Happy New Year!!

Happy New Year!!

May 2017 be awesome!

Full of great moments and good books :)

Yep, it's me... I'm alive LOL. How have you all been?

I haven't written anything since August and was resigned for this to be the end of my blog. I really thought that was it. I've kind of disconnected - still reading, but no longer blogging, thinking of blogging or blog-hopping. To tell you the truth, I haven't missed it that much ^_^; Life is just so busy - sometimes with fun stuff, but most of the time, with routine. Then, I was off during the holidays, had a bit of spare time and decided to check out everyone's recaps for 2016... and here I am again LOL. There's just something about reading everyone's recaps, best of lists and anticipated books for 2017 posts that stirs up my blogging muse and make me want to post. So that's what I'm going to do :)

I think in the past few years, I've forgotten that reading and blogging were for fun. I put a lot of pressure onto myself to read more and review. I also cared a lot about comments and numbers. I'm not saying that it's all going to change, that this is a new beginning... because I've said it all before. Obviously, I hope that some people are still/will read my blog :) However, I know my days of blogging 3-4x/week are gone... and that the posts will most probably be quite infrequent. So new attitude needed. No goals, no promises... let's just go with the flow :)

Let 2017 be a good year in every aspect :)

Friday Girls' Night - Hotpot!

I've been meaning to blog for the past two days - don't want to lose the 30 Days Blogging Challenge blogging mojo, but it's just been so hectic! I knew going into the 30 Days Blogging Challenge that if I completed it, there'd be another big challenge awaiting me: maintaining my blogging through the month of June. June this year is ultra busy for me!! Mainly because my cousin is getting married on June 18, so there's a lot of things to get ready for. Family get-togethers, dinners, the wedding! I'm going to try my best to continue blogging regularly this month, but if you don't hear from me, you know why!

Tonight, I had an impromptu girls' night at home. My friend E had gum graft at the beginning of May and therefore has missed all the gatherings. Earlier this week, she had the stitches removed, so I jumped on the occasion to have dinner with her. However, she still needs to be careful and is preferable for the food to be soft. So I was wondering what to go eat... and thought hotpot would be a great option. So that's what we had!! And I finally got the portions right!

The upper right picture is friend E enjoying hotpot :) The bottom two is us before and after eating... Food coma!! LOL.

My sister's been doing a DIY project: coasters. This will be her little, personal gift for all the weddings she's attending this year :) First up is my cousin. Basically, she printed pictures and stuck them to tiles she bought. Here she is, applying resin to them so it'll protect the pictures like a varnish.

 

So far, the coasters look great! We're waiting for them to dry to see the final result. After, only one more step: stick felt under them... and voila!

That's it for me tonight! Hoping to do the New Releases post for June this week-end :)

Aspiring Green Thumb - not me!

I had planned to write a review today (no idea for which book though); however, I spent the day running around and am quite exhausted ^_^;  Instead, here is what I did today :)

First, for some reasons, I woke up insanely early ^_^; The worst is that I wasn't the only one as one of my chatrooms started to buzz with messages LOL. At least, I got to spend some time with my parents before we all went about our businesses.

I don't know if it's a new trend or craze, but in the past couple of years, I feel gardening has become really popular again. Or perhaps I have this feeling because more people around me are gardening and really enjoying it. First Ames, then V and XH and now my sister. Two years ago, my sister bought a basil plant... didn't survive really long LOL. Last year, she still bought basil and added a few other herbs... had more success with it. This year, she decided to start early and as a result, we went bright and early this morning to a seedling sale. She had told V about the seedling sale and it so happened we arrived at the same time. So I got to spend some time with V and my sister this morning :) We also went to Home Depot because they had a sale.

Let see, Emilie got lots of basil (one of the booths was giving it away free!) as well as thai basil, thyme, lavender, black prince tomatoes, golden zucchini, bell peppers, hot peppers and cucumber plants. We'll see how everything grows and if we're going to be able to harvest anything LOL. 

