Awesome and Awkward Thursday

Awkward

- My new addiction to Fruit Mania, Bubble Mania, and Jewel Mania. I'm glad that it takes an hour to gain more life. Forces to me to do something else for an hour.
-I'm still reading The Historian. It's so long. I'm halfway through and enjoying it but the length is daunting. Also hard to hold on the bus. Seeing the appeal of an ereader for longer books.

-Blogger has been a pain lately. I was having trouble embedding pins. That got fixed. But now I'm having trouble loading pictures. Grr. 

Awesome
-Three day weekend on its way!
-The new season of Arrested Development drops on Sunday. Marathon time!
-Super excited for all the new movies coming out. Planning on seeing Star Trek this weekend. Saw Iron Man 3 last weekend.

What's been awkward and awesome for you this week?

Library Loot

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and Marg from The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries.

A Beautiful Disaster

Honestly, I love the title of this one. I hope it good.

Ender's Game

Yes, I've never read Ender's Game. Yes, I'm reading it because a movie is coming out.

The Happiness Project

I spend a lot of time wondering why I'm not happier or what what would make me happier. Hopefully this book will help. 

My Cooking Class: Seafood Basics

I like seafood but my experience is limited. I'd love to cook with seafood more. Hoping to find some good advice and recipes.

Crazy Sexy Kitchen

When I spotted Crazy Sexy Kitchen on the library shelf, I remembered Christine's post about Crazy Sexy Diet last year. Another one with a great title. 

The Elite

I was in the crazy long queue at the library waiting for The Elite. My normal library usually gets new releases and those copies aren't added to the queue. So it's possible to find brand new books on the shelves. I've been stalking the YA section for The Elite for weeks now. This weekend I was able to find it!

What did you get this week?

Top Ten Tuesday: Favorite Book Covers Of Books I've Read

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. 

Today's Topic: Top Ten Favorite Book Covers Of Books I've Read

Luxe

I adore that pink dress. I need to continue this series by the way.

 Wicked Lovely series

 I love all the covers of the Wicked Lovely series.

Graveminder 

I love how slightly creepy the cover is.

The Raven Boys

I can't even tell you why I love this cover. It's probably just the raven.

The Girl In The Steel Corset

I love the whole look of this cover. The red dress, the steampunky background, the font of the title. It's all amazing.

Incarnate

The cover caught my attention but the story kept me engaged.

Across The Universe

Just love this cover and this book!

The Winter Witch 

Another cover that caught my attention. I wish I would have loved the story as much.

The Treachery of Beautiful Things

Another beautiful cover. Can you tell pretty dresses get me every time?

The Selection

Again more pretty dresses.

Pin It And Do It: Sriracha and Brown Sugar Almonds

One of my coworkers brings almonds as a snack to work. I was telling her that I saw some pins about flavored almonds. She said she hadn't seen them so I told her I'd send her a few links. While looking through my pins, I notice how easy these recipes are. And since almonds are good snacks, I decided to make these Sriracha and Brown Sugar Almonds. I figured if there were slightly spicy I wouldn't eat as many.
Here's the original pin:

Here's mine:

So easy. I made 1.5 lbs worth and doubled the sauce. I even gave some to Tai to take to work. I bet this batch will be gone in a few days.

Weekend Cooking: Chicken Breasts With Mushrooms and Cream #pinitdoit

We're getting to the end of May (where has the time gone) and I'm just doing my first Pin It and Do It item! Time certainly has gotten away from me!
So today's dish is a pin that I pinned 22 weeks ago. I love looking at my older pins because I tend to only took at my newer ones for dinner inspirations. This chicken breast with mushroom and cream dish looked interesting especially since the recipe stated the sauce was so delicious.
Here's the original pin:

Here's mine:

I overcooked the chicken a little. We all enjoyed the sauce. I'll definitely make this one again and try not to overcook the chicken!



Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, fabulous quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page. For more information, see the welcome post.

Awesome and Awkward Thursday

Awkward

-Switching cell phone companies. What a PITA! Especially when Verizon decided to shut my phone service down 4 days ahead of schedule. 

-My lack of blogging. Been lazy lately. I have things to share but not enough time to write posts. Sigh.

Awesome

-I'm eight books ahead on my Goodreads challenge. Yay!

-I'm going to the premiere of Much Ado About Nothing tonight! And Joss Wheadon and Nathan Fillion will be there. I'm so excited!

