Something Loaned, again and again

Something Borrowed

by: Emily Giffin

Rachel has always been a good girl--until her thirtieth birthday, when her best friend Darcy throws her a party. That night, after too many drinks, Rachel ends up in bed with Darcy's fiancé Dex. Rachel is horrified to discover that she has genuine feelings for Dex. She prays for fate to intervene, but when she makes a choice she discovers that the lines between right and wrong are blurry, endings aren't always neat, and you have to risk all to win true happiness.

This book has been on my "TO READ" list for months, but I could never bring myself to read it for some reason. I was constantly being shoved down another few spaces whenever I was getting close to having to read it. I had convinced myself it was "chick lit" and something I was just not really interested in. Saturday I was at Target with Brenda when I noticed each of Emily Giffin's books on sale for $10. "What the hell?" I thought as I put Something Borrowed and Something Blue in my cart. Late Saturday night I started reading Something Borrowed and I barely stopped until it was finished. It took me less than 16 hours to devour this wonderful book. I began immediately on Something Blue, but my feelings for that one aren't quite as strong as they were before.

Something Borrowed is about a woman called Rachel that I could easily identify with. She is turning 30, hates her job, feels like there should be more to her life than what there is, and she has always been a people pleaser. I am not to the 30-year-bench mark yet, but I can certainly relate to the job hating and the feeling like there should be more at this point in time. Typically in a book or a movie where there is a couple of friends, one with a fiance who is sleeping with both of them, you would hate the guy and the girl he's not engaged to for even the thought of cheating. I was shocked to be rooting for Dex and Rachel the entire time! I would smile when they were together and I would cringe when he was with Darcy. Darcy was one of those characters you love to hate. Every girl has a Darcy as a friend, so once again I felt myself relating, (and sighing with relief that I finally let that friendship go after too many years).

I can't wait to read this book again. Something Borrowed is definitely something loaned as I have told all of my friends how they MUST read it and I have told them as much as I can about it without giving too much away. Every girl should read this book!

Just because it's one of those days...

Did you know they even have PB&J truffles made with wild mixed berry jelly?

*Heaven!*

You Speak My Language!

Here's a virtual high five to Tyler Connolly, the lead singer of Theory of a Deadman! Have you head his song "Hate My Life"? I am a magnet for bad days and that song is my anthem for all of them! I think he took a page from my diary when he wrote "I still hate my job, my boss is a dick! I don't get paid near enough to put up with all of his shit!" Like I said, it's my anthem!

These guys have quickly become my favorites to listen to. It's a rare occasion that I tune into Rush Limbaugh in the afternoons now that I have their cds! (I think Jake loves that since I stopped ranting about all the stuff I get amped about when I listen to him!)

Someone near and dear to my heart went to a concert of theirs in South Bend last week and brought me home this shirt:


I don't necessarily think the message applies to me, since it's pretty obvious when I am drunk and I never get stoned, and since I always leave the bar with the same person I showed up with...but I love it anyway! Derek told me they have ones that say "Dick Magnet" on them too...guess i'm glad that's not the one that was given to me!

"Cowboy Butts Drive Me Nuts"

It's RODEO season!! And you know what that means...
:-)

Not a girl, not yet a wino!

But almost! Jake and I were bored a few weeks ago and we decided to check out this winery not too far from where we live, Satek Winery in Fremont. It was fun to go and see the way they do things and to get to taste the wines. You can sample up to 10, they are currently offering 26 varieties. I have never seen their wines for sale at the grocery stores in Auburn, but I have seen them in the local liquor store. Anyway, while we were there Jake and I bought a few bottles of the 101 Lakes Red.

I have always been a fan of Oliver Winery's Soft Red, but Satek's 101 Lake Red was WAY BETTER (in my opinion. Oliver still makes a hell of a wine!)

So all you wino's out there, try a bottle. You will not be disappointed if you like sweet wines. If you a around Fremont, IN it's worth a stop into see the folks at Satek's.

Baskin Robbins Honors Barack Obama With A New Flavor

In honor of the 44th President of the United States , Baskin-Robbins Ice Cream has issued a new flavor, " Barocky Road ."
Barocky Road is a blend of half vanilla, half chocolate, and surrounded by nuts and flakes. The vanilla portion of the mix is not openly advertised and usually denied as an ingredient. The Nuts and Flakes are all bitter and hard to swallow.
The cost is $100 per scoop. When purchased, it will be presented to you in a large beautiful cone, but then the Ice Cream is taken away and given to the person in line behind you. Thus you are left with an empty wallet, no change, holding an empty cone, with no hope of getting any ice cream.
Aren't you feeling stimulated?

