Emily Giffin's 5 Dos and a Do-Over

Today is a VERY special day.  And it's not just because we have the incredibly awesome EMILY GIFFIN debuting our brand spankin' new feature, Five Do's and a Do-Over.  Or that we are giving away cool stuff, including a FLIP VIDEO CAMERA and FIVE copies of  Heart of the Matter(due out in paperback on March 15th).  It's because we are also celebrating Chick Lit is not Dead's TWO YEAR ANNIVERSARY! Yes, that's right. It's been two years since we bravely launched our first posts having absolutely no damn clue what we were doing!(Click to read Liz and Lisa's)  And since then, we've had such a blast hanging out with y'all.  We might be a bit biased, but we happen to think our readers are freakin' awesome!  So thank you, lovely and loyal ladies(and a few good men!) for taking time out of your incredibly busy lives to stop by to read about ours.  We truly appreciate your support these past two years.  And in case you were wondering, this next year is going to be even bigger and better than the last.

New Features!  More authors!  Bigger giveaways!

And speaking of all those things, it's our pleasure to debut 5 Do's and a Do-Over with one of our ALL-TIME favorite authors.  Not only has Emily Giffin written some of our favorite books, she's also incredibly fun and sassy(Not to mention hawt too!). Her best-selling books occupy prime real estate on our bookshelves and are destined to become Chick Lit classics!

And with the movie version of  Something Borrowed hitting theaters May 6th, (starring Liz's crush John Krasinski!) we've decided that Emily may be the Coolest. Author. EVEH! And stay tuned, because we'll be doing some fun things for the movie too.  But in the meantime, head here for all things SOBO. And make sure to like the official Facebook page for the movie too!

We're ecstatic that Emily agreed to share five things that must be done and one thing she'd like to redo. And once you've read her list, we think you'll be girl-crushing on her as much as we do-it's fantastic!

And OF COURSE we have an awesome giveaway to celebrate!  Leave a comment and you'll be entered to win a Flip video camera or one of FIVE copies of Heart of the Matter! We'll pick the winners after 6pm PST on Sunday February 20th.

CHICK LIT IS NOT DEAD PRESENTS: EMILY GIFFIN'S 5 DO'S AND A DO-OVER

5 DO’S

1.  Invest in a quality camera and capture lots of random moments. Other than actually making the memories, there are few things more important to me than recording them. At times I feel as if I'm living the moment through the lens of a camera, but I never regret the photographs later.

2.  Live alone at least once. It is great fun having roommates and I'm a big believer in living with boyfriends if it feels right. And of course, it is wonderful to be married and build a home and life with another person. But I will always cherish the few years of my twenties in which I lived completely alone, and I think everyone should enjoy this serenity and independence at some point in their lives.

3.  Travel somewhere exotic and unexpected. There are certain obvious destinations that everyone should try to see--London, Rome, Paris, the Grand Canyon. But try visiting a place off the beaten path--a place that isn't so obvious and that few, if any, of your family and friends have ventured. For me, this list includes swimming in the Blue Lagoon in Iceland, celebrating Midsummer's Eve on a remote island in Sweden, and wandering through the tiny medieval streets of Bruges. In addition to actually having these experiences, it makes for great cocktail party fodder.

4.  Break a heart and have yours broken. It is part of life and everyone should experience both. So live and love with wild abandon until both happen to you at least once.

5.  Cut bait on toxic friendships. Although there are few things as precious as old friends, don't become so nostalgic and sentimental that you maintain unhealthy ones. Life is too short, and if a "friend" consistently brings you down, then she isn't one. Jettison her and make room for a new one.

1 DO-OVER

One of my favorite quotes is by Mark Twain:

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

I so believe in this, but it took me a while to really internalize the truth of it. I wish I could go back to my twenties and apply this philosophy. Live life a little more on the edge, instead of chasing the next accomplishment and trying to please others. Fortunately, I finally figured this out--which is how I found the courage to quit my job as an attorney, move to London and write my first novel, Something Borrowed. It was a huge risk, but one of the best decisions I have ever made.

Thanks Emily!!! xo, L&L

Want to read more about Emily and see pictures from her last book tour?  Then head here. And don't forget to check her out on Facebook and Twitter-she's a lot of fun!

Mommy Monday: Mommy is tired!

Remember the days you thought 7am was oh-so early? When you used to spend all day Sunday on the couch watching VH1?

