The To Do list

I absolutely love rainy days like this. #1: pollen's low, so I can breathe. #2: fireplace is on. #3: No distractions from my To Do list. I always get a *ton* of work done on days like this.

Just finished editing my first piece for Gift Shop magazine, a feature about gift stores that throw parties as a marketing plan. The next time I'm in LaJolla, CA I'm definitely stopping in at Morrison Hotel Gallery -- or I can just stop in at the SOHO one -- to see all their musician photographs. Sounds amazing. I would have had it done last night, but I was distracted and wrote out 3,000 words on a 1,500-word assignment. This morning was a big edit, and I see that my penchant for passive verbs hasn't left me. So it was an hour of cleanup on that one and now I get into the next piece: a fun roundup of the best items to put in wedding guest welcome gift baskets for "Bride and Groom" magazine. The contract says 'no less than 1,000 words,' so I'll have to be mindful of writing tightly. It'll take an hour, and then I'm on to the Web writing I have lined up for wedding coordinators at For Your Memories. After that, I'm pitching a few story ideas to Weekend Magazine, a new monthly that looks like a lot of fun. I sketched out an assessment of their columns and have six or so rock-solid ideas for them. And then, there's the new book proposal...I like this one.

So it's a writing day until dinner with the girls tonight, and then I call it an early night to watch American Idol. In the meantime, it's just working through the To Do list, calling the bank to find out why they processed my cable bill three times, and checking on some Broadway tickets for when my niece and nephew are in town. Oh, and maybe some shoe shopping. Those stilettos were so comfortable in Atlantic City...cringing at the gold strappies, salivating over the black ones. Almost bought clear-heeled ones last night, but that's a little too much for me. I do remember that Oprah had on clear-heeled shoes but they had a pink hue to them. Maybe I'll look for a pair of those...after I cover the To-Do list. Gotta reward a job well done...