What's awesome and awkward for you this week?

Library Loot

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and Marg from The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries.

Bellevue Farmer's Market Cookbook

My local farmer's market published a cookbook a few years back. I grabbed it off the shelf since our farmer's markets are just opening around here.

I Remember Nothing and Other Reflections

I've enjoyed the other Ephron books I've read. I don't think this one will be any different.

Hood

While attempted to read The Outlaws of Sherwood (which I DNF), I decided I needed to read more Robin Hood legend. I stumbled on Hood and decided to give it a shot.

Paleo Slow Cooking

You know I love my slow cooker. I hoping to find some winners in here.

Sweet Potato Power

More paleo but also like the smart carb approach. 

What did you get this week?

The Bungalow by Sarah Jio

After reading Violets of March and Blackberry Winter, I'll read anything Sarah Jio writes. I was not disappointed with The Bungalow. You do have suspend reality a little but the story was so moving that I didn't notice too much.
The Bungalow reminded me a lot of Rosie Thomas' books which I also enjoy. The Bungalow starts with an elderly Anne, napping while waiting for her granddaughter to arrive for a visit. Quickly, Anne starts to tell her granddaughter the story of her life in the 1940's. We're are transported to Seattle, at the start of World War 2. Anne has just graduated from nursing school and is ready to marry a good, stable man. Anne's life is all planned out. Anne's best friend, Kitty decides to volunteer as a nurse and persuades Anne to come along. Anne postpones her wedding and flies to the South Pacific with Kitty.
Jio writes richly detailed characters and beautiful settings. I could feel like I was there with Anne on Bora Bora. I enjoyed Anne's story. I wish that Kitty and some of Anne's other nurse friends were more fleshed out. The Bungalow is only 290 pages so Jio focused the story on Anne.
Overall I found The Bungalow to be a great quick read. Others who shared their thoughts on The Bungalow: Seize The Latte, The Literary Life of A Well Read Wife, Write Meg!, Jenn's Bookshelves, Devourer of Books, and Life In The Thumb.
This is my eighth read for the Historical Reading Challenge.

Weekend Cooking: Almond Brioche Sticky Buns

I put Aidia Mollenkamp's Keys To The Kitchen on hold at the library after reading about it on Cooking With Amy. I loved the second part of the title: The Essential Reference For Becoming a More Accomplished, Adventurous Cook. I'm definitely trying to be a more accomplished and adventurous cook.
Mollenkamp goes over types of meats, veggies, and herbs. She gives concise overviews on how to choose foods and what seasons they would be the freshest. Mollenkamp advocates eating seasonally. I loved all the pictures and the details given to the techniques at the beginning. The first half of the book talks about techniques and teaches a lot about preparing food. The second half is recipes. But even the recipe are demonstrating techniques.
I decided to make Mollenkamp's Almond Brioche Sticky Buns:

Despite the fact they have a difficulty rating of hard, I thought they were fairly easy. A little time consuming but not too difficult. I would definitely make them again.

The only thing I disliked about Keys To The Kitchen was in the recipe section. Mollenkamp talks a lot in the beginning about eating seasonally but the recipes are mashed together. There's no suggestion of which season each recipe might be from. I'm still learning how to eat seasonally so more information would have been helpful for me.
Mollenkamp's Keys To The Kitchen is a must buy for me. Others who share their thoughts on Keys To The Kitchen: The Kitchn, The Spiced Life,  Edible Living, Turntable Kitchen, and Food Gal.



Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, fabulous quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page. For more information, see the welcome post.

Forever A Lady by Delilah Marvelle

After reading Forever and A Day, I immediately put Forever A Lady on hold. I'm really enjoying this series.
Lady Bernadette is a widow who has decided to enjoy life. She has decided not to get attached to any man. Matthew is a thief and criminal. Matthew longs to find a woman to settle down with. Despite the fact that they travel in different circles, Matthew and Bernadette find themselves drawn to each other. Their romance isn't easy which I enjoyed. They didn't even have insta-love. It was insta-lust. Love came later. I liked how their romance progressed and both characters grew. I really liked Matthew and Bernadette.
Overall, I enjoyed Forever A Lady. I can't wait to read the third in the series, Forever A Lord. Others who shared their thoughts on Forever A Lady: The Rookie Romance, My Book Addiction Reviews, Books and Kisses, and What I'm Reading.
This was my seventh read for the Historical Reading Challenge.