A New (Happy) House, a New (Happy) Chalkboard

I'm back! We bought a house, which means I don't feel guilty covering a wall with chalkboard paint, and the baby is in daycare, which means I'm not quite as bone-crushingly-tired as I was six months ago.

For the last few months, our brand-new little chalkboard wall has sat mostly neglected, other than this representation of the fam:

[Not Pictured: Chalkboard drawing of our family.
Because even though I walked by it twenty times a day for eight weeks,
I never once thought to take a picture of it.
It was cute.]

Like a lot of things in the new house, every time I'd walk by it, I'd feel bad and think about how I really should do something with it (and then I'd take a nap). When I launched my book last month, I wanted to draw the cover, but the morning of the party when I'd planned to get my chalk on, someone had to go land herself in the emergency room:

She's fine.

That plan nixed, I still liked the idea of chalkboard wall + book covers. Now that the baby has her own room, I'm finally reading again, about a book a week. And what's better than a new chalkboard drawing every week? I give you: YA Book Covers (in Chalk Form)!

This week, More Happy Than Not, the best-selling novel by Adam Silvera!

I actually met Adam when he was in town for the Boston Teen Author Fest, where I admired his tattoos and introduced him to the second best ice cream Cambridge has to offer.*

I just started the book, which, so far, seems to be like if Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and In the Heights had some beautiful, sassy baby. At the moment, though, my favorite thing about it is that the cover is big, yellow, and graphic, which meant that I was able to finish this mural while watching half of Dancing with the Stars,** plus one episode each of Bob's Burgers and The Last Man on Earth.

I'm going to admit to feeling a little rusty. This is my first actual chalkboard mural in the new house, so there was a learning curve. It took me like fifteen minutes to set up the projector, and eventually I had to perch it on Abby's dog food container:

which, you can imagine how she felt about that:

not great!

And the new wall isn't super seasoned yet, plus I sort of forgot how to draw, and also I ran out of the color for the letters by M-O. But! I pulled it off (minus the lovely blurb from John Corey Whaley, because no one got time for teeny letters), and my dining room already looks more literary!

Dave's first-view reaction: "More...happy...than...not..." Who's Adam Silvera?***

More pictures after the jump!

The original cover has this very cool peeling paint, faux-graffiti look, which is basically impossible to replicate in chalk. So: smudgy fingerprints!

It was while writing "A NOVEL" that I realized I was going to have to jettison blurbs for this project. But Adam's was lovely! It said: "A mesmerizing, unforgettable tour de force." Mesmerizing!

to be chalkboarding once again

*It goes:
Lizzie's (awarded purely for the simple genius that is chocolate chocolate chip cookie dough)
JP Licks
Toscanini's
the memory of Herrell's
Christina's
FoMu (literally can't believe I would ever be a fan of something called "plant-based ice cream")
and aaaaaaalllllll the way at the bottom, Emack & Bolio's (sigh. Just sigh)

**It's gotta be Bindi, right? I mean--bubbly sweet, talented, poised, and with more confidence and star power than all the rest of them combined. Watch this and then try to tell me you didn't sob into a pillow. That mirrorball is yours, you adorable Aussie.

***Who indeed?