I *Heart* Psych

I do. I love the USA Network's "Psych." Not only is it funny week after week, without getting old, but it seems to be the only show on television that can delay an inevitable romance season after season without resorting to cliches.

Seriously, that deserves a round of applause! Add that to the constant 80s references, their fun with pineapples, little insider digs and actors/producers fantastic, fluid chemistry, and I see several good seasons ahead.

I've been contemplating buying Season 1 so I can get friends hooked on this series and share little inside jokes so we can look like nerds together in public. And there's not excuse not to watch if you don't have cable, because the USA Network lets you watch online.

Hallelujah!

So, if there be any Psych fans among you already, can I get a "Hollah"? :) Let us not be alone in our love!

More Costco Nuggets...

It's been so long since I've posted about Costco wisdom bits that I almost don't know where to start... I guess with what sticks out the most (no pun intended... maybe):

• Skinny men with little pot bellies should not wear soccer shirts.
• I LOVE kids that look like little adults. You know what I'm talking about--those kids that, when you look at them, you can imagine EXACTLY what they'll look like in 10 or 20 years, and probably what field of work they'll be in. Tiny little accountants, restaurant managers, and CEOs just waiting to be old enough to be taken seriously. LOVE THEM!
• Some people just like to make noise. As adults, we are usually trained out of this, but if you look around at Costco, you will see a lot of kids chanting, "[: Puppy, puppy, puppy, puppy :]" (note the musical repeat brackets indicating endlessness), singing tunelessly, or just walking around seeing how long they can sustain an, "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh."
• You are never too old to ride in the cart... especially if you're pushing around one of their flat beds
• You can conquer irregularity with little fiber gummi bears that taste like candy. Who knew?
• Dark chocolate covered acai and blueberries=TOTALLY AWESOME!
• Signing books in the clothes section=not awesome
• Morningstar Black Bean Burgers rock my world!!!

I'm sure there's more. Maybe it will come to me later, but for now I have a massive bag of Pirate's Booty to consume so I have room in my pantry for everything I bought.

Bon Apetit!

I Have Only One Horn to Toot This Week...

In fact, it might get a little annoying. I should reserve the right be annoying this week because I want EVERYONE to know that they can win $1,000 for a cause they are passionate about on August 7, 2010.


Great sponsors have partnered with me to create the Stalk Lake Scavenger Hunt for Non-Profit. Any team can compete for any cause they would like, because in the end, the winning team will say what their cause is, and my phenomenal sponsors will donate to that cause!


It's THAT easy!!!


Of course, there are a few rules, but not many. Basically, don't break the law and travel is only allowed by foot byut you can use any technology, split up your team, and only ONE team member needs to run from the beginning to the end. The rest can do whatever you device is the best strategy to win.


The goal: collect 10 clue cards at local businesses


The only team members who MUST be at the start line are:


The Team Captain: He/She gets the clues that lead to the businesses holding the cards
The Finisher: the only one who has to run the distance between Liberty and Pioneer Parks and cross the finish line with 10 cards in hand.


THAT SIMPLE!

And not to give hints or anything, but a a savvy team may figure out in advance where cards are likely to be placed. This event is in honor of a fictional private investigator, after all.


YOU ARE ALLOWED TO SNOOP. Totally! Rhea gets the big bucks in her books because she is proactive. So should your team be!


This is the horn I'm tooting all week. If you're not interested, please pass this on to someone who might be. I just want to make sure no loses the chance to win this money for a great cause.


So visit this site and let's get your team signed up!


XOXO

Proper Motivation

Have you ever seen a picture that did more than thousands of words when it came to getting you off your butt and into action?


When I lived in Maui, I frequently hung out with Emily. Though I arrived to the island as white, pasty and flabby as the worst of tourists, six months on the island changed my body in small, happy ways. Before living in Maui, I could never tan. I just alternated between red and white. Since Maui, my skin now browns a bit. :) Also, daily visits to the beach and nearly daily Bikram yoga sessions tightened me up. Shorts I wore in Maui don't even make it mid-thigh on me now.


For over a year, I've been thinking about how I want to get back in shape--how I'm really only truly happy when I'm fit and ready to kick a little ***. But I've done nothing.


Then, this week, Em (who still lives on Maui) updated her profile pic on Facebook.


Yeah, I don't need to say anything. If you're reading this, you have eyes and are thinking the same thing I am: "I want to MOVE!"


Others of you who have known me for a while may be thinking: "Uh, Sheralyn? News flash: you've never looked that good."


Totally true. But a little voice inside me is whispering, "Push me and I'll show you what we can make this body do!"


So the day I saw this pic, I bit the bullet and signed up for something I've been mulling about for 6 months. Muay Thai. My budget has always been my excuse for not jumping in, but I'm not getting younger and if I don't give my body what it wants now, why should it give me what I want in 10 years?


So, Em, game on! You threw down the gauntlet by posting that picture and I accept your challenge! And next time we meet in Maui, I will not join you again as a white, flabby tourist.


Can't wait!!!!!

The Standard of Success

Once upon a time, I used to watch Xena. Whenever I confess this you will see a smile on my face because, well... wow. I watched Xena. And how can you not a little smile in bewilderment after one of those episodes?

My reasoning for watching was simple: if Xena can make it in this world, so can I! It was pretty much my motto back in the day when I self-published. Whenever a situation seemed insurmoutable, I would think to myself: If Xena can make it, so can I!


