To the Big Easy and back!

While preparing for my trip I had time to finish “Night Rising” from “Vampire Babylon” series by Chris Marie Green. I loved the idea behind the plot. Have you ever wonder how some Hollywood Stars are a new someone? Like maybe Scarlet Johansson is the new Merlin Monroe? OK, what if someone told you that she is the same old Merlin Monroe who has not died and has lived these past few decades young and happy, and is going to stay young and happy forever? Haa? What do you think?
“Night Rising” is the story of Dawn daughter of a famous Hollywood actress who faces with the mystery of supposedly dead actors and actresses coming back (on and off the screen). What is happening in LA underground? Well my dears, you should read the book and wait anxiously for the second book to come out (like me!). As my chance had it, this book is (again) the first in the series! Lucky lucky me!
The second book I read was “Tiger Eye” from Marjorie M. Liu. It has some of the same characters as “Red Heart of Jade” and happens before that book. A beautiful artisan metal worker (Dela) buys a riddle box in a Chinese flee market and opens the box. A two thousand years old were-tiger (Hari) is freed but his true freedom is harder to achieve. They fall in love (naturally!) and set out to free Hari from the magi who imprisoned him in the first place. Some assassinations attempts on Dela’s life and few entanglement with Chinese mafia later; they get married and live happily ever after! Funny when you retell the story it sounds ridicules but when you read it, you are attracted. That is the power of author I guess! Still I stand firm for my opinion; story is way out there and not believable what’s so ever! It’s entertaining but hey, you don’t want to read it for the second time!
Our little trip to “Big Easy” was fun! Not so much in the way of shopping, only some fudge, a dress from “Ann Taylor LOFT” for $25.00 (a real bargain!) and a small pendant for my pendant collection; but fun never less! We walked for hours along the river and in French Quarter, tasted the local food and sweets, and visited a couple of museums! You can’t expect more from a three day trip! Can you?!
-What to take? If it’s summer, clothes made of silk, cotton, and linen. It is very humid there and man-made form fitting clothes are going to suffocate you! Even tight jeans are not suitable! A sun dress is the best. Ah, and comfortable shoes, Please; you’re gonna walk a lot! And a water repellant hoodie or umbrella (just to be on the safe side!)
-What to eat? Gumbo (and if you know about the history of this food, brace yourself; it tastes very original! Yup! Exactly like something made of kitchen leftovers!) And Jambalaya (more of the same!). Crawfish, catfish and shrimp if you like seafood, and for dessert have some King Cakes, café au lait and beignet (I fell in love with beignet! So very yummy!).
-Where to shop? Shops at Canal, River walk shops, French market and fair in French quarter.
-What to see? French quarter and its museums, Louisiana State museums, Jackson square, swamp tour and if you are into morbid or Goth stuff definitely go for a cemetery tour. And also Audubon aquarium and zoo.
A very good source of information is http://www.neworleansonline.com/ , have fun and forget to care!

Ready for the take off (Not!)

I have so much to do, I don’t know where to start (yeah! That’s why I’m writing and spending time web-surfing instead of doing something productive! Sheesh!) We are taking a trip this weekend and I haven’t packed yet, I have not done my homework for next week (due Tuesday), hadn’t done laundry, not shopping, nothing! I’m going crazy!
But surprise, surprise, I had time to finish two books and start a third one! I finished “Dante's Girl (Kayla Steele)” by Natasha Rhodes. Very strong characters, nice story, good action! I can’t wait for the next book and rest of the story. Why do I always do this? Start a new series and have to wait (long and hard) for the rest of the books of the series to come out?!
The other book I read was “You suck” by Christopher Moore. This is the third book of him I read and had mix feelings about it. I love his style of story telling; love the characters, just not the endings. He finishes the stories like they are artistic black and white European movies: lights out, curtains drawn, end of the story! It leaves you hanging, not knowing what happens next. I don’t like this feeling of being suspended for ever, worrying about the lives of my favorite characters!
Anyway, In “Bloodsucking fiends” he tells the story of Jody, a cute redhead with sucky love life and how she is turned to vampire and how she deals with her new life style and how she finds Tommy C. Flood, her boyfriend/blood-source/day-time-bitch!
“You suck” starts when Jody has turned Tommy and they are facing a whole new can of worms. Who is going to do the day-work? Whom to bite? And in the middle of it all there is one money-hungry Ho who is making trouble! All in all the book worth every minute of time you spend on it but at the end… let’s not go there!
The only other book I’ve read from Christopher Moore is: “Fluke: Or, I Know Why the Winged Whale Sings”. An amusing story about whales and marine biologists and love.
I didn’t have much time or appetite for shopping these past few weeks. Only yesterday I bought two beautiful silk scarfs (one blue and one bright pink) and a white plastic frame sunglass (very retro!) out of necessity!
Better get to work and start packing! Bye now!

