BEA Bloggers in NYC & A Weekend Road Trip

Last night, I went into NYC to meet up with some of my most beloved book blogging friends who were in town for the big Book Expo of America and Book Bloggers Convention. First, I met the sweet and energetic Michelle from the Red Headed Book Child Blog. Darling as can be, you can be assured that her charming and fun blogging voice truly matches her real life personality.

Then I met up with I my book smugglers, Ana and Thea of The Book Smugglers. And yes, I am claiming them to be mine and yes, you can love them too. Just visit their blog and you'll see how easy it is to love them. In person? Ana and Thea are smart, gracious, funny, energetic and just as beautiful on the outside as they are on the inside. As in whoa baby, so gorgeous.

I also met up with one of my fun, sweet southern girlfriends, super blogger KMont of Lurv a la Mode. So friendly and attentive to what you have to say and really... talking with KMont for the first time in person was like catching up with an old friend. So comfortable. I lurv her. Oh! And Mr. KMont tagged along, too. What a cute couple. Hearts.

I also met Angie of Angieville. By now you may have picked up that Angie is one of my favorite book bloggers ever. She not only has fantastic taste in books, but she's articulate, creative friendly and so sweet. She's all that in person too. And adorable. More love.

I also revved up a few other online acquaintances with Janicu and Lusty Reader. Not only that, but I met several other really great book blogging people like Laura and Heather... as well as Kristen and Anastasia.

I had a really wonderful time meeting these friends face to face for the first time and talking about books and whatever else. What a treat this evening was for me! I think I just soaked them all in and now I'm wishing we could get together all over again so I can savor their company some more. :)

My teen daughter and I are going to a big volleyball tournament over the long weekend--she's playing volleyball and I'm playing cheerleader and photographer. It's being held at a major university about four and a half hours away. We're leaving this afternoon and don't expect to get home until late Monday night. Kind of puts the long in long weekend. I'm bringing four books along in case I have hours of free time as my daughter runs around campus with her teammates when they're not on the court. Ten Things I Love About You by Julia Quinn (currently half way through now), Lover Mine by J.R. Ward, Witness In Death by J.D. Robb andEcstasy Unveiled by Larissa Ione. Hopefully I'll get some reading in and maybe, if I'm lucky and I can find some wifi, I'll get a post or two up while I'm away, including the May In Death Reading Challenge round up post. If not, look for it on June 1. Either way, have a great weekend!!! :)

What are your plans for the weekend?

Library Loot XVIII

Library Loot is a weekly blog event that encourages bloggers to share what books they borrowed from the library that week. To participate, simply make your Library Loot post on your blog and link it using the Mr. Linky link at Marg's blog Reading Adventures or Eva's blog A Striped Armchair. This week's link up is at Marg's.

Library Loot day is usually on Wednesdays, and I didn't expect to post anything this week since I'm still trying to whittle down my current stack of library books, but I got hold of this one at the very last minute so it turns out I have some loot after all! I had to put in a little extra resourcefulness to get this book, too.

Lover Mine by J.R. Ward

Black Dagger Brotherhood, Book 8

Lover Mine is the eighth novel of the Black Dagger Brotherhood, a.k.a. the BDB series by author J.R. Ward. I started this series back in October 2006 and was easily sucked into this action packed, suspenseful, sexy and romantic paranormal world that Ward so ingeniously crafted. As what often happens when an author becomes a NY Times Bestseller, the Black Dagger Brotherhood books are now released in hardcover first, followed by mass market paperback a year or so later. I do love this series, but vowed not to buy the hardcover releases. Partly because I don't want to spend the money on hardcover and partly because I have the first six books in paperback and I want the whole series to match! I had the seventh book, Lover Avenged on my bookshelf for several months before picking it up on a whim earlier this month and poof! I was sucked right back into the world like I'd never left. As soon as I finished it, I wanted to read the latest book, Love Mine right away. I searched out online card catalogs and found only ONE library in my area that carries Lover Mine. It just so happened to be the ONE library that has restrictions against non-residents borrowing ANY new release from their library and they consider a book a new release for ONE FULL YEAR. Son of a gun!

