Spotlight

When we were looking at buying a home in Austin 6 years ago, things were different. The dot-com bubble hadn’t burst, home prices hadn’t risen, it was a seller’s market, and the foreclosure rate wasn’t so high. The information we learned then isn’t applicable now.

Thankfully, you can find just about anything online! The folks at The Goldwasser Team in Austin have articles on home-buying dos and don’ts to help new home buyers. Of course, they also have a list of the newest Austin home listings, which are making me drool. While prices in the Austin area have gone up in the past 6 years, they are still much lower than the home prices in New England!

Austin real estate has special features – a view of the Greenbelt or a home near Town Lake is special, but what would that mean for your family? Is the home you spot for $154,000 in a good part of town? Where is Hays, TX, and what is the town like? All of these questions need a real estate agent who is familiar with the area.

I’m itching to click on all the links, but I’d need to find a job that would relocate my husband down to Austin before we could buy a home there…. A girl can dream, though! And a girl can read the tips and articles without having to sell belongings, good information for free is always good!

No Humans Involved is the newly released paperback by New York Times Bestselling author Kelley Armstrong. No Humans Involved is the 7th book in Armstrong’s “Women of the Otherworld” series, and as such it continues a theme of strong, sexy, magical women and otherworldly mysteries. While I am sure that if you have read the first 6 books you will pick up on the characters and background quickly, this book is a fabulous read as a stand-alone book, too (though it will encourage you to read the first 6 books!).

Jaime Vargas is a spiritualist who has been performing on TV and on stage her whole life, but unlike most spiritualists, she really does “see dead people”, and is an accomplished necromancer. Jaime walks the line between the otherworld and the mundane – she is on the Interracial Council, helping to regulate the actions of the members of the otherworld, and yet she is also hoping to boost her career with a new TV show. In No Humans Involved, Jaime has agreed to be a part of a reality TV show in which 3 spiritualists attempt to contact deceased celebrities, culminating in a séance attempting to reach the ghost of Marilyn Monroe. Read the rest of the review

Our oldest daughter is kicking my husband out of his computer room and taking it over as her bedroom. This is happening much slower than she would prefer, but she’s thrilled that it’s happening at all. Because BG is our fashionista child, she has been thinking a lot about design and poring over ideas for how to make her bedroom look perfect.

Home and Bedroom is a great source for ideas as well as furniture. BG loved checking out the Fashion Bed Groups, and is contemplating the best location for a bench in addition to her dresser, canopy bed, shelf, and plans for a lizard tank. We were really impressed with their prices for children’s beds, as well as with the variety of options.

Not all of the Hillsdale Furniture is BG’s style, but I am longing for a new Baker’s Rack for the kitchen, and the nightstand looks lovely. Sadly, we aren’t redecorating my room.

Headboards are a bone of contention here. BG wants a canopy bed. Her dad is thinking of something more practical – a sturdy metal headboard. Meanwhile, my dream has always been to have a bookcase headboard, so I’m pushing that option, and drooling at all the different headboards. I’m glad we can argue discuss this at home, looking at a website rather than fighting becoming agitated at a brick-and-mortar store!

Perhaps it’s a good thing that the move is taking longer than expected – it’ll give us a chance to discuss and decide! We suggest checking out Home and Bedroom when making furniture and design choices!

I recently wrote a post about an inexpensive source for glasses. Today I had an optometrist appointment, and after receiving my new prescription, I checked out the glasses at the store. They had some gorgeous frames, and I tried on several, noting which styles I preferred.

Then I saw the prices, gasped, and ran home with the prescription in my purse.

I went online with my fashionista daughter, and chose 2 pairs of glasses from Zenni Optical and 2 sunglass clips as well. We added some rose-tinted plain lenses for my 9 year old to help with her reading, and checked out. Total cost with shipping: $51! For 3 pairs of glasses and 2 sunglass clips.

Look for a post in 2 weeks about how the glasses are in person! We’ll be off to Costco if this doesn’t work.

They say that every person has a book inside them. Well, for those of us who have actually written a book, the question is finding a way to get that book into the hands of readers. Figuring out agents, editors, and publishers is incredibly time-consuming, and the rejections are emotionally draining.

If you need to get your book in print, one way of doing it is self-publishing. You need to be careful, though – sometimes “self-publishing” companies are actually scams. Author House has been around for over 10 years, and has a history of working with authors. These Book Publishers will work with you to help you see your words in print!

Interestingly, a book I recently reviewed was originally self-published – and now it’s being published by a major publisher! This could happen to you, too!