After parting ways with V, we went home to unload our loot and grab a bite to it. Then, went to pick up EmK to go shopping some more :) EmK was looking for shoes and now that I have a dress for the wedding, I kind of need some shoes to go with it. Sigh, it never stops LOL! Emilie finally got into the mood of trying dresses...

I thought it was nice, but she ended up not getting it. After dropping EmK at her place, we went home again. Ended the day with a work-out and sushi :)

How was your day? I had a good time today, but I'm kind of glad we still have Sunday to rest LOL.

The reason why...

The real reason why I'm not blogging as much as I used to is not curling. Yes, curling takes a lot of my time... but I'm pretty sure I could manage reading, blogging and curling. No, the real reason why I don't blog as much as I used to is... Candy Crush. I've mentioned it in the past, but seriously, this is an addiction I can't seem to kick.

Candy Crush, Candy Crush Soda and Farm Heroes... I can spend mindless hours rotating these three games and play. I used to spend my free time at work writing posts... now, I play ^_^;

One of the reasons why I can't seem to stop is because I'm competitive. Look where I'm at!!

Yep, level 1711! At this point though, I'm not sure if I should be proud or sad... but I'm thinking the latter ^_^;

What about you? Any game addiction?

Between, if anyone has suggestions for a 12-steps program, feel free LOL

Curling season 2015-2016

The 2015-2016 curling season is officially over! Technically, my last thrown rock was two weeks ago...  but there was still curling on TV. Now, it's really the end till next September. Sigh.

It's really hard for me to believe that this was my fourth curling season. I feel like I've just started curling yesterday!! Then again, I can't imagine my life without curling now LOL. Yes, it's time-consuming... but the friendships I've made and the fun I've had make it worth it :)

Lots of highlights this season... so I'll try to name a few :)

 1) No injury this year! Woohoo! LOL. This was my first curling season where nothing happened... No concussion, no appendicitis, no shoulder injury. I did spend the whole month of November knocking on wood LOL.

2) My sister joined! After 2 years of being constantly asked when she was going to play/join by all the other members... she finally jumped in and started curling. It was nice for her, because she knew everyone from hanging out at the club so much. This past season, she only played on Friday... but I think she'll play two nights next season :)

3) Supper club. A lot of us have a tendency to buy fast food for supper before a game, simply because it's convenient. Especially when you don't go home because lack of time or it's just out of the way. This year, I happened to curl the same night as D and he likes to cook... and being Asian, he tends to cook wayyyy too much and start feeding everyone. So this year, a few of us band together and started having supper together on Monday and Thursday. We each took turns to cook... or in my case, beg my sister to cook LOL. One of us "crock-potted" it the whole year LOL. Seriously though, it's been a lot of fun and way tastier. I think next year, we'll have a few more joining us in our supper club :)

4) The Briers. The Briers is the Canadian Men's Curling Championship and this year, it took place in Ottawa which is only 2 hours away from me. Ever since curling has become an Olympic Game discipline, the level of curling has been rising everywhere and so in international competitions, Canada is no longer guaranteed to medal... Still, the Briers probably exhibit the best competitive level of curling every year... because many countries only have one great team that represents them... while in Canada, there are soooo many teams that could do it. To win the Briers is probably harder than to win the world championship! Anyway, since the Briers were so close, my sister, curling best friend Jen and I went to watch it live... and it was sooooo great! We made a little trip out of it, staying overnight and went to four draws (3+ hours each). On each draw, there's 4 games going on at the same time. We had great seats and it was just awesome to watch such high level curling live, to hear the players discuss and joke, and so on. Even got a picture with my favorite team, Team Gushue... I thought this year's Briers was great... The only thing that would have made it better is if Team Gushue had won it all instead of being runner-up. Sigh. In December 2017, the curling Olympics trial will take place in Ottawa and so, we're already making plans to go and watch :)

5. Speaking of favorite teams... Team Gushue had an amazing season and so, it was fun to root for them :) I also fell in love with the Japanese women team, Team Fujisawa. They won silver at the world championship and were just so much fun to watch :) Definitively will be rooting for them from now on.

