Chic Coffee Table Book / Artwork

A beautifully colorful book for your coffee table or perhaps...for doing something like this ;-)

The Books You Wish Wouldn't End

If you love to read like I do, then you know that you finish some books and think, "That was pretty good." 

Then there are the very rare books that you just absolutely hate to see end.

Saving Cee Cee Honeycutt was one of those books!

Girls, I thought I would write down some of my favorite parts of the book to share with you because I loved Beth Hoffman's writing style so much.  However, after awhile there were just so many parts.

Here is a short synopsis in my own words:

Cee Cee Honeycutt is a young girl whose mother, the former Vidalia Onion Queen, is mentally ill. Cee Cee's father is absent most of the time because he can not deal with the situation.  When mom is killed in an accidental run in with the ice cream truck Cee Cee is sent to live with her Aunt Tootie in Savannah, Georgia.  For the first time at about age 12, Cee Cee has people who love and take care of her. 

I call this genre southern fiction and it is my favorite!

If you enjoy stories about women, the south, and loving relationships you must read this.

Book Talk

Just imagine it...

a good book, summer sun, and iced tea.

What's on your reading list?

I'm planning to join the Summer Reading Challenge hosted by

Susan at A Southern Daydreamer Reads.

The following books are on my list for now.

I'll be adding more as time goes by.

Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen by Susan Gregg Gilmore

Ms. Gilmore's writing was compared to Fannie Flagg's in one review I read.

That's all I need to know!

Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman

I haven't read Ms. Hoffman's books before but I read the reviews on Amazon and this sounds like my kind of book.
The story takes place in Savannah. Woo hoo!

Can't wait to read

The Fixer Upper by Mary Kay Andrews.
Mary Kay Andrews writes about women, friendships, and the south.
The best combination!
I've really enjoyed her other books.

I want to be the very best teacher that I can be so I'm revisiting

Practice with Purpose by Debbie Diller.

This is a fantastic book for upper elementary teachers of reading.

Also, Lisa hosts The Hospitable Book Club that I'm going to join.

She usually names a book that we read and discuss.

You can see my thoughts on

Cherries in Winter here.

What else do I need to add to my list?

The Crowning Glory of Calla Lily Ponder

Oh how I loved this book!

From the very first turn of the page, I was hooked on this book. The novel is written by Rebecca Wells of YaYa Sisterhood fame. I have to tell you though...I liked this so much more!

Here's the description from the book cover:

The Crowning Glory of Calla Lily Ponder is the sweet, sexy, funny journey of Calla Lily's life set in Wells' expanding fictional Louisiana landscape. In the small river town of La Luna, Calla bursts into being, a force of nature as luminous as the flower she is named for. Under the loving light of the Moon Lady, the feminine force that will guide and protect her throughout her life, Calla enjoys a blissful childhood - until it is cut short. Her mother, M'Dear, a woman of rapture and love, teaches Calla compassion, and passes on to her the art of healing through the humble womanly art of "fixing hair". At her mother's side, Calla further learns that this same tough of hands on the human body can quiet her own soul. It is also on the banks of the La Luna River that Calla encounters sweet, succulent first love, with a boy named Tuck.

But when Tuck leaves Calla with a broken heart, she transforms hurt into inspiration and heads for the wild and colorful city of New Orleans to study at L'Academie de Beaute de Crescent. In that extravagant big river city, she finds her destiny - and comes to understand fully the power of her "healing hands" to change lives and soothe pain, including her own. When Tuck reappears years later, he presents her with an offer that is colored by the memories of lost love. But who knows how Calla Lily, a "daughter of the Moon Lady," will respond?

Don't let this great story pass you by! I hope there is a sequel.

Good Morning Girls!

Grab a cup of coffee and let's talk about Cherries in Winter: My Family's Recipe for Hope in Hard Times by Suzan Colon.

Here's a little snippet from the cover description, "When Suzan Colon was laid off from her dream job at a magazine during the economic downturn of 2008, she needed to cut her budget way, way back - and that meant home cooking".

