Goal Met and Exceeded

I began my 165th book for the year today, passing my goal of reading 100 books in 2009. I thought 100 would be a challenge, but as I kept reading found I could do about 1000 pages a week. I know the books I have chosen to read are not Pulitzer prize winners, but they are very entertaining and that's the whole point of reading. To be entertained, taken away to a new world, time or people makes reading enjoyable. If a person tells me they don't like to read, I always reply that they haven't found the right book yet. The right book can transport a person and they do so much, much better than TV or movies, which become what someone else has created for you to view. An author can create a world that you fill in with your own colors, emotions and experiences. All of who you are contribute to the story, because all of your experiences color how you interpret life.

The majority of what I've read this year has been paranormal romance, as most of you know. I like that genre because, typically, the female character is strong and independent. She can rely on herself to save herself, which I really like. It's so different than the romances from the 70s and 80s where the female has to rely upon the male to save her. However, the male is an important component to the books, hence the word romance in Paranormal Romance. The male lead brings his strength, but also his weakness and together the two characters are stronger than they were by themselves. I like that bit the best. Strength in the relationship and how we can be better together by bringing all of our strengths and weaknesses together and become even better people.

I love that through the books, by talking about them and sharing them, I've developed new friendships and strengthened old friendships. Books give you people and worlds to talk about and talking brings people closer.

Some favorite authors this year:
Karen Chance - Great female character
Jennifer Crusie - outstanding, quirky female leads and the men that love them
Christina Dodd - PR and CR. Darkness Chosen was a fave PR series
Jeaniene Frost - My second PR series. Absolutely love this series! Cat + Bones = yum!
Diana Gabaldon - The Outlander Series has been around for a while, but she just published another book in the series. I'll probably start it after the series I just started. Jamie and Claire are the best!
Rachel Gibson - CR and very fun
Charlaine Harris - My first PR series and the first books I read in 2009. Great series - Sookie Stackhouse and it's a show on HBO, but be forewarned, it's very explicit on TV. Not so much in the books.
Linda Howard - CR/thriller. I have been listening to her mainly on CD as I'm driving for work. Very good characters and relationships.
Larissa Ione - Have only read one of her series - the incubus brothers and liked it very much
Angela Knight - Great future PR type series - Time Hunters
Kathy Love - fun vamp series
Katie MacAlister - oh Katie! She has a few series: Aisling Grey, contemporary and Dark Ones. The first Dark One I read, I just laughed at some of the lines as they were so ridiculous! But, by the time I got to the end of the book, I cared enough about the characters that I bought the second one, so I could find out what happened to the people. That's what's writing is all about - causing your reader to grow attached to the characters and having them wanting more. Her books are always a fun read.
Richelle Mead - Dark Swan series is great. She has a Georgina Kincaid series that I would like to try and she as a YA series, Vampire Academy that is very good.
Stephanie Meyer - I didn't read it this year, but honorable mention goes to Stephanie for Edward, Bella and, sigh, Jacob. (Thank you Tyler for bulking up to bring Jacob to life for us!)
Karen Marie Moning - Highlander series - just found this series (thank you Christy!) and yum! She has a Fever series that I just started today.
Rick Riordan - Youth series. I've only read The Lightning Thief, but I'm looking forward to finishing the series.
Lynsay Sands - A whole fam bam of vamps, but with a twist. Love the Atlantis and nanobots concept!
Gena Showalter - Lots of different series to love. Alien Huntress, Atlantis, Lords of the Underworld - yummy men!
Christine Warren - I started with Novel of the Others, thinking I was getting one of her Cin Craven books, but it was great anyway! Big Bad Wolf was the bomb!

A list of faves for the year. I'm excited to see what 2010 brings.

A Favorite on My List

Jennifer Crusie, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways!