I was disappointed.

But I was also determined.

I asked my friend who lives in that town to put a hold on it for me. I warned her of the racy title and cover art -- she's on the shy, conservative, easily embarrassed side, but you know what? True friends will push themselves out of their comfort zone for their best buddies, because she got Love Mine for me!!! YES! She loves me! :D

Now if I could get her to read the series . . .

Do you read the Black Dagger Brotherhood series?

If you used to, but don't anymore, what book did you stop at and why?

Ten Things I Love About The Trailer for Ten Things I Love About You by Julia Quinn

I've never been swayed to buy a book based on it's video until I watched this one for Julia Quinn's latest book Ten Things I Love About You that releases TODAY.

I think that book video is just adorable.

In the spirit of Ten Things, I made a list of reasons why I think the video adorable.

Ten Things I Love About The Trailer for Ten Things I Love About You by Julia Quinn:

1-It's a list! ... I love lists!
2-Delightful hand drawn artwork.
3-The music is fitting.
4-Narrator's voice is purposefully over the top, in a fun way.
5-It's witty
6-and a little bit silly,
7-but very charming
8-and romantic.
9-It ends with a cliff hanger!
10-It made me want to read the book!

Want to know more about Ten Things I Love About You by Julia Quinn? Check out this list of Ten Things You Should Know About This Book.

All these fun lists have me literally and figuratively counting on this book being just as delightful and charming as its video and lists.

Ten Things I Love About You by Julia Quinn releases today, May 25, 2010.

You can visit Julia Quinn at her website at http://www.juliaquinn.com/.


Have you ever been swayed to buy a book based on its book trailer?

Library Loot XVII

Library Loot is a weekly blog event that encourages bloggers to share what books they borrowed from the library that week. To participate, simply make your Library Loot post on your blog and link it using the Mr. Linky link at Marg's blog Reading Adventures or Eva's blog A Striped Armchair. This week's link up is at Marg's.

I haven't done a Library Loot post in several weeks since I had so many books out already and was going a little crazy with due dates all over the calendar. I ended up returning two books tonight that I didn't get around to finishing and I had no more renewals left in the system. If I get the chance over the weekend, I'm going back for those two books because even though I left them sitting in a pile unread for so many weeks, it turns out I really want to read them!

I was able to pick up one book tonight that has had me waiting ever so impatiently on the holds list for a couple of weeks now:

Savor the Moment by Nora Roberts

The Bride Quartet, Book Three

In this contemporary series, four childhood friends--Parker, Emma, Laurel and Mac--own and operate their very own wedding planning business called Vows. Each of the four women brings a unique specialty to the business--wedding planner extraordinaire, florist, creator of wedding cake masterpieces and photographer. The stories revolve around their friendships, their business and of course, their love lives as each book tells a happily ever after story for each of the four women. Savor the Moment is Laurel's story and if you may guess from the cover, she creates the wedding cakes. Her love interest is Parker's brother Delaney who has been like a brother to all four women since childhood, but Laurel doesn't see him that way. She's had a secret infatuation with Del for years. In a quicksilver mood, Laurel kisses Del and something tells me their relationship takes on a whole new dynamic.

How fun that I'm currently reading two very different books by Nora Roberts. Savor the Moment (May 2010) is a contemporary story of friendship and romance and Loyalty In Death (October 1999) is a suspenseful, futuristic murder mystery written under Roberts' pen name J.D. Robb.

Do you have a favorite author who writes novels in two fairly different genres like Nora Roberts does?

One "Thing" Done ... 100 More to Go!

I am thrilled to report that I accomplished one of my most challenging goals from my list of 101 Things to do in 1001 Days last weekend! I am over the moon about this one!

