Beauty by Robin McKinley

It really is a tale as old as time! After reading Beastly I heard there was this retelling of the Beauty and the Beast story. I'm sorry it took me so long to pick it up.
Beauty is the story of Beauty (duh) who in order to save her father's life goes to live with the dreadful Beast. A long time is spent getting to know Beauty who feels very plain next to her pretty sisters. I enjoyed the extra time of getting to know Beauty and who she was. It helps later on when she's in the Beast's castle and all the enchantments come into play.  You can understand why Beauty would trade her life for that of her father.
Overall it was a sweet story. I did enjoy it. Also some very beautiful writing. It does feel magical. Others who enjoyed Beauty and shared their thoughts: Reading With Tequila, Chaotic Compendiums, Melanie's Musings, The Paperback Princess and The Musings of a Reader Happy.
This is the fifth book I read for the 2011 YA Reading Challenge.

Dewey's Read-a-thon

It's official. I've signed up to be a reader for the April Read-a-thon! I've been a cheerleader and an unofficial reader but officially signed up to read! I'm pretty excited. I have the whole day cleared except for a reading by Molly Wizenberg (who writes Orangette and A Homemade Life) at the library. But that's a bookish event so I'm not going to sweat it.
I'm hoping to get my hands on The Hunger Games trilogy before then but if not I have plenty of other books to keep me reading.
What about you? Are you participating in April's Read-a-thon?

Library Loot

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

 

 Stealing Buddha's Dinner

 Sex and Bacon

The Sex Life of Food

I wasn't planning on having any LL today. But I unexpectedly found myself with time to kill near a library. Without a book. So of course I had to check the stacks and see what I could find. I showed great restraint in only snagging 3 books. I did write down the title of a few others for a later date, but I only carried 3 out of the library.
Stealing Buddah's Dinner caught my eye. On the back the first recommendation was from Judy Blume. I can't pass that up. Sex and Bacon. How could I leave a book that talks about food and sex. Likewise about The Sex Life of Food which was almost next to Sex and Bacon.
I finished The Girl She Used To Be and posted my thoughts on The Fill In The Gaps blog. I really enjoyed it and recommend it.

Blessed by Cynthia L Smith

Ok, I take back everything bad I said about Tantalize. Blessed saved Tantalize. I kind of wish I did have to wait though entire book in between them to have the Quincie's story finished for me. Sigh.
Blessed starts off right where Tantalize left off. Quincy meets up with Zachary and a few other characters from Eternal. They realize that Brad had an evil plan and they need to stop it. It was great to see all the characters mesh and become friends. For a brief second I thought Quincy and Zachary were going to hook up which did not please me at all. I prefer Quincy with Kieren. I'm always team werewolf :)
I was really pleased with the way the series wrapped up. Recommended. Others who shared their thoughts: The Girls In The Stacks, My Overstuffed Bookshelf, I Read Banned Books and Insert Book Title Here.
This is my fourth read for the 2011 YA Reading Challenge.

Bonefish Grill

On Saturday Tai and I headed out to see Cirque du Soleil again. Since it was in Everett and our go to place closed so we didn't know where to eat. I had chosen a Japanese restaurant to try but we couldn't find it. I had spotted a Bonefish Grill in Bothell, near where we were searching for the Japanese restaurant. We didn't want to waste anymore time we decided that was better than nothing.
I don't eat at chain restaurant very often. Sure an occasional Red Robin or Tai's new favorite, Olive Garden. I prefer local places. So I wasn't expecting a whole lot from Bonefish Grill. I expected we'd eat an ok, forgettable meal. I was wrong. The food was good, fresh. We had a lot of help from our waiter about what to order.

The Bang Bang Shrimp. These crispy shrimp have a spicy creamy sauce. Delicious. The portion was huge.

I admit was a little nervous ordering the ceviche. I didn't think it would that good. But it was so yummy.

 For dinner, Tai ordered the Ahi Tuna, Tokyo style. The tuna was perfectly seared.

