Thursday Thirteen #13 - Mystery Series

I have so many books I'll never get around to them! Here are a few of the mystery series that I would really like to start, but haven't gotten around to yet!

1. The Bubbles Yablonsky Series by Sarah Strohmeyer - She may be a hairdresser with the body of a Barbie doll and a fatal weakness for hot pants, but Bubbles Yablonsky is not just another dumb blonde. She's determined to turn her taste for gossip into a talent for journalism, and she knows a secret about the death of Laura Buchman that could be her Big Break. Plus, she gets to work with photographer Steve Stiletto - a dead ringer for Mel Gibson, and exactly the kind of mysterious, dangerous man her mother warned her against. But Bubbles soon discovers that while brazen bravado gets results, some people will do anything to keep her quiet...

2. The Archaeological Mystery Series by Lyn Hamilton - The murder of a renowned expert in Mayan history lures Lara into the jungles surrounding Merida, Mexico. For in this lush paradise are the temples of the Mayan gods--and the camps of modern-day rebels fighting to save their Mayan heritage. As the body count escalates, Lara must uncover the secrets of the Mayan underworld known as Xibalba--and the journey into the very heart of darkness.


3. The Joe Grey Series by Shirley Rousseau Murphy - "It's me, your cat. I had to split. I witnessed a crime and someone is following me. Trust me. When I get this sorted out, I'll be home. I am still your cat, and I guess I miss you .." Joe Grey jumped down to the floor without hanging up the phone. He was trapped in an unfolding nightmare. First he found he could understand human speech (who would have guessed they had so little to say?). Then he found he could talk (useful for scaring dogs) and even read. He got worried when he found himself feeling human emotions like guilt and sympathy. He even caught himself planning his day! All that, Joe Grey could have handled. If only he hadn't found himself in the alley behind Jolly's Deli the night Beckwhite was murdered...

4. The Mrs. Murphy Series by Rita Mae Brown - Crediting her cat Sneaky Pie as coauthor, Brown ( Rubyfruit Jungle ) sets the thoroughly likable heroine of this mystery, Mary Minor Haristeen, in an admirable position to figure out who is murdering, in ghastly fashion, various pillars of her community. Harry, with constant companions Mrs. Murphy, a cat, and Welsh corgi Tucker, is postmistress of Crozet, Va. Postcards are sent to a wealthy contractor shortly before parts of his body are found in a cement mixer and then to a storeowner whose corpse, tied to a railroad track, is cut in three parts by the express. The cards alert Harry and friends to a plot that will take more lives before they discover the treasure that inspires the violence. Brown's lively characterization brings merchants and first-family Virginians alive with affection and verve. Even the snippets of conversation contributed by Crozet's four-legged inhabitants are credible rather than cloying. Harry's in-process divorce of the town vet gives Brown opportunity to wax wise on issues of human relationships, feminism and the pitfalls of greed. A charming adventure, with teeth.

5. The Mrs. Jeffries Series by Emily Brightwell - While Inspector Witherspoon receives accolades for his Scotland Yard successes, his housekeeper, Mrs. Jeffries, does the lion's share of the detective work.







6. The Psychic Eye Mysteries by Victoria Laurie - Abby Cooper is a P.I., psychic intuitive. But her insight failed her when she didn't foresee the death of one of her clients-or that the lead investigator for the case is the gorgeous blind date she just met. Now, with the police suspicious of her abilities and a killer on the loose, Abby's future looks more uncertain than ever.




7. The Ghost Hunter Mysteries by Victoria Laurie - M.J., her partner Gilley, and their client, the wealthy, de-lish Dr. Steven Sable, are at his family's lodge, where his grandfather allegedly jumped to his death from the roof-although Sable says it was foul play. But the patriarch's isn't the only ghost around. The place is lousy with souls, all with something to get off their ghoulish chests. Now M.J. will have to to quell the clamor-and listen for a voice with the answers...


8. The Pepper Martin Mystery Series by Casey Daniels - She sees dead people. Beautiful, smart, and chic, Pepper Martin never had to work a day in her life -- until her surgeon daddy was convicted of fraud, her wealthy fiancé took a powder, and the family fortune ran bone dry. Suddenly desperate, the inexperienced ex-rich girl was forced to take the only job she could get: as a tour guide in a cemetery. But a grave situation took a turn for the worse when a head-on collision with a headstone left her with an unwanted ability to communicate with the disgruntled deceased . . . and now Pepper has a whacked Mafia don demanding that she hunt down his killers -- and threatening to haunt her until she does.

9. The Medieval West Country Series by Michael Jecks - When a spate of burnings occur in a quiet Devon village, Bailiff Simon Puttock is grateful for the help of the astute yet strangely reticent Sir Baldwin, who has recently come to live nearby. Are the deaths linked, and will the murderer strike again?





10. The Amerotke Series by Paul Doherty (wow he's written a lot more than I realized and they ALL look good! *drool*)- When Pharaoh Tuthmosis II falls dead before the sun god, Amun-Ra, his widow and the Chief Judge must find a killer covering his tracks with the hot desert sands of ancient Egypt.





11. The Sir Charles Sheridan Series by Robin Paige - Kate Adrleigh is everything the Victorian English gentlewoman is not--outspoken, free-thinking, American...and a writer of the frowned upon "penny-dreadfuls." Soon after her arrival in Essex, England, a body is unearthed in a nearby archeological dig--and Kate has the chance to not only research her latest story...but to begin her first case with amateur detective Sir Charles Sheridan.



