story time

The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks.... eh.... while this book was a page turner I was not impressed. I think that it will make a great movie and I look forward to seeing it, however, it was very predictable and while at the end you think you hate Nicholas Sparks for ending the story that way... you are surprised and yet some how unsatisfied with the ending

I recently finished Skinnydipping by Bethenny Frankel. I love Bethenny! I thought the book was about her life... It is not, however, the character has similar traits to Bethenny and I enjoyed reading about her adventures.

The only down side to the book was that there was a lot of story line and information in the first half, but then the second half was short and quick with little detail.
I recommend this one!

story time

Last book update was on MWF Seeking BFF… from there I moved on to Fifty Shades of Grey… this was not planned, but a co-worker lent it to me and I wanted to know what all the hype was about…

Fifty Shades of Grey: for those of you who are twi-hard Twilight Series fans, you will appreciate the connection I am about to make. This book is the version of Twilight that every adult secretly wanted… and then some. It is for sure XXX rated.

It is the shy, attractive but doesn’t know it girl meets mysterious wealthy man of power. He says to stay away and she can’t… sound familiar Twilight fans? The sexual tension the builds in Twilight that never comes to a close until the final book when she gets knocked up… well that tension builds and releases throughout all of Shades of Grey…

I am not a prude, but this book was too much for me. I had to skip a few chapters because I was afraid to read what would happen next.

I am interested to find out what happens next, there are 2 more books, but I am not sure that I need to read any more tales of being tied up and whipped… yep that is the basic premise of the book.

After that I tried to get through Extremely Loud, Incredibly Close. I ended up skipping to the end just to find out what happens because I could not follow the dialogue in this book. It is written from the perspective of a nine year old boy. It has great potential as it shares the story of a family after they lose someone in the 911 terrorist attack. I wanted to get through the book so that I could see the movie, so now that movie is next on my list.

Up next on the reading list is The Lucky One. Stay tuned for this review.

Friday Facts

- B is the best man in a wedding this weekend... of course I am excited for him, but all I can think about is the outfits I need
- I tried on about 25 dresses at 5 different stores... I bought this because I liked this.... of course because of the price difference... what do you think about pairing with gold??
- As an FYI, I was fooled by the LOFT dress sale- certain dresses on sale for $39.50.. well they are what I would call "pool dresses" or "day wear" and you can buy better at Target.. just saying
- Today I am getting a spray tan.... by a real person... I hope it goes better then the last time
-Espadrilles are in again... well they are cute but I know from experience they are NOT comfortable
- Look for posts coming soon on my guest room updates... it is the next project on my list

Happy Friday and enjoy the long holiday weekend!!

story time

I have always been a reader, all my life. In my early 20's I seemed to not make the time to read or just couldn't get into it...
Over the past few years I have read on and off. The past year I have been on a reading frenzy!


I among many who have been into the Hunger Games trilogy. While I do not feel the same love that I felt for the Twilight Saga, I am really into the Katniss, Peeta, Gale love triangle!


I have finished the first two of three books in the Hunger Games series and I am excited to get through #3, Mockingjay... then I will give you a review of it all!


I recently was out with friends and someone recommended a couple books, so of course I went to the Library and got them. 


Baby Proof by Emily Giffin- Good Book. Predictable Ending.... if you have ever doubted your maternal instincts or whether you wanted to have children you should read this book! I can see a movie coming out of this sometime soon

Whats next... I am currently holding MWF seeking BFF  by Rachel Bertsche. I am excited to read this and share it with you! 










What are you reading?

"see you in another life brotha"

Insert British accent here... Aye Brotha...

So, after four months of watching six seasons of ABCs hit series LOST, all I can take away is a love for Desmond, a character in the show and his key phrases...

For those of you who do not know.... B and I have spent since January watching LOST on Netflix. Now, why four months you ask? Well... because each episode is 40 minutes long plus each of the six seasons had at least 15 episodes...
We grew to love/hate the characters in Seasons 1-3, grew to desire more info on why things happened and what the island really was... and then grew confused, frustrated and anxious to get on with our lives!

