Favorite Friday

Every since I was a little girl, I have loved to read. I used to spend weeks at a time with my grandma, and the first day I was there, she would take me to the store. I got to pick out 4 or 5 books to read while I was stay with her. I had a collection of Box Car Children, R.L. Stein, Baby Sitters' Club, Anne of Green Gables, you name it. Grandma always read romance novels and I read my pre-teen fiction. We had snacks and spent the days reading. I loved it. I still do. (And I've been know to pick up a romance novel of my own from time to time. Don't judge.)

Adult books are more expensive than children's books. I'm weird about going to the library. I don't like the time constraint hanging over me. I just like to have books lying around when I want to pick one up and read it. We go to the trade book store in our town every once in a while, but I like to have a bunch of books to take in to her. The solution: Paperbackswap.com.

Basically I list the books that I have to trade. When you first sign up and list 10 books, you get 2 credits, meaning you can order 2 books. Those 2 are sent to you. When someone requests one of your books, you pay to send the book to them (usually around $2.50). For every book you mail, you get another credit. When someone requests one of your books, all you have to do is print two pieces of regular paper from your printer which includes the mailing address and the recommended postage. For $0.25 you can buy the postage and save the trip to the post office!

I'm sure that you have some books on your shelves that you are never going to read again. List them on paperbackswap and get something new to read. I recommend:

anything by Jodi Picoult
The Red Tent by Anita Diamant
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver (really anything by her)
Eat, Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
Marek Halter's series on Sarah, Ezra's sister and Zipporah, wife of Moses

Coupons...Where are you?

There are coupons hiding all over the internet. Today you can request a booklet from Home Made Simple. I've gotten this one before and it usually has lots of good coupons in it. There is usually a coupon for something free in it as well. Last time my booklet was missing the pages. I think the mailman must have taken them!

Favorite Friday

I've been feeling quite crafty lately. I think it has to partly do with the half finished desk that's currently living in my kitchen. I'm refinishing and painting it. Hopefully this weekend. I'm on the hunt for the perfect knobs for it, but I'm not having much luck. Maybe I'll just make my own.

There are two great sites for getting ideas for your own crafty inspirations. The first one is Craftster. You can see all of the different stuff people have made and posted. Lots of them have tutorials to show you how do to it yourself. If you have a question about a project you're already working on, you can find the answer on here as well. The best thing I've seen was a little kid's play kitchen made out of an old entertainment center.

The other site I like to look at is etsy. Not only can you look at things people have made, but you can just buy them and save your time! I've ordered several things from different sellers. You can also find vintage items on the site. It's great for handmade gifts you didn't make yourself. I always get inspired to make things when I shop here.

Go to one of the sites and find something to express your creativity this weekend. I'd love to see something you were inspired to make!

Harvesting

When we got back from our mini-vacation, this was what was waiting for us. We had fajitas that night using the Mexibell pepper and the green Bell Pepper. Delicious!