6. I'm very happy with how I played this year. On my league teams, I play lead and I've become quite consistent at it. It's just great when you make your shots LOL. Our open ladder team did really well this year, going from section D to C! The beginning of the season was a bit frustrating... made me and Jen even consider changing team next year... But then, Jen switched position (from 2nd to 3rd) and we started winning more! As a result, we're sticking together next year :) On my mixed ladder team, there were ups and downs as well... but in the end, we're staying in the A section, so we ended on an up :P We'll also be sticking together next year. On TGIF nights, I play 3rd and even skipped a few games. I have to say, it's fun to play other positions... the last tournament of the year, I actually skipped the team and we had a blast.

7. Volunteer of the year! Yep, that was me this year! woohoo :)

Last but not least, the people at the club. Pretty much what the romance community in blogland brought to me, I found at my curling club. I'm so happy I joined this one. Every event is so much fun, so much laughing! I've been very blessed... first with the romance blogland and now, with curling :)

30 Day Blog Challenge

Pffff, pffff.

That's the sound of me blowing away the cobwebs on my blog ^_^; Obviously, my resolution to figure a balance between curling and blogging didn't work out as I wished. Although I have to say this year, curling was really all-consuming... but more on that later :)

The bright side is I've been reading, especially now that the curling season is over... and I've been debating for a few weeks whether to give the blog another go. I really dislike dropping off the side of the earth and then, making a comeback. Just how many comebacks can one make? This time around, I really considered calling it quits... but this blog and the community were such a huge part of my life once upon a time, that I'm not ready to turn my back completely yet. So let's try one more time!

So I was talking with Ames earlier this week and she wishes to blog more consistently as well. She's come up with a challenge for herself: 30 Day Blog Challenge. So I'm going to jump in with her. I think perhaps a way to have me blog more consistently, even throughout the curling season, is perhaps changing the direction of this blog. I've never been shy to blog about my life, but I always tried to keep it very book-related... but perhaps do half-half now? Anyway, I guess I'll figure it out! Especially if I'm to blog everyday now :)

So here we go for the next 30 days! Well technically, 31 days in May! And I'll up the ante and try to throw in a review and another book-related post a week :)

Happy New Year 2016!!

Happy New Year!!

May 2016 bring you good health, prosperity 

and 

many, many good books!

So... it's been a while everyone! I thought I'd start 2016 on the right foot by popping up with a post and catch with everyone :) At least, let you all know that I'm alive and doing okay :)

I don't really have any excuses for the long radio silence except for the usual - real life has been busy. Most of the time, it's been a good sort of busy - curling, guests, friends and reading. Also, the past few months, I've added TV to the mix and well, you know ^_^;

For the moment, I can't promise that 2016 will be better blogging-wise. I really wish so and honestly, it shouldn't be very hard as I've had a paltry 16 posts in 2015 ^_^; However, I already know that 2016 will be extremely busy - 3 weddings that all involve traveling as well as the curling season still being in full swing for the next 4 months and 2 week-end trips in the near future... but really, the biggest problem is my reviewing muse still missing :( But I want to try!! If not book reviews, I'll at least try to post something book-related... or not :) One thing I know for certain is that this blog is not going anywhere. I'm not taking it down any time soon...

One thing that I think will help my blogging is spending less time playing Candy Crush and Farm Heroes. Actually, that should help every aspect of my life because those games are so time-consuming!! ^_^; So that one of my resolutions this year... along with, trying to take it easy and stress less. I don't know what's been happening to me in the past few years, but I feel like I've been making a mountain out of molehill for almost everything... which means more running around, more stress... and I don't need that. Will see how that goes :)

So this is it for now. Unfortunately, there'll probably be no numbers post for 2015... First because I didn't keep my spreadsheet up-to-date ^_^; and also because all the books I brought back from RWA kind of screw up the numbers a little :P But I'll see what I can come up with to make it up :)

What about you? How were your holidays? Any resolutions for 2016?

