*Gasp* A Book Post!

I used to have 2 blogs. I decided to consolidate them and just use one because I had a hard enough time keeping one blog updated & posting to it regularly...Lord knows I was totally unsuccessful with trying to maintain two.  My second blog was totally devoted to books and the musicals I went to see. Although I haven't been to a lot of musicals lately, I'm an avid reader, therefore books are still being read.

So I figured I'd dedicate a few posts to my reading and try to include a book/arts post at least once a month. We'll see how that goes, but here's one for July. LOL.

This post: Favorite books by my most read authors.  I can't really say favorite authors because that's like trying to pick your favorite aunt or uncle.  Each is great and caters to a subject matter that I enjoy reading about. 

Oh wait! Before I get to that, I have to say that I'm totally about to become a sheep.  There are people who are posting the books they have read by authors on FB and tagging the authors in the pics.  I must admit that when the trend first began, I didn't like it. But...I've become a sheep and shall totally be posting pics of the print books that I own that are written by my FB authors-friends.  I can't take a pic of the listings on my Kindle, and even if I could, that would be over the top.

So, back to the list. In no particular order:..except for #1. It truly is one of my favorite stories...I've bought it 3x and it is why I don't let folks borrow my books anymore.

1.) Kindred by Octavia Butler
2.) The Dollhouse Murders by Betty Ren Wright (read in 3rd grade..still remember it)
3.) Joy by Victoria Christopher Murray
4.) The Magician's Nephew by C.S. Lewis
5.) Trouble Don't Last Always by Francis Ray
6.) Here and Now by Kimberla Lawson Roby
7.) Joplin's Ghost by Tananarive Due
8.) God Don't Like Ugly by Mary Monroe
9.) A Mighty Love by Anita Doreen Diggs
10.) Shades of Jade by Gloria Mallette
11.)Bliss by Gabrielle Pina
12.) The Warmest December by Bernice McFadden
13.) The Neverending Story by Michael Ende
14.) The Warded Man by Peter Brett
15.) The Ties That Bind by Brenda Jackson
16.) Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K Rowling
17.) Petals on the Wind by V.C. Andrews
18.) Acheron by Sherrilyn Kenyon
19.) Afterburn by Zane
20.) Loose Lips by Teresa McClain-Watson
21.) Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
22.) A Long Way From Home by Connie Briscoe
23.)  And Then You Die by Iris Johnansen

I'm going to stop here  because I'm trying to go off the top of my head and am running out of titles. I only want to include what I can immediately remember without referring to my bookshelf or library archive account. Now, while this is a listing of some favorites, if any of these novels are parts of a series...I've read the whole series...You should too.

Go read a book! :)

TTFN!!

Mini-Vacation Haul

OK, those who know me know that one of the things I love to do when I make my NC visits to my family is go shopping. That is my down time. I can go through the stores and just...enjoy what they have to offer. The stores I go to there are not any different than the stores I have available to me at home. Truth be told, there's only one store I go to that is not available where I live. But when I am out of town, away from work and commitments at home (except for the Buffinator), I have the time to drive around and do a little shopping without feeling like I have to rush this place or that to do one thing or another...I'm sure many of you understand.

So, where did I do most of my shopping on this trip? Home Goods.  Now, there is a HG in my city...in fact, there are two. However they are too far away and they really suck for the things I would be looking for when I make the trips there.  When I'm home, I mostly do what would be my HG shopping at Marshall's and sometimes Ross. But mostly Marshall's. Ross is my dress heaven. The other two places I went to were Trader Joe's and an accessory store called Versona.  There's a TJ in my city too...but its out there with HG...and I'm not driving that far in all that traffic for a trip to the grocery store.

Any of you who have shopped at HG, Marshall's TJ Maxx or Ross know that this line of stores is the place to go for very reasonably priced, damn near cheap, decor, kitchen appliances/tools and specialty spices.  Seriously...my spice cabinet runneth over from the many trips I make to Marshall's alone. As often as I say "I'm not going to get another spice blend until I have made a dent in what I have at home," I walk out of the store with another spice, or marinade, or salad dressing, or oil blend....its really a bad habit.

So, here's my swag from my trip to Charlotte:

This is from my trip to Home Goods. This isn't all I bought, but its what I've been looking out for that I haven't found at my local Marshall's. Only one thing was over $10, I think. Even the pastas were $4 & $5 each. LOVELY!


Seriously...$8. I've been looking for one for a while. Now I have it to make my guac and grind whole spices.



I've been looking for one of these for a while. Rachael Ray uses them a lot to transfer food from the cutting board to the pan. $3 later, no more sneak treats for Buffy!



I don't know why this flipped back to the side, but I'm done w/picture editing...I have a candle problem. This smells heavenly. Bought two.

