Saturday...A Totally Lazy Day!

Breakfast...a spinach, tomato and goat cheese frittata...



Now...catching up on the week's tv...reading...sipping more coffee!

Started this...extremely good...


Started this...extremely good...



Must read this...extremely good...



Bouna Lettura!

Guess What?

It seems almost impossible but it is RAINING again! And not just a soft gentle rain. It's hard and loud and the wind is blowing. The sunroom floor is wet from rain blowing in! It is truly amazing!

What does a sunny day even look like? I forgot!

Here is our official forecast! Sounds good, doesn't it? The possible is a huge joke...it's been pouring for hours!




Rain with a thundershower possible this morning then variable clouds during the afternoon with scattered thunderstorms. High 77F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%. Rainfall around a half an inch. Locally heavy rainfall possible.

Ha!

My day is kind of falling apart...

Totally finished this...the last quarter of this book was amazing. Lovely writing with a unique view of vampires...lol...but I never want to go to ColdTown...ever!


Off to vacuum! And think about dinner! And dust! And decide what to read now!

Buona Lettura!

Book Love!

Here is my next book! To read! I know you know what I mean!

Here is its unique profile...from the publisher...my thank you to Laura Abbott from the Penguin Group!

In this finely wrought portrait of western American life, award-winning author Ron Carlson takes us to the town of Oakpine, Wyoming, and into the lives of four men trying to make peace with who they are in the world. RETURN TO OAKPINE is a generous, tender look at friendship and family that warmly evokes small-town life with a wonderful cast of memorable characters.

Aside from a new mountain bike store and a hip new coffee shop, not much seems to have changed for decades in Oakpine, Wyoming, as Carlson’s novel opens in 1999. But roiling in the depths of this sleepy town are the hopes and dreams of its residents, realized and deferred, marriages happy and struggling, friendships lost and regained—and all of this will come whirling to the surface with the return of Jimmy Brand. Thirty years earlier, Jimmy had split town for New York City the second he could after graduation—and the tragic death of his beloved older brother—and hasn’t looked back since. He’s made his way well in the world, becoming a successful novelist, but his homecoming is not a triumphant one. Jimmy Brand is dying.


Long before becoming a writer, however, Jimmy was in a band. In this evocative novel, Carlson tells the story of Jimmy and his three former band mates, Frank, Mason, and Craig, and what has become of them since the heady days of high school, when they would play their songs alongside bonfires on summer nights, when girls and beer and American rock and roll would let them forget, just for a few sweet hours, about college, and lost football scholarships, and growing up.

Grow up they would, however, and with Carlson’s characteristic grace and psychological acuity, we learn the different directions in which life has taken these men. After marrying his high school sweetheart—a marriage which is in trouble—Craig Ralston has remained in town his whole life, running a hardware store. Frank Gunderson owns a bar, but harbors regret that he never escaped. Mason Kirby made it out of Oakpine, becoming a successful lawyer in Denver, but he hasn’t stopped to breathe in thirty years; he’s just returned to fix up and sell his parent’s old house. One thing is true for all four of these complicated, finely drawn men: now that they are all back in town, getting the band back together—even if it’s just for one more time—may be the most important thing they ever do.

Featuring Carlson’s acclaimed reverence for craft alongside a richly drawn cast of secondary characters this generous, capacious novel is a triumph of American storytelling.

Doesn't it sound yummy? I have a lovely hard bound copy to giveaway, too...maybe even two of them...just comment...that is all you have to do and one week from today...you might own this gem! Don't you love this cover? Sigh!


My western boy...Den...can't wait to read my copy! Dysfunctional dudes...right up my alley!

Buona Lettura!

Quest Fulfilled!

I know scoring the last Eileen Fisher ballet neck poncho top is not life altering...hmmm...maybe...no...it is not. I think.
But it's on its lovely way to me...at one third of its original price. Eileen Fisher clothes are so comfy and lovely and well made...and I am a clothes horse...lover...aficionado. I am passionate about clothes...I always have been. I love things that are just the teensiest bit out of the ordinary...sigh...sorry, Den!
And since I have the black one, too...mission accomplished! Yes!