1. Sassy, irreverent, curvy, smart, witty, can-hold-her own, but could use some help, female characters
2. Smart, handsome, becomes-amazed-by-the-woman male characters
3. People, places or situations that are a bit quirky
4. A wonderful cadence to her writing that just gets me giddy reading it
5. A way of connecting the reader to the character that makes me totally "get" her characters
6. Strong female leads in all the books
7. Has written lots of books for me to read (I guess you can read them too)
8. The Dempsey family
9. She gets him in the end and he finally, and irrevocably, he gets her in the end
10. Tells a wonderful story, time after time.

If you haven't had the opportunity to read Jennifer Crusie, please, with all haste, get thee to a bookstore and pick up one of her books. You'll be glad you did :)

Counting Down Until Christmas

Just finished wrapping the rest of the gifts. Made a huge Christmas play list for the iPod. One more day of work, then home with the family. Madison & Dan coming home on Christmas Day. Five family Christmases to do before the season is over.

Merry Christmas!

Satisfied at Last

Sigh...New Moon...well, I'm very happy to report that this time they got it right! The makeup, the special effects, the hair, the clothing (except for Carlisle's scarf he wears with the sweater - a bit too much people!) and the acting (for the most part). The only thing that stuck out as terribly goofy that earned some unintentional laughs from the audience was the scene Aro was getting from Alice that showed Bella (having been turned) and Edward running in the forest. They just looked a bit goofy, so it'll be interesting to see how they handle that when Midnight Sun, the movie, comes out.

I was able to see the movie twice within 24 hours and was very appreciative of the change that took place in Jacob (collective sigh). The big publicity was that he packed on 30 pounds of muscle for the character and let's face it, he needed to for the character. The physical change that Jacob went through in New Moon was an important component to the story. I was surprised at how much I ended up liking Jacob's character. More so than when I read the book. I was always staunchly in Edward's corner, but Taylor really came across as very sincere and has a great attitude and smile.

Looking forward to seeing the movie again. It's a keeper.

New Moon Week

All righty! It's New Moon week. I just purchased tickets for the 10:30 a.m., Friday, November 20, show at Broadway. You can get them on Fandango

So, I'm curious to see how this movie is going to play out. As you know, I was soooo disappointed by Twilight, the movie. The makeup, the acting, the meadow scene done improperly...it just didn't add up for me. Based on the trailers for New Moon, I am cautiously hopeful that the movie might do well. Certainly, Edward's and Jacob's pecs and abs will have a staring role and be very entertaining, but I'm not sure if pecs and abs can carry a whole movie. It'll be fun to see Dakota Fanning in her role of Jane. Will she be able to bring the terror of the Jane character to the big screen? And will Stuart be able to properly convey Bella's anguish over losing Edward? In the book, Meyer simply titled different pages with the months and we could see the months slipping bleakly by for Bella as she struggled without Edward. I have to admit what Edward did really did peeve me off. I mean, who is he to know what's "best" for Bella. Seriously, if someone did that to me, they'd be in traction. And I don't know if he really made it up to her. I think she let him off a little too easy. Anyway, before I digress any further, if you want to come and see the movie with me and then go have lunch after, so we can talk about it, give me a call or email me.

Pleasure, Desire and Passion

Larissa Ione's Demonica Novels features three brothers who have the same Seminus father, but different mothers, which brings each of them different attributes.

Eidolon, featured in the first novel, Pleasure Unbound, can heal and establishes an Underworld General Hospital that provides emergency care for demons who are injured above ground. He meets Tayla, an Aegis warrior, who fights and slays demons. Of course, they are destined to meet and join forces before the S'genesis takes over and he goes mad.

Desire Unchained focuses on the second brother, Shade and his love Runa who is a warg. As they are captured and fight for their freedom, they must acknowledge their love and use it to fight a madman's evil plans.

Wraith, the youngest brother, drives Passion Unleashed. He has been tormented for most of his life, but finds redemption with Serena who holds the key to Heaven.

