Sunday Sunset #12

Listening To: At work, I sit in the customer service area.  It can get a bit loud at times.  Therefore, I have been enjoying Pandora during my basic tasks to focus.  I've also been listening to The Nerdist podcast during lunch times and while traveling this week.  Lots of fun.

Book finished: Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman

Reading: A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin (loving it!)

On the Nightstand: Kitchen Confidential, The Secret Garden

On the Job: I only worked half the week because of traveling back to Indiana.  We did nail down some great ideas and direction for the project.  I hope this continues...

Watching: My television watching has been limited this week with starting a new job.  I have really enjoyed watching The Lizzie Bennet Diaries during my lunch hour.  Really late to the party, but still loving them...

Wondering: How exhausted am I going to be at the end of this week?

From Nature: Thankfully Indiana is helping me ease into the cold Midwest weather.  I went from 60s in California to 50s in Indiana.  At least until Monday, we had beautiful weather.  Not looking forward to the cloudy, windy high 30s this coming week.

Shopping Scores: Took the boys shopping for their birthday.  They scored a ton of Pokemon gear, comic books (Sonic the Hedgehog), and Apple cards.  I think they're happy with the haul.

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman

Title: Neverwhere

Author: Neil Gaiman

Publisher: William Morrow 2003

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 503

Rating:  5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Neil Gaiman; ebook; 52 Books -- W13; Book Bingo -- 4 from TBR

Richard Mayhew is a young man with a good heart and an ordinarylife, which is changed forever when he stops to help a girl he finds bleeding on a London sidewalk. His small act of kindness propels him into a world he never dreamed existed. There are people who fall through the cracks, and Richard has become one of them. And he must learn to survive in this city of shadows and darkness, monsters and saints, murderers and angels, if he is ever to return to the London that he knew.

The book takes the reader down a dark path (literally) and through the twisting corridors of the London Below.  I loved following Richard Mayhew, an average ordinary guy, along his journey.  I loved his ordinary-ness.  He's like so many people: living day to day, working at an average job, going through the motions.  Until that is he helps a young women on the sidewalk.  From there, Gaiman pulls the reader through a familiar but not quite right world.  The side characters we encounter liven up the dark world under.  The Marquis reminds me of the Cheshire Cat.  Door is a great damsel-not-so-in-distress.  Old Bailey shines as a helpful guide.  Vandemer and Croup are certainly villainous.  This book was amazing.  A must read and a another great twisted adventure from Gaiman.

FF #6: Cocktail Party in My Fave Color

I woud never wear this outfit.  Okay, I wouldn't feel comfortable wearing this outfit.  I would have to lose 30 pounds and somehow get better legs.  But I must say that I love the draping and the color.  The shoes add some personality and the clutch to too fun.

Michael kor

stylebop.com

Helmut lang

$945 - youheshe.com

Zara white and black shoes

zara.com

French connection

usa.frenchconnection.com

Long rhinestone necklace

pinkmascara.com

Heading Back East...

It's Spring Break in Indiana and that means drinks and parties...  Oh wait!  Wrong life!  Spring Break means time with the family and more importantly the boys.  I'm flying back to spend 12 whole days enjoying their company and trying to keep warm (April in Indiana is NOT warm).  We plan on having the boys' birthday party (late), trips to Science Central and possibly Putt Putt, and lots of family dinners...  Very exciting stuff!  Plus, I have some big news that I will be sharing with everyone.  Look for it soon!

Quote Wednesday - Dickinson

Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul, and sings the tune without the words, and never stops at all. -- Emily Dickinson

The opening lines of my favorite poem every.  There's something about Dickinson's poetry that just speaks to me.  I even have a stamp collection with this line...  love it!

Music Monday -- 101 Faves Live Edition

As part of my ongoing Day Zero Project, I've made a list of my favorite 101 songs of all time.  To help cut down on the possibilities, I took songs only from my iTunes account.  Each edition will include ~5 songs with a theme.  Enjoy! Sometimes the best editions of songs are the live ones.  I would love to see any of these signers/bands in concert.

