New Order Book: I need this!

Today is Cyber Monday and normally, I would be up at the crack of dawn looking at Lightning Deals. However, today I am basking at the organized chaos that I was able to corral last night thanks to an ARC that Penguin Random House sent me over the weekend.

I seem to be the person who is perpetually tidying up. With kids to raise and a household to run, it's pretty much the bulk of my mommy duties. Wolf has written a book that is like a helpful nudge spiced up with some "go girl (or guy) remarks" that creates a more relaxed attack of clutter. 

I have banished from my mind that other people don't have the same heartache that I do. I have let go à la Elsa all crazy notion that my house should look HGTV-magazine-ready at all times. I am also resigned to the fact that I.Will.Always.Clean. Not too much of a downer isn't it?

I was still able to glean precious nuggets of decluttering wisdom from this book despite the numerous organizing books in the market already. Wolf makes it fun and easygoing - she reminds us that stuff is just stuff without glossing over it too much (it's okay, we have stuff but don't sing kumbaya or anything!). I particularly loved her suggestion that containers should not have any lids. And the labeling format where all the tabs are off to one side (good!) versus a stair format (bad!). Eureka! Easy reading and still a good addition to the decluttering drama of people's lives. 

I love books like this as a reminder that clutter exists because of stuff. And that the Creative Fairy doesn't like to touch down and scatter fairy dust in an already dirt dusty home with nary an empty desk/open space in sight. 

My ARC didn't come in this rainbow cover of loveliness, so I will have to purchase my own copy. Now...to find a way to store my copy....

*Penguin Random House did not compensate me to write this review; it is provided directly out of the goodness of my librarian heart. The book comes out in January!

A few deals that I'm excited about

So not to be a hypocrite, but there are some deals that I do look forward to. One is the easy referral coupon for lovely stuff. Which stuff? Planners. Inkwell Press wowed me with their paper and their simple approach to organizing your day. Pic from Inkwell Press

So for 2016, if you want a stylish planner with pretty colors and thick paper, here's a code for you (no spamming I promise): get $10 off your $50 purchase with no expiration date. 

Then for craft stuff, there's so much here for all crafters/paper lovers:

Stampin' Up! Online Extravaganza - it opens a PDF of some great items up to 50% off. 

And for some lovely #fridayreads reading, I heartily recommend "The Portable Veblen" - a quirky novel full of squirrels, impending marriage woes, a spirited and eccentric heroine with a very enjoyable story. Coming in January from Penguin. 

**Disclosure, I am a demonstrator for Stampin' Up so I will get a small commission from your purchase. The referral for Inkwell Press will give me some points that I can exchange for a coupon. 

Deals! Deals!

Caught your eye on the deals part right? Well, it's actually the opposite. I went to Target yesterday and the retailer is already prepping for holiday shoppers. I was there to look for nothing in particular, maybe some soap. A saleslady approaches me and tells me about their app called Cartwheel. I fish out my old iPhone 4 and surprise! The app doesn't want to load on an old device. Boo hoo to me.
It's a good thing since I wasn't even supposed to buy anything, let alone a Monster High Doll that was 50% off. Anyway, the point is, there's a lot of stuff out there that are not needed, but they looked appealing because of the discount.

Here's a story on USA Today that even suggests that Black Friday deals aren't all that in the first place. Well, this rant is really about not splurging on stuff that looks appealing at first, but doesn't really seem like a good idea. By the way, I'm not getting rid of my 3G iPhone 4 because it only costs me $80 a year to keep it running. I am on a prepaid plan. I don't use my phone much: I use the wifi a lot to send text messages and I have a landline. I can look up maps and stuff on the 3G network, send tweets or check FB. It's a sweet deal.

Okay, on to other news...LibraryReads voting ends tomorrow, Nov. 20th.
So far, here are my recommendations in no particular order, I love them all!

Poverty and loneliness - two subjects that would probably make readers recoil from, actually gives this book so much life.

The stories will linger with you and you might even re-read some to get that feeling back once it's gone.

Robert hosts a wild bachelor party for his immature younger brother when things go horribly wrong when he unwittingly invites sex slaves to the party.

The writer is brilliant in capturing the essence of the foibles of people engaged in seemingly inane things but it stops you dead in your tracks when you are hit how profound they actually are.

This twisty novel has so many layers - it talks of guilt, of making sacrifices, and ultimately, the ties that bind together loved ones.

All these books will be published in January! Happy reading!
Share your comments below.

Workshop : Christmas tags and prepping

I hosted a workshop yesterday where we made Christmas tags.

