In Death Series Reading Challenge July 2012

Interested in joining the Challenge? Anyone is welcome to join in at any time of the year at wherever in the series you currently are. See the sign up post HERE and join the fun!

Did you read any In Death series books this month? 

CHALLENGE PARTICIPANTS: Link up any In Death posts you made this month here. If you made a post on your blog, whether it be a review or commentary, please grab the link to your post and enter it in the comments below so we can find each other's latest In Death posts easily. I'm too lazy to grab Mr. Linky. You can also just use the link to your goodreads or other virtual bookshelf as well. 

BOOK REVIEW:

None for me this month. I hoped I would get to Strangers in Death this month--I even brought it with me on vacation to read next but I probably won't get to it by the end of the month. 

SERIES DISCUSSION: Keeping in the spirit of the Olympic Games, let's imagine Eve and her gang competing in the games. In which events do you imagine them competing? 

How about Eve and Roarke both competing in shooting. Maybe even against each other? USA vs. UK? Ha! Perhaps Summerset in some equestrian event? What do you think? 

Book Pilgrimage 2012

The 2012 Book Pilgrimage is a readers challenge hosted by Libby who blogs at Libby's Book Blog. The idea of the challenge is to read a book and then take a pilgrimage to the setting of the book or the author's home or grave and then blog about it. I read about Libby's challenge several months ago and started wracking my brain with ideas of what books to read for a book pilgrimage of my own. I'll be visiting Iceland, Scotland and England this summer and came up with many book ideas-- An Icelandic murder mystery, a Scottish Highlander romance, a Victorian England romance!... so romantic... I decided instead, however, on a book about the Olympics!

I decided to [hopefully!!!] read Gold by Chris Cleave over the next couple of weeks. Gold is a fictional novel about two female cyclists training for the 2012 London Olympics. Yes! Female cyclists.. like me! Okay, I'm waaaay far from that caliber athlete, but at least I've got some cycling experience so that adds to the appeal of this book for me.

Here's the book blurb from goodreads:

Gold is the story of Zoe and Kate, world-class athletes who have been friends and rivals since their first day of Elite training. They’ve loved, fought, betrayed, forgiven, consoled, gloried, and grown up together. Now on the eve of London 2012, their last Olympics, both women will be tested to their physical and emotional limits. They must confront each other and their own mortality to decide, when lives are at stake: What would you sacrifice for the people you love, if it meant giving up the thing that was most important to you in the world?

Have you read this book or any other book by Chris Cleave? 

For more information about the Book Pilgrimage, be sure to visit Libby's blog HERE.

Christmas in July FIVE {A Giveaway}

Can you believe we're about halfway through the year to Christmas? It's the last thing on my mind right now as I'm packing up for vacation, but at least I remembered to do my 5th annual Christmas in July giveaway.


This year, one randomly selected winner will win their choice of one the following prizes:



The Cozy Prize: [US only]

A gently used book of their choice from my gift shelf,
A homemade beaded book thong [a bookmark made with thin ribbon and jewelry-quality beads],

A few extra goodies like author swag, a bonus book of my choosing,
AND a trinket souvenir from the London Olympics! Woohoo!

OR

The Glossy Prize: [US or international]

A shiny new mass market paperback of your choice, shipped to you via TheBookDepository.

OR

The Modern Prize: [US or international]

An ebook of your choice, valued up to $10, delivered to you by the magic of technology.

To see what books I'm offering for the cozy prize, please visit my gift shelf.

To enter the giveaway, simply leave a comment in this post telling us which summer Olympic games are your favorite?

I honestly could be thoroughly entertained watching them all. Some of my favorites, though, are swimming, diving, volleyball [beach and court], track and gymnastics. I'm also interested in following the triathlon and cycling events after having competed in a sprint triathlon last summer myself. ; )

Will you be watching the games over the next couple of weeks?

Giveaway is open everyone, although international winners can only receive The Glossy Prize.

Giveaway ends on August 7, 2012 at 11:59 pm EST, at which time I'll use random.org to select the winner. Winner will be announced in a separate post and I'll also leave a comment here on this post, so be sure to subscribe to comments if you enter.

Winners have one week to claim their prize, after which a new winner will be selected.

