The Year of the Classics and a Giveaway!

I think 2013 is going to be the “Year of the Classics”.

No…I’m not talking about classic cars, or music classics such as the Beatles or The Rolling Stones, or classics as pertains to vintage clothing.

I’m talking about books.

I think 2013 is going to be the year that I “read the Classics”!

You can get them for free online and yet I go out and buy books when I could read these? What am I thinking?

There must be a reason these books have been read by countless generations, right?

Books like…

Pride and Prejudice
Moby Dick
The Scarlett Letter
Wuthering Heights
A Tale of Two Cities
Oliver Twist
Frankenstein
David Copperfield
Jane Eyre
Dracula
Jane Austen
The Great Gatsby
Vanity Fair
Treasure Island
The War of the Worlds
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea
Adventures of Don Quixote
The Last of the Mohicans
Emma
Lorna Doone
Little Lord Fauntleroy
The Red Badge of Courage
Robinson Crusoe
A Christmas Carol
David Copperfield
The Brothers Karamazov
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
The Count of Monte Cristo
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Les Miserables
The Phantom of the Opera
Ivanhoe
Anna Karenina
War and Peace
Journey to the Center of the Earth

How many of those listed above have you read? Which would you recommend?

I have read these…
Great Expectations
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
The Secret Garden
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Black Beauty
Little Women
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

So I guess it’s going to be a busy year for me in 2013 because I do of course, have a stack of books by my reading chair that I have already bought that I have to get through also. Not to mention the ones I read for my online book club From Left to Write!

And speaking about the From Left to Write book club, we are hosting an awesome giveaway just in time for Christmas gift giving. Crown Publishing has put together an amazing book bundle. There's enough to keep some for yourself and gift to others.

Go to BOOK BUNDLE GIVEAWAY to see the list of books you can win and enter!

What about you? What's on your reading list for 2013?

 

Winner, Winner....Chicken Dinner

Ok, we have a winner, but you don't actually win a Chicken Dinner. Which is good though cause you really don't want me to mail a chicken dinner to you if you're a winner right? It would be pretty icky by the time it gets to you.

So anyway...I'm trying to drag this out like Ryan Seacrest does on American Idol before I tell you who's going home. Or Donald Trump on Celebrity Apprentice before I tell you who's fired. (I really need to quit watching so much TV!)

So, like I said...I was going to use some type of vessel to put the entries into..here you go. I used my trusty, at work coffee mug given to me by my daughter this past Christmas. I love this mug!

And to make it all official...here's all the little entries inside the mug!

And now...without further ado.......the winners are..................... (remember, there are two books, two winners).

Yay!! Brittany Gale and Blue Creek Home. Please contact me to get details on how to claim your prize!

Thanks to all who entered. I wish I could give each of you a book. But never fear...I'll have another giveaway coming up in the next week or so.

On a Cruise

Today my sister left on a cruise. I'm so happy for her and I hope she and her husband have a wonderful time. She sent me these great pictures before the ship left and a couple after the ship left. Wish I were there with them *sigh*

My sis Lisa and her husband, the best brother-in-law in the world...G! It's great to see them so happy :-D

Don't you love the sunset? I'd love to be sitting there at that table with a glass of wine or a Margarita enjoying it with them!

Just a reminder, this is the last day to enter my giveaway. Just click HERE or you can click the image at the top of the sidebar over to the right. Good Luck! Hope you Enter!

Mother's Day Mosaic

I've been meaning to get a mosaic put together of the pictures I took on Mother's Day this year and I finally had a chance today. Good thing too cause it's Mosaic Monday over at the Little Red House.

In this first mosaic I present our littlest Princess, little Melissa, the youngest grandchild in our family. I can't believe she's going to start school in the fall!! It seems like just yesterday that she was born. They grow up so fast.

This little lady loves, loves, loves the camera and the camera loves her as well. But she definitely has inherited her photogenic qualities from her Nana, my mom in the bottom right photo. What a beautiful moment captured on film! Melissa loves to come to my house and spend time with her Nana and they go out into the backyard and gather roses. My mom has worked wonders with my roses as you can tell by the bouquet Melissa is holding. Melissa loves roses!

In this next one Melissa's brother joins the photo. This is little Fred, or Fred Jr or as we call him Piquito. Their dad, my brother and my mom's eldest son is pictured with our mom in the bottom right of this mosaic. We had a great Mother's Day and I know my mom felt very blessed to be surrounded by her family.

And my giveaway is only a couple of days away, so please head over there and enter. Follow this link or click on the image of Abby Rike's book in the sidebar over there on the right. Have a great week!

