Brain on shuffle!

Just some of the random thoughts that have been on my mind the last few days.

1 - Zombies. Yup, zombies. And the fact that someone made a movie about zombie sheep. Not only did someone make said movie, but people watched it. And then a certain someone *coughcoughRosecoughcough* sent me a link so I could look at the trailer for the movie. Weird. No, seriously...weird.

2 - Crazy Cat Ladies and the fact they think they know all about cats and don't stay out of others business. Every time Rose tells me about her own CCL I want to go find her (CCL, not Rose) and smack her upside the head.

3 - What am I going to wear to meet Jen Lancaster tomorrow night? Aaaah! The pressure!

4 - Karl Urban. He looks so sexy as a vampire in "Priest". I like my vampires to be vampires, not sparkly Twilight fluff. And Black Hat is definitely a demonic vampire. I can't find a good picture to convey this image as the only one is the promo pic and it doesn't work. So I'll just add a picture of the gorgeous cast at Comic Con last year.



What's been on your mind lately?

I went to Yuma and tapped into my super hero potential

Last weekend I met up with Leslie at our "in between" spot of Yuma, Arizona for a girls weekend. We didn't count on it being as hot as it was, which caused some miserable moments of heat and a bit of dehydration. However it was so much fun to see Leslie as we hadn't hung out since last July.

Unfortunately there isn't much to do in Yuma, especially when it is hot. (Though they do have a camel farm that I would like to see when it isn't so warm out.) We went to see some movies - "Thor" (excellent, excellent, I am in love with Chris Hemsworth), "Something Borrowed", and a repeat (for me) viewing of "Fast Five". We had some wings and fried pickles. And a trip to Target, where I got my super hero on!



We left early on Sunday morning to get back to our respective towns for some Mother's Day time with our mothers. Can't wait to plan our next adventure! Thank you, Leslie, for such a fun weekend!! xo

What's on tap for this week?

On Tuesday, Jen Lancaster brings her "If you were here" book tour to town and I'm taking my mom to the signing. I'm excited!

On Thursday, I'm hosting author Chantel Simmons blog tour stop for her book "Love Struck". I did a fun interview with Chantel as well.

And Friday..."Pirates of the Caribbean: On Strange Tides". Captain Jack, I've missed you!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all the mother's out there, especially to my fabulous mother and sister!! Whether you have two-legged or four-legged kids, I hope your day is full of love for all that you do!!

The one where Candace Bushnell is a complete rock star!

Candace Bushnell came through Arizona on her book tour for “Summer and the City” and there was no way that I was going to miss the event.

When I got to the book store I was slightly unsettled to hear that Candace had a list of “rules”, which included only one book signed, no posed pictures, and no memorabilia from the “Sex and the City” TV series would be signed. I had already decided that I was getting a book signed for Leslie for a late birthday present. Our love of “General Hospital” introduced us, but we shared a love all things Carrie Bradshaw and company as well. This was perfect and if I could only get one book signed, that was what I was going to do. I also purchased a book for my sister, the paperback copy of “The Carrie Diaries” since she hadn’t read the book yet.

After wandering the store for over an hour (oh yeah, I was there way early since I came directly from work to save on the gas and driving time) they finally lined us up (still an hour to go before Candace was arriving) and they went down the aisle finding out how many books you had and getting them ready for the autograph signing. And yay, I got a tag for all three books!

Finally the event got under way as Candace came out and after announcing “Summer and the City” debuted at #2 on the New York Times Bestseller List, read a passage from the book and then did a brief Q&A. (She told a fabulous story about meeting her own Mr. Big and then marrying her own Mr. Bigger.) She has an extremely dry and sarcastic sense of humor, which is something I come equipped with as well so I loved it all.