Yeah, had the exam on Friday! How did you know?!! Anyway, it’s finished and gone now and I’m free to enjoy my excessive readings one more time (or until next exam 3weeks from now!). I started (and finished) “Pomegranate Soup” by Marsha Mehran.
The story of three immigrant sisters in Ireland. Marjan, Bahar, and Layla who fled the revolution in Iran and sought their home and future in London. But something makes them uneasy and they move to cold colorless and unfriendly little village in Ireland. Marjan with her magical cooking and Layla with her youth attract friends, but what about Bahar? Why is she so cold and dramatic and bitchy? Well, don’t be lazy! Read the book! It is enchanting and you will get to love characters. A love struck teenager who wants to be an astronomer, a comedian catholic priest, drama queen ex-actress hairdresser, and a sweet (literally!) Italian widow help our three sisters fight the cold unfriendly villagers and set up their exotic café. The book is full of descriptions of Persian cooking and has recipes too. Totally yummy!
The second book of the series (at least I’m hoping it is!) is named “Cafe Babilonia” and I have not seen it yet. I seriously hope the story continuous; I really liked Marjan and Layla. I want to see them live a happy life in their chosen home!
The other book I’ve started tonight is “Dante's Girl (Kayla Steele)” by Natasha Rhodes. I’m almost halfway through it and fell in love with the heroin Kayla from the page one. But still too soon to judge!

I’m smart enough to know I’m in trouble. I can’t stop reading even when I want to. I have so much to do (make something for tomorrow’s potluck, reading 3 text books, doing homework that’s due Monday, prepare for exam that is on Friday,…) but I can’t focus. I can read every thing except my textbooks! What I’m gonna do?
I should check myself in a rehab or something. This obsessive reading is making me dysfunctional!
I have finished “He loves me, He loves me Hot” by Stephanie Rowe. It is the third book of series which involves the same characters. The first one “Date me baby, One more Time” is about Justin, a two hundred plus years old guardian of “Desdemona’s Temptation” (Mona for short) or the goblet of eternal life to us. She is taking care of Mona which is currently in the shape of a coffeemaker with the help from her dragon friend Theresa. Justin falls in love and marries a guy who might die if he doesn’t drink from Mona. The second story “Must love Dragons” happens when Justin is in her honey moon. Theresa is bored and wants to meet her cyberspace lover in real life. She has been trapped in her dragon form for two hundred years, so she makes a deal with Satan. Turns out there is someone looking for her from her past and yes, the lover boy is a dragon slayer by birth. But hey, they are in love, Satan wants Mona, and his second in command -the Rivka Becca- has a soft spot for her scaly silver and blue dragon friend. No worries! With Becca’s help every thing ends well and Theresa marry Zack. “He loves me, He loves me Hot” is the story of Becca, a cold hard bad-ass bitch and Satan’s right hand Rivka. Ooh, she has problems. She has enough of Satan’s ordering her right and left and midway. She wants time for herself, she wants to be independent. She has to separate her life force from Satan’s. She has to find a way to keep her friends, to feel things. But her spell goes wrong and as a punishment Satan saddles her with an apprentice. Some entanglement with a hot guy whom she shouldn’t like (or love or lust after) and some maternal instincts toward Paige (her annoying pupil) later, she is hooked up to her lover's life force for eternity. The guy has become immortal with Theresa’s help and Becca and Paige are free of Satan and Rivka life. The fourth book is supposedly about Paige and her affairs. It is not out yet.
All and all entertaining but you have to have a really wild imagination to accept Satan’s character as an egoistic sex-addict who is a good guy despite being the leader of hell!
The other book I finished was “All together dead” by Charlaine Harris. I love Sooki, she is kind, she is smart, and she is responsible. She goes to a summit with vampire queen of Louisiana and her entourage. She barely sees her boyfriend were-tiger Quinn and worse of all she has another blood exchange with Eric, the handsome Viking vampire. But you know what is really bad? There is an explosion and many people and vampires are killed. She barley manages to save Eric, Pam, the Queen, the demon lawyer, her boyfriend and a handful of friends. Ooh, remember I told you that were-tiger is suspicious? He had a couple of secrets as Sooki finds out.
One other book, I just finish is “Succubus Blues” by Richelle Mead. The story of cute, kind, and utterly one of a kind succubus of Seattle -Georgina Kincaid- who is in love with an author, is dating another nice guy but tries not to drain him and has sex with low-lives for energy fixes. Her friends are a plastic surgeon imp, two kosher vampires (they drink animal blood and love their steaks row), her demon boss, and his drinking buddy archangel Carter. Loved the story and characters. Can’t wait for the second book. What a pity it would take a year to see the second one!

Ooh, forgot to tell! Finished “Claimed by shadow” by Karen Chance too. Loved loved loved the characters. Cassie (Cassandra) is a really kick-ass cool gal and that mage John Pritkin? He is brooding, stubborn and totally cute! The master vampire Mircea is hot, steaming, and sexy as hell. Thomas? I didn’t like him that much, he was a betrayer; wasn’t he? He didn’t deserve to sleep with Cassie but he did! Bastard! And that ghost Billy? Cool cowboy! Can I have a pet ghost like him, please?

