WINNER!

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The weekly contest featuring Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins has now ended.  The winner was chosen using Random.org.  The winner is:
Congrats! Thanks to all who entered!
You have 48 hours to contact me at djsfoxylady @ gmail.com 
If I don’t hear from you, then you forfeit the prize to the next person. 
Stay tuned, the next giveaway will be posted shortly!

NANCY’S THEORY OF STYLE by Grace Coopersmith

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NANCY’S THEORY OF STYLE
Author: Grace Coopersmith
* I received this book free of charge in exchange for an honest review*
  • Paperback: 368 pages
  • Publisher: Gallery; Original edition (May 18, 2010)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1416598863
  • ISBN-13: 978-1416598862
SYNOPSIS:
Lively young socialite Nancy Carrington-Chambers has always believed an excellent sense of style and strict attention to detail are what it takes to succeed, but her own husband Todd is showing symptoms of incurable tackiness, so Nancy flees their McMansion for her posh San Francisco apartment. She knows her event planning company, Froth, is a real winner, but she must prove herself by reinventing the turgid Barbary Coast Historical Museum fundraiser. Luckily, Nancy now has the perfect assistant. Derek Cathcart is British, impeccably dressed, gorgeous, and clearly gay—so why does Nancy find him so attractive?

Before Nancy can unravel her feelings, her irresponsible cousin Birdie abandons her little daughter with Nancy and takes off. Nancy, Derek, and Eugenia make an unlikely “family,” but strangely it seems incredibly right. Now Nancy’s parents are pressuring her to return to Todd, and she still has to pull off a spectacular party. For someone who’s always known exactly where she’s going, Nancy is in dangerously uncharted waters.

MY THOUGHTS:
After realizing that her marriage to Todd was a mistake, Nancy flee’s her married life to start a new one.  She decides to head to San Francisco to open up her new event planning business named Froth.  She ends up hiring Derek, a handsome, yet gay British man as her new assistant.  Nancy at first seemed a little shallow and full of herself.  Throughout the book, you learn why she acts the way she does and you start to rethink what you first thought of her. She ends up babysitting for a cousin, only the cousin Birdie never returns.  She finds herself stuck with a child named Eugenia and is in over her head. With Derek’s help, Nancy finds that taking care of Eugenia isn’t as bad as she imagined.  They end up making a cute, if not different pretend family. 
If you are looking for your next beach read, or just looking for a fun and laugh out loud book to pass your time, then I highly recommend picking up this book! It was cute and quirky, with the right amount of down to earth plot that made it fun yet real.

MY RATING:



Very Good! I would recommend this book!

Book Care for New Readers

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Don’t you just love getting new books? The smell, feel and the pretty cover just make it so addicting. Of course, let’s not forget about the great writing that is in between that front and back cover! We all have our favorite authors and genres that we must have whenever shopping for books. But have you ever wondered how to carefully take care of those precious gems? Well, I am going to share with you a couple of things to keep in mind when it comes to keeping those books in wonderful condition!

BOOKMARKS:
The first thing that comes to my mind when reading the book is how to keep your place in the book. It saddens me when I get a book from a second hand store or even from the library and I notice all the pages with folded corners! Gasp! The horror that gives me! How dare some people do that to the precious pages that have that glorious writing on it! I urge, no I demand, that everyone who reads books, please invest in bookmarks! I don’t care if it is an old piece of mail or a tag cut off from a piece of new clothing. USE ONE! Nothing is more annoying and destructive to a book than folding corners on the pages. That poor tree gave its life for those pages darn it, respect the tree!
BOOKCASES:
Yes, books need a place to sleep too. I recently quit crafting and decided to turn that area into a home library. If you take a look at my pictures on my blog, you will see I invested in some bookcases to house all those beauties! Now you don’t have to buy expensive shelves to do this. One of my shelves was from a product review for a company, one was passed down from my Grandmother, one was from the local thrift store, and one was purchased by my hubby at Walmart for $25.00! Trust me, this will be the best investment you can make for taking care of your books. I went a step further and alphabetized mine by author. This is not necessary, but organization helps a lot if you are a serious reader!
Now I can go on and on about more ways to take care of your books, but I am going to assume you know the basics now. Don’t use books as coaster’s for drinks. Don’t use them to prop open doors. Please, do not toss them around like paper. Books are a gift. They open new worlds for every person who picks it up. Take care of them and they will take care of the next reader.

