Party Time!!

I admit, I love to go to parties! I love getting together with friends and family for good food, fun, music, games, etc.... We need no excuse to party either. Anything can be reason enough to get together!

But New Year's Eve is a great reason to get together! Friends of ours have hosted a party the last few years, adults only. And it's been a pajama party! So so fun! We all don our favorite jammies and eat great food while playing Wii, singing karaoke, dancing and playing games. Some pics from last year's party:

Some karaoke:



Just dance on Wii:





Me and some of my girls:



What are your plans for ringing in the new year????? Hope you all have a fab time!! See ya next year!!

***edited to add: I have no idea why my pics are so big. Tried to fix them but I can't!

It's that time of year again!

New Year's Resolutions!!!!

I make resolutions every year, but only things that I know I can take seriously and actually give my all to. I never make goals I know I have no way of reaching. I take these goals seriously and it really bothers me if I can't fulfill one of them.

For 2010 I had a few resolutions, as I talked about the other day: More family time. Get in better shape. Read 30 books. I did pretty good with all of them and I am happy.

For 2011 I have decided to give another go at the 30 book challenge. I did only complete 28 books this past year, with #29 on my night stand, but I still consider it a success.

I plan on continuing my gym routine, and hopefully toning up even more, and have decided to make it a goal of mine to keep hubby motivated.

Writing goals for 2011: Edit, submit and hopefully sign a contract for Karma Kameleon. Do a major rewrite of Spellbound. Write another book. I also want to bump up my marketing and promotion.

So, what are your goals for 2011??

Does time of day make a difference??

Okay, so I openly admit, I usually write posts and schedule them. It's very rare that I write a blog post and post it immediately. It is just a whole lot easier for me to write them when I have time, usually I do a few, and then schedule them. But I never know what time to schedule them for.

So I ask my fellow bloggers...what do you do?? Does the time of the post affect the number of people who read it??

Now, I am East coast, so my blogs post usually at 10 am EST. Obviously, that means they post even earlier in all the other US time zones. Do people read blogs that early?? Or do people read later in the day? If my post is too early, do you think it gets buried way down in reader's blog rolls?

I think I'm going to do a test. I'm going to try posting at different times and see if I get more or less responses!

So close...yet so far away :(

Looks like I am not going to reach one of my new year's resolutions for 2010. :(

I'd only made a few.

The first was to spend more quality time as a family...play more games together, read more together, that kind of thing. I think we reached that one, though probably not as much as i would have liked. But one of us reads with our son every night, though we have kinda slacked with our daughter. She's seven and can read on her own, above grade level. But I would like to read with her more. She just got all five Diary of a Whimpy Kid books for Christmas.

The second was to get in better shape, lose a few pounds and tone. I am definitely on track with that goal! We joined a gym the Monday after New years this year and I lost all the pounds I wanted. But have also learned to not care about the number on the scale. It's definitely more about how I look and feel. So while I have lost the pounds, my body has changed noticeably and I know I have also gained a ton of muscle, which weighs more than fat.

Lastly was my book reading goal. I read so many bloggers who do the 100 book challenge and I knew there was no way I could possibly reach that goal. So I made a far more attainable one for me: 30 books in one year. And up `til September, I was in a great position to reach, and even surpass, it. But then life happened and there just wasn't time for reading. I got most of my reading done at night before bed...but bedtime was pushed back and I was just too tired to read. And I used to read a lot at the gym. But in September we switched gyms and I was now on a time constraint. At the old gym there was no time limit for the kid's playroom. I could get my 40 minutes of cardio in (and that's when I read) and then still be able to do another 40-45 minutes of weight training. Well, this new gym has a 70 minute limit on the kid room. So I had to cut my cardio time. Which was fine because the new gym has classes and I do Zumba 2-4 times a week, so at least I wasn't losing that. But I was losing my reading time. :(

As of right now, I am about a quarter of the way into book # 29. I am hoping to finish it this week, so at least I am only one book short of my goal.

How did everyone else do on their New Year's resolutions for 2010??? Your book goals??

Totally made my day!!

As an author who is just starting out, sometimes it's really, really, REALLY hard to know if your work is being enjoyed (and, um, purchased). My royalty statements are not showing what I hoped they would at this point...and some vendors do not report sales until months after. As of my last royalty statement, I hadn't received a dime for print sales for A Bitch Named Karma even though it had technically been for sale since August.

But then I get an email like I did today:

"I just wanted you to know I asked for your book for Christmas. Our local Barnes & Nobles was sold out & said they can not keep them in stock. They have been selling like hotcakes

Congrats on your success!"

This was from an internet friend I met in an online message board community. She's from somewhere in Ohio. So somewhere in Ohio, lots of people are buying, and hopefully enjoying, my book!!!!! This is what i live for as an author. It's not so much the money, it's this.......this feeling. Knowing that people are out there reading my book. And loving it!!

Be Jolly By Golly Blogfest!!!!

This sounded too fun to pass up!!! Please stop by Unedited for the list of participants!!

Christmas is probably my favorite holiday. I love getting together with family, and yes, presents are a big deal to me. I'd be lying if I said I didn't like receiving them, but I really truly enjoy buying and giving them. Our budget does not allow us to buy presents for our family members often and birthdays and Christmas are really the only times of the year we buy our kids presents. I love seeing their faces light up when they open something I know they wanted badly!

As much as I love the holiday season, I'm not too into decorating. I have a few things I do- my daughter and I made some paper chains a few years ago with Christmasy-patterned scrapbook paper and I sometimes will take our framed photos off the wall and wrap them in Christmas wrapping paper, add a bow and hang them back up. And our trees are important to me (yes, we have two!). Our bow window is lined with twinkle lights, but they stay up all year. We did it one year for Christmas, and my husband liked the way it illuminated the photos sitting on the ledge, so we left them.

