Saturday, August 15, 2009

Wednesday's bounty

Wednesday was our first full day home from the hospital, and it was such a fun day of mail and special delivery bounty, I just have to share. Not only did we have our specialest delivery home with us at last . . .
. . . but we got lots of packages!

(Doesn't that kind of look like a studio portrait? I'm proud of it. I was experimenting with the camera a little. Oh, and I finally ordered a DVD manual to my camera so I can learn how to stray from the fully-auto setting and get some better pics! It hasn't arrived yet.)

First, my mom brought over FOOD. Lots of food. She'd been cooking for days, and my mom can cook. This week we've been eating crab quiche (with fist-size chunks of Alaskan king crab), roasted turkey breast, lemon risotto (delish!) and this awesome salad of orange slices, shaved fennel, and pecorino Romano in pomegranate dressing. Banana cake, garden tomatoes, soup, lasagna, and more. It's awesome. I told mom she's establishing a precedent and now she has to do this forever :-)

And the lovely folks at Scholastic sent a box of goodies:
Lots of fun little books and things. Thank you Sheila Marie!

From Penguin, a well-timed treat:
The first hard-cover copy of Silksinger. Yay!!! It looks so gorgeous. Like the paperback, the type and central image are spot-laminated (shiny), and the page design looks great. As soon as it was in my hands I wanted to sit down and read it. And I can tell you, after going through the many revision passes, one gets so sick of one's own book that it's wonderful to have that feeling again! (Oh, and the Silksinger audio is just going into the recording studio now at Brilliance. Exciting! Can't wait to hear it!)

Here's the beautiful frontis illustration by Jim:

That's the title character, Whisper Silksinger, on her flying carpet. You'll notice her wings are small. Like Talon Rathersting, she's a scamperer, unable to fly, except by means of the extraordinary carpets woven by her clan.

Another book arrival:
The new Children's Writers & Illustrator's Market, from Writer's Digest, edited by SCBWI friend Alice Pope. There's an article in it called "Under One Roof; A Writer & Illustrator: Married" about Jim and me and our collaboration. There's another story by Cheryl Klein of Arthur A. Levine Books, a great piece on revising, and she cites Not for Robots, which is cool. (Oh, and Cheryl has a post up right now about the AALB Fall list; check it out.)

And okay, lastly, and with supreme awesomeness, a gift bag turned up on the front steps, and it was from Matt Holm (illustrator of the Baby Mouse graphic novels for young readers) and his lovely wife Cyndi. And in it?
Oh. My. God. A tiny pink handmade wig!!!!!!! Can you believe??? Look at it! It's sewn onto a little baby cap, and it is just so awesome. We have not yet had a photo shoot, but one is upcoming :-) A mommy-daughter pink-hair photo. It'll be a bit big for Clementine's little sweet head right now, but we'll try it anyway and take more photos as she grows into it. Awesome! For added awesomeness, there was champagne in the bag. Thanks Matt & Cyndi! You guys rock.

(Not to brag, but we also have a one-of-a-kind hand-painted Baby Mouse onesie that Matt made at our baby shower. Which she will certainly be wearing for the photo shoot!)

So, Wednesday was a pretty great day. Being home with our baby and getting presents :-)

Love to all.

27 comments:

Sarah said...

Ooh...I love her little outfit! And, she looks so happy in it, too.

And, seriously, food after having a baby is the best thing ever. Except for maybe a hand-painted Babymouse onesie. So jealous!

Just Your Typical Book Blog said...

I completely busted out the awww face when I saw that adorable picture.

Amber

Shveta Thakrar said...

This whole post made me smile--the tiny Pie, the pink wig, Silksinger!!! Wonderful. :)

Mindi Scott said...

Congrats to you both!

Giggles said...

So precious!!! Life is good!! Congratulations!

Shari Sherman said...

Your little pinkie Pie is going to look so cute in the wig. Oh, and the food you mentioned sounded heavenly, especially the crab quiche! That certainly was a good day. Food and family and prezzies!!

myrna said...

I can't wait to see your Clementine Pie in that wig! You are going to post a picture, right? And I think I need to visit Amazon. Now.

Heather said...

I think my heart stopped when I saw her in the red polka dots! How cute is THAT? Fabulous photo, Laini!

I am also very excited about Silksinger - can't wait to get my hands on it, hoo boy!

Tell your Mommy to come up to my house and cook any time!

Katie Anderson said...

Wow! that pink wig is simply the cutest darn thing I've ever seen! I can't wait to see the photos :-)

Sara Easterly said...

I don't think Clementine could be any cuter, but I am giddy with anticipation thinking of her in that adorable Matt Holm pink wig - can't wait to see pics!

Kiersten White said...

Oh. So. Cute. She's perfect ; )

And what fun stuff, too! I'm glad you're being well cared for, and I love how joy is just seeping into your posts.

Also, thanks for the congrats!!

Annie Jeffries said...

If joy could be bottled, this post could be considered a prime gathering spot. Such a happy time. Wring every bit of joy you can out of it.

storyqueen said...

I am wondering if it is possible to overdose on cuteness.......

tone almhjell said...

Oh, polka dot baby! I forgot to tell you that in Norwegian, more specifically my dialect, pie means girl. Søt pie is sweet girl. And so she is!

I'd say it sounded like a good day, the Back to the future moment, new baby, food and pressies and jammed into one!

Amber said...

This is happy reading, indeed! I am thrilled for you ALL. She is beautiful! And you sound over the moon. :)

ox :)

Jordan E. Rosenfeld said...

I was a zombie 5 days after the birth of my baby. How are you already blogging, with pictures??

Your little clementine is delectable!

Suzanne Young said...

I'm dying over here! I can't wait to see you two beautiful ladies!!

SO CUTE!!!

Melanie Margaret said...

She is adorable! I wish you and your family all the best!
XO,
melba

Life is Good(ell) said...

I rarely leave comments, but this is worth leaving my lurking status for ... congratulations! Clementine Pie (and her name!) are absolute perfection. Enjoy this magical time with your gorgeous family of three. My baby girl is three months old, and I'm still amazed that each day is more wonderful than the last.

Realm Lovejoy said...

Adorable! Love the outfit!!

persnickety_jen said...

Welcome to the world, Clementine di Bartolo. What an adorable name. I'm hoping that once Clementine's hair grows in, she has an excellent foxlick just like our other favorite 'Pie. :)

Hooray for the Silksinger hard cover! I can't wait to have that edition in my hands, so I can finally see the rest of Jim's artwork! His character portraits are so beautiful, I missed not being able to see all of them in the ARC.

And that pink wig is TOO perfect. Looking forward to seeing the results of the photoshoot!

vanityblogger said...

Aww. Clementine Pie. And the pink wig is sooo adorable.

Kayla Ice said...

YAY! i want to dress in that outfit as well! beautiful beautiful baby girl! congratulations!

paris parfait said...

Clementine Pie looks scrumptious in that ensemble! Can't wait to see the pink-haired duo. Hooray for all the yummy food, care, well-wishers, gifts and of course, your book! Bliss!

Vivian Mahoney said...

Clementine Pie is beautiful. Get plenty of rest while she sleeps!

Stephanie Perkins said...

Well hello, adorable polka-dotted Pie!

AND . . . Silksinger!!! Iz so BEAUTIFUL. Shiny, shiny, shiny!

Unknown said...

Kudos! I'm sure Clementine will rock the Babymouse onesie and the just-like-mom-but-a-wig wig!