Oupsie!

Hi everyone!

how are you doing? Hope everyone's good! Things have been a bit hectic on my end this week. Everything just seems to be happening one after another. Ugh. I thought I had found my blogging rhythm... but seems I was wrong. Or it was so fragile it didn't take much to disrupt it :(

Although, to be fair, I can't blame it all on this week's events. A lot of it has to do with reading. I've been on a roll these past few weeks. I read 23 books in August!! I can't remember when's the last time I read 20+ books in a month... and so, as you can imagine, between reading and blogging, I chose reading LOL.

There are a few reviews I want to write! Plus, tomorrow is the RARE 2015 event... so I'll definitively have things to blog about. However, next week seems to be quite busy as well. Then again, my reading has slowed a bit and I've been roped in to do a pictures slideshow for the department research day 25th anniversary... Yeah, sounds fun right? I've been procrastinating on that (due next Wednesday with a pathetic number of pictures) and so, that might nudged be towards blogging :) After all, I'm writing this post, no? :)

Hopefully, more will come soon! In the meantime, have an excellent week-end!

Catching up, annual BBQ and another signing event!

Alas, no review yet... but it's coming!! Soon hopefully LOL. There's just so many books I feel I should review, so choosing one is hard. Then, writing the actual review... but I figure once I've written one, it'll be like getting back on a bike, right? Right?!

Anyway, this is just another rambling post. What can I say, I like to share my life with you guys :P Although, there is some books stuff coming up later!!

First, Ames is back! Yep, she has a new blog! I was going to mention it in my last post, but forgot ^_^;; Bad, bad me... So click here to find her new digs (my sidebar link list has been updated). If you've missed her, make sure to let her know! Plus, she's written her own recap of our NYC trip, so you get to see it from a different POV! Almost like a romance novel :P

Otherwise, I've been busy settling back into a routine... which hasn't been easy for multiple reasons. I started work last Tuesday - Monday being a holiday. I was lucky, because both my boss and supervisor were on vacation, so I came back to a quiet environment... Except that I had stayed up till 1am to read Magic Shifts by Ilona Andrews. Not my smartest decision ever... Let just say I was a little tired and really didn't want to be at work.

Then, early last week, two events got my adrenaline pumping. The first one was finding out there was a book signing event happening in Montreal!! Seriously, how did I not hear about it earlier? Have I been living under a rock?! Oh wait, I probably wasn't on the right social media. Ugh. Anyway, what matter is that I did not miss it - phew. So here are the details. The event is called "Romance Author & Reader Event" aka RARE and this year, it's taking place in Montreal on September 12!! It's organized by Amy Jennings, Adriane Leigh and Teri Maxwell. Honestly, I have no idea what, how and why... All I know is that Sarina Bowen is going and so, I must be there as well!! LOL. I've become a die-hard fan of Ms Bowen last year. While Ames and I never got around to post our Best and Favorite of 2014 recap, we did discuss it and Ms Bowen was my choice for best new-to-me author and best author for 2014. Heck, I had Ms Bowen for favorite NA book, m/m book, new-to-me series as well as two other categories. And my fangirl level has only gone up after reading Him by Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy which was only a few days before finding out about this signing. Talk about timing!! So there you go, I'm going to RARE 2015! There's actually going to be quite a few authors:

Unfortunately, I have not read many of them ^_^; Besides Ms Bowen, I have read one book by Christina Lauren, Daisy Prescott and Jennifer Probst. I know Emma Chase has a new release coming out at the end of the month and that one, I was planning to give it a try :) Laura Kaye is an author Leslie has recommended to me on many occasions, so now would be a good time to listen to her. And I've been curious about Tiffany Snow. Any other authors you strongly recommend, that I should absolutely read before the signing? Let me know!! Because seriously, there are many authors and I know I won't have time to read everyone! I've also decided to volunteer for the event. I think it'll be interesting to live it from the other side, especially since I'm local :P So far, I've had a lot of fun hanging out on the FB page LOL.

