Reading "The Happiness Project"

In our little Wine Club that Reads, we all take turns suggesting titles that we think everyone might enjoy. I had seen several mentions in the newspaper and a magazine on Gretchen Rubin's "The Happiness Project Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun" and was absolutely hooked by her idea. Being more of a self-help book, it's not our normal read for book club so I was thrilled when they all jumped on it as something fun and different to try.

And it was!

We had a wonderful meeting (at someone else's house) with all kinds of great treats to eat and, of course, wine to wash them down.

The thing I found most interesting was that every single person said they thought the same thing when they started reading ... "Oh no, this is just the same thing I've read before in a new cover." Then they kept reading and realized they were so wrong. Every one of us gleaned things from this book and the author's trials that spoke to us about pertinent issues we are working on or dealing with.

Gretchen Rubin breaks her happiness project into twelve months, with each new month focusing on a different aspect of happiness in her life. Personally, I was grateful that the first month, January, began with vitality and how to boost energy. She broke this chapter down into five personal resolutions that helped her accomplish her goals: Go to sleep earlier; exercise better; toss, restore, organize; tackle a nagging task; and act more energetic.

We had out-of-town company coming to stay for 10 days and I had some work to do to get ready for them, including cleaning and organizing. That first chapter really helped get me off the couch, doing some deep cleaning and reorganizing in several rooms that sorely needed it. And she was so right about acting energetic. That whole fake it 'til you make it thing really does make a difference if you let it. Cleaning out cupboards, donating things and throwing out crap; just making things sparkle really are essential to feeling lighter, satisfied and -- yes -- happier. I have yet to tackle that nagging task, which is cleaning out the master bedroom closet of all the clothes and shoes that I've collected over the years and can't seem to let go of. However, it's on my list.

And, funny enough, nearly every member of the book club said that they did some cleaning and reorganizing while reading this book last month. With marked feelings of relief and happiness.

Every chapter/month deals with another topic that the author felt would up her happiness quotient, including marriage, work, parenthood, leisure, friendship, money, eternity, mindfulness and attitude. She also came up with her own list of Twelve Commandments, which are personal to each of us. I really liked her first one, though, and adopted it immediately. When she'd struggle with uncertainty over something or waver at all, she'd start with her first commandment: Be Gretchen. This is a quick reminder that we each have to honor our own beliefs and quirks and make ourselves happy. We spend way too much time working our butts off to please everyone else out there which, come on, we all know is impossible. Be fill in your name here is the best way to make sure you are true to yourself. Love that one!

In Chapter Four, April, she focused on parenthood and especially the process of lightening up by acknowledging the reality of people's feelings. I took this one outside the box of parenthood and tried to use it everywhere I went. Lighten up because who knows what has happened in another person's life to make them sad or dour -- Maybe a death in the family? Marriage problems? Money issues? Who knows? I've really tried to give others the benefit of the doubt and lighten up (and I'm sure I'll be even more successful at it now that the in-laws have headed home). At the grocery store, at work, at the post office ... the only place I continue to have trouble with this one is on the freeway. I had to admit to the ladies at book club that I really struggle to lighten up during rush hour and could very happily just ram into some of those jerks. Hmmmm, I said happily ... do you think that counts?

I very much enjoyed this book and have recommended it to others with great enthusiasm since I finished reading it. I also plan to keep this one on the shelf and refer back to it over the years. Yep, it's a keeper.

If you're interested in a little instant gratification and reading more about The Happiness Project, you can visit Gretchen Rubin's website http://www.happiness-project.com/. Happy reading!

Momma's Got a Brand New Bag

It's amazing how even part-time work cuts into blogging time.   Fortunately, I Love my job with a capital L. If I had made a list of all the things I wanted in a job, it would fit that list perfectly. Sadly, there's just less time to visit everyone out there in bloggy land and I haven't been able to focus on posting anything recently.