My cat is purring on my lap and I feel relaxed. After a long time, I had the opportunity to do what I wanted today. I stayed home and cleaned my office and organized my books and papers. I’ve been very busy and stressed and reading like crazy these last few days.
Books I finished:
“Cover girl confidential” by Beverly Bartlett. About a mixed-race immigrant girl who becomes American sweet Heart and a celebrity and then gets deported after a couple of scandals (one of them involving the president!). I liked this book more than the other one by the author. “Princess Izzy and the E Street Shuffle” was a little boring.
From Princess Diaries series, I read “Party Princess” and “Princess on the Brink” by Meg Cabot. I very much like Princess Mia’s character but she has became whinny, spoiled and totally self-righteous. In the last book she has broken up with her boyfriend Michel for a stupid reason and is flirting with another boy! She is showing her royal heritage finally!
“Sweet and Deadly” by Charlaine Harris was not up to her Sooki Stakehouse series standard. The book had a slow pace. I also have started “All together Dead”, in which; Sooki goes to a couple of weddings and a vampire summit out of state. I like Sooki’s adventure and am hopping she hooks up with Eric the Viking vampire again. He is handsome, powerful, and totally bossy! A very yummy combination! I don’t like her current guy Quinn. Maybe because I don’t like guys who shave their heads, but I have a suspicious he is hiding something. He is a were-tiger and I love tigers. OK, not the Bengal type with its yellow eyes but Siberian ones. Those beautiful creatures with white and black-brown stripes and emerald green eyes? Yeah, those I love. But Quinn is the normal every day garden variety tiger, yellow and brown stripes and yellow eyes. Nothing special!
Another book in Blackbird sisters mysteries, “A little thing called death” by Nancy Martin; was fun (if you can call murder mysteries FUN!). Nora is engaged to Mike ( A mafia heir), Libby is trying to escape her own life and children by planning Nora’s wedding and Emma is receiving calls from strange men in odd hours (Is she moonlighting as a lady of the night?).
One other book was “Duped by Derivatives” by Gail Farrelly. A hotshot investor is murdered and a finance professor, a private detective and an ex-chamber maid are trying to find the murderer. The book is suitable for seventy year olds! The pace is so slow you have to keep your eyes open with match-sticks!
I’m also reading “Dirty Blond” by Lisa Scottoline. It’s about a lady judge who is a sex addict. Her job and life is seriously threatened when media finds out her secret.
Ah, yes! I started “The Maltese Falcon” but didn’t have the patience to finish it. For reading something like that you have to be in a hotel in a tropical beach and just lay in the sun and enjoy the word play and smartness of the author. I am in no position to take a tropical vacation right now! So the book plus two others by Dashiell Hammett goes back to the library. Some other time maybe, baby!
I couldn’t resist buying two box of “Chocolate Mosaic” from Trader Joe’s. Seven different heavenly flavors in a box that is three feet long! Totally gorgeous. And also working on a bar of organic milk chocolate (has soybean milk in it!) from a brand name “Rapunzel”. It is from Belgium.
No more shopping! you can probably tell by my bored and tiered tone. But hey, I bought five sets of gem stone earrings online and am saving to buy that delicious handbag from Banana Republic. Ooh, the sacrifices I make!

I'm in love! I'm in love with a handbag from Banana Republic. It's this nice soft dark chocolate brown leather handbag. The color is beautiful. Its size is perfect and that aged creamy leather is delicious. I'm so in love!!!
I have a collection of 25 different bags (large and mini bags), purses, clutches and totes, but I don't have anything in brown, chocolate brown to be exact. I want it! I want that bag!

I went to the library Monday and checked out some books. I finished three books of “Fudge” series by Judy Blume. Love the characters and the funny happy stories. I know! It’s kind of late for me to read children books but I can’t help it. Sometimes, I need happiness and fun and innocence that comes from childhood. How can I have that without reading books? Maybe one day when I have a child I can share her/him happiness and playfulness but until that day; I’m happy reading children books.
The other book was “Not Another New Year’s” by Christie Ridgway. It was a typical romance, a cute but sad and betrayed school teacher, a hunky secret service agent, nice family members, passionate love from first accidental kiss, belah belah belah…. I wonder how these people can fall in love and decide to marry in just a couple of week? But hey, it’s romance-land and make-believes. It’s very unrealistic! Don’t authors think about real life at all? What if some reader believe all this nonsense and think they can marry the first stranger who draws their fancy? The thing is, I love good stories. If you can’t write well and answer all your readers’ questions, you better not bother at all; that’s my opinion on writing.
Another book was “The Accidental Florist” by Jill Churchill. It’s the latest book of a series and reads like a journal entry without having a journal format. “She woke up, she had breakfast…she talked to her friend…” no emotions, no thoughts, nothing… you can not relate to characters. It’s like a third grader's essay. It’s a report! Forget it. I’m not talking about it!
What I look forward to starting is (or rather are) three books by Dashiell Hammett. I heard so much about him, and I love love love “the Maltese Falcon”. I can’t wait to start them.
Why do I hate grocery shopping so much? I went yesterday (after a five days delay and eating out a lot!) but it was so exhausting! I don’t like supermarkets, that’s for sure. The only stores I like for food shopping are a couple of organic food suppliers. Not that I am addicted to organic, I just like the ambience, the different décor and displays and all those breads and cheese. Yumm!

