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Nobody’s Cuter Than You – Now in a bookstore near you or online near you

Well.

It’s weird how you have a date marked on your calendar for so long and it seems so far away and WAY IN THE FUTURE and then all of sudden it’s here.

That’s April 7th for me. Which is today in case you aren’t clear.

This is the day that my third book, Nobody’s Cuter Than You, is officially out in the world and I’ve had it circled on my calendar for almost a year. Actually, I don’t have a paper calendar anymore so I’ve just had it on my iPhone calendar which is the 2015 version of having it circled on your calendar.

And in case you’re in any of these areas, here are some places where I’ll be signing books in the next few days and weeks:

Wednesday, April 8th – Barnes & Noble San Pedro in San Antonio at 6:30 p.m.
Thursday, April 9th – Barnes & Noble Lincoln Park in Dallas at 7:00 p.m.
Saturday, April 11th – Walmart at 1604 & 281 in San Antonio at 2:00 p.m.
Saturday, April 18th – Barnes & Noble River Oaks in Houston at 7:00 p.m.

I know I’ve talked about the book a little bit but here’s the story. This wasn’t the original book I was going to write last year at this time, but I knew it was a book I wanted to write eventually. And then I flew to Chicago to meet with my publishers and we agreed I should go ahead and scrap the original plan to write a book about friendship instead. All of a sudden I went from extreme writer’s block and massive anxiety to having a million ideas all at once because, while I don’t have it together in many areas of my life, I am surrounded by good friends who have taught me what it means to be a good friend.

The title comes from something Gulley and I say to each other when we’re having a bad day. It doesn’t matter if it’s true or not, but it’s just become our shorthand way of saying, “I’m your biggest fan” and there are all days when we need our biggest fan to make us feel better about ourselves and life and all that goes with those things.

(I also briefly debated calling it “Chicken In The Bed” which is another thing Gulley and I say to specify a day that would be nice to sit around and do nothing together, but that title doesn’t exactly suggest a book about friends as much as life on a poultry farm.)

Anyway, what I’m trying to say is God knew that this was the book for this moment in time and directed this path. When I began to write it a year ago, I had no idea what the next twelve months would hold. I didn’t know that one of my dearest friends, Jen, would be fighting cancer again or that we were going to lose Gulley’s grandmother, Nena, who meant so much to us all. I couldn’t have known what it would mean to me on the other side of turning in this manuscript to have spent all those months looking through old photo albums and retracing the lines and history of friendships that mean more than the world to me. And in the end, to have something tangible to let these girls in my life know that in so many ways they saved me and continue to be my sanity and bring more joy to my life than I could ever convey.

I am seriously sitting here with tears running down my face because there is nothing like a book release to put you on an emotional roller coaster and this one is just so dear to me. And, ultimately, I hope that you read it and it makes you hold your friends just a little bit tighter. Life can get so busy and throw us all in so many different directions, but there are times we just need to remember what a gift we have in our girlfriends. They are the ones who know us, love us, encourage us and challenge us.

I’ve already received so many emails from women who have bought it to give to their bridesmaids or to send to several of their best friends or to read for their next book club and I hope that continues. That in some way it inspires us all to love our people fiercely, which may be a lofty goal for a book where I tell the story about the time I left Gulley to sleep in the lobby of a hospital in downtown San Antonio for hours and then pretended I didn’t know who she was.

I thought I’d share a little excerpt. The pictures aren’t included in the book, but they make me so happy.

“I’d found something deeper than what I always thought I wanted, because God knew what I really needed: friends who carved out a permanent place in my heart. And those friends ultimately helped me find my way back to the God I’d left behind all those years before. He knit my heart together with the people he knew would hold my hands as I walked the path of the Prodigal Son.

Each of them brought out something in me that I couldn’t have found alone and taught me what it means to be a friend who shows up, wipes tears, laughs hysterically, cooks a meal, and eats raw cookie dough right out of the bowl. They taught me that friends share their clothes, their hearts, their dreams, and their study notes.

