So Long...

My blog has moved!

I've redecorated.

Come see. :D

Forget Walking on the Grass!

Found this sign, supposedly posted at an erotic art museum.

Isn't that hilarious?

Thursday 3: Christmas Traditions

There's a popular meme called Thursday 13 in which every Thursday you make a list of thirteen things. I did this for a few months, but I don't have time for thirteen! So, I whittled it down to Thursday 3.

Merry Christmas! I don't expect a lot of blog visitors today, but just in case, here are three of the things we do year after year.

1. I put up my Santa tree(s). I collect Santa ornaments and my collection has grown so large it won't fit on my little tree (right), so I have an auxillary tree (left) now.

Some of the ones I love best are the ones that have a pull string that make Santa's arms and legs flap up and down. The boys love the one that plays music.

2. We put up Christmas lights. Some years we do it earlier than other years. I was ecstatic the year hub and the boys did it Thanksgiving weekend. That was only one shining year.

3. My husband's family celebrates on Christmas Eve. They always open presents, one at a time, in order of age, youngest first.

No More Puff!

OMG! I love this product.

I have chronic puff under my eyes, which I camoflage with my eyeglasses. However, on a whim, I decided to try this stuff and it totally works! About half an hour after I apply it, my puffs are gone!

I think it runs for about $14, but it's worth it, I say!

Love Is: Toast

Love Is is a feature on my blog in which I offer ways to add a dash of romance to your life. Who couldn't use a little more romance? I sure could!

Toast each other when you sit down to dinner. It doesn't need to be over bubbly or wine, but even a glass of water or iced tea. Tell your honey something you love about him/her and then drink to it!

Artist: Chris Trueman

This piece is called Tsunami. It reminds me of Hokusai Katsushika's The Great Wave at Kanagawa (below). Perhaps Chris was inspired by it. I would love to built a whole room around this painting. The colors are gorgeous. Too bad I don't have a room to build around this painting. Well, the boys' room is blue, but I probably can't afford this guy's stuff anyway.

Chris says, "I began making my current body of work as way of exploring my long-standing interest in the difference between the physiological process of sight, and the psychological and cognitive aspect of perception. I am fascinated by the way that people build narratives, interpret visual spaces and extract meaning from visual information." That's an interesting point of view as an artist, and I think it's just a fancy way of saying beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

If you'd like to behold more of Trueman's work, click here.

Have a fantastic weekend!

Thursday 3: Resistance!

There's a popular meme called Thursday 13 in which every Thursday you make a list of thirteen things. I did this for a few months, but I don't have time for thirteen! So, I whittled it down to Thursday 3.

I went to the grocery store today. Here are three things I really wanted to buy, but didn't.

Kettle Potato Chips - These are the bomb. There's a honey mustard flavor that is so good I could eat the entire bag, throw up afterwards, and not care. (I hate throwing up, so that says a lot.)

Skinny Cow Ice cream Sandwiches - I like the chocolate peanut butter version, but they're all good. If I get the PB ones, no one eats them but me. That's good and bad.


California Pizza Kitchen Frozen Pizza - I didn't get this because I just don't have room in my freezer!

Is there something you've NOT gotten at the store recently?

Eppie Finalist

A Wolf at Her Door is up for an Eppie Award! I never expect to final in contests, so I was flabbergasted when I got an email from the EPIC (Electronically Published Internet Connection) people notifying me that my book was a finalist in the paranormal erotic romance category.

There were seventy-eight other paranormal erotic romances entered, which, I believe, makes it the largest category they had this year. Nine made the cut. Except for Jackie and the Beanstalk, the other paranormals are dark.

Since it's the Christmas season, I'll pimp them here:

N.J. Walters's Eternal Brothers
Paige Tyler's Animal Attraction
Cindy Spencer Pape's Curses
Eden Rivers's Nature's Pentacle
Jacqueline Meadows's Jackie and the Beanstalk
Vivien Dean's Mercy of These Bones
Jamie Craig's Mosaic Moon
Monica Burns's Dangerous

They announce the winners at their EPIC conference, this year it's in March in Las Vegas, and I think someone upstairs wants me to go because hubby's National Conference is in Vegas at the same exact time.