I was the 4th person in line for the autograph portion. The two ladies in the very front each had 4 books to get signed and Candace was happily signing all books and asked if people were wanting to take pictures with her as well. The gentleman in front of me ruined it for everyone when he sat his BAGS (yes multiple) of books down and wanted them all autographed. Only two were personalized, the rest he just wanted signed. They only let him get a couple signed and then said only the new book was being signed at the moment. If you had other books, you were welcome to get back in line and Candace would sign them at the end. Sorry Liz! That meant your book couldn’t get signed as there were around 120 people in front of me for the second go-round. You will just have to do with getting an autographed book from the Jen Lancaster book signing on the 17th.

I thanked Candace for a fun filled evening with stories of the fabulous Carrie Bradshaw and Candace's own life. She was so incredibly cool and it made me an even bigger fan. (Even if I still don't dig most of the books.)

Book Worm Time: Summer and the City

I am a huge fan of “Sex and the City” as everyone who knows me should know by now. I think that Carrie Bradshaw is probably in my top 5 favorite characters of all time. So I was ecstatic last year when Candace Bushnell dusted off the Carrie character in literary form and took us for a spin with “The Carrie Diaries”. The ending of the book left with Carrie meeting Samantha Jones and I was so impatient waiting for the second book to come out where we would have Carrie’s first bite of the Big Apple and her friendship would become defined with not only Samantha, but Miranda Hobbes as well.

Carrie and New York City are a stylish combo, but reading about how Carrie came to be the icon we fell in love with has been a fascinating journey. From falling for the wrong older guy (definitely no Mr. Big) to developing her fashion sense, this is the story of Carrie’s first summer in the city. It is supposed to only be for the summer as Carrie is planning to attend Brown in the fall, but as Carrie submerges herself in life in the city, she begins to question herself and her future. The back stories for Samantha and Miranda are fascinating and their friendship shines through.

I enjoyed “Summer and the City” a lot more than “The Carrie Diaries” and really hope that we are going to get a third in the series. I think if you are a fan of the show, you are going to enjoy this book.

(What made it all even better was I got to meet CANDACE BUSHNELL!!! More on that in the next post!)

Book Worm Time: A Scottish Ferry Tale by Nancy Volkers

What do you do when you are in a foreign country and your boyfriend dumps you? That is the question that Cassie Wrentham finds herself posed with when her long distance boyfriend, Jason, breaks up with her the night she arrives in Scotland to see him. Instead of turning tail and running home to the states, Cassie decides to venture out on her own, booking a trip to Coll. On the ferry ride over, she meets a charming stranger who suggests a bed-and-breakfast to stay in when she arrives. Cassie takes his suggestion and imagine her surprise when the charming stranger just happens to be the brother of the owner of the bed-and-breakfast. Ralph, dealing with his own problems, may be just what Cassie needs to get over her broken heart. And with that, Nancy Volker's debut novel, "A Scottish Ferry Tale" is off and running.

A whirlwind romance takes place and you will find yourself just as breathless with anticipation as Cassie to see what is going to happen next. Nancy weaves a magical tale with such vivid imagery that you are going to want to dust off your passport (or in my case, get one) and head off to Scotland to find your own Prince Charming. As Ralph and Cassie struggle with the reality of a long distance relationship, I found myself unable to put the book down, needing to know how the issues resolve. Cassie has moments of self sabotage and Ralph has his moments of being unreasonable, but the quirks of both main characters (and the supporting characters) are so true to life and relatable that I loved them all the more. All I can say is read it, read it!

And while I haven't read it yet, there is a sequel "Scotland by Starlight". And if you are available, please join Nancy Volkers on May 10th at 7 pm CST for her own Twitter Party hosted by CLP Blog Tours. Ask Nancy your questions on her books, writing, or more by using the hashtag #CLPNancy.

Happy Star Wars Day!!

May the "Fourth" be with you!

You do realize this is kind of like a national holiday for this Star Wars geek, right? Ha-ha! Today is the day I should be playing hooky from work and watching my beloved trilogy! (I choose to ignore the newer trilogy.)

Maybe talk like Yoda I should today.