April Showers giveaway

April Showers Blog Design is holding a giveaway for a complete Blogger or Wordpress design.  You can find the details and enter here.  Take a look at her portfolio too. She has really cute designs and even tutorials.

Book Blogger Hop- 7/9

Every week Crazy for Books hosts the Book Blogger Hop.  This is a good way to get to know your fellow book bloggers and find new blogs. 


This week's question:  Tell us about some of your favorite authors and why they are your favorites!

It is hard for me to pick a favorite author, because I am really indecisive.   If I had to choose, I would say Margaret Atwood and Michelle Moran.  Margaret Atwood just has a way with words.  Her books are all so different and interesting.  She usually puts some sort of mystery in her books that keep the reader interested.  Michelle Moran I really like because she is a historical fiction author.  She has three books out, all of which take place in Ancient Egypt, a place I have always been fascinated with.  She makes her characters so real and easy to relate to.  Also, she is very friendly and is a big supporter of book blogs. 

Summer Beach Reads Challenge

Jessica over at A Fanatic's Book Blog is hosting the Summer Beach Reads Challenge.  Here are the details:

• You do not have to select your books ahead of time, unless you choose to. You can just pick and choose as you go if that works better for you! We fully support you using these books as crossovers to other challenges, so feel free to participate even if you're currently in another challenge!

• If you choose to participate, please take the button below and put it in your "Challenge" section or on your sidebar. That way anyone else who wants to join can find their way here!

• If you choose to participate, please create an Introduction Post and link it to the Mr. Linky at the bottom of the page, so that we can come and say hi!

• You may join at any time, even if there are only a few weeks left. Welcome amazing readers!

• Prizes will be awarded through mini giveaways and contests throughout the challenge, and a bigger prize pack will be awarded at the end of the challenge!

To get credit for the final giveaway you'll need to link your Intro Post to the Mr. Linky below and link your reviews on the Welcome Post.

You will receive one entry for your Intro Post, one for each review, and if you post your Wrap-Up post on the indicated day you'll receive an extra 5 entries!

There are 4 different levels:
* Tadpole - Read 4 books in this challenge.
* Minnow - Read 8 books in this challenge.
* Dolphin - Read 12 books in this challenge.
* Shark - Read 16+ books in this challenge.


I think I am going to go for the Shark level.  

50 Followers Giveaway

To thank everybody following me, I have decided to give away some of my favorite books.  I have a list of books the winner can choose from.  The book will be ordered for the winner from Amazon.
Rules:
- You MUST be a follower of my blog through Google Friend Connect.
- You MUST fill out the form, leaving a comment will not enter you.
- You can get another entry if you post this contest somewhere, but you MUST leave the links.  If you don't leave the link, you don't get the extra entry.
- Contest open only to US addresses.
- No P.O boxes.
- I will contact the winner via e-mail.  They have 48 hours to get back to me with their choice of book.  If I fail to hear back from the winner, I will choose another winner.
- Winner will be chosen with random.org.
- Contest will be open from today to July 17 at midnight.

If I get to 150 followers by the end of the contest, I will add another winner.
If I get to 300 followers by the end of the contest, I will add a 3rd winner.

Here is the list of books the winner can choose from:

1. Pre-order of Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins



2. The Book Thief- Markus Zusak




3. The Art of Racing in the Rain- Garth Stein




4. The Year of the Flood- Margaret Atwood




5. Cleopatra's Daughter- Michelle Moran (or either of her other books)




To enter, fill out the form.  You might want to leave a comment as well to not enter multiple times.

THE FORM

Thank you to all my followers.

Pasta alla Marlboro Man

I LOVE the Pioneer Woman.  Her recipes are all amazing.  I tried this one tonight because my husband is a big fan of meat.  It was really good, but next time I would try to break up the tomatoes a bit more.  It was even better with Parmesan cheese on top.  You can find the recipe here.  The cheese bread with the recipe is really good too.  (Photo from Pioneer Woman).

Stuff I'm Loving

Wipeout- Fun mindless summer tv.  Is there anything funnier than watching people get thrown from a big ball? The new season has a new twist: people throwing objects at the contestants.

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia- This show is hilarious.  The characters are horrible people who get themselves in awkward situations.  One of the best scenes: Danny DeVito wearing skinny jeans.  Think about that image for a minute.  My only complaint: the seasons are too short!

Arrested Development-  One of the best tv shows ever. I'm sad that it got canceled, but a movie is being made (maybe).

Summer fruit, especially blueberries and watermelon.

My Latest Knitting Projects

Lately I have been doing a lot of knitting as a way to use up some of the yarn I have.  Coincidentally, my husband has two cousins who are having little girls.
 

This first set I made a couple of months ago.  The hat looks like a flower from the top, and I embroidered little flowers on the sides of the booties.  It was my first time doing booties and I think they turned out pretty well.  The parents loved them. 

This blanket I had started for another friend who was pregnant and could not get it done in time.  This was the first project I had done that was bigger than a scarf. It took a lot of time, but I think it was worth it.  I could not get a picture of the one I made, and this one is much better made than mine anyway.  Mine is made out of the same purple as the above hat and booties.