Still reading this...I just don't want this scary vampy story to end...Gavriel...the vampire...OMG...thousands or at least hundreds of years old...but dressed in biker boots...a tight black tee, black jeans...OMG! What is it about kissing a sexy vampire? The kiss between Tana and Gavriel? Too amazing! Love this book!




New books this week? This...this...and this...I still do read tons of YA...












Dinner tonight...another Kalyn's Kitchen Salad...yum! Hers is so good. It's too hot to cook tonight!




Buona Lettura!

A Quest! Most Certainly A Quest!

See this Eileen Fisher ballet neck poncho top? I have the black one and love it! I have been searching...in between reading ColdTown...for this gray one and it is sold out all over the country. See? Other people love flowy tunicky things, too! Anyway...an awesome customer service agent...Diane...from Eileen Fisher found it for me...there is exactly one left! Somewhere in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts! Plus it is ridiculously on sale! My hands are shaking! Lol...I still need to call them and make sure it's still there! And get it! Oh my! Quest will not be over until it's mine!


Still reading this...again...Holly Black is a genius...ColdTown has those great short chapters that are so juicy that you can't stop reading...love this book.



Today is a lovely stay at home day...I am making a very special dinner for Den...
These cucumbers that his mom always made but this recipe is from Kalyn's Kitchen. She uses South Beach Diet techniques so her recipes are really lower in fat and still yummy!



And this...Unstuffed Cabbage! This recipe is everywhere! It's really meat and cabbage and tomatoes that are simply simmered together. Both of our mom's made Stuffed Cabbages and Stuffed Peppers...a Midwest thing? I tried once and destroyed them...not good at rolling stuff up and actually having it stay inside! So this is the one that works for me!



We had heat and humidity yesterday that was scary! And then lightning, thunder and downpours! I think more of the same today!

Roxie does not understand rain the way Lucy does. Roxie loves our routine of putting up the kitty tent and sitting on the deck. I read...she watches ducks, herons, geese, and squirrels! She squeaks at the deck door and waits for me to carry her to her tent. But with a wet deck and rain any second...she just looks at me as if to say...why?

Buona Lettura! Have a great day!

Miscellaneous Thoughts!

OMG...the writing in this book is fabulous! Some of the lines just stick in my head! It's scary...fascinating...and filled with lovely vampires!


Love these shoes...and they are all on sale at Gentle Souls...these are the comfiest shoes ever...the bottoms are filled with flax! The sale is amazing!

Let's go shopping!









Love these tees at Free People! They are called Circle In The Sand tees...I might have one or two...you can literally live in them!








Off to...

Do laundry.
Get groceries.
Tidy the house.
Get more Turducken cat food...my girls are crazed over it!
Set the table for dinner.
Organize at least one cupboard.
Prep for dinner.
Pack up a box of all of my old fun bracelets for my niece Sammi.
Read The Coldest Girl In ColdTown!

Buona Lettura!

We Hit A Wall...

I have slept for the past two nights as though I was in a coma...I have to admit that I am not a creature of the night any more! Sigh!

Den told me the kitties were crazed and playing all over us early in the morning...I heard NOTHING. Roxie Blue was playing with my hair this morning...and then collapsed on my head...I felt NOTHING! Lucy was crying her little Tonkinese head off at 5:00 AM...I wasn't even slightly aware of this.

We were so tired we barely managed to take ourselves out to dinner last night...thank you, again Mr. Clyde Jackson Brown! Lol...but we did!

We needed PROTEIN! We had yummy salads...I had a grilled Caesar salad...Den had beets and baby greens with roasted beets from the chef's own garden. Yum!

We both had Farro Island salmon. So delicious! Why do my hands look like claws? I am dainty...I swear I am...Den took a photo because of what I do to my placemat...he says I move all silverware away from me...hmmm.



Finally reading this...chapter one was breathtaking! I can't stand it!



Buona Lettura!