12. The Chintz 'n China Series by Yasmine Galenorn - Emerald O'Brien is the owner of the Chintz 'n China Tea Room where guests are served the perfect blend of tea and tarot reading. She never set out to be a detective, but once word gets out that she can communicate with the dead, there's no turning back... When the ghost of Susan Mitchell asks for Emerald's help in convicting her own murderer, Emerald can't refuse. Along with her friends-an ex-supermodel and a cop-and her new love interest, Emerald must search for clues to put the killer behind bars-and this tortured soul to rest.

13. The Bewitching Mystery Series by Madelyn Alt - Antiques-shop clerk Maggie O'Neill was a little weirded out when she discovered her new boss Felicity was a witch. But when Felicity becomes the suspect in a local murder, Maggie must enlist Felicity's wiccan friends for help--and discover her own spellbinding talent.



I actually have a lot more than 13 series that I haven't gotten to yet, but I figured I'd stop here and save those for a future post! So many books, so little time! If you've already read some of these, let me know what you thought, or give me some more suggestions if they're in a similar vein! I might have heard of it, or I might not have. I'm pretty sure that I'll like them all, they sound right up my alley, paranormal, cats, history, archaeology, humor, I just need more reading time! If only I could figure out how to get paid to read whatever I wanted! But then I'd probably feel pressured and wouldn't enjoy it as much! ;)

Happy Thursday Thirteen!

Sources:
http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/
http://www.amazon.com/

Word Clouds

I love word clouds, I think they're a lot of fun! While looking at Ilona Andrews Website (see previous post) I discovered this site where you can make your own: Wordle

This one I did using the titles of what I've read in 2008 so far.



I did have to play with the spacing in the code to get it to appear correctly here, just a warning, but I just took out the unnecessary spaces in the code.

Have fun, and if you make one, post me a link in the comments here so I can come see!

Book: Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews

Kate is a Merc of the Guild, who gets called in to help clean up magical messes in a future time where magic and technology are both unreliable at best, switching back and forth between which is in effect from moment to moment. In this first of the series she is caught between the People (vampires) and the Pack (shapechangers) while investigating the violent murder of her guardian, the Knight-Diviner of the Order.

Andrews representation of vampires was a different take, making them more expendable creatures controlled by the People, vs. being central characters that are able to think and act for themselves. The shapechangers are of many different breeds, all united under one Lord of the Beasts.

The story is full of magic, and what you have to do to compensate when the magic suddenly fizzles. This is a common occurrence as waves magic roll through, disrupting all things technological, cars, lights, everything, only to inconveniently disappear and let technology take back over. Kate and crew are often forced to resort to means that have to work in either situation.

Kate herself is a mystery, constantly referring to an elusive heritage that never gets explained. I hope that there is more on this in the future (I already have book two, Magic Burns here to read), and maybe also more on the Order, as we only saw a few characters from them this time.

I definitely recommend this one to anyone who is into the urban fantasy style that has become so popular lately.

Check out Ilona Land the website of Gordon and Ilona Andrews!

Geocaching - yes, again!

We managed 7 caches today, all of them very fast and easy, until we got to the last one, note to self: Geocaching in a dog park makes people look at you funny if you do not have a dog along! This one was another bit of a wilderness adventure, though not so crazy as the last one, once again we seemed to go the hard and long way around, only to find the cache neatly hidden in the pocket of a tree very near the trail! Probably doing this one at the end of a rainy day wasn't the smartest idea either! LOL!

Our area seems to have some very active geocachers, which is very cool! They are soon having their 8th annual picnic, which we're going to try and attend with jezebelsk and hubby next month. It should be fun to meet some of these people that we've only seen as log entries on other caches. Several of them have logged thousands of found caches!!! Yes, plural thousands! Wow! We're only at 21 after today, we have a ways to go before we're "contenders" I think! ;)

Movie: The Game Plan

Dwayne Johnson (The Rock) plays star NFL quarterback Joe Kingman, who seems to have it all, wealth, women and fame. In the beginning he's very self centered, and indulged by everyone around him. EVERYTHING in his life centers around himself, until Peyton appears on his doorstep, and then EVERYTHING suddenly changes. Joe begins to realize how empty his life really was, and Peyton comes to mean everything to him, even as she's turning his life upside down. This is a heartwarming movie, very funny and sweet. I love Dwayne Johnson, and am so glad that he's turned to acting after wrestling, as I never would have seen him otherwise. He is a great comedic talent in my opinion, but can also pull at your heart as you'll see in this movie. Madison Pettis (Peyton) would have stolen the show completely with any other actor I think, but together the two are a great pair and made this cute movie great!

Movie: Nanny McPhee

I love Emma Thompson, but have to admit her initial appearance in this movie is pretty off putting! But that's part of the magic of this story. Nanny McPhee appears on the scene when Mr. Brown has run out of nannies to watch after his brood of children, and they are awful children! Nanny McPhee soon brings order to the household through a bit of magic and where the children at first dislike her as much as any other nanny they've had, they come to love her very much. She strikes me as a little bit darker of a cross between Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle and Mary Poppins, but these children definitely need a firmer hand than those of the other stories! Cute movie, I recommend it!

I really like this script sequence from it:

Nanny McPhee: There is something you should understand about the way I work. When you need me but do not want me, then I must stay. When you want me but no longer need me, then I have to go. It's rather sad, really, but there it is.
[Nanny McPhee turns around to walk out of the room, but stops once she hears Simon]
Simon Brown: We will never want you!
Nanny McPhee: Then I will never go.