Also in September is a get-together with my American second-cousins. The one hosting is the one who got married a couple of years ago. Ever since her wedding, the six of us have kind of reconnected and so, we decided to get together :) She lives near Baltimore... and my sister and I debated driving or flying. In the end, because it'll be so short, we chose flying to save time. So it was finding a cheap flight with the right hours for the right price. Since 4 of us are flying in, we wanted to coordinate time and airport. So that was stressful and exciting all the same. And with me, planning a trip to the States and a book signing, it feels like I'm going on vacation all over again LOL.

Finally, this past Saturday, I once again hosted our annual BBQ. It was very laid-back this year... but it still got me stressed. No matter how many times we're having it, the fear of not having enough food is always there. Also, what should I buy, what should I not buy... and so on ^_^; And of course, we ended up having too much food as usual. I'm on my third day of eating BBQ leftovers and seriously, I cannot do it anymore!! LOL.

So that's what I've been up to :) What about you?

RWA 2015 and NYC trip!

Hello everyone!

Yep, I'm alive! I survived RWA 2015 and my NYC trip! We drove back home on Monday and I've been settling back slowly into a routine :P I'm not going to do a day-by-day recap because that'd be too long for you and me... but I wanted to share some thoughts and pictures of the whole experience :P

RWA 2011 was such a great experience for me, that I knew I'd do it again. I chose this year, because it was once again held in NYC. Being able to drive to the conference is a definite plus because I get to save on airfare and can also bring back all the books I want :) Plus, I get to visit fellow bloggers Hilcia, Christine and Mariana :) Accompanying me this time around was my sister Emilie, my friend V and Ames. My sister and V have visited NYC many times, but always like to come back. As for Ames, NYC has always been a place she wanted to see... Plus, being there at the same time as some favorite authors and fellow bloggers, it was perfect timing.

As usual, we managed to squeeze in some outlet shopping... but the real focus of the trip was NYC and RWA 2015. One of the most memorable moments of the trip was the Jimmy Fallon Tonight Show taping. My sister is a big fan of Jimmy Fallon and we've been trying to go for years... but it never worked out. This time though, the stars aligned and not only was Jimmy Fallon taping while we were in town, but I managed to snag some tickets!! Wooohooo!!! There's a whole process to get tickets and even then, it's hard ^_^; We went to the taping with Ames and Rosie. I was a bit disappointed that we were in the last row, although we still had a good view. However, in the end, we were able to high-five Jimmy Fallon, so I guess those were actually good seats LOL. And bonus, not only we got to see the taping with guest stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Josh Gad and James Bay, but at the end, they also taped scenes for a movie - Conner4Real - with Andy Samberg! So we got to see that as well :P If we're lucky, we will be in it!!

Last time I was attending RWA in NYC, I didn't really get to sightsee ^_^; The days during the conference start really early, even more so now that the keynote speakers are scheduled at breakfast instead of lunch. If you go to every publisher signings, it leaves you very little time to actually attend to workshops and panels... and then, you want to hang out with your friends. This time, I was hoping to do a bit more... So I managed to go to the High Line Park with my crew as well as Rosie and L.B. Gregg. Also managed to go to the Empire State building and do a night tour bus. Not bad, no?

 We also managed to go to a Broadway show: Finding Neverland. I'm not a fan of Peter Pan, but I actually really enjoyed this one. The stage was awesome and some of the scenes were just breathtaking. My only complaint though was the volume... I had difficulty catching every word during a song because the music seems to be too loud. Still, great show in my opinion.

