Seven years of blogging!!...

Hi everyone :)

Yes, I'm alive LOL. Still plagued by the blogging blues ^_^; However, today is a special day and blues or not, I had to put up a post... because it's my blogiversary! Yay! Hard to believe it, but I have been blogging for seven years! Seven!! Jeez, how time flies :P

There's definitively been ups and downs in the past seven years, but that's to be expected. That's life :) What blogging has brought to me - friendships, a sense of accomplishments, sharing my love of books - is invaluable and had made my life richer :) And that's why despite a miserable year, I'm not ready to give it up :) And I know what I need to do! Just stop complaining and plow through the blues! LOL.

Anyway, what I really want to say is thank you to everyone who is following my blog :) You're the one that made this such a big part of my life! Thanks!

Happy Birthday Tracy!

Hi everyone :)

Today is my birthday, but I share it with a wonderful lady, Tracy :)

Best wishes for your birthday, Tracy. 

Hope you have a wonderful day

and

may the best happens to us!

Hip, hip, hooray!

Hauling Sunday CX

Oh, my poor neglected blog!! I've been meaning to blog, I swear, but life has been really hectic in the last few days. Basically, it's because I'm going to a wedding next week. Except my friend wanted a destination wedding and as such, I'm leaving on Saturday for a week to Punta Cana! Yay! It's going to be my first all-inclusive, resort vacation. Not sure what to expect, but just the work "vacation" makes me happy LOL. However, before I can enjoy the vacation, there is the departure and as usual, I'm running around like crazy to get some stuff: swim suits, bag, medicine, hat, etc. If that was all, it wouldn't be so bad... but this Friday is my birthday :) Usually, I'd keep it low-key... but I'm turning 30 :P It's a nice number to celebrate I think LOL. And so that's what I did last week-end :)

 
We had pork tenderloin with mac and cheese, some smoke salmon tartar, spinach salad with strawberries and feta cheese and shrimps wrapped in bacon. The food was extremely yummy and luckily for all of us, I wasn't the one cooking LOL. However, I helped and since I was hosting, I cleaned... and so my week-end passed really fast! Seriously, I've barely had time to read :(

Tonight, I'm going out with my new friends for curling and tomorrow, we're taking out my friend's aunts who came from Hong Kong for the wedding. When I went to Hong Kong in 2000 (jeez, I cannot believe it's been so long!!), they welcomed us into their home and so, this is a thank you in Montreal :) And on Friday, apparently, I need to beautify my legs and feet for the beach. In the meantime, I need to pack and I'll definitively try to write a couple of posts for next week.

In the meantime, I have a New Releases post with Ames over at Breezing Through. Check out what books I'm looking forward to in May here :) And while I know we're not Sunday, I thought I'd still show you what I've got last week and this week :)

I've actually already read Written in Red by Anne Bishop, but I loved it so much that I needed to get the hardcover :) Loki's Wolves is totally a score, considering that it's coming out only next week! No Strings Attached - I'm trying very hard to be a good girl and keep it for next week while in Punta Cana. It just seemed to be the perfect beach read! The Mary Balogh is also coming with me because I need to find out why Ames enjoyed it so much :) And  I'm currently reading Lord of Wicked Intentions :P

So what books did you recently acquire? Any suggestions of what I should bring with me?

6th Blogiversary!

Yes, you've read the title right. It's my 6th Blogiversary!! Wooohooo! Well actually, I'm a few days late ^_^; I always thought it was the 26th, but turns out it's really the 20th. I'll try to remember it for next year LOL. In any case, it only means I've had this blog for more than 6 years :) Definitively something worth to celebrate! It's funny because I just re-read my first post ever and in it, I mention I didn't know how long I'd be blogging. Now, I can't imagine my life without it and I know that as long as I'll be reading, I'll be blogging :)

Seriously, these past 6 years have been amazing! It has brought so much to me. When I started, I never imagined meeting authors, going to books conventions or even receiving ARCs. The experiences and the books are great, but more important is the friends I've made!! People who share my passion, whom I can discuss with. Really, I could not imagine my life without my blogger friends! You've made my life so much richer! And for that, I am so very grateful :)

So to celebrate my 6th Blogiversary, I've decided to host a giveaway! Yay! There is three parts to the giveaway :) First, there are three autographed books that I've got at last year's RWA.

