The Radha Bracelet From Amrita Sen's Radha Collection

Yesterday I posted about the Amrita Sen's Cosmic and Eternal Love: An Everlasting Love Story coloring book. It is definitely beautiful and if you love coloring books be sure to check it out.

Today I wanted to mention my new favorite bracelet. The Radha Bracelet from The Radha Collection.

The bracelet is my favorite... a gorgeous silver and pearl beaded bracelet.There are silver leaves and clear pieces to the bracelet but the best part of that I can put this bracelet on myself as the large oval clasp with the rhinestones is magnetic.

It looks way more beautiful in person.

Breakfast On A Cloud

NO AFFILIATION AT ALL WITH A COMPANY. JUST A PERSONAL MENTION BECAUSE IT IS NOW SOMETHING WE USE ALL THE TIME. ALREADY TOSSED 4 OF OUR OTHER PANS. 

My husband has been watching the As Seen On TV infomercials and had been talking about the Red Copper Square Pan. Every time he watched he put down his phone and said, "it bakes, fries, roasts, and so much more and NOTHING sticks. We should get this".  His birthday was coming and I thought...hmmmm...that is an idea! SO...we got it and now he is asking for more so I guess he is loving it.

It is 100% copper and came with a basket for frying, a lid and the utensils to use when cooking; Spatula and spoon.

The first thing he wanted to try was something he saw on the infomercial. The recipe called for biscuits to be put in the bottom of the pan.

Make a thumb print
Crack and egg in each indentation
Put cheese on top and cover

When we took it off the stove because the biscuits were starting to burn on the bottom but the eggs were still soft my husband was ready to toss it out but I thought...let's put it in the oven at 350 and watch it. I started it at 5 minutes and the eggs started getting firm.  By 8 minutes it was ready to come out and it was amazing except for the 1 inch of burnt biscut. The best part was that it came right out of the pan.

Clean up was a breeze.

One Of My Favorite Toys From The 70s

Have you ever forgotten something until you remembered it? DUH! Of course you have but honestly, it wasn't until I saw this photo on Pinterest that I remembered I had and loved this toy! YOU will find it included my Blast From My Past board 

In the 70s we all watched The Waltons. I remember truly loving to put all the people in the car and driving it around.  It was made of thick cardboard and The Waltons stood in little plastic stands.

Did anyone else have this?

Why Do I Find it So Hard?

UGH...my daughter Goddess will be 12 next week. It is killing me. Her getting older means I am also getting older but I find it hard because she is my baby. She is also the age I was when my mom passed away. She is the age I was when my life was falling apart and huge changes were being made that I had no control over just like this moment. She is going to be 12 there are no ifs ands or buts about it.

 Two Weeks Old

Two Weeks Ago

Heidi On DVD

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THE 411:

Heidi is the biggest Swiss best seller of all time. This Heidi has by far the cutest Heidi since 1937 when Shirley Temple played the adorable Heidi.  Played by cutie pie Anuk Steffen. She is sweet, innocent, fiesty and full of everything you need to feel sorry for this little orphan who is handed off to her grumpy, loner grandfather who lives in the alps.  When her aunt (under false pretenses) whisks her away to Frankfort to go to school Heidi misses her grandfather and sheep herder Peter.   While at school Heidi learns to read and befriends Klara a wheel chair bound young girl. She also must deal with a strict governess who has zero patience for Heidi!

Heidi will eventually return to her dear grandfather and Peter and everyone will live a happy ever after following some life lessons.

This was one of the darker versions of Heidi in way of filming and a ghost taken from the original works of Johanna Spyri’s and I loved it. It is the perfect family classic with some updates and very well done by set design and acting.  My kids have never seen Heidi and loved it.

Be Smart And Pick Up Hike Smart by Ann Marie Brown And Terra Breeden

The 411:

My daughter and I have been walking a few miles weekly and really want to up our game. She asks often if we can go off road and hike.  We have some great trails but I am afraid as a novice to go in alone and not know the trail or what to do if we encounter a bear, some other wild animal or unsavory folk. Hoping to get some tips and do a few trips with some of my local friends and this book is a great resource for us to learn the safest way to proceed with our dream of hiking.

I really like the layout of the book. It was easy to follow and the writing made reading about hiking interesting and enticing. Some of the tips really resonated and in fact I have shared them over the past few days with co-workers and friends.

My favorite was to always leave a plastic bag with your photo and a dirty sock in your car before you head out onto the trail. This way if you go missing search dogs can find you. My other favorite was to text a trusted friend with your whereabouts every once in a while so there is a documented history of your trek so if something happens to you, people know where to start searching.

This book should be read by everyone who is looking to hike or those who do. There are great tips on everything you need to know and some you didn't know you needed.

Beastia by Zoe Cruz - What if a beauty became a beast?

The 411:

I love YA books and this was one of those books that I wished I didn't have to put down. It took me 3 days to read it but if I had some me time in my life it would have been done in an afternoon. 

Zoe Cruz spins a reverse Beauty and The Beast with Beastia. Rebekah, Bek, Bea, or Beastia hasn't had it easy. She has an alcoholic mother and gets kidnapped by a masochistic manic who changes her appearance and is still out there.  She is untrusting of everyone and hates being touched obviously. I found myself rooting for Bea and hoping that her friendships and future romance would help her learn to trust people and let her guard down a little while also feeling Bea was getting some of her just desserts for being a school bully. The ending was exactly what I was hoping for and wish I didn't read the book so fast because I am sad it is over.