I typically like books that are heroine driven, but these guys rock as do their women, who are tough, smart and resilient.

Turning Back the Clock

Can you believe how quickly time is flying by? My last post was October 1 and now it's the 19th!

Yesterday, was my birthday and I celebrated throughout the whole weekend. In fact, it started with dinner at the Palms last Tuesday with my mom, Friday afternoon was shopping and time with JWo, Saturday was golf, lunch and pedis with Tiff, Saturday night was dinner with Randy, Sunday the guys made me dinner and gave me presents, Monday I got an awesome, shake your booty card at work, (they made me stand up to open it, because they know me so well and knew I would start dancing the moment I heard the song playing) and a gift certificate to spend at Julie Vogue's (a favorite bling-bling store of mine :), then tonight I'm going out to dinner with my boys and then tomorrow I finish it up with a birthday lunch with JWo and me :)

So a nice week of birthday celebration. I'm not terribly fond of the age I turned. My age has never really been an issue for me. I look a lot younger than I am (everyone says so, it's not me saying it) and Randy is 10 years older and that made me feel young...but now I'm closing in on a BIG number and it's weird. So, I think I'm going to hunker down and stay at 39 for a while. It's a good number. I have a lot of friends who are that age. In fact, they might turn 40 and I'll still be 39 and then they'll become older than me lol! I amuse myself.

Madison on GMA

Back to Work Success Stories

Madison was highlighted on Good Morning America this morning regarding how she found her new job. Check it out!

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One Day in New York

Feeling the love in New York.

New Moon Trailer

Ok, so you know I'm a die hard Twilight fan and that I was sooooo disappointed in the movie version. Well, I have a bit of glee that's bubbling up inside of me, because I just got done watching the newest New Moon trailer. I have hopes that it might be good. Just trying to not have high hopes. I don't want to be disappointed again.

The trailer is posted at the bottom of my blog. Watch it and let me know what you think. Do you have goose bumps? I'm putting together a group again to go and see it. Debating as to whether to see it at the very first showing (which could very well be midnight) or Friday or Saturday night. Let me know which night you would prefer. It'll probably happen at Broadway, because that's an easier theater than Edwards.

Check out the trailer...hurry! Eeekkk! Did you see his abs? Team Edward or Jacob - neither will be disappointed :) For optimum viewing - let the trailer play once so it'll load and then hit replay. It'll be nice and smooth the second time.

100 and Counting

Tonight I finished my 101st book for the year, obviously surpassing my goal of reading 100 books this year. Blood Promise by Richelle Mead is the fourth book in her Vampire Academy series, which tells the story of Rose Hathaway, a dhampir, who is bonded to her best friend Lissa. Because a struggle that occurs in the third book, Rose leaves her school in Montana to travel to Russia where the majority of the fourth book's action takes place.

I think my favorite book in the series, so far, is the third book, Shadow Kiss because Rose and Dimitri finally are together. I had anxiety for most of the fourth book, because I was worried about Rose and the situation she was in (trying to write about this without giving away too much). It ended with a cliffhanger (you were right Irish!) that has me hoping for a happy ending to occur in book five, Spirit Bound, which is set to be published on May 18, 2010. Eek! I have to wait eight months to find out what's going to happen! The sixth book is to be published late 2010.

Great young adult series. I'd say high school and older as there are some mature themes. I really got caught up in the characters. Of course, I liked Rose the best as she's the main character, the heroine, is tough and sassy. Sometimes I didn't care for Mead's use of exposition. In the subsequent books it seemed like a lot all at one time. I would chunk read those parts and get on to the new story telling. I did read them back to back and so if they are spaced out, thorough exposition can come in handy for short term memory loss folks like me :)

Thanks to Jen and a visit to a used book store in Arroyo Grande, I have a huge stack of books to dig into, so now I'm wondering how many I will end up reading by the time the year is up. Any guesses?