 I ordered the Imperial Longfin. When I was a kid, Ivar's had a stuffed fish. It was my favorite back in the day. I haven't found a stuffed fish that matched Ivar's until now. The garlic mashed potatoes were so good too. I was a little surprised at the garbanzo beans. I wasn't expecting those.
Bonefish Grill is going on our list of good places to eat.

I know this sounds like an ad for Bonefish Grill but it's not. No one paid me to say these nice things. But I would if they did :)

For Japan With Love

Like so many you I've been horrified and saddened by the devastation caused by the earthquake in Japan. My mother in law is Japanese and it breaks my heart (and hers) to see her homeland so shattered. My blog will be silent on 3/18 to take time to honor those we've lost as well as those who are continuing to struggle in the aftermath. Please consider doing so as well by going to For Japan With Love.
Thank you to all who've donated time, money and prayers to those in Japan as well as those in the US with loved ones in Japan.

Library Loot

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

 

 The Carrie Diaries

Darkest Mercy

A Separate Country

 Firelight

Since I finished Catch-22 (see my thoughts here), I decided that gave me license to pick up some more books from the library. Never mind the stack I had at home.
I've been wanting to read The Carrie Diaries. I am a huge fan of Sex And The City. I'm on the fence with the prequels but I decided I needed something light. Squee! I'm super excited about Darkest Mercy. I picked up A Separate Country for the War Through The Generations challenge. It looks good so I'm looking forward to it. And lastly Firelight since it's on my Original TBR challenge and I've been wanting to read it for a while-since it came out!
What did you get this week?

Pendant Lighting Winner!

Congrats to Micah and Catherine of Forty Twenty Four! I can't wait to see what you pick out!

Thanks to all who entered. I'll be having two more giveaways in the upcoming months so keep an eye out!

Ulta Eye Shadow

Last chance to enter my $50 CSN giveaway. Go here to enter.

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I horde eye shadow. I have a hard time buying eye shadow then dumping a few months later. I know, ew. I'm much better with mascara and eye liner. Eye shadow doesn't touch my eye and I use a new applicator every time so I take more risks with it. How risky? I've had some eye shadows longer than I've know Tai (more than 5 years).
A few weeks ago I did an inventory and noticed there were specific colors I had multiples of as well as a few that were just dust. Since I got a gift certificate to Ulta (thank you Marta!) I headed there to replace my eye shadow collection. I'd never bought Ulta eye shadow before but I will be buying it again. When I was in they were having a Buy 2, 2 Free sale. Here's what I bought:

Both Molten and Deep Sea have sparkles in them. Not so much that you can't use it for during the day but enough to feel fancy. Molten and Truffle are my everyday favorites. All the colors hold up well all day. I'll will definitely be going back to Ulta for eye shadow.

Anita Blake Graphic Novels

In order to avoid reading Catch-22, I've been reading the Anita Blake graphic novels. So my library only has The First Death, Guilty Pleasures and The Laughing Corpse.

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I've never read the books but I'm digging the graphic novels. I love the art.

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I love the vampires. There are also werewolves, other werepeople, zombies and ghouls.

I really recommend the Anita Blake graphic novels. I see more in my future.

Library Loot

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

The Price of Salt

Moving Pictures

 

 The New York Four

A little graphic novel heavy this week. I heard about Moving Pictures and The New York Four on Olduvai Reads. I'm excited to read both. I can't remember where I heard about The Price of Salt. I'm always looking for more LGBT books to read so I must have found it on one of my searches.
What did you get this week?

A King Sized Upgrade

Tai and I have been talking forever about getting a new bed. I loved my old bed (a Sleep Comfort bed) but Tai didn't like. Plus we really wanted to upgrade to a king sized bed. A queen was a tad too small. Last week things got worse. Tai couldn't get comfortable in our old bed and when I went to pump it up, I discovered the power cord had come loose from the main control box! Our bed had lived a nice long life-10 years. So it was time to get a new bed! Which we bought this weekend!
Here it is airing out. We opted to get a memory foam bed (from Mattress Depot):

I wasn't sure I was going to like the memory foam but I'm a convert. So comfortable!
Here it is all ready for the night:

I need to move our "art". It's all off center now.
I'm so excited about our big purchase! Once I buy another dresser our bedroom will be complete and I can show off the whole room.