Friends give grace, advice, fashion tips, a shoulder to cry on, and some of the best memories a girl could ever want. A real friend will help you push your car across a busy intersection when it stalls, pull you out of a trash can when you fall in, listen to you analyze the same situation over and over again, speak the truth even when it hurts, help you find your way when you’re lost, and hold your hand when you have to say a final good-bye to someone you love.

It turned out that my soul mate wasn’t just one guy, but these girls who are some of the greatest loves of my life. There is rarely any other time in your life when you’re given the gift of living day in and day out with people who ultimately become your family.

If I had grasped that then, I would have cherished it even more and maybe looked into staying in College Station for enough years to earn a doctorate in something. My time in college and these people whom God placed in my life had healed what was broken in me, and it broke my heart to say good-bye to them.”

(That last picture was when my Tiff got married and I think our hairdresser was like Annelle from Steel Magnolias and her work tended to get a little poufy when she got nervous. The good news is the hair helped balance out those sleeves. Bless.)

And our friendship has remained. From the days of hot rollers and all getting ready at Gulley’s mom’s house.

to days of unfortunate hats and big perms

from Harley-Davidson costume parties

through graduations

to rehearsal dinners and weddings

(I can’t talk about that vest. I just don’t know.)

to having babies

We have loved and laughed and fought for our friendship.

I so hope that you love this book. And I’m so excited that it’s officially available today.

You can download it on your Nook or your Kindle or whatever. Or you can walk in a Barnes & Noble or a Walmart and buy a real copy. Or you can order it online from any of the retailers you see on that fancy thing below. Just click on whichever one you prefer and it will take you directly to the site.

I will never be able to thank you or even find the right words to say how much I appreciate the way you cheer me on and encourage me. Thank you in advance for buying the book and spreading the word. If you need anything to pin or tweet or broadcast live on network television, you can find it on the official Nobody’s Cuter Than You book page. Truly, nobody is cuter than y’all.

And just in case you haven’t seen the trailer, these are many of your sweet faces. I love every minute of seeing all the friendships this represents.
An Easter recap and a podcast

I hope you all had a great Easter weekend. My only complaint is that it went by too fast. I could use about two more weeks of downtime but, considering that I have a new book that releases TOMORROW, that doesn’t appear to be a reality in my near future.

On Friday morning, we got up and relaxed a little bit before we got Caroline ready to head to Austin for her best friend’s birthday party. They were going to iFly which is an indoor skydiving type place and she’s been super excited about ever since last year when she had to miss the exact same outing because she came down with a stomach bug the night before. And you know what isn’t a great activity post-stomach bug? Indoor sky-diving.

As soon as they picked Caroline up, I started cleaning the house a little bit and may have watched an episode or two of Friday Night Lights and then eventually got out to run some errands. Specifically, I needed to find Caroline some sandals to wear on Easter. Which is how I ended up needing to return five pairs of sandals on Saturday afternoon.

I also took advantage of the quiet house to record a new podcast with Sophie. As usual we discussed new beauty treatments including using frankincense as in the three wise men brought baby Jesus, mascara, the resurgence of cauliflower and flare jeans.

You can click here to listen. Or here. You can even listen right here.

Or, as always, you can subscribe on iTunes

We picked up Mexican food on Friday night because we didn’t feel like getting out and then on Saturday morning P loaded up the dogs and he and Caroline picked up her friend and they headed to the ranch for a day of fishing and just hanging out. R had never fished before so she was super pleased with her big catch of the day.

Meanwhile, I ran to the grocery store and got things ready here for Easter brunch on Sunday. And I also may have watched a couple of more episodes of Friday Night Lights.

They got home later that evening and picked up dinner on their way into town. Then, after dinner, we all dyed some Easter eggs.

It’s safe to say that our efforts wouldn’t win any contests or be anything people would pin on Pinterest, but we had fun and managed to not ruin the countertops with Easter egg dye so that felt like a win. At one point I told Caroline we needed more pink eggs and she said, “You’ve gotta let the creativity flow, man” in a voice that indicated she stopped just shy of giving me a peace sign.

