Book Review: The Blood of Flowers

Let's talk {books}, shall we?

I love 'em!

I found this little icon at Wikimedia Commons. 

Don't you love when you find something that just calls your name. 

And. it's. FREE!

Love. love.

It's just the sort of thing our bookish girl would collect, don't you think? Perhaps I will find some creative time (ha!) to incorporate this into her title. She needs a thrill!

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I thought we'd have a little fun and ask BG a few questions so you can get to know her better:

CRAZYMOM: Hello, BG and welcome.

BG: Thank you it's nice to be back.

CM: For some of the readers who are new to the blog, can you tell us a little about yourself?

BG: My "name" pretty much says it all, don't you think.

CM: Umm...yeah, OK. So... tell us: What is your favorite genre of books?

BG: Well, I mostly read "chick lit". Fiction. I read adult fiction and I also really enjoy reviewing YA fiction, as you may have noticed. Sometimes I even venture into the middle grades too.

CM: What do you mean by Chick Lit?

BG: You know...romance mostly...girly stuff. I shy away from heavy stuff that is scary or depressing. I like happy endings. 

CM: So is "Chick Lit" like Harlequin Romances? Smutty stuff?

BG: Immm...I'll just say if there are more *blushing* sex scenes than dialog, it is not a book for me. But some of "those" books can surprise you. 

CM: Can you name a few authors you like?

BG: Sure. Jennifer Weiner stands out as a solid chick lit choice in my mind. Great writing, funny. Definitely Chick Lit. I haven't read her latest novel yet, but I am looking forward to it. I also really like Sarah Addison Allen. Her writing is solid and her tales are magical. Philippa Gregory's historical fiction is great stuff. 

CM: And Young Adult Books?

BG: In YA. I have to say that Stephanie Hale is my go-to girl for a fun read. Her stuff is light and fun. Totally hilarious. Anna Godberson writes beautiful historical fiction. Anne Brashares writes sweet coming of age fiction in her Travelling Pants series.

CM: Do you tend to read a lot from one author?

BG: Actually, I am the opposite. After I read a great book I need to "digest" a little. I tend to steer clear of that author for a while.I jump around a lot.

CM: I noticed you have not mentioned some of the more "popular" books/ authors out there: Stephanie Meyer, Jodi Piccoult, Nicholas Sparks... 

BG: Well, I don't read books just because they on the best seller list. In fact, I often disagree with popular reviews.

CM: How so?

BG: I like all kinds of stuff, but the ones that top my list are well researched, well edited and crafted like a fine sculpture.

CM: How poetic.

BG: I do what I can.

CM: Tell us what you are reviewing this time, please.

BG: This time around I am reviewing a bargain bin book. The cover caught my eye, the price excited me, so I bought it. It is called The Blood of Flowers. This book is not for everyone: it is set in 17th century Iran. For me, the fact that this is a period and a country that I know so little about, gave the book so much more appeal. The fact that is was impeccably written, researched (as far as I could tell) and edited made it a pure delight to read. It was the story of a young girl who grew up there (fictional, of course) It was incredibly rich in detail. The story was so well written, it quite surprised me, actually. And yes, it included that all important, happy ending.

CM: And if you were rating it...how many Texas Stars would you give this book?

BG: Texas Stars? huh?

CM: Stars! How many stars???? Out of 5.

BG: Oh...I gave it 5, which doesn't happen often, let me tell you.
CM: Where can we learn more about The Blood of Flowers?
BG: My personal favorites for book reviews are Goodreads or Amazon

If you would like to purchase this, or any of the books on our site, we would be so grateful if you would use the links right here on our blog sidebar. Your purchase will help keep the caffeine flowing! 

Fix-it Friday

I fell asleep editing this photo last night. So I quickly finished it this morning. My edges are not as clean as I'd like but I am hoping that by participating in some of these and recording them here, one day I will be able to look back and see how my skills have improved.