Did you enter my $50 CSN Giveaway? Go to this post to enter!

Pendant Lighting & A Giveaway!

I was contacted by our friends at CSN stores to host another fantastic giveaway. As we know CSN sells everything from cookware to furniture, but today we're going to talk about their fabulous lighting collection. I took a look at their pendant lighting selection and fell in love these:

 I would put this in a bedroom but would also look great in a hallway.

 Wouldn't this be cute in a child's room?

 I think this one would be great in a dining room. I love the polished silver.

I just love the blue. I think I'd put this one in a bathroom.

So to enter to win a $50 gift certificate to CSN stores, just comment on this post (and don't forget to leave me a way to contact you such as an email) by 5pm PST on March 14th. Good luck!

Chicken Marsala

After seeing Christine's Chicken Marsala recipe, I decided I needed to make chicken marsala. Yum. I'll be making this again.
I followed her recipe pretty closely. Although I added a 1/2 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce towards the end. It really made the sauce extra yummy.
I'd never bought Marsala wine before and was confused about buying dry or sweet. After a little searching I found this helpful website. Basically if you like sweet chicken dishes, get the sweet Marsala. If you don't like sweet, get the dry. And if you are concerned about buying a bottle of wine for one recipe that uses one cup of it, don't be. According to that website, Marsala wine doesn't deteriorate quickly so it should be ok for a few months. And I agree with Christine. Buy real Marsala wine. It will be worth it.
Thanks Christine for posting such a yummy recipe.

Hunger by Jackie Morse Kessler

I immediately put Hunger on my library queue after reading the synopsis. Hunger is the story of Lisa, an anorexic teen who is tapped to be Famine, one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. I have been intrigued by the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse lately. I blame Supernatural.
Hunger is a quick fun read. Yeah she's Famine but it's not so much about being one of The Four Horseman as it is about seeing the world outside yourself and your little corner of it. Lisa's anorexia made her seek like minded friends and close herself off from the outside world. But after becoming Famine she was able to see the world and see other people and how food affected them. Then she was able to see food from a different perspective. But it's all told humorously, not at all preachy.
I recommend Hunger. I'm excited to read the next in the series, Rage. Others who shared their thoughts: Paranormal Indulgence, The Book Scout, Books from Bleh To Basically Amazing and Smart Girls Read.
This is the third book I've read for the 2011 YA Reading Challenge.

Library Loot

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

 

 Blessed

 Haunted

 

 Beauty

Just a few this week. I had to reloot Haunted. I didn't get around to reading it last time I got from the library. I'm looking forward to finishing the Tantalize series.
What did you get this week?

My Trader Joe's Obsession

If you looked in my kitchen you would never know that I used to never go to Trader Joe's. I didn't dislike the food. It was the narrow aisles, the fact I couldn't find what I was looking for that kept me from going often. For some reason I decided to give another try (the fact that it's one of Tai's favorite stores had nothing to do with it ;)). On my first visit, I found the BBQ Chicken Teriyaki:

Good flavor. I love the fact that you can microwave it. Such a good quick meal.
Second visit I overheard a store employee telling another woman about the Sweet Potato Gnocchi.

Amazing. Run to your nearest Trader Joe's and buy at least 6 packages. I have 6 in my freezer right now.
Third visit, I picked up a package of Ricotta & Spinach Tortelloni. It took it to lunch as a side.

Delicious. I bought 4 more this last trip.
And on my most recent trip, I bought this Mushroom Tortelloni with Asparagus.

Yummy. Another great side. I had this as part of my dinner last night. I found it in the fresh food section (with the salads and sandwiches).
What's your favorite thing to buy at Trader Joe's?