Back in October, I wrote a reflective post about my literal and figurative ups and downs with my then new found venture in cycling. To give you a clue, the post was titled Bike is a Four Letter Word. Ha! I know what you're thinking that four letter word is... and believe me, there were indeed times that I was so frustrated and that particular four letter word did in fact pass my lips. Once when I took a rough fall and then a couple of other times as I struggled with two particular segments of our route that were fairly tough climbs up the mountain. Back then, I had to stop twice on each of those two climbs to catch my breath and lower my heart rate before continuing on. Gah! Those stops were so frustrating and disappointing. I was determined, however, to climb those hills without stopping so I made it one of my goals in my list of 101 Things to do in 1001 Days.

Work hard in spin class over the winter.

Run regularly and simply do more cardio workouts to improve my fitness level and endurance.

Lose some weight.

Keep trying and hope like crazy that I'd meet my goal and conquer those mountains by the end of the summer.

To my utter delight and extreme satisfaction...

I DID IT!!!!

I conquered my cycling loop through the reservation on MAY 15, 2010 and can now climb those mountains without stopping!!!

I was confident I'd reach my goal within 1001 days, and was hoping to reach it by July or August .... but the fact that I accomplished this in May is just so much sweeter! Go, me! :)


Do you have a fitness goal you're working toward this year?

I'd love to hear about it and cheer you on.

The Rainbow Quilt for a Cause

Author Brenda Novak is currently hosting her 6th Annual Online Auction to Benefit Diabetes Research. Brenda's youngest son was diagnosed with Type 1 at age five and she started this annual auction in 2005 to raise money and awareness for diabetes research in honor of her son and the millions of other people who suffer from diabetes. Last year, the auction raised over $270,000 to benefit diabetes research, and has raised a cumulative amount of $762,298 in the last five years. WOW! Hopefully this year's auction will break the $1,000,000 mark!

Since Brenda is an author, many of the items up for auction are related to reading and writing. Book bundles, lots of ARCs from your favorite authors, lunch dates with authors and even writing workshops and critiques for aspiring authors. In addition, there are many other items such as collectibles and handmade items such as jewelry and quilts.

This is where my blogging friend Phyl from Phyl's Quilts & Books comes in. Like Brenda, Phyl's young son is also a diabetic, having been diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when he was 10. To help raise awareness and money for the auction, Phyl has sewn this gorgeous Rainbow Quilt from her scrap collection and has donated it to the auction. Isn't it stunning? I've had so much fun watching Phyl's progress with this quilt on her blog and I admire not only her quilts, but also her giving spirit to this cause.

To bid on Phyl's Quilt, click HERE.

Click HERE to get to all of the items up for auction. You can find all sorts of goodies by category on the sidebar or even search for items in a keyword search box.

Happy bidding! :)

AutoChef Winner!

Raise your hand if you wish you could have won an AutoChef* as featured in J.D. Robb's In Death series FOR REAL? Wouldn't that be awesome? I actually love to cook, but every now and then-- maybe two or three times a week-- I wish I could walk up to an AutoChef and punch in a dinner request and Voila! Dinner is served!

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the In Death series, the AutoChef* is a fictional food service appliance in the futuristic mystery series by J.D. Robb that provides your food or beverage choice by the touch of a button. In my April In Death Challenge post, I asked what would be in unending supply in your personal AutoChef and coffee, Coke, and chocolate were the repeat answers. Since the main character of the series, Lieutenant Eve Dallas of the NYPSD in futuristic NYC has an AutoChef in her office that is stocked with real coffee, which is near impossible to come by in the year 2058, I decided to giveaway some coffee to one of the In Death Reading Challenge participants who have kept up with the challenge for the last four months. There were six readers who entered the giveaway and I used random.org to randomly select a winner from the group and that lucky winner is . . .

Lori !!!

