered to win.  We'll choose the winners after 6pm PST on Wednesday night.

CHICK LIT IS NOT DEAD PRESENTS: WHAT'S ON KIM GRUENENFELDER'S BUCKET LIST?

I want to just preface this by saying I have dreams of donating a million dollars to a charter school or winning an Academy Award, but these are the goals I feel like I have some control over.

1.  Kiss my husband under the Eiffel Tower: Both my husband Brian and I have been to Paris, but never with each other. One of these days…..

2.  Travel somewhere exotic with friends and family: My husband, son and I have been to Hawaii and Disney World with my sister and her kids, Mexico with my son’s best friend from preschool and her family, and even run into my son’s favorite girl from elementary school on a beach in Kaanapali (3,000 miles away, in Maui.) I love traveling with people with kids – oddly enough, to me it makes the trip more relaxing. I would love to go to Ireland or Italy with any of these families.

3. Share a bottle of Cristal with my husband: My voice sounds like one of the little green Martians from Toy Story when I say, “Pretty gold bottle….oooooohhhhh…..” I have been lucky enough to have enjoyed very nice champagne over the years, but this bottle has eluded me.

4. Bora Bora in 2020: In September of 2020, my son will go college, and I plan to be suffering from Empty Nest Syndrome. Depending on the day, the thought of it either breaks my heart and threatens to send me into the arms of a bottle of cabernet – or makes my mouth water at the thought that there might be a light at the end of this parenting tunnel. No matter how I feel that week, I am going to be lounging around an overwater bungalow, watching fish swim under the glass coffee table.

5. Dogsledding: I love snow – since I don’t live anywhere near it. I love dogs – since I don’t live with one. I hate camping. Naturally, I want to combine the three. This is the trip I talk about every winter, and dream about every summer. One day, my family will relent and go, and it will be a disaster. I can’t wait!

Thanks Kim! xoxo, L&L

To read more about Kim, head on over to her website, like her on Facebook follow her on Twitter.

Liz & Lisa’s Favorite Things Holiday Giveaway: The Winners!

*Liz & Lisa step up to podium, clear throats and fight over who gets to give the speech*

And Liz wins because she's a helluva better public speaker than Lisa!

2010 has been an amazing year for Chick Lit Is Not Dead and we owe it all to YOU. A huge THANK YOU and XOXO to each and every one of you who read our blog posts, leave comments and continue to support us each and every day. As we head into 2011, (how has it been another year already?) we are amazed at how far we've come. We've been "liked" by 4,100 people on our Facebook page (again- thanks to YOU for promoting our contests and supporting us day in and day out!) and have so many of our favorite authors on the site(many of whom supported our Liz & Lisa's Favorite Things Holiday Giveaway- (Big, fat sloppy kisses to all of you who did!) and finished our manuscript, The D Word that we know will find a home very soon!

Next year, we'll be celebrating the two-year anniversary of CLIND- so be on the look out for more big surprises in early February!

But let's be real. We know you're here to read about who's taking home the fabuloso prizes from Liz & Lisa's Favorite Things Holiday Giveaway contest.  So can we have a drum roll please? And maybe the Black Eyed Peas can perform like they did on the Oprah's Favorite things show? Or at the very least, can someone pretend we need the paramedics we have standing by?!

The randomly selected winners of Liz & Lisa's Favorite Things Holiday Giveaway are......

1. Taking home the Blackerry Curve 3G Smartphone is....Amber M! (Whisperingwriter.blogspot.com) (princess543@yahoo.com) *cheers* *applause*

2. The proud new owner of the Sony e-Reader pocket edition is...Michelle (Scott2appy@aol.com) *Woo hoo* *Yee haw*

3. Collecting the fabulous DXG Kensington high-def video camcorder is...Megan (ww.wannabe@yahoo.com) *standing ovation* *screaming*

4. About to indulge in Hollybeth's Organic Skincare basket is...Jessica T (Jaitee00@hotmail.com) *woot* *woot*

5. About to slip on a pair of Ann Roth's designer shoes is...Claire Cook! (Claire@Clairecook.com) *whistles* *cheers*

6. The winner of the McCall Wilder Holiday Dress for a little girl is... Nancy R! (ncroessner@comcast.net) *yelling* *screaming*

7. The recipient of the Tikatok gift card is...Franni V! (www.artfire.com/users/auntifranni) *applause* *jumping up and down*