Original Photo:

 

 

I must say this is very instructive. I keep comparing mine to the picture in my head...or some of my favorites on the i heart faces site. I have a ways to go....

 

 

after I played:

I wish I were sitting in a room with all of you so you could point out the areas where I can improve. Like my messy edges. But overall, let me just say. I HEART TEXTURE!

Friday Freebie

I know you all are wondering where I have been on this lovely Friday. Well, besides under the couch, in the cabinets and on my hands and knees looking for the missing Girl Scout Cookie form (yikes!), I took a little time off to go shopping. Every now and then, don't we all need a break? Well, I saw my chance today and I took it! It was great.  

But now I feel I have to let all my faithful readers know about another awesome giveaway from Lisa Leonard Designs. You know I love this woman. I love her designs. She rocks. So when I noticed that Holly of 504 Main is giving away this Lisa Leonard beauty, I flipped! 

One of these days I am going to win, right?  

As always, you can have the pendant customized. Maybe you like this:

It would be so hard to choose,  but I think I could handle it!

You will have to stop over to 504 Main to get all the details on how to enter. Best of luck to you and PLEASE let me know if you win! I want to see a picture of you wearing it! 

xo

A Few {Pretty} Things

The other day, Princess broke the zipper pull off her pink puffer coat.

Looky, looky at this little treasure I found for her!

I believe it was somewhere in the range of 50 cents! Cha-ching!

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I found mine ready-made at JoAnn Fabric, but you can easily make your own with buttons, beads and a little clippy thing from the jewelry making section.

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Too cute!

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While I was there I picked up these:

You know, I am currently obsessed with all things cowboy.

Wait till you see that hat on a chain around my neck!

Talk about your pretty things!

Did I mention these are 1/2 off till Saturday?  ;)

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I got this hat at Target for under $4! 

I bought {three}.

Stay tuned for what I will do with this hat.

(besides wear it as is, since it is so darned cute and I keep getting compliments from random strangers when I wear it!)

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Here is some inspiration for me:

Which do you like?

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Thanks for all your help with this black wall piece. I decided to take down the artwork I had on the old piano and replace it with a new line-up that matches the Infant of Prague, who now resides there. I inherited him from my Grandma, who passed away last fall. He was very special to her, so I have given him a place of honor here. I was too lazy to go up and get the candles that are supposed to sit on these candlesticks....and too short on time to Photoshop them in. Use your imagination. :) I sort of still feel like putting some greenery up there or something but it is too cold to venture into the attic, so it will have to wait until another day.

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You know I am all crazy about textures right now. Well I was playing with food coloring the other day. (This reminds me so much of a few projects I did for art class in high school!)

I set these a little out-of-focus on purpose (really!) because I wanted soft, fluid images to use with some of my pictures. No harsh lines.

Isn't this cool? (there are like 100 more. My new camera can click FAST!)

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Here are some more I did:

This one has an ugly glare on it. :( But isn't that image awesome? I will be doing this again!

I want to see it in focus...then maybe soften it with Photoshop instead...

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I {HEART} this one!

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and this one. 

But now I want to re-do this one in focus. I didn't realize how much I would like this look just as it is.

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I can't wait to try this one as a texture. I LOVE the colors I got here!!

{PRETTY}

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Dont' forget you have till January 31st to register to won the Flippin Wafflemaker from Jen at Eleventh Heaven Homemaking. Good Luck!

Sugar says: PEACE, OUT.

Calm and Quiet Works for Me!

An open letter to those who were at Target today when I lost it:

Please don't judge me because I said "freakin'" to my 10 year old today. I had a moment. I lost it a little. So I made a little scene. So what. You needed something to talk about in the break room anyway, didn't you?

I'm not perfect, that's all I'm saying.

-CRAZYMOM

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I have always been a Monday gal, as you might remember. It's my fave.

Yes, it's true: I {heart} Mondays.

But Wednesdays are quickly growing on me.

I do actually look forward to sitting down and reading through the Works For Me Wednesday posts. I have gleaned so many useful tips it is unreal! I love it.