 Second is your choice of book among four new releases in July that I am soooo looking forward to :) It can be either print or ebook.

 And finally, an e-book gift certificate of 15$ at your choice of e-store :)

The rules to the giveaway are simple :) The giveaway is open to everyone from everywhere. Just leave a comment before noon (Eastern time) this Saturday (June 30). In you comment, please specify which draw you'd like to be in: the autographed books, the book of your choice, the gift certificate or all of them :) Also, make sure that I have your email address so I can contact you. And voila!

Good luck everyone!

Happy Birthday to Us!!!

Not a review, although one is on its way! Seems like have last week of intense blogging, my brain is taking a short break :)

This post is for Tracy and me!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE TWO OF US, TRACY!!!

Hope we have a great day and may the year be good to us! :)

And a big thank you for all the birthday wishes I have received! :) You guys are great and I love you all so much!

Happy Birthday Ames!!

Happy Birthday Ames! :) We're getting older!! LOL. Hope you have a great day and a great time. May your future be filled with tons of good books :)

Happy Birthday and Thank You!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TRACY and ME!!!!

LOL, it's fun to share a birthday :D Makes it easy to remember :P

A very big thank you to everyone for the birthday wishes!! It was great coming home from RT to so many wishes!! Very heart-warming :P

As you can see, I made it home safely :D Home, sweet home!! I really miss my bed!! Spending my birthday at the airport wasn't fun, but it wasn't bad either. At least, the flights were smoother, so I didn't feel too nauseous... I have tomorrow off, so I'll try to write some posts and catch up with everyone!!

Again, thank you :D

Happy Birthday Ames!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMES!!!

Just want to wish you a wonderful day :) I thank blogland for meeting you! You've been a great friend to me for the past three years! My life would be so boring without you :D

Wish you lots and lots of cheap books LOL :)

LOL, an aside... It's such a coincidence that so many bloggers share the same birthday dates as me and my relatives... I mean, Ames and my cousin's birthday are the same, Holly is born on the same day as my dad and Tracy and I share a birthday too! :) Anyone born on August 6 and October 6? :)

Re-Read Challenge Reminder!

First, I'd like to say...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CINDY!!
HAPPY BLOGANNIVERSARY, RENEE!!

You two have my best wishes!!

Seriously, isn't it amazing, the friends we make online? Through blogland! I'm bringing this up tonight because this week, I got a nice present through the mail from Kris. She sent me an autographed copy of Count to Ten by Karen Rose!! Woohoo!! and LOL, she told me that Karen Rose knew who I was!! Wowzer! LOL.

I'm starting to have a nice little collection of autographed novels, dedicated to me, by my favorite authors... and I've never gone to a signing!! LOL, almost all of them were gifts from bloggers... Yep, they actually went to authors signings and asked copies for me! Seriously, how nice and sweet is that?!?

When I first started blogging, it was mostly to share my reviews, my opinion on some books so it would help others to choose their books. I know that's why I started visiting blogs, to find reviews on books. I never expected this friendship... but looking back, I should have. All in all, it's just amazing!

LOL, but that's not what I wanted to remind people today. I actually wanted to point out that next week is the end of the month, so Re-Read Challenge deadline :) Last day of the month is Monday, so we still have the week-end to do our re-read :) I'll put up the post for links on Sunday. So everyone will have from Sunday, August 30, to Tuesday, September 1st, to post up their reviews :D The winner will be drawn on Wednesday morning :)

Have a nice evening!

A little bit of this and that...