We don't do any decorating outside. Our old house was the last house on a dead end street- no drive by traffic, obviously. So I just never thought it was a great way to spend a few hundred dollars. We moved three years ago and I keep saying I'm going to go the day after Christmas and buy a couple of those light up outdoor trees- the cute ones, not the tacky ones. But I have yet to do it.

Here is a pic of our main tree this year:



It's a little on the small side but with our budget these days, it just seems silly to spend $40, $50, $60+ on a tree. I need to have a real tree, so sacrifices have to be made. We chose a $30 tree and that meant it was shorter, but by the time you put it in the stand and put the angel on, it was about 6 feet tall anyway. And we chose one that was not all that full...but we did that on purpose. When it comes to trees and decorating, I am naturally taken back to my floral design roots and need to create depth in the "arrangement". I like to sink the lights and ornaments deep within the tree and create depth and interest..making people want to look closer and see what's inside! :) If I had a super full tree, I wouldn't be able to do that! So for those listed reasons, this tree is the perfect tree for us!!

And tree #2:



This is my Gone With The Wind tree! I just started doing this last year. Yes, this one is a fake tree. Five years ago we went to Disney the week before Christmas. We left on the 16th and came home on the 22nd. Couldn't see paying the money for a real tree to sit and dry out while we were gone and no way was I running around on the 23rd to find a tree. Reluctantly, we bought a fake, 3 foot, prelit tree at Walmart for $12 I think. It served it's purpose and I figured we'd never use it again, or let the kids decorate it or something. But then last year I had this brilliant idea. I have been an avid collector of Hallmark Gone With The Wind ornaments ever since 1997. I have every single one accept the first from 1996 (I will get my hands on one soon!) Some years they released two ornaments. In total I have 23 including this years. Suffice it to say, they took up a lot of room on our family tree. I got the idea to use the little fake tree and make it my GWTW tree and sit it on the ledge of our bow window. I bought some decent silk magnolias and a feathery boa to pull from Scarlet's iconic burgundy party dress. Love this tree!

I have a recipe to share, but it's really nothing exciting or extravagant! We rarely host Christmas dinner and even when we have, I have kept it simple. Last year my parents and brothers came here for Christmas lunch and will do the same this year. I did stuffed shells and the whole Italian spread last year. This year I bought a spiral ham, but we'll get rolls and probably eat it as sandwiches with the chili and Zuppa Toscana (Olive Garden's recipe) that I'm also making. As far as the in law's goes, my MIL and her sisters and mother have been reluctant to let go of any of the food-making reins. That means I am only allowed to bring a dessert or something like rolls or pop or some other non-exciting contribution. But one of my favorite desserts to make is below. It's usually gobbled up! And the best part, it's way tasty, but way low in fat!

Dirt Dessert (AKA Oreo Pie)



1 pkg. fat free cream cheese (8 oz.), softened
1 pkg. regular cream cheese (3 oz.), softened
3/4 cup powdered sugar
3-1/2 cups cold milk (I use skim)
2 pkgs. sugar-free vanilla pudding mix (1 oz. each)
1 carton reduced-fat whipped topping (12 oz.)
1 pkg. reduced-fat Oreos (18 oz.), crushed (but I do leave some bigger chunks too!)

In large mixing bowl, beat cream cheeses and sugar until smooth. In another bowl, whisk milk and pudding mixes 2 minute then let sit for 2 minutes. Gradually stir in cream cheese mix. Fold in whipped topping. Spread 1-1/3 cup Oreo crumbs into bottom of ungreased 9 x 13 pan. Layer half of pudding mix, then half of remaining cookie crumbs. Repeat layers. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Nutrition Facts: 1/2 cup equals 208 calories, 6 g fat (4 g saturated fat), 6 mg cholesterol, 364 mg sodium, 33 g carbohydrate, 1 g fiber, 5 g protein. Diabetic Exchanges: 2 starch, 1 fat.

Enjoy!

Hope everyone has a fantastic holiday season! Can't wait to read all the other posts for the blogfest!

Back to the real world!

Hello everyone! We're back from our Disney World trip!! We had a really great time...always love spending quality time with the hubby and kids. It wasn't perfect by any means- the kids still annoy each other on vacation and standing in lines and dealing with rude people wears on you. But we still loved it and can't wait to go back! Hoping to get some pics uploaded and posted here by the end of the week! :)

So now we are home and trying to get back into the swing of things. Today is day 4 of being home and only two suitcases have been emptied, but I did do all vacation laundry. We came home to between 3 and 4 feet of snow covering our entire property, less the area my dad snowblowed in our driveway so we could pull our car in when we came home. And we have been thrust into holiday festivities. Had a party last night and the night before were theater tickets for opening night of "A Christmas Story" at our local theater. Luckily we did get most of our shopping done on Black Friday and we really only have a few more gifts to pick up.

I'd really like to jump into edits of Karma Kameleon, but I know that is at least a few days away. Hubby's aunt has decided to do a scrapbook for her parents this year and each family was asked to contribute pages to it. I don't have a problem with that...I adore scrapbooking. But I do need a good chunk of time to do it. She wants an entire 2-page layout for each of our kids (the great grandchildren of the recipients), plus hubby, then an additional 2-page layout for our family. So 8 pages total...that will probably take me 3-4 hours. Yeah, I could just slap the pictures on some patterned paper in a half hour, but that's not my style.

So as much as it saddens me, edits will have to wait, at least a few days. And as we all know, this time of year is pretty busy, so who knows what will come up after that.

Hope you all are enjoying your December!