giving thanks! (to book hangovers etc)

The Darkest Touch - Torin's story - yay! He's always been a favorite and GS didn't disappoint with his story.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE when that happens!

Next in line is Sarah MacLean's last of the Rules of Scoundrels series but for now I'm in a GS book hangover -

The fam's coming over tonight, then we're leaving for New Orleans in the morning.

(I'll have to be extra careful not to get a hangover of another kind).

Last time we went I way over indulged...oy.

But it was so worth it at the time!

I love that town. Arnaud's, horse races, Peche, French market... can't wait!!

I'm full of thanks and Happy Thanksgiving!!

A grand ol' time!

We uber'd it all over Dallas Friday night (first time to uber - I now see the appeal).

We went to Blind Butcher (Poutine with pork belly and a fried egg on top? yum!) Rambled over to the Truck Yard (fun Austin-ish laid back feel).

Then sang along to some of the best in country music Jason Boland and Chris Knight at the House of Blues. We had a grand ol' time!

But yep for the rest of the weekend I mostly cuddled in (to recover) and read. 

I finished the last of the Cousins O'Dwyer series - Blood Magick, it followed true Nora Roberts fashion for me - entertaining but nothing amazing.

I love how she does Ireland justice in her books though. Now that I've been (heck I think she might be a big reason why I wanted to go?) I see why she loves it. 

Aside from that, I caught on to Sarah MacLean again - I forgot how much I liked her style!

This time I read #1 and #2 of the Rules of Scoundrels series. I really liked the #2, there were a few things left unanswered that would usually bother me more but I'll tell ya what - I loved how wonderfully odd Pippa was and whew the sexy times between these two were just wow.

OH and we found Irish bacon! - a local Irishman told us we'd find some at Trinity Hall (ahh the big plus of being in a big city - if you ask/search enough you'll find most any type of food you want! -

overall ...a wonderful weekend!

A tear in my beer...

(ok I don't really drink beer but for a Lonestar or a Mexican beer every once in a while) BUT the sadness remains!!!!...I just heard Charlie left  the Windmill Lounge. NOoOOOOooo!

Look, everyone knows that with the flood of people moving here over the years Dallas has lost its identity. If it has any character it would be pretentiousness.  But there are pockets here and there of what I think is the "real" Dallas -  that bar (with him in it) was one of them. I am dejected.

First world problems i know....but in the words of Chris Knight (that I'll be seeing tonight at the HOB!!) It ain't easy being me...

Picky Picky Picky

Tried reading a couple books in the last week or so that've failed to keep my interest....ugh. I didn't think it was hard to get my attention but lately I guess I'm a little more picky about my time. If they can't get me in the first few pages I'm done.

These are the last few that have lost my interest:
- The Goldfinch (don't feel sorry for you. sorry.)
- Lux YA series (Not reading past book #3, it seems like she's just adding fluff with a cliffhanger each time)
- Splintered YA series (Alice in Wonderlandish eh. Finished it, liked the imagination and that the lead wasn't a pushover but have no interest in the next of the series. It should've ended there.)
- Amythyst - (historical romance blah blah)

I used to be one of those (many) people picky about trying different types of food too. So glad I'm not like that anymore.

If I was, I never would've eaten Cuban food in Miami and I never would've had a wonderful lunch at the Cuban restaurant near me today - pan con lechon, arroz/frijoles negros, yuca frita con mojo mmm just so YUMMY! Hopefully one day we can go to Cuba with no restrictions. UPDATE!: Today 12/17/14 it was announced that the US will formalize relations with Cuba. I sure hope they don't Americanize, especially before I get there). 

cathartic

I noticed country music has been in the media a lot lately talking on how bad it is.
It's true. I can't even stand to listen to more than couple of songs played on mainstream radio.

BUT the new Dirty River Boys, Wade Bowen and Stoney stuff is sounding great.

I'm loving this new Stoney song - guarantee it won't be played on mainstream Country radio....but it should be.  This is what country music is!!!

We're going to the Jason Boland and Chris Knight concert at House of Blues on Friday.

Insane...I still recall being in a crowd of less than 50 for both.

Can't wait  (like books) these bands/this music is therapy for me.

Speaking of books, finished reading Furious Fire. I didn't realize that it's the second to last book in the Grimm series!!
It was good, but it did feel a little rushed trying to get the multiple stories merged in this book.
I hope the last one gets its due diligence.
Don't let me down Shiloh. Don't let me down....

Losing It

For a somewhat relatable (and at times hysterically funny) college girl story Losing It by Cora Carmack was a good read.

New Adult books (I think they're called?) don't do a lot for me. I can't really relate as I pretty much worked all through college.  I had my moments though, I think I had as much fun as I could. Also, my best friend at the time went to A&M and I'd go visit there to get my "college cult fix". That's what A&M is, a cult. It was fun though!

Plus, I went to high school in El Paso. If you wanted to be involved in drinkfests and debauchery all you had to do is head out to the desert or get a quarter and walk across the bridge to Juarez. So basically by the time college came around most people I know from El Paso never went crazy like normal college students do...we'd all gotten the crazy out of our of our systems by then.