They are so much better in person! I know Thanksgiving is just around the corner and I should be prepping for that holiday first, but I'm trying to make my presents this year and I haven't started! I plan to crochet a few Amigurumi dolls and I just pray that I make it!

These tags will look so cute adorning my handmade presents. I am quite excited. If you want to order this kit, you still have time! This kit is retiring and they are only available until supplies last!

These are the stamps that go along with it: Oh, What Fun Stamp set

**Disclosure, I work as a demonstrator for Stampin' Up and will get a small commission from your purchase.

It's Friday!

Fridays used to mean a lot to me when I worked only in the weekdays, now that I work Saturdays as well, Fridays are not as sweet. "It's Saturday!" is not quite the same as "It's Friday!"

There is still something to look forward to at least in the social media realm. #FridayReads is a favorite hashtag, People talk about what books they're reading. Perhaps due to the weekend, where presumably people will have time to read; it doesn't apply to me since I start a book any day of the week! My #fridayreads is "The Summer Before The War" by Helen Simonson. I adored her book, "Major Pettigrew's Last Stand" - We discussed it a while back at our book club, and our session was quite lively and a lot of our members loved it!

I also just finished  "The Vegetarian" - a psychological thriller about a Korean woman who inexplicably stops eating meat and affects her husband and her family in strange ways. Read some advance praise for it.

It's a gorgeous cover, but oddly, I like this cover better, which I found from Portobello Books:

Usually, book covers don't mean a lot to me. Except when I know I have a choice and I strongly prefer one over the other. There was only one instance where I went out of my way to purchase a book with a different cover and it's for this book:


I really didn't like the cover on the right, but I wanted my own copy after reading it at my library. Thankfully I found the one on the left. It was considerably well-worn (bought it from an online thrift store), but I was pleased with the cover. The book is a hilarious take on motherhood. I read it when I was pregnant with my first child. Might have been the most inexpensive therapy for me.


**Have you chosen a different imprint to get the right cover of a book you liked? Share in the comments below!

Digital Stamps

I'm in trouble. I just discovered digital stamps! Aaah. What does this mean? It means instant gratification. I buy a stamp from Mo's Digital Stamp or A Day for Daisies for example, I print it from my printer and voilà, I have a perfect image already set and ready to color! There's no package to wait from the UPS guy or Amazon's 2-day shipping. I instantly have it. It's insane.

Here's one of the images that I colored:

My crafting/paper obsession is proving to be a costly endeavor. I might have to switch to digital painting or learning languages (I'm forever studying German and Japanese). The distraction is also wreaking havoc on my reading! I get sent tons of galleys to read and I really want to read 80% of them at least!

I can understand how people love to color lately. I personally love coloring people. It's too bad that most of the coloring books available feature animals, geometric shapes and landscapes. Also, the paper is thin so my Copics will go right through them. I'm quite crazy about my Copic markers at the moment.

Oh, before I forget, the Q and A session with Eve Chase is today at 1 PM PST/4 PM EST.
http://penguindebutauthors.earlyword.com/black-rabbit-hall/

See you there!

Black Rabbit Hall chat with the author tomorrow!

Tomorrow I'm going to participate in a chat with a new author, Eve Chase:

If you have read the book and want to ask the author some questions, please join us tomorrow, November 11th at 1 PM PST/ 4 PM EST

It's the story of Amber and Lorna alternating between 1969 and present day. How are their stories connected? What is the secret of Black Rabbit Hall? Atmospheric and engrossing, it will take you to Cornwall manor- a place filled with innocence and dark mystery.

Won't you join us? Share your comments below. By the way, I rated it highly and voted for it on Library Reads, a venue for librarians all over the country to highlight titles that readers should look out for.

Copics!

I can't remember how I found about Copics. They are excellent markers for coloring. Copics are alcohol-based which means you can blend them - no streaks!

Last Friday, I attended a papercrafting workshop at Long Beach that started at 8 a.m. (thus the absence of a blog post that day!). Initially I thought maybe I shouldn't have registered because there are tons of Youtube videos and tutorials on the Web for free. However, I found something valuable in working in a group setting (I was in a table with 4 other women - surprisingly, no men!). I got to see other people's work (each attendee had a different take on coloring even when following directions projected on a screen). I also realized that there is no right or wrong way to do art.

Here is what I did in my first try.

And then I got a bit better with shading:

I learned two things that day: shadows are very important (it gives life to the image from being flat to dimensional) and colors play a big part in blending. Here is a color chart from Copic:

By the second day (I took all the classes back-to-back), here was my last work:

I

I was really proud of it because I was satisfied how my shadows and colors played out. Have you taken classes in person vs online, which one was more satisfying? Share your comments below.
I can tell that I really enjoyed the classes because I'm already looking for more classes to take in person! Here are some classes from the Copic website.