Wedding East Coast Style

In New York for the east coast wedding festivities. Madison and Dan had their open house last night and it was lovely. Maddie, once again, looked so pretty in her vintage styled wedding dress. It was the perfect dress for her. Dan looked handsome in his navy suit and bright pink tie. Their cultural hall has a wall covering, which made the room much warmer than our off-white painted cinder block walls. Jan's friends did a wonderful job in decorating the room and we had delicious fresh fruit and cake to eat. Dan made a play list a we danced the night-a-way to, well I guess for an hour of so anyway.

Randy and I were lent a van to drive back to Manhattan and after we dropped Madison off at her apartment in Harlem, we navigated our way through the streets of the big city assisted by the Magellan, trying to avoid taxis who liked to weave past us or stop directly in front of us to pick up passengers. Amazingly enough, we made it to our hotel, going, mind you, directly through Times Square, which was pure craziness.

Sunday, we picked up the kids and drove out to CT for Jan's mom's 90th birthday celebration, which took place at a beautiful country club. We enjoyed meeting Jan's extended family and getting to know them a bit better.

We came back to the kid's apartment and ordered wonderful New York pizza for dinner and enjoyed watching them open their wedding gifts. Now, we're going to look at Guitar Hero on the Wii and rock out.

96 and Counting

So, I'm at 96 books and counting. I'm going to New York this week for Madison & Dan's open house, so I just purchased the next three books in Richelle Mead's Vampire Academy series and I have Nora Roberts two books left in her Sign of Seven Trilogy series. I guess 100 books this year is completely doable at this point lol. I'll have to see how many books I can finish by the end of the year.

Vampire Academy

I finished Richelle Mead's young adult book, Vampire Academy, and I highly recommend it.

Here's an excerpt from Mead's website on the book:

"Two races of vampires walk our world. The Moroi are alive and wield elemental magical, while the Strigoi are undead and evil--feeding on the innocent to survive. Rose Hathaway--a half-vampire with poor impulse control--is training to be a bodyguard for a Moroi princess. Learning to decapitate and stake is hard enough, but Rose's real danger may lie in an illicit romance with one of her instructors..."

Rose, through an accident, was bonded to her best friend Lissa, a Moroi. Rose is training to be Lissa's guardian at the Vampire Academy. Typical high school intrigue and student hierarchy play into their lives as they try to figure out all the changes Lissa is going through.

Good pacing, characters and enough intrigue that I wanted to pick it up again. I look forward to finishing the series. Go to Mead's website for details on this series and two other series she is writing.

Check Out Bakerella!!

So I have to share...have you ever read Bakerella's blog? Hmmm? No, well, get thee hence to the blog as soon as possible! Fabulous photos, divine desserts and out of the ordinary observations. Her photos are my favorite style of photography - depth of field and up close. The pictures are beautiful and rich in color. Man! She makes me want to bake and I haven't felt like that is a looong time!

Shared photo book from Cindy

Click here to view this photo book larger

New Author - Richelle Mead

I recently finished reading Thorn Queen by Richelle Mead, an author I hadn't heard of before. The book is the second in her Dark Swan series. Here is an bit from the first book off of her website www.richellemead.com,

"Eugenie Markham didn't want any of this. Until now, she's been content with her job as a freelance shaman, battling and banishing Otherworldly creatures. When a prophecy makes her the Otherworld's most popular bachelorette, Eugenie finds herself fighting off supernatural suitors, as well as the evils that begin emerging from her past..."

I enjoyed the second book enough to go and get the first one. What surprised me is while purusing the book section at Target, I found she is the author of the YA series, Vampire Academy, so I bought the first book to see if I like it and I'll let you know!

26 Years Together

Today's the day! 26 years of marriage with my sweet baboo!

Love that he puts me first
Love that he does the dishes and picks up the house
Love that he works hard for our family
Love that he serves the Lord
Love that he's ok with all the wild things I do
Love that he loves me!

Wedding Photos

The wedding photos turned out beautiful!

