Album Review - Yanni Truth Of Touch

I was recently given the opportunity to review Yanni's new album, Truth Of Touch. This is Yanni's first instrumental release of original compositions in over eight years and is a return to the genre Yanni helped create and advance.

Here's the list of tracks:

1. Truth of Touch
2. Echo of a Dream
3. Seasons
4. Voyage
5. Flash of Color
6. Vertigo
7. Nine
8. Can't Wait
9. Guilty Pleasure
10. O Luce Che Brilla Nell'Oscurita
11. I'm So
12. Long Way Home
13. Yanni & Arturo
14. Mist of a Kiss
15. Secret

I enjoyed listening to the whole album, but there is something I really like about #2Echo of a Dream. The melody is so pretty and kind of surreal sounding too.

I'd love to play this album while I'm having dinner but with 3 noisy kids that's kind of hard to do at this time! However this is the kind of music I like to have playing in the background when I have some time to kick back with a book. I'll definitely be adding Yanni's Truth Of Touch to my playlist.

If you want to see Yanni in person, on March 22 Yanni launched a 40-date tour of the U.S. The tour will take him through theaters in major cities across the U.S. including Radio City Music Hall in New York City and the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles.

Tour Dates:

3/31/2011 Montreal, QC, CA
4/1/2011 Quebec, QC, CA
4/2/2011 Toronto, Ontario, CA
4/3/2011 Toronto, Ontario, CA
4/5/2011 Providence, RI
4/6/2011 Lowell, MA
4/7/2011 Washington, DC
4/8/2011 Atlantic City, NJ
4/9/2011 New York, NY
4/11/2011 Charlotte, NC
4/12/2011 Durham, NC
4/14/2011 Jacksonville, FL
4/15/2011 West Palm Beach, FL
4/16/2011 Miami, FL
4/18/2011 Tampa, FL
4/19/2011 Naples, FL
4/20/2011 Orlando, FL
4/22/2011 Greenville, SC
4/23/2011 Atlanta, GA
4/29/2011 Denver, CO
4/30/2011 West Valley City, UT
5/2/2011 Seattle, WA
5/3/2011 Spokane, WA
5/4/2011 Portland, OR
5/6/2011 San Jose, CA
5/7/2011 San Francisco, CA
5/8/2011 Los Angeles, CA
5/10/2011 Fresno, CA
5/12/2011 Santa Ynez, CA
5/13/2011 San Diego, CA
5/14/2011 Las Vegas, NV
5/15/2011 Glendale, AZ
5/17/2011 El Paso, TX
5/19/2011 Houston, TX
5/20/2011 Grand Prairie, TX
5/21/2011 McAllen, TX


To find out more about Yanni, visit his website by clicking here. You can also follow him on twitter and become a Facebook fan.

Disclosure - I was given a download of this album from One2One Network in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

now on facebook

I finally got around to creating a facebook fan page. It's still a work in progress; actually all I have done is upload about 5 photos and that's about it. I think I need to take a class or just do some research and figure out what and how to make the page look professional. Anyone have any tips for me?

Here's the page link if anyone wants to "Like" it.

Have a great weekend!

treasury widget

Just found out a widget on the Etsy Treasuries blog which has a widget that shows ten treasuries. You can choose either ten that you have curated, or are in.

Here's mine below:

earthquake relief mirror

I've added a new mirror to the shop - Jumping Bunny Pink, made from Japanese chiyogami paper. If any Jumping Bunny Pink mirrors sell, I am earmarking the proceeds to be donated to the Red Cross. I am planning to write a check to the Red Cross at the end of next month with instructions to have the money directly go to any aid to Japan.

There's a lot of sellers that are donating their proceeds or partial proceeds to the Japanese aid relief - by buying one (or more) of the items, you're not only supporting handmade, but getting something lovely for yourself and helping a great cause. Search for those items by using tags "japan aid" or "earthquake/tsunami relief" and see what shows up.

On a personal note, my cousin in Tokyo (Shibuya) emailed and let me know her family is safe. We have always been close and when I got married, she flew out from Japan to be one of my bridesmaids. Now we both have kids and always send presents to each other's children for Christmas and birthdays. It's scary to hear about the radiation leaks among other problems that are still occurring, but I'm hopeful that my Japanese family will continue to stay safe.

so sad.....

Last night I heard that an earthquake had hit Japan & woke up this morning to find out that it is one of the strongest in history and the strongest in Japanese history, unbelievable. As some of you may know, my mother is Japanese and I lived in Japan (Okinawa) for a few years as my father was in the military. My mother's side of the family is in Japan and thankfully they are safe.

Here in San Diego, we are expecting a tsunami to hit our shores as a result of the earthquake. Hopefully it won't cause any damage here. Doesn't it seem like there's been a lot of natural disasters lately, more than usual?

I hope everyone has a great weekend. Be safe and keep the people of Japan in your prayers.

new to the shop - Alice in Wonderland personalized mirrors!

It seems that personalized and monogrammed pocket mirrors have become very popular on Etsy. I decided to do something a little different and have started to offer personalization on some of the Alice in Wonderland mirrors that I have in the shop. So far I have personalized three of them and pressed some sample mirrors. I'm happy with the way they turned out. As of now, I am the only one offering personalized Alice in Wonderland mirrors on Etsy and I think it would be great for anyone that loves Alice or the Mad Hatter (my personal favorite) or the White Rabbit.


The White Rabbit mirror comes with 3 different personalization options.




I have a soft spot for The Mad Hatter because my birthdate (10/6) is on his hat although I think that is his hat size!

mustaches are everywhere!

I thought mustaches were only confined to Etsy(!) but yesterday I was at Borders checking out their shop closing sale & saw this in the parking lot - -




And here's my mustache mirror - available in "regular" and "handlebar" styles:




And my Handlebar mustache - set of 6 magnets - (coming soon - mix and match your magnet designs)