Debbie didn't want a shower so we just went out to dinner I made little baby cakes as thank you's.
You buy a package of chocolate wafer's (I got them at Safeway) then you use some whipping cream and spread them between the wafer's to make the mini cakes, I did four. You refrigerate them over night so the wafers become soft like cake I put a little more whipping cream on top and added mini chocolate chips.
I have had my eye on these baby lit books for awhile and was so excited to get them for baby Louise
I had so much fun looking through them I want to buy them for myself.
Do you remember how a couple years ago Gayle Forman author of If I Stay and Where She Went did a contest for a Team Adam design to put on buttons and my design won? Well Gayle emailed me to ask me about using the Team Adam design for a new line of t-shirts she is doing for her books. Well the site is up and the t-shirts look so great and there are tote bags! Can a girl have to many tote bags? I think not.
I am so excited for Team Adam to live on! The movie for If I Stay is getting cast right now and I am actually really excited about the casting so far.
Mia is being played by Chloe Moretz she posted this picture on Instagram of her practicing the chello! Love!
Adam is being played by Jaimie Blackley who I had just noticed in the trailer for And While We Were Here
It is crazy to me how much he actually looks like Adam and he really does play the guitar and sing.
There are more pretty shirts for all of Gayle's books. Look at all the pretty!!
The Tucson Festival of Books was a month ago and I got to see my friend Elizabeth Eulberg again! We went to lunch, conveniently Cornish Pasty is just a couple miles away from Changing Hands. After lunch we headed over to Changing Hands for her signing and my dear friend Jenny came who I don't get to see enough came. Because of the Tucson book festival going on it was a small crowd for her signing but one of my favorites because first of all Elizabeth is super funny and super nice. We were able to all chat together and I made friends with some strangers.
Then down in Tucson I got to meet Gayle Forman and hang out with a couple more of my book buddies Espe & Jen! Gayle was on a panel with Elizabeth & Maggie Stiffvater after their signing I asked Gayle while she was eating an apple to take a picture, it turned into a recreating the Twilight cover.
I wore my Team Adam badge and was able to hand them out to a few girls in line by us.
In the book Just One Day someone tells Allyson to have a macaroon every day she is Paris.
I had been craving one since I read it and when I was in Tempe I stopped off at Essence Bakery and got one in pumpkin, raspberry and lime, the pumpkin was so divine!
When I arrived at the panel and Elizabeth saw me she got excited and held up a doll, why because we have bonded over Jane Austen and she knew I would appreciate a Mr. Darcy doll. A friend had given it to her and sadly it was the last one but she showed me the tag so I could find it online. I was so excited for my Darcy doll to finally come so you can image my disappointment when I opened the box and it was Dracula! But I called the company they saw it was their error and sent me a Darcy and told me to keep Dracula so now Darcy has a friend.
And a few weeks ago Cassandra Clare came for the release of Clockwork Princess. She came along with authors Maureen Johnson & Sarah Rees Brennan, it was a fun event.
But man it was a lot of books to be carrying around and they had us stack them a certain way and I some how had missed a couple books so I didn't have time to write my name on a sticky note for Maureen's book so I had to tell her my name and she heard wrong and I started laughing and she felt bad and then wrote that she has gone insane in my book, it was awesome!
Anyone who has gone to a book signing with me knows that I can get a little carried away talking about books or whatever when I meet an author. While Mimi and I were in line we talked about how we both realized that the first video Mimi really ever edited was the one we made for the contest Cassandra Clare did for an ARC for City of Glass. Which we did win one by the way! So for the first time Mimi did the talking and told Cassandra that we had made the video and how it pushed her into her now career path. Cassandra was sincerely touched and she actually grabbed Mimi's hand, it was so sweet. Blast the confounded pile of books in my arms because I could get to my phone so I could take a picture. I will sign off with the newest City of Bones trailer!