Ok, I finished “Persuasion” by Jane Austen but I’m going to wait until the end of the month and discussion session in BBC (check the link) to write about it.
Three books were finished this week as well. The first one is: “I Went to Vassar for This?” by Naomi Neale. The story of a headstrong PR and Ad specialist who is aiming for a big promotion with her last project but instead gets fired. She goes home and by a freak microwave accident, ends up in 1959 and lives (and works) there for three weeks; inhabiting body of a young woman who is very much like her (physically). She falls in love too and when by another accident she is thrown back to her time, she has a new take on life and a broken heart. But hey, what was that BANG from neighbor’s apartment?
It was a good story, strong characters, nice humor, good plot and all!
The second book was “Art geeks and prom queens” by Alyson Noel about a girl moving to Newport Beach California and starting in a private high school, up and downs of teenage life, privileged kids and shopping. Yup, as a resident of Orange county reading about it was fun and the description of South Coast Plaza and Fashion Island had me laughing pretty hard! Shopping is good and South Coast Plaza is one of my favorite shopping malls so of course I had fun reading the book.
The third book was “The curse of the Holy Pail” by Sue Ann Jaffarian. It was about an over-weight middle-aged paralegal living in Orange County (yes, again!) and solving mysteries. It was innnnnnnnnnnnteresting! Kind of boring toward the end with all the scene descriptions. The author has a tendency to talk and describe a little too much about small simple things like warping paper of a famous chocolate (like no one has ever heard of those cheapo chocolates!!) I wonder if she was paid by words, but hey; that’s just my opinion!

Be good at what ever you do!

I finished three books of pet-sitter mysteries by Linda O. Johnston. Kendra Ballantyne in the first book “Sit, Stay, Slay” has a suspended law license and starts her new career as a pet-sitter for rich people and spoiled pets of LA. Her first client is a sexy PI, Jeff. She ends up being a suspect in murder (three of her clients) and she does everything in her power (and Jeff’s power) to clear her name. In the second book “Nothing to fear but Ferrets”, Kendra is working on her test for restoring her license, Jeff’s ex-wife is coming back to him as a damsel in distress, and Kendra’s tenants are accused of murder (all of two humans and their six ferrets). Kendra has to find the real murder if only for the sake of those cute weasels. Oh, yes; she passes the bar and starts in a cool law firm too. Best news is she keeps her pet-sitting business which leads to the third book “Fine Feathered Death”. In this adventure Kendra is avoiding Jeff but he is prime suspect of killing one of her law partners. She just has to clear his name so she can break up with him without feeling guilty. Her new tenant is another sexy guy and his daughter despite her childish dreams of stardom in Hollywood ends up helping Kendra in pet-sitting.
Murderer is caught thanks to our super pet-sitter and Jeff kicks his ex out (again!).
We should wait and see what will happen in other books!

I'm back!