My favorite cousin was in town and we spent some time together, eating (Cheesecake Factory), shopping, eating (Charleston's), visiting, eating (Pizza Picasso's) and ...

getting pedicures with the Granddaughter, too.  So much fun. Oh, I dearly loves me a pedicure!

My cousin and her hubby come from coooooold weather, so I knitted them each a hat to take home with them ...

And I've done a tiny bit of sewing. Bought this cool book "Low-Sew Boutique" written by Cheryl Weiderspahn on a Walmart clearance rack for $3. The idea is to make things like tote bags and handbags from other things that are already made like rugs, place mats, oven mitts and potholders. I think this is called upcycling and it's such a terrific idea.

I went to Anna's Linens and got a place mat on the clearance rack for $1.39 and a couple of linen napkins that looked good with it for $1.99 each. Then on to JoAnn's where I got wooden purse handles for $5.99. (The handles would have been less if I'd had a coupon but I already used it for yarn.) The Place Mat Purse shown in "Low-Sew Boutique" actually uses a potholder for an outer pocket but I couldn't find one that I liked so I decided to go ahead and wing it, making several pockets from the napkins. Here is the picture shown in the book ...

Here is what I bought and a few pictures of the process ...

The great thing about using place mats is they're already backed, which creates the lining for your purse and they're usually made of pretty sturdy fabric (if my kids were any indication of how well place mats can hold up under constant use and abuse). This particular place mat caught my eye because it has my youngest daughter's favorite colors in it and it's just so darn cheerful! I did have a magnetic catch (in the little baggie upper left) that I was going to use, but not only did the purse not need it, I really don't know where I would have put it. I added A LOT of pockets to this thing, inside and out, because I believe you can never have enough pockets to hold all your crap.

Here I've folded the place mat in half and marked the fold with pins ...

I started cutting and folding pockets, just making them up as I went along ...

I decided to put double pockets on the outside of each side of the bag ...

I also put a huge double pocket on the inside of the bag and stitched individual pockets for cell phone and sunglasses ...

The book calls for handles with removable rods, but I couldn't find any so I just went with some cute oval wood ones by Everything Mary and jimmy-rigged how they were attached ...

And here's the finished bag ...

I love it and, more importantly, YD loved it. She came to the house while I was running an errand and saw it hanging on the cupboard. She told me she'd noticed the colors were her favorites and was hoping it was for her. Yay!

There are other great ideas in this book like luggage tags, eyeglass cases, sleep masks and a curling iron caddy, but my next project will be a large tote bag made of woven rugs, like this ...

or this ...

Are those cool bags or what???

And I've been reading. I read for 4 straight hours in bed this morning (starting at 5:30 a.m.) with a pot of coffee and finished my book for book club next Wednesday. Our February selection was "The Gift of Rain" by Tan Twan Eng and it was so good! I'm not a big fan of historical fiction, especially war time and this is set during World War II, but the author did such a wonderful job with the characters and the story just sucked me in and kept me turning pages. It is the tragic tale of Philip Hutton, the son of a British father and Chinese mother, who lives on the island of Penang which becomes occupied by the Japanese during the war. Great story (432 pages) with so much fabulous history and culture mixed in. I would highly recommend it.

And can you believe January is nearly over? Already! Hope it was a great month for everyone!!!

Book Club and Summer Knitting

Apparently, I am a member of the most unorthodox book club ever. I joined last October and have had so much fun ... love the reading, the discussions, the sharing, the camaraderie, the wine! As far as schedules go, it seems that we take December off because everyone is too crazy busy, and we take the summer off as well. Every year there is an "outing" of some sort to kick off the summer hiatus that does not involve reading a book.

Last night, Hubby asked me as I was getting ready to leave, "So where's book club tonight," meaning whose house. And when I told him Farrelli's Cinema Supper Club in Scottsdale, he did a double take. Yep, we went to dinner and a movie. Watched The Bounty Hunter starring Gerard Butler and Jennifer Aniston, which was cute and funny and very enjoyable for our group. And I had a marvelous dinner which I plan to replicate at home -- a portobello caprese sandwich that was so good! Hey, and it's vegetarian and healthy. Once I figure it out, I'll be sharing the recipe.