25 Things About Me

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 If there were ever a book written about me, this is the list you would find at the front. Come join in the fun and share yours as well!

1. Do you sleep with your closet doors open or closed?
Closed. It’s a mess in there and I don’t want the messiness to leak into my sleeping brain!
2. Do you take the shampoos and conditioner bottles from hotels?
 Well, yeah! Aren’t they suppose to be free with the room anyway? They work great when you are in a pinch between paydays!
3. Do you sleep with your sheets tucked in or out?
They have to be tucked in tight at the bottom. Of course it doesn’t really matter because I annoy my husband and kick them off anyway!
4. Would you rather be attacked by a bear or a swarm of bees?
Um, neither! But if I had to choose a swarm of bees because I might have a better chance of surviving.
5. Do you have freckles?
Nope.
6. What is your biggest pet peeve?
 When someone sees me reading and decides to start a long conversation! Hello? Do you not see me reading a book? Geez!
7. Have you ever peed in the woods?
No. Since I don’t like camping, I don’t see this ever happening either.
8. Do you ever dance if there’s no music playing?
No. That is a form of exercise and that is a bad word.

9. Do you chew your pens and pencils?
Eww. I used to work in the hospital and in a doctors office. I know what kind of yucky is on those pens and pencils!
10. Is it okay for guys to wear pink?
 Why not? Girls wear blue!
11. What do you dip a chicken nugget in?
BBQ sauce or nothing at all.
12. What is your favorite food?
Whatever my tummy is craving at the moment!

13. What movies could you watch over and over and still love?
Titanic (but only the second half where the boat sinks!), Twilight, Road Trip, Something About Mary and American Pie
14. Were you ever a boy/girl scout?
Yep. I was a senior cadet. LOL
15. Would you ever strip or pose nude in a magazine?
HECK NO! My kids laugh at me enough with clothes ON!
16. Can you change the oil on a car?
 Nope. That is what my husband is for. All things car related get sent to him. I tell him its making a clunk-a-ding-a-ping noise and he fixes it.
 17. Ever gotten a speeding ticket?
One. And I swear I was passing a car that was going like 10 miles BELOW the sped limit and the cop caught me speeding as I passed. So not fair.
18. Ever ran out of gas?
No, but I have come close. 
 19. Are you lazy?
I can be. And if I want to be I will!
20. When you were a kid, what did you dress up as for Halloween?
One year I was a Hobo. One year I was a clown. Yeah, I didn’t have much of an imagination and that was when costumes were put together ourselves and handmade–not bought! 
21. How many languages can you speak?
I can count to ten in Spanish, some Sign Language and I am really good at Cursing!
22. Who is better…Leno or Letterman?
Is this a trick question because they both are pretty low on my list. I don’t watch either one.
 23. Do you sing in the car?
All the time.
24. Ever eat a pierogi?
 Not than I can recall. Is it a dessert? If so, I might have.
 25. First concert?
That I went to–MC Hammer! Hammer Time!
Watched live on TV–New Kids on the Block
(yeah, yeah, laugh all you want, but if you are my age you did too!)

I would love to see everyone else share this on their blogs! If you decide to do it, leave me a link so I can come read it and comment!

MEGA SWAGBUCKS DAY!

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Don’t forget to use Swagbucks for all of your internet searching- ESPECIALLY TODAY! Every Friday is MegaSwagbucks Day and they toss $10,000 in large denominations into the mix!

What are Swagbucks? Read here!

I just cashed in a bunch of my Swagbucks for Amazon gift cards so I can pre-order a ton of new release books that are coming out!  Don’t forget to click on the link above to sign up and whenever each of us win swagbucks, it counts for the other person as well!  If I win some, you win some and vice versa!