Congratulations! Sorry it's only a Starbucks gift card and not a real AutoChef. ;)

I've been having a lot of fun with the In Death Reading Challenge and hope that everyone plans on keeping up. The next giveaway will be in August, so to qualify for the prize, be sure to read (reread or listen to) at least one In Death book in each month from May through August. Then visit my monthly challenge post at the end of each month to link your review, comments or reading list to be qualified.

If you'd like to join the challenge, visit the sign up post HERE. If you have any questions, leave a comment or email me at the address in my profile.

Happy Mother's Day

"Being a full-time mother is one of the highest salaried jobs... since the payment is pure love."

- Mildred B. Vermont

Wishing mothers everywhere a wonderful day.

My 101 Things to do in 1001 Days

Have you heard about The Day Zero Project? It's a project concept that was started by a blogger from New Zealand in 2003 that is meant to challenge, encourage and inspire you to set and achieve 101 personal goals and accomplish them in 1001 days.

What's so special about that? you ask. Well, this is what I think is so special about the project that made me want to do it.

One. The time frame. 1001 days is about 2 3/4 years, which gives you ample time to plan and carry out your goals and also spans over several changes in the season. This affords you the time you may need if you fail the first time on a task (hopefully not parachuting) or fall short on a task (like growing your bangs out), you can keep trying until you get it done. It also gives you the chance to accomplish a goal that is season dependent (like gardening or skiing).

Two. The number of tasks. Yes, 101 goals is a lot of goals, which I think is beneficial. Why? Because it gives you the opportunity to come up with short and long term goals, easy ones and challenging ones, and hopefully even a few that today may seem near impossible to you. As you tackle the easy ones, it will give you confidence to work on the more difficult or time consuming ones. As you tackle those goals, it'll motivate you even more to work at the next level goals. Before you know it, you'll be checking off so many of your goals that you'll be empowered and determined to reach every single one of your goals--even the ones that seem far reaching today. Well, that's what I'm hoping for, anyway. ;)

Three. 101 Things to do in 1001 encourages you to be creative with your goals and finally accomplish things that you've always wanted to do, but just never followed through with.

Several months ago, I came across a 101 Things to do in 1001 post by a young woman named Brandy with whom I crossed paths on the Tasty Kitchen Forums. I loved the idea of the project and have been working on my list on and off for a couple of months already. I am finally ready to get started! Here it goes . . .

My 101 Things to do in 1001 Days

Today is Day 1 of the next 1001 days and this is my list of 101 things I plan to accomplish in the next 1001 days.

Friday, May 7, 2010 is Day 1.

Friday, February 1, 2013 is Day 1001.

