Enjoy the Journey and a Little Giveaway

Hello Friends:

I hope you all enjoyed your weekend. Wouldn't it be nice if there was a day between Saturday and Sunday? It just seems like two day weekends are never enough. I had such a laid back weekend that I managed to finish not 1 but 2 books on my Nook E-Reader. I love Mysteries and I really enjoy the kind that has some Romance mixed in.

I purchased this book on my e-reader for .99. It was the best .99 I spent this weekend. This book was so good in fact that I went and purchased the 2nd in the series for $5.99 and finished that one today.

Quick Review: The series is based on a small town 30 year old mortician/county coroner named Dr. J.J. Graves who was forced to move back to her hometown in Virginia to take over the family funeral business after both her parents died in an accident. She works with her best friend, the handsome and single, town sheriff named Jack Lawson to solve the murders going on in their town. In the midst of everything, the two realize their true feelings for each other, although that mostly comes out in the 2nd book, A Dirty Shame.We also learn that J.J's family has a bad history and unfortunately she uncovers many hidden secrets about her family that she didn't know about before.

Both books were fantastic. They had a story line that just made you keep on reading to see what happened next. There were definitely no boring parts. I honestly think my favorite aspect of these books is how they are set in a small town. I'm talking a town of less than 3,000 people. The kind where everyone knows everybody and everyone is just all up in everyone's business. I personally don't know what that's like since I live in the big city so it was fun to read about it.

If you have an E-Reader, I highly recommend you sign up for this site: www.bookbub.com. At sign up, its asks what kind of E-Reader device you have and every day they send you e-mails about books available for free up to $3.99 for your particular device. Its a very convenient way to build up your little library.

The summer heat is definitely kicking into high gear down here in Miami. The rain visits us everyday and leaves behind a humidity that makes it miserable to be outside in the afternoon. I really do feel bad for the summer visitors. I know they come down to enjoy our beaches so I'm sure its quite disappointing to travel all this way and not enjoy the beaches because of the rain. If you are considering a vacation to Miami, plan it for either March, April, Oct or Nov for perfect beach weather. Just some local insider info!

Despite the rain, it has been an exciting week down here in Miami. Our Miami Heat Basketball Team became the World Champions for the 2nd year in a row. I don't normally watch sports on TV but this series against the San Antonia Spurs was exciting. Both teams played an amazing series. Thursday night got loud in Miami after the last game ended. People were out in the streets honking their horns, banging pots and pans in the streets, letting off fireworks...it was chaotic. I was smart and stayed home. Tomorrow is supposed to be a huge celebratory parade in Downtown Miami. It's going to be crowd crazy!

I didn't do much stitching the last couple weeks for any good pictures, but I did make a card. One of my co-workers resigned from her position of 9 years with the company. She decided it was time to return to school and complete her Masters Degree in Accounting. We took her to lunch and gave her a gift card along with this card I made. All of the girls signed it. Excuse the picture. I had to take a picture on my cell phone in my car and crop out the steering wheel behind it.

I wanted to make her something bright and cheerful. I used papers and embellishments from a card kit I bought from Cupcards to Go. I used some stickles glitter glue to give it some glitz on the flowers and around the edges. Everybody loved how it turned out including her. The greeting couldn't have been more perfect considering she was embarking on a new journey in her life. I sincerely hopes she enjoys the journey.

That is all for today. I hope you all have a fabulous week. A big thank you to those who read my blog and leave me a little note. It always brightens my day to read the comments from my readers.

With that in mind, I have decided to do a little give-away. It has been 3 years since I started my blog so I think its time to celebrate that. I've decided to give one winner a $25 gift certificate to 123 Stitch.com or to The Fat Quarter Shop if fabric is your thing. :-)

Please leave a comment here if you would like to be included. You don't have to a be a follower to win, but it would be nice to make some new friends. Only one entry per comment. I will draw a winner using Random.Org on July 4th.

**Hugs from Rainy Miami**
Jen

Wishing May didn't have to End....

Hello Friends:

I hope you all had a wonderful Memorial Day holiday with your family and friends. Have you prepared yourselves for the summer heat yet? Me, I'm never ready and I've lived in Florida my whole life. You just can't get used the heat and humidity here. I'm so thankful for air conditioning.

Its been a few weeks since my last post, so let me get you up to date.