So we chose three books to read over June, July and August, then we meet again in September to discuss them. First (and I am so excited to read this one), the third Stieg Larsson book, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest. I actually had just ordered this one from Barnes & Noble online a few days ago. With my membership, it was 40% off and free shipping. Sold!

Another summer selection that I suggested is The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry, which I had just finished recently. All of the ladies in this book club like to cook and are foodies in some fashion. Plus, they're all into true stories and this is such an enjoyable read.

And we are also reading Carol Burnett's memoir, This Time Together: Laughter and Reflection. I adore Carol Burnett! Growing up, we faithfully watched her weekly variety show as a family and laughed so hard. All her wonderful skits with Tim Conway and Harvey Korman. Just thinking about the infamous Gone With the Wind skit where she comes sweeping down the stairs as Scarlett O'Hara wearing the curtains made into a dress - with the curtain rod still in - makes me laugh out loud.



So that's book club. On to knitting. Last month, I had mentioned in a post that I'd like to make myself the Dynamic Cardi shown in the May 2010 issue of Creative Knitting magazine. Here's the picture again ...

I decided to go ahead and order some yarn and make this gorgeous little cardi. Having just hit our first 100 degree day last Friday, it is now officially Summer in Phoenix so I'll have at least 5 months to wear it and maybe more. We've had some very warm Fall weather here in the past, too. Here's a story for you. About 6 years ago, Hubby and I were invited to a costume party on Halloween - so we're talking October 31st - and it was 105 degrees that day. The costumes were so uncomfortable and we were in an outdoor garden setting so there really wasn't any relief from the heat. I remember we all talked about growing up in cold weather areas where we had to wear parkas and hats and gloves and boots for trick or treating and you couldn't even see the costumes.

Anyway, just today I placed an order with Herrschners for Patons Grace cotton yarn in the color Tan. It's kind of a spicy color that will look good with just about everything and be wearable year round. I'm kind of excited. Can't wait for my yarn to get here, to get started on it and make something for myself to wear. Woo hoo!

Reading "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society"

Our April Book Club get together was last night and the book of the month was "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society." If you like fiction based on true historical events, you will want to read this.

First, about the authors: written by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows, the idea for this book came about when Mary Ann was visiting London in 1976. She somehow became interested in Guernsey (one of the Channel Islands between England and France) and flew to the Island where she was stranded due to fog. While reading her way through everything offered at the Guernsey Airport bookstore, she became fascinated with the German Occupation of the Channel Islands during World War II and the idea for this book was spawned. She did not actually write the book until many years later and, sadly, her health was such that she was unable to finish. She asked her niece, Annie Barrows, to do the job for her and the book was published in 2008, the same year that Mary Ann passed away. Annie has published several other books.

The book is composed entirely of letters written to and from residents of Guernsey. (Word of the day: Epistolary.) The main character, Juliet Ashton, is an author who wrote a weekly column under a pen name, "Izzy Bickerstaff Goes to War." She is ready to move on and write something under her own name, but is having trouble coming up with a subject that interests her. Then she is asked to write an article for the Times about the practical, moral and philosophical value of reading.

In the meantime, she has received a letter dated January 12, 1946, from Dawsey Adams, a farmer on Guernsey who enjoys reading. In this first letter, he mentions that "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society came into being because of a roast pig we had to keep secret from the German soldiers ..." And so it begins. Juliet is taken with the stories of life on the Island during the Occupation and begins receiving letters from its residents with the intent of using them to write her article.

