The LaReau Sisters have been hard at work on a New Project. Kara has already finished a first draft of the text (hooray for finished first drafts!) and has begun revising. Jenna is developing illustration ideas. Honestly, they can't remember the last time they were this excited about a collaboration. The only hint they will divulge about it — at this point, anyway — is that it is very, very THEM. Also, there is a monkey in it. But it is not a sock monkey, or a Helper Monkey, or even a Funny Little Monkey. No, friends. This is a bad, greedy, eeeeeevil monkey.

FYI, Kara and Jenna will be apart for a few days and therefore unable to blog, as Jenna is traveling to Connecticut for a visit with The Family. She will most likely have MUCH to talk about when she gets back. In Jenna's absence, Kara will be preparing for her first-ever UGLY FISH reading and signing on Saturday. You will be there, won't you?

Just the other day, Kara and K-Hubs received a letter in their mailbox from Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group. Evidently they are filming a new Steve Carrell movie in the neighborhood and are looking for locations; the location scout specifically mentions that Kara and K-Hubs's house "fits the vision for the film," and they would like to photograph the interior and property for use in the film. Um, really?

The movie's working title is Dan in Real Life, — though if Kara and K-Hubs's house is chosen, a more appropriate title could be Buyer's Remorse.

Attention, big fish and little guppies! On Saturday, September 30 from 1–3pm, Kara will be doing a reading and signing of UGLY FISH with illustrator Scott Magoon at the Wellesley Booksmith.

Books, Ugly Fish buttons, free fishy candy, and the chance to see (and even meet) a real-live LaReau Sister...need we say more?

Today, Kara happened to catch a commercial for that culinary paragon, TGIFridays. Evidently they're offering new appetizers now, including green beans.

At first, you might say (as Kara did), How Wonderful! Finally, an appetizer that doesn't clog my arteries just thinking about it. Then, you might notice that these green beans come with a ranch dip. Ah, you might say, ranch dip isn't SO great, but it does add a little special something to a dish of green beans. And really, who doesn't enjoy a nice crudité?

If you're lucky, you might be the type to glance at the menu one more time before ordering, and realize the one word you overlooked, the one word that changes everything. Often, for Kara, that word is "mushrooms." For Jenna, that word might be "corn." For K-Hubs, that word could be "feta" or "gorgonzola" or "olives" or "peppers." (Yes, he's a picky eater, that one.)

In this case, however, the word is "fried." Yes, that's right. The appetizer is FRIED green beans with ranch dip.

We can only rationalize this by noting that fried green beans is the healthiest new appetizer offering at TGIFs — others include the Sizzling Triple-Meat Fundido, which sounds like a figure-skating move but is actually "a combination of sizzling cheeses blended with pepperoni, Italian sausage and bacon. Served sizzling with warm breadsticks for dipping"; Potato Skinny-Dippers, which sounds like something potentially healthy but is actually described as "a heap of potato dippers for dunking in melted queso and chorizo plus cool, spicy Southwestern sour cream"; and fried macaroni and cheese, which sounds just as bad as it actually is.

The LaReau Sisters suggests dumping these directly into the toilet, thereby eliminating the middle man.

Seriously, whatever happened to plainly delicious french fries, or buffalo wings, or mozzarella sticks, or potato skins? Does everything in this world need to be EXTREME, including our apps? Not to mention our green beans?

Sorry we haven't posted in so long — Kara was away and Jenna was working on her apartment.

Now, Kara is sick. She has that rundown, achy, sore throat feeling, and a compulsion to eat nothing but buttered toast and applesauce. Watching the season premiere of House last night was helpful; Kara is comforted to know that she is probably not suffering from brain cancer, Addison's Disease, or scurvy. Though she should probably think about incorporating more Vitamin C into her diet.

Jenna does not have plumbing yet, but it's in the works. She has purchased and received just about everything she and the plumber need to make it happen — everything, ironically enough, but the kitchen sink. Will Jenna look back on this mad scramble one day and laugh? Probably not.