While I loved certain characters and felt a little teary on the final episodes... I still think that they really got "lost" when filming this show. The end was great, SPOILER... they all get to Heaven. However, what the heck happened in between... how did they die, was it the plane crash, was it the bomb...???

My theory all along was that they were stuck in purgatory... I guess there are a lot of theories....

Bottom line, I am happy its over. Bob says he wants the last four months of his life back... I am ok with it, I liked the show regardless of the missing links and random plots.


Have you seen it? What are your thoughts??

Now the question is... what to watch next? Any series recommendations?

christmas decor for less

you know me... always trying to get the look for less. This year I had so many "looks" in mind for my Holiday decor that I just made things up as I went along...

Holiday decorations are one of those things that I just can't bring myself to spend a lot of money on... so here are a few fun things I like to put out that do not cost a lot of moo-lah.


 (sorry for the terrible pic)
-lantern,apothecary and vases filled with ornaments (plastic ball ornaments $9.99 for 50 or more at Wal Mart)
-Wreath with silver poinsettia $7 total!
-Tea Light Holders- 3 for $15 at Bath and Body Works. They reflect Snowflakes on the wall which I love!
-Stockings hung by the chimney with care- $6... well the one on the left is mine from child hood so that is priceless and the one on the right is the burlap one I made.
-Silver Branches- I bought these at TJ Maxx for $10, BUT you could get some branches from outside and spray them silver for way less!
-JOY banner- gifted from my co-worker and friend ABK (thanks Amy 5 years later and I still use it)
-Shredded Sheet Music- Far right vase! $3 for a big bag of shredded music... so cute all year round even!

I am highlighting my fav creation this year... I bought some old light bulbs for $1 at the new goodwill in town and then added it with some gold ornaments I already had... love this!

its beginning to look a lot like Christmas

we chopped down our tree...

decorated...

made cookies....

are you getting ready for the Holiday??

fresh cut tree

I love fresh cut real deal Christmas trees! I do not judge those that have fake trees, but to me there is nothing more exciting then the smell of pine (to me its the smell of Christmas)!
This is our second year of cutting our own tree and I love it!

We found a new location Cackler Family Farm and they had so many options!
We walked acres to find the perfect fit for our home!

We knew we wanted:
taller then 7 Feet
Thin
Canaan Fir

then we found it...

time to claim it....

 and take it home!!

Tell me about your Christmas tree!

things to remember when traveling to Europe (or at least what I think is important)

- Read-read –read… educate yourself on the areas that you will visit! I did not do enough of this in advance, so mostly we would read the books on the next stop while on the train to that location… it still helped!
 Here are a few book brands we used: Frommers, Fodors, AAA


- Use the bathroom every time you are at a restaurant or café… the next one will not be free!! We often paid about 50 cents (1 euro) to use the WC (bathroom)

- If you do not know the language at least learn how to say “hello”, “thank you”, “how much does this cost”, “check please” , "do you speak English" and any words in relation to traveling in a cab or a train.

- If you plan to see it all… bring comfortable shoes, an umbrella and a rain coat! (you will need it)

- Riding your bike on the street is ok! Encouraged!

- Public displays of affection are normal… try not to stare when people are making out right before your eyes….

- The food is different!

- If you don’t like the food… keep trying and you will find something you like (even if its just bread and cheese)! DO NOT go to McDonalds or any other American chain… they are there, but come on… did you go to Europe to eat American?

- Maps are very important!!!!!

- Water is not free…. And wine is usually cheaper then water… drink up!

- Learn the Euro to dollar conversion! What you are about to buy is probably more expensive then you think.

- keep a travel journal... once its over, it is hard to remember all the details.
- Soak in all the culture and the history!
- Most important... HAVE FUN!