Winnings and More Giveaways!

I’ve had a streak of luck lately and won some book giveaways, whee!

From Walking on Sunshine I won The Witches of Chiswick by Robert Rankin. Right now she’s running a contest for a Wendy’s Hamburgers Giftcard, check it out!

Then from Amberkatze’s Book Blog I won Weddings from Hell, where one of the authors, Terri Garey also generously sent to me some signed bookmarks, promo cover of her newest book A Match Made in Hell, and a fun pin “What’s up Ghoulfriend?” (love it! Hee!) Right now Amberkatze has a contest running for The Accidental Werewolf or Accidentally Dead, see the right hand margin of her blog for links to the contests.

And last but not least, I won Blood Noir by Laurell K Hamilton from SQT at the Fantasy and Sci-Fi Loving Book Reviews Blog!

The giveaway love seems boundless, and is a lot of fun, to give and receive!

Please also check out Terra57’s Christmas in July Contest! I’m sure going too, and see if my luck holds!

Plus I will be announcing my own next giveaway Mid-July, so check back to see what I’ve decided on!

Another Weekend of Geocaching

It was a full three day weekend! The husband and I found 3 out of 4 caches on Friday the 4th, then 1 out of 3 on the 5th, and he found 2 out of 2 on the 6th!

We were feeling pretty confident on the 4th, after finding 3 out of 4, one of them a difficult one to spot, I didn’t know they made magnetic containers that small! None of the ones we tried for that day were too difficult, easy terrain, right where they were supposed to be (the one we didn’t find was probably still there and we just didn’t see it, so we’ll have to go try again!), and we even picked up a geocoin to help on it’s journey to another state, since we already had the bunny to place as well. We had a couple nice walks through a couple parks, one I’d never been to, and one I hadn’t been to in a long time.

Then the 5th rolls around, and I picked out some more caches that sounded pretty doable, given our newbie status. We’d been to the first park before, and were a bit familiar with it’s trails… or so we thought… Let’s just say that the placement of the cache itself was great, and as advertised as good for beginners on the terrain and difficulty level. However… I think we took the coordinates a little too literally, and so we were stumbling through the woods, completely off the beaten path, misdirected a few times where we saw a small snake napping on the side of this creek where the cache wasn’t!



Lesson learned LOL! We did find it, after deciding to give up and sit for a second on the BIG OBVIOUS ROCK, where lo and behold, was the cache nicely hidden by some bark on the back side, not anywhere in the waist high foliage we’d been wading through up to that point. The next two we had no luck on, even though we think we were right in the area where they should be. But it again got us out to a couple parks, one I hadn’t ever stopped at before though I’d driven past many times, and another one I hadn’t been to in years.

The 6th was more successful, though no less difficult from the sounds of it! I sat this one out, staying at home to catch up on some housework (and computer games heehee) while the husband went and picked up his son to bring him back for a summer visit. He took the two travel bugs with him for placement



and had success! The first cache was near the originator’s home, so the boys got to meet and chat with him, and the second cache sounded like a very similar experience to our wilderness adventure of the day before. Only this time the grass and weeds were about chest high on son’s 6’ 5” tallness! Eep! Gee, sorry I missed out on that one! NOT! *giggle*

We’re still very enthused despite some DNF’s (Did not find’s), and ready to start thinking about sending out some travel bugs of our own to see how they do, just have to find something good! We got some hints from a more experienced geocacher, so we’ll have to give those elusive ones another try in the future!

Atlantis Rising - Winner Announced!

And the winner of my copy of Atlantis Rising is.... *drum roll*


Jezebelsk!


Congratulations!


I'll post my next giveaway sometime mid-July, so check back!

Thursday Thirteen #12 - Geocaching

The husband and I tried this out for the first time with jezebelsk and her husband this past weekend, so I thought I’d do a 13 about it!

1. Geo-caching - an outdoor treasure-hunting game in which the participants use a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver or other navigational techniques to hide and seek containers (called "geocaches" or "caches") anywhere in the world.

2. geocaching was imagined shortly after the removal of Selective Availability from GPS on May 1, 2000 because the improved accuracy of the system allowed for a small container to be specifically placed and located.

3. The first documented placement of a GPS-located cache took place on May 3, 2000, by Dave Ulmer of Beavercreek, Oregon.

4. Geocache container sizes range from film canisters often called "microcaches," too small to hold anything more than a tiny paper log, to five-gallon buckets or even larger containers.

5. A typical cache is a small waterproof container containing a logbook and "treasure," usually toys or trinkets of little value. Today, well over 800,000 geocaches are registered on various websites devoted to the pastime. Geocaches are currently placed in over 100 countries around the world and on all seven continents, including Antarctica.

6. Geocaches vary in size, difficulty, and location. Simple caches are often called "drive-bys," "park 'n' grabs" ("PNGs"), or "cache and dash." Geocaches may also be complex, involving lengthy searches or significant travel. One style called a Multi-cache takes the searcher to several different places (I think one such ended Jezebelsk’s husband ankle deep in water in a cave! But he found it!)

7. Travel Bugs and Geocoins are items that are placed in caches and are themselves trackable. They may have been given a mission by their orginators. They have their own tracking number and are moved from cache to cache. While many things can be traded out and kept, travel bugs and geocoins are specifically to keep traveling and should not be kept.

