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Lian Dolan

@liandolan

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Novelist, Podcaster, Satellite Sister📚🎙👩🏼‍💻
CT girl in Pasadena, CA 🌹💃🏼❤️
Abigail and Alexa Save the Wedding~ USAToday Bestseller

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so excited to have Pasadena icon @liandolan joining us for our first preoccupied Pasadena walking book club !! 🌴📚👟

Click the link in our bio to RSVP 💚✨ taken in Pasadena, California by @liandolan

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4 days ago

Pasadena, we’re coming for you! 📚👟

Our first-ever Pasadena walking book club is happening Sunday 10/25, and we’re kicking it off with a true Pasadena icon: @liandolan, who has her very own star on the walk of fame right outside @vromansbookstore !

We’ll be walking and talking with Lian about her sparkling summer rom-com, Abigail and Alexa Save the Wedding. Two moms, one dream wedding, and a whole lot of Montecito chaos.

📍 Meet us at Vroman’s at 9am (come say hi to Lian’s star!) 🚗 Free parking in the lot behind Vroman’s, plus plenty of street parking nearby 🌳 We’ll stroll for 40 minutes down lovely shaded streets and circle back to Vroman’s for signing, shopping, and photos

Bring your copy, your walking shoes, and your hottest takes on wedding drama. Can’t wait to meet our Pasadena readers!

RSVP at the link in our bio 💚 taken in Vroman's Bookstore by @liandolan

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14 days ago

Let’s talk TV! Yes, fully sucked in by the NYT list of Top TV shows of the 21st Century! We can vote for our favorites— and I fell for that clickbait. What makes a favorite TV shows— besides the laughing, crying, gasping and rooting for the anti-hero? I think it’s the show that came to you at the right time in your life to serve up what you needed. Alias was a show that completely took me away from the reality of my working mom, two kids, 6 day a week radio show life. The Office was a show my kids introduced to me and brought us together in their teen years. Somebody Somewhere reminded me that humanity still matters despite what the news tells us.

What’s on your list— the right show at the right time?

More in my Substack. Link in stories.

#bestTVshows #alias by @liandolan

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20 days ago

Finn’s first groom! His adult fur is growing in so he looks like a little dinosaur with tufts of hair on his back. But a smashing bandana. Thanks to Jess at @petco by @liandolan

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a month ago

Lulu on the job. It started as a simple babysitting assignment… then the fire department showed up. Link to More Felix and full text in comments. by @liandolan

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2 months ago

Today’s Pep Talk: Honor Dolly

Like many of you, I’ve spent the last 48 hours in Dollyworld, soaking in all the tributes, obituaries, remembrances and performance videos. And done more weeping than I have in while. Thank you, Dolly Parton.
The more we learn about Dolly, the more we love Dolly. She was the incarnation of Pep Talk—a positive, thoughtful, supportive spirit in the world. (Who also happened to be a musical wonder. Bonus Points for that.)
So, here’s a list of Dolly-inspired actions to honor her and her legacy.

Embrace rhinestones.
Laugh at yourself.
Send money to a library or literacy organization.
Put together of a playlist of 20 Dolly songs you don’t know.
Go blond.
Welcome a stranger.
Plant a Dolly Parton Rose Bush
Be an LGBTQ ally or advocate.
Wear a coat of many colors.
Know your worth.
Share your accomplishments.
Learn about your business inside out.
Say something positive to another woman in the ladies’ room.
Send a supportive card.
Get a the new MRNA flu shot along with a Covid booster.
Paint your nails pink.
Don’t forget where you came from.
Go see some live music.
Write a song or a poem.
Put on a wig and do dancing.
Reach out to someone in need.
Donate to disaster relief.
Be a loyal friend.
Uphold decency.
Listen to Whitney’s version of “I Will Always Love You” at least five times in a row.
Never say no to a duet with Kenny Rogers.
Go back to faxing over texting. (Yes, Dolly was still a faxer, according to Reba.)
Watch 9 to 5 to understand what the workplace looked like 40 plus years ago.
Spend an hour watching her appearances on Carson and Letterman.
Call your godchild.
Be kind.
Have faith.
Choose love over hate every time.