Our photographer, Cesar Anaya, was so easy to work with!

Check out his webpage and more photos at http://www.cesareanaya.com/

Madison wanted some unusual shots and he was able to do it for us.

He was also able to deal with the bright summer sky.

Thank you Cesar!

Vampires & Romans

I've gotten hooked on Lynsay Sands Argeneau series, which is about the Argeneau family who are a race of people that have come from Atlantis. An experiment with nano technology has given them extremely long lives (thousands of years for some), the ability to fight disease and age, read people minds and influence them, but came with a blood price. They must feed the nanos that inhabit their blood stream with fresh blood on a regular basis. This has led the family to own blood banks, so they may fill their needs without eating "off the hoof" as they like to refer to it. Each book follows a member of the Argeneau family finding their "life mate" and the subsequent adventure they have in the process. The first book I read (and you can read the series out of order) was not that appealing to me, but the series has grown on me and I look forward to collecting all of Sands books in the series.

This weekend I finished a book by Rick Riordan called The Lightning Thief, which is a children's book. This book is also I series and I highly recommend it to young and old readers. Set in modern day, it follows Percy Jackson, a unlikely hero as he puzzles his way through Roman mythology and how he happens to be related to one of the gods.

Sister's Moving

So I'm down south at my sister's home this weekend helping her pack for the big move to North Carolina. My sister's home has always been so neat and tidy, well, not today! Boxes galore with all the packing that's taking place. Her new home is beautiful and I can't wait for her to be able to move in and make it her own. 

Check out her new home here.

I'm hoping to get out to NC by next spring. Should be beautiful at that time and I've always wanted to experience the south. Love those southern accents. :D

Tonight we went out to dinner and went to Macy's after and bought big A sister watches. Ya, they're totally blingy and totally rockin'.

Rockin' Chicks

Tiff, Bev & I attended Blondie and Pat Benatar's Invincible Tour last night at Tachi Palace in Lemore. It was held outdoors and we had bleacher seats and sat at the top, so the fence was at our backs, not too bad overall. The whole venue was smaller than the SaveMart Center, so I was closer to the stage than shows I had seen at the SMC.

Pat Benatar, Spyder calls her Patricia, was very engaging with the audience and gave background on her different songs, which was very interesting. She also mixed up the songs by playing one that wasn't really well known and then one of her hits. We really liked her portion of the concert. Blondie came on after Pat and was not as engaging. She did quite a few songs that were not well known and saved her more popular songs for the end of the show. She also had a habit of going to the side of the stage and singing from there or just hanging out stage right. Her energy was less than Pat's and her stage presence was lost in the mix. She has a beautiful voice.

We had a really good time though and it was fun to rock with the girls! A tip for concert goers, I'm not really a cool rocker when you find this out, I bought foamy ear plugs from Target before the concert and wore them for most of the songs. I didn't get the ear ringing I dislike so much that I usually do after a concert. My hair covered up the ear plugs, so hopefully I still looked cool :)

As we're sitting there listening to the different women rockers, I decided if I had a rock band I would want to be the lead singer and play the guitar. Ya, if you know me, you know I like the spotlight and, as my husband says, I never met a microphone I didn't like. Wouldn't that be cool to be a girl rocker? Ya, I'd wear boots, jeans, lots of black, maybe toss in a few skull accessories while I'm on stage and then dress preppy while off stage. I'd like the contrast. I think I'm going to have to think of a rocker name, my alter ego rock star goddess!

Some of Our Favorite Things

We had a really cool meeting at this month's Networking for Women in Visalia. The topic was bring your favorite thing to share and I wanted to share with you some of the neat things that were mentioned.

Are you going to San Francisco any time soon? Check out SF City Guides where there will connect you with a volunteer who will (for no charge) take you on a tour of a specific area in SF. The tour guides know the city and the history.

