So download, read, review, and tell your friends!!! :)
Yes, it's that time again - Amazon is offering my book, Six Days, for FREE starting today through May 29th! Whoo hooo! So click on the above pic to get to the download page for Amazon (and remember, if you don't have a Kindle, all you need is the FREE Kindle app and you can read this on ANY device!)
So download, read, review, and tell your friends!!! :)
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Now that it's finally getting warmer out, I start whipping up my favorite summer foods. Hands down one of my favorite things to eat during summer - chicken salad. I just can't get enough! It's easy to prepare ahead of time, it tastes great leftover, and you can serve it with bread or croissants or even just on some lettuce if you want to keep it healthy... The other thing I love about it - there are SO many ways to make it, which means you really can't go wrong depending on what ingredients you have already lying around! For mine, I don't have a "recipe" per se - it may come out different every time depending on what I already have in the kitchen, but here's my ultimate ingredient list if I have a choice: chicken, mayo, sour cream, lemon juice, lime juice, sliced grapes, chopped apples, chopped celery, and chopped pecans (I do throw in a very small amount of salt and pepper if I'm serving it to other people, but I skip those if I'm eating it myself) - poof - best meal ever. I literally throw all of those things in a bowl, mixing in the mayo and juices towards the end so I can make it "to taste" - you can even throw in some Dijon mustard if you like that flavor, and Craisins taste super good in there as well for a twist!
Now yes, this is probably BEST served on croissants - but let's face it, when you're soaking up the summer sun, you may not feel like gorging yourself, so I also love using Hawaiian rolls or even just a lettuce wrap (or I just eat it plain right out of the bowl as well) - no matter how you serve it, it's amazing! So if you ever have leftover chicken from the grill, THIS is what those leftovers should be use for - add lots of crunch in whatever form you like it (fruit, nuts, veggies!) mix in some mayo with a little sour cream (some people like to sub in some Greek yogurt too, that also works!) and enjoy this delectable summer food!! :) I am always SO thankful when people read my books and they tell me all about their experience - what they loved, what they laughed or cried at (even what irked them), etc. That kind of feedback is invaluable. Seriously. It really means the world to me. But PLEASE don't forget to share those things with the universe as well (more specifically, Amazon.com!) as it's one of the way Amazon ranks authors! Reviews are SO very important (good or bad) for 2 reasons - first off, it helps other people find my books on Amazon.com which is so tremendously helpful (I'm not always the easiest to locate amongst 3.3 million other books!) - plus, I can genuinely learn so much from reader feedback. Trust me, you don't need to write anything overly thought out and brilliant, or an entire summary of the book, etc - even just a sentence or two will do! But sharing your general feelings about what you read would help me out in such a big way! So please, if you're read ANY of my books, please head to Amazon.com, type in my name, and leave a quick review! Here are the direct book links to make it easy on you! (See, you don't even have to do the leg work - this will literally take you about 30 seconds! :) And here is the link to my general Amazon.com "Author Page" if you'd prefer to go that route (or if you just want to check them all out! :) Just click on this awkward pic of me and it will take you right there! :) Thanks so much for all your support! It really means so much to me (I know, sounds cliché, especially for an author!) but I am so grateful for your time and kind words. Happy reading!!
These are one of my favorite go-to desserts - cookie bars! They're as easy as making cookies, but yet they're a fun way to spruce up a dessert plate even though you're still just using cookie ingredients! Here's an easy tutorial: To get started, you just need your favorite cookie dough (either a recipe from scratch, or even the packaged stuff works fine! I really like the Better Crocker mixes - my favorite concoction is to mix chocolate chip and peanut butter dough, but you can use any kind you like!) and then a 9x13 or 8x11 baking dish (you'll want to grease it first) plus a package of semi-sweet chocolate chips for the topping (or dark chocolate chips work too if you prefer! Just keep in mind that although milk chocolate chips taste great, they don't set well - but you can still use them if that's all you have on hand at the time). So here we go: Press the cookie dough into your greased baking dish - bake at 350 for about 15-20 minutes depended on how thick your dough is (keep an eye on it the last few minutes) - when it's ready, it should be a nice golden brown on top. Pull it out, and spread a layer of chocolate chips on top like the above pic (and yes, you can also mix in some peanut butter chips, white chocolate, butterscotch chips, etc!) - throw it back in the oven for about 2-3 more minutes. Then pull it out, spread the melted chocolate with a spatula, and let cool! To serve, just cut them up into squares (like you would do for brownies) and display!!