Today is the release of my cousins husband Chad Morris's debut novel Cragbridge Hall, The Invetor's Secret. But Chad & his wife Shelly don't have much time to celebrate and worry about promoting this new book because their daughter Maddie is in the hospital recovering from getting a tumor removed from her brain. Chad wrote a lovely post last week... "So, my book is coming out, but I don’t think about it much. Writing, you play second fiddle to a beautiful brave nine-year-old girl. You’ll have to wait and see what time I have for you. I have a more important dream right now."
In his post he also mentioned how Maddie thinks mustachesespecially on babies are hilarious and so family, friends and strangers have been posting pictures of themselves with mustaches on facebook & twitter to cheer up Maddie while she is recovering in the hospital.
Today I would like to do something small to try and make Maddie smile and I would like to spread the word of Chad's book. I am going to go and get it this afternoon so I can share it with my nieces and nephews.
If you feel like doing something nice today you could join the Mustaches for Maddie and post one twitter with hashtag #mustachesformaddie or send it to Shelly or Chad or spread the word about Cragbridge Hall, tell a niece or nephew get it for them for their birthday.
Normally when I read a sequel I am able to skim/skip a lot of the beginning because the author has to explain things that the reader might have forgotten about book one. So I was shocked how Laini was able to make the information fresh and new. I did not skip one word of Days of Blood & Starlight I drank every single one in. At first I was sad I could not read it faster but then when I got close to being done I wanted to cry because I didn't want it to be over. I have really come to love these characters and I can not wait for the third book!
Friday Laini's tour brought her to Changing Hands in Tempe! Debbie and I were so excited to get to see her again. We met Laini at Project Book Babe and both started following her blog and soon started talking about her like we were really friends. So as you can guess we were super excited for her signing and Melissa and her husband James came along with Mimi & her crew as well making it an extra good time.
When I was re-reading Daughter of Smoke and Bone I was inspired by one of my favorite parts of the book to make a t-shirt. I had even forgotten to show Laini, thankfully she noticed and her reaction was perfect!
I turn into such a fan girl at book signings guys, I'm always a little embarrassed after and yet I still don't change. I think in this picture I am telling Laini how I could not stop thinking about Akiva.
The guy taking pictures saw me get all comfortable and joked about how I was moving in. So part of me is embarrassed but if I was to do it all over again I would do it the same. And you know why because Laini told me how she wanted the third book to end! Have you seen the movie The Young Victoria? Oh I love it I hope you have. Well there is a scene where Albert is getting excited about his ideas for helping the working class, then apologizes. In response Victoria says "there's no need to apologize for being passionate." Which is how I feel as long as your passion isn't hurting you or those around you.
When I first read about Akiva's widow's peak it wasn't something I had really thought about. So I googled widow's peak and was surprised at how many of my boyfriends have widow's peaks. (Just to be clear not all below are my boyfriends, you know you have to be more than a pretty face.) But can you see who I traced for the model of Akiva?
(Top row Colin Farrell, Jude Law, Daniel Craig, Wentworth Miller, 2nd row Leonardo DeCaprio, Chris Hemsworth, David Beckham & Gavin Rossdale)
I love making t-shirts & bags (in case you have not noticed) my favorite way is using freezer paper I kind of explained how it works here when I made Harry Potter shirts.
It has been awhile since I have got sucked into a novel series and I have missed it. The sequel to Laini Taylor's Daughter of Smoke & Bone, Days of Blood & Starlight comes out November 6th! (Happy birthday Mimi!!!)
In preparation I have been listening to Daughter of Smoke & Bone and once I am done will read the first seven chapters of Days of Blood & Starlight online here. Did you know the author Laini Taylor is coming to Changing Hands November 9th? Have you read Daughter of Smoke of Bone yet? Well come on what are you waiting for read it and then come to the signing! My friend Melissa is listening to it in the car right now (if she can make time anyone can make time!) and we have been talking about it which is getting me even more super excited!
After hanging out with Stephanie Perkins Debbie I couldn't stop saying how super nice she was. Case in point Stephanie told us that she had been given an advanced readers copy of Palace of Stone so she could blurb it (you know when you turn a book over and there is praise by different authors). Well she gifted it to Debbie and I since she knew how much we loved Shannon's work as well.
