Saturday, May 3, 2014

Thoughts On Romance Novels!

I swear I do not like them! But...

Reading this...pure enjoyment...








Reading this...more pure enjoyment...






Hmmm...for someone who swears that I hate romantic books...I am reading a lot of them lately! These are also in the queue! Oh my! I think it's the covers...seriously...it's the appeal of the covers!



















This is the book I loved...





These are all over Etsy! I think it's chalk paint...I want them now!










That's a wrap!

Happy Saturday!

Friday, May 2, 2014

It's Friday! Thoughts On Quirkiness!







I loved this book! Loved it...I literally read it on and off all day yesterday. Portia Cuthcart...main quirky character...has "the knowing." She wakes up thinking of foods that people need and she isn't really truly happy until she makes that food and gets it to the right person! Why does she feel compelled to make chocolate chili covered figs and peanuts? Her grumpy but sweet neighbor has congestion and she knows this will help him! I loved Portia and her grumpy elderly gay neighbor! Plus...she lives in a basement garden apartment in NYC...she has been dumped and cheated upon by her philandering creepy Texas politician husband...discovers she has an incredibly handsome upstairs wealthy widowed hot father of two...Gabriel...and...they amazingly fall for each other and have incredible sex amidst a million obstacles! He actually climbs down the fire escape and into her old cast iron bed...be still my quirky heart! Plus...even the obstacles are amazing...her ex husband won't give Portia money, Gabriel has a blackmailing brother, a mother who doesn't love him but loves the brother more, and two daughters...one quirky and clever...the other obstinate and defensive. This book has everything except a cat!

I am not a fan of romance...but quirky romance? I love it! This book was simply put...fun! And it has recipes...I love books with recipes!

Next up?

Finishing this...thank you, Evan, from Harlequin Mira...hmmm...this is sort of a romance, too...it must be Spring!





Starting this...from Amazon Vine!



Sad news...the geese are gone...with babies...we stocked up on cracked corn...tossed them whole grain bread for a special treat...and they are gone...we fall for this trick every year...the parents show them to us...literally seem to live under our deck and then just when we are used to seeing them...the Papa Goose walks them to the other pond at the end of our street...when we see them again...babies are missing...he walks them through a wooded path...and a fox probably gets as many babies as he can...so sad! Bye bye babies!



So...with all that said...Happy Friday!

Thursday, May 1, 2014

In The Mood For...

All of these! Yum! Look at the sweet little carrot cake...I still have my play kitchen baking pans but these are cut out of a cake pan...9"by 13"...all of these with recipes are at PureWow...I think I can link to it...it's weird on BlogPress...

If there isn't a link...it did not work...sigh!

















































Loving this...NYC and a little bit of fantasy...romance...dysfunction...of course...and lots of cooking! Three Texas raised sisters end up inheriting a townhouse in NYC...but this book is really about Portia...middle sister...dumped by her politician wealthy husband...penniless in NYC...and the idea that when she thinks of a food...and makes it...something weird always happens to someone...










The sun is shining...the pond is receding from under our deck...no more ducks are swimming in the yard...

Yesterday was the first time Lucy Grace allowed Roxie Blue to sit on the sofa with us...
Small things with these two are so precious...I think that Lucy might actually love/like
Roxie...and Roxie Blue...she will not give up on Lucy!





Happy Thursday!

Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Set Me Free...People!

I do love Free People!

Their tunics and tees and dresses are so much fun! I truly think anyone can wear them...just imagine these actually on your body and not falling off...lol...they are so comfy. Plus I love the sizes...mostly XS/S or M/L...and almost every size works...what can I say...they are just cool, casual and comfy! That literally defines my style! Oh...and the names...they are like OPI Nail Polish names!

Here are a few...I love them!

Road Trip Tee
Big Dipper Tee
So Fancy Tee
Moon Dance Tee
Tight Wire Tee


And I also wear mine without biting the necks and with a little less attitude! Lol...sometimes...

Here are a few of my Summer Of 2014 faves...it's almost impossible to buy just one...sometimes you need more than one in different colors.



















Reading this in ebook format...I am in the mood for present day mild dysfunction!


Reading this in real book format...again...I need some slight dysfunction...



Wearing one of my comfy FP tees...lol! Can you guess which one?