Good luck! :)

REVIEW: Hearts of Fire: A Deadglass novella by Kira Brady

Hearts of Fire is a prequel novella to the upcoming paranormal Deadglass trilogy by debut author Kira Brady. In this Romeo and Juliet inspired story, readers are introduced to a unique world of shifters living in an alternate, gritty city of Seattle, unbeknownst to humans. The year is 1889 and the Kivati clan of animal shifters has long established Seattle territory as their own, protecting humans from the threat of the nearby Gate to the Land of the Dead. Now the dangerous and soulless dragon-shifting Drekar clan arrives in the city, threatening to disrupt the relative peace.

Alice Corbette is the young heiress of the Kivati clan and notices a handsome, enigmatic man--Brand Haldor, in the streets of Seattle. As soon as she catches his eye, he, too, is drawn to her. The attraction between Alice and Brand is undeniable, as if destiny has brought them together. It turns out Brand has arrived in Seattle on a debt to Sven Norgard, the leader of the Drekar Clan, sworn enemies of the Kivati. The love between Alice and Brand is doomed--torn between loyalty to their clans and true love. Is their love the key to peace between the clans?

If Hearts of Fire accomplishes one thing, it's that it gives the reader a solid background to the two warring clans, the Kivati and the Drekar. We learn a bit about each of their histories and inherent traits, why they are at odds with each other and how determined they both are to be in control of the Gate in Seattle. As for the romance, it's very quick, if not too quick. The romance does have a fairy-tale quality to it with dual love at first sight and star crossed lovers thing going on, but would have been stronger if we were more convinced that Alice and Brand were meant to be together. All is not lost, though, since the romance helps set up the world building of the Deadglass trilogy, which is unique and very intriguing and the writing is very sharp.

I give Hearts of Fire 3 out of 5 stars.

Visit Kira Brady at her website http://blog.kirabrady/com/ and follow her on twitter at twitter.com/kirabrady

Hearts of Darkness, Book One of the Deadglass trilogy comes out early August 2012. It takes place in modern day Seattle and the tension between the Kivati and Drekar clans still runs high. The story is smart, gritty and very tense! I know because I'm reading it right now.


Note: I purchased the Hearts of Fire novella with my own money and have reviewed it without compensation of any form from the author, publisher or bookseller.

Library Loot LV

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and Marg from The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries! This week's Library Loot is at ???. 


I made a quick visit to the library last week to return The Witness by Nora Roberts--which was very good, by the way. If you're a fan of Nora Roberts, don't miss this one. I rated it 4 stars on goodreads. The story is solid, the characters are really great and the romance is realistic and satisfying. If all the elements were just a bit more powerful, I would have given the book 5 stars.

My 13 y.o. came with me on this library trip, which was great because I wanted her to grab some YA books to read. She tends to read the same beloved books [Harry Potter, Percy Jackson and Pretty Little Liars] over and over again and I know she'd find some other books to love if she'd just give them a chance. She only grabbed one, but I grabbed three others, hoping she'd give ALL FOUR a try if they were sitting around on the coffee table. These are also books that I've been interested in reading [except maybe for The Lying Game]. Hopefully I'll get to them, too. Here's what we brought home:

 

 

Across the Universe by Beth Revis
Divergent by Veronica Roth
Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater
The Lying Game by Sara Shepard

Have you read any of these YA books?


What are you reading right now?

REVIEW: Danger's Kiss by Sarah McKerrigan

Published in 2008, Forever, Grand Central Publishing 
TBR Challenge Review July

This is my July TBR Challenge review [hosted by Wendy the SuperLibrarian] and I can't believe I made it on time this month. I was happily engrossed in a cute book as of Monday when I realized this week was TBR week, so I quickly shifted gears and picked up this book for the challenge. This month's suggested theme was, "How did this book get here?" [in your TBR pile]. I'm pretty sure this book was passed to me years ago in a generous box full of books from one of my beloved book fairies, Kate.

Set in 13th century England, Danger's Kiss is a medieval romance between a trained thief named Desirée and the village lawman, Nicholas Grimshaw. Years ago, Desirée was sold by her desperate parents to an elderly, experienced thief named Hubert Kabayn who mentored her in the fine art of trickery and used her as an accomplice in his daily thievery. She's a quick witted and lively beautiful young woman. Nicholas Grimshaw is the most feared lawman in the shire, known for his satchel of torture instruments that he uses to extract confessions from criminals and the ruthlessness with which he carries out punishments. He has become a grim, serious and lonely man.

