Another Award!

STYLISH BLOGGER AWARD!

I have been awarded the Stylish Blogger Award by, not one....but two fellow bloggers! Wow! I am very humbled and excited to have received this honour from the Book Angel at Fay-Bay's Books and Lucia at iLive, iLaugh, Ilove Books. So, thank you, thank you!

Here are the rules:
1. Thank the person who gave you the award and link back to them in your post.
2. Tell us 7 things about yourself.
3. Award 15 recently discovered great bloggers.
4. Contact these bloggers and let them know they have won!

So, here are 7 things about little ol' me:

1. I am over 40 years old...just a little over 40! And I must say I like my fourties....I finally know who I am and I'm not afraid to show it!

2. After almost twenty years with my husband, I am still madly attracted to him. I find myself stealing glances at him, admiring his broad expanse of a chest, those bulging biceps....it's like those romance novels I read!

3. I am a carb-o-holic! Give me some freshly baked bread with butter smeared all over it....I am now salivating.

4. Well, I must have some wine to go with that bread!

5. I live in Canada and I absolutely HATE the cold! I was born in a hot country (Guyana, South America) so that must be why I love it hot, hot, hot and sunny!

6. I think The Rock, aka Dwayne Johnson, is magnificent!

7. I absolutely love reading. I am so glad that after many years of other stuff filling my life, I have returned to my love of books and my way of "escaping".

Now...I am passing on this award to the following great blogs out there:
1) For the love of books
2) Recklessly Reading
3) Readaholics Anonymous
4) Read Hot Reviews
5) Octopus Ink
6) Live...Love...Laugh...and Read
7) Literary R&R
8) Ivan Bookworm
9) Kelly's (Former) France Blog
10) Katie's Book Blog
11) Kate's Library
12) Fall In Love With Books
13) a GREAT read
14) Miss Remmers' Review
15) Musings of a Bookshop Girl

A Birthday Present!

It's my birthday today. As usual, I checked my blog and... low and behold....a present awaited me....the Versatile Blogger Award! YAY!

First, a BIG THANK YOU to Nikki over at Nikki's Starbucks Reviews for passing the Versatile Blogger Award on to me. She has a great blog with very unique posts. Check her out and show her some love!

So, here's the drill for all award winners:

a) Thank and link back to the person who gave you this award.
b) Share 7 things about yourself.
c) Pass the award along to 10 bloggers who you have recently discovered and who you think are fantastic.
d) Contact the bloggers you've picked and let them know about the award.

AND SO... seven things about me:

1. It's my birthday today...September 30th! (notice I didn't specify the YEAR!)
2. I think "The Rock" (Dwayne Johnson) is a hottie! I mean...that chest...those pecks...!
3. I live in Canada...it doesn't always snow in Canada and there are no polar bears in my backyard!
4. I love historical romance books about Scottish hunks in the highlands...yet I'm married to a hunky Jamaican!
5. I just want to hang at a beautiful beach with a hot book and an even hotter man!(OK, I'll take the husband!)
6. As a kid, I cut my eye in the same place twice in one day!
7. I love pizza, chicken roti, jerk chicken and a fresh french baguette with asiago dip spread all over it....MMMMMMM!

It is my pleasure to now pass this award on to:
1. Book Noise
2. ScrapArt by Pris
3. The Book Girl
4. Buried in Books
5. Snowdrop Dreams of Books
6. Book loving Mommy
7. Fresh Off the Shelf
8. A Book Geek
9. Super Librarian
10. WV Stitcher

Another Award!

I can't believe it! I have been honoured with a sweet blogging award from Shannon over at Augmented Gem. Shannon is a very talented fellow Canadian who designs some exceedingly beautiful jewellry. Her jewellry shop is on ETSY so hop on over and give her some love.

Here are the rules for accepting this award:

1 - Post who gave you this award.
2 - Name 10 things you like.
3 - Give this award to 10 other people and notify them with a comment.