Dashboard Confessional "Saints and Sailors" -- The live version is much better than the studio.  I love his MTV Unplugged album.

Howie Day "Ghost" -- Day adds great little parts to this song on the live version.  It sounds more natural to me.

Flogging Molly "Float" -- I was supposed to see them last summer, but we moved before the concert.  I would still love to see them.

John Mayer "Neon" -- He may be an idiot, but I love this song live.

Sunday Sunset #11

Book finished: The Doomsday Vault, Coraline

Reading: Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman

On the Nightstand: A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin, P.S. I Love You by Cecelia Ahern, Stardust by Neil Gaiman

Around the house: Cleaning in prep for book club.  J took over the dining room table last month to get our taxes around.  There are still piles...

On the job: It's a new topic!!!!! Because I got a job.  Sorta out of the blue, J's company hired me as a project manager.  I'm not going to go in depth about the project we're working on (it's a bit of a secret), but I will say that it has to do with digitizing quality curriculum.  I started on Friday and boy was it a jumping in with both feet kind of day.  I arrived for an intro, a tour, and a bit of meeting of with my supervisor.  It turned into a full day's work of trying to wrap my head around the project.  Plus, I met with both the CEO and CTO, my boss's boss, and some of the people in the technical team.  All this without having a desk or a permanent laptop.  It was quite a day, but I'm so excited to get back on Monday and really starting to tackle the problems...

On the Web: With the eminent demise of Google Reader, I finally decided on a new rss feed and switched my blogroll.  I decided to go with Bloglovin'.  Feedly is nice, but too busy for me.  And none of the other choices even caught my fancy.  So far, it's different, but I'm liking format.  Of course, now I am way behind with my reading and don't know when I'll catch up.

Farmer's Market Finds: Just a quick trip to pick up some mixed greens for book club this week.  We decided to do a potluck salad bar.  I'm bringing the mixed greens, obviously, and the market has a vendor who sells a 1/2lb mixed bag for $3.  That's cheaper than the grocery store and this is quality organic greens.  So yummy!  I also grabbed an almond croissant to eat before going shopping with a friend.  I tried the French bakery.  Pretty good, but I really want my other bakery to come back to the market.  Maybe once summer hits...

Crafting: Monday was stamp club.  We made three cards and a 3d project.  The extra card (on brown cardstock) was my version of our homework.  I particularly loved the whale card.  I don't plan on buying the whale clearlit, but I love the play of circles.  I'm debating about whether or not to get the banner framelits next order.  I didn't like the coordinating stamp set, but the framelits are cute.

On Saturday I acquired a ton of new card supplies.  I had to try them out, so I made 10 cards, 5 color/designs with 2 options.  Some of these are sticking around until April stamp club as they are my interpretation of our homework.  I'm really loved the blue vine embossed cards with the polka dot flowers.  The colors look really nice together.

Watching: For television, I've been working through V (newer series, not the old miniseries).  I finished S1 and started S2, but don't when I'll finish with the new job...  For movies, I grabbed a couple of Redbox movies while J was still out of town: Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 2 (better than I thought it would be) and Pitch Perfect (amazingly fun!).  Pretty light on the watching front this week.

Wondering: How I'll have enough hours in the week to complete my big work project?  Insane amount of work.

Shopping Scores: I was hostess this month as stamp club.  I bought my $50 of products to get the Sale-a-bration gift.  With everyone's combined total, I earned $50 of free products. Holy cow!  After searching through the catalog, I finally narrowed it down to a few great finds.  Our order arrived on Friday.  My scores: Four Seasons stamp set (hostess), Sweet Essentials stamp set (hostess), Wacky Wishes stamp set (hostess), Stacks of Wishes stamp set (hostess), 2011-2013 In Color Markers set, Secret Garden Bundle (framelits and stamp set), Glimmer paper (hostess), Vine embossing folder (sale-a-bration), Perfect Plum Ink pad.

