Random Black Friday

Did you go shopping this morning? I stayed in my nice warm bed, but I have been turning over Christmas ideas in my head all day. I discovered that the thing I wanted to give the Pirate for Christmas was twice as expensive as I thought. Back to the drawing board! (He wanted this Playmobil Pyramid. He's been examining the catalog for weeks now.)

This is a sweet series of pictures about a man and his father. Some of them have captions on the left.

I have no Thanksgiving leftovers. This makes me sad.

This is a whopper of a giveaway:


I have done no reading the past few days and likely won't do much this weekend either. With Monday being the big online sale day for Christmas, I've been sewing.


Shop Update: I listed three new wallets in the shop last night. (Well, actually four, but upon reviewing the listings this morning discovered a giant piece of lint on the black portion of one of them and decided to remove the listing and rephotograph that one. Oops.) If you're thinking about a banner for someone, be sure to order by December 1st!



I am an Amazon Associate. As such, any purchase you make at Amazon.com after following a link from this blog will earn me a (tiny) percentage back as income. Thanks.

Thankful, I am.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Today the boys and their daddy and I are headed out to visit some family. We'll stuff ourselves til we can't think straight and then have a little more pie. Thanksgiving dinner is my favorite meal and I can't wait. (I'll also force Mike to cook the same meal for Christmas dinner, if you want to know the truth.)

In the spirit of Thanksgiving I thought I'd take a cue from many of you and tell you what I'm thankful for.

I'm thankful for my awesome husband. He works harder than a person should to provide for us and still manages to make us all feel happy and special. I'd move across the country again for him if I had to. (But really, I don't wanna move again. I like it here!)

I'm thankful for my sweet Pirate. He is the sweetest kid there ever was, full of hugs and kisses and cuddles. He crowds me in my chair and when I ask why he Always. Has. To. Sit. By. Me?? He says, "because I love you mommy." Well then, let me just scootch over a bit.

I'm thankful for my crazy Bug. NOTHING about the Pirate prepared us for the whirlwind that is the Bug. He's loud and opinionated and determined. He WILL find a way to get into/onto/ahold of whatever it is you don't want him to have. He's funny and happy and silly though, the way the 1 year olds are.

I'm thankful for my family. I don't see any of them near enough, the Alabama ones or the South Dakota ones. (Yes, I'm thankful for my in-laws, I couldn't have married into a better family.)

I'm thankful for my friends, the ones I can touch (get your mind out of the gutter) and the invisible ones inside my computer. You all rock. This has been a crazy year for us and having the love and support of all of you has really made a difference in my life.

And yeah, there's a lot of material things I'm thankful for too, but none of it really matters when it comes down to it. It's the people and the love and the sharing and the generosity and the compassion. I'm thankful.

I am an Amazon Associate. As such, any purchase you make at Amazon.com after following a link from this blog will earn me a (tiny) percentage back as income. Thanks.

Bed of Roses by Nora Roberts

Ok so right after I stayed up all night to read Vision in White, I was obsessed with the idea of reading another great romance, and DUH, it HAD to be Bed of Roses . The library did not yet have a copy in, so the next time the Pirate and I hit a store that discounts new releases, I picked up a copy. (As I've mentioned, this is only the second book I've paid money for all year!) I pretty much flew through this one as well, so I consider it worth the money spent. Plus, look at that cover, how pretty is that?

So what is it about? Bed of Roses is the second in the Wedding Quartet. This one focuses on Emma Grant, the florist of the partnership. (Get it? Roses? Vision in White was the photographer?) Emma is from a close family and is the romantic in the bunch. She's never had a problem getting a date but she fully believes in the happily ever after. So who will she fall for? The man who is afraid of commitment, of course. (Ok, the books are a little formulaic.) Jack is best friends with Parker's (the leader of the quartet) brother Delaney. He's been close with the girls for years and treats them all as family. On the way home from a party one evening Emma's car dies and Jack comes to the rescue. After a near kiss under the hood, Jack and Emma are unable to stay away from each other. They are both worried about how a relationship between them will affect the close knit group, but can't stop themselves from finding out.