This short and sweet book is written as a personal narrative in the present and in the past. Ms. Colon relives her family history through the recipes that she digs out of the old box in the basement. Home cooking became a way to save money and connect the author with her mother and grandmother. The book is full of family stories with recipes to go along with them.

We can all relate to some of the feelings expressed in the story, whether you have lost a job or not. Family recipes mean the world to us. They make us remember where we came from and that is exactly what this book is about.

I give it two thumbs up!

Please pop over to Hospitable Pursuits to see what the other readers had to say about this book. Thanks Lisa for hosting the Hospitable Pursuits bookclub. What's next?

Cath Kidston Love

I recently started receiving this Cath Kidston magazine/catalog in the mail. Everything in it is just adorable. I love the pinks, greens, and blues. The colors and styles are fresh but old fashioned.

There's a problem. The items are priced in pounds.

One day I decided to get brave and try to order something. It didn't recognize my zip code and wouldn't let me proceed.

Now they wouldn't mail me this just to tease me, would they?

Don't you agree that it's all sweet? Look at those flowers and polka dots!! Does anybody know where to buy Cath Kidston in the US?

By the way, so many of you asked about our trip to Chicago that was supposed to happen yesterday. We were snowed out. We are regrouping now and trying to decide what to do. Thanks for asking.

Whatcha Reading?

Admit it...since you started reading blogs...you read far less when it comes to actual books. I do. It's pitiful and I'm ashamed.

For Christmas I received The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls. I can barely put it down!! It's an interesting life story and she is a great writer.

After I finish this one I'm moving on to participate in the Hospitable Pursuits Book Club.

We are going to read Cherries in Winter: My Family's Recipe for Hope in Hard Times.

Lisa has the synopsis on her blog. The book looks like a winner! Join us by going over to Lisa's blog and leaving her a comment.




Have a wonderful weekend!

I Love Books :)

Today I looked at my Nell Hill books for the 4,738th time. Really, no exaggerating. I still get good ideas from those books though. Plus they stack up nicely and I can decorate on top of them.

Anyway, I wandered over to Amazon to have a look around for new inspiration. Do you have any of these books? If so, tell me what you think.

I will openly confess that I was drawn to the red flowers and stripes in the above picture.

This Cottage Style book looks gorgeous. I bet there are great ideas in there but I have to pass on the white slip covers. Wouldn't it be dreamy to have white slip covers? For 3 minutes or so?

I love the look of these cups or bowls all stacked up. Aren't they pretty?

More peeks of red and some beautiful houseplants.
I don't really have houseplants but I'm going to work on that.


Will you tell me some of your favorite decorating books?
It's getting pretty chilly outside and coffee with a good book is an awfully nice treat.



Happy Friday to all of you.

Thank you so much for all your kind words about my laundry room.

Awesome Book: The Boss of You

As a newbie entrepreneur, I've been picking up a lot of small business related books. The best I've found thus far that I was really able to get into and felt was really relevant to what I was doing is The Boss of You by Emira Mears and Lauren Bacon, two kick-ass down-to-earth ladies. I just finished reading it this past weekend and it's one of those books I know I'll keep referring to because it's very comprehensive and full of invaluable advice and information. The tone of the authors is so approachable and they write with a certain flair that just keeps you reading and maintains/revives the excitement of doing your own thing your way. It's helped and will continue to help me bring clarity and structure to what I'm doing. They get it -my aim is not to get rich quick, or grow super big, which is the emphasis of several (male-written) business books out there, but rather my goal is to earn a nice living doing something I love in a way that is sustainable, keeps to my values, and helps me live my best life.

If you're a thinking of becoming an owner of a creative small business or maybe have already taken the leap, I highly recommend this resource. You'll get practical advice written in simple language (not a lot of business jargon here!) on how to work your ideas, and visualize and create a realistic plan in a way that's not overwhelming. Oh and you'll get a few words of encouragement that'll keep you going when you're doubting yourself. Emira and Lauren give you strategies for how to deal with this and reassure you others have gone through something similar, gotten through it, and succeeded.