Along the way, she travels to Guernsey, makes many friends, encounters heroes, enemies, busy bodies and love in many forms. One of the delightfully engaging characters is Isola Pribby, kind of an Island wackadoodle who sells preserves, vegetables and elixirs made to restore manly ardor. One of my favorite passages in the book is in a letter written by Isola to Sidney Stark, Juliet's publisher. Isola has received a book from Sidney on the Science of Phrenology, studying the bumps on people's heads to see what's right and/or wrong with them ...

"It's a real lightning bolt, this Science of Phrenology. I've found out more in the last three days than I knew in my whole life before. Mrs. Guilbert has always been a nasty one, but now I know that she can't help it -- she's got a big pit in her Benevolence spot. She fell in the quarry when she was a girl, and my guess is she cracked her Benevolence and was never the same again."

This book drew me in with the horrors of the Occupation, the things people did to survive and the amazing love and friendship that grew from it. At one point in the story, I was so distraught that I had to put the book down and leave it for a while. I felt as though I was mourning the death of someone I knew.

A successful Book Club selection and a great read!

http://www.anniebarrows.com/

Reading "The Girl Who Played with Fire"

This is the March selection for our book club, the second in the Millennium series written by Stieg Larsson who passed away in 2004. It's the follow up to "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" and is pretty darned exciting. I would definitely recommend first reading Dragon Tattoo so you have the lay of the land and who all the characters are.

This story is all about European sex trafficking and the scumbags who run the operation. Mikael Blomkvist, the journalist who writes about true crimes and corporate creeps, has an employee who is set to publish a book about the sex trafficking trade - and name names. When he and his girl (who has in tandem written her thesis on sex trafficking and organized crime) are both murdered, it is a blow to Blomkvist and the others at Millenium. A third murder has occurred nearby with the same weapon and forensic evidence points to Lisbeth Salander - she with the Dragon Tattoo who now Plays with Fire.

There are some very good, unexpected twists in this book and the excitement runs strong right to the very last page. Larsson did an excellent job of setting this story up as a lead in to the third installment, "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest."

I think the premise for the story can be found in one sentence on page 463 (hardback edition):

Salander was the woman who hated men who hate women.

I am anxious to read the next one.

Reading "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo"

Our book club chose a book by Stieg Larsson for March -- "The Girl Who Played With Fire." Since it is a sequel to his first book, "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo," I decided to buy them both and read them before our March meeting, which was a challenge because they're substantial and I only had a couple of weeks.

I picked up Dragon Tattoo in trade paperback size. It was "translated from the Swedish by Reg Keeland" and the translation was published in 2008.

Information on the author:

Stieg Larsson, who lived in Sweden, was the editor in chief of the magazine "Expo" and a leading expert on antidemocratic right-wing extremist and Nazi organizations. He died of a heart attack in 2004, shortly after delivering the manuscripts for "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo," The Girl Who Played with Fire" and the third novel in the series, "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest."

I had trouble getting into Dragon Tattoo until about the fourth chapter (page 69 of 590). Then I could not put it down. I think at first it was all the Swedish names -- people and places -- which I found confusing. The main character is Mikael Blomkvist, a financial journalist who specializes in exposing corporate crooks in his publication "Millennium." He writes an article on industrialist Hans-Erik Wennerstrom and, due to unfortunate circumstances, cannot substantiate his claims or sources. Blomkvist is indicted on libel charges, sentenced to a fine and a few months in prison.

He has decided to take some time off and distance himself from the business, leaving his partner to run Millennium, when he is contacted by Henrik Vanger, patriarch of a prominent, wealthy family. Vanger offers him a 2-part freelance assignment: research and write a book on the history of the Vanger family and -- secretively -- investigate and solve the disappearance of 16-year-old Harriet Vanger 36 years ago. Although her body was never found, Vanger believes that she was murdered and has become consumed by the mystery.

Lisbeth Salander, the actual girl with the dragon tattoo, is a personal investigator for Milton Security who becomes embroiled in the Vanger investigation with Blomkvist. She has a strange, sad background and leads a solitary life, but has incredible research talents.

