Sugar Cookie Murder by Joanne Fluke

Sugar Cookie Murder by Joanne Fluke
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Fast, cute read with lots of delicious recipes in the back. V. excited to bake the cherry bomb cookies!

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it was clutch!

I feel like I ROCK the WORLD (of online goods for purchase)!

After days of careful strategizing and plotting, I have succeeded in my mission to win a gen-u-ine Vera Bradley 'Peacock' Clutch Wallet from eBay! Vera Bradley doesn't even sell this mofo on their website any more as the peacock print is 'retired', and I have tracked the globe via the internets, and found the singular item for sale at and only at eBay. Only 1 for sale on all of eBay. Only 1 for sale on the entire Internet. I knew what I had to do.

With my patented wait-til-the-one-minute-mark-to-bid method in full swing, I was feeling good. I knew there were other bidders tip-toeing amongst the tapestries, but I knew waiting until the last minute was the best bet. I was the high bidder! I was elated yet terrified that I'd lose my position at the top of Mount Shoppershigh! Then, with only seconds left on the shot clock, I was outbid by some feeble-minded marauder! I laid waste to her hopes and dreams like a surreptitious auction sniper by outbidding her in the final MILLISECOND by $1.00. Mwah ha ha! I know it sounds evil but this item is in the same ultra rare category as the elusive J. Crew Yellow Whale Umbrella, the sterling silver Lord of the Rings Arwen Butterfly Broach and the North American Bald Eagle. This is serious stuff.

Bidder >>>> Bid Time
kbelle Jul-26-10 20:31:21 PDT <-winner data-blogger-escaped-br="br" data-blogger-escaped-chicken="chicken" data-blogger-escaped-dinner="dinner" data-blogger-escaped-winner="winner">o***i Jul-26-10 20:31:20 PDT
kbelle Jul-26-10 20:31:06 PDT
o***i Jul-26-10 20:31:03 PDT
o***i Jul-26-10 20:30:50 PDT
kbelle Jul-26-10 20:30:27 PDT


To quote Ilya Kovalchuk, "I am very exciting"!

Thanks to Mrs. M. Huggins for showing me her lovely Vera clutch wallet that holds EVERYTHING. As you can see, I was quite enamored!

A Killer Plot by Ellery Adams

A Killer Plot by Ellery Adams>
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Very well-written with lots of words that required a flip through the old Merriam-Webster, likable cast of characters with an interesting heroine and her beloved pooch. I felt the middle of this book dragged a bit but kept me interested enough to continue reading. It wasn't as cozy as I like my cozy mysteries, but it was a good book overall with a lot of development and few cliches.

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YES!!

A picture is always worth a thousand words. For me, this one is worth two: 

yes, please!


Tahiti Intercontinental Resort & Spa

saturday survs

One]; Which is worse: Pain or discomfort? pain. discomfort can usually be remedied with sweat pants, tums and/or sunglasses.

Two]; Last "permanent" thing you did to your hair? cut it a few months ago.

Three]; What is your favourite song right now? breakeven by the script. it's the first new song i've liked in a while. i listen to oldies every day of my life so i don't hear a lot of new stuff. i happened upon this on the radio machine and dug it immediately.

Four]; With whom did you last attend a concert? jason - metallica @ philips arena last yr

Five]; Where do you apply perfume, or do you spray and walk into it? i apply it to my neck, wrists and sometimes my shoulders so when ppl hug me, their nostrils are right there and it smells nice.

Six]; With whom did you last go to the movies? jason

Seven]; And what was that movie? the twilight saga: eclipse

Eight]; What was the last thing you ate? chic-fil-a nuggs

Nine]; Who are your fave co-workers? seriously too many to name! jason obviously, but also, my day would not be right without bobby's sassy brand of fun, madeline just being the smart and funny lady that she is, and my lifeline felicia.

Ten]; Which band do you have the most songs for on your iTunes? the beatles

Eleven]; Do you tip well? yes. i think all ex-servers do!

Twelve]; Do you have Facebook Mobile? no, i don't have a fb acct.

Thirteen]; What book are you reading? a killer plot (a books by the bay mystery #1) by ellery adams, gang leader for a day by sudhir venkatesh, & the unpleasantness at the bellona club (lord peter wimsey mysteries #4) by dorothy sayers

Fourteen]; Coffee or tea? coffee daily, sweet tea occasionally.

Fifteen]; What colour was your hair a year ago? brown, but lately i've been finding evil strands of gray! total bullshit.

Sixteen]; Last piece of technology you purchased or received as a gift? a kindle 2. i love this book machine!