1. Lose 10 lbs.
2. Participate in a triathlon Sept. 11, 2011 Finished in 1:28:44 
3. Conquer my cycling loop through the reservation, climbing all the hills without stopping
4. Run a 5K race in 33 minutes or less. Ran a 5K Race in 30:44.60 on Feb. 27, 2011 
5. Have at least one date night with my husband every month
6. Establish a monthly family game or movie night
7. Run 500 miles
8. Bike 1000 miles
9. Learn how to play chess
10. Hike the Sierra trail in the Reservation.
11. Design spare bedroom to be a study & craft room
12. Get backyard fence put up
13. Find the perfect bra
14. Find the perfect pair of jeans
15. Make homemade vanilla extract
16. Re-establish my herb garden
17. Re-establish my vegetable garden
18. Re-establish my perennial garden
19. Plant 100 tulip and daffodil bulbs
20. Learn how to knit
21. Lose 10 more lbs.
22. Finish the kitchen cross stitch sampler I started ages ago
23. Finish the love cross stitch project I started ages ago
24. Frame the moongate print from Bermuda
25. Learn how to cross country ski
26. Learn how to play Majong
27. Design and install storage system for the master closet
28. Organize the garage {hello bike rack}
29. Get a ping pong table :)
30. Stitch a personalized sampler for youngest daughter
31. Clear out, fix up and sell father-in-law's vacant condo
32. Host a cocktail party
33. Organize our digital photos
34. Use iPhoto (instead of desktop folders)
35. Create a gallery of family photos on one wall in the house
36. Graduate from Medium to Hard on RockBand Band. :)
37. Figure out how to use Home Sharing in iTunes
38. Go camping
39. Lose 10 more lbs.
40. Read the last Harry Potter book
41. Knit a hat or scarf
42. Use the good china just because
43. Plant raspberry bushes
44. Refinish the bureau in the girls' bathroom
45. Treat myself to a spa day
46. Find the perfect little black dress
not yet... but I found a pretty hot purple one! ;)
47. Make my own yogurt
48. Organize eldest daughter's closet
49. Organize youngest daughter's closet
50. Landscape the side yard
51. Landscape the other side yard
52. Plant at least one fragrant rose bush
53. Plant peonies
54. Plant the rhubarb in a permanent spot
55. Do some craft project with all those seashells I keep collecting
56. Do some craft project with all those pinecones I keep collecting
57. Complete a mosaic project
58. Enforce a chore schedule for my daughters
59. Go to the MOMA
60. Take a trip to Acadia National Park in ME
61. Plant a fruit tree
62. Press flowers and make something artsy with them
63. Find a yoga class or video that I really love
64. Lose 10 lbs.
65. Put one of those new biodegradable SunChips bags in the compost pile and see how long it takes to decompose
66. Get sewing machine fixed
67. Sew something Powerpuff girl costumes for Halloween '10
68. Visit the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens
69. Make our family tree
70. Make lemon curd from scratch
71. Read all of the currently published In Death books by J.D. Robb
72. Make homemade gnocchi
73. Complete a block printing project
74. Make a travel scrapbook album
75. Make homemade candles
76. Grow LOTS of basil and make LOTS of pesto to last the whole winter
77. Complete a wire working project
78. Explore Central Park north of the Great Lawn
79. Make some botanical rubbings
80. Get everyone's passports updated
81. Travel somewhere off the continent Family vacation to Europe Aug. 2011
82. Install new weather proofing on front door
83. Start writing a memoir for myself
84. Buy a new slipcover for the sofa... or buy a new sofa!
85. Create 12 unique ice cream recipes {seasonal flavor of the month}
86. Tap the maple trees in the yard and make homemade maple syrup
87. Visit SoCal for a weekend
88. Grow alpine strawberry plants from seed
89. Make my own time lapse photography video
90. Lose those last 8 lbs.
91. Treat myself to a new wardrobe
92. Buy a bathing suit that I love
93. Attract hummingbirds to the yard with feeder and flowers
94. Photograph a hummingbird in the yard :)
95. File next year's tax return by March 1
96. Create my own unique header graphic for my blog
97. Buy a new canning set for processing homemade jams
98. Make several varieties of homemade jams & jellies for Christmas gifts
99. Bake homemade bread from scratch
100. Go running in Liberty State Park
101. Complete a 365 Photography Project



Goals highlighted in orange have been achieved!

Cheerleaders always welcomed. :)

What about you? :)

This and That + 2 Winners

Can you believe it's May already? The days and seasons are just flying by. I don't know where the time goes and I sure could use some more time in my days, that's for sure.

HEALTH & FITNESS
I'm going to try to be brief on this topic, because Lord knows I can go on and on and on about diet and exercise these days. Back in the beginning of April, I blogged about starting a calorie counting program to help me lose weight using the Lose It app on my iPhone. I started on April 1 and am happy to report that I've lost 8 lbs. as of May 1! All I can say is thank goodness I got some great results right away, because I was pretty miserable--hungry and cranky--for the first week or two. Don't get me wrong, it's still not easy, but it's definitely easier than those first two weeks.

