The new book has arrived!

I LOVE the days when Kingston, my FedEx man, arrives with a big crate of books. It means the new title has arrived! In an earlier post, I mentioned that I cried the first time I saw my very first published book, and then that graduated to a happy dance and dinner out with my friends, and somewhere in the middle of the 29 books it became a big smile and a Haagen Dazs bar. But today's shipment of the finished copies of the Bride and Groom Thank You Guide had me dancing around the house to Sting's "Desert Rose." No reason, it's just what was on the TV music station at the time. I love how the new books smell, believe it or not. Fresh off the press, the covers gleaming, the pages ready. This one is dedicated to the doctors who saved my Mom, and the same team is working on my Dad. So I have a pile of them waiting for hand-delivery to our 'medical miracle workers.' But I pulled the first one out for a special delivery.

As I'm flipping through the book, it's my first real glance at layout, at the formation of the quotes and poetry, my last-minute edits thankfully there. And then I traced my finger over the worksheets, those checkoff lists where the reader will record who needs to get a thank you for a gift or favor. It escapes me sometimes that thousands upon thousands of people will be using this book. It's going to be a part of their process. For a flash second, I imagined handwriting on those worksheets, and it brought me a huge sense of accomplishment and satisfaction, a sigh of contentment. I've put something positive and useful out there, and I can only imagine so many brides and grooms sitting down with a bottle of Merlot or some chicken marsala for dinner, flipping through this book and making their gameplan. I am glowing with pride in the work that I and my team at Perigee did for this one. And Maggie my publicist has already nailed down interviews on the topic. Did my first one today.

And of course, in my celebratory mode, I decided to take a bath (sandalwood froggie bath oil) at which time I got a call from Newsday. Sometimes I'm too honest and told the reporter I was currently in the bathtub. Hoping she'll call back. A 'Sharon Moment,' if there ever was one. I'm excited for this interview -- it's about the questions you need to ask before getting married. I've mined some recent anecdotes I've heard and have great stuff for her. The financial experts will focus on budgets and investments. The psychologists will go for communication and problem solving. I'm going for the issues that crop up during the planning process, and how they point a white hot spotlight on the things you need to talk about before walking down the aisle.

It's been a hectic afternoon -- putting out some fires, packaging up my recent clips, and just found out my InStyle Weddings issue isn't coming out til July 5th. Good things come to those who wait...

Beyond work, just getting my menu and drinks list together for bookclub at my place on Wednesday. Might go to yoga tonight and follow up with drinks with a friend, and of course will watch Oprah's Legends Ball tonight. My invitation must have gotten lost in the mail ;)

Now, with this flurry of good news to get my perspective back in line, I can dig back into this chapter, in which I've paired personality styles with designer martini concoctions and find myself wanting to expand my horizons for an Almond Joy martini. This has been a tasty chapter to write....