Yeah, I’m fine, I’m alive, thanks for asking every one! Ha ha ha!
Sooo, I’m back kind of from hell although I didn’t move, it’s just that the hell moved! I mean it’s gone from my life for now! Good news all around! I have been busy with selecting classes for this quarter; have turned in a couple of sets of homework and attended one lab session (on mold and fungi in air! Such a fun subject! Don’t you like it?!). Yes, and yesterday best of the best things happened and I got my admission for grad school (that waiting and stressing and nightmares? That was the hell I mentioned!). Now I just have a couple of more impossible tasks to achieve like enroll in three classes and have them counted for credit in my Master. Ah, well, I’m working on it!
Aside from all these fun stuff I was going through, I was able to finish “the Mediator” series. Yeah, Jess became alive and he and Suze lived happily ever after.
Another book from Meg Cabot I finished was “Size 14 is not fat either”. Ok, Heather solved another murder case in Death Dorm and found a cute Calculus instructor to keep her warm instead of Cooper. Why he doesn’t date her and ends this series is beyond me! It is the second book of the series and I am tired of Heather and her endless complains and her low self esteem about her weight problem. She is just so irresponsible! She keeps eating and eating and eating and then worries that she has gone up a size? Give me a break! It’s like this, the other day I saw an over weight lady (one of the staff in college) going back to her office carrying one coffee, two large muffins and a bagel! I assume (and by one cup of coffee, I assume right!) that those were her snacks (in worse case scenario there is a %50 chance that they were). Ok, I’m asking you; what normal person can eat all that and not gain weight?! You know I’m not against eating sweets or cakes for that matter, just keep in moderation when you eat! Is it too much to ask? Or these people have no self control? I can understand sometimes a pastry is too delicious to pass, a cake is the fluffiest lightest best cake ever… so you eat, worse you make a pig of yourself, you go for second and third, hell; you even finish it all by yourself (happened to me in case of a large marble cake with cream cheese for filling, three types of cream cheese and a thick layer of chocolate cream on top! Ooh, heaven!!) But not always!!! I mean you don’t (can’t! shouldn’t!!) make a habit of it! Or if you have a large Muffin with your coffee at six in the afternoon, you better skip dinner (how can you eat after that, I wonder?! You would be so full!) Anyway I think Heather is tiresome and if she doesn’t do something about her eating habits, she’s going to have a stroke soon!
I read “The Big Over Easy” by Jasper Fforde. I love this guy! He is a genius, have I told you before? Jack Spratt in Nursery Crime Division is my hero! I like him much more than Thursday Next. He is more real and his flaws are endearing.
What else did I read? I can’t remember. Ok, I finished “Touch the Dark” by Karen Chance. First book in the series. Love the heroin, loved those vampires and that ghost character is just plain cute! Can’t wait for the second book “Claimed by Shadow”. It is out but I couldn’t find it in the book store.
I read one of the books in “Wicked woman” series. Not worth mentioning, very cheesy indeed!
Oh, yes! The story of Edward and Bella in “Twilight” and “New Moon” by Stephenie Meyer. Bella is this klutz who always ends up in trouble and Edward the gorgeous seventeen (and one hundred) years old vampire falls in love with her. He thirsts for her blood but loves her so much that he promises to stay beside her as she ages. Question is why he loves her, no apparent reason except the smell of her blood! And he can not read her mind either. Is it reason enough to love? I give her this, she is warm hearted and very kind and friendly but antisocial too! She didn’t want to make friends in her new school; she just wanted to be ignored. Yeah, ignored by humans and cold toward them, but warm and fuzzy with monsters! She admits it herself, she is a freak! Ok! And Edward?!! Ooh, too much Romeo and Juliet for my taste, head over heels and all that stuff but why? Has anyone asked the author why should we believe these artificial characters? But I confess I like Edward’s family, His mom and Alice are very nice and yes; I’m in love with Charlise his vampire father. He is so dreamy! Yum! Right now they have survived an attack from a crazy hunter and his mate and six months of separation, a couple of suicide attempts (mainly on Edward’s side) and a face-to-face with vampire royalty. Yeah, add to that a pack of teenage werewolves (specially one lovesick Jake, poor puppy!), some high school dramatic friends, an angry father, and an irresponsible mother! Sweet!! So when is the next one out?
Nothing special in chocolate-land, just one new bar of “Dove” dark chocolate filled with coffee crunches. Kind of sweet for my taste but yum all the same!
Shopping, yes; shopping. I went out shopping with a friend the weekend before last. Four beautiful t-Shirt/tops were purchased (ha! By me of course), Pre-ordered cosmetics were picked, and 3-4 hours were spend in fun. Then a couple of days after that I received a package from my parents full of beautiful clothes! Dear hubby was looking at closet thinking how I’m going to fit everything in! I managed it though, no worries!

Gone with the movie!

I had a couple of busy days. Finished “The Saffron Kitchen” by Yasmin Crowther. It’s the story of a mother grown up in Mazareh and Mashhad (Iran) before revolution and gone to England and her daughter growing up not belonging, and how they find peace and clear the shadows between them. Very cultural, a mix of old and new, western costumes and eastern traditions. A sad tale of love, lose, and finally making peace.
Also finished “The Scot, The Witch, and The Wardrobe”. Yup, Happy endings all around!
What I want to write about is the movie “Music and Lyrics”. It was funny, happy, romantic, and full of gorgeous clothes. Drew’s wardrobe consultant and stylist have been geniuses. All those bohemian cloths for Sophie! Ah, my, I loved every single one of them! I’m looking for the dress she wore with that beat up jean jacket and her brown aged leather bag. That gray silk number with orange-red flower pattern? I’m so in love!
Ooh, and didn’t Hugh Grant look homo in his 80s costume and flash backs or what?!

The Scot, The Whitch, and The Confused

I finished another couple of Mediator books. “The Mediator 2: Ninth Key” is about Suze in her third or fourth week in Carmel. She got a case of Poison Ivy, a cute athletic guy with a wannabe vampire father and a killer uncle, and two Neanderthal stepbrothers to deal with. The other book is “The Mediator 4: Darkest Hour” in which Suze has a summer job. She meets an eight year old mediator and his cute brother. An enraged ghost who turns out to be ex fiancé of her Jesse wants to kill Suze. Some one exorcises Jesse and Suze has to go to the other side to get him. And that new guy Paul? He is not what he seems!
Aside from the childish innocent of Meg Cabot work, I’m still reading that “The Scot, The Witch, and The Wardrobe” book and falling slowly (very very slowly) under Rory’s spell. As hard as I try I can’t see what the draw is. I mean I normally don’t like rough blue collar guys. I am not attracted to drawls (or was it drawges?) and I hate bossy guys. So what is it that makes this Rory guy such a hottie? His red (sorry, mahogany!) hair? His beard? (Yukkkkkkk!) His not standing sense of humor? His Hermit status? What?
This is the third or fourth book I’m reading in a month period which has a Scottish man as a hero and honestly I can’t see what all the fuss is about. Someone please tell me what makes these Scot guys hot? Their crabbiness? Their antisocial status? Them being hermits? Their crudeness? Why are girls falling left and right for them? Haa? Why?

