Book Review: Deadlocked by Charlaine Harris

Today, it started raining.  We had a pretty good storm and in Tucson, that's a blessing!  I took advantage of the weather and sat down to finish my book, Deadlocked.  It's the 12th novel in the Sookie Stackhouse series, which the True Blood show on HBO is based on.  Now, if you haven't followed either, or just one of the series...they are VERY different.  There are lots of things in the show that are different from the book and it can be hard to remember which realities go with which series.  You have to be willing to let them be their own concepts.  But I do love them both. 

Deadlocked is really good.  There were a few slow parts, but the last few pages blew. my. mind.  My mouth was literally hanging open.  I won't give anything away, but I really enjoyed this latest edition of the series.  And I'm always happy to feed into my Eric Northman obsession admiration.

Making Some Changes

I've been unhappy with my weight for.....about 10 years now.  The last time I remember really being happy with the way I looked was my wedding day.  Realistically, I'll never be there again.  Let's get real, I've had two kids.  My body has changed.  I'm in a place right now where I'm not completely unhappy.  Yes, I have a belly that I'd like to get rid of please.  However, I am strong.  I've been working out a lot and feeling good it.  I'm rocking some pretty good leg and arm muscles.  And, my husband is happy.  That's most definitely important.  The number on the scale, however....not moving.  I'm hovering around the same number week after week.  The working out part, I got that.  I'm working out for an hour and a half about four to five times a week.  I'm good.  My issue is my diet.  Oh - my diet.  I love food.  LoveLoveLoveLoveLove food.  Love bad food.  Fast food?  Yes please!  I know it's disgusting.  I've seen Super Size Me and Fast Food Nation.  What did those do?  Make me want a Big Mac.  I'm not even kidding.  So the diet is where I need to focus.  My husband challenged me to take one month and just eat as healthy as I can.  I'm skeptical because if I make a ton of changes at once, I'm afraid I'll freak out and find myself in the McDonald's drive thru for said Big Mac.  So instead of eating nothing but chicken and broccoli for a month, I'm going to make some small changes that should help me at least kick some bad habits.

First up: FAST FOOD.  No fast food from today through the end of August.  Absolutely none!  This should make a difference because I hit a drive thru at least once a week.  Sometimes twice or three times.  So that is change number one.  NO FAST FOOD FOR A MONTH!  Let's do this!

 This is going to be hard...

Nailed It!

Have you seen these posts on Pinterest?

 Ah - I love it!  I'm starting a series of posts about the Pinterest projects I do, recipes I make (hopefully with better results than that!), and scrapbook pages that I make based on Pinterest inspiration.  I'm calling the series "Nailed It!"  And this is the first one.

My friend and scrapper extraordinaire, Shanna Noel, just started a new blog and challenged her readers to complete a Pinterest inspired project.  Unfortunately, my schedule didn't allow for me to get too creative, but I did make a recipe.  For book club this week, we all brought Italian inspired dishes.  I had this recipe for caprese skewers pinned and really wanted to make it.  I just so happen to be basil-plant-sitting for a friend who's out of tow for a couple of weeks and she said I could help myself.  So I did.  Simplest ingredients: grape tomatoes, fresh mozzarella (cubed), fresh basil leaves (chopped) olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Instead of doing the skewers, I dumped it all in a bowl and made a salad.  I took along the oil and balsamic so it didn't get too greasy on the drive over. I also added fresh Parmesan shavings, which I tend to pop in my mouth and snack on.  Dangerous.  It was very fresh and good and everyone enjoyed it.  Nailed it!

One Year....REALLY?

One year ago today...

 ...this little angel came into our lives.  We became parents to TWO girls.  Two princesses.  Two divas.  Call it what you will.  We call it joy.  Our little Layla is such an amazing little girl.  She's so smart and curious.  She's an early walker - at 10 months.  She has the best smile and laugh.  She will walk towards me with a huge smile on her face and it melts my heart to the core.  She loves her sister and she loves her Legos.  She's a little peanut, just like her sister.  One year later, I can't believe it's been a year already.  Where does the time go?  I love you my Sweet Little Angel.

Happy First Birthday Layla!

Book Review: "Dinner: A Love Story"

 

 

*image downloaded

 I picked up Dinner: A Love Story by Jenny Rosenstrach after seeing it featured on Ali Edwards' blog a while ago.  I checked out amazon and saw this video.  This video sold me.  I loved her philosophy and it really sounded like something I wanted to get behind.  Plus, my dinners were getting a little....boring.  You can only eat spaghetti, Lean Cuisines and baked chicken so much.  I loved her idea of keeping a Dinner Diary.  I keep something kind of similar, although it's a dry-erase that I redo each week to keep track of what we plan to eat for dinner.