See, I told you that was easy! They taste just like a cookie but with a nice thick layer of delicious chocolate on top!!! You're welcome!! :) I get so excited to start new home projects, no matter how big or small they are! Next up on the list - my husband's home office. This has been a room in debate for years (literally YEARS) because the room was already a horrible light yellow color when we moved in, and my husband basically said "whatever, I can live with it" and that was it - nothing has been done to it since. Granted, I hated it, but it's not my room, right? In fact I literally NEVER use it. But, after all these years of shaming the horribleness of that room, I finally got my way and it's getting a little makeover!! (This is where you agree with me that the yellow paint is really, REALLY horrible... Right?!)
So first up - new paint!!! This is a light grey/blue color - it's actually the SAME exact paint I used for my mudroom makeover (see January 2016 blog post!) and since we had some leftover, we put it to good use! It's amazing how much just a coat of pain can transform a room. Then, we needed to fill some of the wall space so it looked less boring (my theory is that only boring people have boring rooms, right?!) so check out that gem of a canvas - The Royal Tenenbaums is one of my husband's favorite movies, and someone gifted this to him - how great is that?! We still have some more finishing touches, so more to come on that - but little changes like this are so motivating to freshen up your house (for little money) and really spruce up your space! :) I am so insanely excited about this! I have a NEW book out this week! Whoo hooooo! Check out this gem: In similar fashion to my other books, this is a sweet "falling in love" story - definitely something to read at the beach this summer, or out on the patio with some wine after the kids go to bed! :)
Here's the synopsis: We all experience love in different ways - sometimes it comes on as a slow burn that gradually builds over time, but for others it's a fierce love on fire from the moment it begins. Sydney Summers only knows love that ends too soon - which is why she pours her heart and soul into rescuing every animal that comes into her vet clinic. Cole Mason on the other hand, he only loves tacos, and simply wants out of the dangerous life he's been pulled into. But when his world collides with Sydney's, he realizes there is so much more to want. That type of love - the kind of love that takes your breath away in the simplest of moments - the kind of love you can't turn away from because it surrounds you and you have no choice but to surrender to it - that love is the falling kind... But it's not always easy to hang on to. Hope you enjoy this one! As always, if you do get around to reading it, PLEASE make sure you leave me a review on Amazon.com - that helps out tremendously! Happy reading!! :) I had the most amazing thing happen - a friend of mine, a brilliant writer, has been pushing for a "writing retreat" for quite some time now... Basically a weekend away from our lives (kids, husbands, my mini pig Kevin Bacon...) where we could just simply WRITE - - all weekend. We always wondered just how much we could accomplish in a day without all those distractions (however adorable they are) and we finally did it! First off, we were blessed to be able to use this amazing lake house nestled in the middle of nowhere, which was such a Godsend. How great is that?! This was the amazing view I had for 3 straight days: How motivating is that?! To be able to sit down on the porch or in a lounge chair, staring out into the water... It was literally one of the most productive weekends I've ever had. Naturally our husbands were skeptical - they figured we were really just kicking back, listening to music and drinking margaritas all day (which we DID), but we were genuinely writing at the same time! Here's proof! Yes, that's actual paper in my hands - when I write my books, I actually WRITE my books - all by hand, and then I type them up... Then I edit them all by hand first as well. (Notice my tech-loving friend is much more efficient on her laptop, but honestly, this is one of the things I love most about writing my books - the act of actually putting a pen to paper...)
Anyway, the real good news - my new book is DONE! COMPLETED! FINISHED! (All thanks to this amazing getaway of course! :) It will be available on Amazon by the end of this week! Get ready!! :) |
AuthorI love writing romance novels, editing other people's novels, planning parties (heavy on the theme food!) and watching movies. Cooking has also become a passion of mine (because you can't have a proper party without food!) and I love finding new hobbies when I can squeeze them in. Archives
December 2020
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