And it's not just because Kristen uses an old Typewriter font, although that doesn't hurt matters. It's like saying my husband's nice...and he's HOT too! (Yeah, he is but that's not the point!)

Anyhoo, hop on over to We Are That Family and get yourself some useful tips. You might be surprised what you can learn!

I am not a fan of noise. My mother used to say I was the noisiest child ever. Well, I must have gotten it out of my system because as an adult, I can't stand it. Loud noise is to me like bright light is to some people.

I recoil in pain.  

(I wish I were exaggerating.)

You might wonder how I have remained sane with 4 children running screaming in my house all day long. Have you checked the title of this blog lately? OK then.

So today I came up with stumbled upon something that made my house VERY quiet.

I knew I needed to share this one!

So we went to Target because we were out of milk. I am a lover of all things dessert-ish and fattening-ish, so of course, we grabbed some goodies while we were there. Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough.

I used to hate that pre-made cookie dough but you know what?  

When you buy it like that, there is limit to what you can eat.

KWIM?

This is portion-control in action!

So I made homemade enchilada's. (They were yummy by the way.)

While we were eating and since the oven was still warm, I popped in the cookies. After dinner, I took the still warm-and-gooey cookies and made ice-cream sandwiches with them. I used vanilla-chocolate-chip ice cream, which rocks, in my humble opinion.

Now this is not a food blog. It will never be a food blog. I have like 2 good recipes that don't involve ordering take-out, but this was SO super duper easy and FAST and (here's the kicker)

I AM NOT KIDDING: they were silent for like 30 minutes!!!

Even when they were finished, they just looked at me quietly as if to say:

"You, ma'am, are our queen."

Now that's what I'm talkin' 'bout!

This is just a random stock photo-not my actual cookies. 

Note the lack of chocolate chips in the ice cream.

I Heart Faces Contest: Textures

I worked on this one again for the i heart faces photo contest. I wish I'd had more time. I only realized the deadline with an hour to go! Maybe that will stop me from overworking it! LOL

Check out the other entries here.

My Tuesday To Do List:

I decided to jump in on Supah's Post it Note Tuesday. So here's my TO Do List on Post It Notes:

Not Me Monday

I have been having trouble coming up with a Not Me Monday post this week. After all, I am nearly perfect.
It was not me who let the housework go last week; not me who has at least 5 loads of laundry waiting to be washed this morning, and a floor (or 4 or 5) to vacuum. It is certainly not me who feels a little tired and sore and is contemplating letting it all go for just one more day. Oh no!

I am also pretty sure it is not me tapping on my shoulder to sit and work on my photo prints order instead of cleaning. It IS on my to-do list and it IS something that HAS to get done ASAP, but I would never put such things in front of cleaning and organizing! Not me!

:)

And you can be sure you won't find me on the couch with my feet up shopping for this:

or these:

No, Not Me!

This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

I Need Your Help

You all are so creative.

I have had this for ...oh...2 years?

I thought it was cool, but I am having a hard time with it.

I have never hung it or set it out.

What should I do with it?

Should I paint it? Add some sliver touches? Or just leave it alone and set it on top of the piano or hang it on a wall? It is so dark and makes such a big focal point that it has intimidated me I guess.

Looking forward to your creative ideas! Thank you!

Cowboy Textures

This may be an occasion for for a True Confessions post.

Except, I am sure my confession comes as no surprise to anyone who reads my blog very often....

I am {addicted} to textures.

..whew! I feel so much better!

These are shot of the little kids trying on Daddy's boots.

When I saw the Tinkerbell nightgown/ cowboy boots/ cowgirl hat combo, I could not resist!

I had to grab the camera!

Of course, it is never far away. ;)

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I made that texture myself...more on that later..but seriously. I am so impressed with myself! 

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I love the way this one turned out.

Do you think it looks like she has tattoos though? Maybe I got lazy there just a little...?

