in my email...

The Susan G Komen 3 Day Walk For The Cure

So, Britt, Matt & I are thinking of taking part in the Susan G Komen 3 Day Walk For The Cure in Chicago. I have to get the OK from my doctor (you know, the heart issues that cropped up when I was in the hospital in November). The dates are August 6-8th, you walk 20 miles (*gasp) a day, sleep in tents they provide. I go back to my cardiologist on February 4th, so I'm going to ask then. I'll let you know what he says and what we decide to do! But we are going to need a team name!!

Friday Fill Ins #4

1. You have a chance to make things right.
2. I need a nap right now!
3. There is a cat sleeping on my lap!
4. Buy now and pay later.
5. It's time to make the donuts.
6. Its seems as though my life is up in the air but it's just giving me a chance to think about what I really want to do with my life.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to watching Ghost Whisperer and tomorrow my plans include catching up on my reading and Sunday, I want to watch the COLTS win the AFC Championship and head to the Superbowl, baby!!!!

Blog Tour~ Knit, Purl, Die by Anne Canadeo

Counting on each other...
Meet the Black Sheep knitters -- five smart, funny women who love to knit, gossip, and solve crimes.
Gloria Sterling had it all -- money, looks, and a new sexy young husband. So when she's found floating face down in her own swimming pool, shock waves ripple through tiny Plum Harbor. At the Black Sheep Knitting Shop, Maggie Messina and her circle are devastated to lose their dear friend -- a woman as colorful as her fabulous yarn creations.
The police are quick to call it an accident, but sorting out Gloria's final hours leaves too many loose ends to satisfy her friends. The vivacious, fiftysomething cougar had her French manicured tips in more than a few pots, and the threads of some inside deals stashed in her chic knitting tote.
Who was the last person to see Gloria alive on that quiet summer night? Two empty wine glasses suggest she wasn't home alone knitting the entire evening.... The Black Sheep need to know the truth and set out to unravel -- stitch by stitch -- the weighty secrets that pulled poor Gloria under.

about the author~

Anne Canadeo lives and knits in Northport, New York. While My Pretty One Knits is her debut novel, and the first in the Black Sheep Knitting Club series.

Product Details
Paperback: 288 pages
Publisher: Pocket; Original edition (December 29, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 141659812X

my review~ Knit, Purl, Die is the second book in the Black Sheep Knitting Club series, written by Anne Canadeo. I have not had the chance to read 'While My Pretty One Knits' yet, but it is on my TBR list! Knit, Purl, Die can easily be a stand alone book but I'm looking forward to reading 'While My Pretty One Knits' as well as the books to come! Knit, Purl, Die reads easily & quickly, Ms. Canadeo knits together a story that draws you in. The characters are very realistic and theres a few twists in the story to keep you reading!

I've never read a book that is centered around a hobby before, and while I don't knit (yet!) I found it great that Ms. Canadeo mentions the Warm Up America blanket (actually the club is making one!) and I crocheted a blanket myself! Theres also a couple of recipes and knitting pattern websites mentioned!

Tasty Tuesday! Tuna Cakes from Kraft Foods

I'm going to start blogging about some of the recipes that I find online and I'm calling it 'Tasty Tuesday!' They will just be recipes that I find that I will be making or have made for my picky eaters. Nothing fancy just everyday food! So today's recipe is: Tuna Cakes! I found this recipe on the Kraft website (I just love Kraft!).

Ingredients~

2 cans (6 oz. each) light tuna in water, drained, flaked (I use StarKist)
1 pkg. (6 oz.) STOVE TOP Stuffing Mix for Chicken
1 cup KRAFT Shredded Mild Cheddar Cheese
3/4 cup water
1 carrot, shredded
1/3 cup KRAFT Real Mayo Mayonnaise
2 Tbsp. CLAUSSEN Sweet Pickle Relish


1.) MIX all ingredients. Refrigerate 10 min.

2.) HEAT large nonstick skillet sprayed with cooking spray on medium heat. Use ice cream scoop to add 1/3-cup portions of tuna mixture, in batches, to skillet.

3.) FLATTEN into patties with back of spatula. Cook 6 min. or until golden brown on both sides, carefully turning patties over after 3 min.


Substitutions-
Substitute 1 cup KRAFT Shredded Low-Moisture Part-Skim Mozzarella Cheese, 4 chopped green onions and 1 Tbsp. lemon juice for the Cheddar, carrots and relish.
For Easier Handling in the Skillet-
Mix all ingredients. Shape into patties as directed. Place in single layer on baking sheet. Refrigerate 1 hour before cooking as directed.

So for dinner tonight we are having:

Tuna Cakes, homemade mashed potatos, green beans and pineapple upside down cake!

