leave loud.

Greetings lovelies. 

I woke up thinking about you guys this morning. Giving a book away takes me to a happy place, a place far away from the state I was in watching American Idol last night. So I folded all your names into my Jim Halpert coffee cup ...

Shook it up. Spun around a few times. And the winner is ... 

Yay Rachael! Email me at nat.lloyd[at]yahoo.com and let me know your mailing address. Hope you like it :)

FYI, Susie Shellenberger has a few copies of Paperdoll she'll be giving away online and/or in the pages of Susie Magazine over the next few months. Here's the website link for Susie Mag. Occasionally I get emails asking me what happened with Brio and I really don't know (I was just a contributing writer :). I know it's under completely differently leadership now mostly existing as an online magazine (pretty design though!). Susie has funneled all her (wacky/awesome/unbridled) energy into a magazine called Susie. I haven't seen the hard copy yet, but the site is looking great. If you liked Brio, you'll like Susie Mag too. They're doing some sweet giveaways all summer (my book, Jenny's new book, new music, etc.). Free stuff makes me happy.

Thanks for entering over here. It's always fun when newbies leave comments. :) And candy comments to boot! You guys made me crave Twizzlers like nobody's business. 

Now. Allow me some space to vent.

I'm still in a haze from Idol last night (and from writing really really late into the night but it was mostly Idol). I think subconsciously I knew Alison was going home. En route to my brother's apartment to watch the show, I bought some Ben & Jerry's Coffee Heath Bar Ice Cream. Any girl knows you only break out the B&J for massive life events: breakups, bonding time with friends, weekends when you just want to lay around in the yoga pants you don't do yoga in and watch stupid reality show marathons, etc. I don't know what kind of gold bovine juice they're using to make Ben&Jerry's but the stuff is pricey. Delicious but kinda pricey. Last night I grabbed a pint (thus canceling out all those freaking lunges) and went to my brother's place. 

There, I slipped into early denial. "Alison is amazing," I said, shoving ice cream down my throat. "She's safe. She's fine. Alison, Adam, Kris. Top three. Danny seems like a sweetie but he needs to vacate. Vamoose. Fly away," *I flapped my arms to illustrate the concept of flying*. "Alison is safe." *twitch twitch mumble mumble*

My brother though, he knew. He had a gut feeling. Chase likes Allison too. We both wanted Allison and Adam in the finale and Adam is still in play, so all is not lost. I know some people (my best friend included) don't like the stage presence and screamies, but I like it all. I think he's so enigmatic. And when he came out this week in head to toe black leather and started snarling, it was like Elvis in guyliner. I can't peel my eyes away from the screen when he's on it. He's a natural - fun and talented and edgy. Plus I like how he and Alison have such a sweet bro/sis thing going on. She seems so comfortable around him. He brought out a real confidence in her when they were performing too. Sweetness. (Mom agrees Adam is fabulous. That settles it.) Rock it out, Fiyero. You're my only hope now. *Star Wars Moment: Help me Obi Won Kanobi, you're my only hope.*

(So far this post has discussed both Amerian Idol and Star Wars. Can I fly the nerd flag any higher today? Didn't think so. :) 

And then there were two. And Danny was safe. And Alison teared up. Ugh. I did too, Alison! I was shocked. I sat through Paula Abdul dancing in the bedsheet flames, and No Doubt singing a song that came out like ten years ago, and a slightly more watered down Daughtry song than I was expecting (I'm a Daughtry fan but that song was meh) ... for what? To find out America picked Danny? How can people like Danny's screams and not Adam's screams? (I must admit, the commentary Danny gave on his bad song choice last night was priceless. He seems very down to earth sometimes. I like him. I like them all.) I can't imagine two more weeks of Idol with no Alison.  The credits rolled and I looked around thinking it was a good thing I had ice cream to numb the pain. But I didn't even have that. My brother was eating it. **

At least she went out loud.  That girl can sing, dawg. I can't wait to buy her CD.  

I'm catching Star Trek this weekend. I'm a selective sci-fi fan (Roswell, anyone? :) but I've never been into Star Trek. I hear this one is pretty fabulous though. Then on Sunday, I'm spending time with my mom. I love her to pieces. She's incredible for so many reasons: she's crazy smart, artistic, and hilarious. Trying to write about her would make this post a mile long, but trust when I say she is a truly beautiful person. She's my first reader, my favorite storyteller, and one of the best friends I'll ever have. Love you, Mom!

Anybody have fun plans for the weekend? 

** Technically, I did say we could share the ice cream.