How do you show your Green???

Tomorrow is St. Patrick's Day!!!! I don't know about where you live but it's a pretty big deal around here. Everyone wears green, no matter what their background, and partakes in all kinds of debauchery! LOL

Our celebration each year includes a party at a friend's house...all kinds of fun stuff! Here are some pics from last year:

Me and my girls! (I'm on the far right!)

Me and hubby!

Being silly!

This year's party is actually tonight! Very much looking forward to it. There are custom designed t-shirts and everything. 

And I gotta post my newest release, Karma Kameleon, since the cover is green and all ;)

Ain't it sexy???

Go to my Excerpts page for the first chapter! :)

So...what do you do to celebrate St. Patty's Day???

Wanna win some GREEN??? Well, Amazon green, anyway!! $10 worth! :) All you have to do is comment below and make sure you post your email address...use "at" and "dot" in place of the symbols if you'd like to cut down on spam. Only those with valid email address can win.

For EXTRA ENTRIES, become a follower of my blog, or Tweet, Blog, or FB about the event! And for even more entries, follow me on Twitter, Click here, or on FB, Click here! Just let me know in the comment what you did! :) You can rack up a whole lotta entries for this!! And please hop around to all the other blogs in the hop! LOTS of fun prizes!!

AND all commenters are entered to win 2 RIDICULOUSLY AWESOME prizes!!  1) Winner's Choice of a KINDLE FIRE or NOOK TABLET and 2) Winner's Choice of a $90 Gift Card from Amazon or B&N.

AND...it gets even BETTER!!! The Romance Reviews is celebrating their 1st Anniversary and is giving away lots of great prizes!! Click here to answer today's trivia questions, including mine, to enter to win!

Crazy, right!??? So what are you waiting for??? Contest ends at 11:59 EST tonight.

So hop around and enter on as many blogs as you want!

Whatcha wanna know about me???

I don't know what you'd like to know, but Booked Up Reviews interviewed me over on their blog! Check it out!! And there's still time to enter to win a copy of Karma Kameleon!!

And don't forget tomorrow's St. Patty's hop!! TONS of awesome prizes!!!

My latest review for Karma Kameleon!

This review totally made my year....and it's still pretty early in 2012! Check it out here!

The part that really made me happy...didn't even so much refer to Karma Kameleon, but my writing in general. It is SOOOOOOOO what I'm trying to achieve with my career. Take a look at this quote:

I have to give 4 stars because this chick-lit novel is probably one of the best I've read. Most languish in the old format but this novel gives me hope better things are to come from this genre and this author.


And this one:

This author has serious talent and fans of chick lit will fall in love with her work. 

Like I said....totally made my year! Let's hope the rest of 2012 is just as great, if not better!! :)

Food I Love! Zucchini Pasta!

This recipe is ridiculously easy and so so good!! Great as a side dish or served alone. I like to make grilled chicken with it, rubbed with a little olive oil and then sprinkled with salt, pepper, garlic powder and italian seasoning.

This recipe is from Light n Tasty Magazine, (now Healthy Cooking Magazine) by Taste of Home.

Ingredients

• 8 ounces uncooked linguine
• 4 cups coarsely shredded zucchini (about 3 medium)
• 4 teaspoons olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup fat-free plain yogurt
• 3/4 cup shredded reduced-fat cheddar cheese
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper

Directions

• Cook linguine according to package directions. In a sieve or colander, drain the zucchini, squeezing to remove excess liquid. Pat dry.
• In a large nonstick skillet, saute zucchini in oil for 2 minutes. Add garlic; saute 1-2 minutes longer or until zucchini is tender. Transfer to a large bowl. Add the yogurt, cheese, salt and pepper. Drain linguine; add to zucchini mixture and toss to coat. Yield: 6 servings.

Nutritional Facts 3/4 cup equals 219 calories, 7 g fat (3 g saturated fat), 10 mg cholesterol, 395 mg sodium, 32 g carbohydrate, 2 g fiber, 10 g protein. Diabetic Exchanges: 1-1/2 starch, 1-1/2 fat, 1 vegetable.