The week-end is coming to an end, but I hope everyone is having a great time :) RWA attendees should be on their way home as well :) Can't wait for their closure posts and pictures!! :)

My week-end was okay. Didn't do much :( I have been feeling a bit under the weather the entire past week :( I'm fine during the day, but once I get home... either have a stomachache, headache or something... Feeling a little dizzy as well :( Bleh. Today, I'm feeling okay... well I feel a bit full :( but anyway, I don't know... my vision seems wrong, as if my right eye is misaligned... but I guess that's only an impression, a feeling :(

There are some good news at the lab. First, we're having a summer student come in for the rest of the summer. This is going to be fun, an extra person... plus, I get to train someone... so practice for the future. What I like is that he just finished high school, so his knowledge is very limited... So it's okay if we limit him to database work mostly (without feeling too much guilt, LOL :) Then, my supervisor is going to take a few weeks in August to go to China. Yay!!! :) That means lots of freedom for me LOL. Then, lastly... we got the preliminary results from the grant applications... Apparently, we ranked 7th on 81 applications with a score of 4.33... So very good and most probably will get the funding - hopefully, that means an increase in salary for me :P

Last, but not least... Friday was my dad's 60th birthday :) LOL, I think he's taking it well. I bought him a portable radio that plays mp3 CDs as a gift (that's what he wanted). To celebrate, we went out to eat dinner at the new Chinese restaurant that just opened. It's really very pretty inside and just opened last Sunday... LOL, my dad chose the pigeon dinner for 4 : shark fin soup, BBQ pigeons, lobster, king mushrooms and fish. The only problem is that this menu is supposed to be ordered/reserved 4 hours in advance... They said it was okay though, we'd just have to wait for an hour... LOL, by the time they started serving the food, we were very, very hungry ^_^; While waiting, my parents start reading the newspapers... and my sister even had a book in a bag... What about me?!?!? Of course, I forgot mine at home!! Argh!! That always happens!! It's sooo annoying. In the end, the food was pretty good :) and we got some nice family pictures (we're not very big of pics)... Today, my parents are celebrating their 29th wedding anniversary. They're not doing anything special... but still, 29 years :)

So here are some pics...

Psst, I'm having a great reading month!! Keeping my fingers crossed that it'll keep up :P

Big THANK YOU!!!

As some of you know, yesterday was my b-day! :) I am now 26 years old and LOL, that's all I am going to say about my age :)

So a big, huge

THANK YOU

to all the wishes I've received by emails, comments, Facebook! I LOVE you all!!!! You guys are so awesome! :) I really feel the love and you don't know how much I appreciate it :) So again,

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!

I had a great day yesterday. Did some shopping with my sister, played bowling and pool with friends and went to eat sushi :) The weather was gorgeous and it was a beautiful day :)

As soon as my friend sends me the pics she took, I'm going to make a post. The sushi were very pretty - it was more about style and decoration and new taste.

Oh and guess what? My sister asked me what I wanted for my birthday, but she told me: "Don't say books, because the parents told me not to buy you any. I won't buy you any gift cards either. The only thing that might work is if you ask for an e-book reader, because maybe Dad will consider it as technology."

LMAO :) So yeah, didn't get any books, but it's okay :) Actually, the only sad part in my day yesterday is I almost didn't see my parents. They did wish me a happy birthday, but they had to go to the temple really early. My sister and I went too, but we left early to go shopping... when we got home, my parents were still at the temple - they had a meeting for next week, very big celebration. I left to meet my friends and when I came home, they were already in bed :(

Today, well I'm at work... and tradition is that the birthday person brings in a cake to celebrate :) My mom made one - it's been age since she didn't do one for my birthday LOL :) I'll take some pics later and post them along with the sushi :) Then tonight, going out again with another group of friends... for more sushi :)

Oh, and I'd like to take this opportunity to say:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TRACY!!!

Turns out Tracy and I share a birthday! How awesome is it? LOL :) I wish you all the best and a lot of books :)

Happy Birthday Ames!!!

Today is the birthday of one of my dearest friends in blogland...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMES!!!

I wish you the best for the coming year. May you have time to read tons of books, spoil your babies and perhaps meet someone :D

So to start the day on the right note, here's a pic for you :)

Happy Birthday to Kris!!

I just want to take a moment and say:

to Kris!!!

Hope you have a nice week-end and enjoy your birthday :) Wish you a lot and lot of books :P

What's on my mind...

Hello everyone!

How have you been doing? I'm sorry I've been MIA since last Thursday ^_^; Been quite busy and also, a bit lethargic LOL :) Anyway, couple of things on my mind...