A crafting friend clued me into the big clearance sale as a local craft store.  She picked me up early Saturday morning so we could get there before the rush. Tables upon tables of new and used card making and scrapbooking supplies.  People can sell their supplies on consignment.  We dove in, but the crowd was intense and the aisles small.  After about 1/3 of the way through the tables, we decided to call it quits.  But I did find some awesome supplies: 3 stamps sets from Stampin Up, 1 stamp set (manufacturing unknown), 1 double sided circle stamp, 1 square punch, 3 Stampin Up ink pads (basic gray, real red, and tangerine tango), 100 sheets of various paper ($5!), and 1 mini scrap pad ($0.50).  Such a great shopping trip!

Project: Prepping for trip back to Indiana.

FF #5: Classic Comfy Casual

This is an outfit that I would wear everyday.  I love the easy nature of jeans and a fun shirt (in this case, a fun dress).  Short dresses are usually too short on me.  Instead I use them as tunics or just extra long shirts.  The bag is utilitarian but fun.  The sneakers are classic.  And the hat is an interesting addition...

Poem sleeveless dress

$91 - oliverbonas.com

H&M skinny leg jeans

$46 - hm.com

American Apparel tennis shoes

$43 - americanapparel.co.uk

Chloé satchel handbag

forwardforward.com

Uniqlo paper hat

uniqlo.com

Coraline by Neil Gaiman

Title: Coraline

Author: Neil Gaiman

Publisher: HarperCollins 2003

Genre: Children's Fantasy

Pages: 211

Rating:  5/5 stars  Movie: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Neil Gaiman; Ebook; Books to Movie; Book Bingo -- 2 Rereads

How I Got It: I own it

"Coraline discovered the door a little while after they moved into the house. . . ."

When Coraline steps through a door to find another house strangely similar to her own (only better), things seem marvelous.

But there's another mother there, and another father, and they want her to stay and be their little girl. They want to change her and never let her go.

Coraline will have to fight with all her wit and courage if she is to save herself and return to her ordinary life.

I love this book so much.  We have a great heroine, a scary villan, quirky side characters, and a great plot.  I love how grounded Coraline is.  Sure, she has dreams and fantasies, but when it counts, Coraline fights for her family.  She doesn't have an annoying bit to her.  I want to be Coraline... And the Other Mother is downright scary, even on the page. I shudder every time she talks.  But the best character of the entire book has to be the cat (he doesn't have a name because cat's know who they are).  He reminds me of the Cheshire Cat from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.  We never know if he's trying to help Coraline or just helping himself.  There's this ambiguous quality to him.  I look at him as a survivalist who happens to give Coraline some good advice about the other world. Such a great character!  The world and storyline are both fantastic.  I could clearly see the house and the grounds.  I could see and feel the dark tunnel between the house and the world of the Other Mother.  I could hear the rat's singing.  Awesome little bedtime story, if you like them kinda scary and definitely quirky.

Movie:

Overall, I think the movie did a good job translating Gaiman's story.  The visuals are stunning.  I loved seeing the contrast between the slightly drab real world and the bright and colorful world of the Other Mother.  The voices match exactly what I heard in my head.  My only issue: the inclusion of Wybie.  I didn't need him.  He didn't add anything to the story.  I would have preferred to stay focused on Coraline vs. the Other Mother.

Alex was/is...

It's my twins' birthday week!  I decided to do a post for each of them, thinking how they have grown in their 10 years on this earth. Alex was...

• My quiet baby
• Content
• Loved to cuddle
• Loved art
• A storyteller
• Sensitive

Alex is...

• Outgoing
• Sociable
• Empathetic
• A storyteller (never changed!)
• Loves games
• A collector
• Stubborn
• Athletic
• A train lover, still!

Here's a photo gallery.  I only have pics from 2006 to today on the computer, so now good baby pics...  Oh well!

The Doomsday Vault by Steven Harper

Title: The Doomsday Vault (Clockwork Empire #1)

Author: Steven Harper

Publisher: ROC 2011

Genre: Steampunk

Pages: 391

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Steampunk; Library; Eclectic -- Action Adventure; 52 Weeks -- W12

How I Got It: Library loan

In a clockwork Brittania, Alice's prospects are slim. At 22, her age and her unladylike interest in automatons have sealed her fate as an undesirable marriage prospect. But a devastating plague sends Alice off in a direction beyond the pale-towards a clandestine organization, mad inventors, life-altering secrets, and into the arms of an intrepid fiddle-playing airship pilot.