It's my 3rd Blogoversary

It's been three years now that I've been blogging.

I've had a lot of fun and gotten closer to so many people because of blogging.

I've also made lots of new friends through blogging.

I've learned a ton of new things blogging.

I've learned more about people from different areas of our great country and from different areas of our great world!

Through blogging I've learned to look at life differently because as a blogger your mind is always on how you're going to blog about this :-D

Most of all through blogging I've fulfilled a life long dream of being a writer and being constantly in the company of other writers.

Please don't forget to go over and enter my giveaway, just click here for the details on where and how to enter.

Thanks of stopping by and don't forget to show me some love by leaving a comment!

Did you know there is a Giveaway Directory?

Don't we all love a giveaway? I know I've won some pretty awesome things. But how does one go about finding said giveaway's? Well there's a blog that allows US, bloggers...to link up when we have a giveaway so that everything is in one central location. Pretty darn cool huh?

You're probably wondering where this place is? Well I'm gonna tell ya, but first I want to remind you about my giveaway, just click HERE for the details and go enter!

Wow, I'm so bossy huh?

Ok, so now where can you find more giveaways? Why here of course.... Click that little icon below! Simple pimple huh? I'm also a bossy poet (and not a very good one at that!)



 

Giveaway!!! And American Idol, my thoughts

I'm right in the middle of watching American Idol, actually right in the beginning and I'm just so thrilled with the final three!

But first I have to do a little housekeeping on my lil ol blog. I want to remind you guys that I'm having a giveway! Heyyyy! Yep, that's right. And I want YOU to win, so click HERE and go over to the post that gives you the 411 on how to enter or just click the giveaway icon over there to the right on the sidebar and good luck to ya!

Baby I'm Amazed by YOU!

Scotty McCreery...I'm amazed by you sweetie!
Wow, that opening song to start the show set the bar pretty darn high. I fell in love with Scotty right from the beginning. That beautiful low, mellow tone in his voice just melts my heart!


She's a wild child with an Angel's face, she's a woman child in a state of Grace!

Lauren Alaina.........
Wow...I love this child as well. She's got such a purity to her voice and I adore her accent. And the innocence and joy in her laugh and her smile...she blows me away! This young lady is gonna go far!

Haley Reinhart.......

I don't even know the name of that song she sang but it was P.E.R.F.E.C.T.I.O.N!!! I was mesmerized! I love Scotty and I love Lauren........but this young lady should win. She was born to do this, to entertain, to sing, to shine, to WIN American Idol! Wow!

Are you into it? Do ya have Idol Fever? Who's your fave? Do tell and do go enter my giveaway!

A Giveaway, A Blogoversary, A Book Review

On May 21, 2008 my little blog was born, and in a few short days, it will be three years old! Hard to believe that I'm still blogging after all this time, or that I even still have anything left to say! But those of you that know me well, know that it will be a cold day in hell when I am left with nothing to say!


In January of this year, I was offered the opportunity by Sarah Reck, a Web Publicist with Faith Words at Hachette Book Group to review a book entitled Angel Harp. I loved the book so much that I did a giveaway so I could share the book with one of you. You can check out that book review here.  Now I have been sent another book to review and in honor of my blogoversary...I'll be giving away two copies of said book to two of YOU! Yay! You are gonna love this book! I know, cause I loved it!

The book is called Working It Out, A Journey of Love, Loss and Hope.

What immediately caught my attention when I read a description about the book was the fact that Abby was on the show The Biggest Loser and lost 100 pounds. Because I've recently been trying to lose weight myself I thought this would be the perfect book to read in order to get some tips and ideas on weight, food and exercise. But oh my gosh! Did I get way more than that!

Abby is one of the most inspirational women ever! And the most important thing to me is that she's just like us. Just a normal woman, living a normal life.

Abby was married and had two children, a little girl and a newborn son. But in 2006 her husband and children were involved in a car accident that immediately took the lives of all three. Abby who was not with them at the time was spared. She lived. Without her family.

Just sit for a moment and imagine that. You're just living life. Going on about your business and in one quick instance the life you knew and loved and at times took for granted is gone. Just like that. Can you even begin to imagine that? I know that I have a hard time with it.

The first thought in many of our minds is that there is no way we would be able to live through something like that right? But the hard part, the impossible part is that we HAVE to go on living. We don't have a choice, life goes on. Even now just imagining this I have tears running down my face...I just can't imagine how Abby felt. We don't have to imagine it; she shares it with us.