8. Here is a travel bug that jezebelsk and hubby placed on our outing last weekend: Mosquito Trap, it’s already been found and is on it’s way!

9. We took this travel bug that we found in another cache: Billy Bunny to help him on his mission of visiting every state. Husband will place him this coming weekend hopefully on an out of state trip! Bye bye Billy!

10. Some caches are called Travel Bug Hotels and are specifically for travel bugs only in an attempt to get them on their way! We found this cute travel bug on our first solo excursion after buying our GPS on Sunday: Meg’s Mud Bug Twins

11. If a geocache has been vandalized or stolen, it is said to have been "muggled" or "plundered." The former term plays off the fact that those not familiar with geocaching are called "geo-muggles" or just muggles, a term popularised by the Harry Potter series of books.

12. There have been 131 caches placed inside a 5-mile radius of my house!

13. check out Geocaching.com for more information

We visited 6 caches on our first outing, ranging from a park, to a parking lot, to a cemetary. Caches seem to be everywhere! Check out this post from jezebelsk to see some nice photos she took on our outing.

sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geocaching
http://www.geocaching.com

Thanks for stopping by! I ran out of time to visit last week, so I will be visiting those people first this time and you may get two comments from me! ;)

Thursday Thirteen #11 - Hallmarks of Felinity

My husband turned me on to this fun comic called 9 Chickweed Lane by Brooke McEldowney. The reason I like this comic is not the story line, because I don’t keep up on it, although it is fun. The reason I love this comic is the cat, Solange. Every so often Brooke does a strip name Hallmarks of Felinity, in which Solange features, sometimes solely, sometimes with the other characters as “props” so to speak, but basically each of these strips is something that most cat owners/lovers can relate to about our furry friends. Husband will often send these to me at work (he does keep up on the comic, so while he’s waiting on test scripts to run, he’s reading web comics, hmmm…) when he comes across them. I’ve gathered together 13 here, though there are MANY more! He’s even come up with a book of them, and that’s far from all of them as well, I hope he does another book! Someone has collected many of them HERE for our easier viewing pleasure, though I think it’s pretty outdated, still, there are nearly 200 of them there, and that’s plenty! ;)

So here we go, Solange, in Hallmarks of Felinity! I started at the beginning and just skipped around to the first 13 that made me snicker out loud. Just click on the thumbnail to be taken to the larger version.

1.
No. 38 Instantaneous Alarm Responses

2.
No. 20 Armament Display

3.
No. 14 Blinding Clarity

4.
No. 63 Tipping a Cat Out of a Chair

5.
No. 11 Changeable Agenda

6.
No. 65 Concerto for Cat

7.
No. 71 Inability to Make Up One's Mind

8.
No. 79 The Ability to be on the Planet...

9.
No. 28 Poltergeist Radar

10.
No. 84 Signing

11.
No. 25 Grandiosity of Spirit

12.
No. 51 Tail Talk

13.
No. 34 Thought Processes

I can relate to almost every one of these situations between my three cats! Hope you enjoy, and thanks for stopping by!

Movie: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

We finally got around to seeing Indiana Jones 4 this weekend! The storyline was pretty weak with the alien angle but all in all, it was still a fun movie! The effects and stunts were great as always, and of course I loved all the archaeological sets and props (studied the Nazca lines in school, probably won't ever see them for real though, so that was neat). I'm glad Marion was back as well, and I was happy about the ending. So, does anyone see Shia carrying on the series as a Young Indiana Jones? I'm not sure I do, he's cute, and has been very visible lately, but I just don't see the charisma. You know I'll be there if they make one though, I love the whole Indiana Jones/Archaeology theme! I've been thinking about reading the books even. ;)

Hopefully I haven't said too much if you want to go see it but haven't yet. If you're an Indie fan you'll find it fun, even with the storyline. If you're needing realism in your archaeology/storyline, well... yeah... you might not get that! ;) But it was still a lot of fun, and I enjoyed it! I'm glad they made another one!

Book Giveaway: Atlantis Rising by Alyssa Day

Conlan, the high prince of Atlantis, has just escaped from seven years of torture at the hands of Anubisa, Goddess of Death, only to discover that the Trident of Poseidon, the most sacred symbol of power in Atlantis has been stolen. Conlan, along with Alaric, the high priest of Poseidon and his close friend, and the Seven, proud warriors sworn to protect the high prince and led by Conlan's brother Ven, go on a mission to retrieve the trident.

Riley is a social worker who often escapes to the beach to be near the ocean, finding it soothing to her soul, and that's where she is when Conlan and his band surface in their quest for the trident. Immediately the two are drawn to each other, into each other's thoughts and hearts, like nothing Riley or Conlan has ever experienced before. She is Aknasha, and her like has not been seen for thousands of years. Her very presence in his life will change everything.

This is a very busy book! In addition to hunky Atlantean warriors, we have vampires and shapeshifters, a biblical figure and yes, even Poseidon himself lets his presence be known! While I wasn't really drawn to Conlan himself, I did find myself interested in reading the later books which I hope will feature each of the Seven, and possibly Alaric. They each have some personality characteristics that would make their episodes interesting I think. I'm especially interested in Brennan, Justice and Alaric. Denal, the youngest of the group, was a sweetie too. It looks like book 3, Atlantis Unleashed is about Justice, and the short story Wild Hearts in Atlantis from the Anthology Wild Thing includes Bastien's story, another of the Seven. So hopefully we'll see the others somewhere down the line! Lots of Alpha Maleness going on here, lol!

