76 Trombones

Five Musicals on Friday

A couple (maybe a few) weeks ago I did a post about five books on Friday. Since then I have read and loved two of the five books. I want to read the other three and will. Today I thought it would be fun to write about musicals. This is most likely due to the fact that my daughter is in her school musical and therefore they are on my mind.

Do you like musicals? I LOVE them and have since I was a small child. I used to watch musicals with my grandma. She loved Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire and others who had talent like theirs. She loved Julie Andrews and Doris Day so I did, too. Now that I'm an adult I love musicals because I think the singing, dancing and costumes are fantastic. My kids have a love for musicals, too. Now that one of my children has had a taste of being a part of a musical I expect they will become a bigger part of our family life for a while. In fact, there is a summer production put on at a local community theater every year. My kids are already talking about taking part in it this year.

I would love to know if you like musicals. If so, what are some of your favorites?

I LOVE:

1. Mary Poppins - I adore Julie Andrews! Mary Poppins has been a special part of my life as long as I can remember. As I said, I used to watch musicals with my grandma. She introduced me to Mary Poppins and I introduced my kids.

2. White Christmas - I know it's technically a Christmas movie but it is still one of my all-time favorite musicals. I especially love the dance scenes in this one.

3. Grease - I've seen this on Broadway. I really enjoyed it on Broadway but of course, my favorite version of this is the movie with Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta. In fact, the soundtrack to the movie was the first album I owned as a child. My mom and dad got it for me one year for my birthday. I still have it and my kids listen to it over and over again.

4. The Sound of Music - Julie Andrews again. However, I love everything about this story and it is done so well.

5. Singin' in the Rain - Here's another one that makes me think fabulous! This is also another that I remember watching with my grandma. She liked Gene Kelly.

I could easily go on and on with this list but I will stop with five. Please feel free to share your favorites.

Teaser Tuesday's: Serendipity by Lisa Clark O'Neill

Teaser Tuesday's is hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading. To play along, just do the following:

- Grab your current read

- Open to a random page

- Share two “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

- BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

- Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR list if they like your teaser.

My teaser this week is from Nook page 52 of Serendipity by Lisa Clark O'Neill:

"I just wanted to be sure all that bran and oatmeal mom's been feeding you hadn't muddled your brain." He jerked his chin toward the pantry. "I hid the Thin Mints in the bottom of the box of Wheaties."

Bliss

Have you ever read or heard something that you felt was somehow written just for you to help you through something? I just read a post on another blog about writing that spoke to me on so many levels. Of course I know that post wasn’t actually written for me but still I felt like the author was in my head, reading my thoughts and giving me her opinion. It was a tiny bit creepy but cool at the same time.

I mentioned about ten days ago that I am going to my first writer’s conference at the end of March. At the conference I am supposed to have the opportunity to pitch my writing. The thing that hasn’t been clear to me as of yet is whether I can pitch more than one book. I’m hoping to find out really soon because this is an important detail to me. The reason being, I have two books that I feel are really strong contenders at this time. They still need a little bit of polishing and I am currently working on that. If I can pitch both of them then no problem. Well, there is the detail about needing to have them both as perfect as possible and ready to go but that definitely is not a bad thing. What I have been in my head about – and mentally driving myself a bit crazy as I go back and forth and back again – is which manuscript do I take along if I can only pitch one story? The thing is I love both of them. I mean I seriously LOVE both of them and am really amazed that both of these books came from me. I followed my heart and I went with my personal bliss in writing these books. So if I can only take one I have a feeling I’m going to feel bad about not taking the other. It’s kind of silly, I know, but it’s still true.

One book, and the one I wrote first, is set in a small town and has a lot of the quirks and somewhat eccentric characters you might expect in such a story. This is the book that kick started my series. I’ve written before about never intending to write a serial but this first book had secondary characters who wanted their own stories and I felt the need to write them. I am nearly done with the revision process of this book and still adore these characters as much as I did when I first wrote them. I may even like this book more now.

The second book I really want to take along to the conference with me is a story about a married couple and their family. I love romance stories. I must since that is mainly what I write. However, I often find myself wanting more once the couple has figured out they do indeed want a lifetime together. I want to know what happens after the ‘happily ever after’. I know for a fact that this is part of why I love J.D. Robb’s In Death series so much. I get to read a little bit about Eve and Roarke’s ‘ever after’ with each installment in the series. Anyway, my book is about a couple who have been married for some time but they’ve drifted apart a bit and there are some problems that need addressing but neither wants to bring them up. They know they need to in order to stay strong but how do they do that? I’m incredibly proud of this book, too.

I follow my bliss every day when I write. I followed my bliss with these two books by writing what I would like to read. I’m proud of these stories and would like to share them with others that would like them, as well. Hopefully I can take both books with me to the conference. I’ll let you know how this turns out.

Teaser Tuesday: Obsession in Death by J.D. Robb (2)

Teaser Tuesday's is hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading. To play along, just do the following:

- Grab your current read

- Open to a random page

- Share two “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

- BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

- Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR list if they like your teaser.

My teaser this week is from page 132 of J.D. Robb's Obsession in Death:

"Never got a look at his face," Eve stated flatly.

"Nope. Goggles, hood, mask. And when she peeked out, talked to him, he turned away."

A sweet day

I hope you've all had a great day with those closest to your hearts.

Almost Wordless Wednesday: Heart Coasters

Heart coasters. A perfect last-minute gift for a Valentine. Find them

in my new Etsy shop - Craft the Halls

Teaser Tuesday's: Obsession in Death by J.D. Robb

Teaser Tuesday's is hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading. To play along, just do the following:

- Grab your current read

- Open to a random page

- Share two “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

- BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

- Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR list if they like your teaser.