And it worked.

Xena, however, has been MIA for quite some time, and I've been subconsciously looking for something current to reframe my mantra around. Now rewind to last Saturday and imagine me walking around in you average grocery store, and passing the refridgerator section where the eggs and whip cream are. What do I see?!?


Hello, Xena 2.0!

Ta-da! The Batter Blaster!!! I mean, I'm a lazy cook, but really?!? This is a business?

Attention consumers: are you too lazy to put pre-made pancakes in a toaster or microwave? Is adding water and stirring JUST too much? Do you hate the laborious task of cleaning that mixing bowl and spoon when you're all done mixing? Well, then do WE HAVE THE PRODUCT FOR YOU!!!

Introducing the Organic Batter Blaster--pancakes in a can! All you do is squirt the compressed batter out of this whip cream-sized can on to a sizzling skillet, and VOILA! Instant(ish) Organic Pancakes!

And if you're wondering how much batter each can holds, picture a large whip cream can. That's the size. Table for one?

Deep in my heart I love this product. I truly hope it succeeds so that every time I walk into a grocery store I can see it and think, If the Batter Blaster can make it in this world, so can I :)

King's English-SLC's Author Mecca

*Note: I'm signing Sat, July 10th, 10-2 at the Sandy Costco*

Ah, the King's English. Little known fact: the King's English and I were born in the same year. So was American Eagle, I think... a good year to be born, it seems. Last night I was there to celebrate Kimberley Griffiths Little's most recent book release, "The Healing Spell."

For those of you who have never been to the King's English, it's pretty much the "it" indie bookstore in Utah. As you can see from the picture, it's not huge. In many parts of the store it's a stretch for two people to squeeze past each other, but what little floor space they have they fill with amazing books. You can pretty much pick up any book at the King's English and walk away with a winner. In fact, before they'll agree to host a signing for you, they will read your book and make sure it's a perfect fit for their store.

You gotta love people who love books that much!

While I was there I got to hang out with other authors, some with books out, and others with books coming out next year: Suzette Saxton, Elana Johnson, Ali Cross, Nichole Giles, and Jenn Wilks. We listened to stories of the bayou from Kimberley, tasted Cajun treats, got signed books and then ate Middle Eastern food next door at Mazza--where I secretly judged all my new friends by how much they tip (they all passed, we can be friends!) while they oohed and ahhed over the wit and vocabulary of our waiter of ambiguous sexuality.

Kidding. Kind of. That last sentence is Kay's influence, I swear. I've been writing a lot of scenes with her in them recently and sometimes it's hard not to bring her with me when I leave the house. I really have to shift gears to get inside her head, and sometimes it's hard to shift back into my usual gear :)

I love Kay, though. She makes me laugh out loud as I type in the privacy of my room. My new roomie might just think I'm nuts... either that, or that I watch TV very quietly. Sometimes Kay says and does that surprise even me, but I try to leave them in. I just don't have the heart to edit her spirit too much :)

You'll have to let me know what you think of her from Book 3 on... because while the book formerly known as Idle Playgrounds basically begins the same, it quickly derails into a different story line.

Midnight Adventures

Imagine you're taking your dog on its midnight potty walk (yes, Mom, I walk my dog at midnight before I go to bed). Imagine walking down to the main street of your neighborhood and planning to turn right until timed sprinklers burst to life and drench the sidewalk, sending you to the left instead.

You plan on taking a somewhat lengthy walk. You have things on your mind, which is why your dog notices the procession of uniformly dressed men walking in train formation in the shadows before you do--all walking at the same speed, wearing the same tan pants and dark shirts. Your dog charges them while you're still a full block away, growling to let you know, "Hey, there's, like, twenty men up ahead walking in the shadows." They all turn up a residential street with eerie uniformity, except one, who hangs back on the main street.

There are no street lights in this area, so all you see are backlit shadows and shades of light and dark. While all the other men disappear up a street like a human centipede, you feel the one who stays behind on the main street giving you a death "STAY AWAY!" glare even as his focus stays largely focused in the direction his comrades went.

By this time, you're pretty sure it's the police. Either that, or gang warfare waged by the Khaki Pant Crew. Any inner debate is resolved by the crash of glass and something else shattering--possibly a front door?--and a man's voice over a megaphone repeating: "Police: Executing a search warrant. Get on the ground!" over and over.

About 10 seconds later, the man covering the street is called into the action. You can't see what he's doing. Maybe he has a gun drawn, maybe he doesn't, but he has headed someone off and is screaming for them to get on the ground, too.

Then everything goes silent. In the street, a lone police car in a line of several turns on its flashing lights and the night grows still.

The end? For some, maybe. For me, it's imagination fodder, but someone else had no less than a dozen cops bust through their door tonight. And the chances of them spending time in the jail I just toured last Saturday? Pretty high.

Life is fascinating, no?

Best Eclipse Quotes

Whether you like the books or not, you have to confess that the Twilight movies are getting better. Not that I think they merit the HP treatment of the final book deserving 2 parts. That's just people getting greedy in my mind, but putting that aside, Eclipse had some SWEET quotables. My favorite?

"I was a little more theatrical back then."

Seriously, laughed out loud! And no, it wasn't uttered by Jacob (pictured)--who had his fair share of good quotes in the movie.

What was your favorite quote? :D