Amsterdam's kinda like that too -  we did a thing called Dine with the Dutch (native Dutch folks invite us to their house and made dinner for us) - really what you're paying for is the conversation (so glad we did that; it was fun and so insightful.)

But it's the same for them too... - 10 minutes down the street "that way" was the Red Light district, 2 minutes down "that way" was a coffee shop but natives themselves (as they informed us) don't find it necessary to partake in any of the seedier sides of things. They don't shun it either...yes Exstasy is illegal but if you insist on taking it they have a drug tester at certain rave sites to make sure what you're taking won't kill you....
Interesting yeah?

on my Wurst behavior...

Bought the new Shiloh Walker, will read it on the way to New Braunfels/Austin tomorrow.
It's Wurstfest time - I think it's Jamie's 18th year and my 8th or 9th?

I can only handle one night of that kind of  revelry these days - I'll be staying in Austin tomorrow then putting my dirndl on to freeze my butt in New Braunfels on Saturday. Yay!

A Beautiful Lie

Here's a pic of my dad - drafted the month of his 18th birthday for Vietnam.

All those drafted were put in a long line and pointed to - Marines. Navy. Army. Airforce.

He was lucky #3 in line chosen for front line Army. He still has trouble sleeping and he may have gotten Agent Orange. It's all still tied up at the VA. Don't even get me started...

I'm not the biggest fan of stories that skew military...but I liked A Beautiful Lie

Thanks for your service and sacrifice Vets!

Wives and husbands of vets...you should also be recognized....

Cheater

This "Mate Poaching" article just makes me shake my head.
What THE HECKFIRE?
Who are you!

Here's the thing - signs are always there before cheating even has the chance - so if it happens I think it's kinda both your fault for letting it.

 "Discuss - never ignore!" I read that in a first and only self-help relationship book, drowning in my misery at a B&N one Saturday night after Jamie and I decided to "take a break".

I wish i could remember which book it was... I know it was written by psychologists.

From the start, I let Jamie know that he can't get anyone better than me ;0) but more,  if he decides to cheat then I'm out the door and not looking back. No talking. No drama. Done. Simple as that. (I don't say this lightly...I'm a child of 3 divorces on my mom's side and 4 divorces on my dad's side. (Two of those where from each other).) 

If I had any advice to give for people starting relationships it would be the above. A hard line must be drawn. Especially for the girl - (in my opinion) no matter how much you think you've got him locked in, men need clear spoken direction -  cause they're always going to push to see how far they can go.

Men on the other hand are a little more forgiving I think.
Overall though, I feel very strongly that you can't go back from that betrayal....you just can't.

Sidenote:  I re-read  The Summerhouse ( I'd say a favorite). Three friends have the choice to go back in time and may or may not choose to change their own story. It's good read!

Also finished the "True Love" book of J.Devereaux's - besides making want to visit Nantucket it didn't "get" me like others of hers have. Next...

jumping worlds

Dropped out of Nalini Singh's Psy-Changling world and went into the nostalgic realness of Jude Devereaux's True Love (first of the Nantucket series).

Such different stories (and storytelling) - it took me a few pages to switch gears.
How she describes Nantucket...now I want to go! ugh these books I read make me want to visit everywhere!

Going to the lake house this weekend, some friends are joining us out there. Can't wait to get away from the craziness/chaos of the city for a little peace and friends and laughter out in East Texas.

Later!

so I'm a little manipulative...

I just posted this to facebook:

Ha! And so yes I'm a little manipulative but he lets me! so we're going - fun times!

Which gal in a book was a fun tricksy girl? I say Anya in The Darkest Kiss or of course Nix (and several others) of the Immortals After Dark series.

In Texas and I still vote

Whether I vote Republican or not, it's a given that it'll go "R" because I live in Texas.
It bothers me yes -  (I don't vote straight ticket - I like to see who I'm voting for, research what their opinions are and vote accordingly).

Aside from voting party, there are local issues also addressed in ballot that I like to think I have sway on.

But really...most important reason why I vote? ... it would really piss me off if I didn't have the right to vote at all. So that's why I do it. Cause I can.

When people start getting on their high-horse, pontificating about their issues but they don't vote, this is me:

#rockthevote #exerciseyourright #elections2014

dignity and courage

Read Winning Miss Wakefield, pretty sure I've read this scenario before: rejected regency girl gets the courage to kiss the rake, he offers to help her get her rejector (is that word?) back but ends up falling for her instead. 
It's been done better. This one wasn't bad though. Not very believable, but it was entertaining for what it was.

Now, I'm re-reading some of my favorite Psy-Changeling books by Nalini Singh (just cause i can). Clay and Talin's story and all they went through...
The one that really just sucker punched me was Tangle of Need though. Seriously, my heart hurt, I don't think I was ever more involved in characters as I was with Adria and Riaz.  Nalini Singh is in my top 5 of all time for sure.

And so...back to reality (and speaking of heart hurt) - I saw the news about Brittany Maynard. Such courage. Hope she went peacefully as she wished. I am a death with dignity advocate and will make my yearly donation on Giving Tuesday (December 2).