I turned 25 on Saturday :D I actually don't really care about my age, because well, it doesn't change me much. I am who I am, LOL, and age won't change anything. I was actually quite giddy and happy. Great thing is that everytime I'm going to want to rent a car now, I won't have to pay the surcharge LOL :) I had lots of fun with my friends on Thursday as we went for all-you-can-eat sushi :) Pretty good place. My friends gave me a purse! Tell you the truth, I didn't really want a purse ^_^; but I couldn't think of anything else (besides books) that I wanted and that was "easy" to buy... so a purse it was. I have to say, I love it though!!! Love the design, the color and it's sooooo soft :) Only downside is that I can't put many books in it... actually, I'm only allowed of one book. If there's more than one book, they'll be confiscated by my friends, LOL :)

I ordered some books last week-end and for some reasons, they were shipped from Vancouver. Now, that's the first time I've had orders sent from the warehouse in Vancouver, considering how much closer Ontario is. Anyway, long story short, when checking my order status, books were supposed to be delivered on Friday... but when I asked my mom and sister, they said we didn't receive anything... which was like impossible. I started worrying that the mailman put the key in the wrong box (mailman doesn't come to door to door in my neighborhood... we have commun mailbox with individual case for each house and bigger cases for packages...). I was expecting whoever got the key, opened the case and saw the package would return it to my house... Turns out, on Saturday m0rning, when I came down, I saw this big package, the size of a VCR or DVD player box, wrapped in newspapers... and on it: "Nath's birthday surprise" I thanked my parents and sister - my parents had no idea what it was and my sis said, "Don't thank us, you bought it" LOL :) Yep, the box was left in front of my hosue and my sister just hid it from me. She's evil sometimes.

Speaking of sister, she's gone for tw0 weeks... Went to California to hang out with my cousins... I think I'm really going to miss her ^_^; We've grown really close in the past couple of years and it's just going to be weird not having her nagging me about her tv shows and nobody to sneak food with. Ah well, lucky for me, it's only 2 weeks. I have a friend, her sis is gone for the whole summer.

Something else on my mind... I have a project for the summer and it involves my room, bookcases and my books. I'm thinking of buying some shelving units... but as I said before, I don't have anymore room in my place for furniture... so my plan is to exchange the computer desk for my nice desk. I have one of those big screen though and I won't be able to put the computer tower on the floor anymore... So big computer screen + tower + printer on a desk... not enough place. So I'm thinking of buying a new computer with a flat screen. My current computer is about 5-6 years old... It's not bad, but it has some bugs. Like the screen going black for few seconds at a time for no reason. My anti-virus on it is also dead for a long time. I can't open Adobe Reader with Mozilla Firefox without freezing it... and I almost have more space on my harddrive. I did think of buying the screen only, but the one I'm eyeing is already 300$ Also, the day before I changed computer completely is not far... so might as well get a good deal... but it'll still cost me >1,000$... the other thing is the actual bookcase. My parents have always gone for quality... that means all my furniture in my room are in teak wood (except my computer deak which is why I'm getting rid of it)... and I'd like for my new bookcase to match and be of teak wood... however, I have a feeling it's going to be quite pricey *sigh*

So I gotta find ways to be thrifty, LOL :) So I'm going to take a page out of Ames' book and try not to buy any books for a couple of weeks. Shouldn't be too hard considering that there's nothing really interesting coming out soon and lucky me, I've already pre-ordered Scream for Me by Karen Rose. In addition, I still have about 30-something $ on my online account at Chapters + a co-worker gave me a gift card :D So that should help :) and if I'm lucky, mangas will be arriving from France slowly... esp. since it's the summer. So yeah, I guess it's feasible. Pluse, I'm hoping that eating out less, as in not at all, would help.

Part two of my project, I've alredy mentioned... is to clean out the closet and put some cheap, waist-level, shelving cases. Just so I have space to put my stuff and all... but between you and me, cleaning my closet? Ugh, it's going to be a nightmare... of course, not as bad as cleaning out under of Holly's daughter's bed LOL :) but let just says I have lots of stuff.

Other things that are on my mind... Gas price. Ugh, I gas at 1.29$/liter this morning. It was 1.37$/liter at the highest last week. What doesn't help is that I live far from work :( and also, there's construction on the way for the rest of the summer. Gotta find another way to get to work... and also, I don't know... go out less? Again, not stopping and making detours to the bookstores should help... right?

