Book Review - A Path Toward Love

A Path Toward Love is a novel written by Cara Lynn James.  The year is 1905 and Katherine Osborne is a young widow living in Florida.  She is determined to keep the orange groves operating which is the only thing she has left from her husband.  Katherine receives news that the manager of the citrus groves is quitting and she's also been denied a loan from the bank.  She is wondering what to do when her father and an old friend (Andrew) make a trip from New York to visit.  They persuade Katherine to make a visit to her family's camp in the Adirondack Mountains with the promise that they will bring her back to Florida whenever she wants to return.  But while she is at the camp, Katherine's socialite mother keeps pushing her into an engagement with a rich family friend (Randy) althought Katherine feels drawn towards humble Andrew.


The conclusion seemed pretty obvious to me, but I did enjoy reading this book.  It was interesting to see Katherine learning to trust again in the God that she felt had let her down and how she was able to give forgiveness to others and also forgive herself.  I would recommend this book to others.


Disclosure: I received this book from Thomas Nelson Publishers in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are mine.

Queen Bee Market next month!

The Queen Bee Market Escondido show is less than a month away!  This show is actually a "Baby Bee" since it's only for one day - the two day show will be in November.

There will be swag for the first shoppers at the event so make sure to be at the Center for the Arts at 9am on Sat., September 22nd!

15 TONES SOUNDTRACK

The Fifty Shades of Grey erotic trilogy has become one of the fastest-selling book series in recent history and now Universal Music Enterprises has created its own offering that could very well be considered the soundtrack to the books, a compilation dubbed 15 TONES.  I love the album cover - check it out above!

The album offers a variety of sensual tracks, ranging all the way from classical (pieces by Chopin, DeBussy) to jazz and soul (Nina Simone, Ella Fitzgerald, James Brown, Marvin Gaye), and everything in between (Bell Biv Devoe's "Do Me," Robert Palmer's "Addicted to Love.")

15 TONES TRACK LISTING

1. Let’s Get It On – Marvin Gaye
2. The Flower Duet from Lakme – performed by Katherine Jenkins featuring Kiri Te Kanawa and the Philharmonia Orchestra (L. Delibes)
3. Sex (I’m A...) – Berlin
4. Addicted To Love – Robert Palmer
5. Do Me! - Bell Biv Devoe
6. I'm Qualified To Satisfy You – Barry White
7. Get Up (I Feel Like Being A) Sex Machine, Pt. 1 – James Brown
8. Canon and Gigue in D Major – performed by The English Concert and Trevor Pinnock (J. Pachelbel)
9. What Is This Thing Called Love – Billie Holiday
10. I Put A Spell On You – Nina Simone
11. I’ve Got You Under My Skin – Ella Fitzgerald
12. Come Fly With Me – Shirley Horn
13. Nocturne No. 1 in B flat Minor, Opus 9 No. 1 – performed by Tamás Vásáry(F. Chopin)
14. Chained – Marvin Gaye
15. La Fille Aux Cheveux De Lin – performed by Philippe Cassard (C. DeBussy)

What a diverse and great collection of songs! To listen to not just one, but FOUR of the songs from the soundtrack, click here.

15 TONES is out now digitally on CD and you can order it from iTunes or Amazon.

Enjoy!

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Happy Birthday Julia!

Julia Child would have been 100 today! I didn't really know anything about her until I saw the movie Julia & Julia and her life and dishes really inspired me to try new recipes and be a little more creative in the kitchen.

 To celebrate the day, here's one of Julia's recipes, Best Ever Brownies from the book Cooking With Julia.  Enjoy!

Ingredients

1 1/4 cups sifted all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

8 ounces unsalted butter

4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped

2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

2 cups sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

4 large eggs, room temperature

Directions:

1. Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350°. I bake them at a lower oven temp of 330°.
2. Sift the flour and salt together; set aside.
3. Melt the butter and chocolate together in a medium saucepan over low heat, stirring frequently and keeping a watchful eye on the pot to make certain the chocolate doesn't scorch (Alternatively, you can melt the ingredients in the top of a double boiler over, not touching, simmering water.) Add 1 cup of the sugar to the mixture and stir for half a minute, then remove the pan from the heat and stir in the vanilla.
4. Pour the mixture into a large bowl.
5. Put the remaining 1 cup sugar and the eggs into a bowl and mix or whisk by hand just to combine.
6. Little by little, pour half of the sugar and eggs into the chocolate mixture, stirring gently but constantly with a rubber spatula so that the eggs don't set from the heat.
7. Fit the whisk attachment to the mixer and whip the remaining sugar and eggs until they are thick, pale, and doubled in volume, about 3 minutes.
8. Using the rubber spatula, delicately fold the whipped eggs into the chocolate mixture.
9. When the eggs are almost completely incorporated, gently fold in the dry ingredients.
10. Pour and scrape the batter in to an unbuttered 9-inch square pan.
11. Bake the brownies for 22-26 minutes, during which time they will rise a little and the top will turn dark and dry.
12. Cut into the center at about the 22-minute mark to see how the brownies are progressing: they'll be perfect if they're just barely set and still pretty gooey.
13. They're still awfully good on the other side of set, so don't worry if you miss the moment on your first try.
14. Cool the brownies in the pan on a rack.

Balboa Park Free Tuesdays

So how are you spending the rest of the summer vacation?  I'm taking the kids to Balboa Park to visit the Museum of Photographic Arts today for free!  If you're a San Diego resident or active military/dependent, you get free admission to certain museums on Tuesdays.  Click here for more details.

Yamuna Body Rolling

Happy Wednesday! It's been a busy few days - getting my 3 kids ready for back to school which is just two short weeks away.

Once the kids are in school, I'll have some more time for crafting and also exercising. I just heard of a unique body work technique called Yamuna Body Rolling, which was developed by Yamuna Zake, a master teacher and healer. The benefits of the work include improved posture and alignment, increased range of motion, and increased muscle tone, flexibility and organ function.

Click here to see Yamuna Body Rolling in practice.  It's a very powerful self-fixing and maintaining tool that everyone can do regardless of his age or physical limitations. The method centers around the ball: the ball becomes the hands of the therapist and the person’s weight creates the traction, movement and release on the ball. Yamuna Body Rolling gives you the ability to “work on yourself ” anytime, anywhere, forever. Yamuna's methods are uniquely her own, but they are a natural complement to other disciplines like yoga or Pilates.

Sound interesting?  Then check out the videos plus the Facebook and Twitter pages. Have fun!

P.S. I was not compensated in any way for this post - I just thought Yamuna Body Rolling is something that you should check out!

Wizard of Oz Giveaway

I was asked to take part in a Wizard of Oz theme giveaway being hosted by Georgia of The Hat Factory and the giveaway is going on now from August 1-12. There are over 50 Etsy shops participating and all the prizes are Wizard of Oz related. My giveaway prize(s) are the Red Ruby Slippers mirror you see above AND a matching bezel pendant with chain. Click here to read how to enter. Good luck!