When Hubert is executed for a murder he didn't commit, Desirée becomes determined to clear his name. Her plans to avenge Hubert's wrongful execution get delayed, however, when Nicholas honors the promise he made to Hubert just before his execution to care for Desirée. In order to keep Desirée off the streets, Nicholas hires her as his maidservant in his cottage in the outskirts of town. She tries to make trouble where she can so that Nicholas will want to release her but she soon finds she likes earning an honest wage and living a simple life in Nicholas' cottage. In fact, they both find happiness in each other's company that they've never before felt.

Desirée continues to try to clear Hubert's name and determine the true identity of the murderer. In the process, she gets into some serious trouble that even the powerful and feared Nicholas Grimshaw may not be able to fix.

Danger's Kiss is a pleasant read with a fun storyline, but lacks the depth and emotional punch that would make it a notable read. The romance is sweet and I liked the way Desirée and Nicholas were forced together due to Nicholas' promise to Hubert and that their affection for each other grew naturally. They complemented each other well and it was obvious they enjoyed each other's company. The passion that developed between them was also very natural and consequently the romance believable. Still, the romance could have benefited from a stronger, more passionate bond or revelation of love between them.

Similarly, I felt the conflict in the story outside the romance was a bit weak and under developed. The villain is pretty lame--a wealthy Lady in the shire conspiring to gain an inheritance. Her elaborate schemes just to acquire wealth she practically already had access to just didn't make sense.

The hours I spent reading Danger's Kiss were pleasant enough. I liked Desirée and Nicholas and think they're a good match. I just wish there was simply more to both the romance and conflict. 3 out of 5 stars on goodreads.

GRADE: C

A Washington DC getaway

Hi everyone. Remember me? Yes, it's been a while. I seem to have lost my blogging momentum. :( Not only that, but my reading momentum as slowed down dramatically, too. Today is TBR Challenge Wednesday for July, and believe it or not, I'm still hoping to finish my TBR pick and post a review by midnight. So what are my excuses for not being around so much? It's summer. There are lawns to be mowed, gardens to be tended, miles [and miles] to be biked, naps to be had, and places to be visited. Like Washington DC!

Last week we took a little family getaway to DC for a few days. Back in April, my husband applied to our Congressman for permission to tour the White House. You need to have reservations in advance for this these days. We received notification a couple of weeks ago that we were approved for the tour so started making our plans after that. After some scrambling, we booked my elderly father-in-law into a nursing home for respite care and took off for DC.

Road trip to DC

Thai Iced Tea

The drive from where we live in NJ [east of NYC] to Washington DC is about four hours. First thing we did upon arriving in DC on Wednesday evening was to find dinner. Using the Trip-Advisor app on my phone, we chose Absolute Thai for dinner. This little Thai restaurant is very close to the Verizon Center, in case you want to look for it yourself. The restaurant doesn't look like much from the outside, but has a really nice decor and atmosphere on the inside. Casual, but kind of city chic at the same time. The best part is that the food was really delicious and didn't cost a fortune, considering it is a city restaurant. I splurged on a Thai iced tea, which was so tasty. Worth the extra calories after a four hour ride in the car and a nice way to start out our mini vacation.

Thursday was our super busy tourist day. First on our agenda was our tour of the White House. Security is ultra tight here, naturally, and you are not permitted to take anything into the White House except your wallet [no purses] and your cell phone, which must be in your pocket the whole time. Nothing else and absolutely no photos allowed! So I don't have any photos to share. The tour was pretty short, but informative and fun. While we were on our tour, staff was setting up the blue room for President Obama who would be conducting an interview there later that day.

We went to the Visitor's Center for the White House after the tour. I know, I know... seems like we should have done that first, but our tour was at 9am and we had to hustle in the morning to get there on time as it was! Walking from the White House to the Visitor's Center across the street, we came upon Pershing Park where we took a few moments to pause and take in the peacefulness of this little spot.

Pershing Park, Washington, DC

After spending some time in the Visitor's Center learning more about the history of the White House, we trekked back to our hotel for our cameras and water bottles. We then tried to figure out what Metro bus to take from our hotel area to the Capitol. We thought we had it figured out, too, but a nice lady at the bus stop straightened us out and advised us on how to best figure out the route we needed and eventually we got on the right bus.