Abby has a website at abbyrike.com and I hope you will go and visit and listen to Abby, in her own words read Chapter One of her book, just click audio here

Abby struggled with her despair, sadness and loneliness. But Abby had the love and support of her parents, her many friends and coworkers and a relationship with God that helped her to fight through the darkness and find hope again. She refused to just get through life, she wanted to give meaning to her life and she did as a contestant on the show The Biggest Loser. She knew that in order to live a healthy life she had to have a healthy body. So many of us when we're sad, lonely, depressed, stressed turn to food for the answer. Abby did the same thing. And when you start eating and your body feels heavy and your heart is heavy...well that's just the kiss of death isn't it?

The story of healing and living that Abby shares is incredible. You can't close her book and not feel that your a better person for having read it. Even if you don't win one of the two copies that I'll be giving away, I hope that you go out and buy the book.

So how do you win it? Simple. Leave a comment and you're entered. If you are a follower of mine, leave another comment letting me know and you're entered again. If you aren't a follower...well c'mon then, just click the little follow button and become one...then leave me a comment. See, three easy ways to enter. Easy as 1...2...3 right? I will pick a winner randomly out of a hat, or a mixing bowl, or a box...some vessel or another, and announce the winner one week from today, Tuesday, March 24th. Good Luck and thanks for visiting my blog, for being a follower, for subscribing in email for just generally supporting me for the past three years, I love ya guys!

And the Winner is. . . (I know...I'm late posting this )

I had promised that I would annouce the winner of my book giveaway yesterday (Friday) but somehow the day got away from me (work, shopping and dining out) and I didn't get it done. Forgive me ya'll. But we just had a Home Goods open up in Bakersfield and I just HAD to go check it out. I bought some beautiful Rose scented Potpourri and a pretty bowl to eat my breakfast in each morning.

So to cut to the quick...the winner is Sarah from Hyacinths for the Soul. She has a beautiful blog and a beautiful new header that she also won. Wow! She's been lucky this month! Please Sarah get in touch with me and I'll have the book headed your way.

Thanks to everyone who entered and I'm glad you all enjoyed the book review!

And the Winner is . . .

Thanks to all of you that entered my Giveaway for a $65.00 gift certificate from CSN Stores! I wish I could have given one to each of you. But alas...there can only be one winner and that winner would be suburban prep!

I'll be getting in touch with you via email suburban prep. Ya'll have a great.weekend and remember it's the last shopping weekend before Christmas. Are you ready?

Giveaway and Lemon Blossoms

This has been a really hectic week! I have been busy since I got home from work today baking Lemon Blossoms for my daughters employees Christmas Party tomorrow.

Lemon Blossoms are so good and lemony. They're time consuming to make only because you bake them in miniature muffin pans so they're practically bite-size. But other than that they are easy-peasy to make.

And they're fun. I've never been much of a baker but this Christmas Season I've been doing a little more than I ever have and I'm finding it really therapuetic. It's just me, my thoughts and a lot of sugar :-D

Before I post the recipe for these delicious little nuggets of lemony goodness I want to remind everyone to go and enter my giveaway for the $65.00 gift certificate to CSN Stores. Just click HERE to get the details on how to enter.

Well, I'm off to brush my little teethies and read a little bit more of my Apolo Ohno book before I head off to dreamland. (I know...teethies is not a real word, humor me please!)

Lemon Blossoms

18 1/2-ounce package yellow cake mix (Because of what I had on hand, I used a lemon cake mix instead of a yellow one. Still very good!)
3 1/2-ounce package instant lemon pudding mix
4 large eggs
3/4 cup vegetable oil
Glaze: 4 cups confectioners' sugar
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
1 lemon, zested
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 tablespoons water

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray miniature muffin tins with vegetable oil cooking spray. Combine the cake mix, pudding mix, eggs and oil and blend well with an electric mixer until smooth, about 2 minutes. Pour a small amount of batter, filling each muffin tin half way. Bake for 8 minutes, or until edges are golden brown. Turn out onto a tea towel.

To make the glaze, sift the sugar into a mixing bowl. Add the lemon juice, zest, oil, and 3 tablespoons water. Mix with a spoon until smooth.

With fingers, dip the cupcakes into the glaze while they're still warm, covering as much of the cake as possible, or spoon the glaze over the warm cupcakes, turning them to completely coat. Place on wire racks with waxed paper underneath to catch any drips. Let the glaze set thoroughly, about 1 hour, before storing in containers with tight-fitting lids.

Linking up to Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum. Go check out lots of other great recipes and holiday ideas! 

Giveaway! Come one, come all!

CSN Stores has offered me the chance to host another giveaway and give one of my readers a gift certificate for $65.00!!! Yep...you read that right, $65.00.

