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Happy to announce FLIPPED! is a 2014 The Sandy contest finalist :). Congratulations to my fellow finalists!!!

Brenda...

We never met, but we became friends through an author's group. We lived so close and we made plans to meet someday, but life kept getting in the way. It should never be so....


We exchanged numbers and would send each other long encouraging texts and emails. We talked about our lives and our friendship grew beyond writing.


When I heard the name of the woman who died in the crash, I couldn't believe it. I'm still in shock.  I will miss you and I'm so sorry we never met in person. I don't know if anyone will read this, but I have the need to put it out there: Brenda (Kay Rogal), you were an advocate for women helping women and you encouraged everyone you met, no matter how you met them. You were a sweet, good soul and a true friend. I can't believe you're gone and were taken away in such a way...


We always ended our texts: BIG HUG! Big hug to you, Brenda. I miss you.

Women..assemble!

Okay, so yesterday I shared/vented/mused about how we sometimes need to let go of certain friendships because they're just not healthy. Today I had the complete opposite experience and decided to share that, too. I know yesterday's post was too long, so I'll try to keep this post short and sweet.


Today I met with two friends (they're part of the "girls night out" group I wrote about in my last post) who are also moms and we had a long and thought-provoking conversation about motherhood. It was LOVELY and SWEET because we really opened up and allowed ourselves to be vulnerable with one another. I left with a lighter load on my shoulders because I knew I wasn't alone in second guessing myself as a mom.


When I got home, I read an email from another friend who made me feel doubly blessed and fortunate. In a nutshell, this friend did something incredibly generous for me... without me asking (I never would have thought or dared to ask). She knew she could help me with something and she went out of her way to do it for no other reason than because she is a good and beautiful person and an advocate for women helping each other. I feel so touched and humbled to have these women in my life and I will look for ways to pay their support and generosity forward.

Charmed is a kindle daily deal 01/27/2014

Sweet, small town romance: CHARMED is a $0.99  #Kindle Romance Daily Deal!
http://tinyurl.com/kezrfpl!

On love, science, art, and bread...

A few months ago, my youngest son was diagnosed with Celiac’s disease and he had to go completely gluten-free. At first, I was surprised it wasn’t as hard as I’d thought it would be. There are a lot of options out there nowadays! But I quickly figured out it also wouldn’t be as easy as it had seemed at first (cross-contamination issues, variety, temptations at school…).

My son took it all in stride and has been very good about it. I’m so proud of him! Things like quinoa and rice pastas and brown rice tortillas are delicious and he hasn’t even noticed a difference. But bread is another matter. It’s been impossible to find a good gluten-free bread. We’ve always been big on bread at our house and our kids became accustomed to going to local farmer’s markets and special bakeries to buy artisan breads of all kinds. My son LOVES bread and not being able to eat it has been his biggest challenge. So I decided to try and make bread myself.

I’ve always been horrible at baking. I never had it in me to be as precise as you need to be to bake well. It’s easy to be adventurous with cooking. It’s more of an art than a science. To me, at least, baking is more science than art. But love goes a long way and making bread has become my most fun and consuming kitchen adventure. My son loves to help and knowing he’s had a hand in it just makes it taste better for all of us.

My son has been really happy with every loaf, roll, and pizza crust. They’ve been far from great, but they haven’t been bad, either. And I know it’ll get better and better because the smile on his face is the best possible reward. People say that food just tastes better when it’s made with love and I’ve always agreed. Making things with love feels wonderful, too. Time disappears. 

Happy Holidays...

Happy holidays everyone! Just a quick note to wish you a blissful season and a very happy 2014. I've been away because I've been working hard on something...hope to have more news in 2014.

Warm wishes,

Inés

Cheesecake for Breakfast

My mom is fun and creative and a great conversationalist. Growing up, these things more than made up for her lack of cooking skills. She tried, but she was never able to get into anything that had to do with the kitchen (she'd be the first to tell you this, btw). She sewed dresses for me and my dolls, helped me figure out the lyrics to popular songs, and did tons of fun things to my hair. Her creativity just never extended to the kitchen. My sisters and I never complained about it, though. To us, it was a part of who she was. We'd eat the same four or five meals she was good at and we were healthy and energetic kids. Some weekend mornings my mom would turn to us and say, "How about cheesecake for breakfast? It has cheese and cheese is protein, so it must be okay." What kid would say no to that? Cheesecake for breakfast is a fond memory for me. Whenever I think about it, I feel how much I love my mom.

Today was the first day of school and I was neurotic about feeding my kids a balanced, healthy, tasty breakfast. Tonight, I'll be equally neurotic about dinner. There's so much pressure to be "the perfect mom" nowadays. A huge part of it is there's so much information out there and we have easy access to it. From the moment you conceive you're either helping, hurting, or doing nothing for your kid's cognitive development/future health/fill in the tons of blanks about all the potential damage we could do to our kids.

So this Saturday I'm giving my kids dessert for breakfast. I'm also making it a once-in-a-while thing. Because I don't want to just feed their brains and bodies. I want to feed their memories, too. And I won't make the dessert myself because I may be a good cook (according to my husband and kids), but I truly SUCK at baking (according to anyone who's ever tasted or even smelled anything I've tried to bake). I hope my kids remember my ill-attempts someday and smile over one of their mom's many imperfections. And I hope they feel love for me when they do.