Earn prizes!

I have been filling out surveys for HarrisPollsOnline.com for probably about two years now and it's been terrific. Every week or so they invite you to voice your opinions about various things. I remember surveys about my grocery shopping habits, if I liked this new Ben and Jerry's packaging, what I thought about a short commercial for Six Flags. And for every survey you fill out, you get Hi Points, which you can redeem for cool stuff.

The lowest prize you can earn is a $5 Amazon gift card.

For 6000 points you can get a percussion massager, a volleyball/badmintton set, among other things.

At 7500 points, I can get a $50 gift certificate to: Ticketmaster, Sephora, Barnes & Noble.com, Fandango, Cabela's, Shoebuy, Crutchfield, Overstock.com, Dick's Sporting Goods, NASCAR, HBO, L.L.Bean, Lands' End, NFLShop.com, NHL, Nickelodeon, Omaha Steaks, Racing One, Sport Chalet, Sports Authority, Wine.com, Brookstone.

So, if you're interested, click here. (By the way, I get nothing for passing this info on to you. I just like recommending cool stuff.)

Open Letter to the Jerk Who Stole My Planner

Dear Asshole,

You found my day planner in the kiddie-seat portion of a Ralph's grocery cart last Wednesday. You neglected to turn it in to the management of the Ralph's--why? I can't imagine. There was nothing valuable in it, except, I think, five bucks in the back. Big whoopee.

But now I have to get a new planner and try to remember which appointments I had written down in the coming months. I have to hope that you don't bother anyone listed in my very scanty address list. (Have fun calling my endochrinologist and my kids' orthodontist.

Thanks for all the anxiety and frustration. It's just what I needed at this time of year.

I hope you have a crappy holiday.

Artist: Heather Jansch

Happy Art Friday! My mother alerted me to this fabulous artist who makes horses out of driftwood! She combs the beaches after high tide and storms to find her raw materials, examines what she's got, and sees how the pieces speak to her and how she can connect them into a horsey shape. She also uses fiberglass, resin, and stee to make them more durable and stable. If you ask me, she captures the natural beauty of horses so wonderfully.

You can view more of Heather Jansch's amazing work at her website.

Have a fantastic weekend!

Thursday 3: Yuck

There's a popular meme called Thursday 13 in which every Thursday you make a list of thirteen things. I did this for a few months, but I don't have time for thirteen! So, I whittled it down to Thursday 3.


Here are three things I can't stand to eat. To me, they are disgusting.


1. Bleu cheese - Why would I want to eat something that's gone moldy???
2. Cilantro - This stuff makes me gag, which makes it hard sometimes to have Mexican food.

3. Liver - EXCEPT one time I had this very excellent goose liver pate. (I won't post a picture because it looks as gross as it tastes.

What foods do you hate?

Name that Actor #1

Okay, Name that Movie was too easy. I'm going to make it harder, and hopefully more fun. Here are some characters played by one actor/actress. Who is it?

Roberta Lincoln (1968)
Inga (1974)
Sandy Lester (1982)

Two Choices #4

It's that "time of year." These days, holiday movies are so easy to watch. Back in the day, we used to have to scan the TV Guide to see when our favorites were going to air and schedule the time to be there when it did. So my question for you this week is:

Rudolph or Frosty?

A Wolf at Her Door Review

Heather at Night Owl Romance loved my book and made it a Top Pick! Yay!!!

Here's a little condensed version of her review:

Kate Willoughby’s latest release, A Wolf at Her Door, is a hilariously funny, charmingly romantic paranormal read.

