HBIC Book Club: April Pick!

Hellooooo book bitches! I can hardly believe it but we are already winding down March and about to start discussion on the third book of our year long challenge! Time is flying but I feel so great that we are sticking to our commitment and having such fun as we go along! With the publication of this post our discussion for our March pick: Beth Ditto's Coal to Diamonds will officially open and we can all declare our punk Riot Grrrl Northwest grunge fat Feminist love for Beth Ditto. Well, at least I will! I look forward to hearing what everyone has to say about this memoir. If you want to join the booky bitchy fun then meet us in the Facebook group where we pick one book per month to read and chat about. Everyone is welcomed and encouraged to take part!

And the bitches have spoken and our clear winner for our April pick is

  Drinking: A Love Story by Caroline Knapp

Here is the summary from Amazon: 

Freelance journalist Knapp began drinking in her early teens and continued unabatedly until she "hit bottom" in 1995 and checked herself into a rehab at the age of 36. During that time she managed to graduate with honors from Brown and have a successful career as a journalist, and few people suspected she had a problem with the bottle. Here she recounts the years of denial that helped her rationalize the blackouts, innumerable hangovers, broken relationships and family tensions characteristic of the alcoholic's story. Knapp interweaves her personal history with factual information about alcohol abuse, including frequent references to the AA meetings she's attended. Here's a confession utterly devoid of self-pity, an extraordinarily lucid and very well-written personal account of a common addiction that is filled with insights as well as a comprehensive treatment of the subject.


Like many of us, alcoholism and addiction have plagued my friends, family members and myself. It is an all too common issue amongst us so I am sure we will all be able to relate to this story. In my opinion, if a confessional like this helps one person get sober, healthy, and happy then it is a success and from the reviews it seems that many women have related and benefitted from Knapp's story. I am looking forward to reading it and finding out what they found comfort in! So go buy or check out your new April read and get going! But first let's talk about Coal to Diamonds...

April Book Pick: Drinking: A Love Story by Caroline Knapp

Discussion opens on Tuesday, April 23rd

Marathon Update: 6 Weeks In

Well, the first 6 weeks of my marathon training and fundraising have flown by! Yeesh I am surely getting old. Training is going ok so far. Some weeks I feel like Superwoman and literally smile with glee as I run on the treadmill (I think that is mainly because I get to watch HGTV at the gym while running, Property Brothers anyone? Yes please, I will have both.) Other weeks, like this one, I feel sluggish and am shocked when I check my distance thinking I surely have run 3 miles by now and find the treadmill lying to me saying I've barely hit 0.85 - evil treadmill. This is most likely due to the copious amounts of booze I consumed this weekend on an epic ski trip - 3 Legged Chihuahua Bowl I miss you! Running outside is so much more enjoyable but living in Colorado does not make this easy. Yesterday it snowed more than 4 inches! I did have a great run 2 weeks ago that was about 9 miles. Starting at my house near Stapleton, heading down 17th Avenue, looping around beautiful City Park, and then back (see route below). Took me a little while but gave me confidence that I can do this damn marathon if I just keep running (and listening to Car Talk while I do it.)

Since I kicked off my fundraising campaign for The Alliance for Lupus Research in honor of my bestie Julia, I have raised over $300! Still have a ways to go but I know I will reach my goal once I kick up promotion and start guilting all my loved ones into donating ;) You can do so here, btw. I have also learned that a few other friends are also living with Lupus, of which I had no idea. Must be why it is often referred to as a silent disease, someone can be suffering immensely but they still look and seem healthy. I know Julia has dealt with this and I am just happy that my campaign and blog were able to encourage a few friends to speak up about their situations as well. Yet another reason to love each other, and the internet. 

I am looking forward to more challenging runs and more fundraising as I keep chugging along. Thanks for reading and happy Friday ya'll! 

HBIC LUV