Stieg Larsson 1954-2004

Telling any more of the story would just be a spoiler, although I will say there are some extremely x-rated, as well as violent, situations in this book so if you're the least bit squeamish, this isn't for you. The solving of the mystery and the plot in general were great and, yay, I was able to immediately pick up Played With Fire and keep reading. The same characters, Blomkvist and Salander, continue on in this book. I'm looking forward to reading the third in the series and am saddened that this talented author passed away at such a young age.

http://www.stieglarsson.com/

Reading "Tender at the Bone"

Our book club selection for February is "Tender at the Bone -- Growing Up at the Table" by Ruth Reichl. I had to keep reminding myself that this is non-fiction.

Ruth Reichl, Editor-in-Chief of Gourmet magazine which is no longer being published as of November 2009, has an entertaining history with food. While she had no formal culinary training, she has cooked since she was a small child. This is the story of her life with food and her no holds barred personal life, including dealing with a manic-depressive mother who was known as the Queen of Mold.

Here's a little excerpt from the first chapter:

"Oh, it's just a little mold," I can remember her saying on the many occasions she scraped the fuzzy blue stuff off some concoction before serving what was left for dinner. She had an iron stomach and was incapable of understanding that other people did not.

This taught me many things. The first was that food could be dangerous, especially to those who loved it. I took this very seriously. My parents entertained a great deal, and before I was ten I had appointed myself guardian of the guests. My mission was to keep Mom from killing anybody who came to dinner.

She tells about learning to cook from her Aunt Birdie's maid, Hortense, as well as their own family's maid, Mrs. Peavey; being sent to boarding school in Montreal to learn French and getting an education from the local deli owners; spending time with a fellow student's millionaire family where she was introduced to gourmet food; traveling abroad with her college roommate; marrying and making ends meet -- then moving to California and living in a commune; being hired as a restaurant critic by a San Francisco magazine; going to France on a wine buying trip; even attending a party in honor of James Beard.

ruth reichl

I found her story interesting and fascinating. She really went through some ups and downs with her mother's illness and came out on the right side of happy.

Ruth Reichl has written and edited a number of books and cookbooks over the years and I believe I'll read them all. "Tender at the Bone" includes recipes throughout the text as well.

http://www.ruthreichl.com/?ID=2

Reading "Dear John"

My horoscope in today's newspaper reads:

You find it impossible to think anything but the best about everyone you meet. Goodness hovers around you like a perfume.

Is that what that smell is? Obviously, they don't know me!

I hosted our book club meeting last night. It's good to have people over periodically. Makes you straighten up the house. I love the morning after we've had guests, just walking around with my coffee cup, enjoying the sparkly clean!

We discussed "The Help," which everyone really liked and we're all hoping Kathryn Stockett goes on to write more books. We were missing a few members due to illness and a bad back, but gained a new member -- my YD joined us. There is another mother-daughter who attends and it's so nice to see how they really like each other and want to spend time together. We are all lucky to have this close relationship.

In addition to the usual wine, cheese, crackers and fruit, I decided to make a little hot appetizer. It was super easy and really delicious. Actually got raves. At Italian restaurants, one of my favorites is a Caprese salad, which is mozzarella, plum tomatoes, basil and olive oil so this plays off of that. Called Crostini Caprese, I found it on the Pampered Chef website and will make this one over and over again. I don't have the Large Round Stone, so substituted a cookie sheet and it worked just fine. Also just used my store brand spray olive oil.

Finally, to the real reason I'm writing. "Dear John" is classic Nicholas Sparks. As you'll remember from "The Notebook," he writes deep love stories and someone always gets sick and/or dies. This book did not disappoint; however, it was predictable. YD, hubby and I all read it and figured out the ending ahead of time. All that said, it was a nice read.