Check out Alyssa's website for more information!

And now for the giveaway! I'm putting my copy up for grabs! As with all my other giveaways, this is a used copy (though it's in pretty fine shape, I didn't drool too much heehee j/k!) with a Bookcrossing label in it. You do not have to be a Bookcrosser to enter, all I ask is that you do register a journal entry on the Bookcrossing site when you receive this book to let me know it has arrived. You can do this anonymously if you decide that Bookcrossing is not for you and don't wish to sign up as a member, there is NO obligation! Check out the Bookcrossing Website for more and better information on what it is!

To enter, just comment on this post, and tell me what your favorite paranormal creature is to read about and if you have a favorite character (if you do, tell me where they're from, author, series, etc.). I will randomly select the winner on July 5th

Be sure you leave me a way to contact you!

A Profusion of Petunias

Last year I had volunteer bunnies growing in my flower pots, this year I have volunteer petunias. I didn't plant these, they happened on their own, apparently the hardier progeny of the petunias I had and let die last year because I didn't water them enough, now they're back with a vengeance. The single white one appeared today. I did have white ones last year, along with the two darker colors, but not the red, and not the lighter pink in the front with the white one, so something must have mutated from last year! lol! Every day the petunia explosion gets a little bigger and more strung out, I think they have delusions of conquering the front porch, but at this rate, they just might do it!



This is a picture of the bunnies I grew last year. And Momma bunny at least thought she might try it again it worked so well, we had two flower pots dug out in the spring, but alas, nothing was ever sewn there, and all we have are out of control petunias!

Thursday Thirteen #10 - Eating Out!

I love food, anyone that's seen me knows that I didn't get this way by my healthy lifestyle (beware, the sarcasm is deep in here!). As I was picking up my lunch today (see #7!) and wondering what to do my TT on, I decided it might be fun to tell what my favorite restaurants are, and what I like to order (I seem to get fixated on one thing, and always order that), and to find out what your favorites are! These are in no particular order.

1. Starbucks - I've been totally addicted to Starbucks lately. I love coffee flavored things, ice cream, frosting, etc. but have never really enjoyed coffee itself (it smells good, but it never tastes like it smells) until I got turned on to Starbucks. Now a White Chocolate Caramel Mocha with soy and whip cream just makes my day! Seriously, I call it my liquid mood adjustment! The bigger the better! I even got my mother hooked! lol!

2. Mr. Goodcents - I prefer them over Subway or any other sandwich shop, seriously. I can't say it's because they're better, or that you get more, or anything like that, because they aren't, I'm just stuck on them and the thin shaved ham, and it's just what I like! I always get a ham and cheese (provolone) on wheat (if I'm trying to be good *snort*) with lettuce, tomato, whatever seasonings they use, vinegar, but no oil, and mayonnaise and jalapenos. My mom got me started on the jalapenos part.

3. Thai Place - I have 2 favorites here, a primary and secondary. I ALWAYS get Paenang, sometimes beef, sometimes shrimp, sometimes chicken. Paenang is a peanutty flavored curry dish, very rich, and super tasty! I like medium spicy, but I may have to graduate to hot, we'll see! ;) Often I will also get Phad Thai, because I love it, but don't really like it as a whole meal. It's a noodle dish, I'm not sure what the sauce is for it (I've seen fish sauce mentioned, but it tastes kind of chili based to me), but it usually has shrimp and chicken, egg, scallions, chopped peanuts and I can't remember what else in it. Love it love it love it!

4. Bangkok Pavilion - another Thai place (not THE Thai Place which really is the name of the restaurant in #3), I love their buffet, and from it I get the red curry chicken (I think this is also called Gang Dang), their Phad Thai, and their fried spring rolls (?) they have these glass noodles in them, and I'm just stuck on them, I could eat a ton of them! I also love their house salad dressing!

5. Fortune Wok - Chinese this time, (though I think I saw Phad Thai on their menu last time I was there) and here I love the steamed dumplings and the hot and sour soup, to me, theirs are the best I've had. I lately have been getting their Princess Chicken, but it's the soup and the dumplings that stand above all others for me!

6. Bo-Lings - Chinese again (are you sensing a theme here?) but this is the place I come if I want General Tso's Chicken, I like theirs the best! Their hot and sour soup comes in #3 on my list, it's pretty good!

7. Pei-Wei - alright, alright I promise, last Chinese place I'll mention though I do go to others (I like it, alright? :P) Here I always get Honey Seared Chicken. Also, their hot and sour soup is #2 for me, and their crab rangoon are much different than anywhere else I've had. Usually they are mostly filled with a cream cheese mixture, right? These are more shredded crab than anything else, I won't say they're my favorite, because I like the normal cream cheese type too, but they are pretty good!

So let's take a quick break and digest all that Chinese food, what have we learned here? Shaunie REALLY likes hot and sour soup, but it VERY particular about it and has a ranked list... hmmm... maybe Shaunie has issues... LMAO!

Alright, back to the food!

8. Olive Garden - Most of the time I get their Pasta Fagioli soup, bread sticks and salad (they have great house dressing!), cause they'll just keep bringing it, WOO! There's just nothing better than never ending breadsticks and salad, right?

9. Pizza Shoppe - I love Pizza, I really do. But what stands out about PS to me is their house pink salad dressing, there has to be something addictive in it! They even have t-shirts that says "Give me the pink stuff" so it's not just me, really!