I would not say that I am a travel expert by any means. These are just a few things I wish I would have known going in... some things we practiced some we did not, but next time I am going to practice all these things and more!! To learn more about our trip to Europe visit these posts:
Begining, Middle, End

euro trip- the begining

I will start at the begining... we flew 2 hours to New York and then 8 hours through the night to Brussels Belgium. Not the worst flight ever thanks to movies and food (2 free meals... sounds unheard of these days with the airlines)

We were greeted at 8a.m. by Bs uncles who also happen to be the priests that married us, so we were in good hands. Fred and Hans spent the day taking us on tours of Limburg (southern netherlands), Belgium and Germany all in one day!! This is us standing in all 3 countries at once... pretty cool. Don't mind that the children would not leave so we had to include them in the photos.

 this is the point where the 3 countries come together and the kid that could not get enough of it.

We had lunch on top of a hill that was in the Netherlands, but looking into Belgium and Germany at the same time!

So, now that you understand that we were so close to these places, it will not shocking when you hear that we often had lunch in Heerlen (the town we stayed) and then traveled to Germany for dinner or sometimes just for a drink.

We spent a day in Maastricht, which is also in southern Netherlands. We went shopping in many different little boutiques. The most interesting store was a department store that you could compare to a Macys, but that also had a bakery/grocery in the aisle over from the purses. So you can shop for a purse while you wait for your sandwich to be made... sounds good to me!

All the while we enjoyed that no matter what town or country we were in, we were at our leisure to do whatever we want. Even if that was stopping every hour to have coffee or a beer.

how cute is that little cup of coffee :)


From here we took a train to Paris France......

back to reality

after 16 amazing days in Europe I am officially back to the real world. It seems like the month of August did not exist for us since on vacation we did not live by a calendar and a clock. it was great!!!

Our agenda went as follows:

Day 1- Limburg (southern region of the Netherlands)
Day 2- Germany and Belgium (in one day because they are that close together!)
Day 3- Train to Paris
Day 4- Paris
Day 5- Paris
Day 6- Brugge, Belgium
Day 7- Train to Holland (Voorhout)
Day 8- Amsterdam
Day 9- Amsterdam
Day 10- Sassenheim (where the hubs family is from and where he was born)
Day 11- Flower Auction and Bulb factory tours
Day 12- Berbee Family Day in Amsterdam
Day 13- Family Day in Leiden (still part of Holland)
Day 14- Volendam (just wait till you see our christmas card)
Day 15- Back to Limburg
Day 16- Brussels, Belgium
Day 17- Fly Home

Here is a really bad map to show you the regions that we visited.

wow... I am exhausted just re-typing all that. Wait until I type it out city by city.... stay tuned.

so far...

In the midst of my traveling I manage to still get quite a bit done in regard to socializing and keeping up with my hobbies!

While this makes me a crazy person, in the end when I look back I am glad that I am still able to enjoy my summer.

I realize that when I return from my summer of jet setting I will have many posts to share with you and lots 'o pics, so I better fill you in on what my life has been so far this summer.


My experience at the Farmers Market was not as great as we thought it would be. The traffic was slow, and people were more interested in learning abotu flowers then buying them.
Our garden kept growing though! We reached out to a local friend and florist to see what she could so with the product.

Thanks to my super nice hubby I am now able to make Ice Cream when ever I want!!! For my birthday (yes I recently got older) he bouht me  Kitchen Aid Mixer Ice Cream attachment! So far I made Vanilla... YUM! More on that another time, I am sure I will be making many batches of ice cream!

I celebrated by birthday with friends and family, hosted a wine tasting event with the Local Young Professionals group and spent time at the lake house. Even made some time for baking, I made these cupcakes that I call " Corn on the CupCakes"....

I am pleased with my summer so far... it will end with a very anticipated trip!! I am so exicted to come back and tell you all about it...

relaxing and fun in the sun

The past few days have been great. My youngest sister is here for the week and I have two days off work! WOO.

I have details on my activities since Annie has been here, but for now I am going to continue realaxing and enjoying my time away from the office.