And this one



Yeah, so much for no more spices and stuff...
The preserves were bought just because of the "Habanero." It better be spicy!
Will post how I use it when I use it.
The dressing to the right is a vidalia onion & tomato dressing....HEAVENLY!!!! Good Lord its slamming!



More coffee. I love coconut and I love chocolate. This was in the aisle that taunts you and you are making your way in line to the register...gets me every time. But the one in the grocery store I can always ignore.

I had to get this. I love the different size & style pastas you can find at these stores and this is that egg pasta that they use on Food Network all the time and I always say "I have never seen that kind of egg noodle."
Seen and bought!



More pasta. Roasted red pepper fettuccine



More neat shaped pasta.

Super soft, cushy throw...$12.99

Flax seed gel is on the way!

And then we have the Trader Joe's run. I FINALLY bought the shampoo and conditioner that people have been raving about and I bought their one with rosemary also..just because I love rosemary. No captions needed, but dang folks, if they are as good for me as they have been for others, when I go back to Charlotte for the holidays, I'm loading up something serious! $3 a pop is an awesome deal.



 So that's it. I haven't taken pics of the jewelry I bought from Versona. Some of them are gifts, so posting spoils the surprise. So we're going to wait on that. 

TTFN!

Bath and Body Works Semi-Annual Sale

Oh my goodness! I told myself that I would not go overboard for this semi-annual sale because I still have PLENTY of products from the last one. I probably have enough from the last sale to make it through 2014 if I don't gift any of it. But, of course, being the person that I am, I couldn't let the sale go by and not buy anything.

Not buying anything turned into buying a lot of things! First of all, the lesson I learned this year: SHOP ONLINE!!!!! I don't know why I didn't know this already. I mean, I lived and read off of Amazon.com my entire college career and a few years after that because that was really the only way I could afford to buy books. But I have never done the BBW SA Sale online before this year.  What made me decide to do it? The sale started a day early online! So I told myself I would get in, get out and no one (like my pocketbook) would get hurt. I lied. LOL. My favorite fragrance was available online, but was not in the store at all and it was discontinued about 3 years ago. So I bought a lot of that.  Then one of my favorite hand soap scents was brought back online and in the store. So I bought a lot of that. Then I found another discontinued fragrance that I'd totally forgotten about and it was heaven way back when. So I bought a lot of that.

I take it you see the pattern folks.

Add to that the wallflower scents (because all that Cinnamon and Clove Bud I bought last year was a bust! I'll only buy the oil for the diffuser from here on out because the wallflowers do not give off enough of a scent to make a difference to the aromatic ambiance of my house) and you get another SA sale with a lot of products. I'm not complaining though. LOL. I'll stay away from the one in December...

Yeah right.

So, here's a listing of what I got. I'll keep the quantities to myself.

Body Lotions
Brown Sugar and Fig (discontinued, online only)
Juniper Breeze (discontinued, online only)
Cool Citrus Basil (discontinued, online only)
Aruba Coconut
Rio Rumberry
Mali Mango
True Blue Spa monoi oil lotion


Shower Gels
Brown Sugar and Fig (discontinued, online only)
Juniper Breeze (discontinued, online only)
Cool Citrus Basil (discontinued, online only)
Mali Mango
True Blue Spa Shea butter shower cream

Hand Soaps (foams and gels)
Fresh Lime Basil
Apple Lavender
Eucalyptus Mint
Aqua Blossom
Strawberry Basil
Wildberry Dahlia
Mango Mai Tai
Paradise Coconut

Wallflowers
Caribbean Escape
Market Peach
Cool Citrus Basil (discontinued, online only)
Clean Mist
Fresh Linen
Brilliant Citrus
Pineapple Orchid
Pink Sangria

If you notice the trend, you can tell that I love the basil scents. What can I say, basil & rosemary are my two most favorite herbs..I go overboard.

Of course, you don't have to go this far overboard on the sale, but if I had some restraint, I seriously could go a solid 2 years, at least, without buying shower gel or lotion. The only thing I would have to purchase on the next sale would be the hand soaps because I wash my hands a LOT.

But like I said...that would be if I had some restraint.

I will say this, Bath and Body Works shipping is the BOMB! I mean, super awesome. Two of my orders were received before the first projected delivery date. Like, one was ordered on a Tuesday and received by the following Monday. Another was ordered on a Wednesday and received by that Friday!!!! I mean, that rocks! Not many companies of that size will get you your product within 7 days of your original order if you only do standard shipping.  Even Amazon has slacked up on its delivery speed and ships closer and closer to the last date in the given shipment window.  So, I may be doing the majority of my BBW shopping online from now on.

TTFN!