John Tyree is a troubled kid, raised alone by a father so shy he can barely carry on a conversation. After completing high school, John decides he is on the wrong path and joins the army, which turns out to be a good thing for him. Home on a furlough, he meets Savannah and they fall in love. They make plans to marry when he gets out of the service -- then 9/11 happens. When his entire squad reenlists, he has to choose between love for his country and love for his woman. Lots of angst, lots of drama.

I am looking forward to seeing the movie, which comes out February 5th. But here's one of the things that drives me nuts when they make a book into a movie. Sparks makes it very clear in the book that Savannah is brunette. Especially in the beginning when they first meet, it is mentioned over and over that she is an attractive brunette. So in my head I have this image of Savannah as a brunette. If you've seen the movie previews -- or just look at the cover of the book, they have cast her as a blonde. What???

Pictured is the book with a vase of pretty yellow flowers I got yesterday.

Reading "When Crickets Cry"

So it seems the book club I've joined is not too serious. Out of 6 of us, only 2 actually read the entire book for this month, 1 had just about finished it and the other 3 didn't even start it. But we drank 3 excellent bottles of wine (my favorite was Vampire Pinot Noir) and still managed to have a very nice discussion about it using questions from a reading group guide.

November's selection, "When Crickets Cry" by Charles Martin, was sent to me for my birthday a few years ago by my middle sister. I absolutely loved it when I read it then and so suggested it as a good read. Couldn't wait to read it again and it was just as good as I remembered it.

This story is about Reese, a man who is hiding from tragic events that occurred a few years earlier. He has remade himself with a carefully crafted but comfortable life and has a few close relationships, mainly his endearing brother-in-law, Charlie. The day he meets 7-year-old Annie, selling lemonade to raise money to help cover her medical bills and pay for a heart transplant, the new existence he's created begins to slide out of his control.

charles martin

This book is just plain beautiful. Charles Martin always seems to include water in his books and this one is no exception. Set on the Tallulah River and Lake Burton in Georgia, Reese and Charlie refurbish boats and row together in the early morning hours. Martin's words are so descriptive, you can smell and taste and envision the places and people he writes about. This story is full of medical jargon and some pretty exciting scenes revolving around transplants.

Published in 2006 with 336 pages, a website for a Reading Group Guide is also given that makes this especially good for book clubs. I would give this book 5 stars out of 5 and plan to re-read it many times over. Visit his website at http://charlesmartinbooks.com/

Reading "Speak"

This book nearly leaves me speechless. It brought back to me all the tough parts of high school -- anxiety, awkwardness, the yearning to fit in. My high school years were a long time ago so I can't even imagine how much tougher it's become on today's kids.

Melinda is entering her freshman year of high school after calling the cops a few months before, breaking up an end-of-year party. So, of course, everyone is mad at her. All of her friends have abandoned her. And, unfortunately, she can't bring herself to tell them all what really happened at the party and why she did it.

She finds that introverting and saying as little as possible is the only way to function. Even her family seems to be going through a foundering dysfunctional phase. Finding out what brought all this about and how she drags herself out of the downward spiral it causes makes this a fascinating read. With only 198 pages, it's also a quick read.

laurie halse anderson

This is a first novel written by Laurie Halse Anderson in 1999. Check out her website at http://writerlady.com. It has won numerous honors and awards and is really an excellent book, especially if you have kids in the middle school/high school age group. Even if you don't, wrap yourself in a blanket, make yourself a cup of something warm and settle in. It's like visiting high school again without being afraid you'll forget your locker combination.

And speaking of reading, I've finally joined a book club. Yay! I've wanted to do this for years and just recently was invited to join a small group of lovely ladies that I know from a charitable organization I've worked with.

They meet once a month, discuss a little reading and drink some wine. One of the members says it's a wine club and we read a little. :-) The first book I've read with the group is "The Lost Symbol," Dan Brown's latest and greatest. (Mom, I will send it to you eventually.) What a fun discussion. Especially when there are things like religion and politics involved. Woo hoo! Pour another glass of cabernet.