Librarian nostalgia (oh and it happens to be Thursday! Coincidence)

I love my job. Before I became a librarian, I can remember exactly when  I wanted to become a librarian. I was visiting the Atwater Village Public Library after a rough day at work (I was a customer service representative). I had studied journalism and French and I felt like I was going nowhere. Surrounded by books, the place was heavenly. There was a lone librarian working in front of a computer and I immediately wanted to be that person. I imagined what her day was like: park her car, go in, order books, talk to people what books they want to read, help them find things, look at databases, surrounded by books and knowledge...I already felt confident about my communication skills, even though English is my second language (I have to remind myself that sometimes) and I'm tenacious with research and discovering. I just knew that I wanted to work where I had something to do with books and people. And here I am, after a decade of working as a librarian (I had a short stint at a law firm as a digital content librarian - tons of fun but I'll write more on that later) and I don't take anything for granted.

Yesterday, I received this in the mail:

Through the years, I've had the opportunity to attend annual ALA conferences and I've met some fabulous folks at the publishing houses. In one of the talks that I've attended, I found out that librarians all over the country talk about books even before they get published. I got on their mailing list and now I get all these books to read before publication so I can order and recommend them to patrons.  How cool is that? I've reviewed quite a few books and have gotten a few featured on Library Reads - what a thrill! More importantly, I have recommended lots and lots of books to patrons - I enjoy hanging out near our new books section and just chatting with people: asking which authors they follow, asking them what they're currently reading, and asking them what their favorite books are. I look back and it's quite fitting that I found my dream job in the very place where I get to work!

Do you find libraries useful in your life? Share below!

Freebies and gift giving

I went to the Farmer's Market yesterday and the city of Torrance had a booth to encourage people to recycle. They also handed out cute little trinkets and bags like this:

My sister and I both got one each. We were both aghast when we saw some people walking off with 20 bags each! Uggh, I just don't understand it. My sister and I could only mutter, "That's too bad for other people who won't have a chance to get at least one." We were in a Farmer's Market so that would have been a big help to others who didn't bring their own recyclable bag.

When I go to ALA Annual, I see this happen too. People would grab multiples of free items without realizing if they actually need it. Sigh.
The Holidays are approaching and I love it because it's that time of year when people give tons of presents. I wish our family exchanged gifts. We used to do that when I was a child and most of the fun came from the "reveal" when the giver would describe the recipient and we all try to guess who it is. Christmas and birthdays are my favorite special occasions.  As I get older I find that I enjoy giving away stuff rather than the other way around.
Here's a tree we're getting this year, photo from Kikki K

Do you have any holiday traditions that you would care to share? Share in the comments below!

Overbooked

So today started out way too early. Our road near our home is being paved so we had to leave the house before 7 a.m. and we can't come back until after 6 p.m. I also have a dentist appointment, my daughter will be let our early, and of course I have an important chat with my lovely fellow librarians on Twitter...I decided to go to a park with my son and we did 4 miles of walking (about). There was a farmer's market happening right there in the park so I was able to get some Chicken Chaufa for our lunch. I met up with my sister and we went around the stalls sampling delicious organic fruit and raw mung beans. I feel like there's nothing to talk about for my blog, so here it is. My day.

I've come across some videos of moms who talk about how to plan your day and all I can think of is...do you really have that much time in your hands that you can talk about what you will do with your day? I mean, you just schedule what you have to do and do it.

Galley chat today on Twitter! 4 p.m. EST. #ewgc

On Paper

I was rifling through my cardstock and designer paper sheets and I can't resist the smell of paper. It takes me back to my childhood when my sisters and I would go to our small bookstore so we can purchase our favorite Nancy Drew and Sweet Valley Twins series.

I've been seeing a lot of posts pitting an e-reader against a book and I don't get it. I don't see why both can't exist harmoniously. I like 'em both for different reasons. During the day, for sure I am reading a paper book, but when I'm in bed, I prefer my e-reader with built-in light.

I love paper. I seem to collect lots of printed paper wherever I go. This is my favorite at the moment:

Image is from Stampin' Up! Wouldn't those look good as napkin holders or place mats for Thanksgiving? Here's a card I made using the paper.

I used a stamp set and some embellishments and voilà, a card ready for giving for thanksgiving. Do you give cards during Thanksgiving? Share your comments below!

**Disclosure: Stampin' Up! is a direct seller and I am a demonstrator for them so I will get a small commission from your purchase.