Tehehe! You know how i'm a sucker for any joke about Obama! =)

Hill is the second child of authors Stephen and Tabitha King. He grew up in Bangor, Maine. His younger brother Owen is also a writer. Hill has three sons.
Hill chose to use an abbreviated form of his given name (a reference to executed labor leader Joe Hill, for whom he was named) in 1997, out of a desire to succeed based solely on his own merits rather than as the son of Stephen King. After achieving a degree of independent success, Hill publicly confirmed his identity in 2007 after an article the previous year in Variety broke his cover (although online speculation about Hill's family background had been appearing since 2005).[1]
Middle-aged rock star Judas Coyne collects morbid curios, so he doesn't think twice about buying a suit advertised at an online auction site as haunted by its dead owner's ghost. Only after it arrives does Jude discover that the suit belonged to Craddock McDermott, the stepfather of one of Coyne's discarded groupies, and that the old man's ghost is a malignant spirit determined to kill Judas in revenge for his stepdaughter's suicide. Judas and his girlfriend take to the road in an attempt to run from the ghost and to find a way to stop it.

The above information is from Wikipedia. If I would have read that "Joe Hill" is really "Joe King", I probably would not have read the book. I devoured it in 3 days. Loved it. BUT, parts of it were terrifying. In fact, there was a night that I didn't sleep well at all and I know it's because of what was going on in the book. While I don't know that I would read another one of his books, (Horror stories just aren't my things, and I hate reading about dogs getting shot or kicked.), it was very well written and while it was complex it was easy to follow. I finished it this afternoon when I was at lunch, and I have been recommending it to everyone that I know who likes to read and isn't easily freaked out by the ghosts of scary old men!

Corks for Charity

While I was digging around online looking for a place to buy my new favorite wine, I came across this website. How may wine drinkers out there have gobs of corks laying around with nothing to do with them? I know we do. I have a centerpiece on my dining room table filled with corks, a vase filled with them, shoe boxes filled. And you are sure to find a few in any given kitchen drawer! I did once see in a Pottery Barn catalog a bulletin board made of corks, so I have been saving some up so I can make one for myself rather than paying close to $100 for one! I figure, if you are going to spend $100 on corks, you might as well get the wine along with it!

Anyway, yesterday when I was looking to buy The Show I came across the above mentioned website. Here's what I found out about it...

A Nashville area foundation called Sports 4 All has come up with an ingenious way to raise money. They are asking for your used wine corks. They are gathering corks from local restaurants, individuals and retailers, sorting them, and then they sell them to artists all over the country and beyond. "There is an artist in California who has a large standing order we can't fill at the moment", Sara Koppelman, Program Manager told me recently. Sports 4 All raises money and solicits sporting equipment and provides equipment and recreational opportunities for disabled persons of all ages.
Sara and Sports 4 All President Kris Salisbury do most of the work at Sports 4 All, but all of the proceeds of their work goes into the foundation. They don't receive payment for their work. The two came together about 2 years ago when Koppelman was working at a Down's Syndrome camp and needed equipment. She met Kris and they began working together on the foundation that Salisbury, a Down's Syndrome parent had begun over 10 years ago. Sara and Kris share a love for wine, and it was over a glass that they had the bright idea now known as "Corks 4 Charity".
It has worked. Now they are putting the word out to do more of it. "The market is there", Sara told me. We have signed up local restaurants like J. Alexander's and Park Cafe, and put the word out to local tasting events and to our friends. On a bi-weekly basis, Sports 4 All makes a “cork run” (cork retrieval trip) and collects the corks which then get separated into groups of 100. The lots of 100 corks are then sold to artists for creative projects including: picture frame ornamentation, furniture design, dartboard backsplashes, wreaths, and many other artistic endeavors. When we get a bunch of corks, we get together for "cork therapy", when we sort them out, separating out the real corks from the synthetic ones. "We market on eBay, and when artists find out we have corks available, we become a supplier to them. "We can sell as many corks as we can gather."
"Corks 4 Charity creates a community of recycling and giving, providing unique corks to creative minds and artists, raising awareness of Sports 4 All Foundation, and offering a reliable funding source to fulfill Sports 4 All’s Mission: to improve the quality of life of individuals with disabilities by providing funding and equipment to enable full participation in sports and recreation activities. Corks 4 Charity is an easy was to give back to the community and recycle – simultaneously."

