First, thanks to all of you who sent in meatloaf recipe tips! The boy and I ended up incorporating some of them into the GOOD EATS recipe (love Alton Brown! Love him!). I can't remember the amounts, but we used meatloaf mix with 3/4 cup of Panko (Japanese) breadcrumbs that had been pulsed in the food processor to make them more fine (I've used oatmeal in turkeyloaf, but never with meat). In the veggie department, we dumped a small onion, five baby carrots, one large roasted red pepper, and a couple of cloves of garlic into the food processor and pulsed until they were fine chopped. That, plus a lightly beaten egg, the Panko, and a mix of cayenne and chili pepper went into the meatloaf mix, which we formed into a loaf shape on top of a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. We blasted it at 450 for 10 minutes, then put on a ketchup-and-other-stuff glaze, turned the heat down to 350 and cooked it until it reached an internal temp of 156. Then, per Alton's instructions, we left it under tented foil for about 45 minutes (he said 60, but we couldn't wait that long). GOOD LORD, DID WE LOVE OUR MEATLOAF!

To read more about Alton and his meatloaf theories, go here.

Then, on Saturday, we drove up to Chester County Book & Music Company for Liz's reading (her debut, THE OPPOSITE OF INVISIBLE, came out last week, and this was her first public signing!). Joe and I dorked out by putting on matching snowflake sweaters and "Hello, my name is" tags that read TEAM LIZ! (We brought supplies and ended up making more tags for other supporters). Oh my gosh, what a turnout! There must've been like 40 or 50 people there, buying multiple copies, and indulging in the gorgeous layer cake that had the book's cover on its frosting. Plus, it was so good to see Liz, who radiated happiness in her special Liz way.

Sunday was divided between more revision work (STELLA is almost - ALMOST - ready to be turned in) and playing DESIGN REMIX with Joe. For the uninitiated, DESIGN REMIX is this great show on HGTV where Karen McAloon redoes a room using only what the homeowners already have, $50, and some paint. The long overdue craft room remodel is coming to a close, so we were in high gear. First, we took the legs off my old dining room table, sanded them and spray painted them a matte black. Then I orderd two yards of this gorgeous, black-on-white medallion print oil cloth, which I'm going to staple to the table's top (an idea I actually got from DESIGN REMIX). We tried painting peg board apple green (one of the accent colors), but even after sanding it the peg board was still too slick and showed every single brush stroke. So it was more spray paint (a light sage, but now we're thinking white might play better in the room). Oh, and there was this old lab table-turned work bench I'd picked up at a resale shop for $15 a few years ago, and it was rusted and ugly, so we sanded it down and sprayed it with a dark pewter paint that has a hammered metal finish and now it is fabulous. In the actual room, I sat down with a zillion plastic bins and got crazy with my label maker, so now there's even a clear shoebox marked "glass gems." Once my new desk arrives, I'll be moving into the space and oh - I can't wait. Before and after pictures to come.

So now it's Monday morning, and the ALA book awards have been announced, and I feel so completely divorced from the whole thing. I mean, the ceremony took place less than 35 minutes from my door step, but these books ... the only Printz finalist I even heard of was Amanda Jenkins' REPOSESSED, and I haven't read a single one. This started about a year ago, when I got burned out on the business and quit every single industry-related listserv I belonged to. I don't hear about buzz until the buzz has passed. And you know what? I'm okay with that. I like living in my little dark corner of the world (though when I was at Liz's signing, I did feel the need to purchase 13 REASONS WHY, which was edited by Kristen Pettit (who I work with at Razorbill), and about which I've heard amazing things.

CURRENTLY READING: an ARC of Sarah Dessen's LOCK & KEY, which I managed to snag at NCTE last November.
UP NEXT: Liz's THE OPPOSITE OF INVISIBLE, of course.

Happy Monday, all!