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This one...mmmm......I REALLY love the mood of it. But I could not "unblacken" her eyes in any way that did not make her look like an alien. I should have worked harder on the curves. Maybe I settled because I was trying to watch the Hangover while I edited. Maybe. (there's another confession for you!)

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OK. Yes, I could invest in a comb. This was an impromptu shoot.

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Not to be out-done, Turkey donned the pink hat.

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Is it me, or does it look great with is skin? LOL

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He is either petting the horse or trying to bend her to his will.

One can never be sure around here!

Are you a fool for textures like I am? What gets you going in the photo edit department?

Keep coming back. I might be moved to share some of my textures with you. Maybe.

:)

PS. I am still working, but making good progress, on the 2010 blog theme.

Of course, I used plenty of textures on that title!

Next up: NEW BLOG BUTTON! Woo hoo!

Friday Fashion and Freebies

 So many bloggers out there are playing the Coke or Pepsi games! I figured I would join the fun and combine a Fashion Forward Friday post with it. After all, I haven't done one in a while and frankly, I need to.

Wait!

You didn't think I was GIVING the fashion advice, did you? The REAL reason I post these (when I do) is to force ME to think about fashion. Maybe glean a few tips from you savvy readers.

Read on: you'll see why I need them.

Coke or Pepsi?: I would rather drink pretty much anything than Pepsi. I am a Coca Cola girl all the way! These days, make mine diet.

Describe your "uniform":  velour sweats, long tank, cardigan.

If I have to leave the house and am feeling "fancy", I will throw on jeans and Uggs with the aforementioned tops. Otherwise...have uniform, will travel.

Nails: I am loving all the dark polishes these days. I never used to be daring...then I went through that natural nail phase. Today I bought Navy Blue.

What wardrobe item do you love to buy? Boots. Necklaces.

Hate to buy?: Underwear and socks

Are you fashionable? ummm...no.  Though, once in a while I try. Where I live, you are doing fine not to be caught in your sweatsuit and slippers at Wal-Mart! (Seriously. One day I will snap some shots for you!) I draw the line there, but no. Fashion is sort of relative in the corn fields.

Leave a comment and let me know what you "Mom Uniform" consists of.

Are you a trendy mom?

Or a frumpy mom?

Got any tips for me???

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Here's the FREEBIE part:

Jen at 11th Heaven's Homemaking Haven, 365 Days of TV-Free Toddler Time, and Mega-Family Blogs is giving away a flippin' waffle maker...

To enter, go HERE!!

OMG a flippin waffle maker would make my kids FLIP! I need this! If you enter, be sure to tell her who sent ya!

Happy Friday, lovely people.

{CAKE}

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My life is CAKE.

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Carrot Cake

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One part wholesome...

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One part {sweet}

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Delicious!

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and more than a little {nutty}

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NOTES:

I have been taking pictures since I can remember.

Funny: I used to think Photography was not "real art".

But there I was, snapping away!

I remember my first 35mm. Automatic. (had a 110 before that.)

I used to try for funny angles. (still do)

Lie on the floor. Climb a tree.

Then I bought my manual 35mm. I can't even remember now what brand I bought.

Isn't that funny! It was SUCH a BIG DEAL to own one!

And I took some great shots with it.

Maybe someday I will scan and share...

Then on to the age if digital.

And then...I learned about post-proecessing.

Love. At. First. Sight.

I like to play too much sometimes.

It is like a DRUG.

I remember when I was painting.

A long. long. long. time ago.

The struggle: I DID THAT ON PURPOSE!

I still feel it.

I am still learning.

I am not a good cropper yet.

I keep too many shots.

I am a keeper.

I am THE KEEPER.

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ANOTHER NOTE:

I may be temporarily changing to Turkey's name to GROWTH SPURT, FEED ME, COOKIE MONSTER or GARBAGE DISPOSAL.

I love the little man, but if I hear "I'm hungry" one more time I may do something rash.

I thank God I had to wisdom to wean this kid!