Ah, so now we've learned that not only does Shaunie rank restaurants by their hot and sour soup, but also by their salad dressing... yep, girl's got issues, definitely (my favorite at home dressing is Seven Seas Viva Italian by the way, I can just drink that stuff, and *blush* have, on occasion... just to convince you of the fact that I have issues! Okay, it wasn't like, a big gulp or anything, but if you're just in the mood to taste something, and don't want to make a whole salad for it, what do you do? Just a quick little swig! LMAO!)

10. Lone Star Steakhouse - here we go with the salad again, they offer a lettuce wedge with bleu cheese and diced tomatoes (at least they did before the tomato problems, I'm not sure what they do now!) that I love! I also get their Delmonico steak and baked sweet potato with butter, cinnamon and sugar! I'm so mad because they closed the one that's nearby, so now the closest one is at least 30 minutes away, probably a little more! *cry* I know, but Shaunie, how hard is it to cut a head of lettuce into 4th's and pour some bleu cheese and diced tomatoes over it?

11. Chili's - I almost always get the Chicken Ranch Sandwich and fries here, a breaded chicken breast with buffalo sauce and ranch dressing on it, LOVE buffalo sauce (wings are much too much work though, unless they're boneless!) Sometimes I will get the Shanghai Wings (cause they're boneless, and they're sorta tangy like my favorite Chinese dishes heehee) and their Southwest Eggrolls are good too, love the dipping sauce!

12. Red Robin - My current favorite hamburger place (they'll just keep bringing the fries if you ask them too!) and I almost always order the Banzai Burger, it has pineapple and teryaki sauce on it! TASTY! Weird, I would have said so too, but the first time I tried it, it was awesome! Sometimes I'll get the Santa Fe Burger if I'm not in the mood for sweet flavors, it's got tortilla strips and guacamole on it, so it's kinda Mexican flavored.

13. Kokopelli's - I'll all about the fajitas here, and the last time I was there, I had a strawberry margarita and it was REALLY good! Chips and salsa are also one of my favorite things, and that's at about every Mexican restaurant I go to, I think I could eat my weight in chips and sauce (one of the many reasons I'm a not a skinny girl!)

Now that I'm at 13, I've thought of about 10 more places that I like, but since this isn't Thursday 23, I'll stop here! Now it's your turn, tell me what your favorite thing to eat out is! Thanks for stopping by and Happy TT!

Giveaway #3: Animal Rescue Site Store Gift Certificate - And the winner is...

I was feeling generous... so I picked two winners!

Congratulations to:

Terra57 and Kel

who each win a $10 Gift Certificate to the Animal Rescue Site Store!

If you two ladies would please PM me your e-mail addresses, I'll get your gift certificates to you! I'd love to hear what you end up getting with them!

Movie: The Princess Diaries

I just caught this one on ABC Family, and it was very cute! I had always meant to watch and it just never gotten around to it yet (am I the only person who hasn't seen it?) so when I was channel surfing tonight and caught it almost at the beginning, I was excited to finally be able to cross this one off the list. I love Julie Andrews anyway, having grown up with an appreciation of musicals instilled by my family at an early age, the Sound of Music is one of my favorites, and along with Hector Elizondo, I knew I would enjoy it!

Mia is an unpopular tenth-grader who lives with her mother, who is an artist, and has two very good friends Lilly and her brother Michael. Just before her 16th birthday, Mia's paternal grandmother comes for a visit from Genovia. It is then she finds out that her father, who had died a couple months before in a car crash, was the crown prince of the fictional European country, and that she herself is now the crown princess and only heir left of the Renaldi family.

What follows is a bit of a My Fair Lady story from the teenage point of view, with all the harshness of highschool, but very funny and endearing as Mia learns more about herself and what it means to be a royal. She learns a few life lessons as do we all about who her real friends are, unfortunately in a very public way, and nearly decides to renounce her claim. She almost runs away, but at the very last, receives a bit of help from her departed father in realizing the opportunity before her, and of course steps up to accept the responsibility.

The plot is of course pretty predictable, but the real fun of this story is the events that lead up to Mia accepting her position. I really enjoyed this one, Anne Hathaway, Julie Andrews and Hector Elizondo were very lovable characters, and I look forward to the next movie, Princess Diaries 2, and to reading the books the movies are based on. If you're looking for a cute fluffy movie, this would be a good one!

Book: Keepsake Crimes by Laura Childs

Keepsake Crimes by Laura Childs



A fun little mystery set during Mardi Gras in New Orleans. This is the first of Laura Childs' Scrapbooking mystery series. Carmela is on the outs with her husband Shamus and has tried to make her own way by starting a scrapbooking store. During one of the Mardi Gras parades, a well known figure collapses and dies, and Carmela's husband is implicated, but he's disappeared, so she tries to figure out how he might have been involved, if he really was. Lots of fun scrapbooking tips, and Mardi Gras/New Orleans info. I enjoyed it, and would definitely read more of them!

A Harlequin/Silhouette Reading Challenge

Yvonne from Socrates Book Reviews is hosting a Harlequin/Silhouette reading challenge, to help clear up some of her TBR's, and I think that's an excellent idea! I keep collecting the things (and I think they're like bunnies, as soon as you turn your back they multiply!) and never getting around to reading them!

Here are the rules:

1. Choose any 5 Harlequin or Silhouette books from any of their series.
2. Read them between now and December 31, 2008.
3. Post a brief review of the books.
4. You can use books that you are using for other challenges.