We then spent most of Thursday afternoon visiting the Capitol. We went on a tour of the main building of the Capitol--not the Senate or House wings. Those require special permission from your state Congressman. We learned about the history of the Capitol--its construction and political history. The inside of the Rotunda [the big round dome part] --the architecture and artwork--is just beautiful.

The North front of the US Capitol

The inside of the dome in the US Capitol

The ceiling of Statuary Hall inside the US Capitol

Full-size plaster model of the Statue of Freedom
that crowns the dome of the US Capitol

After our guided tour, we had a light snack in the cafe there and then took some time to explore Exhibition Hall in the Capitol Visitor's Center. This exhibit is dedicated to the history of Congress and the construction of the US Capitol from its inception in 1790 through present day. We left the Capitol and started to walk to our next destination when we came across The Summerhouse--a charming little red brick outdoor building nestled into a hill on the west side of the Capitol grounds. It was built in 1890 to offer a cool, shaded, spot for visitors to rest and find a drink of water for themselves and their horses. There are benches built into the inside perimeter of the house and in the center is a small fountain with drinking fountains around it. On the side of the Summerhouse that is set into the hill is a window framed with iron work that offers a pretty view of a grotto where a small stream splashes onto the rocks. I loved the Summerhouse--such a sweet little spot to discover!

The Summerhouse on Capitol Hill

Walking into the Summerhouse

View of the grotto from inside The Summerhouse

Our next stop was The National Archives where we simplified our visit and made a bee line for the room in which our nation's most treasured documents are displayed. We saw the original Declaration of Independence, Constitution and Bill of Rights. The originals!!! It gave me the chills! Obviously no pictures. You'll have to go see them for yourself.

By now we were super hungry for dinner and figured out a neighborhood a few minutes walking distance where there were a lot of restaurants. Well 7 pm on a Thursday evening and everyone visiting or working in the area is looking for a place to sit and grab a meal. We settled for a restaurant with the shortest wait time [30min] and ended up with a mediocre meal with terrible service. We won't be dining at the Ruby Tuesday of 7th Street ever again.

We walked back down [up?] to Tangysweet on 7th Street for some frozen yogurt. It was okay. We liked the frozen yogurt at our neighborhood Yapple much better.

We were trying to figure out how to take a bus back to our hotel from there and weren't getting anywhere so I made the executive decision to just walk it. I have to say that the girls were troopers walking this 1.3 miles back to our hotel at 9:30 pm after having just spent a long, hot day walking around the city. We all plopped into bed one by one after our showers.

We decided to let the girls sleep in a little on Friday morning to make up for the long, busy day before. After a late breakfast, we drove to Arlington National Cemetery. It was my first time visiting here and it is probably my favorite part of the trip. There was so much to see here--I learned so much and found Arlington to be a very important and an incredibly moving place to visit. I highly recommend you visit there the next time you are in the Washington DC area.

Arlington National Cemetery
The Washington Monument in the background

Don't miss the changing of the guards guarding the Tomb of an Unknown Soldier. The tomb has been guarded every second of every day of every year since July 2, 1937.

Guarding the Tomb of an Unknown Soldier
"Here rests in honored glory
an American soldier known but to God." 

The grave of Audie L. Murphy,
the most decorated combat soldier of WWII

We also visited the Arlington House, or Robert E. Lee Memorial while visiting the Cemetery. Such a fascinating history about this family, this house and Arlington National Cemetery. Did you know Robert E. Lee married George Washington's step-granddaughter [the granddaughter of Martha Washington from her first marriage before George Washington]?

After spending four hot hours touring Arlington, we were ready for an early dinner. Using the Trip Advisor app once again, I searched for nearby restaurants and we headed towards a nearby neighborhood that had several restaurants. We ended up at Taste of Tunisia on Wilson Boulevard in Arlington, VA. This was our first time having Tunisian food. It was a little spicy for my youngest, but otherwise the rest of us really enjoyed it. I think I enjoyed it the most. I had the Beef Shawarma, homemade lemonade and for dessert we had delicious Tunisian pastries. One was similar to Greek Baklava, made with pistachios and almonds and the other pastry was a cookie-type pastry filled with date paste and I think drizzled with honey. I want one right now!

Athleta
at Georgetown

On our way back to our hotel, we stopped in the downtown shopping district in Georgetown area where I finally got to shop inside an Athleta store instead of window shopping out of their catalog. What a treat! Unfortunately I didn't get to buy anything because they didn't have the two cycling pieces I was looking for in stock. But I still tried on a few items and at least now know what size top and bottom I'd order from the catalog.