Should you have corks you wish to donate, or you have questions, you may contact:

Sports 4 All Foundation Kris Salisbury & Sara Koppelman 5827 Charlotte Pike Nashville, TN 615-354-6454 http://www.s4af.org

I'm a Karen!

YIKES!

Uncork this!

As many of you may already know, I LOVE wine. Jake and I were regular tasters with the Dekalb County Wine Society, (although I think they may have dis-banded?), and you have probably seen the pictures...

I picked up a bottle of this at World Market ages ago because I liked the cowboy on the bottle. I was hooked from the first taste. I never could find it again though, not even at that same store. UNTIL, they were going out of business and they had 1 bottle left. Of course I bought it!! I googled it and here's what I found...

Rebel Wine Co. – The Show Cabernet Sauvignon
Technically speaking, The Show 2005 Cab is 80% Cabernet, the vast majority from Monterey and Paso Robles with a smidgen from Napa, plus 8% Merlot from Monterey, 6% Cab Franc from Napa, 3% Petite Sirah from Dry Creek and 3% Petite Verdot from Napa. The 10,000 cases produced saw French and American oak prior to bottling.
Excellent value ($15). Closure: Real cork. Alcohol content: 13.9%.
Style: Lush, fruit forward, with some oak spice.
Tasting Notes: Appearance: Deep ruby with a purple tint, translucent. Aromas: Black cherry, blackcurrant, vanilla, sweet tobacco and hints of sage flowers. Spicy, moderately tart and medium-bodied, the mouth filling dried red to black fruit and spicy oak flavors lead to a bucking good finish.
Comment: The only watch out is the classy heavyweight bottle. You might think there is still some wine left in it and find yourself empty handed.
You can bet I will be asking our local Gay's Hops and Schnapps to start carrying this one!

Missy Come Home!

My darling Beagle, Missy Wylde has been missing for about a week. I have been devastated! This has happened before as she has a hunkering for getting off her chain when she's outside, but someone close by has always found her and called either us or the shelter. When I came home and found her gone I immediately called the shelter, the vet's office, and the police station. I have yet to get any calls back.

Yesterday when I was driving through Auburn, I glanced over and saw a woman driving a car with a big Irish Setter in the back seat and a long-legged Beagle with a hot pink collar in the front seat. I a 99.99% SURE this was my long-legged Beagle. She was wearing a hot pink collar with a purple name tag hanging from it. So was MY dog!

I doubt there's any chance the person driving that car will read this, but just in case I have to say: Please, PLEASE bring my dog back to me. She may bring joy to you and you may think that's worth keeping her, but also remember that she brought joy to me, and now she is gone.

My Little Darlings

Please ignore the FILTHY floor! Missy and Peanut had been outside all this afternoon playing like crazy and they were both pooped! Aren't the adorable?

WTF? Seriously!

The view of my back yard on this Monday morning April 6, 2009. As I said: WTF?!

Florida Court Sets Atheist Holy Day

In Florida, an atheist created a case against the upcoming Easter & Passover holy days. He hired an attorney to bring a discrimination case against Christians, Jews & observances of their holy days. The argument was it was unfair that atheists had no such recognized day.

The case was brought before a judge. After listening to the passionate presentation by the lawyer, the judge banged his gavel declaring, "Case dismissed."

The lawyer immediately stood objecting to the ruling saying, "Your honor, how can you possibly dismiss this case? The Christians have Christmas, Easter & others. The Jews have Passover, Yom Kippur & Hanukkah. Yet my client & all other atheists have no such holidays."

The judge leaned forward in his chair saying, "But you do, counsel, your client is woefully ignorant." The lawyer said, "Your Honor, we are unaware of any special observance or holiday for atheists."

The judge said, "The calendar says April 1st is 'April Fools Day.' Psalm 14:1 states 'The fool says in his heart, there is no God.' Thus, it is the opinion of this court, that if your client says there is no God, then he is a fool. Therefore, April 1st is his day. Court is adjourned!