Seventeen]; Did you watch the Olympics? yes, i love the olympics!

Eighteen]; From what genre is the song you're listening to? i'm not listening to anything.

Nineteen]; Last or current CD in your CD player or PC? the twilight soundtrack. i'm not embarressed to admit it. it's a good cd!

Twenty]; Do you carry maps? no, my phone has google maps on it.

Twenty-one]; What brand is your wallet? target

Twenty-two]; What colour is your car? mississippi gold, baby

Twenty-three]; What brand is your computer? hp.

Twenty-four]; What were you doing exactly a month ago? on june 17th i was watching so you think you can dance with my mom!

Twenty-five]; Have you ever been on a cruise? no, i'm not sure i'm really a cruise person. i like my room to be stationary.

Twenty-six]; What was the last TV show you watched? a rerun of freaks & geeks - i wanted to show jason how cute 'dr. lance sweets' from bones was when he was a little kid on that show.

Twenty-seven]; Last compliment received? When? Who? 2 ladies liked my earrings friday @ work.

Twenty-eight]; Who does the vacuuming in your house? usually me. but jason dusts so it works out. i hate dusting!

Twenty-nine]; Have you ever lived in an apartment? currently

Thirty]; Are you more cold or warm at the moment? warmish.

Thirty-one]; Last place you saw a spider? on our back porch; they love them some boston ferns. those little ones don't bother me much, so that's good seeing as how i have to practically stand in one of the ferns to water the other one. those ferns are quite popular with the wildlife; last month, a lady finch made a nest in one and there were 3 babies twitter-chirping away for a while!

Thirty-two]; Last clothing purchase made? 3 fab pairs of editor pants from express today! so happy to have new work pants. my previous pair lasted 5 years so i'm set for a decade and a half now with these 3. =o)

Thirty-three]; Last word you learned how to spell? embarrassed - 2 r's?? when did this happen? microsoft's automatic spelling corrector has ruined my brain.

Delicious and Suspicious (Memphis Barbeque Mystery, #1) by Riley Adams

Delicious and Suspicious by Riley Adams
My rating: 1 of 5 stars
I was so excited to read this as a fan of the cozy mystery genre; how could it not be great? Set in vibrant Memphis and involving a delicious little barbeque joint, I thought it would be fantastic! For me, it turned out that the only redeeming qualities of the book were the city it was set in and the descriptions of the food. There were too many characters introduced too early and only 2 of them were developed. I wasn't pulling for Lulu, the main character, because she was flat and not very likable. The fact that one character wore a helmet with Elvis on it at almost all times was just a trifle over the top. Plus, what kind of Southern man dates a woman who's a bitch to his mother and seeks to destroy her business? Give me Joanne Fluke's 'Hannah Swensen mysteries' any day! I won't be tuning in for the second installment.

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So Right, It's Wong!

From eonline: So You Think You Can Dance just lost "one of the greatest dancers—if not the greatest dancer—to ever come through our stage." That's what judge Mia Michaels told us last night about the exit of Alex Wong, this season's virtual winner (c'mon, everyone knows it) before he lacerated his Achilles tendon during rehearsals this week. Judge Adam Shankman (who should've been celebrating his dozen Emmy nominations) said everyone was "all so totally devastated"—partly because "Alex had just made a total breakthrough...Alex had set the bar so high on the show, it made everybody dance better. And now that Alex is gone, it is incredibly sad for him, but I also think it is incredibly sad for the other kids because he made them all better." Even though Alex's injury could prove career ending, Nigel Lythgoe is hopeful he will return to SYTCD. Like Billy Bell, if Alex recovers, he'll be invited back to the Vegas auditions. "He's not completed a series, so he's not an All-Star yet. He's a star, [but] not an All-Star." Despite his injury, Alex said he'd still "love to come back...I feel like I haven't finished my journey. I have so much more to learn."

Alex Wong is AMAZING - truly one of the best dancers on the show and I will really miss his performances every week. As a tribute to his talent and wonderful personality, I thought I'd share 2 videos. The first one gives those of you unfamiliar with him or So You Think You Can Dance (hereinafter SYTYCD) an idea of his skills at ballet. The second video shows how amazing the concept of SYTYCD really is - to take a dancer with a specific skill set, such as ballet, and ask him to dance a badass hip hop routine with an All-Star (former SYTYCD contestant) such as Twitch, whose speciality IS hip hop. Truly one of the BEST dances in SYTYCD history!! Get well, Alex! We will all be watching for you next season!

Team Alex Wong

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOEHWGoym3U

Alex & Twitch - Hip Hop

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zp4icMFiq4