Now....on with the show! The 10 things I like are:

1) Pomegranite martinis....mmmmm!
2) Talking about hunky fictional men from the books I read with girlfriend Heather! (We are trying to find her a Scottish Highlander like Jamie Fraser!)
3) Blogging....I am addicted!
4) Writing...it gives me an outlet for some of the emotions I have a hard time revealing.
5) Anything with carbs in it....nachos, bread and dip, more bread....
6) Curling up reading in bed (or in my chaise lounge) with a cup of tea on a rainy day
7) Meeting up with old friends and catching up over a glass of wine...fellow women inspire me!
8) Bling....Sparkly bling!
9) Beautiful little out-of-the-way boutiques
10) My family....3 kids and the hunky husband

Well...what do you think....any other book loving, carbaholics out there?
I will be passing this award on to ten other blogs tomorrow. Cheers!

Wow! Another Award!

Can you believe it? I have just received another award! That's two awards in two days! I want to thank BOOK NOISE for giving me the "One Lovely Blog" award. She has a great new site all about books. Please check it out. Now it is time to spread the joy to other book lovers.

Rules:

1. Accept the award. Post it on your blog with the name of the person who has granted the award and his or her blog link.

2. Pay it forward to 15 other bloggers that you have newly discovered.

3. Contact those blog owners and let them know they've been chosen.

So, this award gets passed on to the following great blogs:

1. About Happy Books
2. Augmented Gem
3. The Things we Find Inside
4. Midnight Bloom Reads
5. Must Read Faster
6. One Book Shy of a Full Shelf
7. The Bookish Snob
8. Writing, Reviews, and a Little Bit of Me
9. My Love Affair with Books
10. Book Obsessed
11. In the Hammock
12. Good Choice Reading
13. Tic Toc
14. For the Love of Books
15. Simply Ali

SHARE THE LOVE AND HAPPY READING!

My First Award!

Today was the first day back to school and of coarse, that means back to work for me. My class is wonderful, but the first day is always exhausting. However, I immediately perked up when I got home and checked my blog. I received an email from a great blogger saying that she has given me an award. MY VERY FIRST BLOG AWARD! I was so excited that I too did a happy dance!

So...you all need to check out Marie's blog "The Things We Find Inside". (Look for the link button on the right side of my blog) She is the wonderful blogger who bestowed this amazing award on to me. She has generously helped me with my blog and her site is marvelous. Tastefully done with great features! Marie.....my students would say the same thing...You Rock!

To accept the award you must link back and thank the person who gave you the Life is Good award and answer the 10 questions and pass it along to 6 other blogs :)




1. If you blog anonymously are you happy doing it that way; if you are not anonymous do you wish you had started out anonymously so you could be anonymous now? I don't blog anonymously. I don't give my last name ( to be on the safe side) and I use my childhood family nickname Mandy, which is short for my given name Amanda.

2.Describe one incident that shows your inner stubborn side. Well...I'm a Libra, so I am looking for that balance in life. I can't remember one particular incident off hand, but when it comes to my writing, I won't just put something on paper until it is exactly how I want it, even if it takes me until 3 in the morning!

3.What do you see when you really look at yourself in the mirror?
A woman trying for balance and yet still reaching for a dream.

4. What is your favorite summer cold drink?
Oh...that's an easy one....strawberry daiquiri!

5. When you take time for yourself, what do you do?
Read in the sunshine, preferably by an ocean!

6.Is there something you still want to accomplish in your life? What is it?
Well....perhaps write that romance novel. And travel with my husband all over Europe...see the world and its many people.

7. When you attended school, were you the class clown, the class overachiever , the shy person, or always ditching? I was always a very good student. I was a bit shy and found it difficult to make friends in the beginning of high school. I am much more confident and outspoken now. However, I still have that shy side to me if you plunk me in a room with strangers.

8. If you close your eyes and want to visualize a very poignant moment of your life what would you see? The birth of my first child. Unforgettable.

9. Is it easy for you to share your true self in your blog or are you more comfortable writing posts about other people or events? I believe when someone writes, they cannot help but reveal something about themselves. When I review books, I always talk about how the story made me feel, how it affected me. Ultimately, although I am talking about someone else's words, I am revealing much about my own self.

10. If you had the choice to sit down and read or talk on the phone, which would you do and why? Mmm....hard one! Sometimes, I just want to curl up and be alone with the characters in a book. Yet other times, I long to enjoy the sound of a friend's voice and laughter. I guess it depends on my mood.

Now, the award needs to be passed on to 6 people. Here are my choices:

1. Heather at Acting Balanced
2. CMash Loves To Read
3. Crazy Bookworm
4. Romance Book Junkies
5. Mad About Romance
6. Bookhounds