I used to think I knew what being tired felt like-something I could cure by sleeping in until noon the next day or adding an extra shot to my Americano. But then I started having children.  And I've been tired in some capacity ever since!

And it's not just me.  Everyone around me with kids under five just seem like they would happily curl up into a ball and take a catnap if given the chance. And all the B12 in the world doesn't seem to make it any better.  Believe me, I've tried the shot in my ass, the pill and even that new nasal B12.  And I'm still f*cking tired!

My now three-year-old didn't sleep AT ALL the first year and I used to walk around like a zombie, wearing my exhaustion like a badge of honor, daring anyone within fifty feet to try to compete with my tiredness.  I quickly discovered that  long-term sleep deprivation made me a humorless beyotch with bad skin.

Had to wake up at 6am to make it to Yogalates? Boo F'ing Hoo!

Stayed out too late with the girls and had to recover by watching SATC on TBS for four hours straight the next day? I'm hatin' on you just a little bit.

Anytime anyone over the age of ten gets to take a daytime nap? Super. Insanely. Jealous.

And even though most nights my munchkins now sleep peacefully, (although sadly WILL NOT sleep past 6am, no matter how late we keep them up) I still find myself tired most of the time.  Not the bone-aching, mind-numbing newborn baby tired, but more like a constant feeling like I'd like to stop whatever I'm doing and go lie in bed. Which btw, is a very impractical thought when you're in the middle of a presentation at work.  Or in the middle of a conversation with, well, ANYONE!

And while I recognize that heading out for a jog or spending some time at the gym would help this problem, I just can't seem to find the time or motivation to drag myself there.  The thought of waking up at 4am to go the the gym makes me want to take a free weight and punch the person in the face who suggested it.  Or wrap them up in a Pilates mat and roll them down a hill. Or use them as my kickboxing class punching bag.

And don't even get me started on that research that claims you need to get at least seven and a half hours of sleep each night in order to lose weight.  Another strike against any mommy trying desperately to take off those last eight pounds. Clearly a man came up with that sh*t!

So until I reach that promised land where my children are able to wake up and get dressed without parental assistance, I will remain slightly tired at all times. And I'd like to give Lisa a big shout out for enduring MANY early morning bitchface emails from me! Sorry!  I should be banned from any forms of communication besides grunting before 7am.

So to all you tired mommies out there, this one's for you.  Let's band together in our slight everyday crankiness.  Tired Mommies Unite!

And for those of you who think this post is kinda bitchy, sorry! I was super tired when I wrote it. =)  To make it up to you, I'm giving away a SIGNED copy of Emily Giffin's latest release, Heart of The Matter. Leave a comment to be entered!

xoxo, Liz

12 things Liz & Lisa didn't know about...Emily Giffin

Today is the day! New York Times bestselling author Emily Giffin's FIFTH novel, Heart of the Matter is released! Click here to buy a copy. As you know, we heart Emily and her books. And can't wait for Something Borrowed to be made into a movie (if you follow Emily on Facebook, she gives regular updates about the filming). But we both agree that Heart of the Matter is Giffin's best work yet. Lucky enough to each get an advance reader copy, we devoured the it months ago, but are excited to re-read it now that the crisp new hardbacks have arrived.

In a special edition of "5 things Liz & Lisa didn't know about..." Emily made a video! And in it, she gives us 7 extra fun tidbits about herself. And they are hilarious. Hint: violins, fender benders and the Brady Bunch are all involved. So pull up a chair, watch the video and leave a comment for a chance to win an audio version of Heart of the Matter narrated by the fabulous Cynthia Nixon (thanks to MacMillan Audio which can be found on Twitter or Facebook ) or the shiny new hardback!

So without further adieu, here's Emily!

PS: This month, She Knows has named Heart of the Matter their official book club pick.

xoxo

5 Reasons We Heart Emily Giffin By Liz & Lisa

Emily Giffin is one of our all time favorite authors.  So we were thrilled to get (and might have even taunted a few people with)  an advance reader copy of her latest novel, Heart of the Matter. And we can't wait to have her as our guest again at CLIND this May when it's released! Click here to read chapter one and click here to pre-order it.

We're also excited to spread the word about something big that Emily is promoting Wednesday April 28th- for one day only. She's going to give away a signed copy of ANY OF HER FIRST FOUR BOOKS to anyone who buys Irene Zutell's book, Pieces of Happily Ever After and sends her their receipt! Just head on over to Emily's blog for all the deets.