And how did I feel about it? I didn't love it like I loved Vision in White. I was sucked right into it and had no problems falling for the relationship right up until the very end. Emma has a great family story and was appealing and honest. The friendship with the four girls was terrific and consistent with the previous book. Jack was ok. I didn't get the same sense of person from him that I did from Carter and aside from his sexiness I don't remember much. (Granted, I read it a couple of weeks ago.) The relationship between them was great, even with the navigating the waters of their very long friendship. I loved seeing Del find out about it and his protectiveness towards Emma, who he considered a sister. I flew to the end and then...it was over. There is a big blow up, of course, but it's completely out of the blue (I didn't see what happened in Emma's character at all!) and then resolved in a matter of pages. While I enjoyed it, and I really am looking forward to the remaining books, I was a bit disappointed in how it all ended.

I seem to be in the minority here, so go check these other reviews:

Books, books, and more books
Find the Time to Read
Book Binge

Did I miss yours? Let me know and I'll link you up. (And I probably did, I'm running out of time today!)

Bed of Roses by Nora Roberts
Berkeley Trade
2009
368 pages



I am an Amazon Associate. As such, any purchase you make at Amazon.com after following a link from this blog will earn me a (tiny) percentage back as income. Thanks.

Random Friday, only 35 days til Christmas!

Everyone have a good week?

I signed up for the Virtual Advent Tour again this year, I had a lot of fun writing last years post and am already planning one for this year.

I think I need this necklace. Doesn't it remind you a lot of my shop logo? (in the right sidebar)

The espresso machine at Starbucks was broken this morning. I was SO disappointed. Every Friday I go pick up donuts for work and as a treat for not buying fancy yummy coffee all week I treat myself to a latte. But it was broken today. I think this means I can buy myself coffee at the library tomorrow, no? (PS. Library, if you're listening, I hate to say it but your coffee isn't consistently good.)

Speaking of tomorrow, Mike is doing inventory so I will be looking for things to do with my kids. I thought I'd take Infant Bibliophile's suggestion and make a gratitude/thankful tree. What else should we do? (Cheap being the first descriptor word, please.) If the weather is nice we might try to run to the park.

Tons of sewing going on lately, including this personalized banner:

I am loving that striped tie at the top.

I have learn how to take better pictures in this South Dakota winter. Every room in my house is dark and dreary. I hate to use the flash, but sometimes you can't help it.

Shop Update: I'm trying to push hard to have a lot of new stuff in the shop on "Cyber Monday" (the Monday after Thanksgiving.) To that end, I listed several new crayon rolls this week, including two new fabric patterns- Dinosaurs and Kitties. This weekend I'll be making wallets and a couple jewelry bags, I hope. If you've been thinking about having something custom made, please order by December 1st so I can be sure to have it to you by Christmas!




I am an Amazon Associate. As such, any purchase you make at Amazon.com after following a link from this blog will earn me a (tiny) percentage back as income. Thanks.

Vision in White by Nora Roberts

Nora Robert's Vision in White is the first book in her new Bride Quartet. Just before the Read-A-Thon I saw a great review of Bed of Roses , which is the second in the quartet, and decided that it looked like something I'd enjoy. Being the sort that likes to read in order, and since Bed of Roses wasn't actually out yet, I grabbed Vision in White from the library. I didn't manage to get to it for the Read-A-Thon, but a week or so later (when the Pirate had the swine flu), I stayed up WAY late to read the entire thing in one sitting.





So, what's it about? The basis for the quartet is the story of four best friends from childhood (Mackensize, Emma, Laurel, and Parker) who grow up to run a very successful wedding business. They each have their own specialty, and as this book is about Mac, it's about her photography. Mac is fiesty, opinionated, and very much anti-love. She grew up with a mother who remarried like you and I change shoes and while she believed that some people could love and be loved, it was not for her. Near the beginning of the book (duh) she runs into Carter, who is the brother of a bride. Carter is exactly my type- he's an English teacher, a Ph.D, he wears glasses and is a bit nerdy in a cute way. He blurts out things he shouldn't even after he practices what he should say. He's also very very patient with Mac once he realizes her roadblocks and waits for her to figure things out.