Blog Tour & Giveaway~A Black Tie Affair by Sherrill Bodine

SUITED FOR SEDUCTION
Fashion curator Athena Smith will do anything to get her perfectly manicured hands on the Clayworth family's celebrated couture collection for her exhibit. So when she's called in to make sure the gowns are the real deal, she's ecstatic...until a dress she's examining turns out to be loaded with toxins (talk about killer threads!) and Athena faints, only to wake up face-to-face with the One That Got Away, notorious Chicago bachelor Drew Clayworth.Drew still believes Athena betrayed him all those years ago, and he's sure he can't trust her. But when the priceless gowns go missing, she offers to help track them down. Reluctantly allied in the quest, Drew and Athena are soon stunned by the barely restrained passion still sizzling between them...and memories both bitter and sweet. Is their new partnership just a business arrangement? Or is this something more than...




Product Details
Mass Market Paperback: 240 pages
Publisher: Forever (January 1, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0446618594

about the author~
(from the authors website)
Author Bio
I’m sure growing up in my grandmother’s house, taking care of my developmentally disabled mother, forged who I am, but I don’t believe any one thing defines me. My philosophy of life is that we are all in this together—and we need to embrace one another with as much grace, humor and compassion as we can muster. I see life as big, bigger, biggest, and I want to take everyone along with me on the journey. I not only attend black-tie affairs and work on charity board projects, but I am also just as likely to be taking a grandchild to lunch and a movie. I’m happily married to John, with whom I eloped when I was an 18-year-old freshman in college. It was quite the scandal. We have four beautiful children and 11 grandchildren. I won my first writing award in the seventh grade in a statewide essay contest about a television broadcast of Hans Brinker and the Silver Skates. Instead of Silver Skates, they sent real skates, which I enjoyed immensely. I’m only sorry I don’t still have them so they could hang in my office. While moving 22 times across the country and rearing our children, I sold stories to Fate Magazine, Home Life Magazine and True Confessions. In 1988, I sold my first novel and a week later received a two-book contract from Fawcett. Sixteen novels later, I’ve seen The Other Amanda win the Wisconsin Romance Writers of America Write Touch Readers’ Award and Talk of the Town chosen by Cosmopolitan magazine as its “Red Hot Read” for February 2009.

Visit SherrillBodine.com
Follow @SherrillBodine on Twitter.

my review~
Who doesn't love a book about having a second chance at true love? Throw in a little mystery and what a ride! A Black Tie Affair is the telling of Athena & Drews second chance at love. This is the first book that I've read of Mrs. Bodine, but it will NOT be the last!

Go HERE for the giveaway~GIVEAWAY ENDS 01/28/10

Blog Tour~ Veracity by Laura Bynum

Harper Adams was six years old in 2012 when an act of viral terrorism wiped out one-half of the country's population. Out of the ashes rose a new government, the Confederation of the Willing, dedicated to maintaining order at any cost. The populace is controlled via government-sanctioned sex and drugs, a brutal police force known as the Blue Coats, and a device called the slate, a mandatory implant that monitors every word a person speaks. To utter a Red-Listed, forbidden word is to risk physical punishment or even death.
But there are those who resist. Guided by the fabled "Book of Noah," they are determined to shake the people from their apathy and ignorance, and are prepared to start a war in the name of freedom. The newest member of this resistance is Harper -- a woman driven by memories of a daughter lost, a daughter whose very name was erased by the Red List. And she possesses a power that could make her the underground warriors' ultimate weapon -- or the instrument of their destruction.

Product Details
Hardcover: 384 pages
Publisher: Pocket (January 5, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1439123349

about the author~
Laura Bynum was born in Springfield, Illinois in 1968. Childhood plans to be a writer of novels and screenplays and a director of films are currently underway. Laura completed her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Communications at the University of Illinois at Springfield and Eastern Illinois University respectively. She’s since done some filmmaking (Ugly Girl Productions) and marketing consulting. In 2006, Laura won the Rupert Hughes Literary Writing Award at the Maui Writer’s Conference. As a result, she was signed with the Writer’s House. Her Literary Agent is Dan Conaway and her Books to Film Agent is Sylvie Rabineau of Rabineau, Wachter, Sanford & Harris. Laura’s first novel, Veracity, is due out January of 2010. In the summer of 2008, while moving from Illinois to Virginia, Laura was diagnosed with breast cancer and has since been successfully treated.
Laura’s favorite books are both by Steinbeck- East of Eden and The Grapes of Wrath. Her favorite song is Solsbury Hill by Peter Gabriel. Her favorite movie is The Quiet Man. She lives with her husband and three daughters in a small Virginia town in the Shenandoah foothills and is currently writing her second novel and first full-length screenplay.

In MY Mailbox 01/17/10

In My Mailbox was started by The Story Siren.

If you haven't visited her blog, you should!

Knit, Purl, Die by Anne Canadeo

Counting on each other...
Meet the Black Sheep knitters -- five smart, funny women who love to knit, gossip, and solve crimes.
Gloria Sterling had it all -- money, looks, and a new sexy young husband. So when she's found floating face down in her own swimming pool, shock waves ripple through tiny Plum Harbor. At the Black Sheep Knitting Shop, Maggie Messina and her circle are devastated to lose their dear friend -- a woman as colorful as her fabulous yarn creations.
The police are quick to call it an accident, but sorting out Gloria's final hours leaves too many loose ends to satisfy her friends. The vivacious, fiftysomething cougar had her French manicured tips in more than a few pots, and the threads of some inside deals stashed in her chic knitting tote.
Who was the last person to see Gloria alive on that quiet summer night? Two empty wine glasses suggest she wasn't home alone knitting the entire evening.... The Black Sheep need to know the truth and set out to unravel -- stitch by stitch -- the weighty secrets that pulled poor Gloria under.