You could take that sweet little gift certificate and apply it towards this gorgeous tv stand! I love the country french look of this one, don't you?

This is the perfect opportunity to pick up a last minute gift for someone special. CSN Stores has over 200+ stores to shop in. So how do you get in on all the giving?

1. Leave me a comment that you are a follower or just became a follower. You must be a follower to be eligible.

That's it. Does anything in life get easier than that? I think not! So ok, don't stand around here just looking at me, go leave a comment. Entries close at 8:00 pm (PST), Friday, December 17th and I'll announce the winner on Saturday morning. I'll also notify the winner by email so be sure to leave your email if it isn't automatically generated in your comment.

And the Winner Is. . .

We interrupt your Monday with an important message from Alicia with Titere con Bonete!

Happy Monday Everyone! Before I announce the winner of my FIRST EVER GIVEAWAY of a $65.00 gift certificate to CSN store I want to thank everyone who entered and I want to say welcome to my new followers and a big hug to the followers I had prior to the giveaway.

It was a lot of fun seeing all those comments come in and seeing my followers grow! I finally hit over 100 and I'm thrilled beyond belief!

I know, I know...get on with it.

Ok, drumroll please! And the Winner is:

Liz  from Quiltz 'n' Hoez who says:
This Thanksgiving, I plan to do a bunch of baking, have a few friends and relatives over for dinner, and then play board games or maybe go to a movie! Thanks for the giveaway!

Congratulations Liz! Please shoot me an email and I'll give you the 411 on how to claim your prize!

Thanks again everyone and I now return you to your regularly scheduled programming!

Mosaic Monday - Giveaway Treasures

Back at the end of September I entered a giveaway hosted by Paula at Sweet Pea.

Paula has a great blog on which she shares decorating ideas, recipes and her life in general. She enjoys cooking and experimenting with new recipes. She loves to garden, read, and sew. Her very favorite thing to do is to sweat, either running, biking, playing tennis, or hitting the weight room. In fact...just this weekend she ran in a 13 mile marathon! Wow! Please head over and tell her hi and enjoy her blog.

So in September she held a giveaway to say thanks to her many readers. She was giving away some cute towels, napkins and a spreader she picked up at a local shop. I entered and I won! So today I want to share photos and I put together some mosaics for you. These things are so darn cute!

Aren't they perfect for both the Halloween and Thanksgiving Season? She included a very sweet note as well. I bet she made the card too! That little wooden spreader that's shown in the top photo, isn't that pretty?

There's a red towel that my niece Clarissa said would look pretty on my kitchen table. So we put that one down and took some pictures of a necklace and earrings I won from another giveaway. You can see those pictures here. I've since changed it out and put the one that's all pumpkins on the table. The green one has a pumpkin border and I've hung that one on my kitchen stove. They make everything so much more cheerful!

I especially love the paper napkins with all the owls. Perfect colors for fall! Thank you so much Paula and congratulations of finishing that marathon!

I'm linking up to Mary from Little Red House for Mosaic Monday. Please head over there and see what else everyone is sharing today.

Also!!! Remember that today is the last day to enter my First Ever Giveaway for a $65 Gift Certificate to CSN stores. A great jump start for your Holiday Shopping. Just click HERE for details on how to enter and Good Luck! Have a great week everyone!

Iwanna Wednesday - Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered plus a Giveaway!

Wow! I do believe that's the longest title ever!

So do you understand the title? Many of you might not realize that's a song...well the Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered part is a song. Here's a short video with Ella Fitzgerald singing the song. It's a little bit staticky (I don't believe thats a word, but you'll know what I mean when you hear the video) but well worth the listen...such a beautiful voice and such a beautiful lady.




So what does this song and Ella Fitzgerald and a Giveaway have to do with Iwanna Wednesday? A day when I get to want anything my little heart desires because my family says I want everything I see or hear about...hence my nickname Iwanna? Glad you asked!

Iwanna my childhood back! The song has a clue to what Iwanna, Ella just happens to have sang it/sung it beautifully and the Giveaway, well I'll save that for the end.

Any idea? Any guesses? Ok...well what Iwanna today is my favorite childhood toy. My Bewitched Doll or as I called it, my Samantha Doll.

Isn't she beautiful? My parents bought me one when I was a little girl. Not sure why they didn't just buy me a Barbie Doll, but they didn't. I think it's pretty cool that I had a Samantha doll from the Bewitched Show . Do you guys remember Samantha? She used to wiggle her nose for her witches magical powers? I used to love to watch the show. As much as I loved Samantha, I always wanted to be her mother, Endora. I think it was the makeup Endora wore...I've always loved makeup.