When I Carried You in My Belly by Thrifty Umrigar and Illustrated by Ziyue Chen

The 411:

I adore this book. The words and the illustrations. It speaks to my heart and I believe it is the perfect gift for first time moms as a Mother's Day or a Baby Shower Gift. In this story a mother loving relays to her daughter why stories of when she was carried in her belly and how it correlates with why she is the lovely child she is today.

"When I carried you in my belly, we fed kittens out of saucers, baked bread for our neighbors, and hung bird feeders on the trees and that is why you have the biggest heart in the world."

Beside these sweet, loving words and the cutest illustrations ever by Ziyue Chen which I couldn't help sharing with my Instagram followers last week. Gorgeous!

My children are 11 and 13 and still love hearing the stories of when I was pregnant with them. I just wish I was as poetic as Thrifty when I share with them.
 

Coloring Books For YOU! Use Code STORYTIME for 20% OFF

Here is a great gift idea for anytime and with Easter in Mother's Day in the next few weeks these personalized coloring books from Put Me In The Story are perfect.

I received a Keep Me Calm and Color On book that is probably one of the prettiest coloring books I have ever seen because well, it has my name all over it! 

A book and some colored pencils, markers, gel pens are all of them would make a great gift for yourself or someone you love.

The books are filled with interesting and detailed mandalas, shapes, ornate, delicate , complex and intricate patterns that will allow the coloring artist to just relax and color. It is definitely a mental health moment that is so worth it!

I love the pretty patterns and the quotes on the pages.

Here are just some of the pretty pages!

Dig Two Graves Opens Tomorrow

The 411

Sometimes the mistakes of someone else's past can come back to haunt you. That is what happens when Samantha's brother drowns at the beginning of the movie. The movie is creepy in a non-creepy way.  My father always told me don't be afraid of the dead be afraid of the living for they are much scarier and he was right.

Samantha Isler/Jake does her best to act aloof in her serious scowl and 70's clothing but for a girl who lost her brother and obviously loves him enough to want him back from the dead I was confused by her bored, trusting innocence.  I did however enjoy the slow roll out of the story of the past. It definitely made things interesting.  For some reason Cher's Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves kept running through my head through the movie.

I liked the 70s vibe and the unscary horror film that reminded me that ghosts can't hurt us but the past of our relatives just might.

Worth the watch! 

Protogenesis by Alysia Helming and Kostas Martakis

The 411

Helene's mother is missing and someone is trying to kill her. She is told to trust no one as she makes her trek to Greece to stay with a Godfather named Janus she doesn't know while she tries to figure out what happened to her mother.  Janus is an eccentric character who is as confused that she has arrived in Greece as she is that he and her mother were friends.  With glowing stones, a magic cat, a and mirror that becomes a portal another planet while she tries to balance out her potential boyfriend's Ever and Nick and figure out the mystery surrounding her mother's disappearance Helene certainly has her work cut out for her.

A truly great read. Alysia mixes culture, mystery, Greek mythology, romance and fantasy into a wonderful story that will have fans of Percy Jackson and Harry Potter loving each magical chapter except this time we have a female heroine with male sidekicks. Hooray! Girl Power.  

Guitar Lessons With My Daughter

I love Thursdays because it is the night my daughter has guitar lessons. We leave before it gets dark and I stand for the next hour listening to her learn to play the guitar. There are plenty of places to sit but I like to stand and pace listening to her instructor teach her the notes, how to get a better sound, how to let the notes resonate and how naturally good she is. I bet he says this to all his students but I honestly think she is good.

My dream is that one day she and her dad will be able to play something together. When she said she wanted to take guitar the first thing I thought was hooray, this is something that will bring you and your dad closer. He has football with Handsome but not much in common with Goddess other than she is very much like him; not terribly mushy, very smart and extremely quick witted.  For practice she is using her Daddy's acoustic which also makes me so happy.

It makes me so happy that we are in a place to provide lessons for her at this point. I don't know how everyone does it. Affording vacations, feeding the kids, buying new clothes, putting them in activities that will make them better people and more. I see the posts on Facebook and while I am happy for everyone often wonder how they do it. How do they afford it?  For now we can but I constantly inform her that if she doesn't practice outside of her lessons she will not be able to take more classes. While I am proud of her I think it is a privilege to take music lessons. It certainly isn't cheap.

signing the wall at the music studio

For now I will continue taking her and forcing her to put in at least 15 minutes a night of practice time and at bed time I will pray for her continued interest and the one day I won't have to remind her to practice because if I have to remind her she obviously isn't really that interested.

Getting back to the first photo...when we leave it is dark out and the sky has that ombre look that forces us to both look up and say...wow. My phone didn't do the moon, star and gorgeous sky any justice but we snapped a pic and walked hand in hand to the car with the guitar in her other hand.

The Mirror Sisters Series Book 2 Broken Glass - V.C. Andrews

The 411:

I enjoyed this book better than the first one. You can see my review here.  Two identical twin sisters Haylee and Kaylee live under the thumb of their very controlling mother. She is so controlling that she won't let one wake unless the other is awake and they must always dress the same, do their hair the same and finish each other's sentences. This works for mom but the girls would love to have their own separate lives. One of them has done what she felt she needed to in order to make that happen and it is at the expense of her sister.

This book had me hooked and it was finished in three days even with my job, my kids, homework and mommy work. If I had the time it would have been read in one night. The book starts right were book one leaves off. One of the twins is missing and now the other has to talk about what she knows.

I was dying to know what was going to happen and was happy there was some closure at the end of the book although I cannot wait for book 3.

This book reads quicker than the first and highlighted just how much parents can screw up their kids. The psychological damage from an overbearing mother and the absence of father due to divorce was the breeding ground for jealousy, hatred, and manipulation.  It was a perfect storm and book 3 can't come soon enough.