Wednesday night Shannon Hale came to Changing Hands for the release of Palace of Stone, the sequel to Princess Academy. Since it is my birthday week my mom thought it would be fun if we made a party of it. So she my sister Debbie and sister in law Angie all came, we had dinner first and then all got to enjoy the hilarious Shannon.
After my mom & Angie left not wanting to stand in the long line. Debbie and I eventually grabbed a bench so we could sit. See us sitting while everyone else is standing.
Debbie and I were wondering if Shannon would remember us but when she got up to hug us and talked about Project Book Babe it made our night! I then told Shannon how we had met Stephanie Perkins (a aspiring author at the time) at Project Book Babe and how awesome it was to be having Shannon signing a copy of her book that Stephanie had blurbed!
My mom was right it was super fun and exactly what I would have wished to done to celebrate my birthday week!
After reading and enjoying the book Edenbrooke by Julianne Donaldson I saw the author listing her inspiration as Jane Austen and Georgette Heyer. I had tried to read one of Georgette's books before but didn't get very far but decided I should give her another chance, and I am so happy I did! Her books sometimes take awhile to get to the plot but they are so much fun once you get there. I read my first Georgette book in June and have since read six of her books so far but guess what she has written something like 50 books. I feel like a kid at Christmas the only sad thing is WHY DID I NOT READ THEM SOONER? As I have been looking on Goodreads and reading reviews it breaks my heart to hear others say they have been reading them since they were a teenager, I feel so left out. Another problem is they are not all that available in the library, but I did find that I can download their audio books from my library. AND GUESS WHAT I found out that Richard Armitage (aka Mr Thornton) narrates a couple of the audio books.
While trying to find said audio books from the library I discovered OneClickDigital I downloaded the app and now can listen to a fairly big selection of audio books. Sadly they did not have any Georgette Heyer but they did have Midnight In Austenland by Shannon Hale, some Eva Ibbotson and Sarah Dessen. Overdirve another site provided by my library also has digital and audio books!
Also I wanted to bring up The Lizzie Bennet Diaries again, I am still watching and liking them more and more. The girls no longer wear orangey make up and look how cute Mr Bing Lee is.
I want more people to watch so that way they can afford to keep making them and I can see their Darcy. You can check them out here.
I have been following Diana Peterfreund's blog for years and one of the reasons is that Diana and I have something in common, Persuasion is both our favorite Jane Austen novel. I am not sure how long ago she announced that she was writing a modern adaption to Persuasion, but it seems like I have been waiting forever for this book. It is more than just a modern retelling it is a post apocalyptic retelling of Persuasion. Retellings can be tricky they need to follow the story enough but also be their own as well and I think Diana did a fantastic job of creating very similar feelings and yet making the characters new.
I knew it was a bad idea to start reading it right before bed and I was right because suddenly it was 3 a.m. and I really did try and go to sleep but I couldn't my mind was racing and I was too awake. I finished the book with the sunrise that morning and managed to sneak a couple hours of sleep. It was totally worth it!
When I stopped at the bookstore to pick up For Darkness Shows the Stars, I also saw they had new paperbacks for Laini Taylor's Daughter of Smoke and Bone which have a sneak preview of the sequel due this fall. Days of Blood & Starlight. I sat down right there in the store and read it, my heart could almost not handle it. Counting down the days till fall!
I also saw Moonrise Kingdom and laughed a lot. Wes Anderson's attention to detail is so amazing, I now have a new movie house I want to live in. I also wish I could read all of Suzy's books here is a little glimpse of the lovely books.
Let's not forget that I have seen Snow White and the Huntsman twice and would gladly see it a third and fourth.
I noticed Chris Hemsworth in Star Trek and who didn't notice him in Thor? But having a crush on him just seemed too excessive (click on the link for Thor to understand). But after seeing him in Snow White with his brown hair (not a fan of blonde hair) and Scottish accent, I would now like to welcome him to my collection of fictional boyfriends. I would also like to mention that the studio is committed to writing a script for a second Snow White, if they can do it right I hope they will make it I loved the world.