We will always love you, Dolly. xo, Lian

📸 Ms. Parton by Irving Penn
📸 the Dolly Parton hybrid tea rose

To subscribe to Pep Talk on Substack, find link in stories by @liandolan

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2 months ago

Putting my first novel back in the mix! Bookstagrammers are flooding the socials with recommendations to read after seeing The Odyssey. Might I humbly add my first novel, Helen of Pasadena, a midlife romance-com/social satire with a sympathetic main character, a hot archaeologist and a Helen of Troy leitmotif? If you saw the movie and wonder WHERE WAS HELEN, I guarantee you’ll get a little Helen on every page. This book came out in 2010 and continues to sell and engage readers. I know because someone mentions it to me almost every week. So yes, by all means, read The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood and Circe by Madeline Miller. But if you want some fun, romance, history and Helen, you can find Helen of Pasadena on Amazon or by special order. Link in stories

#helenoftroy #bookstagram #pasadena by @liandolan

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3 months ago

Pupdate! Hey, did you know that dogs are very sensitive to THC? And THC is highly toxic to dogs? (And cats.) We found out last week when Finn picked up what we thought was a cigarette butt and we fished it out of his mouth. Turns out, it was what my mother would have called a ‘funny cigarette,’ and there was nothing funny about it. Half hour later, a perfectly healthy puppy was lethargic, wobbly, vomiting and out of it. It was very scary. I thought he has having a stroke or other neurological issue. I scooped him up in his trusty tote bag and took him to the emergency vet hospital here in Bend. They took great care of Finn, gave him fluids and anti nausea medication and told me to take him home and care for him like he was a drunk friend. Poor Pupper! He was better by dinner.

But a warning that THC in any form, even just smoke, is very toxic to your pets. Please dispose of your funny cigarette butts properly.

Big Thanks to the team at @bendanimalemergency !

#inbend #puppies #thc by @liandolan

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3 months ago

The Bend Pet Parade— a 100 year + tradition! Beautiful morning for dogs and donkeys and chickens and ponies and other odds and ends. Puppy Finn’s First Fourth! Happy 250, USA. #bendoregonlife taken in Bend, Oregon by @liandolan

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3 months ago

Toast the Happy Couple

Cheers to Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce. Or any couple getting married this weekend during a heatwave. Let’s check our cynicism and la-dee-dahs at the metal detector, shall we? Our English teacher and our gym teacher are getting married! And we’re all invited to be delighted. Slap on your friendship bracelets and team jerseys and root for them like they’re the home team. Because maybe they are. Enjoy this Madison Square Garden moment. I know I certainly am.
I haven’t been to Madison Square Garden in twenty years, but I went to a lot of events there growing up, from hockey games to concerts to track meets. I like to think that the ghosts of the Garden will be dancing to Ed Sheeren and Stevie Nicks. The Rangers of yore. Dorothy Hamill and the Ice Capades. The entirety of Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey Circus. There will be show dogs and horses and milers and tennis players. And, of course, the spirit of Billy Joel will put us all in a New York State of Mind. It’s the perfect setting for two people who have spent a good portion of their lives in stadiums. Critics see an empty shell. Taylor and Travis see sold outs seats, Super Bowl rings and magic. I hope they get their own championship banner, hung right next to the one belonging to the 2026 Knicks.

So, raise a glass. Enjoy the show. To you, Taylor and Travis. All the best,
Lian Dolan
Pasadena by @liandolan

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4 months ago

A Fourth of July Tradition! My Mom's Muffins!

Edna Dolan’s UNBELIEVABLE BLUEBERRY MUFFINS

3 ½ c. sifted all-purpose flour
2 T. baking powder
¾ c. sugar
Pinch of salt
5 eggs, slightly beaten
½ c. milk
5 oz. unsalted butter, melted and cooled
4 or 5 cups blueberries (My mother always uses fresh, but you can use frozen)
Additional sugar for topping

Heat oven to 425 degrees.
Mix all dry ingredients together.
Stir in eggs, milk and butter; do not overmix.
Carefully stir in berries. The batter is very thick.
Grease the top of a large muffin tin (yup, the top for overflow).
Insert paper baking cups and spoon batter to the top of the paper cups.
Sprinkle generously with sugar.
Reduce oven heat to 400 degrees (that’s right, you haven’t even put the muffins in yet!).
Place muffin tins on middle shelf of oven.
Bake about 25 minutes until the muffins are golden brown.
Remove from muffin tins and cool.
Yield: 10-12 muffins.

Side Note: The Sweeney Sisters is a Fourth of July Book. by @liandolan

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