whirlwinds

here are some photos-

from our exciting trip to Barnes and Noble the other night!

We are proudly displaying Images of America: Greeks in Queens-

my first 'not-by-me' published book.

What a privilege to have my book on the bookshelves

next to so many awesome authors-

It was one of my happiest moments

and there's so many more to come!

And see that guy in the photo?

I love him, i love him, i love him.

september madness

i have a confession to make:

i seriously, without a doubt, love september. So many reasons why float around my already cluttered brain:

• the weather
• autumn decor
• crunch leaves under my boots
• punkins' (i am aware of misspelling)
• sunsets
• the harvest
• sunflowers
• apple cider
• pumpkin everything
• plans with great friends
• autumn autumn!
• the peanuts gang
• back to school (notebooks! pens! yay!)
• back to baking
• and the biggie- my BIRTHDAY!

It's my birthday month. Actually, in a timeline? I started going out with my hubby (again) in September, a lot of friends birthdays in September, we adopted our puppy in September- it's just a month where change is accepted and can't really be complained about. 

I LOVE SEPTEMBER! Here's more reasons why:

preparing for my book launch! 

(quite obviously this is not me, this is a screen still from The Mummy: Curse of the Dragon Emperor. Ultimate Inspiration. Property of the above (the mummy movies!) )

Sleeping in with a huge comfy comforter, and a small comfy dog. He wears shirts in the autumn. Yep. Shot by my loving husband. Geez.

Love me,

the globetrotting gamine

almost!

(photo shot by me, long island, 2012)

this morning, i woke up to write a few notes and found that i couldn't. there has been so much going on that the only thing that gets to go down on paper is to-do list items and ideas for various manuscripts.

not that i'm complaining.

in a little over a month, my first "any kind" of book will be released in bookstores. Images of America: Greeks in Queens was a brain child born to honor my Grandparents and those who have gone before us who were brave enough to step into a whole new world.

Not a lot of us are so brave, and I am super lucky to be born to such a rich background, heritage, family.

That being said, have I mentioned that it's on pre-order and already killin'? Woo hoo!

Here's the amazon linky, and the Barnes and Noble linky.


Me being insanely happy? Check. Celebrations with amazing people? Check! Other opportunities abundant? Check check!


But mostly, just being happy to be alive works for me.


Hope you enjoy the rest of your summers!!!

happy monday!

doesn't it drive you crazy that

you have so much to do on mondays?

not me!

i love it!

in fact, i believe i am obsessed with mondays-

i love making my to-do list for the day

that turns into the to-do list for the week :)

i love hearing people gossip

about what happened over the weekend

while i am on line waiting for some java

and dunkin' donuts...

i love to try to figure out how long

it's going to take me to finish the four books i'm reading

only to daydream about which other one i will be

acquiring at barnes and noble...

cooking...

a chicken roasting in the oven

crafts...

my office project

organizing...

all cabinets and drawers-again!

and figuring out...what else i'm going to do today <3

i know the clock turned back on sunday early-morn

but there's still not enough hours in the day!

what are you up to on this lovely wintry-morning?

alive

after all the drama and psychobabble i've been hearing for months and months...
i feel relieved. renewed, alive.

is it bad that i feel this way?
i like to think it's not.
i have been through some bullshit from someone who i never expected it from and now i am free.

really, i wonder if i'm crazy. does that make sense?
once i shut that door rather harshly (entirely necessary for my sanity), i feel like one million opportunities presented themselves.

opportunities and chances that had fallen to the wayside because so much effort (?) had been put into trying to make my point. so much effort to try to make my FRIEND...not my family or my husband or me...but my FRIEND, happy.

way to sound selfish, but i will right now.

what about what I want? what about what i HAD wanted that i never got to do because someone else's hand needed to be held?

in the past week i have seen and spoken to more friends, had more opportunities presented to me, actually had the time to go get a manicure, pedicure with an amazing person, hang out with my family with no guilt...
and write! cook! bake! garden! throw around ideas and actually get to them...

ACTUALLY GET TO THEM!

given that i've heard some whoppers in my past, but nothing like the whoppers i've heard these last few months. i will NOT put myself through anything that i feel i do not deserve anymore.

i deserve better than what i had been putting up with.

i'm so excited about so much, it's really quite ridiculous- and i wanted to share...

whatever you feel is holding you back, fix it.
toxic friend? end it.
negative energies? really not worth your time.

 they hold you back!
be free :)

love,
mg

Books. Love.

(photos courtesy of cotedetexas.blogspot.com and  lookbooks.wordpress.com! Check them out!)

I love books. I always have...my mother used to have a tiny bookcase stuck in the corner of her room...and books overflowed from it! I loved to read anything I could get my hands on since I was about 4. Actually, that's when I started reading the TV Guide. No one believed that I knew when I Love Lucy was playing...I had to keep saying it and saying it...until they asked me what was playing on Saturday at 2...(come to think of it, that's why I can schedule so well  now. I've like that since then, too)...
It was just so great that a few years later I would meet my best friend- who had a serious addiction to all things BabySitters Club. That's when we started reading that series, and Sweet Valley Twins & High. We had a library...
Soon after, we got into R.L Stine, L.J Smith and Christopher Pike. As I grew up, it turned into organized crime novels, anything by Nora Roberts and Sophie Kinsella...and I'm pretty sure those are all my favorites. Aside from the ones that I love to read in the meantime...books are just heaven to me.
I would love to be one of those women that have a library like the one in the Haunted Mansion (the disney movie), or in Beauty and the Beast. It's really a very bad addiction. Magazines, too. You can find me at Barnes and Noble researching ANYTHING, many a day.
Sometimes I think that losing the job that I mentioned probably opened the door to more experiences than I would have had if I was still working. I learned more about life than I probably would have doing the same thing, day in and day out. Maybe it made me understand that for me to grow, the best thing to do would be to start my own business, and start small. To be my own boss was probably the best idea to begin with (so my Mom always said)...and I'll keep reading until the dream becomes a reality.

Journals & Archaeology

(photo courtesy of http://www.iho.ohi.org/)

No one likes to write but everyone likes to have written. -Joel Salzman

Apparently Mr. Salzman had deep rooted issues with writing and shouldn't have been doing it in the first place? I have loved to write since I was a little girl- journals, short stories, even book reports! I wish that I still had my old diaries, which I am 100% sure my Daddy threw away by mistake. They were so pretty.


At least the ones that I did hang on to I'm trying to turn into a book, right?


To date, I have written [completed!] one novel, 6 children's books, & 5 unfinished books that are about 50-100 pages in. Can I find a publisher or an agent? No. Blech.


Can't it just happen already? Can I get my copyrights back, PLEASE? Stupid copyright.


In the meantime, all day yesterday I poured over books and magazines at Barnes and Noble. Check out archaeology.org- there are so many interesting stories and articles online AND in the magazine. I love reading about archaeology- I've always wanted to go to Egypt, I've lived in Greece...so to read about both countries always gives me the warm tinglies.

Above pictures are courtesy of Archaeology.org- there is an article where in gives you a list of Egyptian findings in New York. I must, must, must go check these out.


In the meantime, I have four mums to plant, food shopping to do, and will probably do that at the last minute so that I can blog & read :) And...possibly write!


Much Love & Hope you are well!
MG