My teaser this week is from Nook page 71 of J.D. Robb's Obsession in Death:

"You're my cop. You're standing for her, that's your job. But I stand for you, and you're the target here."

Writer's Conference

I have wanted to go to a writer’s conference for quite some time. However, the conferences that I have been interested in have been too far away or at the wrong time for us financially. Today I was looking up information for the annual Romance Writers of America conference. It always takes place the last weekend in July. This year it is happening in New York City. I would LOVE to go this year but it just is not possible. However, I am definitely going in 2016. For one thing, I have almost a year-and-a-half to plan. Also, it’s happening in San Diego which is much closer to home and therefore makes it doable from a financial prospect.

While I was perusing the RWA site I clicked on information about local chapters (more on this to come in a later post). While on the local website I found information on another writer’s conference that is happening right near home at the end of March. The more I read about the conference the more I wanted to go. Then, I swear, everything just seemed to line up. So, I’m going to my first writer’s conference at the end of March and I am incredibly excited! I’m nervous, too.

There will be agents and editors at this conference. There will also be workshops galore. I’ll have the opportunity to pitch my manuscripts and possibly even have some critiqued. As I said, I am nervous but so, so excited. I will definitely be sharing more about this as I learn more details. Of course after the conference I’m certain I’ll have even more to share. I have a lot to polish up in order to be prepared for this conference but I’m going to do it. I have nearly seven weeks to get all my ducks in a row but I’m confident I can make the best use of my time.

Have you ever been to a writer’s conference? Do you have any tips or advice to share about attending? I’d love to hear about it!

Etsy

So, I opened an Etsy shop. It's an exciting thing for me to see that sentence. I've been talking for a while about doing this but for one reason and another and another I hadn't gotten around to doing it. I decided that this would be my year on following through, though. That's not to say I'm flaky (quite the opposite, in fact) it is just time for me to make things happen - if you know what I mean.

I started the process of opening my shop on Tuesday, Feb. 2nd and officially opened it on Thursday, Feb. 4th. Right now my shop has several crocheted items up for sale. I will be adding more. Also, at some point, my husband and daughters want to put up some of their art and handmade items, as well. So it is really a family shop and that makes it all the more special to me. I'm running it but it is a family business that is incredibly fun at the same time.

One of my best friends gave me a book all about successfully running a business based on handmade goods. I read it when she gave it to me for my birthday a couple of years ago. I'm going to pull it out and go through it once again, though.

The name of my Etsy shop is Craft the Halls. I'd love it if you stopped in. THank you and have a great weekend!

What's for Dinner

Today I will carry on with the National Blog Posting Month’s theme of Make. Today’s prompt is:

What is your favorite thing to make for dinner?

The quick answer to this question is pasta. My kids and I LOVE pasta dishes while my husband likes them but they aren’t as much his thing as they are ours. That being said, I will admit that I am super thankful for the fact that my husband does most of our cooking. He LOVES to cook and is really, really good at it. Me, not so much. This is probably part of the reason I love to make pasta dishes. You can get a lot of flavor and variety out of some noodles, sauce, cheese, meat and vegetables all cooked together.

I am also a huge fan of my Crock pot. I’ve even made lasagna in my slow cooker. It was delicious! My kids have asked for it to be made that way again. And my husband, who made a face about it at first, loved it, too. And my favorite meal to make in the Crock pot so far corned beef and cabbage. This is my husband’s favorite meal and he actually loves it done up in the slow cooker.

Now I’m feeling like I want to make something in the slow cooker this week.

Teaser Tuesday's: The Secrets of Sir Richard Kenworthy

Teaser Tuesday's is hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading. To play along, just do the following:

- Grab your current read

- Open to a random page

- Share two “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

- BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

- Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR list if they like your teaser.

My teaser this week is from Nook page 13 of Julia Quinn's The Secrets of Sir Richard Kenworthy:

What a rude boor. And an idiot. Did he really think he could irritate her more than her own sister?

DIY or DIFM

Today's writing prompt from NaBloPoMo is:

Are you a DIY or a DIFM (do-it-for-me) person?

I am most definitely a DIY person! If there is a way for me to handle and do something on my own then I want to know what it is. I think that is a part of the reason I began crocheting in the first place but more on that in another post. I have to admit that I'm not necessarily good at all of the Do-it-yourself projects, though. If an instance like that were to come up (let's say something like plumbing) then I am more than happy to hand that job off to someone more qualified than me. So I guess I'm actually a good mix of a DIY and DIFM person.

Here is a tease for a project that is absolutely a DIY project for me:

I will post about the finished project - hopefully later this month.

Make

The theme for BlogHer’s National Blog Posting Month for February is Make. This is so completely up my alley as I am ALWAYS making something. The idea behind NaBloPoMo is to create and actually submit a blog post every day of the month. They offer prompts Monday through Friday and the weekends are for free writing. Of course, you don’t even have to use any of the prompts – they are just there as a guideline if needed.

It’s a lot of fun to participate in NaBloPoMo. I like the challenge of creating a post everyday but I also like exploring other blogs. I hope to learn something new from other bloggers this month. I’m up for getting better at something as a result of some blog posts, too. For example, I really wish I was better at sewing. So hopefully I’ll come across some stuff that will click with me and get me to using the sewing machine that is currently collecting dust in my dining room.

My blog will still have posts about reading and writing and crochet, of course. And fortunately the writing and the crocheting fall under the category heading of Make. So come on, join in and share your expertise on things that you make. You have until February fifth to officially sign up for the month. You can go here to do so. Have a great February everyone!