The following morning we checked out of our hotel and headed home.

Washington National Cathedral
[Photo taken from the moving car while leaving the city]

It was a dreary morning, but the sun was shining by the time we arrived home around 12:30 pm safe and sound.

This is my 6th visit to Washington DC and every time I go, I discover so many new things. And when I leave, I realize there's still more to explore and I know I'll be back again.

Have you ever visited Washington DC? What are some of your favorite things to do in DC?

Coming up soon is our full length summer vacation-- I can't wait! Well, truthfully I get a little travel anxiety leading up to vacation and then it takes me a couple of days to relax and really enjoy myself... but still. I'm looking forward to getting to that part. Here's a little hint about where we're going:

Where in the World: Local Bookstore

There's a fun new monthly themed meme that started just yesterday by three super cool blogging people. Trish [Love Laugh Insanity], Lisa [Books Lists Life] and Kelly [The Written World] came up with the Where in the World Are You Reading? book meme that encourages readers to share the places they're reading around the world. Visit the links below for more details and follow the #wwread hash tag on twitter for more buzz!

For information about the meme, and how it got started, visit this Intro to Where in the World Are You Reading post.

For this month's link up and see where in the world other readers are reading at their local bookstores, visit Where in the World: Local Bookstore at Trish's blog.

July's theme is Local Bookstore and readers have until July 26th to link up their meme posts. Plenty of time for you to join in.

Confession number one: I don't really have a local bookstore. Not really. I have two Barnes & Noble Bookstores near me, each within 3-5 miles of my house in opposite directions, and I do shop there several times a year. I know I can walk in pretty much find what I'm looking for anytime, especially if it's a newer release or a popular book. Or any magazine under the sun! Yet, in my heart, I don't really consider B&N my local bookstore. It's not personal or intimate enough to be considered MY bookstore. When I hear the words "local bookstore" I think of a little shop that's welcoming and cozy, with friendly, knowledgeable staff, and I'd like to think the owners are locals, too. In other words, an independent bookstore, also known as Indie bookstore. Think 'The Shop Around the Corner' from the film You Got Mail starring Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks. What a charming bookstore! .. and movie. ;)

My local Indie bookstore

Confession number two: There is a indie bookstore about 1 mile from my house and I drive, ride my bike and sometimes even run past it several times a week. I've even been inside a handful of times while shopping downtown, but I've never bought anything. I feel pretty badly about this, too, because I wholeheartedly believe in supporting independent bookstores and local businesses whenever possible. So why isn't this bookstore my local bookstore? Because they don't shelve most of the books I'm looking to buy--romance and cookbooks [when the library doesn't get the ones I want to read]-- in their cute little store. Maybe I could find the latest Nora Roberts book there.. honestly, I haven't really gone in to see what's come in to the store in a long time. I think I'm due for a visit. And the next time I'm looking for a specific book, whether it be the hottest new romance or the hottest new cookbook, perhaps it's time I put my money where my mouth is, go Indie and order it through My Town Bookstore. :)

street view of my local Indie bookstore

a nice daily mantra :)

What's your local bookstore like?


Is it a major bookstore chain or an independent bookstore?


Next month's theme is Library and will be hosted by Kelly. Posts can be linked up starting on August 2nd at Kelly's blog.


Hope you join in.. I want to see where in the world YOU'RE reading!

Hello July! ..What Happened in June?!

Holy smokes it's July 4th already! I hope you had a wonderful holiday and the fireworks were spectacular by you.. whether you saw them at the park or made some of your own at home. ; )

Well, I sure am starting to sound like a broken record, but dang it.. life has been busy, leaving me too few minutes in the day to read or blog and blog hop as much as I'd like. I thought the school year was never going to end there for a while, but it finally did on June 20. I swear we were the last schools in session in the whole country by then. Both girls brought home awesome report cards. My youngest ended 7th grade with all A's and a few B's.. honors in several of her classes, high honors in Language Arts. That's my girl! My oldest finished 11th grade--her junior year with a stellar report card. Also A's and a scarce B, most of her courses being honors and honors AP courses. She did so well, she boosted her overall GPA a smidgen and now has over a 4.0 GPA! YES! My girls are some smart cookies! So proud. ^_^

I imagined summer break was going to be lazy, easy, breezy, but alas it's been quite hectic. All good things, but my time management skills are forever a work in progress so I'm not very methodical about getting stuff done. Everything always seems half finished and I can't seem to carve out a decent block of time for myself to read or blog. I always think I'll get to it in the evening after dinner, but I don't know what happens. Well, I do know. I end up being too tired to be on the computer, so I decide to read instead, which ends up being pitiful anyway because I fall asleep after just a few pages. It's a vicious cycle.