To join us, hop on over HERE and sign up!


The five I am choosing for my challenge are:

1. Puritan Bride - Anne O'Brien (Harlequin Historical #762 - July 2005)
2. A Serpent in Turquoise - Peggy Nicholson (Silhouette Bombshell #115 - November 2006)
3. The Mummy Case - Dawn Stewardson (Harlequin Intrigue #257 - January 1994)
4. All in the Game - Barbara Boswell (Silhouette Desire #1471 - November 2002)
5. Wicked Ways - Kate Hoffman (Harlequin Temptation #599 - August 1996)

Thanks again Yvonne!

Thursday Thirteen #9 - Hen and Chicks of the plant variety

I know, it's Tuesday, but my schedule hasn't been cooperating of late, so I thought I'd try for early! ;)

I’ve become enamored of these hardy little plants (ok, some of them are hardier than others as I’ve seen first hand) and thought I’d learn a little more about them to share with you!

1. Hens and chicks are succulent evergreen perennials. This means that they have foliage that sticks around and keeps it’s color throughout the year, and that they live longer than annuals, which only live for 1 year. I’ve had my little pot of Hen and Chicks for going on 3 years now (maybe more) and they’re still happily multiplying away!

2. They are known for their rosette shape, which is actually more important than their blooms, and the way they propagate.

3. Upon maturity (usually around 3 to 4 years old) the plant will send up a single stalk that can reach 5-15 cm tall. The head of the stalk is a cluster of star-shaped flower buds 1-2 cm in diameter, which range in color from dark pink to yellow and that flower for several weeks. After blooming, the plant will die. Usually by this time it has produced many offsets ('chicks').

4. To propagate themselves, the Hen will send off miniatures of itself on shoots, these are the chicks. These chicks are easily transplanted, just carefully pull them away from the Hen, and replant where you want them, provided it’s in full sun to partial shade and in well-drained soil. Too much water is bad for these guys!


5. Colours range from lime green to burgundy to purple, and size varies from as small as 1 cm to as large as 20 cm across. The leaves can be thin and spiky or thick and rounded with a pointed tip. Some, such as Cobweb Houseleek, have fine spiderweb-like filaments that grow naturally from leaf edge to leaf edge, forming a white cover on the top of the plant, while others have fine hairs that cover the entire plant structure.

A popular planter for them is generally a strawberry jar, often terracotta with openings around the sides, but really as long as they are well drained and have sunlight, they will probably do well. They can go in the ground, or in just about any container really. This group is in a glass pie plate!

6. Hen and chicks are very popular for and well suited to rock gardening because of their hardiness, and shallow roots. They thrive in crowded conditions, provided they’re not being shaded out by taller plants.



7. The Latin name for one of the many varieties (and there are many!) of Hen and chicks is Sempervivum tectorum. Sempervivum means “always live” hence the evergreen part of the name. Tectorum however means “on roofs” . Being indigineous to Europe, they were often planted in thatched roofs there, where they were supposed to provide protection against lightning-induced fires, due to the plants' association with two gods of lightning: Thor and Zeus (Jupiter). In this case, folklore is justified, in the sense that succulents such as hens and chicks are fire-resistant and would perhaps slow down the spread of fire through thatch.

8. another site listed: The Frankish King Charlemagne (742-814 CE) told his subjects to plant the herb on their roofs since it reputedly warded off lightning and fire.

9. Other Common names for them are: Houseleek, Jupiter's Eye, Jupiter's Beard, Thor's Beard, Bullock's Eye, Sengreen, Ayron, Ayegreen, Aaron's Rod, Hens and Chickens, Liveforever, Thunder Plant

10. They belong to the plant family Crassulaceae (krass-yoo-LAY-see-ay), that’s just fun to say, isn’t it? It’s in the same family as the jade plant.



11. Some traditional uses for them (but I don’t think I’m going to try it!):

>Freshly pressed leaves and their juice are used externally to soothe skin conditions, including burns, wounds, ulcers, insect bites, sore nipples, corns, inflammations, hemorrhoids, eczema, stomatitis, fungal infections, as well as itchy and burning parts of the skin.

>Infusions are used internally to treat inflammations of the mucous membranes and has long been used to treat dysentery, diarrhea, worm infestations, and for heavy menstrual bleeding.

>Gargles of the juice may be used to treat throat inflammations, including tonsillitis and stomatitis (inflammations of the oral cavity).

>Traditionally, the leaves were chewed to relieve toothache and the juice sniffed to stop nosebleeds.

>They seem to be regarded as a weak form of Aloe Vera (used for some of the same things)

12. Here’s a store on e-bay that even sells them! I may have to keep track of her! I actually found this because I wanted to find more pictures that showed the variety and just looking at her list of things is pretty good! Mom's Hens and Chicks

13. This blog post has some pretty good pictures too (of hen-and-chicks, and well, half of the blogger in his underwear, but it’s not too hard on the eyes! ;) ) About a Boy and His Briefs, an his Hens and Chicks too!
And on that note, I’ll end this TT13! Thanks for stopping by!

sources:
http://landscaping.about.com/od/plantsforsunnydryareas/p/hens_and_chicks.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sempervivum
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crassulaceae
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/54606/
http://www.innvista.com/health/herbs/henschic.htm
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/herbalism/91501
http://www.backyardnature.com/cgi-bin/gt/tpl.h,content=298

Previously none of the pics were mine, but I've replaced the very top one with a picture of my own plants! They're just going to town as you can see, pushing and shoving each other!