Sleep No More by Susan Crandall
The night was always Abby Whitman's enemy. As a young girl she walked in her sleep, and one night, she started a fire that scarred her sister for life and left Abby with unbearable guilt . . . and a loneliness that echoes within her. Now Abby has begun blacking out again-with apparently fatal results. A car accident has killed the son of a prominent family. Even though the evidence seems to exonerate her, Abby is plagued by doubts-and soon by mysterious threats. Psychiatrist Dr. Jason Coble is intrigued by Abby and offers to help her explore the dark recesses of her mind. Through this terrifying journey, Jason's interest turns to passion, and he yearns to give her the love she craves. But first, Abby must trust him-and shed light on secrets that will rock this Southern town and reveal a danger that threatens them both.
Gentlemen Prefer Succubi by Jill Myles
Jackie Brighton woke up in a Dumpster this morning, and her day has only gotten weirder. Her familiar B-cups have somehow become double Ds, her sex drive is insatiable, and apparently she had her fi rst one-night stand ever...with a fallen angel. All she remembers is gorgeous Noah's oddly hypnotic blue eyes...and then a dark stranger whose bite transformed her into an immortal siren with a sexy Itch. With help from Noah, Jackie begins to adapt to her new lifestyle -- until she accidentally sends Noah into the deadly clutches of the vampire queen and lands herself in a fi erce battle for an ancient halo with the queen's wickedly hot righthand man. Who just happens to be the vampire who originally bit her. How's a girl supposed to save the world when the enemy's so hard to resist?
A Highlander's Destiny by Melissa Mayhue JESSE CORYELL, a descendant of the Fae, is a man in search of his destiny. He's tried to lose himself in his work, taking on the worst mankind has to offer, but what he really needs to find is his true love. When he sets out to help a mysterious woman find her sister, what he gets is much more than he bargained for: battling an undeniable attraction to his sexy new client while fighting an ancient evil to keep her safe.
DESTINY NOBLE, abandoned by everyone she's ever loved, will stop at nothing in her desperate quest to find her sister. Authorities have declared Leah a runaway, but Destiny knows better. Her dream visions have shown her the frightening truth. They've also shown her Jesse. But finding her Soulmate could result in the most painful loss of all, when she's forced to choose between loving Jesse and saving Leah.
Jesse and Destiny race against time to save an innocent girl from a powerful ancient evil. Is true love their best weapon...or will they be required to sacrifice their own destiny?

Seduce By a Rogue by Amanda Scott
Flaxen-haired and beautiful, Lady Mairi Dunwythie is heiress apparent to the wealthy nobleman blocking Clan Maxwell's attempt to control much of southwest Scotland. Her first meeting with handsome robert Maxwell ignites an attraction that is immediate, intense, and almost irresisible-until she learns he is asking her father to submit to the Maxwell demands.
Rob is a warrior, a man of action. So when Mairi's father stands defiant, Rob daringly absucts her. As clan tensions mount, passion escalates between the lovers, tempting them beyond reason. Soon they must choose between loyalty and love...before the eruption of all-out clan war.
101 Glam Girl Ways to an Ultra Chic Lifestyle by Dawn Del Russo

Every girl dreams of living a glamourous jet-set lifestyle, weather in the lap of luxury or on a tight budget. Dawn Del Russo Author of 101 Glam Girl Ways to an Ultra Chic Lifestyle provides quick cheeky tips to living that swank life. Put together simply each one-liner is illustrated by Barbara Ann Scarrillo with charming, fashionable sketches sure to delight. Indulge in this fabulous quick read. Dawn Del Russo, high profile fashion stylist has been featured in print like US Weekly, Life and Style, InStyle, Glamour, Real Simple, and on Fox 5 NY for her style advice. Del Russo is also a contributing writer for multiple online publications. She has a keen sense of style and trends and is dedicated to helping women find their inner beauty, and confidence starting from the style on the outside. 101 Glam Girl Ways to and Ultra Chic Lifestyle is every women's secret guide to breezing through life glamourously.

Veracity by Laura Bynum

Harper Adams was six years old in 2012 when an act of viral terrorism wiped out one-half of the country's population. Out of the ashes rose a new government, the Confederation of the Willing, dedicated to maintaining order at any cost. The populace is controlled via government-sanctioned sex and drugs, a brutal police force known as the Blue Coats, and a device called the slate, a mandatory implant that monitors every word a person speaks. To utter a Red-Listed, forbidden word is to risk physical punishment or even death.
But there are those who resist. Guided by the fabled "Book of Noah," they are determined to shake the people from their apathy and ignorance, and are prepared to start a war in the name of freedom. The newest member of this resistance is Harper -- a woman driven by memories of a daughter lost, a daughter whose very name was erased by the Red List. And she possesses a power that could make her the underground warriors' ultimate weapon -- or the instrument of their destruction.