Click here for link to website!

Come get some Green!!!!!!

Or a Nook Tablet or Kindle Fire!!!!

I'm participating in a RIDICULOUSLY AWESOME blog hop this Friday- the day before St. Patty's Day!!!! Over 120 authors are going to be telling anything they can about being Irish, celebrating the day, wearing green, drinking green beer... pretty much anything!

Each author will be giving away a prize. Like a swag pack, gift cards, ebooks, print books, and so much more.

PLUS We have TWO Grand Prizes for TWO different winners! *gasp*

Grand Prize 1: Winner's Choice of a Kindle Fire or Nook Tablet

Grand Prize 2: Winner's Choice of a $90 Amazon or Barnes&Noble Gift Card

Isn't that exciting? LOL. So you as a reader - what do you have to do? Well, come on over to these websites on Friday March 16th and comment on as many as you want. The grand prize winners will be chosen at random from the commenters - meaning you can comment on EACH blog - meaning 120 entries to the grand prize.

Sounds great right? Come on over and wear your green and win some prizes!!!

Click here to see the list of all participating blogs!

Happiness

I am a big supporter of being happy in life and doing what you need to do to live a happy life. Life is FAR too short to spend it miserable. Whenever I see unhappy people, I wonder why they aren't doing anything to change their situation. I've seen it many times. It makes me sad. Maybe they can't change it...maybe they don't have the energy. Who knows. But I will not live my life being unhappy.

So.....in my life, I will not deprive myself of anything. We live within our means and do what we can, but I want to make the most of our time here. We know well from experience that life can be taken away in the blink of an eye. I want no regrets.

So no...we don't have tons of cash in a savings account. We spend our money on things that make us happy. But not so much in the way of belongings. Yeah, I do like to wear nice clothes, but I am a super bargain shopper.  We like to take trips, go to the movies, go out to eat. Unfortunately, there is little that is free in this world. You can't even go to the park for free, at least not the bigger state and national parks. Even those have an admission fee.I know other people find happiness in a big fat savings account...I'm just not one of them.

I love to eat. There is just something so satisfying about a fabulous meal. Comforting. And I won't deny myself that joy so I can be super skinny. (Honestly, even if I could be, I wouldn't want to be stick-like...I like looking like a woman.) Luckily I have always had a relatively easy time staying thin. But that doesn't mean I don't gain weight. I watch what I eat. I exercise. Exercise is very important to me and so is being healthy and doing what I can to stay that way. But I splurge too. I exercise so I can eat what I want and not feel guilty about it. I'm gonna enjoy my life and part of that is enjoying what I eat. I don't splurge all the time, but the rest of the time I'm not going to be miserable either. I would be miserable on a no carb diet, so I will never do it. I try to eat things that are healthy and good for me, but things I also enjoy. I've been pretty lucky finding lots of great recipes. And again, other people may find happiness in having only 5% body fat and eating cardboardly food all day every day, but not me.

Lastly is hobbies and music and movies and all other entertainment forms. I will not avoid what makes me happy because others think it is silly or weird or not worth the time. I like what I like and I won't let anyone else's opinion stop me from enjoying how I spend my free time. I like boy bands and have seen NKOTB several times over the last few years. I am in my mid-30's a take a dance class that performs on stage during recital. I enjoy crafting and scrapbooking. I ADORE Disney World!!!! It used to really bother me when people would say "You're going there again?" Yeah....I am. And I love every minute I spend there. I'd go far more often if we could afford it.

So, my advice for today is to do what makes you happy. As long as you aren't hurting anyone else, go nuts!! It's your life. Don't let anyone make you feel like less of a person for doing what makes you happy. Leave this earth without regrets. I'm sure no one dies and says "Damn, I really took way too many vacations when I was alive."

GIVEAWAY!!!!! Win a copy of Karma Kameleon!!!!

Today I am am offering up a digital copy of Karma Kameleon, over at Booked Up! Please go check it out and enter!!!