May was an absolutely awesome month. My birthday was on the 9th and I turned the big 3-0. Freaked out? No. Excited? Yes! It was exciting honestly because it is a big milestone. My twenties were a time of learning. I made mistakes but they helped me grow and mature into the person I am today. I'm also a true believer that you are only as old as you feel. I still feel the way I did when I was 20. As far as I remember...;) So 30 is not so scary.

For my birthday, I traveled to San Fransisco, CA to visit my older sister. It was only a short weekend trip but I had a great time. She spoiled me rotten with good food and shopping. I had a blast. San Fransisco is beautiful and the weather is amazing. I was so impressed by their public transportation system. I only wish Miami would get with the program. Plus I was highly impressed with how mindful they are about recycling. Did you know that when you go to a retail store, you have to pay like .10 for the plastic bag to carry your purchased items in? That's how they encourage people to re-use. Interesting!

 Here is a few pics from my trip:

A pic of my sister's neighborhood while waiting for a bus. It was foggy and overcast that day. I also realized how out of shape I really am. The walking up and down the hills was not as easy as I thought it would be.

Latte in a BOWL. They are serious about coffee out there. Move over Starbucks! I was quite jealous of my sis cause she had a coffee shop right next to her apartment. You walk out the front door, turn right and you were there.

These next pics are for you readers that love flowers and nature. There is a Conservatory of Flowers in San Fransisco. My sister volunteers there as a "Jungle Guide" for the kids who go there for field trips. It was amazing to see the different plants. The following pics are a few of my favorites. The first few are the nature trail we walked through to get to the entrance. It was really peaceful.

Conservatory Entrance.

The Conservatory is inside a Victorian Style building. There are more parts than this picture shows.

Each section of the conservatory is created to represent a particular eco-system. These next few pictures are the Rain Forest section. The humidity made me feel right at home!

They opened a new butterfly exhibit. It just started so there weren't many butterflies but they were flying around in the room. This is me. :-)

The butterflies in their various stages. I'm sure by the end of the exhibit that this room will be full of butterflies.

The next few pictures are just other random pictures of my trip. I went to an awesome farmer's market on the port, and we went to the Rockwall Winery for a visit. If you like wine, you have to try Rockwall Wines. They are fantastic.

Some amazing Sushi. The one with fire was called The Extinguisher. Yum!

I learned from my farmers market trip that I know nothing about  fresh vegetables and fruit. Vegetables that looked sick to me were actually perfect to eat. I need to get away from the grocery store.

One of the Bays. That's not the Golden Gate Bridge

Cheese Heaven! I actually tried fresh goat cheese and it was really good.

 Lobster Butter Popcorn from the Winery. It was as good as it sounds.

I spent all of Mother Days on the plane ride back, but it was worth it. It was a weekend of just me and my sister. I was actually able to relax and forget about work. I hope to go back soon.

May really was the month of traveling for me. Last weekend, I went out of town to Tampa for the annual State Bowling Tournament. My friends and I didn't bowl anything spectacular but we all had a good time. The highlight of that weekend was going to Disney's Magic Kingdom park.They were hosting an event and were open for 24 hours as a celebration to the beginning of summer. It was a long day but we had an awesome time. The crowd was pretty crazy for the fireworks but it was worth it, at least to me. We did find out that the Annual Bowling Tournament next year is in Orlando, right next to Disney. WooHoo! Any excuse to visit Disney is a good one in my book.

In the midst of my traveling and work, I managed to do some stitching. I have stayed true to my personal promise of not buying anything until I finish something. Haven't finished anything yet I'm afraid.

Sampling Easter by Lizzie Kate. 

This is a nice quick stitch. It is stitched on 28Ct Lambswool Jobelan using the recommended Crescent Color and DMC threads called for.

***

Bluebell Fairy by Nora Corbett

Progress before at 4/07/13

Progress as of today 06/02/13 

Stitched on 32Ct Hand Dye Opalescent Jobelan called Sandy Pool by The Crafty Kitten

Porthole of Fantasy by Jasmine Beckett-Griffith

Progress before as of 04/07/13

Progress as of today 06/02/13

That is it for today. I hope you enjoyed my pictures. If you haven't visited San Fransisco, make sure you put that on your list of cities to see someday. You will love it. 

**Hugs from Miami**

Jen