Myrna CG Mibus - Idyllwild

I set a goal to read more, write more and ride more in 2014. It seems that I also have also added a buy more books for my collection category to that goal because I keep buying books to add to my must read stack. Today I stopped at Monkey See, Monkey Read (an independent bookstore in Northfield, MN) and picked up a book I ordered, one I was thinking of buying and another I picked up on a whim because it was on sale. Here's a list of the new additions to my must read collection: Forward from Here : Leaving Middle Age - and Other Unexpected Adventures. This book is a memoir by Reeve Lindbergh. I really enjoyed Reeve's Under a Wing , her memoir about growing up with her famous parents, Charles Lindbergh and Anne Morrow Lindbergh. I'm especially interested in reading this book to find out how Reeve handled the news that her father had three secret families in Europe. I think Reeve writes beautifully and am looking forward to this book. Major Pettigrew's Last S...

Some rain is mixed in with our sunny weather during our spring break Staycation - but no worries!  Rainy times are certainly good times to read and the much needed moisture sure has turned our grass green! I'm happy to report that I did in fact sit still one afternoon and I finished reading a book, Blood, Bones & Butter by Gabrielle Hamilton and I've been reading a bit each day. Here's the rundown on the stack of books I'm reading right now... First here's a picture of the books that I'm reading. I like having a visual reference and you might, too. From the top: Blood, Bones & Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef,  a memoir by Gabrielle Hamilton: I started this book a week ago and finished it up on Monday afternoon. On the surface it's a book about Gabrielle and how she became the owner and chef of famous New York restaurant, Prune, but it's also a book about family and marriage. The last sentence in the book left me si...

The kids are now on spring break. While many of our friends are driving somewhere or jetting off to great vacation destinations we are having a staycation and sticking around home. We have summer-like weather here with temperatures in the 70s and couldn't possibly have nicer weather for a week spent around home. One of my goals for this staycation is to read. And by read I mean really read, like in a comfortable chair or on the couch...not in the bathroom like I usually do which, though a fine enough place to read a page or two, is not the ideal location to relax while reading a book. Though generally no one bothers you if you are reading in the bathroom... When I was a kid I spent hours sitting on the couch reading books. So did Owen. I'm glad to see that my kids are as hooked on reading as we were as kids. Both Rose and Ryan read a ton. We just got a few new books from our local bookstore,  Monkey See, Monkey Read , and from the library just to get enough reading materia...

A couple of weeks ago I discovered a macaron cookbook, Mad About Macarons! Make Macarons like the French , through a comment posted on my Macaron Madness blog. Turns out the author of the book, Jill Colonna, stumbled upon my blog and posted a comment. Jill is originally from Scotland but now lives in France and is a serious fan of macarons -  a "macaronivore," she says. And I think Jill may be my first blog comment poster from France. Cool! I decided to order Colonna's book which was recently released in the US and Canada. I called Jerry at my local book shop, Monkey See Monkey Read , to see if he could get the book for me. He said "yes" and ordered it right away. The book arrived within a week and last Thursday I picked it up. At quick glance I could see the book itself was a treat with many beautiful pictures of macarons. I couldn't wait to really delve into the book so after dinner I brewed a pot of tea in my Paris tea pot (it has a picture of the E...