My People-Interacting Skills Are RUSTY
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My People-Interacting Skills Are RUSTY
Hello there! I’m waving to you from the 36th floor of a hotel in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York City. Yesterday, October 4th, was the original publication date of Ejaculate Responsibly — the new date is October 18th (less than two weeks away!). Something very cool about yesterday is that I had lunch with my publisher, my editor, and my agent! We met at Iris, a Mediterranean restaurant near a lot of the big publishing houses, and I swear the whole room was full of publishing folks.
I had not met my agent or editor in person before, and my publisher is an old friend, so I was over the moon about this get-together. I didn’t want it to end.
They were all so chic and wearing black and looking very New York-and-fabulous and I was in a striped turtleneck and kept spilling my water and was laughing to myself that I am really not used to being out in public. Hah!
I’ve heard people mention this — that they feel awkward getting together for professional meetings after 2.5+ years of being at home — and I thought they were exaggerating. But I definitely felt it yesterday. I’m very out of practice. And now I’m extra nervous for Alt Summit, which is happening this Friday. My people-interacting skills are rusty. If I get to meet you at the conference and I say something dorky, please don’t hold it against me. : )
It was very rainy in New York yesterday, and will be very rainy today, but Thursday and Friday are looking sunny and gorgeous. I love New York in the fall!
Apple Picking Is Not A Thing In Famously Apple-Centric Normandy
Saturday was the first day of October, and we were craving some solid fall vibes. Since Normandy is France’s apple region (and the only region in France that doesn’t make wine — it makes apple juice, cider and calvados instead), and there are loads of apple orchards near our town, we thought it would be fun to go apple-picking.
It wasn’t a big activity for us in the mostly-seasonless Bay Area, but we loved doing this when the kids were little and we lived in New York.
So we started asking around for apple-picking spots — texting friends and checking with the tourism office — and learned that there are zero apple-picking spots in our area. Apparently, the idea of heading to an orchard and picking apples as an activity, is just not a thing. We were thinking about why that might be so, and it occurred to us that so many people here have an apple tree or two in their own garden, so maybe the novelty isn’t there for people who live in Normandy.
We ended up going to our favorite apple farm anyway. It’s the same farm where we filmed this charming video a decade ago (look how tiny the kids are!). We couldn’t pick apples, but we walked and walked among the many varieties of apple trees (and pear trees), bought a case of sparkling apple juice, and appreciated the immaculate fall vibes. You can see a report of our visit here.
By the way, we did ask if we could pick a basket of apples and pay for them, but the worker seemed very confused by the request. She told us these were cider apples, and weren’t good for picking and eating.
Now I’m curious, is apple-picking a thing where you live?
Two Things I’m Looking Forward To
My three oldest kids — Ralph, Maude and Olive — are coming to New York to help out at the conference! And Ralph's wonderful girlfriend, Paola, is coming too! I’m so grateful. Ralph & Paola are going to be the event videographers, and Maude & Olive are going to work with me to have the speakers mic’d up and ready on deck, so that we don’t get behind on the schedule. On Saturday, after the conference, I hope I get to go see my sister Jordan’s renovation project a couple hours north of the city. And then I fly home on Saturday evening.
The other thing I’m looking forward to is happening TODAY! I’m being interviewed on Instagram Live by Carissa Potter Carlson of @PeopleIveLoved. I love Carissa’s work so much and I’m really excited about this interview. We’ll be talking all things Ejaculate Responsibly. I hope you’ll join in!
Lately on Design Mom
Easy Meatball Stroganoff. Creamy, protein-filled sauce poured over noodles or rice? It’s a universal favorite at our house. And this is hands down the easiest version ever, because it’s made with frozen meatballs instead of stew meat or hamburger.
How to Make a Book Cover. As a high-school student, covering my textbooks was always something I looked forward to, (so that I could fill the blank covers with I-heart-Morrissey). With a new school year, it’s the perfect time for a little refresher course on covering books, don’t you think?
That’s all for now. Feel free to comment on anything I mentioned above, or whatever’s on your mind. I hope you’re having a good first week of October.
kisses,
Gabrielle
Living in Lodi we have to go up to Apple Hill (Placerville) for our apple needs. Closer to home we have places where you can pick strawberries and cherries.
No apple picking but most have apple trees in own yard.