My youngest is away at sleep away camp for the first time ever this week. We were busy getting ready for that last week, including packing, shopping for some supplies and getting a physical, etc. No phone calls to or from camp are allowed unless it's an emergency. It drives me batty not being in touch with my kid, but I'm trying not to worry about the little things and trying instead to picture her having a great time, making new friends, trying new things and basically having a really positive experience. I admit I'm looking forward to picking her up on Saturday.. seeing her face, hugging her and hearing all about her adventures.

My oldest landed a nice nanny/babysitting job three days a week for a family with three young girls... ages 10, 8 and 4, I believe. Even though it's a lot of work caring for and playing with the girls, taking them to the pool and activities, I'm not sure who's having more fun here... the little girls or my teen! She loves it. She's also in Volleyball training three nights a week and on her days off from babysitting she's out and about with her friends or her boyfriend. Never a dull moment.

Before I forget, here's a quick look at what I was up to in June. My memory's already getting fuzzy. :/

In fitness & health: 
My workout schedule has been pretty similar each week lately. Strength training, a weekly kickbox class, running and biking. I've spent most of my workout time on the bike, having ridden 274.6 miles in June! My longest single ride was 70.4 miles which was nearly five hours of cycling. Boy, was I tired that day!

I finished June with 133+ fitness challenge miles where 1 fitness mile = 1 mile run = 15 minutes of other cardio or strength training.

I have also been participating in the weekly Reader's Workout Meme hosted by Joy. Check it out over at her blog if you're interested in joining in. It's a low-key, casual thing.. and very welcoming. In the Reader's Workout Meme, some of the participants are tracking their exercise in total minutes spent exercising. I clocked in with 1884 minutes in June or 31 hours and 24 minutes! That averages to about 63 minutes a day. Not bad!

I recently recommitted myself [again, I know] to losing 20-25 lbs. between now and Thanksgiving. I'm working on a few aspects of my diet plus I want to add more strength training to my weekly workout plan. I'll keep you posted.

What did you do to keep moving last month?

In books: 
I read only five books in June.. I guess it's indicative of how busy I was with other things last month. Still, the five books I read were pretty darned good so I'm not complaining!

Romance .............. 4
                  Historical .... 3
                  Paranormal...1
Children's Lit........1

1. The Madness of Lord Ian MacKenzie by Jennifer Ashley
2. Lady Isabella's Scandalous Marriage by Jennifer Ashley
3. Odd And The Frost Giants by Neil Gaiman
4. Tangle of Need by Nalini Singh
5. Caine's Reckoning by Sarah McCarty

My favorites are The Madness of Lord Ian MacKenzie and Tangle of Need--both books get five stars from me.

What noteworthy books did you read in June?

In photography: 
I had fun participating in a photo-a-day challenge hosted by the Fat Mum Slim blog, or @fatmumslim on twitter. The fun daily prompts helped me stay on track taking a picture every day and the best part? I made some new friends on Instagram! Yay! :) I've decided to do the #photoadayJuly challenge too. As well as a fun daily picture challenge for book-mided people hosted by Cassandra at Indie Reader Houston. You can follow this challenge on twitter or instagram using the #dailybookpic hash tag.

Come back later for my favorite photos from my Project 366.. [I'll post them in the morning.]

As always, you can follow my photography challenges on http://web.stagram.com/n/thehappilyeverafter .

In the garden: 
I finally finished the new vegetable garden. For the most part, anyway. You're never going to believe this.. but I'm not so crazy with this location anymore. I think I might be re-re-establishing my vegetable garden to the backyard next year. So indecisive, I know. In the meantime, at least I have some tomato plants in the ground and growing! Finally! I'll edit pictures into this post tomorrow.. I want to post this now before I delay it another day. And it's time for me to get my beauty sleep. Zzzzz...

Thanks for reading about my June adventures. Here's wishing you a jubilant July! ^_^