What did I think? Well I read it in one sitting, didn't I? I loved it. I loved Carter so much. A lot of people don't like beta heroes, but I thought he was perfect. I find the scholar thing incredibly sexy, so that mighta helped. I loved that there really wasn't an external problem to their falling in love, that it was something they would work out between them. I loved that there wasn't a big misunderstanding or a grudge or anything. They didn't keep secrets, they just fell in love. There seem to be quite a few people out there who didn't like Carter, but this was an almost perfect romance novel for me.

Nobody does friendship or family as well as Nora Roberts and I felt like she really hit the nail on the head with these women. I really enjoyed all the behind the scenes look at running the business and the details of the weddings. After reading this one, I actually went out and bought Bed of Roses, which I think was the second book I've paid money for this year. I read it almost as soon as I bought it, and will be posting that review some time next week.




Other reviews of Vision in White, all of which explain the plot better than I did:
Book Binge
Find the Time to Read
Nobody Asked Me
The Good, The Bad, and the Unread
Thrifty Reader (I completely agree with her review, all the reasons why I loved the book!)

Have you read this one? What kind of hero do you fall for? Like me, do you find the nerds to be, well, hot? (Do I even need to mention that I went to a boarding school here?) Are you a Nora Roberts fan? Do you read her JD Robb books instead?

You can find more Nora Roberts on her website.

Vision in White by Nora Roberts
Berkley Trade
2009
343 pages




I am an Amazon Associate. As such, any purchase you make at Amazon.com after following a link from this blog will earn me a (tiny) percentage back as income. Thanks.

Monday morning catching up

Easing back into this blogging thing today-

I have now finished three books that I need to review. I have two more marketing/crafty business books to talk about. This one has been doing some reading too. Just look at this cutie and his book-

(Shoulda cropped that down some so you could really see the crazy grin on his face.)

I have a brand spankin' new header for the fall, be sure to click over and take a look. I think I like it, but can you tell that the Pirate is playing hopskotch? (He drew it himself, which is why it doesn't so much LOOK like hopskotch.) Perhaps I should replace that picture with this one:

(I asked if Darth Vader cut off his hands. He told me, "No mom, they are just inside my coat." I love that even with his crazy big imagination that he still thinks I was REALLY asking.)

I grabbed a bunch of library returns this morning on my way out, so I could drop them in the box at lunch. Then I got to work early and instead of reading Hunting Ground , which is the book I brought to read, I picked up one of the library books that I had intended to return unread. So I guess now I'll be reading Always Looking Up: The Adventures of an Incurable Optimist by Michael J. Fox. It kinda makes me want to start watching Spin City reruns too.

What's new in your life? Have I missed anything major? And surprisingly great books that I need to be looking for? New blog headers? Fill me in since I'll be skimming my reader instead of reading carefully!

I am an Amazon Associate. As such, any purchase you make at Amazon.com after following a link from this blog will earn me a (tiny) percentage back as income. Thanks.

Random Friday, again.

I apparently needed a little blog break as I haven't really blogged since last Friday. I seem to have lost my rhythm and it's hard to get back to it. I haven't visited a lot of blogs this week either, which you think would lead to more time doing other things, but it hasn't. I still have a few reviews in my head to write, hopefully I can get them written this weekend so that next week isn't as quiet around here.

We made TRISH's Coconut Oatmeal cookies. They are awesome.

I laid out my squares for a certain baby's Christmas present quilt. Go look, tell me if you think any of them are in the "wrong" place. Or if you use flickr you can look at it there and leave notes.

One of the features on the Etsy blog is a weekly post called "Quit Your Day Job" that features a seller that did just that. This week's was really nice to read for some unidentifiable reason.

I have to work tomorrow and am not looking forward to it.

I have to leave my house for work today in 38 minutes. I am not dressed. The boys are both still sleeping. This is not looking good. What is your morning routine? Do you have to rush every morning? Does everything work like clockwork? What time do you have to be out the door? How many people do you have to get ready? Come on, make me feel better about my chaos! (My morning: get up, slack online until I realize OMG I ONLY HAVE 32 MINUTES LEFT! Then run around like mad woman. Be sure to budget in a good 15 minutes for "gently reminding" the Pirate to GET DRESSED ALREADY!!)

And on that note, have a good weekend!