Books, books, and more books

Being highly disappointed in “Bustin’”, I left the book half finished and went to the library yesterday. The books I checked out are: “Posh” by Lucy Jackson, about two high school students in love, their mothers and, school principal. The boy is bipolar and commits suicide at the end of story. Very sad indeed!
The second book is “How to be Popular” by Meg Cabot. I like most of her books although they are written for young adults. I enjoy her sense of humor and her comic take on complicated matters and relationships. Anyway the book is about a junior high school girl who wants to clear her tarnished reputation and bag a boyfriend in the process with the help of an old book. Boy, she does it and the boyfriend? Let’s say she always had the right boy with her.
The other book is “The Mediator 3: Reunion”, again from Meg Cabot. It’s from a series named The Mediator, about a teenage girl (Suze) in Carmel California who can speak to (and feel) ghosts. In this book she has her friend from New York over for a visit and her stepbrothers are in love with her best friend. A killer falls in love with Suze and four ghosts are trying to avenge their murders. I really liked Suze’s character. I put hold on the rest of the series!
I also have started “The Scot, The Witch, and The Wardrobe” by Annette Blair. It’s the story of third member of the little Wiccan coven of Salem Witches, Victoria. She is the blond one, has an antique shop and is in debt up to her ears. Oh, and she doesn’t believe she is a witch. I’m in third or fourth chapter and really really like that Rory character (not the accent that much, but overall he is yummy!).
The first book of this semi-series was “The Kitchen Witch” about Melody the brunette one. She fell in love and married a TV producer. She also had her own cooking show (hence the name of the book!). The second book is the story of Keira the sexy redhead in “My Favorite Witch”. She found love in the offices of a charity organization she was PR manager of.
Good old fashion romance novels! So refreshing!!

Little Miss Sunshine!

I had a couple of really productive days! Spend four hours Saturday afternoon shopping in one of the largest malls of this area. I’m so in love with spring fashion, all those shrunken jackets, white, pale blue and gray cotton trench coats, ooh; and the dresses, my my… all those purple, yellow, orange and reds… I’ve died and gone to heaven! J Crew is becoming my favorite store, such a class, such merchandize… and best of all, a red-orange miniskirt for $8.50!!! Wow, shopping gods were smiling at me! Pre-ordered some cosmetic in Macy’s, too. But as hard as I try, I don’t like Macy’s, it’s too stuffy and crowded, much prefer shopping in boutiques than in a department store. Took a pick at some truffles in Godiva boutique but wasn’t in mood for sweet truffles. I’m still working on my %71 dark chocolate. And Sunday grocery shopping which I usually don’t like, but treated myself to some sweets and every things got better instantly!
Books, oh yes; books! Finished “Lover Revealed” by JR Ward. Didn’t like it as much as previous books of the series. The plot was cheesy! Butch O’Neil was a vampire all along and they could turn him into a warrior? He finally found his home… oh, home sweet home! And all those playing innocent virgin by Marissa? Oof, give me a break (or at least let me laugh for half an hour)! The way she transformed from a shy unwanted girl in her caset to an executive woman? I wish! And no, oh no, my Vishous is into S&M stuff? And he is an angel inside? No way!!! Therefore hereafter, I officially am in love with Phury; at least he is celibate, no skeleton in his closet (yet)!
Also started “Bustin’” by Minda Webber. Do not, I repeat; do not under any circumstances buy her books. This is the third book of hers I’m reading and it sucks! I stumbled into the first one “The Remarkable Miss Frankenstein” and read the second one “The Reluctant Miss Van Helsing” with scientist neutrality (tried to, anyway!). I didn’t like any of those books and then last Friday out of an honest mistake I bought her newest book “Bustin’”. I blame the cover design, it fooled me, tempted me and made me forget I know the author’s name (and the fact that it was in my red list!). So here I am, 150 pages into the book and totally disgusted and bored. Who buys her books anyway (if not by mistake like me!)? Her characters are (suppose to be) sassy, pretty (simple looking with hearts of gold and hidden depths! HAA!) Girls with large mouths and not enough brains who entangle themselves in impossible situation to prove themselves. Then they get into so much trouble that the guy they were out to impress has to come to their rescue! And the idiot is impressed with their stupidity! Can you believe it?! And please, don’t get me started on word plays and cutesy expressions in every other sentences, it’s a torture disguised in frills and laces and equally disgusting!
Am I not a little Miss Sunshine today?! Not my fault, it’s a dark gloomy day and I’m waiting for some news!

Happy spring break!