While you are there, check out the night life at California Academy of Sciences. Every Thursday night, those 21 and older can get in for $10 from 6:00 to 10:00 pm and enjoy music, adult beverages and provocative science.

Are you leaving the country and completely forgot to get a passport? go to rushmypassport.com where you can obtain a passport in an obscenely quick amount of time.

Ever wonder what it would be like to have your face on U.S. postage? Well, you can find out at zazzle.com where you can personalize postage as well as a host of other things.

Do you love cute shoes, but hate paying high prices? Check out Studio 32 Shoes and find oodles of cute shoes, none over $32!

Looking for a special, homemade item? Look no further than at etsy.com your place to buy and sell all things homemade.

Check Out Pandora Radio

Have you heard of Pandora radio? Go to www.pandora.com and register. You enter the name of an artist or song and it compiles a station for you based on that type of music. I'm going to see Blondie & Pat Benetar tomorrow with Tiff & Bev, so I plugged Blondie's name at work this morning and got to listen to them and Joan Jett. Way cool and they don't email you, which I really appreciate.

Helpful Internet Tip

I have been frustrated the past few months whenever I get on the internet at home as it has been very slow. I couldn't figure out what was happening...I did Ad-Aware and my virus scanner routinely, I would close other programs down, I was in the same room as our router, etc, nothing would work to make it faster. I hate waiting for pages to load and I wasn't doing much on my blog or on Facebook because of how slow the internet was taking.

Well, the other night I switched from Internet Explorer to Fire Fox for my internet connection. Wow!!!!! What a difference this has made! Searching the internet is quick again and I am once again a happy camper.

Now, in case you're not sure what I'm talking about...IE or Internet Explorer is the icon you click on in order to get on the internet. (It's not Comcast, cable or DSL, it's just a way to get on the internet).

This is how you get Firefox...get on the internet your usual way then go to http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/organic/ and download the software. The icon should pop up on your desktop. Close Internet Explorer and then click on Firefox and surf the web in a whole new, easy way!

More Men

Although my favorite type of book features a woman as the central character, I will admit to loving two series I just finished reading. Christina Dodd's Darkness Chosen series features the Varinskis family and their ancestor's pact with the devil, which has enabled them over the past 1,000 years to be able to turn into a predatory animal at will. The story centers around the Wilder family, a Varinski man who moved with his wife to America from Russia to start anew, and their four sons. There are four books in the series and each book focuses on this couple's adult children and their loves. Action and romance abound. My favorite book in the series is Into the Shadow.

The other series that features men as the main characters is the one I wrote of previously by Gena Showalter. Even though a man is the central character, their woman is given equal time on character development and it's basically because of her that they are redeemed. Maybe it's the strength of the woman that the man needs that causes me to like these stories...maybe it's just the hot guys.

Taking a Break For Pete's Sake

Ya, I know I'm reading a lot. Last weekend was spent on the couch reading two books. Just finished another one tonight. But you know what? I've been planning a wedding for the past nine months and the weekend before I was working my tail off to put on the most beautiful wedding there ever was and I did it. Can't wait to show the pretty pictures. So, this is kick-back relax time for me for the next couple of weeks. Until I get a new project that is. Perhaps it's working on my golf swing :)

Good Times

Maddie's friend, Kim, took this photo of us at the reception.

Finding Light in the Dark

My friend let me borrow her Lords of the Underworld series by Gena Showalter, which begins with The Darkest Night, then The Darkest Kiss and finishes with The Darkest Pleasure. Well, finishes for now. There is more to the story...and I can't wait to read it! These are very yummy books, but not suitable for all audiences. If you want a steamy romance for a hot summer read, these are the books for you!

Maddie & Dan, Married At Last!

These are just some wedding pictures I took while Cesar was taking the "real" wedding photos. He took some shots before they got married of just the two of them.
Such a sweet couple!

Maddie wore navy blue, peak-a-boo, pumps with pink polka-dots.