8. The person about to devour the Crumbs Holiday Collection Taste Pack is...Melodie B! (melodiebooton@gmail.com) *cheers* *clinks glass*

9. And last, but not least, the person about to get some serious reading in, the winner of the Basket of Books is...Amanda W! (amandarwest@gmail.com) *dances around* *cries*

CONGRATULATIONS everyone! And THANK YOU to everyone who participated in the contest and to those of you who referred multiple people to our site! And THANKS to all of the authors featured in the Basket of Books, Blackberry, Mc Call Wilder Designs, HollyBeth's Sony Electronics, Crumbs Bake shop, Ann Roth Shoes DXG Video Cameras & Tikatok!

XOXO, Happy Holidays & Happy New Year!

Liz & Lisa

What’s on Stacey Ballis’s Bucket List?

Can you believe it's almost Christmas?  Time has just flown by this year.  And one thing we've noticed?  So many fabulous books this year about food. (Maybe we're all looking for a little comfort?) Some of our fave books this year have made us hungry-books by Melissa Senate, Jenny Nelson and Jennifer Ross.  And now we have another book about food that we adore: Good Enough To Eat by Stacey Ballis.  And we're ecstatic that she's sharing her bucket list with us too! Former lawyer Melanie Hoffman lost half her body weight and opened a gourmet take-out cafe specializing in health and delicious food.  then her husband left her for a woman twice her size. When she's blinded by a financial crisis, Melanie reaches out to a quirky roomate with tons of baggage and becomes involved in a budding romance with a local documentary film maker. 

Soon Melanie realizes that her weight loss was just the beginning of an amazing journey that will transform her life from the inside out.  With relatable characters and genuine warmth, we think you'll find Good Enough To Eat as delicious as we did-it would make a wonderful Christmas gift for that hard-to-buy-for girl on your list!

And we have FIVE copies to give away to you!  Just leave a comment and you'll be entered to win!  We'll choose the winners after Friday at 6pm PST.

And we have a feeling Stacey's bucket list will have you running out to get your own copy of Good Enough to Eat.  Read on to see why we heart her!

CHICK LIT IS NOT DEAD PRESENTS: WHAT'S ON STACEY BALLIS'S BUCKET LIST?

I’m really very lucky, especially since the things that has topped this list for the past decade were to find and fall in love with the man I am supposed to spend the rest of my life with, but last year he finally showed up, so I got to bump these up to the top!

 1.  Make my agent a very wealthy man.  It’s rude to wish for such things for oneself, you know, but if I am making him rich, I am also doing okay work-wise.

2.  Publish a cookbook.    Not a purely recipe book, but a really lovely book of stories and anecdotes and entertaining tricks and tips with plenty of gorgeous photos and recipes.  There are 40 pages of recipes in the back of my new book Good Enough to Eat, but that has only whetted my appetite for a real cookbook project.

3.  Get to my top five travel destinations.  I have long wanted to see Prague, Barcelona, Casablanca, Venice, and Berlin.  Lucky for me, they are all on my boyfriend’s list too, so hopefully we will  make time to go there together.

4.   Start playing music again.  I played trumpet, mostly jazz, for about fifteen years, but put the horn down during grad school and never picked it back up.  Not sure if I want to start back with the trumpet or try a whole new instrument, but it would be great to get back into music. 

5.  Own my building.  I have lived in my apartment for 17 years.  The building is a wonderful 1906 Victorian Greystone with three units.  My landlord and I have an agreement, when he is ready to let go of the building, he will sell it to me.  I am very patient, and don’t care when it happens, I just can’t wait for the day it is mine….especially since once I own it, then I can do some of the home improvement projects not possible as a renter. 

Thanks Stacey!  xo, L&L

To read more about Stacey's five novels, head on over to her website or her blog.  Or you can find her on Facebook and Twitter too!

Also, there’s still time to leave a comment here  to be entered in Liz & Lisa’s Favorite Holiday Things giveaway for your chance to win a Blackberry Curve, A Sony eReader and so much more! And don’t forget to “like” our Facebook page too!  It ends this Friday so don't wait!

Maternity Monday: Prego meltdowns-the best of 2010

So...blame it on prego brain or call it revisionist history, but I can't remember what my personality was like before I got pregnant.  Although I'm pretty sure I wasn't that emotional. Didn't cry that much. Didn't get that angry. Definitely didn't have that many meltdowns! Dare I go so far as to describe my pre-prego self as mostly calm, cool and collected? I mean, don't get me wrong, I definitely had my moments. But since becoming pregnant, woah, child! I've learned that I have the capacity to be one freakin' hot mess prego.