Hooray! I’m back. Yes, I finished typing that report last night at 7:00 and dear hubby helped (a lot!) and I came back to the land of living! So today I turned that in and had lunch with a friend and went shopping. Yep! Shopping, after so long. It felt good, felt wonderful in fact; so much that I kept buying and buying and… yeah, you name it, a purse, a vest, skirt, dress, blazer, top, jeans, earrings, bracelet, cardigan… oh, my… all good pretty things, and I swear, I need every single one of them! I mean it was more than a month ago that I bought two new handbags, right? And this one is so totally different! It is designed after famous quilted Chanel bag, is tiny and the quilted patterns are its brand monograms and it’s white… so cute! The blazer is bright red… love the color but still not sure about it. It doesn’t go with too many things in my closet. The skirt’s cut is beautiful. Not so sure about wide leg jeans either (but like them never less!). The dress, OK the dress… It is a T-dress, very light and summery, and I wanted it in hot pink (or was it more bubble gum pink?) but the pink one looked cheap and cheesy, so I got it in black which now makes the number of my casual black dresses to four and I don’t wear black dresses that much… not during the day (too formal), not at night (still too cold!). So what should I do with this new one? Just leave it on the hanger beside the other three, I suppose! Which kinds of makes me to regret spending money on it… huuuuuuuum! May be I should return it? Return or no return? Let’s think about it!!!
What else, ooooh, yes! Four new books! Guess what? One of the books is: “A Girl’s guide to Retail Therapy” by Amy Elliott. Like I need any help… may be I need help, come to think about it in the lights of black dress dilemma. Anyway, the book is totally cute, all blue-violet and purple; with cute graphics… as soon as I got home, I started reading it. It should help me not to make mistakes in my shopping frenzies anymore.
Finished “Real Vampire Have Curves” too. It’s a series and the second book continues the story. This one didn’t end well, no; I don’t mean “happy ending”, I mean a weak leaving-you-hang-by-your-finger-nails ending! Reserve judgment after reading the second one!So far so good, I’m happy, cats are happy, Dear hubby is probably happy! And after taking the quiz in shopping guide book, I found out that I’m not such an expert shopper that I usually thought myself to be. I need (alas!) guidance! Ha and ha and ha!!

Busy Bee, Keep Busy!

Busy, busy, busy! That’s me, Miss Bee!! I’ve been working on my project from Sunday full time. Then I took 2-3 hours Monday afternoon to bake some pastries for New Year celebration which was Tuesday! Yeah, I didn’t work on Tuesday due to said New Year thing! “Ya feel me?” So now here I am, in the first day of spring, first day of a new year and I don’t feel anything! No happiness, no joy, nothing! I don’t even feel like working and finishing up on that darn report/article thingy! I feel lonely. My cat is napping on my lap and I just finished talking to my parents. I should feel peaceful, reassured, happy –maybe- that every thing is all right, but no! Instead I feel empty. Am I blocking my emotions? Probably! But right now I don’t want to psychoanalyze myself… I am tiered, I want to do nothing, sleep forever…. Yeah, even I can see I’m going into depression!
Let’s forget my emotional state for a minute. I feel lost without my books! I have not read any thing (old or new!) for four days now and I’m getting to the end of my wits! I feel like a junkie! I need my fix; I need a book, now! And chocolate, sweet sweet chocolate! Not that VALRHONA 71% Dark Chocolate is sweet by any definition but still! It’s the best really! Last time I went chocolate shopping, I bought four bars of it (Each bar has 8 squares, Eat one square per day!) and in less that 2 weeks I finished the second bar, attribute of dear hubby who’s just discovering the joys of very dark chocolate! Oh, my bad influence! Yeah, and on New Year I opened a new box of See’s Candies (a Valentine gift), not that I particularly like them, but See’s good for offering to other people!
Anyway, still don’t feel like working but probably should if I want to turn my project in on time in Friday. What a life!

Reward and Punishment!

Nah, it didn’t work! I’m talking about that reward thing for motivating myself. I haven’t typed one word these past few days!! Instead I have finished three books. The first one was “Shopaholic and Baby” by Sophie Kinsella. Becky Bloomwood Brandon is shopping madly again, invests for her baby’s future and confronts her husband’s famous and crazy ex girlfriend. Also she has enough time to draw a PR stunt and attracts customer to the store she is working in! Isn’t she a multi-tasker?!! There is so much going on in the book that you can pick up which adventure you want to follow! Fun to read, but not as good as first couple of books of the series. It started to go downhill from “Shopaholic ties the Knot”. “Shopaholic and Sister” was a waste of time. This last one is better but not by much!
The second book was “Jinx High” by Mercedes Lackey and about how a Guardian/ Witch/ Romance Writer confronts a 300-something years old entity. The witch-sorcerer thing has inhabited a high school girl’s body and plans to steal a teenage boy! Not a bad story, but honestly; Ms. Lackey is not a good storyteller. This is not the first book I’ve read from her and I always have found the finales rushed and weak.
And last (but not least!) book was “Perfecting Kate” by Tamara Leigh. Kate is a practicing Christian and an interior designer who overhears a comment about herself and starts to “improve” her looks. She has help from her makeup artist boyfriend who really is in love with her roommate and the said roommate! Finally it is an ex plastic surgeon and his love and acceptance which saves her! Mostly the book advises you to be a good Christian (!!!) and be happy with what you got! All the man-stealing bitches will be punished and good people live happily ever after! Kind of boring but I finished it! I had no other alternative to read, I was stuck with the damn thing!
Very low level of chocolate in blood due to not being at home most of Wednesday, Thursday and Friday! And no, no, no! I didn’t go shopping. I was at school trying to convince the admission committee that I deserve to start grad program!
I have so many things to do for next week and have done nothing! Wish it was still Monday!

Better than nothing!