Movie: The Golden Compass

The Golden Compass is a fantasy movie based on the novel by Phillip Pullman of the same name (also known as Northern Lights in some places).

Lyra is a little girl who's uncle, Lord Asriel, brought her to live at Jordan College while he travels, questing after the sources of the mysterious "Dust" (Dust is consciousness, or awareness of the world around you and all of its possibilities), which is treated as a threat. While there she gets into all kinds of mischief with her Daemon, Pantalaimon, and her friend Roger. Everyone in this world has a Daemon, which is the outward expression of a person's soul. While young, the Daemon's are constantly changing form (Pantalaimon had at least 3 or 4 different shapes during the movie I believe), but settle into their permanent form once the person is an adult. Lyra's uncle Lord Asreal Lyra meets the acquaintance of Mrs. Coulter, who takes a liking to her and wants to take her North. Lyra is all for this, as that's where Lord Asriel has once again taken off for, and she really wants to learn more about what "Dust" is.

In the meantime, children and their Daemons have been disappearing, and it's been blamed on a group only known as the Gobblers. Lyra, insatiably curious as always, discovers notes in Mrs. Coulter's study that she believes links her to this frightening group, and escapes from the house, to be rescued by the Gyptians, who have been watching out for her all the time she has been at the college. That's when Lyra discovers that another her friends, who was a Gyptian, has disappeared.

The Master of the College had given Lyra a very special device before she left, the alethiometer, or golden compass, that only certain people can read, of course Lyra turns out to be one of these. The golden compass shows the truth of things. Using this, they find out that the children are in a place called Bolvanger, and so the group of Gyptians heads North to try and rescue them, enlisting the aide of an Aeronaut (Scorsby) and an Armored Bear (Iorek) along the way.

My initial impression of the movie was very good, though much simplified from the book I think. Also a few things happened out of order, and in different ways, but that's almost always the case when taking something from a book to a movie. "Dust" was not well explained in the movie, it was shown that they all felt threatened by it, but not really why, though by end you could kind of get the idea that was basically free will/consciousness. Lord Asriel has a much smaller part in the movie than in the book, but I think the movie ended sooner than the 1st book of the trilogy. The effects were very good, on the daemons and the bears. I really enjoyed it, and would recommend it, though it is a lot toned down from the book, just as a warning (which in some ways was better for me, because there were a few parts of the book that really bothered me, just because they were painful and sad). I think it's a good beginning of a trilogy/series, and hope they make another one, though I haven't read book 2 yet!

Book: Succubus in the City by Nina Harper

Lily is a Succubus, and has been for 3,000 years. Since the days of Babylon, where she was a priestess, she's been one of Satan's chosen, and had all of the finer things in life. The best clothes, food, great friends (also demons, but still totally loyal!), she's had it all, except love. After that long, you want someone to stick around more than one night (even if it's your fault they haven't, since you turn them to ashes!).

Being a Succubus isn't as great as it sounds, 3,000 years of one night stands can get a little old, especially when the men are not, shall we say, the prime of society. Rather Lily targets the ones that she feels humanity, and women in particular, would be better off without. When an investigation brings Nathan snooping around her door, she's knocked off kilter and can't get him off her mind. Around the same time, strange attacks on Lily and her friends have started happening, someone thinks they know what the girls are, and is threatening them. Is Nathan involved? Lily sure hopes not, because she just can't seem to stay away from him!

Succubus in the City was a lot of fun, Lily and her friends are very shallow in some ways, indulging in all the things that make them happy (I think the girls are single handed responsible for the popularity of Ben and Jerry's), as they inhabit the human world, acting very human in many ways in their likes and emotions, and even holding human jobs to fit in, and give themselves something to do. Most annoying character (but still very funny) is the Akashic Librarian, I think she'd get on anyone's nerves!

Complaints about the story, too much cliffhanger at the end! Nothing is wrapped up at all! *wail* But wait, da-da, there is a book 2 coming out this year as well, Succubus takes Manhattan! I definitely recommend this one if you're looking for a fun paranormal, and am looking forward to the next one!

Giveaway #3: Animal Rescue Site Store Gift Certificate

I recently won a Gift Certificate from Walking on Sunshine to the Animal Rescue Site Store (Thank you again!!!). I promised I would report in on what I bought (of course I spent a lot more than my GC! heehee!), so here are the pictures of the goodies coming to me!



Okay, it's silly, but I'm seriously excited about the flip flops! *blush*

This purchase will help to fund 56 bowls of food according to my receipt, and that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy!

I would like to pass on the pet love, so I'm going to giveaway a $10 Gift Certificate as well (and hope that whoever wins will continue the chain!)

To enter, please comment here by June 14th (I'll post the winner on June 15th) and tell me about your pets! What do they look like, how did you come to have them, what funny habits do they have? Or if you don't or can't have pets, that's okay too, tell me about what you wish you could have, or just about your favorite animals in general! Be sure to leave me a way to contact you!

Even if you aren't interested in the giveaway (You will probably spend more, I certainly did, there's so much fun stuff!) I hope that you will at least visit The Animal Rescue Site where a free click will still help sponser food for animals in need!

And the Winner of Vampire Academy is....

Breeni!

Congratulations Breeni! I will be contacting you for your address soon!

Check back around Mid-June for the announcement of my next giveaway! Thanks for signing up everyone!