Category Archives: You Can Quote ME

Friday Review: 10 Things

Posted in family, goals, grateful, growing, Journal, me, You Can Quote ME by

Hi everyone! Day 9 of official NZ lockdown, day 14 for us and things are pretty level. We are allowing the kids to do whatever today, although Si is now out with a drop saw, so good luck with the “sleep all day” goal that one of them set!

10thingsThis morning I have been listening to Laura Tremaine. I’ve talked about her work in the past and I’m sure I’ll talk about her in the future – I find her to be real, to show empathy, humorous and good-natured, and I think she’s probably a pretty awesome wife & mum too. This last episode was aptly titled : Marry The Person You Could Quarantine With & I think too, I’m fortunate in my choice.

Laura’s intro is:

 

I’m Laura Tremaine.

I live in Los Angeles. I’m a reader, a podcaster, a wife, and a mom.

At all times, I have (at least) 10 Things To Tell You. And I know that YOU have 10 Things To Tell.

This place is about connection, with each other and with ourselves. We can only do this by opening our eyes and seeing others and (even harder) by letting ourselves be seen.

Let’s tell our stories.

Let’s share our stuff.

I’ll go first.  

https://www.10thingstotellyou.com/podcast

Friday Review: Brene Brown’s Unlocking Us

Posted in books, freebies, grateful, growing, me, You Can Quote ME by

Hey everyone! Hope lockdown is going okay, that you’re not going too crazy & that you’re getting contact with your nearest & dearest.

Right now one of my dearest is Libby, Mase’s Hospice counselor. She rang this morning then they had a Zoom session this afternoon. There’s one scheduled for next week & I’m so grateful.Today’s review isn’t a book. It’s Brene’s new podcast. No surprise that I lurve her work. Research plus stories? Yes please! Her first episode isn’t the initial planned, but it’s about FFT. That first F stands for a bad word, but it’s minimally used during the episode and I’m sure you’ll find something to resonate with, especially in this “new normal” (I’m beginning to hate that phrase).

You can listen in your fav app (I use Podcast Addict on android), or online at https://brenebrown.com/unlockingus/

Ep 2 is surprisingly light hearted for the heavy topic. It’s got me hooked. I almost burnt the schnitzel!

Back Roads to Belonging

Posted in books, grateful, growing, You Can Quote ME by

Recently I’ve been reading an ARC of Kristen Strong’s latest, which released yesterday. It’s a worthy follow on from Girl Meets Change & I love it. Parts are like I’m actually sitting down with a girlfriend, it feels that personal.

Anyways, I encourage you to pick it up and review. There are always parts of our life where we feel like an outsider & this is about how that’s kind of normal. We aren’t all the same square peg.

There’s a lovely article on Ann Voskamp’s site today. Again, I encourage you to take a read.

When You Don’t Belong – and why that’s Okay

COVER REVEAL: Cherish Hard By Nalini Singh

Posted in books, me, You Can Quote ME by

WOOT! It’s nearly here…remember how I LURVED Rock Hard? And the family dynamics? Here’s Gabe’s brother in his own book. It’s on my must-read list.

cherish-hard
New York Times bestselling author Nalini Singh kicks off her new Hard Play contemporary romance series with a sizzling story that’ll leave you smiling…
Meet Sailor & Isa on November 14th!
Pre-order your copy today!
Amazon US: http://amzn.to/2yaHnQG
Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/2i1LhHC
Amazon CA: http://amzn.to/2yXwnFB
iBooks: http://apple.co/2xw0U0O
Nook: http://bit.ly/2yf01bI
Kobo: http://bit.ly/2i2wvR1
☆☆☆☆☆☆
Sailor Bishop has only one goal for his future – to create a successful landscaping business. No distractions allowed. Then he comes face-to-face and lips-to-lips with a woman who blushes like an innocent… and kisses like pure sin.
Ísa Rain craves a man who will cherish her, aches to create a loving family of her own. Trading steamy kisses with a hot gardener in a parking lot? Not the way to true love. Then a deal with the devil (aka her CEO-mother) makes Ísa a corporate VP for the summer. Her main task?
Working closely with a certain hot gardener.
And Sailor Bishop has wickedness on his mind.
As Ísa starts to fall for a man who makes her want to throttle and pounce on him at the same time, she knows she has to choose – play it safe and steady, or risk all her dreams and hope Sailor doesn’t destroy her heart.
☆☆☆☆☆☆
EXCERPT
Fuming, Ísa made sure to set the alarm system and lock up. Everyone else was already well into their summer vacation—the sole reason Ísa was here was because she hadn’t been able to work on her lesson plans at home.
Her upstairs neighbor was having repairs done to her bathroom that required banging and hammering.
Not all of it involved nails and wood.
Hopefully the repairs would be finished by now. There was only so much ecstatic orgasmic screaming that a single woman in online-dating purgatory could stand without being driven to violence.
She spotted the tan-colored gardening truck the instant she came down the front steps of the school’s imposing redbrick main building and turned left to head toward her car. The hot gardener had parked it right next to her zippy blue compact. The front of the truck had four doors with tinted windows while the large bed was piled with shovels and other manly tools as well as a huge sack of clippings.
His light brown T-shirt was hanging over the top of the tailgate.
Which meant he was still walking around topless somewhere around here.
“Get in your car, Ísa,” she muttered to herself, well aware what would happen if she came face-to-face with that delicious hunk of manhood. Because while she might’ve conquered her shyness, she knew her limits.
Confronted by a bare-chested man who made her ovaries explode, she’d turn bright pink, lose her ability to form speech, and end of story. “Oh—”
She would’ve bounced off that sculpted chest if he hadn’t grabbed her by the hips.
“Hey, sorry,” he said with a startled smile that lit up the dazzling blue of his eyes. “I didn’t
see you.”
“No, um, my fault.” It looked as if he’d crouched down to check one of his tires or
something else but had risen to his feet right when she swung around to get into her car. And God, his skin was so hot and smooth and he was so tall and his shoulders were so broad and her mouth was drying up. The stuttering would begin at any moment.
The same stuttering Suzanne had mocked relentlessly when they were fourteen. Until Ísa had gone silent around everyone except the few friends she trusted. And now that horrible, ugly-hearted girl was getting married, having a baby, getting a happily-ever-after. Added to which, Ísa’s mother was jerking her on a string like she was a marionette, and her last “date” had asked her to call him Woofy and reward him with doggy biscuits.
The blue of the gardener’s eyes flickered with a hot flame.
And she thought… I know him. But before she could follow that faint thread, all the fury and hurt and frustration and sheer aggravation in Ísa ignited into an incandescent inferno.
She went mad.
Grabbing the hot gardener’s beautiful face in her hands, she said, “I want to kiss you.”
A wicked grin. “Go on ahead.”
And Ísa pressed her lips to his.
Copyright © 2017 by Nalini Singh