Beautiful shot :)

Coming out of the temple after they were married!

At the wedding luncheon. I didn't really take any pictures after that. I can't wait to see Cesar's pictures. We did some unusual location shots and I think they're going to be fabulous.

The Week Of...

We have officially begun the week of...the wedding. We have our schedule and list of things to do. I am heading into this week with a peaceful heart, knowing I have done all I could do to prepare and I'm as ready as I'll ever be.

This has been a great month with Madison home. I enjoy being with her so much. Here she is in my wedding dress. She's so pretty! I can't wait to see her on her wedding day.

What's With the Titles?

So I read Zen and the Art of Vampires, which starts out rather poorly. Some of the lines were so ridiculous that I bust out laughing at them. But then, something happened mid-way through the book and I finished it wanting to know what was going to happen next. The second book, Crouching Vampire, Hidden Fang is the follow up to the Zen book and now I'm hooked on Katie MacAlister's books! She combines vampires, called Dark Ones, and the Brotherhood, which is an organization that kills Dark Ones in Iceland where our heroine, Pia Thomason, is vacationing. Pia ends up becoming a Zorya, which is someone who helps ghosts pass over. In the book, Sex and the Single Vampire, the heroine Allegra Telford is a Summoner. Allegra and her Dark One, Christian are also in the Crouching book. Her heroines are flawed, in their own eyes in some way. Pia is too curvy for her own comfort and Allegra's eyes are two different colors and walks with a limp. The men they fall in love with are devastatingly handsome. The two women meet their men and are their Beloveds, which means they return their soul to them and they can communicate telepathically and the sex is really, really good. Fun, light, summer reads.

Night World

L.J. Smith's young adult novels Night World 1 2 & 3, are over 600 pages in length, but each include three seperate stories. The books all center around Night World and our world. Humans don't realize there are vampires, werewolves and witches amongst them who compromise the Night World. Each of the central characters in the books seem to make an appearance in some way in the subsequent books, nicely tying story lines together. An overarching theme through each of the stories is the soulmate principle, that everyone has that special person and when they meet they are able to communicate soul to soul. True love, action and good versus evil abound in each story.

A great young adult novel. Would recommend it from sixth grade and up as it is pretty clean.

Madison's Shower

Madison's shower...Ina, Karen and Brandy worked to make it so nice!
Me & my girl

Darling centerpieces

Love my girl

Regina, Ashley and Terri - how fun to celebrate with friends

It was a great night, the weather cooled off and it was so pleasant in Ina's backyard. We had a lovely dinner of salad and crossiant, followed by a yummy ice cream dessert. Madison then opened her presents. Regina embroidored tea towels that are absolutely darling. Carey gave her a box full of Christmas decorations. After presents, we watched a video that Justin put together of Madison and Dan being interviewed with pertinent questions, such as where they met, when did they know they were "the one" and a speed round. It was so nice! Thank you friends!

Part One of Goal...Accomplished!

So yesterday, I finished my 50th book of the year, Vampire, Interrupted by Lynsay Sands. The book is part of a series that feature the Argeneau family. A light read, perfect for summer. I have a stack on my table waiting for me to start, so I'm good to go for the next 50 :)

New Series to Read

I am now one book away from my goal of 50 books by the end of June. I'm reading a series by Christina Dodd, which features the Varinski family who 1,000 years ago made a pact with the devil which allows them long life and the ability to change into an animal at will. The series is set in modern times and features the sons of Konstatine Varinski who went against tradition and married a woman who bore him three sons and then, against all expectations, a daughter. The sons and their loves must gather together from the four corners of the earth a religious icon, which will prevent their father from spending eternity in torment.

The series is a very easy read. A bit explicit - so be warned. Fast paced with great action.