Last night a couple of my friends rented out a couple theaters to do an advanced screening of The Hunger Games, meaning we got to see it at eight rather than midnight! I hate spoilers so I am simply going to say that the movie swept me up and took me to places that had previously only existed in my mind and I left happy.
I chose not to re-read the books (again) because I was afraid with it fresh in my memory I would be annoyed more at the details they could not fit into the movie. After the movie was over and I was home in bed I kept thinking about Katniss and her journey and my own Hunger Games memories.
I read The Hunger Games September 25, 2008 (at least that is when I added it to my Goodreads) I looked up to see when The Hunger Games came out September 14th so a week and a half before I read it. All I knew about The Hunger Games was it was getting buzz from authors and it was highly addicting. When I was reading it for the first time my sister Debbie along with her husband Russ, son William and baby daughter Gracie were living with me in my two bedroom condo while Russ was doing his rotations. William and I were sharing a room and I remember reading late into the night and finally having to put the book down to get some sleep. When I got home I went straight to my room to read and when the book ended and I saw book one. I wanted to throw the book across the room knowing that the book had just come out and I would have to wait a year for the next one. And although I did not throw the book across the room I did hit the book a few times on the bed.
Thankfully one of my friends named Jen got an ARC for Catching Fire and she let me borrow it. I don't remember why but that weekend Debbie her family and I were staying at my moms. I brought The Hunger Games along with Catching Fire in case Debbie would finally read The Hunger Games. I was right when Debbie saw she had the chance to read Catching Fire as well she grabbed The Hunger Games and we went into the spare bedroom and read side by side. I still remember having to put the book down and pacing down the hall because I scared to know what happened but had to know what happened.
Mockingjay came out August 24th the day before my birthday so I took my birthday off and spent the day reading and eating. One of my favorite pictures is of me laying on Debbie's floor while I was reading Gracie came and laid on me while she watched Peter Pan.
Melissa and I as usual decided to make arrow shirts last minuet. You can kind of see them in the picture Espe took of us before the movie.
I love how things like books or movies or songs can bring you back in time and next year when I am watching Catching Fire I am sure I will think back to last night on my trip down memory lane.
You may remember me talking about the book Austenland by Shannon Hale here, even here, maybe here, and yes here. But did you know that there is a sequel called Midnight in Austenland coming out January 31st? Obviously being such a fan of the first I have been dying to read the sequel. Well Shannon decided to have a contest on twitter and the winner would receive an advance readers copy (ARC) of Midnight in Austenland.
When pondering what I should add to the famous opening line of Pride & Prejudice "IT is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife." I thought of a conversation I had with my friend Melissa while waiting in line to get our books signed by James Dashner. I belive we were talking about Inception & Tom Hardy when I said something about how a British accent can take a marginally good looking guy and make him hot. It seemed like a perfect "Connie" truth to proclaim as universal.
Maybe Shannon thought so too or maybe she just picked me because I bugged her about never announcing a winner for the contest.
Look what I got in the mail yesterday!
*note this is my third copy (2nd signed) copy of Austenland I have a paperback copy to loan & that I can mark up.
At work we are getting a new server and there is little work that can be done with out my computer so I got to go home and read while my new computer was getting hooked up. I had to stop by my library to pick some things up and decided to read outside since it was a beautiful day here. I strolled through the Riparian Preserve that is around my library. And found the perfect spot to sit and read an Austen inspired novel.
While reading I laughed out loud more times than I can count, which is why I decided to retreat and finish reading in the privacy of my own home. I loved the Gothic appeal and twist to it, I would highly recommend reading or at least watching Northanger Abbey before reading. While reading I realized that I had a grin permanently on my face except for the suspenseful parts, well sometimes even during those! It was a great read I am so happy I was able to go back to Pembrook Park!