naliniMeet the Author
Nalini Singh is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Psy-Changeling, Guild Hunter, and Rock Kiss series. She lives and works in beautiful New Zealand, and is passionate about writing.
If you’d like to explore her other books, you can find lots of excerpts and free short stories on her website . Slave to Sensation is the first book in the Psy-Changeling series, while Angels’ Blood is the first book in the Guild Hunter series. The Rock Kiss books are all stand alone and can be read in any order.

Flosstube & Know Your Needleworker tag

Posted in me, You Can Quote ME by

I’ve made a Flosstube video! It’s very short, around 10 minutes so very easy to watch. They take a while to upload, tho! Click here & get ready to mock my accent 🙂

I’ve covered the Tag and also my current WIPs. Here’s the tag details, but I didn’t read this verbatim so there’s a little difference:

Where do you live?

I live in Auckland, New Zealand. It’s the major city of the North Island.

What do you do for a living?

I am the Vendor Manager for a large retail network – we sell homewares in two chains and sporting goods in the other.

Do you have any other hobbies other than cross stitch?

I love reading – my gran introduced me to books at a very young age. Sometimes it’s a struggle to put the book down, but I haven’t got into the habit of being able to process an audio book & stitch at the same time. I can get away with multi-tasking with podcasts tho.

Do you have any kids?

Yes, we have four, ranging from our beautiful girl who is 21 down to the three boys, 16, 13 & lastly anyone following me on Instagram will know Mase-the-Ace, who is 6.

Do you have any pets?

Several tropical fish. My favourites are my two Port Hoplo catfish; Tubbs used to be in the tank behind me when I worked in the Animates support office, and I was luckily able to take him when he needed rehoming. There was a chiclid incident. I’m never getting those things, but Tubbs does party tricks for food and loves to rest on my hand when I’m doing the tank maintenance.

What is your favourite movie?

I still love Sixteen Candles, and Ten Things I Hate About You (I’m a sucker for clever Shakespeare adaptations). Recently I’ve gone onto meds for frequent headaches so I have been avoiding the movies.

What are your favourite tv shows?

Always NCIS (the original, not the spin offs). Banshee – I know, completely not me but I started watching as a Kiwi is the main actor & got hooked. I like BBC dramas & get very, very annoyed with sitcoms that have a laugh track – Big Bang would be the exception to that rule. Family-wise we watch quiz shows together and yell the answers at the TV.

What is your favourite music genre?

I listen to pretty much anything except hair/heavy metal & classical. My iPod in my office has all sorts of stuff from the last 20 years so when I throw it on shuffle it can surprise – or embarrass me. Note to self: take The Exponents “Erotic” off shuffle…

What is your favourite book?

I am a book slut. I’ll read just about anything and will go thru 4-6 books a week. Re-read favourites are Sandra Boynton (poetry & humour for the little ones), Jane Austen, JRR Tolkien, Elizabeth Goudge (think Little White Horse but she has far more range than just that one), CS Lewis, JK Rowling, etc etc. It’s a long list. And I would totally recommend Mary S Lovell if you’re into biographies.

What one word describes you best?

Eclectic, I guess.

You Can Quote Me

Posted in DIY home, family, grateful, House, house - gardens, me, OLW, You Can Quote ME by

YCQM is a semi – regular post based on my One Little Word for 2015, Serenity.

It’s school holidays (yay, said no working parent ever). I’ve taken some time off this week and next (Thursday’s wardrobe choice is your first clue) and there are a number of things I want to achieve.

So, list. I love checking things off. And most of these will take 30 min or less. That’s a lot of achievement buzz and I’ll still have a lot of playtime.

image

Also achieved: merit team manager. Hoping this opens more doors in 2016.