I picked this up on a whim at the library.  It looked interesting.  And it was amazing!  I loved it!  Cross the Gail Carriger Parasol Protectorate series with George Mann's The Affinity Bridge.  I loved the twists and turns.  The action never stops...  And the characters are too much fun.  Alice has such spunk and life!  Gavin is the perfect hero.  I couldn't wait to see these two get together.  Of course, it had to be difficult and fraught with other complications.  The side characters round out the whole story.  I can't wait to see where this series goes.

Clockwork Empire

1. The Doomsday Vault
2. The Impossible Cube
3. The Dragon Men
4. The Havoc Machine

Nick was/is...

It's my twins' birthday week!  I decided to do a post for each of them, thinking how they have grown in their 10 years on this earth. Nick was...

• My loud baby
• A little "red devil"
• Quick to learn new skills
• Loud and outgoing
• Adventurous
• Fearless
• Interested in the complex

Nick is...

• Introspective
• A reader
• Great at video games
• Interested in computers
• Understanding of others
• Sensitive to changes in mood
• Independent
• Hard to fool
• An observer

Here's a photo gallery.  I only have pics from 2006 to today on the computer, so now good baby pics...  Oh well!

Quote Wednesday - Roosevelt

If you treat people right, they will treat you right ninety percent of the time.  -- Franklin D. Roosevelt

I've always believed in common curtesy and positive interactions.  I try to be nice to everyone I see, even when I'm in a bad mood.  I try to limit my frustration to when I'm alone.  I try to be aware of others around me.  I try to make room, say please and thank you, stay in my space, etc.  I am not the center of the world.  I shouldn't act like I am.  And for the most part, my treatment of others has been rewarded with reciprocal good thoughts and actions.

A Very Special Birthday!

Two somebodies that I know are turning 10!  Okay, so my beautiful twin boys are those somebodies.  Ten years ago today, I gave birth to two crazy boys that surprise me constantly.  They are officially preteens.  Pretty soon they will be in middle school, and then high school, and then college.  I am excited to see them grow, but still love to see my babies lurking in their grownup thoughts and actions.

Happy Birthday Alex and Nick!

Spring Cleaning Giveaway Hop

Hey everybody!  It's time for another giveaway.  I have a box of books just sitting here waiting to leave the house.  I reach in and pull one out to offer to you good folks.

The Prize: Hardcover of Velveteen by Daniel Marks

The Rules:

• Must have a US mailing address (postage is way too expensive, sorry!)
• Fill out the Rafflecopter below (easy peasy!)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Top Ten Tuesday -- I Had to Buy But Neglected

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish.Each week we will post a new Top Ten list complete with one of our bloggers’ answers. Everyone is welcome to join.  If you can’t come up with ten, don’t worry about it—post as many as you can!

I am so bad at this!  I have to buy all these fancy books and then they languish on my shelves for years.  Thankfully for all those books, I have put myself on a book buying ban for the year.  And I'm doing awesome!  I've only bought two books so far, but both were book club selections that I didn't own.  Here's a list of some of those neglected books that I hope to get to this year:

1. The Pink Carnation by Lauren Willig -- really the entire series

2. The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley

3. Ireland by Frank Delaney

4. The Kingdom of Ohio by Matthew Flaming -- supposed to read this last December, obviously didn't get to it

5. Cotillion by Georgette Heyer -- Actually on my TBR list for this year

6. Boneshaker by Cherie Priest -- Another set book for this year

7. Vanity Fairy by William Makepeace Thackeray -- Ditto

8. Neferitit by Michelle Moran

9. Graceling by Kristin Cashore

10. Alexander Hamilton by Richard Brookhiser

Just for fun, I did this topic two years ago (March 1, 2011 specifically).  Let's revisit and see how many of those I have read:

• Dragonfly in Amber and Voyager by Diana Gabaldon
• Wideacre by Philippa Gregory
• Inkheart and Inkspell by Cornelia Funke
• The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
• The Magicians by Lev Grossman
• Love in the Time of Cholera by Marquez

Not very good.  Only 50% read.  I really need to add that other 50% to my TBR pile.