On Sunday morning we woke up to see what the Easter bunny brought. And Mabel helped herself to a few leftover carrots that the bunny had left behind. She also tried to get a chocolate egg, but we caught her just in time.

The Easter bunny also brought everything in a large bag this year because I might have been overzealous during a clean out earlier this year and thrown out all our Easter baskets. So the bunny had to run to Michael’s to choose from what was left in the way of baskets at 5:00 p.m. on Saturday evening.

(This is also when I made one last trip into Nordstrom Rack to see if I could find a shirt for P. I found one that was hot pink and white gingham but just didn’t know if he’d wear it. Fortunately, he texted me from the ranch right about that time and so I sent him a picture and asked if he’d wear it. He immediately texted back “yes” with no sarcastic comment included and, while I was surprised, I took it at face value. Of course later that night when I showed him the shirt in person, he admitted he’d thought it was red but agreed to wear it anyway.)

Anyway, we went to church and then came home and my sister and her family and Mimi and Bops all came over for Easter brunch.

Please note that Caroline started off in the sixth pair of sandals I brought home. They made it through church and a few photos but were immediately switched out for her high-top Converse in time for the Easter egg hunt.

Because sometimes a girl needs to be able to run without being hindered by a sandal.

Especially when there’s chocolate at stake.

Hope you all had a great Easter! I’ll be back tomorrow with all manner of book release day excitement and giveaways!
Fashion Thursday: Edition Happy Easter

This will be my last post of the week because I’m going to be busy enjoying Easter with my people. But I wanted to leave you with this song which has been one of my favorites all year long. It is especially appropriate in light of Easter.

And on a more shallow note:

1. embroidered linen crops

I tried these on in Anthropologie yesterday and I can’t even tell you how great they are. Super soft and so flattering but with the best detail on the side that takes them up a notch. You could wear these all summer long. In fact, I’m already regretting that I didn’t go ahead and buy them.

2. astro espadrille sandal

I did, however, buy these. I’ve been on a long, painful search for a black wedge sandal and after kissing a lot of shoe frogs, I tried these on and fell in love.

They also come in nude, orange, turquoise and white to cover all your shoe color needs.

3. rae pintuck tunic

I love navy with white in the summer and this tunic would be perfect with white skinny jeans. It also comes in white which would look great with just about anything.

4. geo what fun dress

I love a dress that’s easy to throw on in the summer. This fits the bill and I really like the colors and the print.

5. sleeveless embroidered tunic

I saw this in Free People and it is so pretty. I have no need for something else like this in my closet but this makes me wish I did.

6. j. crew classic chambray shirt

You can’t go wrong with a simple chambray shirt. It’s the perfect neutral to wear with blue jeans or white jeans or pink jeans or shorts or a great skirt. You can throw it on unbuttoned over a tank, wear it by itself or tie it at the waist with your favorite maxi skirt.

7. j.crew denim roll up shorts in white

I forgot to upload the photo of these and now I don’t want to mess with it. So I’ll just tell you that these are white denim shorts with a cuff. I ordered a pair for myself a few weeks ago and I love them. They fit true to size and can be rolled up or down depending on how short or long you like your shorts.

8. free as can be tunic in lemon

Another thing that would be great with white skinny jeans. Love the bright yellow and I can totally envision this paired with turquoise jewelry.

9. gap girlfriend jeans

I have searched high and low and have decided these are the best white jeans out there. They have a great fit that’s comfortable and flattering all at the same time. You can dress them up or down depending on your jeans need.

10. ingrid & isabel maternity wrap dress

So many of you have asked about maternity wear and that ship sailed for me almost twelve years ago. I will tell you that my maternity wardrobe consisted of a few maternity shirts from Target and Old Navy, some Gap maternity jeans that I nearly wore out and one black pantsuit that I wore to work almost every day throughout the entire summer. I think you’ll understand why I just threw it away after Caroline was born.

But I think you can’t go wrong with a wrap dress. They’re universally flattering, comfortable and can be dressed up or down depending on your needs. Black is my personal favorite, but it also comes in berry, metal and navy.