Happy Wednesday...it is freezing cold here and it is pouring rain!

Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Books!

Finished these...this one...while good...Edith...smart...sassy...but not attractive...decides to jump off of a bridge and kill herself because of the bullies at her posh private school. Other worldly Kian...saves her...but at a deadly price. Edith gets three wishes...an entire new look...and extreme ways to deal with her bullies...I loved the first part of this book but by the last quarter...I was ready to move on...it seemed to lose a little of it's sparkle for me. This is why I can't read too many YA books in a row...they sometimes seem to do this to me.









This one...good...but for some odd reason I am reading far too many "jumping into the past" books. This one hops from the 1840's to 2009 and involves Julia, Imogen and a painting. Jobless and newly fired...Julia inherits a house in London where she finds a mysterious painting while cleaning out this house. Of course there is rivalry among cousins, a potential love interest...and mystery. Sigh!








Just a few more new books from Amazon and publishers and of course NetGalley.

I loved this author's first book...loved it! This one involves ballet!







This one just looks haunting and I am praying that no animals die.

From Amazon...

With shades of Water for Elephants and True Grit, a stunning debut novel set in the Australian outback about a female horse thief, her bid for freedom, and the two men trying to capture her...








This one is about living where the ground is burning...

From Amazon...

We walk on fire or air, so Daddy liked to say. Basement floors too hot to touch. Steaming green lawns in the dead of winter. Sinkholes, quick and sudden, plunging open at your feet...











From Amazon...

As beguiling as the novels of Alice Hoffman, Adriana Trigiani, Aimee Bender, and Sarah Addison Allen, Season of the Dragonflies is a story of flowers, sisters, practical magic, old secrets, and new love, set in the Blue Ridge Mountains...






This is her new book...I haved loved them all...

From NetGalley...

In her latest ripped-from-the-headlines tour de force, New York Times bestselling author Heather Gudenkauf shows how one small mistake can have life-altering consequences…





Rainy weather here today...so...staying in!

Happy Tuesday!

Monday, April 28, 2014

It's Monday! The Working Out Dilemma! And New Books...Part One!

Working out soon...I just got a cool new iPad holder for my treadmill...I have tried reading my kindle while on my treadmill...but it doesn't work...so...now I have this iPad holder...I will know soon if that works...sigh!

What is it about treadmills...they are just so boring? Walking is what I would rather do...or biking...but our development has only two streets...that do not connect...so I have to walk up and down our street...which I do sometimes but that gets boring, too...even with a stroller full of kitties. The street is long and hilly but there is nothing fun to see. To get to the other street I have to walk around the pond and then through someone's back yard...then around and back again...whew! I do that sometimes, too but it's still a pain.

Then yesterday I thought that we should buy a little rowboat...and I could row around the pond.
Like this...but every time I googled small rowboats...they were all in England...this is from eBay in the UK. But look at how sweet this one is!





















Books...new ones from Amazon and publishers! I have cover love for all of these!


From Amazon...I saw only five star reviews so we shall see...lol.

One man, three wives, the perfect murder. A scintillating novel of betrayal and conspiracy...






From Amazon...

A QUEST NOVEL and a historical tour de force, The Steady Running of the Hour unravels a tale of passion, legacy, and courage reaching across the twentieth century...











From Amazon...

For the audience that made Commencement a New York Times bestseller comes a novel about women making their way in the world...










From Amazon...
An astonishing debut about friendships made in youth, The Girls from Corona del Mar is a fiercely beautiful novel about how these bonds, challenged by loss, illness, parenthood, and distance, either break or endure...








From Amazon...
You're alone. You're vulnerable. And you have something that someone else wants. At any cost...






Yummy yummy books! The mailbox was overflowing this week!

Happy Monday!

Sunday, April 27, 2014

Oh Well...

I said I wasn't going to blog on the weekends but...I sort of am...

Finished this...really good...mean girls...prison...ick...and finally getting the truth to prevail...lol...a righteous kind of book...



Starting this...it's in my lap as we speak...Den ran out to hop on his tractor to mow...we may be rainy all week. I am watching Kitchen Nightmares and blogging/reading.


Loving this...sort of a Faustian YA novel...lol!


Playing with Instacollage...


Happy Sunday!