TCoYTP Finish Line

Pages Read Today: 123  (The Doomsday Vault)

Pages Read Total: 787

Books Read: 3+

Comments: About 1/3 of the way through The Doomsday Vault and I'm loving the adventure, steampunk, and zombies.  Definitely a winner!

Goals:

• Read 2 books √
• Review all books read √

TBR Pile for March (what's left):

• Let's Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson
• Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman (iPad)
• Sandition by Jane Austen (iPad)
• Coraline by Neil Gaiman (iPad)
• P.S. I Love You by Cecelia Ahern
• Valley of Silence by Nora Roberts
• The Doomsday Vault by Steven Harper (in progress)
• A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin
• Confessions of a Vampire’s Girlfriend by Katie MacAlister
• Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
• London Eye byTim Lebbon
• The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa
• Next by Michael Crichton

Music Monday -- 101 Faves Sad Song Edition

As part of my ongoing Day Zero Project, I've made a list of my favorite 101 songs of all time.  To help cut down on the possibilities, I took songs only from my iTunes account.  Each edition will include ~5 songs with a theme.  Enjoy! Sometimes we need a sad song to commiserate with us.

Augustana "Boston" -- I just love the lyrics to this song.  I find myself singing at the top of my lungs every time it comes up on shuffle.

Jon McLaughlin "Indiana" -- Such a song of defeat or comfort, depending on how you hear it...

Anna Nalick "Wreck of the Day" -- Another great sing-along sad song.

Haley James Scott "Halo" -- Yeah, yeah it's from One Tree Hill.  But that doesn't mean it isn't an awesome song.

TCoYTP Update #3

Pages Read Today: 199 (Valley of Silence)

Pages Read Total: 664

Books Read: 3

Comments: Finally finished Nora Roberts' Circle Trilogy.  Very good series overall!

Sunday Sunset #10

Listening To: Amanda Palmer and the Grand Theft Orchestra "Theatre is Evil" -- I'm a bit obsessed with this album this week.

Book finished: Girl of Nightmares; Let's Pretend This Never Happened; London Eye; Valley of Silence

Reading: Choosing my next book from the listed below...

On the Nightstand: Next by Michael Crichton, The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa, Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman, P.S I Love You by Cecelia Ahern, The Doomsday Vault by Steven Harper

Making Lists: Possible book club selections.  I am hosting next Sunday and have started to gather some possible books together.  Of course, those books are coming from my TBR shelves, but I want to pick a variety.  Also thinking about what food to buy for book club...

From the kitchen: I actually cooked this week.  I've been craving grilled chicken and steamed veggies.  I want to try and make more of the same, but I do so hate cooking.

On the Web: Evaluating my options with the announcement of GoogleReader's demise.    I imported my blogroll to Bloglovin'.  I'm going to try it out for about a week and then reevaluate...

Farmer's Market Finds: Slim pickings this time of year unless you are searching for lettuce or root vegetables or overpriced strawberries.  I'm waiting for the spring produce and a bit of lower prices.  I did pick up a nice bunch of mixed greens, a fruit tart, cheese danish, and ham and cheese quiche.  I plan on making those ingredients my meals for today.

Crafting: Nothing.  I did reorganize some of my supplies and reevaluate my plan.  I'm thinking about switching to Project Life style scrapbooking by the end of the year.  Still thinking about it...

Watching: Randomness this week.  We continued our season 2 of The Walking Dead and some of our currently airing shows.  I finished S1 of Hart of Dixie, but have to wait for season 2 to be finished so I can start.  And I started watching V season 1 (newer series, not the original).  I remember watching the first two episodes when it aired, but never finished it.  So far so good.  Now I need to go get S2 from the library.

From Nature: The temperatures are gorgeous and it's almost always sunny.  With the rise into the 70s, I was hoping to restart my daily swim.  But I just got notification that the complex is closing the pool for 30 days for renovations.  Guess I will have to wait until the end of April.