So in honor of my third trimester, here are three prego meltdowns that I'm not particularly proud of (in no particular order):

The Delivery Boy Destruction: Don't mess with a hungry prego!

I'd like to preface this by saying: Dear Mr. delivery guy of sub sandwich shop that shall remain nameless, if you are out there, I am very sorry for what you had to go through and if I could take it back, I would... Long story short, forty-five minutes after placing my order for a veggie sub, this hungry prego was pacing on her front porch, frantically searching for the headlights of the delivery truck. By the time the sub sandwich showed up (it took an hour and 15 minutes!), I'd officially lost my mind. Eyes bulging, hormones raging, face beat red, I called the manager from the delivery guy's phone and argued that he should give the sub to me for free. The manager said no so I held the delivery guy's phone hostage and said I wouldn't return it until he gave me my free sub. The poor guy just stared at me as if he was witnessing an exorcism. As my head spun around on my neck, I had visions of grabbing the sub, locking my front door and eating the sandwich in a heated rush before the prego police showed up to revoke my prego card and throw me in the loony bin. The hubs gently grabbed the delivery guy's phone from my hand and sent him on his way with the sub. As I watched the delivery truck disappear down the street and big wet tears fell down my cheeks, I knew it was one of the lowest points of my prego career.

Mint Chip Meltdown: Don't ef with a prego's cravings

Let's just say that since I've been with child, I've been rather territorial about certain food. And when the hubs polished off the last few spoonfuls of my beloved mint chip ice cream, you would've thought he'd told me I looked fat in my maternity pants. As I clutched the empty Breyer's ice cream container for dear life and thought about licking the remaining mint chip clumps off the lid, I began sobbing hysterically. Hubs offered to go to the store and get more but I stomped out of the kitchen like a five-year-old child throwing a temper tantrum and refused to let him go. I knew I was being ridiculous but I couldn't stop myself or the tears from flowing. I cried myself to sleep, wondering if the hubs would still love me in the morning. (He did.)

Christmas Card Catastrophe: humor the prego's neuroses

It was a few weeks before Thanksgiving. And you'd think I would've been worried about the fifteen family members I was having over, who was making the stuffing or if the turkey was going to be large enough for me (and everyone else). Nope. I was obsessing about our Christmas cards. I was nearly eight months pregnant and it dawned on me that if I gave birth a few weeks early, I'd *gasp*, never get my holiday cards out on time.  I knew I couldn't sleep that night until the cards were handled. As I hopped on Shutterfly and began desperately uploading photos and arranging them in the holiday card template, all hubs could do was roll his eyes.  He tried to be the voice of reason, explaining that we had plenty of time, but I couldn't stop. I was like a mad woman, determined to get the cards out not one minute later than December 1. And I made it! Well, until I came up 25 cards short and had to do a re-order. And we won't even get into what my mood was after that. *I'm sure you can take an educated guess*

xoxo,

Lisa, a.k.a, "hot mess prego"

Breaking and Entering by Liz

That Monday started out like any other day.  My daughter and I ran out to run a few errands for an hour.  I was sipping on my green iced tea from Starbucks.   I thought about sneaking over to buy that cute scarf I had been eyeing at Loehmanns.   But then I came home.

It took a minute to process the empty space where our TV used to sit and the broken pieces of my side door sitting on the floor. And as I grabbed my daughter by the hand and ran back into the garage and into the safety of my car, I just couldn’t get over the fact that we had been robbed.  That shit only happened to other people, right?

Later, as we walked through and took inventory of our house, I mentally took an inventory of my feelings.  Knowing that someone had been watching, waiting for us to leave left me speechless.  The fact that they had taken my beloved Macbook and every piece of jewelry that I owned besides the wedding ring I had been wearing seemed like a side note.  Because in reality, they had taken so much more. 

They had stolen my sense of well-being in a neighborhood I had felt safe in for years.  There were a ton of things I could have done to make their job so much harder. But my misguided belief that those types of things didn’t happen in my community basically handed them my belongings on a silver platter. 

After that day, the world looked a little different.  The dark corners seemed a bit scarier, the noises that went bump in the night felt a bit louder.  It reminded me of the time right after I had my daughter, when all the many things in the world I had to protect her from overwhelmed and terrified me.  I felt pangs of that same fear now.

