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Yesterday,  Amazon made Savvy Summer Entertaining available for free.

I got pretty excited when it started climbing up the charts yesterday afternoon.

This morning, I am number 98 in the top 100 bestseller list on Amazon! Can you hear my shouts of joy? There may also be a little happy dance going on.

Thank you to everyone who has downloaded the book, offered their encouragement and helped get the word out. A special thanks to Dining Downloads for featuring all three of my cookbooks yesterday!

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

If you haven’t gotten your free copy yet, you can find it on Amazon, Smashwords or on my website. It will also be available soon on Barnes & Noble.

She Who Loves This Writing and Publishing Adventure

A Monday List

I learned some things this weekend I feel compelled to share with you today. I’m sure you’ll be thrilled!

1. Rice Krispies Treats can be fashioned into a variety of interesting shapes, including a three-tiered cake.

2. Fruit Roll-Ups can be fashioned into ribbons, bows and rosettes.

3. When you have greasy fingers from Rice Krispies Treats, do not attempt to do anything with Fruit Roll-Ups other than eat them.

4. Rain storms wait for no man – or bridal shower. Approximately 3.2 minutes after everyone is settled outside to enjoy the celebration to honor the bride-to-be, the skies will open up and pour down buckets of rain, effectively putting a damper on things. Or at least dampening things… and people… and gifts… and food. You get the idea.

5. Approximately 3.2 minutes after you get home from said shower, soggy and cold, the sun will come out and it will feel like summer outside.

6. A little rain can’t stop true love. (Congrats Erik and Katie!)

7. If it even remotely looks like it might be raining while we are out after dark, Captain Cavedweller thinks I should serve as his personal chauffeur.

She Who Is Glad to See Sunshine this Morning

Last fall, Captain Cavedweller bought me several lily bulbs. We dug holes and planted them and then I promptly forgot about their existence.

With my backyard a barren wasteland, I’ve sort of tuned out all things growing around my house until we can get everything whipped back into shape.

But the other day I happened to glance into the front flower bed and came to an abrupt halt. It’s where the lilies bloomed. In profusion. In lovely, stately shades of color. In splendor, despite the month-long disruption by back hoes and dirt and trucks full of gravel.

They bloomed.

They thrived.

They reminded me that a little thing like our backyard disaster doesn’t mean the world stops spinning. Life continues and so does the growing season.

They reminded me to slow down and take notice of the beauty around me. To make time to enjoy the little miracles that blossom daily if I just open my eyes to see them.

And to thank Captain Cavedweller for bringing so many wonderful things into my life. Like a  lovely and unexpected lily’s bloom.

She Who Loves These Flowers and Her Captain

Happy First Day of Summer!

Here’s to:

Popsicles – the kind with two sticks, preferably in rootbeer or banana flavor

Sunshine  – bright, robust and beautiful

Blue Skies – so vibrantly blue you can’t help but smile to look up into the azure depths

Roses – because their fragrant scents were made to fill the air of a summer night

Sprinklers – that are meant to be run through as much as water lawns

Sparklers – because no matter how old you are, you should play with them at least once a summer

Ice Cream – because it’s ice cream and one of the wonderful confections ever created

Dreams – that seem more alive and vivid during the summer

Picnics – whether it is a full-fledged affair or a thrown together basket of bread and cheese, sit on the grass, lounge beneath a tree, absorb the essence of summer

Fresh Air – filled with the sweet taste of summer and meant to be inhaled deeply, slowly, intently

County Fairs – for the calorie-laden food we all look forward to tasting once a year, the greeting of old friends, the silly rides, the obnoxious smells, the complete summer-ness of it all

Backyard barbecues – because that which is cooked on a grill outside during the summer tastes better than anything else you can think of at that moment

Porch swings – patios, hammocks and any other outdoor furniture that allow you to slow down, sit back and soak in summer

Summer gatherings with friends – because they are informal and fun. Here’s a download of party ideas.

If you have ideas to add to the list, please post in the comments section!

She Who LOVES Summer!