We heart Emily not just because she's a fantastic writer, but because she's accessible to her fans, she takes the time to answer our twenty-five questions and participates in promotions like this one that promote authors like Irene. And just because... here's five more reasons we crush on her!

1. She writes books that are so good we WANT them to be made into movies. 

2. She keeps us updated with info and photos like this from the set of what she calls "Sobo" a.k.a. Something Borrowed. Follow her on Facebook and Twitter to stay in the know.

3. She helped pick sexy actors like Steve Howey (who will play Marcus) and Colin Egglesfield (who will play Dex) to star in Sobo.

4. Every book she writes is better than the last. We think Heart of the Matter is her best yet.

5. She supports authors like Irene Zutell by participating in a promotion like this. (PS: You should definitely take part! Two great books by our favorite authors-how can you go wrong?)

xoxo,

Liz & Lisa

25 things Liz & Lisa want to know about...Emily Giffin

We're thrilled that Emily Giffin is answering our 25 "hard hitting" questions because we heart her. In fact, we more than heart her. We have total writer crushes on her.  Something Borrowed and Something Blue are two of our favorite Chick Lit books...and the novels that finally inspired us to get off our lazy asses and write that book we'd been talking about writing for, um, like, 10 years! (Thanks, Emily!)  All four of her books - Something Borrowed (2004), Something Blue (2005), Baby Proof (2006), and Love the One You're With (2008) - have been New York Times bestsellers and translated into a bazillion languages! And her fifth book, Heart of the Matter, is due out in Summer 2010. (We can't wait!) Love the One You're With (LTOYW) is out in paperback now and is the perfect book to throw in your beach bag and devour while you soak up the summer rays. (PS: It's really juicy--about a girl who gets a chance at a "do-over" on her love life!)

One more thing...we have 5 autographed copies of LTOYW to give away. Because we're twores (twitter whores) now, we've decided that if you're one of the first five people to follow us on Twitter Lizandlisa, RT our link to this blog post and send us a DM, you'll get a book! *Tweet* *Tweet*, tweeps!

Now, without further adieu---CHICKLITISNOTDEAD.COM PRESENTS: 25 Things Liz & Lisa want to know about Emily Giffin:

1. Inside my purse, you'll discover: a complete mess. A mass of receipts, random lip gloss, sharpie pens, Blackberry, iPod

2. My secret talent: identifying fonts

3. If stranded on an island, the five things I couldn't live without: I'm assuming you mean other than items to survive. And my children. So here goes: My iPod, my Blackberry, my computer, US Weekly and a Starbucks latte every morning.

4. On my nightstand you'll find: piles of books, photos of my children, peppermint foot lotion

5. When I grew up, I wanted to be: a novelist

6. My worst job: a waitress at Colonial Ice Cream. I got paid $4.50 an hour and my boyfriend got $5/hr.

7. My comfort food: not sure how comforting it is, but guacamole.

8. The location where I write: my attic office or coffee shops.

9. Three songs on my IPOD's most played list: Ani DiFranco's As Is, Joshua Radin's Lovely Tonight and Dispatch's Out Loud

10. If I was on the cover of US Weekly, my headline would read: Best-selling Author Wrecks Mini-Van .... AGAIN!

11. The three books that make me think of my childhood:

Ramona the Brave

Anne of Green Gables

Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great

12. My favorite Chick Flick: Notting Hill and When Harry Met Sally

13. My favorite Chick Lit book: Melissa Banks' Girls Guide to Hunting and Fishing. Is that chick lit? I think so.

14. My "must see" TV: American Idol, Lost, and The Office

15. My Starbucks order: grande skinny double latte

16. My favorite curse word: not really a curse word, but I enjoy an occasional "douchebag"

17. My celebrity man crush: Ryan Reynolds, Matthew McConaughey and Taye Diggs but Jake Ryan (Sixteen Candles) will always have a special place in my heart

18. My celebrity girl crush: Jennifer Aniston

19. My writer media crush: Rachel Maddow

20. My last meal before execution: I refuse to answer that question! (as in, I'm not going to think about my execution!)

21. Three words to summarize my book: universal, resonant, wrenching

22. It took me _____  to write my book. One year

23. My book's original title: Was always Love the One You're With

24. Right now, I'm working on: a new novel, Heart of the Matter

25. Chick Lit is alive & kicking because: quality writing, no matter what genre, will always be in demand

Check out  www.emilygiffin.com to find out where to buy Love the One You're With, read a sneak peek of Heart of the Matter or to get more info on Emily and her other books!

A big xoxo to you Emily!