Jackfish, The Vanishing Village is a new novel by Sarah Felix Burns, published by Inanna Publications of Canada. The story is a mix of real historical events and places, combined with a fictionized storyline of a woman which reads like a memoir, moving back and forth between the past and the present day. Jackfish, The Vanishing Village is a deeply moving and haunting book that will stay in your thoughts long after you put it down. It is not an easy read, but it is one will help you understand the lives of others, and be grateful for your own life.

Jackfish, The Vanishing Village is divided into 4 parts, each section dealing with the emotional growth of Clemance, our narrator and main character. Clemance is trying to cope with a multitude of emotional baggage that all comes to a head when she is taken off her anti-depressant due to an unexpected pregnancy at 42. The book is dedicated to all those who “battle the demons of guilt, shame, addiction, and mental illness”, all of which are present in Clemance. Sarah Burns’ writing deftly brings us inside the mind of a woman trying to cope with her present life and her past life, as the demons of her past haunt her daily.
Read the rest of the review

When someone says the words “Accident Compensation“, people think of our overly-litigious society, and often of someone getting money that isn’t deserved. While this can be accurate, it isn’t always.

My husband was the passenger in a car accident that left him with whiplash. We didn’t want to sue, thinking that his neck pain and headaches would go away. The driver’s insurance paid for the medical bills, and we had our own health insurance, so we weren’t too worried.

Well, it’s now over 10 years later, and my husband still has neck pain and migraines because of the damage from that accident. We really wish we had sued for Accident Compensation back then! If only we knew then what we know now! We’ve also dealt with workman’s comp, too.

Invisible injuries like neck pain, back pain, and headaches are hard to quantify and prove, but they can be completely debilitating. If you’ve been in an accident, make sure you find someone to represent you – take care of yourself and help pay for future medical bills.

There’s a lot of jewelry out there. A lot. I was making jewelry last year (and will be again when the weather warms up), and noticed that there were a lot of beaders and jewelers cropping up. As I was selling my creations at the Farmer’s Market and at craft fairs, I found that the vendors who had a theme were the ones who sold the most. My theme was beach and sea-glass, which definitely sells better in the summer!

So, if you are looking to search for jewelry, see if there is a theme that will work for your particular needs. Are you going to a garden party, or an event to benefit the local conservatory? In that case, you may want to search for floral themed jewelry. Some of the more ornate pieces might not be best for volunteering at the Audubon, though!

Perhaps you are going to an elegant benefit or fund-raiser, and you will be wearing your hair up, with a ball gown or gorgeous evening dress. You could take your theme from the chandeliers that will light your tables, and search for long, dangly earrings which will help frame your face, necklace, and gown.

If you are a part of a wedding party, you will want jewelry that matches the color you are required to wear. Or, if you have chosen a dress for another event, you may wish to find jewelry based on the color. Another reason to search for jewelry in a specific color is if you are going to a charity benefit – remember the (PRODUCT) RED(tm) is helping to fight AIDS in Africa, and pink is associated with Breast Cancer research. Therefore, if you are planning to attend a Breast Cancer fundraiser, be sure to stock up on pink jewelry in advance!

Sometimes you can’t determine a theme for the event, and you end up going through page after page of jewelry search results. In that case, it can be helpful if you choose a brand name or a style, such as Bulgari style rings, and go from there. It’s like deciding to put a Tiffany-style lamp in your living room, sometimes a touch from a well-known designer (or a knock-off) can pull together the rest of an outfit!

WIN IT!!!

Leave a comment on the book review, and you could win a copy of The Woman Who Is Always Tan And Has a Flat Stomach: And Other Annoying People! Winner will be selected at 12 noon March 3.

Lauren Anderson and Lisa Perry have written the ultimate book to help imperfect parents feel normal – The Woman Who Is Always Tan And Has a Flat Stomach: And Other Annoying People. Have you ever felt like the only woman who doesn’t knit? Have you ever wanted to thwack your husband on the head for obsessive video camera use? Have you ever felt intimidated by the homes that are decorated for every holiday? Have you ever needed an antidote to the Martha Stewart factor in suburbia? Don’t worry – The Woman Who Is Always Tan And Has a Flat Stomach: And Other Annoying People is here for you!

But wait, there’s more! Read the rest of the review

I find myself on the hunt for unique gifts regularly. Sometimes the recipient seems to have everything, sometimes it’s a hostess gift when you want something different, and sometimes it’s for a person you don’t know all that well – such as a co-worker’s birthday or holiday present.

Vat19.com truly has something for everyone! A Cell Phone Charging Station that doubles as a place for glasses, mail, and keys would be a great gift for a co-worker or a relative who frequently loses their cell phone!

My favorite unique gift idea is this one: a USB cannon controlled by your computer. One would hope that if you gave this to a co-worker you would be off the “target” list! This is the perfect gift for the geek on your list. Why didn’t I find this last Christmas? I know where I’ll be shopping for the next set of birthdays and holidays!