Last thing, I have a review up at Book Binge!! This time, it's The Cinderella Deal by Jennifer Crusie. Click here for the review :D

Oh, and last last thing... i'm glad the hockey season is over in Montreal. I think the people went a bit crazy this year. I know it's been a long time since the Canadians haven't done so good, but still :P

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMES!!!

It's Ames' b-day!! and for the celebration, I've borrowed her two babies! Unfortunately, I'm not very talented... but it's the feelings that count right? As for the quote, don't ask me, but ask Holly LOL :)

So Ames,

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

HOPE THAT ALL YOUR WISHES COME TRUE THIS YEAR AND THAT YOU'LL HAVE A WONDERFUL YEAR AHEAD OF YOU.

Exhaustion...

Hey ppl :D

this is just a quick post to apologize, cos I haven't had time to review, post or comment! I'm still blog-hoping religiously, but been too busy and tired to comment or do anything else. See, I've changed my working schedule and now start working from 6.30am to 3pm... So I'm still adjusting to the time and I definitively need to go to sleep earlier :( It's also been cutting in my reading time :(

Also,

HAPPY B-DAY HOLLY!!!

Turns out Holly's b-day is the same day as my dad :D So this is going to be easy to remember from now on!! :D Speaking of my dad's b-day, my mom decided to organize a mini-surprise. So after a very long day at work, she made me run to do this and that and so that completely killed me. I think I'm going to need a few days to recover LOL :D

Well that's it for me. I have to cut down my internet time at work too :( So can't blog too much :D Talk to everyone later!

My birthday...

Hello everyone!

First I'd like to thank Ames and Zeek for their post for my b-day :D Also, thank you to everyone who posted and wished my Happy birthday! :D I really appreciate and it's always special to have someone wishing you the best on your birthday :D

Still no reviews.... I think I'm having the reading blues. I've been anticipating some books so much and read them as fast as I could and as soon as they showed up at my doorstep that now... I don't feel like reading and actually, don't know what to read :( I mean, sure I have some books and have bought books, but do they appeal to me as much as those I was anticipating? Not really LOL... so I'm taking my time. Plus, I've been tired and sleepy lately... so when I try to read, I ended up falling asleep to my sister great dismay (cos that means she has to close my light and apparently, I'm very incoherent when half-asleep LOL).

Anyway, hopefully, I'll get my reading mojo back. I'm already making my list of pre-orders for June LOL! Meanwhile, I went out with some friends yesterday for my b-day. I usually spend the night of my birthday with my parents and sister, but my parents are on a trip... So I went out with friends. Had a lot of fun, since we went shopping. They bought me a dress... LOL. Now, it was my first time shopping with my friend Karin and it was great :) She has great taste and she chose stuff and handed them to me to go try out... see, I didn't have to think about it! So while she was looking at clothes for me, I was talking to her boyfriend, Sam... then, I'd go try out the clothes and they'd decided... I'm a casual dresser... jeans, t-shirt and sweater or hoodie over to keep my warm (it's still a bit chilly). In the summer, all my t-shirts are sleeveless! LOL :) I wear sneakers, have two pairs of relative nice/clean shoes and one pair of high heels shoes that I've bought, oh, 6-7 years ago! So yeah, at 24 years old, I think it's time for me to update my wardrobe a little bit, something a bit more mature and nicer. You know last week, for my interview for optometry school, I had to borrow clothes from my YOUNGER sister? LOL... Can't really go interview with sporty/casual clothes on... Oh well, so yeah, I had lots of fun :D They bought me a dress... that I'd never buy if I was alone... it looked funneh, but they said it looked nice. It wasn't a fancy dress, just one that you can wear every day to go out... but not a sundress. I also got a nice shirt... so now, all I need is "fancy" pants... The thing is, clothings are so expensive nowadays... especially for the quality you get.

After shopping, we went to eat to this "fancy" restaurant. You know, the fusion kind... where they offer a lot of food - pasta, meat, sandwhichs - not completely North American, but North Americanized. So yeah, the atmosphere was nice, a bit noisy, but the food wasn't great :( and the service sooo long. So it ruined a bit the evening (cos we all love to eat so much)...

Ah well, that's all for me right now :D Have a nice day!

ps - anyone has plans for the week-end?