That’s it for today.

I wish you all the happiest Easter filled with the love and peace of Christ.
Some Wednesday things

Here’s what you need to know about my day yesterday. I spilled almost an entire large bottle of water in the bottom of my purse because I didn’t put the lid on right. I literally had to turn my purse upside down in the Target parking lot to pour water out of it.

I was as happy about this as you would expect.

It is currently sitting turned inside out in the hopes it will return to some semblance of its former non-soaked state.

On a different, happier note, Jen was successful in getting her chemo rescheduled and will be able to come to San Antonio for my first book signing next Wednesday, April 8th. I am so thrilled.

And speaking of that book signing, it’s at Barnes & Noble San Pedro across from North Star Mall starting at 6:30. And I’m super excited because B&N is donating a percentage of profits from all sales that night to S.A. Reads which is a reading program designed to have at-risk students reading on par with their peers by the end of 3rd grade through their participation in a tutoring program. They also run one of the biggest book banks in South Texas, donating thousands of books each year to underprivileged children in Bexar County. If you’d like more information about them, feel free to visit their website at sareads.org.

But, most importantly, today is a big day for my dear friend Angie Smith. Her very first Bible study releases today. It’s called Seamless and it’s a seven session study that is designed to help you develop a great understanding of the entire story of Scripture and the themes, places and promises in the Bible that run from the beginning through the end.

(I won’t even tell you how old I was when I realized that the Bible really tells one long story, but the answer might rhyme with “schmirty”.)

The thing I love about Angie is that she has one of the best hearts of anyone I know and she seeks Jesus in a way that is real and relatable and makes you want to listen when she speaks. She is also one of the funniest people I know although I’m not sure that quality necessarily relates to this Bible study, but I want you to know that because I so appreciate people that make me laugh out loud and she falls solely in that category.

If you’re part of a church group looking for a good Bible study for the summer or just want to get together and study scripture with a few girlfriends or neighbors, I have no doubt you will love Seamless.
Bad perms and good friends

Well, I had no idea there was going to be so much curiosity about my self-tanner so I feel like we should get that out of the way first. I am a big fan of Jergens natural glow lotion because it creates a gradual tan and is kind of idiot proof in terms of not ending up with streaks and white patches, plus it doesn’t smell bad.

And then for my face, I like Dr. Gross glow pads. It’s a small towelette that you just wipe on your face and neck for color. But I will tell you it can initially be a little bit darker than I prefer. I do better if I use it a day or two before I want to be my best self in terms of tan.

So there you have it. Those two products are the key to having some color even if you’re like me and spend most of your time avoiding the sun under a large hat or umbrella.

I have to be honest. Yesterday wasn’t my favorite day. The week or so before I have a new book coming out always feels a little more stressful and anxiety-inducing than a normal week, but there were just a lot of colliding things that made it all feel like too much.

But then Gulley called me on her way to work and told me about the speech Justin Timberlake gave at the iHeart Radio Awards on Sunday night and he talked about critics and even used a quote from Teddy Roosevelt that I’ve always loved. I shared it on my Facebook page, but I’ll share it here too because it’s so good.

Later on, after the day had really gone south, Jen copied me on a series of emails that she sent to her nurse asking if her chemo treatments can be rescheduled so she can make my book signings in San Antonio and Dallas next week.

And although I emailed her back to tell her this might not be the wisest course of action, I honestly could have cried my eyes out at the sweetness of it all. I feel like God has never been more faithful to remind me and continually show me what incredible people he has put in my life.

On Sunday Gulley and I looked through old pictures and after I saw Jen’s emails I immediately thought of some of the photos I’d just seen and all the history we have shared.

So much history, so many laughs, so much perm solution and so much love represented in those pictures. I’m so glad that I spent most of last year writing the stories of our friendship because I had no idea then what we’d be facing now.