I don't know what ever happened to my Samantha doll. I know we moved a lot during my childhood and I'm sure somewhere along the way it got left behind and I've never gotten over it!

The Samantha Doll above can be purchased at Trojan Horse Antiques and Collectibles for $60 plus $12 shipping. Affordable don't you think?

And since I didn't know these next two dolls existed...but because I am Iwanna and Iwanna everything I see, Iwanna these two. An I Dream of Jeannie Doll and an Elly May Doll from the Beverly Hillbillies Show! Are these not something even you might wanna??? (See Jeannie's tiny little bottle barely peaking out at the bottom?)

You can get more info on Jeannie and Elly May at The Fashion Doll Review. These were displayed at Comic-Con. Now Iwanna go to Comic-Con!!! (It will be held in San Diego, CA which is totally do'able. Anyone wanna go?) This is why my family calls me Iwanna!

I guess we all have favorite toys from our childhood. I know my sister had a monkey she loved. What was your favorite childhood toy?

And before I forget, please click HERE to get the details on my $65 CSN Stores giveaway. Easy to enter, go find out how and enter because Iwanna YOU to win! Good Luck and may all your Iwanna Wishes come true!

It's my FIRST GIVEAWAY ever!!

Do you realize Thanksgiving is almost here? Do you usually wait for Black Friday to get started with your Christmas Shopping? Well this year everyone seems to be starting much earlier...so I thought I'd help you get the ball rolling by doing my first ever giveaway! How does a $65.00 Gift Certificate to CSN Stores sound? Uh huh, yep...I thought you'd say yes.

Is anyone heading over the river and through the woods to someone else's house this year? Then maybe you might want to use the Gift Certificate to buy a new suitcase for your holiday travel! They have some really cute ones. I fell in love with this one right away. It's so pink and perfect!

But CSN has ton's of stuff...you don't have to get a suitcase. Just head over to CSN (by clicking on the word suitcase above) and see what catches your eye.


Entering the giveaway is super simple.


1. Leave a comment telling me what you plan to do for either Thanksgiving or Christmas.


2. Become a follower of my blog and leave me a comment letting me know you are now following me.

3. If you are already a follower...then just leave me a comment letting me know you're already following me.

That's it...see, told you it was super simple!


Deadline to enter is Sunday, November 14th and I'll announce the winner on Monday, November 15th.

Good luck to everyone!

Mosaic Monday - Beautiful Hand Crafted Jewelry

I've been pretty lucky in the giveaway department of late. Recently I won a giveaway hosted by Della of Della Grace's Life.

Della is very talented at so many things I don't know if I have enough room to list them all. She's a delightful blogger, I love reading her blog! She can be insightful...yet random. She takes awesome photos; many of which I would swear were taken by a professional. The cool thing about her photos is that she takes them herself using a timer on her camera. How she knows exactly when to pose, smile, jump, throw things is beyond me! She's currently attending junior college, she raises Nigerian Dwarf Dairy Goats, she an Allstar 4-H'r. What drew me to her blog is that most of the outfits she puts together she uses pieces she purchased at thrift stores! And on top of all that (as if that wasn't enough) she cooks, sews and makes jewelry.

I got tired just typing all that and she does that all day, every day. Again, a very talented young lady.

Back in September she hosted a giveaway of three separate jewelry pieces that she made herself with her own two talented hands! She called one the Windows Necklace and you can see a picture of that by clicking here. She called the next one the Red Letter Necklace, again click here to see that one. And last but not least, the Audrey Set which came with a pair of matching earrings.

I lusted after the Audrey Set since I love Audrey Hepburn & I loved the colors of this necklace...and lo and behold! I won!

I'm posting the photos of the Audrey Set which Della posted on her blog because her photos are much better and show the true detail and coloring better than my photos. (Oh...and by the way, the red cloth you see in my mosaic above is from a different giveaway I won recently! I know...I told you I've been lucky in the giveaway department of late, maybe I should buy a lottery ticket huh?)

Can't you just see Audrey Hepburn wearing this set? Wouldn't it have looked beautiful on her in this photo?

I've already worn the necklace and earrings about 6 times and I love them. They go with so many things, especially since I tend to wear a lot of black, white, grey and pink to work. Sometimes I wear the necklace with the clasp to the back and sometimes with it to the front because the clasp itself is so pretty.

Thanks Della for making this thing of beauty and for being generous enough to give it away! Everyone else, go visit Della, tell her I sent you and admire her blog, it also is a thing of beauty as is Della herself!

Also, I'm linking up to Mary at Little Red House for Mosaic Monday.

Please stop by there, say hi to Mary and visit some of the other Mosaic'ers.