The Wedding is a Comin'

Wow! Three weeks from yesterday until Maddie gets married! On Friday, we went to meet with the decorator and finalized details about the set up and decor. It'll be soooo cute! I can't wait to see the final look. Linda with Express Yourself is one of the best party decorators I know and she has such attention to detail. The reception has a garden theme and she has a painted 13' x 36' mural that will be used as a backdrop for the receiving line. Friday afternoon we met with Nancy from Love & Garlic who is doing the food and went over the menu. Her food is delicious and her display is extraordinary. Saturday morning we met with Amy to go over the flowers and, oh sigh!, I just love fresh cut flowers. The shower is coming up this week. Let the festivities begin!

Spencer

I sent this picture of Spencer out in his graduation announcements. I thought it was such a cute picture. He looks really good in blue. I can't believe my baby is 18 and has graduated from high school. Milestones are happening left and right in our family.

Spencer's High School Graduation

Spencer graduated from Bullard this last week. Oh my! My last child to complete high school. It is a definate possibility that within three months Randy & I could be, gasp!, empty nesters. And you know what? I'm really looking forward to it! No kids coming home at midnight or later. No kids leaving dishes out or forgetting to wash their pots and pans. No kids asking for money (I hope). I'll just be hanging out with my man having a grand old time! Yep, I'm good with this stage in my life :)

What a Mess!

I'm sitting at my desk trying to get some work done and I look around, realizing the mess my desk has gotten into, yet again. What is it about me that I cannot keep my area neat? Maybe I don't throw stuff away quick enough and it piles all around me waiting for me to wade through the stuff and determine what I need to keep, throw away or file. Sigh, I really think my desk will look like this when I'm 95. I just don't see it changing anytime soon. So sad.

New Author to Check Out - Karen Chance

This is an author you should know about...Karen Chance. She has four books in her series so far that feature Cassie Palmer, a clairvoyant, who unwillingly fights the bad guys and helps to save the good against all odds. A supernatural thriller with some romance tossed in and a heroine who does her best to do the right thing...my favorite kind of book!

Chance does a cool thing in her fifth book, Midnight's Daughter. Instead of featuring Cassie Palmer, it features Dory Basarab, who is half vampire/half human as the heroine, but puts her in the same setting/world as the Cassie Palmer books. You get to see some of the characters you know from Cassie viewpoint in a different light. I don't know of any other books that have that feature and I found it intriguing. I wanted to tell Dory about the other side of someone she was having a hard time dealing with. I thought it was an interesting angle.

I realized in looking at my book count that I am close to 50 books being read so far this year. I've decided to make a goal of reading 100 books in 2009. Half way there!

New York! New York!

Randy and I, along with my mom, dad and step-mom, went to New York this past week to attend Madison's graduation ceremony from Columbia University. She has earned a Master's degree in Social Work.

On Sunday, we had brunch at Tavern on the Green before heading to Connecticut for a bbq.

Monday & Tuesday we spent touring on Grey Line tour buses. Upper, Mid and Lower Manhattan were covered as was Brooklyn and a night tour. The harbor tour to Liberty Island and Ellis Island came later in the week.

The beginning of the week was freezing and we were bundled up.

Graduation was on Wednesday and it turned out to be a very warm day.

It was so exciting to see Madison in the sea of Columbia blue and watch her graduate.

Proud mom and dad!
We did so much in one week! It's already beginning to blur as to what we did on each day.

We had pizza at Grimaldi's Pizza in Brooklyn and walked across the Brooklyn Bridge back to Manhattan.
We went to the Metropolitan Museum on Thursday and walked and walked and walked! There was so MUCH to see!

Attended my first professional baseball game - The New York Yankees! They play the Baltimore Orioles and won, of course. I called Brandy to let her know where I was, but since it wasn't a Mets game, she didn't care. My sunglasses broke, so I got a new pair from a street vendor. I think they're a little big on me.
We saw the Statue of Liberty on the harbor cruise. It is so amazing to see it in person. Just beautiful.

I left New York with a remembrance around my wrist from Tiffany's, a girl's favorite store.