April was a great month in exercise for me. I've been working out 5-6 days a week now as opposed to the 4-5 days a week previously, which has been awesome. Not just because I'm burning more calories, but my body simply craves the daily exercise now, too. When a day off comes along, I get kind of restless and my body keeps whispering, "go, go, go!" but my brain says, "wait! ice, ice, ice baby before you get hurt!" I battle myself the whole day.

My friend Maureen, who is also my running class instructor from the gym, started up a mixed level bootcamp class on Friday mornings at 5:45 am and of course, I signed up for it. Last Friday was our first class and while the drills were intense, because it was the first class, there was also some downtime for her to explain things, so it wasn't brutal. During one drill she said we would probably have muscle soreness over the weekend, and I nearly tuned her out thinking that didn't really apply to me. I workout six days a week and even cross train! Well, I've got one word to describe how I felt over the weekend: OUCH! I winced and maybe even groaned out loud every time I sat or had to go up or down the stairs. I'm thinking this class will be good for me.

I only went running four times in April, but I made the most of those runs and worked on my pace. One of my fitness goals for 2010 is to run at a 10:30 minute mile pace and this morning I ran 2 miles in 21:05-- the first mile at 10:33 and the second mile at 10:32. Totally made my day.

My husband and I also went out on our first cycling rides of the season in April. I think all the running I've been doing since last fall has improved my cardiovascular fitness level because I only needed to stop once on two of the most challenging hills of my favorite route through the wildlife reservation. Last fall, I had to stop twice on each of those hills. I'm hoping to do the entire loop without stopping at all by the end of the summer.

COOKING
I've got a handful of recipes that I want to share and will hopefully get them up soon. Most are main dish recipes, but I also want to try my hand at making Angel Food Cake and biscotti that is less than 100 calories per piece. I love biscotti.

GARDENING
I really wanted to re-establish my vegetable garden this spring as I haven't had one in three years because of the addition we did on the house, but it's nearly time to plant summer crops here in Zone 6, and I'm no where near ready. I wanted to get a fence put up in the yard first because the garden will back up to it and I haven't even called anyone in for an estimate yet. So I was thinking for this year, to maybe plant some vegetables in with the flowers that are in my side yard perennial garden. It's a small garden between the house and the driveway, but it gets enough sun and I'll see it every time I go out, so I'll probably be more likely to weed and water it anyway. I just wondered if it would be too accessible to the deer, but then decided no. The deer would have to walk up my driveway, go between my car and the house that is only maybe 6 feet wide and the only way out is the way they came in because the steps into the house are right there. Well, clearly, what do I know. Look what I spotted in that space this past Sunday:

Isn't that the cutest thing! It was so small, I wondered if it was born there early that morning or the night before. A couple of hours later it was gone and I couldn't find it anywhere in my yard. I wonder if it wandered away alone or if the mother came back for it. I kind of hope I'll see it again so I'll know it's okay, but it'll probably be back in a month or two eating my garden! I wonder if I'll think it's a sweet little thing then.


2 KIDS AND A DOG GIVEAWAY WINNERS!
Finally, I used the list randomizer at random.org to select two lucky winners of the 2 Kids and a Dog Calendar giveaway! And the winners are ....

BRANDY and DOODLEGIRL !!!

Congratulations! Please email me at krauscakes[at]verizon[dot]net with your mailing address so the lovely Alexia from 2 Kids and a Dog can get your calendar out to you in the mail. I hope you get some smiles out of their calendar like I do! Thanks for playing! :o)

WHAT ABOUT YOU?

I want to know what's going on in your world lately... do you have anything to share?

Do you have a garden? Do you container garden? What vegetables, herbs or flowers do you like to grow every year?

List Randomizer

There were 6 items in your list. Here they are in random order:

Brandy
doodlegirl
Dru
orannia
Lover of Romance
nath

Timestamp: 2010-05-03 02:30:32 UTC