Sitting in the sunshine with a glass of this yummy summer drink that I love right now...

a minty twist on an Arnold Palmer
half lemonade
half iced tea
mint leaves

we made the tea, sun tea style and then before adding the ice and liquid, we mashed up the mint leaves in the bottom of the glass... add ice and pour half tea, half lemonade... enjoy!

put your tan on

I love summer and sunshine... I especially love laying out in the sun getting a nice tan (aka burn in my case)

Since I have limited free time to just lay out anymore, plus all these haters tell you that the sun will kill you.... i have learned to love Jergens Natural Glow Lotion instead.

This post is going to wow you in 2 ways:

1- I got a SUPER DUPER awesome deal on 2 bottles of Jergens at CVS, buy one get one free plus $2 off, I got 2 bottles for $7.99 (holla)

2- one of the bottles was Jergens Express Lotion... OMG, it is amazing.



Source

This is a one time use tanning lotion, one time and your are bronze!!! Now, it is extra potent... be sure to wash your hands right after you use it!!

I am using the Express once a week and the Jergens Natural Glow everyday, so far I feel like I have summer glow and I have spent minimal time in the sun.


Go ahead, go out and get this lotion so you can put your tan on!!

farmers market

This past Saturday was our first Farmers Market sale!! Hometown Routes is up and running selling fresh cut flowers!!
This week we sold Sunflowers and Peonies!

Sales were slower then we anticipated, but we enjoyed meeting new faces and thinking of new ways to make a sale!

We will be back next Saturday...

where did the summer go?

Ahhh…the summer… it used to be my favorite time of year. The memories of laying poolside all day log with friends, sitting outside at night with a cold drink… celebrating my birthday for a whole month….


I have not seen those days in about…. 5 years!

As I go through my planner I cross off the free time one by one… we have a jam packed summer!

June- Family Visits, annual BBQs, long work hours


July- Weddings, work travel, extra long work hours


August- more work travel, more work followed by weddings and an exciting vacation

SIGH…. It is already September in my mind.


With the help of many people in my life I have committed to enjoy the little free time that I have!

I am going to put off painting the house, decorating more rooms, developing new skills…until the Fall!

With that being said… while the big stuff will be on hold I have a list of small tasks I would like to get done… I am going to document it here so that I feel obligated to report back on my progress…



- Bridesmaids shoes for a wedding I am in September 3
-Spend quality time with my husband
- Frame maps for hallway

- Paint the “new” table and chairs I got for the basement

- Plan for my fall projects- Learn more about Europe (for my trip in August)

- Learn more Dutch

- Keep up with my family… via phone and email since I cannot head north this summer

- Get some fabric to frame for living room
- Keep our farmers market garden alive and thriving (show me the money!!)


This is a good start… I will keep you all posted on my progress!

Musical Monday and then some...

What a great weekend! The weather was amazing and it was spend with friends and family!


Friday we had a few friends over for dinner, including the guest of honor:

LA baby came to visit! It’s so nice to finally be able to sit out on our deck!

Saturday was a busy day of shopping and baby shower. Crazy to believe I had two baby showers to attend this weekend, I only went to one… which there were four expecting moms and 3 new moms in attendance, this is truly a Baby Epidemic!

Saturday night was a team effort to complete a Kitchen Painting project… more to come on that this week.

Sunday was filled with flowers and planting and lots of sunshine!!! I was just happy to get outside and get some rays on this pasty skin!

In honor of all this fun in the sun my Monday song is “Here comes the Sun” by the Beatles!


**sadly, this morning the sun went back into hibernation and it is raining...again**

Summer Preview

Last week it was like the month of July had arrived! We managed to survive the 85 degree weather by not turning the AC on and sitting outside with cold beverages and delicious meals.

I got to enter this preview of summer with my favorite combination: Tomato Mozzarella Salad

YUM!

Fresh Tomatoes
Fresh Mozzarella Cheese
Fresh Basil
Balsamic Vinegar drizzled on top!!!

Cheers to summer!