 

 

 

*image downloaded - courtesy of Jenny Rosenstrach

The book is part memoir, part cookbook.  She's a great writer and I may or may not have developed a little crush on her husband - he's hilarious!  I didn't necessarily agree with all of her strategies (I don't want to eat dinner at 9pm after the kids have gone to bed), but for the most part, she inspired me.  We normally eat dinner at the table as a family.  She's inspired me to change up my normal meals and to try new things.  Her recipes are not complex.  Even the "harder" recipes are something that I can definitely do.  She got me wanting to make Chicken Pot Pie with Sweet Potatoes.  I don't normally even like Chicken Pot Pie.  But I'm going to try it!  While I was reading, I kept a bookmark of a lined piece of paper which I wrote down recipes as I read them and knew I wanted to try.  The list got pretty long!  She's really gotten me excited to cook again. 

I've tried two recipes so far and they were super easy and really delicious!  This book now lives in my kitchen, on my cookbook stand where I see it everyday.  It's a friendly reminder to cook really good food for the people I love.  I'm sure I'll revisit it and read it all the way through if I feel like I'm getting in a dinner rut again.  I highly, highly recommend this book!

*Now I just need a Dutch oven, which I've been wanting for a while anyway.  This just gives me another excuse to buy one!

Brain Dump

For the past few weeks I've been re-evaluating what I wanted this blog to be.  When I looked through my past posts, it's mostly about scrapbooking.  Which is fine.  Scrapbooking is a big part of my life.  But that's not all I want it to be about.  Then I noticed that it started turning into "Sarah's Project Life Blog" and that's definitely not what I want it to be about.  I read my header on top and realized that what I wrote there, is what I want this blog to be about:  I am a scrapbooking, reading, creating, eating, couponing, mothering, wifing woman who wants to share it all!  That's me.  That's what I want this blog to be about.  Things that are important to me.  Things that I enjoy.  Things that helped me that can hopefully help others as well.  And of course, some scrapbooking.  

I sat down and started making a list of topics I want to start including on a regular basis.  I thought about what I want to share and what I enjoy reading on other blogs as well.  It goes a little something like this:


- recipes
- book reviews
- pinterest projects (fun ideas with this one)
- scrapbooking projects
- currently posts (like this one)
- new blogs I discover or that my friends start


I have a few more brewing, but I'm still tweaking a little.  I want this space to be interesting and exciting and I felt like it was straying from that.  I'm excited to share more of myself, my life and things I truly enjoy and can't wait to share with others.  


I'll be back tomorrow with a book review that I CAN'T WAIT to share!

Last Call

Last call for Merrick!  Please email your mailing info at Sarahbr18@aol.com!  I have another person interested in the number stamp, so if I don't hear from you by the end of today (Sunday), I'm going to send it to her!

I'm spending today getting some thoughts together about my blog.  I have some ideas and I'm brainstorming on which direction I want the blog to go and what I really want to write about.  Thank you so much for your support as I go through this transition.  Planning a "Brain Dump" post tomorrow about my thoughts.  Hope everyone has a nice, relaxing Sunday!

Happy Mail

These are heading to the post office today!  I hope you all enjoy them and thank you for checking out my giveaway.  I hope they bring you all joy!

*Merrick!  Please email me with your info so I can get your stamp out to you!

I still have four items left from Studio Calico kits (see below).  I'll keep them up through the weekend, then they'll go into my other giveaway bag.

Studio Calico Giveaways!

I've been a little...blah...lately.  One thing that always makes me feel better is purging.  Going through and organizing something definitely helps me feel lighter and less chaotic.  I decided to do that with some of my Studio Calico kits.

I. Love. My. Studio Calico. Kits.  That being said, I had acquired a couple of duplicates and just had some bits that I don't plan on using a second time.  I decided to sift through them today and pulled out some stamps and a few embellishments that I won't use again.

Here's where you can benefit from this: All of these things are being given away!  Yep - just giving them away.  Helping someone else build up their stash for free.  Random act of kindness, all that good stuff.  If you would like any of these items, please leave me a comment and I will answer you quickly.  As things are claimed and I receive your info, I will take down pictures so it won't confuse anyone.  FIRST COME, FIRST SERVE! 

Basic Grey chipboard from County Fair - 4 pieces missing

Studio Calico Scraps from Brooklyn Flea - not used

Basic Grey buttons from County Fair

Again, this is FIRST COME, FIRST SERVE, so if you really want something, speak up!  Good luck!

Currently...

- Trying to organize my thoughts.
- Rethinking what I want to do with my blog.
- Purging a few scrap items...giveaway soon?
- Getting so inspired by CHA releases and projects up on Studio Calico.
- Working on staying patient with my children.
- Enjoying my husband being home.
- Cooking some yummy dinners!
- Wondering why my weight isn't dropping (completely unrelated, I'm sure).
- Denying the fact that my youngest is about to turn one in a week!
- Submitting tons of my work and hoping to get published sometime soon.
- Dropping my oldest off at preschool twice a week for 3 hours - hello work time!!
- Watching So You Think You Can Dance and totally loving Cyrus.