This book has some of my favorite concepts when it comes to the paranormal: werewolves, fairies, wishes fulfilled, magical mishaps, love and happily ever after. Kate Willoughby writes enchanting characters with red-hot passion and emotional depth. The concept of this series fascinates me... After reading this book I really want to go back and read the first book in this series, All In, just to get more info on Paige and her friends.

This book is definitely a keeper and I recommend it wholeheartedly.

For the whole review, click here.

Artist: CJ Randall

Welcome to another Art Friday at my blog. This is Embrace by CJ Randall. Isn't this just beautiful? It sort of visually embodies what I hope I can get down on paper. This guy is a very talented watercolorist. You can commission him to paint a fantasy portrait from a photo. Check it out. I think the ones of the children are adorable. Have a terrific weekend.

Thursday 3: Birthday Presents

It was my birthday last month. Here are three things I got.

1. An electric blanket. I just went and turned on the preheat feature so when I go to bed, it'll be all warm and toasty.

2. A table liner for my new dining room table so that when someone spills on the tablecloth, like they did at Thanksgiving, we don't have to completely strip the table of everything to clean up the spill (even between the leaves.) We can rest assured that the liner is waterproof.

3. Dreamweaver. I have been wanting to be able to update my website without bothering my website designer. I found out students can buy the program for about 50% off, so I had my son "buy" it. :) Now I just have to learn how to use it. :)

Two Choices #3

We recently pigged out at our favorite sushi restaurant, Love Sushi. I ate so much, my stomach hurt. I don't eat the raw stuff, but they have a shrimp tempura roll that's delish!

However, I am Chinese and love Chinese food. Our favorite local place for Chinese is the Mandarin Wong. They have fantastic chow fun. Their walnut shrimp isn't too bad either.

So what's your choice? Chinese or Japanese?

Pen #7: Look! Up in the Sky!

This is the latest in a series of posts about pens. I'm a pen freak. I can't afford most of the pens I'll be blogging about, but a girl can dream, can't she?

My son mentioned to me that there was some cool celestial happening going on and I saw it last night. Here's some info about it from the Griffith Observatory. They're a little confused on their dates, so I'm not sure if they mean Monday, last night, or Dec. 3, Wednesday.

This week brings the climax to the pairing of the brightest planets, Venus and Jupiter, in the evening sky. This spectacle is best seen at about 6:00 p.m., when the two planets are about 17 degrees above the southwest horizon. Jupiter is nearly 5 degrees to the upper left of brighter Venus on Wednesday night, the 26th. They continue to draw closer until they reach conjunction, their closest approach to each other, on Sunday night, November 30. The planets are then separated by just over two degrees. The grouping is made even more spectacular by the presence of the slender crescent moon, just 7 degrees below the planets. This trio will be at their most attractive on the next night, Monday, December 3, with Jupiter 2.2 degrees to the right of Venus, and the moon only 4 degrees to the upper right of the pair. On following nights, Jupiter will appear farther from Venus, moving down and to the right. The planets set at about 7:40 p.m.

So, in honor of this, I present the Galileo pen.

The hand painted midnight navy cap radiates color from cosmic orange to celestial gold. Atop the cap lies a sterling silver three-dimensional portrait of Galileo gazing towards the heavens. The clip modeled after parts of his telescope, directs the eye towards "Galileo", which is emblazoned into the band at the bottom of the cap. A unique, hand painted, mother of pearl barrel marries images of celestial constellations along with an artistic interpretation of their symbolism. The dark night sky provides exceptional contrast for these luminescent figures.

This pen is only $4750.00. They only made 388 of them, so what are you waiting for?

Bracelet Winner!

Heather is the lucky winner of the dragon Italian charm bracelet! Email me your address, Heather, and I'll send you the bracelet lickety-split. :)

How to Hypnotize a Man

So, I saw this on my friend Gaucho's blog. I'm sure this is intended for men, but I found myself playing with it for a few minutes.

The winner of the dragon charm bracelet will be announced later today (after I get off work.)