But like with all bad things that happen, a silver lining appears if you’re willing to look for it. Like the fact that I’m highly allergic to almost all of my jewelry and wasn’t able to wear it anyway. And after the break-in, the hubs gave the green light on getting a big ass dog, something I had been begging for. (Although this wasn’t how I planned to get my way! I swear!)

 And from the moment we found Sasha at the shelter and brought her home, we were in love with her.   And we thought she loved us too. 

 Until that bitch ran away. 

She ran past me like a bolt of lightning when I opened the door and took off immediately to the busiest road (of course!), where one step off the sidewak would turn her into doggy kibble. 

 I dropped my purse and phone in the driveway and sprinted after her in my paper flip-flops(I had just come from a man-pedi with extra massage!) About a half-mile into my chase, I ditched those shitty paper shoes and started running barefoot.  But it was to no avail.  She wouldn’t come to me, and now that I was aware that I lived in the kind of neighborhood that gets robbed, I knew I had better hightail it back to my Loius Vuitton pronto. 

So my out-of-shape ass sprinted Amazing Race style all the way back.  Tears in my eyes, I grabbed my purse and keys.  How the f*ck was I going to explain to the kids that Mommy lost the dog?  The only damn dog we had looked at that hadn't thought the kids were Scooby snacks?  How were we going to find another one? And what the hell was wrong with her anyway?  I bought that bitch a seventy dollar bed and massaged her paws! So now a homeless rescue dog was too good for us?  WTF? And why hadn’t I started that P90x I bought from that creepy guy on Craig’s List last month?  I was heaving  and coughing like I was about to have a heart attack. (And I have the broken blood vessel in my eye to prove it!)

 I had told myself that I wouldn’t let the robbery make me feel like everything was going wrong, but this whole dog breakout thing was going to seriously hamper those efforts.

 I began to back out the driveway, ready to comb the neighborhood. I still had a few hours to find her before the kids got home.  Then I heard a honk and saw a car pull up behind me.  Jumping out, I immediately saw Sasha smiling in the backseat.  The sight of me chasing my dog down the street in paper shoes had compelled this woman, this angel, to stop what she was doing and follow us.  When I gave up and turned back to get my car, she continued following Sasha until she could coax her into the car.  This time, being watched and followed had been a blessing.  I don’t know what I more thankful for: the fact that she had brought the dog we had fallen in love with home or that this one act of kindness made the world look bright again.

 The moral of my story?  The next time you have a chance to help someone out-do it.  You have no idea the incredible impact your one small act can have on another.  Oh, and use your deadbolt! I wish I had.

Also, there's still plenty of time to leave a comment here  to be entered in Liz & Lisa's Favorite Holiday Things giveaway for your chance to win a Blackberry Curve, A Sony eReader and so much more! And don't forget to "like" our Facebook page too!

xoxo, Liz

What's on Tori Spelling's Bucket List?

Since the days of 90210 (the original, not the copy!) we've been fans of Tori Spelling.  She was Donna Martin, need we say more? And now that we're all grown up (well...sort of!) we have a new appreciation for her as an author. First there the New York Times bestseller,  sTORI telling which we gobbled up with a spoon (loved the inside scoop on Shannen Doherty and tales from the set of 90210) then there was Mommywood (which also topped the NYT bestseller list) and now there's her latest, Uncharted TerriTori. In Uncharted TerriTori, Tori is again incredibly open and candid as she writes about everything from media scrutiny over her weight and marriage to Dean McDermott to her controversial relationship with Dean's ex-wife to her unfolding reconciliation with her mother, Candy Spelling. And we loved every single page.

And you can win ONE of FOUR copies of Uncharted TerriTori by simply leaving a comment on this post. And on Friday, we'll randomly select the winners! Good luck!

And now CHICK LIT IS NOT DEAD PRESENTS...WHAT'S ON TORI SPELLING'S BUCKET LIST?

1. Go for sushi in Japan

2. Go antique shopping in throughout France

3. Own a farm

4. Go to Bali with Dean

5. Take the kids on a safari

To find out more about Tori Spelling, follow her on Twitter. And if you haven't already, be sure to check out her reality show Tori & Dean: Home Sweet Hollywood.

Thanks, Tori!

xoxo,

Liz & Lisa