I'm reading "Real Vampires Have Curves" by Gerry Bartlett on the side. It's full of gorgeous vampires but one stands out. Jerry Blade, the handsome Scott. Yeah, he is handsome; he is old (!!And old-fashion too!), he is good with blades and he is unreal! I mean aside from the fact that Glory has been in love with him for last seven hundred years or so, what's the big attraction? His bossiness? Great sex? Looks like Glory can have a good time with anyone, even that sleek Italian Sabatini! So what? I'm going to finish the book but I don't like it that much!
Oh, I'm going to motivate myself to work on that project. If I work well for next couple of days I go shopping Thursday or Friday. My I-Want-That list is getting longer by hour!
An after thought: Doesn’t Blind King (Wrath) in Black Dagger Brotherhood series remind you of Blade (in Blade trilogy)? Same wrap-around sunglasses, leather head to toe, daggers, tall and dark, strange color eyes, every thing except the fact that he is white and Blade was black?

Still not happy!

Finished "Ghost, Interrupted" by Sonia Singh. You can easily fall in love with a blond telekinetic cowboy, a cute Indian medium and a tall-dark-handsome paranormal investigator. Well, of course you can easily hate a red-head green-eyed power-hungry professor too! So, welcome to THE COLD SPOT, where a nice Victorian house full of antiques houses our ghost hunters!
Do I have nothing else to work on? Don’t remind me, please!!! And for what?! I already know there is no point in finishing this course! So hate my life right now!
I can’t believe I started this weblog to talk about happy yummy things and I got stuck with this impossible situation!
Good thing though, talked (IM-ed) to my little sister for 2 hours! Missing her so much!

Too depressed to live!

Friday, I was thinking about some serious retail therapy but was too numb to even enter a store or decide what I want to look for. How sad is that? So, I came back home with "Lover Eternal" and "Lover awakened" by J. R. Ward and read and read and read... Also, still working on that Lindt %70 dark chocolate, one square at a time!
J. Ward has a mesmerizing way of introducing characters and knotting in new plots despite her funny way of describing clothes and music and scenes. Oh, and don't get me started on names and dialogs!!! But I really like to know what happens to Black Dagger Brotherhood, specialy Vishous (I'm falling in love with him!); so I'm going to read the whole series! Am I the only one noticing this: warriors have names like Thorment and Therror and Zsadist and Phury, however Females (pay attention, Females; not Women!!!) have names like Marissa and Nalla and Bella and ... Isn’t it totally sexist? Ahh, and what is it with killing a pregnant female? It is so very unfair... like she and her baby were totally disposable... No, this writer lady has some issues!
I can channel my anger safely toward the author and plots... What a joy!

A bad sad day

My day went downhill right from the beginning, OK, right after I checked my emails first thing in the morning. My application for grad school was rejected.... shoot, darn, crap.... what do they want? I have great references; I passed two crappy test with great results... I'm even taking a stupid useless class and stressing over it.... What do they want? My first born?! An agreement signed in blood?!
My beautiful sunny springy day went straight down the drains! Doesn't matter how cute my skirt and jean jacket looked together and how many blossoming trees I've seen today, or even how fun hanging out with my friends have been, it's a crappy sad stupid frustrating day!!!
I tried drowning my sorrows in a bar of Lindt %70 Dark chocolate, didn't work! I just got high, hyper and more emotional!

What should I do? Now that I think about it, I probably am willing to promise them my first born, if it turns out to be a boy!! God, I'm so screwed!

Confession: I did nothing except reading "Icing on the Cake" by Laura Castoro. Yeah, my conscious is killing me for not working on that darn article I have to finish in two weeks.
Anyway, the story is about breads, advertising, mothers and daughters, fake-tan husband stealing bitches and one fab sensual guy. After reading it, I respect my bread more (!) and can't stop my cravings! I've eaten 4 slices and still counting!

Finished a box of fine Van Lys Belgian Chocolate in two days (with a little help from love of my life!). It's a record, even for me! These chocolate candies are in different shapes like walnut (white), hazelnut, almond and a couple of traditional truffle shapes, an assortment of white, milk and dark chocolate. Fillings are light and smooth and not too sweet. All in all, very yummy!
Now, if I only could convince my husband not to eat them with a glass of milk!!
Also finished "The Red Heart of Jade" by Marjorie M. Liu, which I didn't like that much. Characters are way-out-there and oh-so-romantic, not real at all. Plus, the plot is too far fetched and outlandish...
Can you see I'm doing every thing except work on my class project?

I love Jasper Fforde books. "Thursday Next" series was funny, intelligent, amusing and had a new take on old classic characters. His new series "Nursery Crime" novels have the same witty light approach to children’s story characters. I finished "The Fourth Bear" and can't wait to put my hands on "Big over Easy" (the first one in the series) and "The Last Great Tortoise Race".
"Dark Lover" by J.R. Ward introduced a new version of vampires and their relative problems. I got over excited and put hold on other books of this series.

Hi everyone,
I'm going to write about what I like here, mainly books, chocolate, clothes and cats (my cats, of course!).
hope you enjoy it,
cheers,
Aradia