So this was NYC for me. Ames, V and Emilie actually saw a lot more :P It's funny because Emilie and I are used to being on the go during trips. I guess we're also fast walkers. Ames and V were troopers!! But after a couple of intense sightseeing days, I think Emilie has broken Ames' feet :P

***

What about RWA? Overall, my experience was positive :) However, I do have some mixed feelings about it. I'll try to expand on those later...

For now, let's start with the Literacy Signing. It was crazy! LOL, but super well organized! There were close to 500 authors present for the Literacy signing, so you can imagine... I love how they did the queue this year. The Literacy Signing was on the 5th floor ballroom and we were directed to the 6th floor ballroom for the line-up. There were actual chairs so instead of standing, we could sit! That was really brilliant! We were also divided into section: A, B, C, etc. And when the signing started, they called one section at a time to make their way down the 5th floor ballroom. Everything was smooth and prompt. So, really big kudos to the organizers for thinking this up. I think each section was made up of approximately 100 persons and I know they started to fill section F. So 600+ people going to the signing to meet authors... Wowzer! I think this year, the Literacy Signing raised about 48000$ for charity, so that was awesome :)

Lining up for Literacy Signing

The Literacy Signing!

I managed to make it to all three breakfasts :) This year, the keynote speakers were Barbara Freethy, Julia Quinn and Nalini Singh. All three speeches were interesting... although I think Ms Freethy was the most enlightening. She talked about how she had to re-invent herself many times because of romance trends and why she decided to self-publish. Really interesting. Ms Quinn talked about how authors cannot please every reader and Ms Singh, about her first RWA experience and friendships in the industry.

The most disappointing thing for me this time around is I wasn't able to make it to many workshops/panels... mainly because I chose to go to the publishers signings. They were 12 publisher signings and for most of them, two were held at the same time... so technically, 7 seances. I was able to make it to a few, but I wished I could have gone to more.

Laura Griffin & Brenda Novak on RS

Robyn Carr chat and Sharon Sala chat

Alas, I missed the RITAs. It was a tough decision, but I elected to spend time with Ames and V and did the night bus tour. I was seriously tired anyway and so many of the books nominated, I haven't read.

So, RWA... Honestly, I feel I didn't enjoy RWA this time around as much as I did in 2011. However, I don't think it's the conference itself, but more me. RWA 2011 was a new experience and so it was awesome. This time not being my first rodeo, well, it changed things. Also, the circumstances are different. I'm still reading a lot of romance books, but am not as involved in my blog, am less plugged in the blogosphere. I went to RT and RWA and I prefer the atmosphere at RWA better because it's quieter, less chaotic because it is a professional conference. It's meant to be for people in the industry, but at the end of the day, I'm not part of the industry. I don't feel comfortable to run up to one of my favorite authors and gush to them in the lobby, elevator or hall. I think it'd be easier to do so if I was at RT where there's a lot of fans, but at RWA? Also, I'm a small blog and I like to stay away from all the drama and kerfuffles. I like having a little distance between me and authors... I write on my blog how much I love them and their books, but I seldom send mail... Most of them, I don't follow on FB or Twitter. As a result, I don't have much of a relationship or connection with authors and I think it makes it hard when I'm at RWA because nobody knows who I am. Don't get me wrong, everyone is very nice... but you can't help but wonder if you belong.

For now, I'm thinking I'd like to attend one more RWA that is not held in NYC... because the attendance is just sooo high in NYC. I'd like to see if it's different when it's being held elsewhere :P I'd also like to do another RT... and then, I think I'd be good :) Because there are just so many times you can meet your favorite authors before these meetings are no longer special... Speaking of meeting authors, I was so happy to get to see  Nora Roberts and Laura Florand!! Definitively one of my highlights of RWA 2015.

And of course, it's always nice to reconnect with friends :)