Many of you have asked about Jen and how she’s doing which means so much to me. She shares the details better than I ever could on her blog, but the short version is she’s now been diagnosed with inflammatory breast cancer in addition to her existing cancer and they are taking her off her clinical trial and starting chemo next week. We would so appreciate your prayers, but she remains ever so Jen as evidenced by the request to delay chemo to attend my book signing.
In summary, shorts tan, soccer games and encyclopedias

My legs had their first outing of the year this weekend. Although I guess I don’t really mean my legs because my legs have gone everywhere with me all year long. I mean my legs in shorts. And so I apologize to anyone who was blinded by their whiteness. I’m a little behind on my self-tanning game because it stayed cool so much longer this year than it usually does and so I was a little unprepared for the warm temps this weekend.

But now I’m aware that the time for self-tanner has come, mainly because I also have my first shorts tan of the year which matches nicely with the sunburn I have just on my forearms thanks to the three-quarter sleeve shirt I wore with my shorts to Caroline’s soccer game on Saturday. It’s going to take some dedication to even this whole thing out.

Anyway, we had ourselves a nice little weekend around here. It began on Friday when P’s long-awaited dream of having radiant barrier paint sprayed in our attic was realized. Yes, that’s right. Men came and sprayed our attic with some sort of paint that is allegedly used in the space shuttle even though I guess not anymore since we aren’t sending any more people to the moon. That just means more radiant barrier paint is available for attics everywhere. I know this comes as a huge relief to us all.

P and Caroline went to watch the high school girls in a playoff soccer game that evening and we were all so wiped out from the week that I’m not sure we even stayed up until ten. It’s a good thing Friday Night Videos doesn’t exist anymore or I would have totally missed out on the new Madonna video.

We had a lazy Saturday morning before we headed out to Caroline’s soccer game. Every game she’d had up to this point this spring required me to wear my puffy coat and a scarf, so I was thrilled to sit out in the sunshine even though I’m out of sunshine practice which is how I made the rookie mistake of getting a terrible shorts tan. But the game itself was awesome. Caroline played her heart out and even scored the first goal. I attempted to take several pictures, but the sun was so bright that I couldn’t really tell what I was taking pictures of and so I basically ended up with fifteen pictures of girls on the team who aren’t my child and just one decent one of Caroline if you use the word “decent” loosely.

After the game we all came home and showered and then Caroline went to dinner with Mimi and Bops while P and I went out on a date. We tried a new Cajun place we’d been hearing about called The Cookhouse and we give it a thumbs up in case you’re looking for Cajun food in San Antonio. We had to sit at the bar because we didn’t make reservations, but had a great time and thought the food was really good.

Then on Sunday afternoon Caroline was working on some homework for school and you cannot even imagine the amount of grievances she was airing as she declared she had searched for the median household income for Japan on the internet and didn’t find ANYTHING. I finally had enough of it and said, “Just type that exact phrase into Google and a million things will come up. You have NO IDEA how easy you have it. When Dad and I were in school we’d have to get out the “J” Encyclopedia to look up Japan!”

We also had to walk barefoot to school. In the snow. Uphill. Both ways.

So this led to a whole discussion about what an encyclopedia even was and I had to explain it was a large set of books that we kept on our bookshelves next to our record albums and 8-track tapes.

Gulley called me a little bit later because I had plans to go over to her house and look through her old photo albums (Y’all. I can’t not even deal with how hard we laughed over some of these pictures. I’ll be sharing some in the next few days and weeks and I just ask that you keep in mind those were dark times when we all wore jeans way above our belly-buttons.) and I told her what I said to Caroline about the encyclopedias and she said, “YES! And we didn’t even have a set at my house so I had to go to Nena and Grandaddy’s to use theirs and they were so out of date!”

And that made me remember that the set I used up until I was in high school was the same set my Me-Ma and Pa-Pa bought for my dad. I couldn’t use them to write a report about the Vietnam War because it hadn’t even happened yet. And I couldn’t research John F. Kennedy’s assassination because according the encyclopedia he was a U.S. Senator.

So you know what I don’t want to hear from my kid who has access to all the information in the ENTIRE WORLD at her fingertips in a matter of seconds? That she can’t find the median household income of Japan.

It happens to be $25,600 in case you’re wondering.

Hope you had a great weekend!